Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 11: Assembly

Shrouded in the night, Xu Qing moved with the silent, predatory grace of a feral cat.

He kept a hand clamped over his mouth, violently suppressing the urge to cough. At first, the irritation was manageable. But as he pushed forward, his lungs ignited with a searing, fiery agony, draining the color from his face.

Fortunately, the camp was small, and Captain Lei’s courtyard soon materialized in the gloom. Xu Qing didn’t rush. He stopped, drew a ragged breath to compose himself, and only then approached at a measured pace.

Pushing open the bamboo gate, his cold gaze swept the perimeter before he slipped into his small hut.

The moment the door closed, his control snapped. He doubled over, violently retching a mouthful of black blood. It hit the floorboards with a caustic hiss.

Purging the toxic blood brought immediate relief. The deathly pallor of his skin receded. Gasping, he dropped into a cross-legged stance and regulated his breathing. Minutes later, his eyes snapped open, his complexion fully restored.

“Potent poison,” Xu Qing muttered.

Fat Mountain’s dying breath had carried a lethal payload. If Xu Qing had dodged, the scavenger would have fled and screamed for help, drawing unwanted eyes. Feigning injury wouldn’t have fooled a veteran like Fat Mountain either. The man had been methodical the moment he realized he was being tracked. His only fatal error was underestimating Xu Qing’s lethality.

Trusting the Purple Crystal’s regenerative power to weather the toxic mist and deliver a swift, lethal strike had been the right call. The burning itch in his lungs hadn’t been the poison killing him—it had been the crystal actively purging it.

Every scavenger in this camp is a lethal variable. If I hadn’t butchered Ma Si before he could react, he would have been just as troublesome.

Xu Qing analyzed his own shortcomings from the fight, committing the lessons to memory. After a long moment, he took a deep breath and emptied his leather pouches.

Fat Mountain was hunting me to steal whatever Ma Si had found.

He sorted through the spirit coins and mundane supplies, his gaze finally locking onto a heavy, unremarkable lump of metal. It was the only anomaly in Ma Si’s otherwise standard gear. A valuable material? He couldn’t be sure. He stowed it away for future appraisal.

Next, Fat Mountain’s pouch. No White Pills, but plenty of spirit coins and several vials of suspected poison. Lacking the knowledge to handle them safely, he left them sealed. Finally, he withdrew the cracked amber Fat Mountain had tried to crush in his final moments. A weapon? A signal? Ignorance was a liability. He packed it away and closed his eyes, sinking back into cultivation.

Over the past few days, Xu Qing had discovered that after breaking through to the second layer of Qi Condensation, he only needed an hour of sleep to fully restore his energy. The rest of his time was dedicated to the Sea Mountain Technique.

A full day passed. As dusk settled over the camp, Xu Qing’s eyes snapped open. Footsteps outside.

“Kid. Out in the courtyard.” Captain Lei’s raspy voice cut through the quiet.

Xu Qing slipped out of his hut. A large table dominated the courtyard, laden with roasted meat and cheap alcohol. Six chairs. Six sets of bowls. Captain Lei sat at the head, waving him over.

Xu Qing took the seat beside the old man, his eyes lingering on the food.

“Getting a feel for the camp?” Lei asked, staring out into the darkening streets.

“More or less,” Xu Qing replied. His stomach gave a low, traitorous rumble.

Lei chuckled. “Patience. We wait for the others.”

“The Thunder Squad?” Xu Qing asked.

Lei nodded, but before he could speak, both of them turned toward the street.

A hulking silhouette eclipsed the dim streetlights. The man was a mountain of muscle, dwarfing even the scavengers Xu Qing had seen before. He carried a massive steel shield on his back and dragged a spiked club as tall as Xu Qing himself. Every step he took sent tremors through the dirt.

He pushed through the bamboo gate, his sheer mass making the courtyard feel claustrophobic. Xu Qing’s pupils contracted; it felt like staring down a mutated beast in the ruined city.

“Boss. I’m back,” the giant rumbled. He tossed his shield and club aside—thud, crash—the sheer weight of the iron shaking the ground. He dropped into a chair that shrieked in protest, his eyes locked hungrily on the food. He didn’t even glance at Xu Qing.

Moments later, two more figures emerged from the gloom. A man and a woman.

The man stood tall and rigid, a longbow slung across his back. A brutal, cross-shaped scar was carved into his face, framing eyes as sharp as a hawk’s. The woman beside him looked to be in her thirties. Her features were ordinary, but her voluptuous figure, poured into tight leather armor, exuded a raw, predatory allure.

