Chapter 409: The Shadow Explodes
In response to Chen Boli’s information, Xu Qing clasped hands and bowed.
Chen Boli didn’t say anything further. He just kept sharpening his knife.
The loud scraping sound accompanied Xu Qing as he walked away. Eventually, he was back on Level 57 and D-132. Stopping out front, he examined the pitch black door briefly before pushing it open and entering.
The first thing he heard was the head in 237, calling out to him.
“Jailer! Jailer! Is that you? Well, how did it go? Did you get unlucky when you went out? Hurry up and throw me in with the cloud troll. I’ll help you resolve the situation. You can trust me. Really!
“If you don’t, then it means you’re well and truly finished. I can already see you dying very horrifically. Yet you never see it coming. Over and over again, you never see it. What’s more... do you really think you’re the first person to ever serve in D-132? Can’t say. I really can’t say! Hurry up and throw me in with the cloud troll. If you do, I’ll tell you more of the truth.”
Xu Qing calmly walked the path next to the cells, looking at each one of the prisoners as he passed. Then he stopped in front of the cell with the head in it. Opening the cell, he reached in and grabbed the excited head.
“Oh yeah, that’s right! Hahaha! I’m coming, little Cloudy!”
As the head jabbered excitedly, Xu Qing walked over to the cell with the Rockdevil in it, then tossed the head inside.
The giant millstone vibrated in surprise. And then fluctuations of happiness rolled out from him.
Meanwhile, the excitement on the head’s face turned into terror. It screamed. “Let me out! I don’t wanna be in here! My mistake, exalted Jailer! I’ll talk! It’s a curse. D-132 is cursed. But I can help you get rid of the curse. Everything I said before was true. I wasn’t lying. I really can see you dying over and over again. It’s not a trick!”
Ignoring the head, Xu Qing turned and walked to the cell with the final inmate, the floating painting. Looking at the twenty-three figures inside, Xu Qing looked at his shadow and said, “Eat it.”
Fluctuations of greed rolled off the shadow as it stretched away from Xu Qing’s feet and into the cell.
At the same time, a vile aura began to build on the shadow, spreading out to fill the cellblock. D-132 suddenly went completely quiet. The head wasn’t screaming. The Rockdevil didn’t move. The cloud troll stopped chewing. The scarecrows stopped howling....
But the Paintedfolk painting trembled. As the shadow neared, that trembling grew more intense, until the shadow was only about three inches away. That was when the voice of an old man spoke from the painting.
“Exalted Jailer, the one on the far bottom right isn’t a member of my species.”
Xu Qing shifted his gaze to the bottom right of the painting.
A boy stood there, smiling. He looked no different from any of the other figures, as if he belonged in the family. But as soon as the voice of the old man spoke out, the boy frowned. The shadow blurred toward the boy, and then a snapping sound rang out, like jaws suddenly closing.
After, the shadow slid back to Xu Qing. The painting wasn’t harmed at all. However, there was no more boy inside. He had been devoured by the shadow.
Except, as soon as the shadow was out of the painting, something extraordinary happened. The shadow suddenly started trembling violently. As Xu Qing looked down, it suddenly let loose an anguished scream and then exploded. A blurry figure shot out from the fragments of the shadow, and then laughter rang out in the darkness. At almost the exact same time, the black iron skewer shot out at high speed, but the boy had vanished without a trace. Of course, the shadow couldn’t be killed so easily. Though it had exploded into bits, it didn’t take long for it to piece itself back together. That said, it was visibly weak. Looking anxiously at Xu Qing, it sent out a surge of emotional fluctuations.
“Destiny aura... devoured... boooooom....”
Apparently fearful that Xu Qing would find it to be useless, it had explained things fairly clearly.
Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the spot where the boy had disappeared.
“Destiny aura?” he murmured.
The iron skewer circled back around, and Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior materialized. After looking at the weak state of the shadow, he turned to Xu Qing nervously. This was twice in a row that he had failed. Granted, the shadow had also failed, but then it had concocted some story about destiny aura.
“You’ve learned some bad habits, you bratty shadow! Detestable!”
The patriarch snorted coldly inwardly. As far as he was concerned, it was eighty percent likely the shadow was making things up to avoid coming across as useless. You want to tell stories? You couldn’t possibly compare to me in that regard, you bratty shadow! Since you want to run your mouth, I’ll add fuel to the fire. That way when the deadly killer figures out what’s really going on, you’ll be in major trouble. As long as I keep myself out of it, I’ll come off scot free.
He had read a lot of books that talked about destiny aura. In most cases, destiny aura was something the main character absolutely required. In fact, in novels, it seemed that everyone was always after ‘destiny aura.’
“Destiny aura?” he said smoothly. “Milord, I can’t see destiny aura, and apparently don’t know as much about it as the erudite Little Shadow. But since the shadow mentioned it… Congratulations, milord. Congratulations! You’ve clearly been favored by fate to find destiny aura here!”
Xu Qing looked at the patriarch and frowned.
Shivering inwardly, the patriarch quickly went into a description based on things he’d read in various printed novels. “Milord, based on what Little Shadow has indicated, and assuming it’s correct, then your humble servant can guess about why people assigned to D-132 end up perishing on the outside. If Little Shadow is right, then I think I already know the secret of D-132.
“Obviously this place has some destiny aura. In all likelihood, it’s a portion of Sea-Sealing County’s destiny aura. Who knows how it ended up here, or why it took a specific form. The reason other people stationed here died is that destiny aura can only be taken by extremely extraordinary people. As the old saying goes, too much is worse than not enough. The resulting backlash caused the misfortune and suspicious events.”
After making his explanation, the patriarch was actually stunned. After all, what he had just said... made perfect sense. Don’t tell me the bratty shadow was telling the truth?
