Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 67: Crossing the Red Line!

Slaying an enemy chieftain yielded a bounty of eighty Spirit Stones, to say nothing of the lucrative Contribution Points.

Had Xu Qing not been the one to track and cripple this target, he might have let it go. But he had already done the bloody work. To have someone swoop in and hijack his profit at the final second? Murderous intent flooded Xu Qing’s eyes.

There was no time to intercept the thief. Behind Xu Qing, a massive blue hand—manifested from a talisman—howled through the air toward his back.

Seeing the mermaid youth about to claim the bounty, Xu Qing formed a one-handed seal. Ambient moisture rapidly condensed around the youth, forming a massive, translucent jellyfish that slammed forward.

“Petty tricks!”

The mermaid youth sneered. He didn’t even break stride. A shimmering barrier materialized around him, easily absorbing the jellyfish’s impact. The aquatic construct shattered on contact.

But he had underestimated Xu Qing’s spellcraft.

Instead of dissipating, the shattered water droplets rapidly converged, weaving into a heavy, restrictive net that ensnared the youth. The mermaid’s brow furrowed as the sudden drag broke his momentum, causing him to miss his grab. The crippled chieftain scrambled ten feet away.

Xu Qing seized the opening. He didn’t bother dodging the massive blue hand roaring at his back; he braced for it.

*Boom!*

Blood spilled from Xu Qing’s lips, but he rode the kinetic shockwave of the talisman’s strike, weaponizing the blunt force to violently accelerate his own body. He blurred past the ensnared mermaid youth, closing the distance to the chieftain in a heartbeat. He raised his right hand, the black iron spike glinting with lethal intent.

At that exact moment, the mermaid youth shredded the water net. A cold sneer twisted his lips. With a flick of his wrist, the bladed flying wheel he had previously launched at Xu Qing shrieked back from the distance, tearing through the air to decapitate the chieftain first.

It was a race for the kill.

But the black iron spike was faster. Like a bolt of dark lightning, it pierced the back of the chieftain’s skull with a sickening crunch, the bloody tip erupting from the center of the Night Dove’s forehead!

A split second later, the flying wheel arrived, cleanly severing the chieftain’s neck. The severed head flew into the air on a geyser of arterial blood.

Ignoring the spinning blade, Xu Qing maintained his blistering pace, snatching the severed head out of the air by its hair. Only then did he pivot, his cold gaze locking onto the mermaid youth’s livid face.

“What kind of trash dares to steal my merit?” the youth hissed, his green eyes burning with venom.

He caught the returning flying wheel, a suffocating murderous aura rolling off his frame as he stalked toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing remained silent. His grip tightened on the dripping head. Beneath his calm exterior, his muscles coiled like springs. He discreetly crushed a poison pill between his fingers, letting the toxic powder catch the wind.

Simultaneously, his shadow—invisible in the dim light—slithered across the ground, pooling directly in the youth’s path. One more step, and the mermaid would tread on it.

The moment that happened, the shadow would erupt, and Xu Qing would strike the killing blow. He calculated a near-certain probability of lethal success.

The youth raised his right foot. Just as it was about to fall—just as Xu Qing’s killing intent peaked—a cold chuckle drifted from the fog.

“And what kind of trash are you, daring to steal from my Sixth Team?”

The Sixth Team Captain strolled out of the mist, casually taking a bite of an apple. Behind him marched the surviving members of the Sixth Team. They were down four men, but the rest looked like demons fresh from the slaughter, each swinging a severed head by the hair.

The Captain, in particular, reeked of fresh gore. The sheer density of his killing intent seemed to freeze the ambient air.

The mermaid youth froze. He slowly lowered his foot back to its original position and stared at the Sixth Team. A few seconds later, members of the Third Team began emerging from the fog behind him.

The standoff was suffocating. The youth sneered, shooting Xu Qing one last venomous glare.

“You get to keep your life for now. But I’ll remember this.” He flicked his sleeve and vanished into the mist with his escorts.

Xu Qing stood motionless, his expression unreadable.

“Good work,” the Captain said, his sunny smile returning as he circled Xu Qing. He eyed the severed head, then tossed Xu Qing an apple. “Here. My treat.”

Xu Qing caught it with his left hand and took a bite. It was sweet, though the taste was heavily masked by the copper tang of his own blood. He swallowed, his gaze lingering on the spot where the mermaid youth had disappeared.

