Chapter 96: A Gruish Inn
The wind picked up as the darkness of night deepened. The moonlight only made things colder. The night was so deep that it was like the hand of death, poised over the Book of Life and Death, covering everything with ink.
Eventually, the scene became a dark painting of death. Everything was black. The only color was the ghastly red blood dripping out of the neck of the criminal who was now pinned to the wall. The footsteps grew louder and a figure in gray appeared, slowly emerging from the painting.
As that figure neared, it superseded the flowing blood, and became a source of frigid cold outside the inn on Plankspring Way. In fact, it was so cold that the dripping blood seemed to congeal. At the same time, the innkeeper’s pupils constricted as he looked at the newcomer.
It was a young man with flowing black hair. He was tall and slender, with cold eyes that perfectly matched the sharp angles of his face. He looked like an unsheathed blade as he approached.
He was none other than Xu Qing.
His expression was calm as he walked past the innkeeper to the corpse. Reaching down, he took the criminal’s sack, then pulled the dagger out of the wall, twisting it so that it decapitated the corpse. As the body fell to the ground, Xu Qing kicked it.
The corpse flopped down in front of the grim-faced innkeeper.
A whooshing sound could be heard as the anaconda appeared, peeping past the innkeeper to look at Xu Qing. Her eyes glittered.
“Coo. Coooo.”
“My treat,” Xu Qing said coolly.
Looking very happy, the anaconda swallowed the corpse and gave Xu Qing a nod.
“This is too much, Xu Qing!” the old innkeeper said, glaring at him coldly.
Xu Qing turned to look at the old man, then flicked his wrist, sending his dagger flying out into the darkness. It pierced through the wind, then provoked another scream as a second criminal who had been running toward the inn was stabbed through the forehead. The force of the blow shattered his skull, sending blood and shattered bone flying everywhere. The body flew six meters back through the air until flopping onto the ground.
Seeing this, the innkeeper’s eyebrows shot up. He could now tell that Xu Qing was actually stronger than he had been on Sealizard Island.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” the innkeeper said angrily, veins bulging on his forehead. At the same time, a sense of danger was building in him, causing ropes to appear out of nowhere and drape around him.
However, the moment the ropes appeared, intense flames erupted from Xu Qing, raising the temperature so high that the ropes bent away from him.
Around then, a third scream rang out.
It was a third criminal. Upon simply approaching the area, his entire body turned greenish-black, and he died a moment later.
Xu Qing ignored the dead criminals and instead eyed the innkeeper’s throat as he tried to decide whether or not to kill him.
The innkeeper looked at Xu Qing, his heart sinking. He knew why Xu Qing had come, yet he was loath to simply hand over thousands of spirit stones. Everything he had said up to this point had been in the hopes of convincing Xu Qing that the bag of holding he had thrown him on Sealizard Island was valuable enough that their spirit stone debt should be considered settled.
But the fact that Xu Qing hadn’t said a word so far made it clear that no amount of bartering was going to appease him. Furthermore, Xu Qing’s aura was full of killing intent, which caused the old innkeeper’s heart to pound with a feeling of deadly crisis.
“Don’t do anything rash, Xu Qing!” he blurted. “I have a trump card!! It’s my inn. Actually, it only looks like an inn. The truth is that it’s a grue! It’s sleeping, but if it wakes up, the First Peak will mobilize to crush it. And if that happens, you’re done for!!”
Behind him, the entire inn shivered, and a terrifying pulse of energy emerged from the very tables, chairs, tiles, and bricks that made it up. It seemed like the inn really was some sort of grue, and it was about to wake up.
Xu Qing’s pupils constricted, and the sudden sensation of deadly crisis caused him to back up a few paces.
As for the anaconda, she had been lying off to the side watching curiously but not interfering. She seemed to think that if Xu Qing and the innkeeper started fighting, nothing dangerous would come of it. When she sensed what was happening with the inn, a gleam of familiarity appeared in her eyes, and she patted the floor of the inn with her head as if in greeting.