As the patriarch reeled inwardly, Xu Qing’s frown deepened. The first time he heard about destiny aura was when his Master told him the story of the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan. He’d said that some stories claimed that the crown prince was born bearing the destiny aura of the entire human species. [1]
As Xu Qing contemplated that, his expression flickered and he looked to the right-hand side of the cell block off in the distance. Floating out of the shadows there was the very same boy from moments ago. He was looking curiously at Xu Qing.
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior immediately shot toward him, but the boy vanished again. This time, he appeared in a different part of the cell block, still looking curiously at Xu Qing.
Xu Qing could sense that the boy’s gaze was specifically drawn to his own right wrist! Surprised, he lifted his right hand.
The boy’s line of sight followed along with his movement.
Xu Qing’s right wrist didn’t seem unusual in any way. But he knew about the thread of golden light hiding there. Back when he risked his life to form his poison core, that golden light had flickered and gave him a series of very strange sensations. [2]
“What is this?” he asked, looking at the boy.
In response to his question, all of the inmates in D-132 remained completely and utterly silent. The cloud troll turned in place. The woman climbed to the bars of her cell. The decorations carved on the Rockdevil turned into an eye. The head in the corner of that very same cell seemed to be looking off into the distance. As for the Paintedfolk scroll painting, it blurred, and then turned into the illusory image of an old man, leaning up against the bars of his cell.
Xu Qing ignored the inmates and kept his gaze fixed on the boy. He waved his right hand.
The boy’s eyes followed the movement of his hand, as if Xu Qing’s hand was the only thing that mattered to him in the world. His expression was an odd mixture between confusion and blankness. He had obviously heard Xu Qing’s words. A moment later, his gaze left Xu Qing’s wrist and locked onto his eyes.
Then he opened his mouth as if he were speaking. However, no sound came out, nor any divine will. Nor did his lips move.
Xu Qing frowned.
The boy’s curious look remained. Then he finished ‘speaking,’ and cocked his ear as if listening to something. When he finished listening, his eyes lit up, and he opened his mouth again. After that, he listened again. Eventually he seemed to hear an answer he liked. Looking to be in very high spirits, he looked at Xu Qing, thumped his own chest, then backed up and melded into the shadows.
***
Within the administrative district of the county capital, about a month away from the city itself, near Netherworld Prefecture, there was a sprawling mountain range. One end stretched deep into Netherworld Prefecture, the other ended near the county capital.
These mountains were unique, as both the soil and stone that made them up were all violet. It was unusual to see that color in natural geological formations, and thus, the name of this place was the Violet Spirit Mountain Range. Somewhere in the Violet Spirit Mountain Range, relatively close to the county capital, there was a massive abyss. It was incredibly deep and dark, with its depths impossible to see clearly. The only thing visible was some violet fog that rose up from the bottom of the abyss.
Two figures approached the abyss. It was an old person and a young one. The old one was none other than the innkeeper from Plankspring Way. The young one was the flawlessly beautiful Ling’er, dressed in white.
Based on the agreement they had reached with the flying giant, they had flown close to the county capital, then dropped off the giant to the ground and walked the rest of the way to the Violet Spirit Mountain Range.
At long last, they were nearing their destination.
“Ling’er, the Wood Spirits will be here soon. Based on the ancient treaty, you can get part of your legacy here. That said, it’ll be dangerous. Right now you need to rest and build your strength. Stabilize your bloodline. Then you can give it a try. For the time being, don’t get greedy. You....” The innkeeper trailed off as he realized that Ling’er didn’t seem to be paying attention.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Papa,” she replied, her eyes glittering joyfully, “there’s a boy talking to me.”
“What?” Surprised, the innkeeper looked around. “What boy? What’s he saying?”
“Oh nothing,” Ling’er said, blinking a few times. “He’s gone now. Maybe he was one of the Wood Spirits.” It was the first time Ling’er had ever lied to her papa. She knew he didn’t like Xu Qing, and therefore, felt like it made more sense to keep the truth from him. Meanwhile, she quickly replied to the voice of the boy that had suddenly echoed into her mind. [3]
“That’s totally right! I was the one that put that life essence destiny aura there. Who are you? Did you see my Big Bro Xu Qing? Where are you two?”
A moment passed.
“The county capital??” Ling’er’s eyes lit up. “Ohhh. You mean you don’t have even a single friend? Okay fine, we can be friends. But you have to help me take care of Big Bro Xu Qing. In a little bit I’ll go find both of you.”
The innkeeper looked at Ling’er suspiciously.
“Let’s go, Papa,” she said with a smile. Inside she was happy, and outside, she looked as pure and beautiful as always.
That only made the innkeeper more suspicious. But he couldn’t figure out what might be going on, so finally he just shook his head and went back to his usual admonitions.
“You absolutely, positively must not start daydreaming. This particular legacy is very important. You cannot afford to fail, as it’s a matter of life or death. Now, when the Wood Spirits get here, you need to go into seclusion to stabilize your blood. While you do, I’ll go to the county capital to buy a few of the things we’ll need.”
“Got it, Papa,” Ling’er said, keeping her arm wrapped around the innkeeper’s arm. The mountain breeze blew, lifting her hair and tenderly caressing the fair skin of her face. Ling’er reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. While her hand was blocking her eyes, she glanced in the direction of the county capital. Her smile deepened.
1. Master Seventh told Xu Qing the story of the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan in chapter 262. ☜
2. Xu Qing noticed the golden light in chapter 340. ☜
3. “Wood Spirit” is the name of a species, so it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re “spirits” or “spirit creatures” as you might initially imagine. Of course, there’s no saying that they aren’t. The point is just that Wood Spirit is a species name. ☜