Around them, the Sixth Team was buzzing with predatory excitement.

“The Captain bagged a chieftain, and the kid bagged one too! We’re making a killing tonight!”

“Twenty Spirit Stones base pay! Haha, this raid is a goldmine!”

“Xu Qing, we collected the rest of your bounties. The Night Doves with the slit throats—we know those are yours.”

Seeing his usually cutthroat subordinates acting like a cohesive, jubilant unit pleased the Captain immensely. The four dead members were already forgotten overhead. He waved a hand.

“Wrap it up! We’re heading back.”

The squad marched out of the manor, hauling their grisly currency toward the Homicide Department. Along the way, the veterans cast respectful glances at Xu Qing.

It took serious capability to execute a chieftain, and sheer ruthlessness to stand off against a rival team’s captain over the payout. Regardless of who technically landed the killing blow, Xu Qing had secured the asset. That was all that mattered in Seven Blood Eyes.

Falling to the back of the formation, the Captain matched Xu Qing’s pace and handed him a frayed blue talisman. It was the Ghost Hand Talisman the dead chieftain had used.

“Take it. You earned it.”

Xu Qing accepted it silently, noting the deep wear on the parchment; it only had one or two uses left. He looked at the Captain, whose expression had turned uncharacteristically profound.

“Did I interrupt your kill?” the Captain asked.

Xu Qing said nothing.

“Too many eyes,” the Captain murmured. “Not just our Homicide Department, but foreign Dharma Protectors hiding in the wings. It’s not that we *can’t* kill them, but they are technically allies. The mermaids have a treacherous streak—tried to rebel years ago before the old monsters on the mountain crushed them during the grand competition—but they still hold allied status. It’s bad for business to butcher them openly.”

The Captain’s sunny smile returned. “Though I do wonder why that little fish likes to ditch his Dharma Protectors and wander off all by his lonesome…”

Xu Qing processed the information. He pocketed the talisman, retrieved two pears from his leather pouch, and handed one to the Captain before biting into the other.

“Captain,” Xu Qing asked quietly. “Is non-human biology vastly different from ours?”

The Captain looked genuinely surprised by the offered fruit. He weighed it in his hand and chuckled.

“Significantly. Take poison, for instance. Toxins that would melt a human from the inside out might not even give an alien a stomachache. Conversely, some of our healing tonics are highly lethal to them.”

Xu Qing glanced at the Captain. The Captain met his gaze. Neither said another word.

As they walked, a glacial chill settled deep within Xu Qing’s eyes. He operated on a strict internal red line. If someone crossed it, he would systematically dismantle them. Even if he lacked the immediate strength or opportunity, he would carve their name into his bones until the threat was eradicated.

That red line was his survival.

It was true in the slums, true in the Scavenger Camp, and true in Seven Blood Eyes. The only difference was that here, he had to be far more calculating with his executions.

That mermaid youth had trampled over his red line. He was a higher priority target than the old man on Banquan Road, rivaling even the Vajra Sect Patriarch.

He needed to die. Soon.

After the Sixth Team submitted their bounties at the Homicide Department and dispersed, Xu Qing didn’t return to his Dharma Boat. Instead, he melted into the shadows near the department, waiting.

An hour later, the mermaid youth emerged.

But he wasn’t alone. Through careful observation, Xu Qing detected faint, lethal auras woven into the surrounding perimeter. The strongest one radiated the oppressive weight of Foundation Establishment.

Furthermore, the youth showed zero symptoms of poisoning.

Xu Qing knew his toxins had made contact. The Captain’s assessment was correct. Factoring in the biological immunity and the heavy escort, Xu Qing aborted the assassination. He memorized their trajectory and slipped away into the night.

***

The Seventh Peak’s purge of the Night Doves was a resounding, bloody success. All seventeen syndicate strongholds in the port district were liquidated. Any affiliated gangs were violently uprooted by Homicide Department operatives.

Several Deputy Directors had personally taken the field, slaughtering the Night Doves’ heavy hitters.

By dawn, nearly two thousand Night Dove corpses, along with countless collateral affiliates, had their heads mounted on the city walls. The stench of blood blanketed the port, a gruesome deterrent to any who would challenge the Sect’s monopoly.

The Homicide Department paid a steep price, losing over three hundred disciples—including the man and woman Xu Qing had first met at the Seventh Peak’s registration desk.

