276 The Sorrow of the Weak
“Captain, since the bounty is 100 million, one leg and one arm should be 30 million spirit stones, right?”
Xu Qing retracted his gaze from the shadow and looked at the apple not far away.
A bite mark appeared on the apple that was floating in the air. It seemed that the person who bit it had paused.
“Deputy Xu, what leg? I don’t understand, but the 20,000 spirit stones you owe me can’t be less. After all, this time, I risked my life to cover for you!”
Xu Qing nodded and tossed a jade slip.
This was a recording of the captain coughing tenderly and showing off when he transformed into the third princess…
A few breaths later, laughter rang out.
“My dearest Junior Brother, I was just joking with you. Eh, Zhang San, why are you here too? What is being built here? Why is there a nose?”
Zhang San had a strange expression. The largest item here was that nose piece. He thought to himself, ‘Captain, your way of changing the topic is too random.’
He looked at the place where the apple was being eaten bite by bite and shook his head.
“Captain, do you still have the nose piece of the statue? Take it out. I’ll put them together for the exhibition.”
Just as Zhang San finished speaking, a large gray stone landed loudly in the empty space at the side. It was 70 to 80 feet long and was none other than the nose piece that the captain had taken away.
However, there were many bite marks at the corners, as though someone had bitten it many times before.
“This thing is useless. I tried to bite it a few times on the way back but it was completely ineffective,” the captain said lazily.
Zhang San didn’t care. He stepped forward and carried the nose piece, placing it together with Xu Qing’s piece. His expression revealed excitement and his eyes gleamed.
“Alright, I just returned and still have some official matters to deal with. I’ve been preparing a big plan recently. Now that I have a high-level corpse heart, I’m only lacking some information. When I’m done, the three of us will do something big!” The captain’s voice echoed with excitement.
“Again?” Zhang San took a deep breath and looked at the apple as though he was looking at a god.
Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed as he asked.
“Can open magic apertures?”
“It’s not just opening the magic apertures. Deputy Director Xu, your ambition is too small. If we succeed in this job, we’ll reach the heavens in a single step. I prepared Binding’s flesh and the high-level corpse heart for this big plan.” The captain became more and more excited as he spoke, but some of his wounds opened, causing him to grimace in pain.
“I’ll tell you in detail later. I’ll leave first. Sigh, I am so busy, there are so many official matters for me to deal with.” Enduring the intense pain, the captain calmly spoke and skipped away.
Zhang San couldn’t see, but Xu Qing was looking at the shadow. At that moment, the shadow was hopping away unstably.
“With these two nose pieces, our museum will be famous!” Zhang San didn’t pay attention to the captain. At that moment, all his energy was on the museum. After circling the nose pieces, he became excited again.
Xu Qing silently retracted his gaze and looked at Zhang San.
“Senior Brother Zhang San, is my magic ship ready?”
“I’m done refining it. The instructions are inside. Take a look for yourself first. I’m going to piece these two nose pieces together and try to make them more perfect.”
Zhang San threw a small bottle to Xu Qing before observing the nose pieces and thinking about how to repair them.
Xu Qing took the small bottle and bade farewell.
He didn’t return to the Homicide Department. Instead, he went to the shore of Port 176 and released the magic ship.
As the rumbling echoed and the waves rose and fell, a huge ship appeared in front of him.
The shape of this ship was exactly the same as before.
However, it was obvious that the materials were better. With the income from Port 176, Zhang San had invested a lot in this magic ship.
In fact, Xu Qing could even faintly sense a fluctuation that suppressed the ignition of life fires on the magic ship. This reminded him of what Zhang San had said. Once the magic ship reached level eight, it would possess the might to suppress Mystic Brilliance Form.
Xu Qing looked at the magic ship and took out the jade slip that Zhang San had given him.
Although this time around, the magic ship no longer had Binding’s flesh and the divinity couldn’t continue to spread, the quality of the magic ship’s materials was quite good.
All the components inside were made of high-level materials. This level eight magic ship’s price had already reached an extremely astonishing level.
“Xu Qing, magic ships are different from magic boats. Because magic boats are simple, every increase in level can increase their might by a lot. However, magic ships are different.”
“Although there’s a gap between the first seven levels of the magic ship, it’s not very big. Only when it reaches the level eight will its strength advance by leaps and bounds. I mainly focused on defense of your level eight magic ship. I used the heart of the boulder beast as the core and it’s also used to augment the defense. The defense can be comparable to the early-stage Foundation Building Mystic Brilliance Form.”
“However, the divinity is gone, but I still have left a spot for it. If you can obtain the heart of a divine creature, it can instantly advance your magic ship to level nine.”
“At that time, regardless of defense or other aspects, it would be comparable to the mid-stage Foundation Building realm!”
“The greater the origin of the divine heart you obtain in the future, the greater the might of your magic ship. Once it reaches level 10, it’ll be comparable to a late-stage Foundation Building cultivator. There are very few level 10 magic ships in the entire sect!”
“Also, I have added the disguise explosion technology like last time in your magic ship. At the same time, I’ve specially developed a new direction for you and added self-destruction. This might be more convenient for you and I’ll also have a sense of participation. When your magic boat explodes later, you’ll know how I participated…”
As he looked at Zhang San’s jade slip, Xu Qing stared at the magic ship in front of him.
Although the magic ship no longer had the divinity attack, Xu Qing still walked on it in satisfaction. After activating the protective barrier, he walked to the cabin. The moment he sat down, he felt very comfortable.