Then she noticed Xu Qing looking in her direction, and made several cooing sounds, while simultaneously nodding her head, as if to tell him that the innkeeper was telling the truth.
“I’m not human, Xu Qing,” the innkeeper went on. “And this is no ordinary inn. It’s a grue. My people have the power to put grues to sleep; years ago, I put this thing to sleep and brought it to Seven Blood Eyes. I’d hoped to sell it to the First Peak. However, they wanted me to keep it here for ten years before giving me any money. There were no other options, plus they offered me a lot of money, so I agreed. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m poor! I also need cultivation resources!
“Besides, I’m friends with Huang Yan! Plus, I saved Zhang San’s life once. And the Captain and I owe each other our lives. So don’t do anything rash, Xu Qing. We can be friends! I gave you information about wanted criminals before, remember? That information was real! I haven’t done anything to harm you.”
Xu Qing listened grimly. Then he looked at the inn. To him, it seemed like a massive, ghastly mouth, ready to devour anything in its path. He’d known all along that there was more to this old innkeeper than met the eye. And he’d always assumed the old man would have trump cards. That was why he’d always held back from making a move on him. But he would never have guessed that the man’s trump card was the inn itself!
Xu Qing didn’t believe for a minute the part about selling the inn to the First Peak. But the sensation of danger was absolutely real. And because of that, Xu Qing didn’t think it was worth it to press this issue. Being as cautious as he was, he made the decision not to take any further action. Instead, he would keep an eye on Plankspring Way. Looking at the innkeeper, he retracted any killing intent and coolly said, “Give me my spirit stones.”
Sensing that Xu Qing’s killing intent had vanished, the innkeeper took out three spirit notes, each worth 1,000 spirit stones. With a flick of his fingers, he sent them flying over to Xu Qing. Xu Qing looked them over and then walked off with the heads of the criminals.
During the entire encounter, he only said two things.
Meanwhile, the anaconda made a few cooing sounds in Xu Qing’s direction. She sounded cheerful.
Xu Qing didn’t look back.
“Pipe down,” the innkeeper said, taking out some generic antidote pills and consuming them. “You ungrateful snake! Now we’re out of spirit stones, and instead of feeling sorry for me, all you care about is him! He nearly killed me, and the inn almost woke up!”
“Coo!”
“You think I deserved it...?” Looking angrier than ever, the innkeeper swished his sleeve, sat down, and furiously started smoking his pipe again. When he thought back to the killing intent he had just felt from Xu Qing, he felt astonished. The young fellow’s murderous aura is even stronger than before. I wonder what ended up happening on Sealizard Island. I need to ask around!
Meanwhile, Xu Qing was walking through the night thinking about what had just played out. There were a lot of unusual things in the world, and though he couldn’t be sure that the innkeeper’s story was true, what he did know was that the sense of immense danger from the inn was real. After walking quite a distance away, he looked over his shoulder in the direction of Plankspring Way, then fully suppressed his killing intent.
Because his dharmaboat wasn’t finished, he decided that it would be best to spend the night at the Violent Crimes Division. As he entered, he ran into the Captain, who was just leaving after a busy day of work. He was munching an apple as he walked out. When he noticed Xu Qing carrying three severed heads, he smiled and tossed him an apple.
“So hardworking!” he said. “You just got back and you’re already out nabbing criminals? Did you have a profitable time out at sea?”
Xu Qing caught the apple, then took out a 100-spirit-stone note and gave it to the Captain. “I did okay.”
The Captain accepted the note, then hopped onto a nearby stone bench. Squatting down, he said, “I heard that there was an island near the Westcoral Archipelago where a lot of people died. Were you in that area, by any chance?”
Xu Qing shook his head.
The Captain smiled and continued to eat his apple. Instead of continuing with the previous subject, he lowered his voice and dramatically said, “Let me tell you about a really shocking event that happened. Just after you left, we got a huge case. All the disciples were talking about it. It was really grisly, to be honest.”
At this point, the Captain looked at Xu Qing, expecting him to ask for details.