But the overall profit margins were staggering. The main city’s factions were thoroughly intimidated, leading to a sharp decline in internal disciple-on-disciple plundering.

The payout was swift. Xu Qing received a staggering one hundred and thirty Spirit Stones. It was an unprecedented fortune. It also heightened his paranoia; he scanned every passing face for greed, his killing intent simmering just below the surface.

Anyone who tried to take his capital would die.

With such heavy funding, the ship-refining materials he had previously eyed now seemed inadequate. He needed premium resources to fortify his Dharma Boat.

Over the next two days, Xu Qing relentlessly tracked the mermaid youth. He shadowed him multiple times, but the Dharma Protectors were always present. There were no openings.

Xu Qing wasn’t anxious. He was a hunter; he had patience.

On the afternoon of the third day, during his off-duty rotation, Xu Qing was cultivating on his Dharma Boat when his communication jade slip vibrated. It was Zhou Qingpeng, the wealthy scion who had joined the Seventh Peak in the same cohort.

“Junior Brother Xu Qing, I finally procured the Ghost Desire Horseshoe Crabs. Only two, unfortunately. Since we’ve all drifted apart after joining the Sect, I’ve invited Li Zimei and Xu Xiaohui for a private dinner tonight. Care to join us? I can hand over the crabs then.”

The tone was perfectly cordial.

Xu Qing weighed the offer. After the failure of his standard toxins on the mermaid youth, he desperately needed the Ghost Desire Horseshoe Crabs to synthesize a new, cross-species poison. Checking his patrol schedule, he accepted the invitation and resumed his cultivation.

Dusk soon bled across the sky. Xu Qing opened his eyes, calculated the time, and disembarked, heading toward the designated restaurant.

It was a lavish, two-story establishment near the port, highly renowned among the local elite. Xu Qing had never set foot inside, but his eidetic memory recalled the Homicide Department’s commercial registry. This restaurant was a front operated by the Coast Guard Department.

While the Homicide Department policed the shores and the city, the Coast Guard monopolized the maritime borders.

Approaching the entrance, Xu Qing systematically scanned the perimeter for ambush points and escape routes. Only after confirming the area was secure did he step inside.

A server immediately spotted him and rushed over with practiced sycophancy. Upon hearing Xu Qing’s destination, the server’s deference doubled, quickly escorting him to the second floor.

Zhou Qingpeng had booked the private suite at the far end of the hall. The second floor was strictly off-limits to commoners; only Seven Blood Eyes disciples possessed the capital and status to dine here.

As he neared the suite, Xu Qing heard laughter drifting through the polished wood doors.

“Senior Brother Zhou, this is my first time here,” Xu Xiaohui’s voice chimed, dripping with manufactured sweetness. “I heard this place is impossible to book. They don’t even look at ordinary disciples. And they serve three specialty dishes that actually nourish cultivation!”

“It’s nothing,” Zhou Qingpeng replied smoothly. “This is Coast Guard property. For us Coast Guard disciples, booking a room is a trivial matter. Xiaohui, if you ever need a reservation, just say the word.”

“Thank you so much, Senior Brother Zhou. Let me pour you a drink.”

The server pulled open the doors. Xu Qing’s cold eyes swept the room, instantly cataloging the occupants and the lavish spread of food.

Two women, one man. Zhou Qingpeng sat at the head of the table, flushed with wine and self-importance. Beside him sat Xu Xiaohui, leaning in with practiced allure.

The third was Li Zimei. She looked exactly as she had in the Scavenger Camp—hunched, anxious, and entirely out of place.

Xu Qing’s arrival abruptly killed the conversation. Xu Xiaohui and Li Zimei stared at the newcomer.

“Senior Brother, you are…?” Xu Xiaohui’s eyes widened as she took in Xu Qing’s striking features and the dense, oppressive spiritual energy radiating from his frame.

Zhou Qingpeng stood up with a welcoming smile, but before he could introduce his guest, Li Zimei spoke up, her voice trembling with hesitant recognition.

“Senior Brother… Xu Qing?”

She had recognized him at a single glance.

—

Last night, after writing until I was exhausted, I watched a video of a really cool skateboarding trick. I couldn’t resist, so I went out and played on my land surfboard for an hour. Sweating like crazy in the heat felt amazing!

(End of Chapter)