“I’m still used to being on the ship. However, what was the sense of participation in the self-destruction Zhang San mentioned?” Xu Qing was a little curious but he didn’t care too much. After taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and silently meditated.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
As the captain returned, the matter of Xu Qing and the captain’s magnificent feat caused another commotion in the sect. Xu Qing was also looking forward to what the reward the sect mentioned would be.
At the same time, he heaved a sigh of relief.
Before the captain returned, Xu Qing felt very unsafe. If there were really any higher-ups in the sect who had ill intentions, he would face a huge crisis.
Although this possibility was very small now, he still had to maintain vigilance.
However… Xu Qing was relieved that the captain was back.
“After all, he’s the main culprit. The nose was blown up by him, and the bounty on his head is even more exaggerated. Moreover, he’s ranked first. If someone really wants to make a move, they will definitely choose him.”
Xu Qing’s heart was calm but on the dusk of the third day, a person whose heart wasn’t calm at all arrived at Port 176 with sorrow in his heart. He arrived outside Xu Qing’s magic ship.
This was a woman. She wasn’t tall and looked very skinny. She wore a gray Daoist robe and her Qi Condensation cultivation was only at the third level.
Such a person often had to be careful in everything they did in the Seven Blood Eyes, regardless of gender.
This person was none other than Xu Xiaohui, who had entered the Seven Blood Eyes with Xu Qing back then.
She silently stood beside Xu Qing’s magic ship with a bitter expression. Her heart was filled with sorrow and trepidation. In reality, if she had a choice, she wouldn’t have dared to look for Xu Qing.
Although they were in the same batch, they didn’t have much interaction after all, especially since Xu Qing had already become a Foundation Building cultivator and was now famous in the entire Seven Blood Eyes.
She couldn’t compare to such an influential figure no matter how hard she tried.
She suffered for several months before she finally braced herself and arrived. At that moment, as soon as she got close to Xu Qing’s magic ship, she immediately knelt down.
“Disciple Xu Xiaohui requests to see Martial Uncle Xu Qing.”
In the magic ship, Xu Qing, who was meditating, opened his eyes and looked outside. His gaze passed through the barrier and landed on Xu Xiaohui outside.
“What’s the matter?”
His voice rang out from the magic ship and echoed in Xu Xiaohui’s ears. Xu Xiaohui’s body trembled as she spoke softly.
“Martial Uncle, Senior Brother Zhou Qingpeng… died tragically in the sect three months ago.”
It was silent on the ship.
A few breaths later, Xu Qing walked out of the cabin and stood on the ship. He looked at Xu Xiaohui, who was kneeling on the ground. The scene of the four of them going up the mountain together and the matter of Zhou Qingpeng generously giving him the Ghost Desires appeared in his mind.
In reality, he wasn’t very familiar with Zhou Qingpeng but the other party’s gift back then could be considered a favor. Moreover, the Ghost Desires had helped him a lot. Now that he heard Zhou Qingpeng had died tragically, he sighed inwardly.
However, he wasn’t too surprised.
The cruel environment at the foot of the Seven Blood Eyes’ mountains wouldn’t soften because of the war. There would always be people who died and there would always be people who yearned to join the sect.
However, since he owed him a favor, Xu Qing had to ask about this. He looked at Xu Xiaohui and slowly spoke.
“Tell me in detail.”
Xu Qing’s words caused Xu Xu Xiaohui to tear up.
During these few months, she had fallen into despair many times, now she saw hope from Xu Qing’s question.
“Martial Uncle Xu, Senior Brother Zhou originally followed Martial Uncle Ding Xiaohai in the Coast Guard Department. He told me that he had helped Martial Uncle Ding do many things that couldn’t be known by outsiders. Martial Uncle Ding also promised him that he would give him a follower spot in the future.
“However, after Martial Uncle Ding advanced, he left the Coast Guard Department without Senior Brother Zhou. Senior Brother Zhou instantly lost his backer. Moreover, many of the things he did previously attracted the malice of many people. This is one of the reasons why he died.”
“Secondly, back then, Senior Brother Zhou gained a lot in the Seventh Peak’s Grand Competition. These gains of his could have been protected. However, as Martial Uncle Ding Xiaohai ignored him, Senior Brother Zhou was targeted by others. One day three months ago, he died tragically on the streets.”
“I’ve been investigating until now but I still haven’t found who the murderer is.”
Xu Xiaohui’s tears flowed. Although her face was filled with sorrow, her words were very organized. Clearly, she had been preparing these words for a long time.
“You and Zhou Qingpeng?” Xu Qing fell silent for a moment before looking at Xu Xiaohui.
“Senior Brother Zhou has done me a great favor. Previously, in order to obtain the magic boat, I borrowed a large sum of spirit stones but I couldn’t pay it back. I had no choice but to give up my dignity to curry favor with some disciples of the sect and become their plaything. In front of others, I look glorious but in reality, I live like an animal. I have to cater to all kinds of torture from them and my body is covered in scars. This is me being cheap and too vain.”
Xu Xiaohui bit her lower lip and spoke softly.
“Senior Brother Zhou pitied me and helped me repay the debt. I originally thought that he had taken a fancy to me, but in the end, he didn’t touch me at all. Instead, he helped me many times. I, Xu Xiaohui, have a cheap life, but I still know that I have to repay a debt of gratitude.”
“However, my ability is limited. In the past few months, even though I sacrificed my body to investigate, there was still no result, so I could only come here and beg Martial Uncle Xu.”
Xu Xiaohui lowered her head and her forehead touched the ground.
A gentle force spread out, stopping her from kowtowing.
“There’s no need for that. I once owed Zhou Qingpeng a favor. I’ll investigate this matter.”