Staring at Xu Qing’s departing figure, the eyes of the old man in the inn gleamed with killing intent. However, even until Xu Qing disappeared from the streets, he didn’t choose to act.
In the silence, the killing intent in his eyes slowly faded.
A huge python head hung down from the roof beam above and landed beside the old man. Its mouth emitted waves of gurgling sounds as though it was talking.
“Why didn’t I kill him?” The old man rolled his eyes.
“This kid is a little strange. He gives me a very dangerous feeling. Unless I use my trump card…”
“Gurgle, gurgle.”
“You’re trash, your entire family is trash! Eat, eat, eat, you only know how to f*cking eat. Alright, eat.” The old man muttered. The python suddenly rushed out and bit Daoist Rat’s corpse, swallowing it immediately before slowly returning to the beam.
Xu Qing headed straight for the Homicide Department in the darkness. After he handed the head over with great familiarity, he received 15 spirit stones and arrived at a small breakfast shop owned by a commoner in the early morning.
After drinking a bowl of warm soy milk and eating a few pancakes, under the enthusiastic recommendation of the shopkeeper, Xu Qing ordered three eggs extravagantly after some hesitation. He finished them all before cautiously returning to his berth and entering his magic boat.
The harvest from this trip wasn’t just the 15 spirit stones on the surface. In Daoist Rat’s leather pouch, there was also a spirit stone and miscellaneous items. Xu Qing calculated according to the price at the port and discovered that he could sell them for two or three spirit stones.
“This method is still the most profitable.” Xu Qing mumbled and began to cultivate.
Very soon, a day passed. When night fell, Xu Qing opened his eyes. Today wasn’t his night shift duty, but Xu Qing still walked out of the magic boat under the moonlight and headed toward Panquan Road.
Since he could earn money by lying in wait, Xu Qing planned to do it more.
Just like that, at midnight, Xu Qing’s figure once again appeared on Panquan Road. After walking one round, he didn’t stop at the place from yesterday. Instead, he changed his location and stared at the inn motionlessly.
However, this time around, it didn’t take long for a wanted criminal to arrive. However, Xu Qing managed to see the old man from the inn.
The old man walked out of the inn and stopped ten feet away from Xu Qing. His expression was gloomy as he stared at Xu Qing.
“Kid, you keep provoking me. Do you really think I won’t attack?”
“No,” Xu Qing calmly replied.
“You…” Seeing Xu Qing act like this, the old man didn’t know what to say. After a long time, he gritted his teeth and spoke.
“What exactly do you want to do? Wait here every day?”
Xu Qing was silent. A few breaths later, he glanced at the old man and spoke in a deep voice.
“I want to earn money.”
“I want to earn money too!” The tentacles in the old man’s eyes began to crawl out, and another crack appeared between his brows. A cold and gloomy aura spread out.
“If you continue like this, no one will dare to come to my inn. You have already affected my business.” Amidst the pervading aura, the old man stared at Xu Qing and spoke word by word.
“Leave this place right now!”
Xu Qing fell into deep thought. He felt that what the other party said made sense. If this continued, no one would dare to come to the inn. Hence, he nodded and left this location to head to the other side of the street.
That place was even more hidden.
The old man thought that Xu Qing was about to leave, but when he saw that the other party had actually changed to an even more concealed location, his veins bulged and he laughed out of extreme anger. He decided not to speak anymore and waved his hand, causing the space between his brows to completely split open. His head then split into two halves, tilting to the side.
And at the location where his head originally was, a red light appeared. This red light emitted a bloody intent, and within it was a lump of bloody flesh that was filled with tentacles.
It was a shocking sight. As those tentacles continued to extend, the old man walked toward Xu Qing with a malevolent expression.
As waves of dangerous fluctuations spread out, the giant python in the inn also revealed its head. The ropes in the surroundings materialized out of thin air and hung down in many places on the streets, enveloping Xu Qing within.
Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and slowly spoke as he looked at the old man walking over.
“This place is on the streets and not your inn. I respect your rules and won’t touch anything in the inn. However, if you tyrannically demand that I can’t touch your guests after they leave, you’re being too unreasonable.”
“Could it be that staying at your place also includes protection when going out?” Xu Qing looked at the old man. He felt that the other party could be reasoned with.
The old man stopped in his tracks.
“So what if it is included!”
Xu Qing fell silent and took out a bag of spirit coins from his leather pouch. There were more than 200 spirit coins in it, and he tossed them over.
The old man was stunned.
“Since it includes outside protection too, I’ll pay two days of rent. You can protect me now,” Xu Qing said seriously.
The old man held onto the bag of spirit coins and was in a daze for a long time before he looked at Xu Qing. After a while, he let out an aggrieved sigh. His head, which had been split into two, closed again, revealing a helpless expression.
“Gurgle, gurgle…” In the inn not far away, the head of a python that was exposed emitted a sound.
“Shut up, I know what he said makes sense!” The old man glared at the python.