Xu Qing just looked back at him.
A moment passed, and then the Captain sighed. “Ah, Xu Qing. When people talk to you like this, you’re supposed to act curious. That way, the person who’s talking to you won’t feel embarrassed, and they’ll be comfortable going on. It’s called being polite.”
Xu Qing thought about it for a moment, then tried to look curious.
Looking pleased, the Captain glanced around to make sure they were alone, then lowered his voice again and continued, “Remember the Captain of Earth Bureau, Unit Three? That merman? Well, he was killed! Violent Crimes Division got the case, but considering it was a nonhuman, it wasn’t made a huge priority. The victim had dharma protectors, plus two cousins, and they’ve gone crazy trying to track down the murderer.... Ah, what a chaotic world we live in. I mean, the guy was a crown prince of one of our allies! But dead is dead, and thus, it was kind of a big deal. Anyway, enough chit-chat, Junior Brother Xu. I need to go on patrol.”
With that, the Captain stood, straightened his clothes, and hopped off the bench. As he left, he stopped right next to Xu Qing, leaned over, and whispered, “The Merfolk and Seven Blood Eyes are allies. So they’re being allowed to search for the culprit. Also, I heard... that the Merfolk have a magical technique that allows the two cousins to sense the presence of the killer. They’ve been searching for over a month, and have investigated every person that fish had dealings with. I bet they’ll find the killer sooner rather than later. Everyone is waiting to see what happens. It’s quite an interesting situation.”
Giving Xu Qing an enigmatic smile, the Captain left.
Xu Qing stood there thinking. After a moment, his eyes glittered coldly. Turning in the heads of the criminals and taking his reward, he found a place to meditate.
The following morning at dawn, he left the Violent Crimes Division. As he walked along, he passed a candied fruit vendor, where he bought a skewer. Then he headed into a certain alley, where he stopped in place. Only moments later, a woman approached from behind. She was good-looking to the point of being alluring, and upon reaching him, she dropped to her knees and kowtowed.
“Milord,” she said. This was the informant he had hired when he first arrived in the city. Up to this point, he hadn’t needed any information from her, so he hadn’t summoned her.
Turning, he took a bite of candied fruit and asked, “Has anything big happened recently?”
Seeing him eat from the skewer of candied fruit, the woman shivered a bit. However, only a moment later, she looked at him reverently and said, “There are two big things that everyone’s talking about. The first is the Seventh Peak’s upcoming Grand Competition, which they hold every thirty years. The Grand Competition is always a violent and blood-soaked affair. Supposedly, they chose a Merfolk island as the location of the last tournament, and the place ran red with blood. Afterwards, they became Seven Blood Eyes allies.
“The second big thing also has to do with the Merfolk. One of their crown princes died, and his two cousins have been searching the Port District for over a month, trying to find the killer....”
People who worked the street usually knew the most about what was going on. After becoming an informant for Xu Qing, this young woman had obviously worked hard to gather information. As a result, he was very pleased with her report.
“Anything else?” he asked.
The informant thought for a moment, then said, “Nothing big. Although, I did hear about a small sect that moved out of Seven Blood Eyes territory. You don’t hear about that kind of thing very often. It was called the Golden… something... Sect.”
“Golden Vajra Warrior Sect?” Xu Qing asked.
“Yes!” she said with a nod. “It was the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect.”
After considering all of the information, Xu Qing handed her five spirit stones, then turned and left. To this young woman, five spirit stones was an immense amount of wealth. Gasping, she looked at the departing Xu Qing with even more fanatical reverence than before.
Once outside the alley, Xu Qing started walking along and thinking about the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect.
They moved away? he thought, his eyes narrowing. Then he thought about the Merfolk situation. The Captain and his informant had told him essentially the same thing, and it caused killing intent to bubble within him.
Both of these situations are potential calamities.