As they sat, the archer’s piercing gaze locked onto Xu Qing, analyzing him like a target. The woman smiled, her voice dripping with a dangerous coquettishness.

“Boss, we leave for a few days and you pick up a stray? Still full of vigor, I see. Don’t tell me you called us back to introduce your secret bastard.”

“Age doesn’t match,” the giant grunted.

Xu Qing remained silent. He subtly shifted his left foot, perfectly aligning his calf to draw his hidden dagger. Every single one of these newcomers radiated a lethal pressure far exceeding Fat Mountain. The archer, especially, made the hairs on the back of Xu Qing’s neck stand up.

“Barbarian Ghost. Body Refinement third layer. Born with monstrous strength,” Captain Lei said, ignoring the banter. He pointed to the woman. “Luan Ya. Qi Condensation third layer. Beast tamer. Most of the stray dogs in this camp are her eyes and ears.”

He gestured to the archer. “Cross. Qi Condensation fourth layer Perfection. Unmatched in his realm.”

Finally, Lei pointed a weathered finger at Xu Qing. “The kid. Body Refinement second layer.”

The playful atmosphere vanished. The three veterans scrutinized the boy with newfound seriousness.

“Eat first. Talk while we chew,” Lei ordered, tossing a piece of meat into his mouth. “I called you back early because the spring harvest has been moved up. The Camp Master issued a bounty. Whoever brings in the most Seven-Leaf Grass gets standard pay, plus three Clear Dust Pills. Their potency makes White Pills look like dirt.”

At the mention of Clear Dust Pills, predatory gleams flashed in the eyes of the three veterans. They exchanged glances and nodded. Xu Qing didn’t know what a Clear Dust Pill was, but Lei’s comparison to the White Pill was all the context he needed.

“Since we’re agreed, prep your gear. We’re hitting our hidden patch in the restricted zone. The kid comes with us,” Lei declared.

“Him?” Barbarian Ghost grunted.

Cross frowned, his scarred face twisting. “Boss, Body Refinement second layer is dead weight. Babysitting him in the zone will compromise the mission.”

“Everyone has a first time,” Lei countered, looking at Xu Qing. “Your call, kid.”

“I’ll go,” Xu Qing said flatly.

He had five White Pills left, so he wasn’t desperate for the reward. But survival in the Scavenger Camp meant braving the restricted zone eventually. Shadowing a veteran squad was the most efficient way to learn its lethal ecosystem.

Cross fell silent.

“Finish your food and disperse. We move out at first light,” Lei ordered, rising to return to his hut.

Xu Qing speared a chunk of meat, swallowed it whole, and retreated to his room. He had no desire to linger. Trust was a luxury he couldn’t afford.

Dawn broke with a brilliant azure sky. A solitary hawk circled high above the camp, watching the scavengers below.

Led by Captain Lei, the five-man squad marched through the muddy streets. Barbarian Ghost’s towering frame and Luan Ya’s swaying hips drew stares from every direction.

Up ahead, a massive crowd had gathered around the Purple Earth caravan.

“Heard about this last night,” Luan Ya purred, noticing Xu Qing’s glance. “There’s a doctor in that caravan with serious skills. He even fixed Crippled Jackal’s rotting leg yesterday. Now every bleeding heart in camp is lining up.”

“Bastard must be making a fortune,” Barbarian Ghost muttered enviously.

Xu Qing felt a pang of envy himself. Knowledge of healing was priceless here. He looked away, but in the next second, his eyes narrowed into cold slits.

Beside him, Barbarian Ghost and Luan Ya tensed, their auras spiking. Cross and Captain Lei’s expressions remained blank, but a glacial killing intent bled into their eyes.

Blocking the street ahead was another squad. Seven or eight hardened scavengers, radiating malice. At their center sat an old man with wild, disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes. He was perched atop the mutilated corpse of a stray dog, tearing chunks of raw meat from its severed leg.

“Find those two pieces of trash, Ma Si and Fat Mountain,” the old man snarled, his voice dripping with venom. “Daring to miss the departure time… they must be tired of living.”

It was the Blood Shadow Squad. And the man eating raw dog meat was their captain.

He made no effort to hide his oppressive spiritual energy. Xu Qing lowered his gaze, masking the sharp glint in his eyes. Luan Ya stared at the dog corpse beneath the old man, her eyes burning with a murderous fury. It was one of her hounds.

Sensing their approach, the Blood Shadow Captain looked up. He flashed a bloody, jagged grin and licked his lips at Luan Ya.

“You little slut. Your dog tastes pretty damn good. Makes me wonder how sweet the meat on your bones is.”