OUTSIDE OF TIME

Chapter 591 Erasing From the Bamboo Slip

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“Human.” The captain’s eyes revealed disdain. He lifted his slender gray right hand and pressed it toward Qing Qiu.

With this push, the void around Qing Qiu instantly distorted and collapsed, directly suppressing her.

“Black Heaven Race!”

Qing Qiu’s eyes narrowed and she retreated. However, she was still a step too late.

As the captain attacked, the battle soul that was guided outside her body directly distorted, as though it was about to collapse.

Qing Qiu wasn’t an easy target either. At this critical moment, her eyes flashed with red light and she directly swung the scythe at the captain.

The scythe emitted a sharp sound that tore through the air like a wheel spinning at high speed. It sliced through the void with a terrifying force and headed straight for the captain.

Qing Qiu, who was retreating, performed a series of hand seals with both hands. Her eyes revealed madness as she let out a sharp cry at the captain. The battle soul that was about to collapse behind her immediately left her body and pounced toward the captain, opening its mouth to devour him.

The captain didn’t dodge at all. He allowed the evil ghost’s scythe to approach and slash through his forehead. As black blood spurted out, his body was also cut into two.

However, as the scythe pierced through the captain’s body and slashed onto the four-legged beast, the captain’s body that had been cut in half strangely fused back together.

He even bit at the battle soul that was about to devour him.

A 1000-foot-long mouth appeared in front of the captain. Compared to this mouth, the incoming battle soul was like a piece of fat meat, and it was swallowed by the captain..

As he chewed, he took a step forward and arrived in front of Qing Qiu, whose expression had changed. With a wave of his right hand, over a hundred spears instantly appeared out of thin air, trapping Qing Qiu.

At that moment, Xu Qing’s voice rang out.

“I want her alive.”

“I respect the order!” The captain spoke loudly. This was originally discussed with Xu Qing before he attacked.

With a wave of his hand, the hundred spears distorted and transformed into long fur that wrapped around Qing Qiu’s body, tying her up.

Qing Qiu struggled and reluctance appeared in her eyes. Just as she was about to cast a secret art, the captain punched her mask and knocked her out.

The force of this punch wasn’t small and the mask directly shattered into pieces, revealing a delicate and pretty face.

The captain didn’t care about her appearance. He grabbed the ropes on Qing Qiu’s body and coldly looked at the Holy Wave Race members in the surroundings with displeasure.

The youth from the Holy Wave Race hurriedly stepped forward. His face revealed gratitude and he immediately knelt down.

“Thank you for helping.”

“Set off immediately. We have to leave Fenghai County in three days!” The captain said coldly. With that, he carried Qing Qiu back to the four-legged beast and shrunk his body.

The youth from the Holy Wave Race watched as the captain left. After he stood up, the gratitude and fanaticism in his expression dissipated. He berated the surrounding clansmen who were still in shock.

Very soon, their convoy moved forward again and their speed was clearly much faster.

At that moment, on the four-legged beast’s skin, the captain threw the unconscious Qing Qiu to the side. When Qing Qiu fell on the ground, some fragments of the mask on her face fell, revealing even more of her small face.

“Since you don’t like her, I’ll give her to you.” The captain smiled and transmitted his voice. He sat at the side and played with the scythe. The scythe was trembling at this moment and the evil ghost on it revealed a fawning expression.

Xu Qing nodded. His cold gaze swept toward Qing Qiu and then toward her face.

It was an extremely beautiful face. She had fair skin, a small nose bridge, and cherry lips. She looked to be 16 or 17 years old.

With her eyes closed, she gave off an impression of being a daughter from a humble family, exuding a sense of youthful innocence and naivety. This appearance didn’t have any ferocity and carried an innate weakness. She was like the little sister next door, a huge difference from her usual appearance.

In this cruel world, this kind of weakness would instinctively be exploited without any restraints.

Xu Qing took a look and was about to retract his gaze when he suddenly felt that the other party’s appearance was a little familiar. Hence, he carefully sized up the other party and gradually frowned. He stood up and walked over.

The captain had a spurious smile on his face and there was a hint of teasing in his expression. He watched the show while flicking the scythe lightly. Immediately, the evil ghost on it let out a blood-curdling cry and fainted.

Xu Qing didn’t bother with the captain. He quickly walked in front of Qing Qiu. After examining her carefully, a hint of dazedness appeared in his eyes. However, he wasn’t very sure. Hence, he removed Qing Qiu’s storage bag. He even searched it and took out a small stone from the side of her chest.

Looking at this small stone, Xu Qing’s heart stirred.

Some scenes buried in his memories surfaced at this moment.

It was a wooden hut. In the corner squatted a little girl with a huge scar on her face. She was trembling while being vigilant against anyone who got close.

The scene changed to the Beastfight Arena. The little girl held the bamboo stick in her hand. On it were the words ‘giant-horn python’. At this moment, the despair in the little girl’s eyes was very clear.

The scene changed again. Under the moonlight, outside the gate, the little girl’s stubborn voice rang out. She said that she would repay him and then staggered away in the moonlight.