After he was off duty that day, he headed to the Hall of Sea Annals to submit a report about the giant he’d seen pulling that dragon chariot. According to the rules governing the Hall of Sea Annals, if you submitted new information that was corroborated as true, you would get a reward. It could take time for that to happen, though. After he was finished with the report, it was evening time, and he headed to the Transportation Division.
There, he found Zhang San looking exhausted, but at the same time, wildly excited.
“Junior Brother Xu, I really went all out with your dharmaboat. I’ve never been more proud of my work!” Leading Xu Qing to the warehouse, he threw open the door.
The first thing Xu Qing saw was a shockingly amazing dharmaboat.
It was 300 meters in length, covered in sealizard skin, and glowed with a scintillating black light. It pulsed with the energy of the great circle of Qi Condensation, and had defenses so strong they were visible to the naked eye.
The basic structure hadn’t changed. However, there were now two huge, curved horns stretching along either side of the boat. They looked vicious and intimidating, and even Xu Qing was so struck by their appearance that his pupils constricted.
Even more astonishing was that the eight sails were now more than twice as large. Their structure was different as well, and they were pitch black. They looked like the wings of some ferocious beast.
The interior of the boat was covered with Foundation Establishment lizard skin. Because of that, the boat was tougher on the inside than it was on the outside, giving it a mysterious quality that could make all the difference in a life-or-death situation.
“As for the godliness,” Zhang San explained excitedly, “I extracted it and then infused it into the eight sails. Once you activate them, the dharmaboat will be able to either fly above the surface of the water or dive beneath it.
“Most importantly, I connected the godliness to the boat as a whole, giving the entire boat the ability to repair itself to a certain extent. There are few qualities more precious to Seven Blood Eyes disciples than that, and your boat has it!
“Furthermore, the godliness can be sent outward in the form of a shocking attack. I’m not even sure if a Foundation Establishment cultivator could stand up to it, and even if they did, they would definitely end up seriously injured. That said, I suggest you refrain from doing something like that. It would be a big waste, and if you do it enough, the godliness will run out. Once that happens, all of your dharmaboat’s properties will decline.
“All said, this dharmaboat of yours is not technically in the Foundation Establishment level of strength. But it’s not that far off. In fact, all you need to do is add in a Foundation Establishment power source, and then it will not only be in that level, it will be impressive within that level!
“That said, don’t casually insert a Foundation Establishment power source. You need the heart of some really amazing beast. Ideally, it would be the heart of a godly entity.... If you add that, your dharmaboat will be on the same level as an actual Foundation Establishment godly entity!
“Of course, I know you, Xu Qing. You don’t like to show off. Therefore, I designed your boat so that you can easily make it look exactly like it did before. Then, you can reveal its true state only when you deem it necessary!”
Xu Qing was deeply shaken as he looked at the huge dharmaboat. Sometime later, he left the Transportation Division and went back to Harbor 79. Even after he arrived, he still felt excited.
***
Five figures made their way through the night in the Seven Blood Eyes capital city. Two led the way, and three followed those two. The three in the back were attendants, and the two in the lead were young women with sharp eyes. These sisters were the cousins of the young merman, and they were also the lovers of Third Highness. The younger sister had eyes bursting with killing intent, while the older sister had a curious expression. The latter wasn’t interested in killing; she had a different goal.
“We’ve been searching for over a month!” the younger sister said through gritted teeth, her eyes burning with vicious anger. “We eliminated everyone who ever had a problem with our little cousin. This is the only person we couldn’t investigate because he was out at sea.”
“It doesn’t matter,” the older sister said. “All we have to do is lay eyes on him and our bloodline ability will tell us if he’s the killer!”
“If it really was him, then I’m going to skin him alive! I’ll make him understand true suffering. I’ll eat a bit of his flesh every day, and then after he dies in agony, I’ll extract his soul and place it in a merlamp to burn for all time!”
On this dark night, it seemed that asuras were out, ready to take lives!
Deathblade's Thoughts
This is an extra long chapter. Even though I said earlier that I would split these chapters, for the time being I won’t. Later on when there are numerous long chapters in a row, or the occasional mega chapter, I will have to split them.