Chapter 61: A Beautiful Young Woman with an Umbrella
Xu Qing inspected the area, then picked up the dead cultivator’s blood-soaked sack. After sprinkling Corpse-Ravaging Powder on the corpse, it dissolved into a bloody sludge that mingled with the rainwater.
After that, he went back to his dharmaboat. Inside, he opened the sack, then frowned when he realized it only contained a few miscellaneous items. There were no spirit stones or cultivation resources. There most certainly wasn’t a dharmaboat. The only thing of note was a blood-colored jade slip and the man’s identity medallion. Now that he was dead, the medallion had gone dark, making it impossible to see his merit point balance, or to transfer the balance away.
The person had to be alive to do that.
He must have his belongings hidden somewhere, Xu Qing thought. Unfortunately, due to his custom of striking to kill, it wasn’t going to be possible to get the man’s merit points.
Maybe next time I should try to maim first and kill after?
After thinking about it, he still felt it would be too risky to do that. Next, he examined the blood-colored jade slip, which caused his eyes to glitter.
It’s a hit list? It looked similar to the bounty list from the sect, except this list was obviously distributed by an individual. It listed a whole series of disciples from Seven Blood Eyes, and next to each name was a monetary value. Shockingly, one of the names on the list was Xu Qing. It also listed his scavenger nickname, as well as a bounty of 50 spirit stones.
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior!
Xu Qing’s eyes shone with cold light. The patriarch was the only person who knew his information and could put up a bounty of 50 spirit stones for him. The man had obviously tracked him down and knew he was now in Seven Blood Eyes.
It made sense. Although Antlerville was a city owned by Seven Blood Eyes, the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect obviously had connections there, so finding out where Xu Qing went wouldn’t have been very hard.
The fact that he figured it out so quickly seems to indicate that he has connections in the sect. But it’s against sect rules for outside Foundation Establishment cultivators to kill our disciples, so he had to put out a bounty on me!
After studying the blood-colored jade slip a bit more to figure out how to use it, he chose to just ‘continue’ with the mission to ‘kill Xu Qing.’
I need to speed up my cultivation so that I can finally get rid of Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior!
Four days passed in which the rain did not let up.
On the third day, it became a massive tempest that kicked up huge waves in the entire port. However, the capital city’s spell formation kept things in control. Despite the shocking winds, the port held strong.
On the fifth day, the unrelenting winds finally started to die down.
At dawn, Xu Qing looked up to see a leaden, overcast sky weighing down over the city. At that point, he organized his medicinal pills and stepped out of his dharmaboat. On the shore, he felt the wind and rain, and inhaled the scent of the ocean. Within it, there was still a faint hint of blood. During the four days in which the storm raged, the Violent Crimes Division didn’t shut down. For the most part, their work involved searching for clues about Night Dove. However, thanks to the storm, they now had an additional task.
Hunting for murderers.
When storms hit Seven Blood Eyes, most sect departments ceased operation. And because most cultivators stayed indoors… the robberies and murders that happened in the shadows became even more widespread.
During those four days, the Violent Crimes Division received reports of more than eighty disciples being killed in the Port District. And seven victims were actually members of the Violent Crimes Division. As for how many people were killed in the other six districts, that information wasn’t known publicly either, but it surely wasn’t a small number.
It was hard to run an investigation in the rain. Besides, Seven Blood Eyes was used to this kind of thing happening, and didn’t pay much attention to it. The Violent Crimes Division only ran cursory investigations, then dropped the cases.
There was even a member of Unit Six who died, yet no one batted an eyelid.
Xu Qing managed to ask the Captain about the old innkeeper from Plankspring Way. He was told that the man wasn’t human. What was more, he had connections to the First Peak, which gave him the right to reside permanently in the city. Normally speaking, the innkeeper kept his head down. Though it was known he would occasionally give shelter to villains, in order to give face to the First Peak, the Violent Crimes Division usually looked the other way when he was involved, as long as nothing outrageous happened.
This was the first time Xu Qing came to realize that humans weren’t the only intelligent species in the world. There were actually many others. However, to date he had only ever laid eyes on one nonhuman: the innkeeper. For now, he didn’t think too much about it.
After attending morning roll call at the Violent Crimes Division, Xu Qing opened his umbrella and started walking down the street. He was planning to head to the medicine shop and try to sell the white boluses he’d concocted recently. He also wanted to buy more medicinal plants. However, because of the large amount of white boluses he was carrying, his guard was fully up.
