Chapter 443: Scratched Off of the Bamboo Slip
“Humans!” the Captain said, scorn in his eyes as he lifted his slender gray hand and pushed toward Qing Qiu.
The air around Qing Qiu rippled, then sank down to crush her.
“Nightshade!” Qing Qiu murmured, her eyes narrowing as she lurched in the opposite direction. She was too slow.
The Captain’s move caused the battle soul she’d summoned to distort as if it might collapse.
Of course, Qing Qiu was also an extraordinary individual. In that moment of crisis, her eyes glittered with red light as she hurled her scythe at the Captain.
The scythe screamed through the air, spinning like a wheel, moving with shocking speed and unstoppable momentum toward the Captain. Simultaneously, Qing Qiu’s hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, and her eyes shone with insanity. Then she shrieked in the Captain’s direction, causing the collapsing battle soul to lunge toward the Captain with its mouth wide open and teeth bared.
The Captain’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t make an evasive move. The evil ghost scythe sliced into his forehead, causing black blood to spray everywhere as his entire body was cut in half.
Then the scythe continued slashing into the fourlegger he’d been standing on. At the same time, the two halves of the Captain’s body gruishly stitched back together.
He also opened his mouth and lunged toward the incoming battle soul as if to devour it.
Then a cracking sound rang out as a 300-meter Nightshade mouth appeared in front of the Captain. Opening wide, it easily devoured the battle soul like a chunk of fresh meat. As the Captain chewed, he continued advancing until he was right in front of the visibly surprised Qing Qiu. He waved his right hand, and over a hundred spears popped out of nowhere and stabbed toward her.
That was when Xu Qing’s voice finally echoed out.
“I want that one alive.”
“Yes, sir!” the Captain called back. Of course, this was all going according to the plan they’d devised earlier. With another wave of his hand, the Captain turned all of the spears into long hairs which shot forward, wrapped around Qing Qiu, and bound her securely.
She struggled, her eyes burning with defiance. She even tried to use a secret magic. But then the Captain’s fist slammed into her mask, and she lapsed into unconsciousness.
Because of the force of the blow, her mask cracked, and one piece fell off, revealing part of a delicate, pretty face.
Ignoring her facial features, the Captain grabbed Qing Qiu by her restraints and then glared around with cold displeasure at the surrounding Holytides.
The young Holytide hurried over, an appreciative expression on his face as he dropped to his knees to kowtow.
“Many thanks for stepping in, sir.”
“Start moving immediately,” the Captain said coldly. “We need to be out of Sea-Sealing County within three days!” Then he returned to the ninth fourlegger, shrinking down until he was out of sight.
The young Holytide watched him disappear, his face full of gratitude and fervor. Then he started barking orders at his fearful and uncertain subordinates.
Shortly after, the caravan was moving again, this time a lot faster than before.
Back in concealment on the fourlegger, the Captain tossed the unconscious Qing Qiu off to the side. More of her mask fell off, revealing more of her face.
“Since you don’t like her much, I’ll leave her to you,” the Captain said. Then he sat off to the side fiddling with the scythe. The scythe trembled, and the evil ghost face on it had a fawning expression.
Xu Qing nodded, then looked coldly at Qing Qiu, especially her face.
She was extremely pretty, with fair skin, a small cute nose, and lips like a cherry blossom. She appeared to be about sixteen or seventeen. She seemed very much like a ‘girl next door,’ especially as she lay there unconscious and defenseless. There was no malice or ferocity on her face, just a natural delicacy. It made Qing Qiu look very different than she normally did. In a brutal world, delicacy like that was bound to lead to vicious bullying.
Xu Qing looked her over, then was about to turn away when he realized something about her seemed familiar. He studied her closer, then frowned. Standing, he walked up to her.
The Captain smiled enigmatically as he looked on, all the while fiddling with the scythe. Suddenly, the evil ghost shrieked and passed out.
Xu Qing wasn’t paying attention to the Captain. Standing over Qing Qiu, he examined her again, and a sudden expression of confused nostalgia flickered in his eyes. However, he still wasn’t sure what was going on, so he grabbed her bag of holding and rummaged through it. Then he noticed a small crystal she had on a necklace.
When Xu Qing saw that stone, his heart flip-flopped, and he suddenly felt like he was in a daze.
Memories rose up within his mind.
He was in a townhouse, and there was a little girl with a scar on her face, huddled in the corner, shivering and looking around vigilantly. The scene changed. The girl stood outside a beast arena, clutching a bamboo stick, upon which were the words ‘giant horned anaconda.’ The despair in the girl’s eyes was clear. The scene shifted again. Moonlight shone down onto a door. The girl stubbornly said that she would repay him one day. Then she staggered off into the night. There were more scenes. He saw her selling him white boluses, sweeping snow outside the shop, and running after him to give him some candy. The memories ended with a sunset scene in which the girl’s big brother took her hand, and they walked off into the distance, her looking over her shoulder the whole time. In some of those scenes, he heard the girl’s voice.
“Whenever I’m sad, my momma would always give me some candy. I just had to eat it, and I’d feel better. This is the last piece of candy and... I want you to have it. Feel better, Big Bro Kid!”
“My big brother came to get me!” she said. Anticipation gleaming in her eyes, she continued, “Big Bro Kid, do you want to come with us?”
“That’s okay. When I grow up, I’ll come back and see you. I told you I was going to pay you back for saving my life, Big Bro Kid. And I will.”
“I have to go now... Big Bro Kid.”
