OUTSIDE OF TIME

568 The World in the Painting (1)

Snowfall separated autumn and winter.

Five months after Xu Qing arrived at the county capital, winter arrived silently as the first snow fell.

Snowflakes landed on the roofs of the buildings and the hair of the pedestrians on the streets.

As it painted the entire land, it was as though there were more white-haired people in the city.

The first snowfall came suddenly and heavily.

They also landed outside the Prison Department and on the Sword Pavilions.

Xu Qing, who was wearing a white Sword Holder Daoist robe, walked toward the Prison Department in this snow-colored world.

Today was the day he went to Area C for duty.

A few days ago, he had completed the suppression of Area D1 and passed the advancement assessment. From that moment on, he was no longer a Pawn of Area D but a Pawn of Area C.

As for his duty as D132’s guardian, he didn’t cancel it.

The Pawns in Area C wore uniforms that were similar to those in Area D, with the only difference being a black badge at their collars.

This badge looked like a tree branch.

If the Prison Department were compared to a big tree, then the Pawns in Area D would be like leaves, and Area C would be like branches.

As he walked down the steps of the Prison Department, Xu Qing could clearly sense the glory represented by this badge. This was because all the Pawns in Area D who saw him greeted him respectfully.

Xu Qing returned the greeting and walked to the 88th floor. When he passed by the 89th floor and stepped down the steps that led to the 90th floor, he took a deep breath and revealed a solemn expression.

“The 90th floor…” Xu Qing mumbled. His footsteps were firm as he slowly walked down.

Tapping sounds rang out from under Xu Qing’s feet.

That was the sound of his footsteps landing on the steps. They echoed in the surroundings and were quite conspicuous in this quiet environment.

As for the lights from the top of the Prison Department, they couldn’t fully illuminate the depths of the 90th floor. Therefore, the world that Xu Qing saw became increasingly dim.

When he reached the last step to the 90th floor, Xu Qing stopped in his tracks.

This place was completely different from Area D.

The ground was damp and covered in moss. It was clearly only a floor away, but when Xu Qing looked at it, he felt as though he was in a different world from Area D.

Although this place was also ring-shaped, there were no cells, let alone cell gates!

The entire circular wall was filled with murals.

The murals filled the walls. It depicted the sun, moon, clouds, mountains, rivers, buildings, and all living beings!

It was like it depicted a complete world!

However, the colors were monotonous and dark.

Xu Qing’s heart shook. Looking at this painting, he thought of D132’s Painting Race.

A long while later, Xu Qing walked toward the mural. After sizing it up carefully, his pupils narrowed.

These murals seemed to be alive and everything inside was changing. Clouds and fog were drifting, and the mountains and rivers were changing.

It was as though that place was really a dark world and Xu Qing was standing outside the world, looking at everything.

“There’s only one cell on the 90th floor.”

A cold and familiar voice suddenly rang out from behind Xu Qing.

Xu Qing turned around and saw a figure walking over from the darkness.

It was a tall old man. His gaze was cold and his entire body emitted a dense baleful aura. If one stared at him for too long, ghostly cries and howls would appear in their minds.

It was as though countless living beings had died in his hands, causing countless resentful spirits to circle around him, emitting malice to all living beings.

“Greetings, Senior Ghost Hand!”

Xu Qing immediately recognized that the person before him was the mentor who had previously explained the fatal points of living beings of all races to them during the secret training of the Sword Holders.

Back then, as his assistant, Xu Qing had personally seen the old man take out countless corpses. There were even some who were killed on the spot.

Xu Qing had heard from Kong Xianglong before that the person in front of him was a Pawn, but he had never encountered him in the Prison Department in the past few months. This made him suspect that this person was on a deeper floor.

Xu Qing wasn’t too surprised to see him. He bowed respectfully.

The old man glanced at Xu Qing with a hint of admiration.

“I remember you, the little fellow who poisoned Sick Ghost.”

“You advanced from Area D so quickly. Not bad.”

The old man smiled. However, the baleful aura on his body was too strong. His smile also carried a sinister feeling. If it was an ordinary person, they might feel goosebumps. However, Xu Qing was used to it and felt that this was normal.

Noticing that Xu Qing’s expression didn’t change, the old man felt even more satisfied. In reality, when he chose Xu Qing as his assistant back then, he had thought very highly of him.

He walked closer to Xu Qing and looked at the murals as he calmly spoke.

“Most of the Pawns in Area C are Nascent Soul cultivators. Do you know why?”

“Is it because the method of suppressing criminals in Area C is different from Area D?” Xu Qing thought about it and replied.

“I thought you would say that the criminal’s cultivation base is deeper.” The old man smiled.

“The cultivation bases of the criminals in Area C are indeed deeper. There are Nascent Soul criminals and Spirit Repository criminals as well. However, this isn’t the main point. The main point is… only Nascent Soul Pawns can withstand the rules of a small world without being crushed.”

The old man’s gaze was still on the murals and his voice echoed in all directions.

“The rules of the small world?” Xu Qing fell into deep thought and also looked at the murals.

“From the 90th floor to the 122nd floor, it’s all Area C. There are a total of 33 floors.” The old man slowly spoke.

“Area C doesn’t have any cells like Area D. Every floor only has such murals.”