Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 28: Walking in the Night Without Needing Light

Ting Yu had grown up in the sheltered environment of Purple Earth, blissfully ignorant of the world’s true hardships. But last night, she had a dream.

In it, Chen Feiyuan was ruthlessly bullying Xu Qing. The dream left her furious.

When she woke the next morning, the lingering anger colored her mood. Arriving at Master Bai’s tent, she sat down to recite from the pharmacopoeia, but her mind wandered. She kept glancing toward the tent flap.

Then, Chen Feiyuan walked in.

Ting Yu rolled her eyes, the vivid injustice of her dream flashing through her mind.

Chen Feiyuan yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he lifted the tent flap. He moved to plop down on the cushion next to her, but Ting Yu snatched it away.

He froze, staring at her. “What are you doing?”

“You sit over there.” Ting Yu pointed to Xu Qing’s usual spot near the entrance, not even bothering to look at him.

“Why should I?!” Chen Feiyuan’s eyes went wide with indignation.

“Because you don’t study. Because you’re always skipping class. Because having you sit next to me is annoying. Is that enough?” She glared at him, her words firing off like rapid arrows.

Chen Feiyuan stood dumbfounded. After a long moment, he muttered something under his breath. Not daring to provoke her further, he trudged over to Xu Qing’s spot and sat down, sulking.

“Hey, Ting Yu, you—”

“Don’t say ‘hey’,” she snapped, cutting him off with a fierce glare. “What if someone hears you and misunderstands?”

“Huh? Misunderstands what?”

Before Chen Feiyuan could process his confusion, the tent flap lifted. Xu Qing stepped inside.

Instantly, two shallow dimples framed Ting Yu’s bright smile. She patted the empty cushion beside her. “Junior Brother, sit here.”

Xu Qing paused. Chen Feiyuan’s jaw dropped.

“What are you standing there for? Master Bai will be here any second. Hurry up,” Ting Yu urged.

Xu Qing’s gaze shifted from Ting Yu to Chen Feiyuan, who was currently occupying his usual spot by the door. His mind rapidly calculated the social dynamic. It was almost time for the lecture to begin. With no other option, he walked over and sat beside Ting Yu.

Chen Feiyuan looked like he had been slapped. He pointed a trembling finger at Xu Qing, opening his mouth to protest, but Ting Yu whipped her head around.

“Shut up!”

“I didn’t even say anything!” Chen Feiyuan looked ready to cry. The sheer injustice of it all burned him. He opened his mouth to argue again, but the tent flap lifted, and Master Bai walked in.

Chen Feiyuan swallowed his grievances, sitting rigidly in his stolen seat. Ting Yu looked incredibly pleased with herself. Xu Qing, however, felt a prickle of discomfort. The center of the room was too exposed.

Master Bai took in the new seating arrangement. He glanced at Xu Qing, then at Ting Yu, and finally at the thoroughly aggrieved Chen Feiyuan. A faint, knowing smile touched the old man’s lips. He didn’t comment, simply beginning the day’s assessment.

The routine played out as usual. Chen Feiyuan stumbled through his answers and earned a stern reprimand. Ting Yu recited her portions flawlessly, casting expectant glances at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s responses were perfect. He even took the opportunity to ask several highly technical questions regarding medicinal properties, turning the assessment into a deeper lecture.

The entire ordeal pushed Chen Feiyuan’s frustration to its absolute limit. The moment the lesson concluded, he bolted from the tent, feeling utterly victimized.

Xu Qing rose, equally eager to leave his exposed seat. He bowed respectfully to Master Bai and turned to exit, but Ting Yu called out.

“Junior Brother, why is your face so dirty again?” She pulled out a clean handkerchief, stepping forward to wipe his cheek.

Xu Qing’s brow furrowed. He smoothly stepped back, evading her reach, and hurried out of the tent without a word.

Ting Yu stood there, her hand hovering in the air. She looked at Master Bai, feeling slightly wronged. “Teacher, why is he always so filthy? I was only trying to help.”

Master Bai chuckled, reaching out to gently pat his disciple’s head. “Because, Ting Yu, for those who live in a world of hardship and danger, attracting attention is rarely a good thing.”

Ting Yu slowly lowered her hand, her expression turning thoughtful as she nodded.

***

Xu Qing hadn’t heard Master Bai’s explanation, but his internal logic aligned perfectly with the old scholar’s wisdom.

He had grown up in the slums. He knew that survival meant blending in. In a camp full of scavengers caked in grime and dried blood, a clean face was a beacon. It signaled wealth, naivety, or weakness—all of which invited death.

This was his cardinal rule of survival. Those who failed to camouflage themselves in the slums rarely lived long enough to regret it, unless they possessed overwhelming strength. Thus, Xu Qing never washed his face. He needed to be part of the background, a shadow among shadows. Like a lurking predator, he would only reveal his edge the moment he struck.

