“It was worth it. It was worth it!!” As Xu Qing’s dharmaship sped away from the central part of the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain territory, the fighting behind them got even more intense.
The Captain lay sprawled on the deck, recovering and catching his breath, but looking completely and utterly content. He even burped a few times. “Hahaha! Doing big things with you is the best, little Ah Qing. I can’t believe I got away completely in one piece this time! That’s unheard-of!” Looking extremely pleased with himself, the Captain sat up and slapped his hands onto the deck on either side of him. Sighing, he continued, “You have no idea, little Ah Qing. Whenever Zhang San and I worked together in the past, I’d always lose an arm or a leg! And it’s worse when I operate alone. Sometimes I almost lost everything including my head. And Zhang San would always end up with the best loot.”
Xu Qing sat cross-legged on the deck, still in disguise. Truth be told, he didn’t completely believe the Captain.
Seeing the way Xu Qing was looking at him, the Captain blinked a few times. He could tell what Xu Qing was thinking. However, instead of giving any indication of that, he sighed. “I know, I know. When it comes to talk of things like the spirit of loyalty and self-sacrifice… friendship…. Well, Zhang San is a true bro. He has all of that. Not even I’m shameless enough to deny that.
“Usually, I just let him have the lion’s share, and I take the leftovers. Whatever scraps there may be. Ai. It’s just not like working with you, little Junior Brother. We always split everything 50/50. That’s the way it’s always been, and it’s only fair.”
The Captain could clearly lie without his heart rate increasing by an iota. He didn’t blush either. He seemed absolutely sincere.
Xu Qing’s guard was already up, and he could guess that the Captain was trying to pull a fast one.
“What are you looking at me like that for, little Junior Brother? Ohhhhhhhh. I get it. You want me to be a good example. No problem! We’re fellow apprentices, right? Bros! 50/50 is a really good way to split things up. And as your Eldest Brother, I should set a good example. Therefore, I’m going to give you a 50% discount on the 3,000,000 spirit stones you owe me.”
The Captain slapped his chest and opened his mouth even wider to speak. Unfortunately, as a result, some of the immortal energy he had absorbed from August Spirit Nethersprite’s clone started seeping out.
He snapped his mouth shut. There was no way he was willing to lose what he had worked so hard to gain.
Xu Qing looked at him. He knew exactly what the Captain was getting at. “Captain, I’m planning to go into seclusion.”
“Little Ah Qing, eating by yourself isn’t a good habit to get into!” After speaking that single sentence, the immortal energy started seeping out of his mouth again.
Xu Qing blinked a few times. As his shadow secretly absorbed the immortal energy which was spilling out, Xu Qing expressionlessly produced an apple and tossed it to the Captain.
The Captain instinctively caught it, then looked back in confusion at Xu Qing. “Can’t you just be a good person for once, little Junior Brother?”
“Sure,” Xu Qing replied with a nod. Closing his eyes, he tapped into his third heavenly palace and prepared to put the taboo poison pill into it.
The process would be dangerous, but Xu Qing had worked hard studying that pill. It wasn’t a complete pill, and was also extremely old, such that its spirit nature was extremely deteriorated. After being exposed to the outside world, that deterioration had continued until the pill was almost completely dead. It was like a pool of water with no source to refill it. Therefore, using it as soon as possible seemed like the best way to take advantage of it.
Xu Qing had benefited dramatically in this event. His bag of holding was packed, including many nourishing treasures. At the same time, the mirrors and bottles he had taken would be very beneficial to Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior and the shadow. In fact, there were too many things for him to audit in a short time.
Most importantly of all was how he had packed his sea of consciousness with immortal energy, and how the ghost emperor mountain there had benefited. Xu Qing had taken control of the ghost emperor mountain to stop it from devouring the immortal energy. As a result, the vague outline of the face on it only resembled Xu Qing by about twenty to thirty percent. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he continued the process, and wanted to consult his Master first.
Beyond all that was the drop of blood he had snatched out of the grasp of the young woman in red. He wasn’t sure how that blood would come in useful, but he could tell how it caused the Ghost Emperor mountain to tremble. What was more, it emanated an intense sensation of life force, and even more notable, a dao resonance.
Based on his previous observations and analysis, he was fairly certain it was something August Spirit Nethersprite had used to control her clone.
As Xu Qing thought about these matters, the Captain looked at him impatiently, thinking enviously about that final item he had acquired. The drop of blood.
It was Xu Qing who had laid hands on it, so the Captain couldn’t go so far as to openly ask for it. However, he had made it very clear by implication that he was interested. The pain on his face grew more apparent, and then his expression turned bleak. Taking out a jug of alcohol, he looked up into the sky and took a drink. “Life is so hard. I lost over twenty magical devices that defend against crushing pressure. I lost more than forty magical devices used for disguise. And most importantly of all, the potential calamity hidden within me could erupt at any time. Little Junior Brother, it’s entirely possible that, one day, you might not have me around.”
Xu Qing opened his eyes, looked at the Captain, and then tossed him a little bottle. Inside of it was thirty percent of the blood.
“Is that enough?” Xu Qing asked.