He was indeed a reasonable person, and what Xu Qing said made sense. He couldn’t find a place to refute.
The other party indeed didn’t break his rules and even gave him spirit coins. If he insisted on what he said earlier, then logically speaking, the other party was under his protection now…
All of this caused the old man to feel a strong helplessness. He stood there and looked at Xu Qing. Xu Qing also looked at him.
The two of them stared at each other. After a while, the old man sighed.
“I’ll tell you clues about two wanted criminals. You can investigate the clues to capture them. Don’t come to my place anymore.”
The old man took out a jade slip and imprinted some information before tossing it to Xu Qing. He didn’t return the spirit coins and walked toward the inn without turning back.
As he left, the ropes in the surroundings dissipated. The python in the inn lifted its head and nodded at Xu Qing from afar as though it was greeting him before disappearing as well.
Xu Qing glanced at the jade slip in his hand. There were two locations listed as well as the names of the wanted criminals. After he kept them, he lowered his head and kept the powder that was hard to detect on the walls around him. He then scattered some neutralizing agent on the ground to neutralize the poison.
After that, he walked through the streets and headed to the place where he had hidden earlier. On the way, he kept waving his right hand lightly, neutralizing all the poisonous powder on the ground and in the air. After that, he did the same thing to the place he was originally at.
Finally, he dug out seven to eight green plants at the side.
Those green plants contained five types of poison.
The change in his location earlier was something he had made preparations for. Regardless of his original location or the hidden corner on the other side of the street, he had arranged poison powder beforehand.
“To think that the poison did not immediately break out even after he was poisoned by thirty seven poisons…” After dealing with the poison, Xu Qing turned his head and looked at the inn. His eyes narrowed as he turned and left rapidly.
After he left, the calm expression of the old man in the inn instantly vanished. As his breathing hastened, he immediately rummaged through the medicinal pills and swallowed over ten types of antidote pills. After that, he quickly performed a series of hand seals and burned the bag Xu Qing had given him.
The spirit coins inside also dissipated under the flames.
“This brat is too sinister. He spread poison everywhere, and even the spirit coins he gave me were smeared with poison!” The old man gritted his teeth. In reality, the reason why he had compromised earlier was partly because Xu Qing’s words made sense, and partly because… at that time, he was almost unable to control the poison that was about to break out.
That was the main reason.
“At such a young age, his actions are already like this… When he grows up in the future, he’ll be a living, breathing calamity of the human race.” The old man panted as he mumbled.
“You like him?”
“He likes you too. Didn’t you notice that when he saw you, the part he looked at was where your gallbladder was.” The old man sneered.
The gurgling stopped abruptly.
The sky was still dark. Xu Qing sped through the streets at an extremely fast speed. Naturally, he wouldn’t completely believe the locations given by the old man. Hence, after some thought, he took out his identity token and transmitted his voice. After that, he kept the token and pondered for a moment before continuing on his way.
The first location was a little remote. After Xu Qing reached the location, he waited for a long time, observing very carefully. Finally, he confirmed that although there were people living here before, they didn’t seem to have returned for a long time.
Hence, he gave up and went to the second location.
The second location was a gambling den. There were many people here, and all sorts of voices spread in all directions. Xu Qing observed from an empty house not far away.
According to the old man’s jade slip, a wanted criminal named Sun Dewang had come ashore recently and gambled here every day.
This person was nonhuman. He was in the ninth level of Qi Condensation which was quite high. He was usually active on the Forbidden Sea and was involved in piracy. He was quite famous and the wanted poster on the jade slip stated that he belonged to an organization called Sea Ghost.
This organization was one of the few active pirate forces on the Forbidden Sea.
The bounty on Sun Dewang’s head was extremely high, reaching 40 spirit stones. As for the source of the bounty, there were a lot of them. There were a total of over ten merchant ships that had added to the bounty.
One could see how savage this person was at sea.
Hence, Xu Qing didn’t act rashly. He observed for more than an hour and watched the various gamblers entering and exiting. He listened to their conversations. Some were embarrassed, some were forthright, some were high-spirited, and some were bitter and at a loss.
After confirming that there weren’t too many spirit energy fluctuations in the vicinity, Xu Qing thought about it but didn’t choose to enter to take a look. He continued to wait outside.
Just like this, time slowly passed. Four hours later, when the sky was about to turn bright, Xu Qing finally found his target.
It was a fat man in a brocade robe who looked like a landlord. He walked out of the casino, but after taking a few steps, he warily lifted his head. His gaze then landed on the place where Xu Qing was hiding. His eyes instantly narrowed, revealing a hint of danger.
“Today is truly a strange day. I’ve already f*cking lost the money I made a few days ago, and now, I’ve even met someone who wants to hunt me down. A mere seventh level of Qi Condensation dares to hunt others? Tired of living? I will use this chance to recover some of my losses!” As he spoke, the fatty strode forward and rushed toward where Xu Qing was.
Dawn wasn’t far away. A cold glint flashed in Xu Qing’s eyes as he also rushed out.