OUTSIDE OF TIME

"How are the white pills sold?"

"The white pills are limited, so we only sell five of them per day. There are still two pills remaining in the quota today. Each pill costs 10 spirit coins."

The shopkeeper lifted his brows and swept a glance at Xu Qing. Maybe it was because he recognized that Xu Qing was the youth who had fought against the beasts yesterday, his attitude was somewhat friendlier.

However, after hearing the price, despite Xu Qing being mentally prepared, he still couldn't help but frown slightly.

His savings after these few years were at most 20 to 30 spirit coins. However, the piercing pain from the mutation point on his arm didn't cause him to hesitate. He carefully took out 20 spirit coins from his leather pouch and handed them to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper kept the spirit coins with his right hand and took out a sack from a cabinet, tossing it to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing grabbed it and opened the sack, revealing two white-colored alchemy pills within. However, his brows soon knitted again.

Some parts of the surface layer of these two alchemy pills had turned greenish. Evidently, this was caused by a change in the quality, and they weren't very fresh. There was also no medicinal fragrance emitting from them. It looked like they were inferior pills.

"All white pills in the campsite are like this. We don't have any pills with good appearances here. For this item, even if it is rotted, it will still have some effect. You can rest assured and consume them."

After the shopkeeper saw Xu Qing's bewilderment, he couldn't help but speak while having an insincere smile on his face.

Xu Qing was very cautious, so he didn't consume them immediately. He planned to ask Captain Lei after he returned. Hence, he packed them up and wanted to leave.

But at this moment, a gleam of sharpness flashed in his eyes, and his body quickly moved to the side.

Almost at the same time as he evaded, a hand landed at the location he had been in previously, grabbing the air.

Xu Qing coldly looked over and saw the scavenger with a horse face, who was previously berating the little girl, standing there with his hand retracted and looking at him with an astonished expression.

At the same time, the scavenger with a rotund body stood at the entrance to block the way out as he stared at Xu Qing. He then grinned, revealing yellow teeth.

"They are Fat Mountain and Horse-Four from the Bloodshadow Team!"

"This kid should be someone Captain Lei brought back. Thunder and Bloodshadow have always been against each other, so I won't participate in your matters. However, don't waste too much time as I'm still running a business."

The others in the shop also had their attention drawn by the actions of the two. After they looked over, they began to whisper in low voices.

The sentence spoken earlier was naturally from the indifferent-looking shopkeeper.

At this moment, the pedestrians outside also noticed the commotion here. All of them looked inside with expressions of interest.

"Don't worry, this won't take long." The guy with a horse face smiled. He then looked at Xu Qing as his eyes gleamed sinisterly.

"Kid, I've killed plenty of giant-horn pythons, so I won't make things difficult for you. I only need the white pills. Give me the two white pills you just bought and I will let you leave here safely. If not, I will help slit your throat and take the white pills from your corpse."

These words caused Xu Qing's gaze to turn even colder. He looked at the other party's neck and the fatty blocking the entrance. Noticing that there were quite a lot of people outside, he started coming up with a plan.

The spirit fluctuations from these two fellows weren't weak at all. They should be around the second level. He was confident to deal with one of them as he was sure he could finish the fight in the span of ten breaths.

However, if the two of them cooperated, he would also be able to kill them, but it would take longer.

In addition, this was the downtown area. Once the fight began, since the other parties were members of a team, they would surely have reinforcement.

He didn't wish to put all his hope on praying that Captain Lei would arrive in time. This wasn't his personality. He didn't like putting hope in others as depending on himself was the best solution.

Hence, Xu Qing expressionlessly swept his glance at the neck of the scavenger with a horse face again. His right hand then took out the sack containing the white pills and tossed it over with no hesitation. After the other party caught it, he turned his head back to glance at the fatty before he laughed complacently.

His companion, Fat Mountain, also laughed and moved aside from the entrance. After that, Xu Qing didn't even turn his head and walked out immediately.

The surrounding crowds, be it whether they were in the shop or outside, felt that this was very normal. Under the rules where the weak were eaten by the strong, the weak naturally had to know when to bow down. This was the path of survival.

The little girl also heaved a sigh of relief. Earlier, she had been sweating profusely. Now that she saw that the crisis had been averted, she continued to busy herself.

As for Fat Mountain and Horse-Four, they swaggered out of the shop while laughing uproariously as they walked into the distance.

It was just that…no one noticed that a figure, which seemed as though it had vanished after walking a great distance away, was following them like a shadow patiently, not exposing itself in the slightest.

