Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 36: Kill Without Mercy

Cross’s hands were tougher than most, heavily callused from years of drawing a bowstring.

Even after fighting the Black Scale Wolf pack for a full day and night, his hands hadn’t trembled like they did now. One could only imagine the brutal battle he had endured while Xu Qing was away.

To leave his fingers trembling like this while sustaining such severe injuries, he must have faced an overwhelmingly powerful opponent. The sheer exhaustion radiating from Luan Ya’s weakened state also made it clear she had fought to her absolute limit.

Combined with the camp’s reaction upon his return, the influx of unfamiliar faces, the heavy presence of the Camp Master’s enforcers outside their courtyard, and the cold, mocking gaze of the man with the three-stroke mustache…

Xu Qing already knew who the enemy was.

Yet, this realization only deepened the gnawing unease in his chest. Pressed for answers, Cross and Luan Ya somberly revealed the truth.

In his early years, Captain Lei wasn’t a scavenger. He hailed from an ordinary family in a city far from here.

Due to his innate talent, he once served as a guard in his city, where he obtained his cultivation method and earned the city lord’s favor. He also had a childhood sweetheart and fiancée.

Everything was perfect, but it all changed with the arrival of a caravan.

Cross and Luan Ya didn’t know the specifics. They only heard years later, when Captain Lei was drunk, murmuring that everything was gone.

His fiancée died, and his cultivation was crippled after he exacted his revenge. He survived by a hair’s breadth, left his homeland, and painstakingly rebuilt his cultivation, becoming a scavenger.

Decades passed, and he became a frail old man on the brink of death.

Captain Lei, who had intended to retire and let go of everything, until…

He saw an incoming caravan in the camp and recognized someone among them.

That person, who had destroyed his life and whom he thought he had killed, was still alive.

But Captain Lei chose not to seek revenge again, seemingly to avoid implicating others, so he bitterly fled to Songtao City.

Unbeknownst to him, his nemesis had learned of his existence. Days ago, the Camp Master dispatched men to capture Captain Lei from Songtao City and gift him to his collaborator—Captain Lei’s old nemesis—as a present.

“Someone in the Camp Master’s circle owes me a life debt. After Luan Ya and I returned two days ago, he secretly informed us. We immediately went to rescue him, but we failed…

At the Camp Master’s place, I saw Captain Lei’s nemesis. His foundation had also collapsed, and like Captain Lei, he had rebuilt his cultivation. Though he’s stronger than Captain Lei, the gap isn’t vast,” Cross gritted his teeth.

“We’ve also gathered some information about this caravan. They’re backed by a mysterious organization called Night Dove.

This organization is massive, with countless caravans scattered across the South Phoenix Continent, traveling between various scavenger camps and small cities, trading with camp masters and city lords, buying people to become… Treasure Nurturers,” Luan Ya whispered.

“The Camp Master, the caravan…” Xu Qing’s breathing grew ragged, his eyes blazing with murderous intent.

He felt a raging inferno burning within him, making his eyes bloodshot and fueling an overwhelming fury. He turned and strode straight for the gate.

Behind him, Cross and Luan Ya grew anxious. Luan Ya urgently called out, “Kid, we need to plan this carefully. We must rally other scavengers. This involves years of disappearances, we…”

“No need!” Xu Qing’s voice rang out as he raised his right hand, grabbed the longsword from his back, and swung it fiercely.

The sword transformed into a streak of cold light, shooting like a rainbow toward the courtyard gate. In an instant, it embedded itself with immense force, causing the gate to shatter into pieces and revealing a Camp Master guard eavesdropping behind it.

The guard, holding a dagger, widened his eyes as the sword pierced his chest. He collapsed to the ground, blood spurting, his expression filled with terror.

The sword, carrying too much force, pierced through the guard’s body and flew toward the alley entrance. With a scream from the three-stroke mustache man, it struck like lightning, impaling his thigh and pinning him deeply to the ground.

The casualties of these two caused a brief silence outside, followed by roars and shouts as the seven or eight Camp Master guards surrounding the area closed in.

As Cross and Luan Ya’s expressions changed, Xu Qing shot out like a bolt of lightning.

The moment he stepped through the gate, his right hand snatched the dead guard’s dagger. In one step, he appeared before another guard.

Without even a glance, as he passed by, he raised the dagger and slit the guard’s throat. Blood sprayed, crimson splattering, but not as red as Xu Qing’s eyes at that moment.

In his bloodshot eyes, he seemed to see Captain Lei in the camp, witnessing his old nemesis, forced to swallow his bitterness and grief.

This fueled Xu Qing’s killing intent even more. He spun around and threw a punch, landing it on the chest of a guard leaping from behind to attack.

A dull thud echoed as the guard’s seven orifices bled, his internal organs shattered. His body flew back like a broken kite and hit the ground.

Simultaneously, three more guards charged with murderous intent.