Perhaps because the rain had started to die down, the streets were a lot more crowded than usual. Because of that, it took a bit longer to safely make his way to the shop he frequented. There weren’t many people in the shop. However, there was one familiar face: Zhou Qingpeng, who had been in his group when he officially joined the sect.
Zhou Qingpeng glanced his way and hesitated briefly, but didn’t seem to recognize him. It was little surprise, considering that on the day of the assessment, Xu Qing had been dressed like a filth-covered scavenger.
Xu Qing didn’t say anything to Zhou Qingpeng. Off to the side, the old shopkeeper smiled. He was familiar with Xu Qing by now, and knew that despite not being a Second Peak disciple, he was knowledgeable regarding medicinal plants.
“You came just in time,” the old shopkeeper said. “I have something special to show you today.”
With that, he pulled out a mysterious-looking bag, which he opened to reveal the corpses of what appeared to be five bugs, blue in color and completely dried up. They were vicious-looking, with long mandibles, numerous spikes, and natural striations on their backs that resembled ghost faces. Each ghost face was different. One was crying, one was laughing, one was angry, and so-on. Especially noteworthy were their tails, which had mouths on the ends, filled with countless razor-sharp teeth. They were dead and withered, yet they looked just as astonishingly vicious as they had in life.
“Ghostlonging horseshoe crabs!” Xu Qing murmured in surprise. Hurrying closer, he looked closely at the ghostlonging horseshoe crabs, which he remembered Grandmaster Bai talking about in a lecture. They came from the deep seafloor, and were rarely seen on land. In the broadest sense, they were considered poisonous bugs. Their blood was blue, and highly poisonous. However, when combined in the right ratio with other ingredients, it became an incredibly wondrous medicine.
Off to the side, Zhou Qingpeng, who was browsing through the medicinal pills, glanced over.
“So, you recognize them,” the shopkeeper said with a smile. Yet again, his estimation of Xu Qing improved. Even many disciples from the Second Peak wouldn’t be able to identify a rare poison bug like this. And more than ever, the shopkeeper was curious how this handsome young man had learned so much about the dao of medicine.
“How much are you selling them for?” Xu Qing asked, inwardly excited.
“I wouldn’t dare sell them,” the shopkeeper replied, clearing his throat. Putting the ghostlonging horseshoe crabs away, he noted the longing with which Xu Qing gazed at the bag. Grinning, the old man continued, “My boss tasked me with finding those things, and it took a lot of sweat and blood. They were delivered earlier today, and the boss will be by later to get them. If I dared to sell them…. Well, anyway, I just wanted to show them to you. After all, they’re extremely rare.”
Xu Qing felt a bit disappointed as he looked away from the sack with the ghostlonging horseshoe crabs in them. However, he didn’t immediately take out his white boluses. He waited until Zhou Qingpeng had paid for his purchases and left. Only then did Xu Qing take out his sack and put it on the counter.
“I’m not here to buy plants,” Xu Qing said. “I want to sell pills.”
“Hmm?” The shopkeeper’s eyes turned serious as he opened the bag and looked at the content. Then his expression turned into one of surprise. “So many white boluses!”
He didn’t immediately inspect them. Instead, he washed his hands and then put on a pair of gloves. After making sure Xu Qing noticed that the gloves were spotless, he started taking the pills out of the bag.
After placing them all out on the counter, the old man looked even more astounded than before. There were over 500 of them, each one smooth and round. And the medicinal aroma they exuded filled the entire shop. Many customers noticed the scent, causing Xu Qing to frown and instinctively let his hand slip down next to his sack, where his iron skewer lay.
After thoroughly inspecting the pills, the shopkeeper felt profoundly taken aback. Looking closely at the young man in front of him, he realized that he didn’t just have a very outstanding understanding of plants and vegetation, he was also exceedingly skilled at concocting pills. These pills were of the highest quality. What was more, the old man could tell that each pill was the result of single-session concocting successes. They weren’t a refined version of a previously deficient batch. Every single pill was pure white and naturally lustrous, indicating the presence of natural medicinal oils.
Skill like this was a rarity even among Second Peak disciples. After taking inventory, the shopkeeper muttered for a moment then said, “How about 10 spirit stones?”