As that voice echoed in his mind... Xu Qing finally sighed. It was a sigh that contained reminiscence, sorrow, and resignation. He looked down at Qing Qiu’s face, and her good looks slowly merged with his memories of that young girl from the scavenger basecamp.
Of course. She’s from the Church of Departure. And she had no way of recognizing me. After all... I’ve changed almost completely.
He sighed. Back when he knew the girl in the scavenger basecamp, he hadn’t washed his face for years. Beyond that, he’d grown a lot in the past few years. He was no longer that scrawny boy from years ago. He’d matured.
Still reeling a bit, Xu Qing looked at the scar-removing crystal and noted how worn it was. Obviously it had seen a lot of use.
After a moment, he put the crystal back where he’d found it, but kept the bag of holding. Then he sat down cross-legged next to her.
It didn’t make sense to reveal himself to her while he was disguised as a Nightshade. Besides, he had no idea of knowing if she was even really the same person after all these years. For now, he would keep his true identity a secret.
Whether she remembered him or not didn’t matter to him. In fact, he found himself thinking back to the last words he’d spoken when they parted. “Please. Stay safe.”
“As long as she’s safe, that’s all that matters,” he murmured quietly. Taking out his bamboo slip, he scratched out the name Girl in Red. He looked over at the Captain, and then thought about the Captain’s odd look from before. Obviously, the Captain already knew Qing Qiu’s true identity.
“The old man told me,” the Captain explained. “I did some of my own investigation as well, heh heh. I found out just before we left. I was hoping to surprise you later.” The Captain cleared his throat and blinked a few times.
Xu Qing closed his eyes.
The next day, Qing Qiu regained consciousness.
However, she didn’t immediately open her eyes. Instead, she regulated her heartbeat and aura to make it seem like she was still unconscious. Then she studied her surroundings. She could tell that her cultivation base was sealed, and that she had no hope of unsealing it. That caused her heart to sink. Worse, there was no evil ghost voice in her head, which meant her scythe had been taken away. Either that or it was sealed just like she was. She also couldn’t find her bag of holding.
Those realizations emphasized to her the direness of her situation. The upside was that she wasn’t injured. Nor was she bound. At least the little crystal still lay against her chest, a slight blessing amidst so much misfortune. Just as Qing Qiu was going to start trying to unseal her cultivation base, Xu Qing’s cold voice reached her ears.
“You’re awake. There’s no need to pretend you’re not.”
Qing Qiu remained calm and on guard.
Xu Qing looked at her, but didn’t say anything further.
Off to the side, the Captain perked up and looked at them with a playful grin.
The next day, Qing Qiu had no choice other than to open her eyes. She could sense from the astonishing nature of the seal on her cultivation base that it wasn’t the work of humans. It was a psychic sealing that was most likely put in place by a Nightshade. Given her current level of strength, there was no way she could dispel it. By now, she had also come to the realization that she had been shrunk down, and was now on the back of one of the fourleggers.
Seeing no reason to pretend to be unconscious, she opened her eyes and stood up, her eyes as cold as ice as she looked at the two Nightshades. It was her first time being around Nightshades, and she understood full well that their presence in this Holytide caravan was a huge deal.
Feeling very anxious, she looked around and saw her evil ghost scythe in the hands of the very same Nightshade that had knocked her out. The evil ghost seemed to be asleep.
“Why didn’t you kill me?” she asked.
The Captain smiled enigmatically at her, but didn’t say anything. As for Xu Qing, he held his tongue for a short time, then coolly said, “Keep quiet and I’ll let you go in three months.”
Qing Qiu laughed coldly. She didn’t believe this Nightshade at all.
Xu Qing was about to continue speaking, but before he could, the Captain jumped into the conversation. “I’ve had some dealings with your Church of Departure. That’s why you’re not dead.”
Xu Qing looked at the Captain.
So did Qing Qiu. She knew that talking back wasn’t going to do any good, so she decided she would just pretend to cooperate. Then, as time passed, she would find an opportunity to escape.
Voice cold, the Captain continued, “You care a lot about that crystal, don’t you? That’s why I didn’t take it.” There was a bit of a threat in his words.
Hearing that, Xu Qing frowned slightly.
Qing Qiu’s expression remained the same as ever, but her heart was pounding. Though it took effort, she didn’t let her consternation show on her face. That would simply help her enemies.
“We’ll let you go in three months,” the Captain went on. “We’ll also return your scythe to you. But if you try to pull any tricks, I’ll smash that little crystal of yours. One bit at a time.” The Captain’s raspy voice truly made him seem villainous. Then he reached out and slowly tapped on the shaft of the scythe.
The sleeping evil ghost shivered.
Qing Qiu glared at the Captain, but finally gritted her teeth and nodded.
Time passed. The next day the caravan reached the border of Tidefall Prefecture, thus entering the Holytide-controlled Eastern Wasteland County. At that point, the young Holytide leading the caravan finally breathed a sigh of relief. So did all of the other Holytides. As of now, there was very little chance of them facing any danger from humans.
At the invitation of the young man, Xu Qing and the Captain finally came out of hiding.
Qing Qiu looked at the strange lands around them, then glanced back in the direction of Sea-Sealing County. She had a deep sense of foreboding within her, as she knew that there was no hope of her making an escape anytime soon.
“Sirs, now that we’re here, you’re safe,” said the young Holytide, clasping hands to Xu Qing and the Captain, his expression just as zealous and fanatical as ever.