Its eyes were like a wolf staring at prey, paying close attention to the two of them.

This figure was none other than Xu Qing.

Time flowed and the sky gradually darkened.

Fat Mountain and Horse-Four went to many places in the campsite and even after an entire day had passed, they didn't notice that a figure had been following them from the start.

The two of them finally separated when the moon was high in the sky.

The place Fat Mountain went to had a bonfire, while Horse-Four showed an expression of lust as he headed to the dark area in the outer perimeters of the campsite, planning on entering one of the feathered tents.

Just when Horse-Four was about to arrive at the dark area, he suddenly heard the sound of wind gushing behind him.

Hence, Horse-Four turned around immediately with vigilance, but there was nothing behind him. He started and his expression couldn't help but change. It was already too late.

An instant later, a small hand shot out beside him, tightly clamping his mouth. At the same time, a sharp dagger sliced forcefully across his throat without hesitation at all.

Woosh~ Fresh blood spurted all around. As a result, Horse-Four's eyes were wide open and he wanted to struggle.

However, the small hand that clamped down on his mouth possessed very great strength. Horse-Four's body was then dragged backward, and it was futile no matter how much he struggled.

His feet could only helplessly tap on the ground, unable to stop him from being dragged into the darkness.

Finally, his end was like that of a slain chicken, tossed into a corner.

Even until now, the small hand clamped on his mouth didn't move away. The owner of the hand waited for a long time, and only after he was sure that Horse-Four had lost all resistance from suffocation and blood loss did he finally relax his hand. He then slammed Horse-Four's weak and shivering body onto the ground.

Only now did the despairing Horse-Four see the expressionless face of the youth clearly with the aid of the dim moonlight.

"Wu, wu…"

Horse-Four's gaze contained disbelief. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that the youth who had obediently handed the white pills to him in the morning would be so decisive and ruthless when he acted.

He seemed as though he wanted to tell the youth that his words of slitting the youth's throat in the morning had been nothing but a threat. He wouldn't have really killed him…

However, the blood gushing out of his throat made it impossible for him to speak. With despair, he could only whimper weakly and looked at the youth who was crouching down and emotionlessly searching through his pockets.

When everything was taken out, Xu Qing found his white pills with an additional five more. Other than these, the other party also had some spirit coins and miscellaneous items.

After Xu Qing kept them, as Horse-Four's terror reached an extreme limit, Xu Qing removed the sackcloth covering a snake head carefully and used the snake's fangs to pierce Horse-Four's body with great familiarity.

As a result, Horse-Four's body instantly convulsed and started melting from the location of the wound. The pain and agony from being melted alive caused him to break down mentally.

Only until Xu Qing lifted his hand and covered Horse-Four's eyes did Horse-Four's world lose its light forever.

His body melted and became blood that seeped into the earth.

Xu Qing had learned his lesson from his previous negligence. At this moment, he took out a prepared pouch and put Horse-Four's clothing and items away before he turned to leave.

And after he left, two figures appeared from the darkness at the location of Horse-Four's death.

They were none other than the two men no one could see yesterday in the Beastfight Arena. One of them was an extraordinary old man clad in purple and the other was his servant.

The old man lowered his head to look at the pool of blood seeping into the ground before lifting his head to glance at Xu Qing's back in the distance. A hint of admiration could be seen in his eyes.

"This is a good seedling. He has great tolerance and is decisive when it comes to killing. What's even rarer is that although he's ruthless when he acts, he can still handle the aftermath cleanly. Not bad at all," said the old man.

The servant who was at the side revealed a surprised expression.

He had followed this old man for many years, and it was very rare for him to hear the old man praising others as 'not bad'. In addition, this youth had caught the attention of the old man twice. Hence, he also lifted his head to stare in the direction where Xu Qing vanished.

"An interesting little fellow." The old man smiled before casually asking another question.

"When will Grandmaster Bai arrive again?"

"Old Master Seventh, according to Grandmaster Bai's schedule, he should arrive here in one or two days." The servant withdrew his gaze and respectfully spoke.

"He's finally going to arrive. This time around, this old man has to properly persuade him. The stupid Purple Earth is full of stupid rules. What's there to miss? He might as well come and join my Seven Blood Eyes so he can be more relaxed and carefree."

The old man laughed and seemed like he was very happy. He then glanced in the direction Xu Qing left.

"Let us go take a look at what this little wolf cub wants to do next."

[1] The 'Lei' in Captain Lei's name stands for thunder.