Approaching the border of the restricted zone, Xu Qing applied the same logic. He gathered handfuls of rotting leaves and damp earth, crushing them and smearing the foul-smelling paste over his leather coat. Masking his scent and dulling his silhouette, he slipped silently into the mutated jungle.

Even though Captain Lei had retired to the city, Xu Qing hadn’t abandoned his search for the Destiny Flower.

His recent breakthroughs in cultivation, coupled with his expanding botanical knowledge and hyper-vigilance, made the outer periphery of the restricted zone far less threatening. He no longer confined his search to the ruined temple; he was slowly pushing deeper into the jungle.

The deeper he went, the greater the danger, but the crucible of the restricted zone rapidly honed his combat instincts. His harvest of mutated flora also grew richer. Yet, just like the periphery, the deeper regions were choked with toxic, yin-aligned, and corruptive plants.

This abundance of lethal flora naturally steered Xu Qing’s botanical studies toward the art of poison. As his proficiency grew, he successfully refined several new, highly lethal toxic powders.

To accommodate his growing arsenal, he had purchased a scavenger’s coat lined with hidden pockets, each now holding a different vial of poison.

He also wore the black combat gloves he had looted from the Blood Shadow captain’s pouch. They fit perfectly, enhancing the power of his strikes and offering some protection against toxins. Alongside the Cross dagger, they had become part of his daily arsenal, as essential as his iron needles.

As dusk approached, Xu Qing emerged from his small workshop in a canyon, having spent the day refining his poisons and honing his skills. He checked his weapons and poison vials, then crouched low and darted toward the temple complex. Before leaving the restricted zone each day, he always made a final stop at the ruins to search for Scar-Removing Stones.

Though his previous visits had yielded nothing, he knew the stones formed naturally, shimmering with a faint rainbow hue. He persisted, and this time, as he arrived at the temple under the fading sunset, he saw a glimmer of multicolored light from the forehead of a distant stone head statue.

Xu Qing’s eyes sharpened. He scanned the surroundings, checked his hidden traps, and found them undisturbed. He leaped onto a temple roof, crouching to observe further. Confirming no danger, he dashed toward the statue.

There, within a crack on the statue’s forehead, grew a small, rainbow-colored stone. It must have been ordinary once, but within the mysterious temple, washed by time, it had transformed.

Xu Qing carefully pried it loose. He searched the entire temple complex thoroughly and found five more such stones.

Holding the six stones, Xu Qing let out a long breath. Of the two items he sought—the Destiny Flower and the Scar-Removing Stones—he had finally obtained one.

He carefully stored the stones, took a deep look at the temple ruins, bowed respectfully, and vanished into the distant jungle.

Xu Qing raced through the trees, leaping from canopy to canopy. As night fell and beastly roars echoed, he maintained his pace, adjusting his speed as needed, drawing closer to the jungle’s edge.

Soon, as he jumped onto a thick branch to propel himself forward, the muddy ground beside him exploded. A Giant Horned Python, larger than any he had encountered in the camp, surged out, its maw gaping wide to swallow him whole.

Facing the ambush, Xu Qing’s expression didn’t change. He simply raised his right hand and flicked a finger, striking the python’s head as it lunged.

A dull thud echoed. The python’s agonized hiss was cut short. Its tough hide couldn’t withstand Xu Qing’s force; its head shattered, flesh and bone disintegrating. The destruction spread instantly through its body, reducing it to a cloud of blood mist.

Only its gallbladder remained intact, falling from the mist. Xu Qing snatched it mid-air and continued on his way.

By dawn, Xu Qing emerged from the jungle and returned to the camp.

The camp was dark and quiet at this hour, with few lights. As he walked through it, the joy of obtaining the stones faded, replaced by a familiar heaviness as he neared his quarters.

His own dwelling was dark too, with only the dozen or so stray dogs noticing his return, wagging their tails from where they lay.

Entering the yard, Xu Qing habitually glanced at Captain Lei’s old room, now empty, then walked silently into the kitchen.

He reheated yesterday’s leftovers, eating merely to fill his stomach. After cleaning up and returning to his room, he sighed softly.

“I wonder how Captain Lei is doing in the city. He must be well. If I still can’t find the Destiny Flower, I’ll save up more spirit coins and buy a spot in the city too.”

Xu Qing murmured to himself, then closed his eyes and sank into cultivation.

The next day, Xu Qing attended class as usual.

Ting Yu had returned to normal, but she still saved the seat for him. Chen Feiyuan had resigned himself to his fate, watching wistfully as Xu Qing sat in his former spot.

When class ended, Ting Yu no longer offered to wipe his face, her eyes now holding a glimmer of understanding.

Xu Qing sensed this understanding. He lowered his head slightly and bowed to Master Bai before leaving.

Outside the tent, Xu Qing touched the small stones in his pouch and headed toward the little girl’s sundries shop.

But before he could get close, he saw from a distance a group of strangers gathered outside the shop!

Their clothing was distinctive: black robes embroidered with a blood-red sun. An aura of killing intent and bloodiness emanated from them, starkly obvious.