Xu Qing was familiar with prices in the city, and knew that a white bolus usually sold for thirty spirit coins. And one spirit stone was equal to 1,000 spirit coins. After thinking about it, he agreed.
The shopkeeper quickly took out the spirit stones and gave them to Xu Qing, then started organizing the medicinal pills to put into storage.
Xu Qing looked around one more time at the customers in the shop, then turned to leave.
As he did, a young woman appeared at the entrance of the shop. She exuded a strong medicinal aroma. She looked to be only seventeen or eighteen, carried a white umbrella, and was wearing a pale orange daoist robe!
In Seven Blood Eyes, the Offmountain disciples from the various mountain peaks wore gray daoist robes. Only conclave disciples wore colored garments. For example, conclave disciples from the Seventh Peak wore pale violet. In other words, daoist robes like this indicated a very high level of rank.
Xu Qing noted the garment and stepped aside to let her pass, taking the opportunity to examine her a bit more closely.
Beneath the white umbrella, she had long raven-black hair that cascaded down her shoulders, and bangs that fell diagonally across her face, just above her eyes. She had long eyelashes, and eyes that glistened. On her, the pale orange daoist robe almost looked like a beautiful gown. With her slender waist and spectacular beauty, she almost didn’t seem to belong in the human world. That was especially true when the wind blew, causing her hair to drift aside, revealing skin as fair and smooth as jade.
The young woman noticed Xu Qing, and instead of acting arrogantly as one might expect of a conclave disciple, she smiled and indicated that he could walk out before she entered.
Nodding, he looked away from her and departed. After he was gone, the young woman entered the shop, and her perfume filled the air.
The shopkeeper immediately ran over, his expression very deferential as he said, “Boss, you’re here! You didn’t need to come in person, ma’am. I could have sent them to you.”
“You don’t have to be so formal, Uncle Peng,” she said with a smile. “I got tired of concocting pills on the mountain peak. I needed to get out and clear my head.” [1]
“Of course, of course,” the shopkeeper said, acting as deferential as before. “Do what you have to do.”
Together they walked to the counter, whereupon the shopkeeper took out the sack with the ghostlonging horseshoe crabs, which he handed to her.
The young woman shook her head helplessly at the shopkeeper’s insistence on being respectful. Taking the sack, she was about to leave when she noticed the white boluses on the counter, which the shopkeeper hadn’t finished organizing.
“Hmm?” she murmured. Picking up one of the white boluses, she gently squeezed it, then held it closer to examine it. Her eyes flickered with surprise.
Seeing her do this, the shopkeeper carefully asked, “Boss… is something wrong with that pill?”
“There’s no problem at all,” she said. Putting the pill close to her nose, she inhaled. “The quality is spectacular. You don’t see pills like this very often.”
Hearing this, the shopkeeper looked even more astonished than before.
“Boss, you’re a conclave disciple from the Second Peak. Your dao of alchemy makes you like someone chosen by heaven. Ma’am, are you really saying that these pills have a rare level of purity? Even high-quality white boluses are still just white boluses.”
The young woman laughed. “You’re right, Uncle Peng. White boluses are indeed nothing but white boluses. Although it’s great to have a high quality version, you can get the same effect by just consuming a few more low quality pills. No, what interests me is that whoever concocted this pill is obviously very skilled.”
She seemed very intrigued as she continued to study the pill. Then she had the shopkeeper take out the entire lot of pills for her to study one at a time. As she did, her expression of astonishment increased.
“Each one is the same. And there are so many! Based on the temperature of the pills, they were concocted in batches, with the most recent batch finished yesterday. This person’s ability to craft medicinal liquids has reached a superb level. Every batch is exactly the same!”
Eventually, she had the shopkeeper pack all of the white boluses up so she could take them away to study further.
Before leaving, something occurred to her, and she stopped and said, “Uncle Peng, where did you get these white boluses from?”
“Some disciple from one of the other peaks. He left just now. You walked right past him.” As he spoke the words, he looked outside the shop, but Xu Qing was nowhere to be seen.
The young woman thought back to the handsome young man she passed when entering the shop. She nodded.
“Uncle Peng, if he comes back to sell more pills, please buy them all and don’t put them up for sale. I want them for myself.”
Hearing this, the shopkeeper was more surprised than ever. “Of course,” he said, his curiosity about Xu Qing continuing to grow.
1. In this case, the girl is calling him “uncle” out of respect for his age, not because of a familial relationship. ☜