The Captain snatched it, and the pained look in his eyes vanished. Eyebrows shooting up, he laughed heartily. “Enough. Definitely enough! You’re a true delight, little Junior Brother. From now on, if there’s anything you need, your Eldest Brother will be here for you! No questions asked!” The Captain then drank the entire bottle. After, a tremor passed through him, and he sighed excitedly. “I can open another seal! Little Ah Qing, your Eldest Brother isn’t stingy. Take this!”
With that, he pulled a box out of his robe and tossed it to Xu Qing. “I found that thing in some ruins once. Seeing that red-garbed shrew bullying you earlier made me think of it. It’s yours now. When we’re back home, I’ll have a hilt made for it.”
Xu Qing caught the box and opened it. Inside was a black blade with no hilt attached. Glittering with cold light, it was obviously very sharp. There were natural striations on its surface that formed the shape of a strange, gruish eye.
Xu Qing liked it immediately. The truth was it had been a long time since he had a personal dagger. Although he had his balefire dagger, there was something different about a weapon that you could actually hold in your hand.
With a sincere look in his eyes, he turned to the Captain and said, “Thank you, Eldest Brother.”
“Thanks? For what? Going forward we’re going to do a lot of big stuff together. I’m already working on the next plan. Although, the most important thing right now is to take advantage of everything we looted to get stronger. Then we can go to the Swordsage Court and become swordsages!” From the way the Captain’s eyes gleamed, it was obvious he was dead set on becoming a swordsage. “Trust me, my little Junior Brother. Becoming a swordsage is our path to the core of humankind! Emperor-Receiving Prefecture is too small, after all. In the big wide world we live in, there are countless beautiful possibilities for the future. And they’re just waiting for us to get to them!
“I want to get to the imperial capital. I want to cultivate a human imperial-class technique. I want to travel across Revered Ancient. I want to do big things. I want to go check out the so-called holy lands! There are a lot of things I want, and that’s why I do crazy things. Little Junior Brother, let’s travel the world together!”
Xu Qing’s eyes glittered as he listened, and when the Captain finished talking, he nodded. He was going to remember those words.
Let’s travel the world together!
Off to the side, Yanyan blinked a few times and said, “You can take me too.”
***
As the dharmaship carried them away, the fighting in the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain grew more intense. The swordsages had truly come prepared to achieve their goals.
It reached the point where the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain prepared to unleash their taboo treasure. However, that was when an enormous palace appeared and suppressed it.
The Seven Fiends, who were the manifestation of the ghost emperor’s seven physical souls, sensed what was happening and tried to provide assistance. However, the Swordsage Court had already put contingencies in place to prevent them from helping.
There was no way to change the ultimate course of this battle. In the end, August Spirit Nethersprite was captured by the Swordsage Court. She had been the true goal of the mission. The reason was that she was the weakest, and thus, the easiest to capture.
All they needed to do was get control of one of the three spiritual souls, and it would make it impossible for the ghost emperor to awaken. With that goal having been met, it was time for the swordsages to fall back. Even if they were stronger than they were, continuing the fight past that point would have been troublesome. Those were the orders from their superiors in the county. If things got too complicated, and the county forces had to step in, it would indicate that the prefectural forces weren’t capable of handling things on their own.
And thus, after capturing August Spirit Nethersprite, the Swordsage Court departed.
The other two spirits watched them go. Both of them were individuals who had lived for many, many years, and they had suspected from the beginning that something like this was going to happen. They knew that Nethersprite wasn’t going to die. Instead, she would serve as something of a hostage. The Swordsage Court obviously knew that killing her would be too risky.
And thus, the battle ended.
***
Some distance away from the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain, on top of another random mountain, the crimson evening light shone down as a mountain breeze stirred a red garment.
The red-garbed young woman had her evil ghost scythe slung over her shoulder as she stood looking in the direction of the Three Spirits’ territory.
On her neck was a freshly healed scar.
The scar was ghastly; clearly if it had been any deeper it would have severed major blood vessels, and maybe cut through her windpipe.
After a long moment passed, the young woman shifted her gaze to the direction in which Xu Qing and the Captain had disappeared. Her gaze sharpened. Then, beneath her cracked white mask, a smile appeared.
“I’m going to remember their names!” she murmured.
The evil ghost’s eyes opened, and the ghost transmitted a question to her via divine will. “What are their names?”
“Mad Dog and Ghost Hand!” she replied quietly.
The evil ghost nodded and committed the two names to memory, that way it would notice if they ever showed up nearby again.
“Say,” she continued, “do you mind reminding me of the names of everyone I’ve taken out? I don’t want to forget any of them.”
“Jabbering Hound. Fossil. Nursemaid. Six-Fingers. Donkey Head….” The evil ghost scythe started reciting the names. One after another, soon passing a hundred. The young woman in red listened as she walked along. At a certain point, a strange-looking crystal appeared in her hand, which she used to rub at the scar on her neck. Strangely, as she rubbed, the scar slowly vanished. [1] 𝘦𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝗇𝓔t
“All I need to do is finish a few more missions, and I’ll be promoted. Then I can finally leave Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. Then maybe I can finally take a trip back to that scavenger basecamp.”
The wind blew, and the evening sun shone down on her red garment.
***
Far, far away from her, Xu Qing sat on the dharmaship deck and pulled out a bamboo slip. Thinking back to the killing intent in the eyes of the red-garbed girl, he added a name to the list.
‘Girl in Red.’
1. Just a random chapter reference here for kicks and giggles: 👈