The instant Xu Qing turned, he quickly observed the situation behind him.
He saw that seven to eight zhangs* away, there were seven people in different locations moving closer to him.
There were adults, males and females in this group of seven. They mainly wore deep gray leather coats, and they had many leather pouches attached to their waists.
All of them possessed weapons as well, and they spread themselves out in different directions.
Three of them had bows and two wielded blades, but none of them showed their backs to each other. It was as though they were wary for some reason.
There was also another person who wore boxing gloves. He moved forward alone, standing in the center-most location.
As for the person who had spoken in an eccentric way earlier, he was a tall and muscular dude.
This man carried a gigantic ax, and his distance was the closest to Xu Qing.
He had a sturdy frame, a full beard, and a malevolent-looking scar on his face. At this moment, his gaze shone with cruelty as he smiled maliciously while striding forward with huge steps toward Xu Qing.
All of these were seen by Xu Qing in a single glance.
His pupils narrowed as his mind instantly analyzed the fact that these people weren't a single entity. Rather, it seemed that they had grouped up on the spur of the moment.
He could tell this from the locations they stood in and the wariness they exhibited toward the others.
Besides, Xu Qing had guessed these people's identities. They were all…scavengers!
The Nanhuang Continent didn't lack scavengers. The majority of them were cruel and didn't have any bottom lines. Everything was a case of the strong eating the weak.
Evidently, now that the blood rain had stopped in the forbidden zone and the boundary had opened, the scavengers in the surroundings were all drawn here.
To them, although the forbidden zone was dangerous, their lives were already balanced on the edge of a blade. Hence, the resources contained in an empty city were enough to make their eyes red with envy.
Even if some items were tainted, they would still have some storage value.
As Xu Qing's thoughts rapidly flitted across his mind, his body moved as he was about to leap to the side.
However, that burly dude who was moving closer to him immediately rushed forward when he saw that Xu Qing wanted to flee. The cruelty in his eyes intensified, and his malevolent smile contained a hint of bloodthirst.
"Wanting to flee? I love abusing and killing brats like you the most. You should have plenty of items in your leather pouch, right? Captain Lei, let me handle this kid."
The burly dude's eyes flashed with cruelty. It felt like the cruelty within his eyes shot out and transformed into intimidation. Combining that with his tall, muscular figure and his battle-ax, the sense of oppression he exuded was exceedingly strong.
At this moment, he rushed forward with large strides and leaped in the direction Xu Qing was in before tossing his battle-ax over.
With a whooshing sound, the battle-ax whistled through the air and closed the distance between them, instantly approaching its target from the air.
The muscular dude had great strength and his movements weren't slow either. However, Xu Qing's speed was even quicker. At that instant the battle-ax arrived, his body had fiercely sped up as he dodged to the side.
The battle-ax harmlessly whistled past the area in front of him.
However, the wind from the momentum blasted into Xu Qing's face, causing his disheveled hair to flutter a little, revealing his cold wolf-like gaze underneath his hair.
At the next moment, Xu Qing's body borrowed the momentum of his dodge to roll onto the ground. However, he didn't choose to flee. Rather, he moved closer to the burly dude and lifted his right hand while a raven black-colored iron stick directly appeared in it.
Borrowing the advantage that his height was shorter than the other party, Xu Qing furiously leaped, and the iron stick in his hand stabbed upward from down below, aiming to pierce the burly dude's chin.
Everything happened too quickly. The skinny body of Xu Qing as well as his earlier act of fleeing was all to naturally mask his intention to attack. As for the burly dude, he also felt a sense of life-and-death crisis at this instant.
After all, he was extremely experienced. At this moment, his upper body furiously leaned backward and his countenance drastically changed. He narrowly avoided the iron stick, but the iron stick still caused a wound on his chin.
However, before he could fester the anger in his heart, Xu Qing swiftly pulled out the dagger from his thigh with his left hand, looking extremely cold.
At the moment the upper body of the burly dude leaned back, Xu Qing directly stabbed the dagger into the instep of the burly dude's right foot.
A plopping sound then echoed out as the dagger penetrated the straw sandals and the flesh, directly pinning the burly dude's foot into the soil.
As a result, the expression of the burly dude contorted, and intense pain swept through his entire body. A tragic cry abruptly rang out. He was then about to counterattack, but Xu Qing was too nimble. After Xu Qing attacked, his body instantly shot toward a broken bunker for cover. He crouched there and was ready to attack again.
When the flickering flames illuminated his face, it made his entire person look a little indistinct. His wolf-like gaze was something the flickering flame couldn't conceal. It was filled with wariness and ruthlessness as he stared at the scavengers.
All of these happened too quickly. Xu Qing's young age and skinny body frame confused many of the scavengers, causing them to be careless. Hence, they didn't manage to react immediately.
At this moment, a fierce glint flashed in the eyes of everyone. Particularly, the gazes of the three people with the bows turned even sharper.
Xu Qing who was hiding behind the bunker didn't bother to glance at the burly dude not far away who was screaming tragically, struggling to pull out the dagger from his insole. His gaze swept through the three archers and eventually landed on the man with the boxing gloves in the center.
This man was an old man. Although his clothing was similar to the others, his gaze was the sharpest. Also, Xu Qing could sense the hidden undercurrents of spirit energy from his body.
From the old man's position as well as the way the gazes of others instinctively gathered on the old man, Xu Qing had a guess in his heart.
This old man…probably was the temporary leader of these scavengers.
Xu Qing looked at the old man and analyzed, while the old man also looked at him. There seemed to be a hint of strangeness in his gaze.
Very soon, the old man shifted his eyes away. He only looked at the burning flames not far away and remained silent.
At this moment, the burly dude who had removed the dagger had flames of anger in his eyes. He let out a loud roar and was about to rush at Xu Qing.
"Brat, watch how I make you die!"
Xu Qing narrowed his eyes which were gleaming with sharpness. Just when he was about to act, an aged voice calmly rang out at this moment.
[1] 1 zhang = 3.3333 meters