Two were at the fifth layer, one at the sixth layer. But as they closed in, Xu Qing waved his right hand, and the black iron spike shot out instantly.

It pierced through one guard’s skull. Xu Qing crouched, the dagger in his hand gleaming coldly as he appeared before the sixth-layer guard and slashed fiercely at his neck.

Crack!

The sixth-layer guard reacted swiftly, conjuring a spiritual energy barrier to block Xu Qing’s dagger, but it couldn’t withstand his strength.

With Xu Qing’s eyes blazing crimson, he pushed forward violently, forcing the guard back until he slammed into a wall with a thunderous crash. Xu Qing pressed down hard.

Under the sixth-layer guard’s horror, the dagger cut through his spiritual energy barrier and stabbed into his neck, piercing through instantly. The force was so great that the wall behind the guard’s corpse crumbled.

Standing there, Xu Qing turned his head, his killing intent seeming to solidify.

The remaining three or five Camp Master guards trembled, their eyes shrinking in fear. Even though they were all at the sixth layer, they still shook and retreated.

Even the three-stroke mustache man’s screams paused for a moment, his face uncontrollably pale and anxious.

But the slaughter was far from over.

Xu Qing charged forward abruptly. The three or five guards’ minds reeled as they tried to retreat faster, but it was too late.

Xu Qing was too quick. In an instant, he closed in. His left hand slammed onto one guard’s head, crushing it with a bang. His body moved like a ghost, appearing eerily beside another guard. As the dagger in his hand slashed, he shifted again, appearing before a third guard.

This guard trembled, letting out a desperate roar as he spread his arms to grab Xu Qing, as if to die together.

But what awaited him was Xu Qing’s forehead smashing down hard.

The roar cut off abruptly as the guard’s forehead caved in, dying instantly. Xu Qing suddenly retreated, crashing into another guard.

The dagger in his hand stabbed repeatedly into the guard’s back—one stab, two stabs, three stabs…

Until he slammed the guard into another wall, then looked up.

Thudding sounds echoed as all the guards here fell to the ground, dead, with no intact corpses!

Having killed multiple people, blood splattered the ground. Under the afternoon sun nearing sunset, the bloodstains on the ground looked horrifying.

Reflected on Xu Qing, it made him appear drenched in blood, combined with his own bloodlust, looking like a demon god.

Due to the slaughter here, many scavengers living nearby immediately came out, gasping as they looked over.

“It’s the kid!!”

“He… how is he so strong!”

“Those dead are all the Camp Master’s men. He’s defying the Camp Master!”

Cross and Luan Ya also supported each other as they walked out. Seeing the corpses littering the ground, Xu Qing’s figure in the sunlight, and the blood everywhere, their hearts trembled violently.

Amid the uproar, Xu Qing walked toward the trembling three-stroke mustache man. On the way, he retrieved his dagger and iron spike until he stood before the three-stroke mustache man.

The three-stroke mustache man shivered, cold sweat pouring down. It seemed the intense pain in his body couldn’t surpass the terror in his heart. He tried to struggle, but the sword pinning his thigh made it impossible to move an inch. With despair in his eyes, he shrieked, “Kid, you’re rebelling…”

Xu Qing grabbed the sword in his leg and ripped it upward fiercely.

The sharp blade slid along the three-stroke mustache man’s thigh, past his stomach and chin. As blood sprayed, the man, gutted alive, convulsed violently, let out a piercing scream, and died!

After this, Xu Qing’s expression remained impassive, only his killing intent soaring. Reflected in the blood-red light on the ground from the sun, he strode forward step by step.

The scavengers watching ahead all trembled in their hearts. Seeing Xu Qing approach, they immediately stepped back to make way.

They had seen ruthless people, but most were adults and desperadoes. For a teenager like Xu Qing, around 14 or 15 years old, to kill so calmly and seem unrelenting was extremely rare.

“The direction he’s heading… is the Camp Master’s estate!”

Heavy breathing turned into a mental roar as everyone saw Xu Qing’s destination, making all the scavengers follow behind in unison.

From a distance, Xu Qing walked alone at the forefront, rushing swiftly toward the Camp Master’s estate.

Behind him, a large group of scavengers followed quickly, and even more scavengers, hearing of the incident, gathered.

Besides this, guards from the Camp Master’s estate and strangers from the caravan suddenly closed in on Xu Qing. Among them were powerful experts, seemingly intent on killing him!

Meanwhile, at the Camp Master’s estate, the Camp Master was sipping tea, chatting and laughing with a stern, cold-faced old man in brocade robes beside him.

“Mr. Sun, don’t worry. Within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, this matter will be resolved. No matter how tough scavengers are, they’re no match for us Sect cultivators. I originally intended to nurture this kid properly. If he proved useful, I’d recommend him to the Sect. But since he’s so blind, we’ll just kill him.”

“Alive would be better,” the brocade-robed old man said, taking a sip of tea before setting it down and speaking lightly.