There were many subsequent scenes, be it the white pills from the general store, the figure sweeping the floor in the wind and snow, or the eyes of the other party when she caught up to him and gave him candy.

In the end, the memory froze on the scene of the sunset. The little girl was holding her brother’s hand and turning her head back with every step she took as she slowly left.

As the scene unfolded, some sounds rang out and echoed in Xu Qing’s ears.

“Brother Kid, every time I’m unhappy, my mother will give me candy, and I’ll be happy when I eat it.”

“This is my last piece of candy. I will give it to you.”

“Brother kid, you have to be happy!”

“My brother is here to pick me up. Brother Kid, do you want to leave with me?”

“It’s alright. When I grow up, we can still meet. Brother Kid, I said that I would repay you for saving my life. I will definitely do it!”

“I’m leaving… Brother Kid.”

The scenes and voices in his memories continued to echo in Xu Qing’s mind. After a long time… Xu Qing sighed softly. This sigh contained the memories of the past. It was filled with emotions and sighs.

He lowered his head and looked at Qing Qiu’s face. Her delicate and pretty face gradually overlapped with the little girl in his memory.

“That’s right. She’s from the Litu Sect and she can’t recognize me because the changes in me… are too great.”

Xu Qing sighed softly. Regardless of whether it was his dirty face that hadn’t been cleaned for many years in the scavenger campsite or his own growth over the years, it caused that small and skinny youth to change greatly. Amidst his emotional fluctuations. Xu Qing’s gaze landed on the small stone in his hand. This scar removal stone was already worn out by a lot. Clearly, it was often used.

A long time later, Xu Qing placed the small stone back to its original location. He then took the storage bag and returned to his previous spot.

Right now, it wasn’t suitable for him to reveal his identity. Moreover, it had been many years since they last met, so it was unknown if the other party was still the same as before. All of this caused Xu Qing to feel no need to reveal his identity for the time being.

In his opinion, it wasn’t very important if they recognized each other or not. Just like how he had said the words ‘wishing you peace’ before the little girl left back then.

“It’s good that you’re safe.”

Xu Qing mumbled inwardly. He then took out the bamboo slip and erased the name ‘woman in red’. After that, he looked at the captain and recalled the captain’s previous actions.

“The old man told me. I investigated further and I only found it out before we set off. I originally planned to give you a surprise.” The captain coughed dryly and blinked.

Xu Qing closed his eyes and didn’t bother.

A day later, Qing Qiu woke up.

The instant she woke up, she didn’t open her eyes immediately. Instead, she controlled her heartbeat and aura, maintaining her unconscious state as she tried to sense her surroundings.

She first sensed that her cultivation base had been sealed and couldn’t be unsealed.

This caused her heart to sink. At the same time, the voice of the evil ghost disappeared from her mind. She knew that the evil ghost scythe had either been taken away or sealed.

These two discoveries made her understand that her current situation was extremely dangerous and her storage bag was gone.

Fortunately, she didn’t have any injuries on her body and she wasn’t tied up. Also, she felt that the small stone on her chest was still there. This was a blessing amidst misfortune.

“Since you’re awake, there’s no need to pretend.” Just as Qing Qiu was trying to break her cultivation seal, Xu Qing’s cold voice rang out in her ears. Qing Qiu remained calm and became even more careful.

Xu Qing glanced at Qing Qiu and didn’t speak anymore.

When the captain saw this scene, he perked up and sized up the two of them playfully.

The next day, Qing Qiu helplessly opened her eyes. She could sense that the seal in her body was extremely powerful. That wasn’t a method of the human race but a form of spiritual mark. It should be a sealing technique of the Black Heaven Race.

With her current ability, she couldn’t disperse it. As for her current location, she had already determined it. She knew that this was the skin of the four-legged beast and she was on it after being shrunk by a special technique.

It would be too fake if she still didn’t wake up. Hence, after she opened her eyes, she immediately stood up and looked at the two Black Heaven Race cultivators in front of her with coldness in her eyes.

This was the first time she had seen the Black Heaven Race and knew that there were Black Heaven Race members in the Holy Wave Race’s convoy. This matter was too big.

In her anxiety, she also saw her evil ghost scythe in the hands of the Black Heaven Race member who had captured her alive. The evil ghost had fallen into a deep sleep.

“Why didn’t you kill me?” Qing Qiu suddenly asked.

The captain glanced at Qing Qiu with a spurious smile but didn’t say anything. Xu Qing fell silent for a moment before calmly speaking.

“Be quiet during this period of time. We’ll release you in three months.”

Qing Qiu sneered. She didn’t believe this. “I have some dealings with your Litu Sect. This is also the reason why I didn’t kill you.”

The captain was the one who spoke after seeing that Xu Qing was about to speak.

Xu Qing glanced at the captain and fell silent.

Qing Qiu also looked at the captain and fell silent. She understood that there was no need to be stubborn now. She might as well pretend to cooperate and see what the other party wanted. At the same time, she would find an opportunity to escape.

“The small stone on your chest means a lot to you, right? That’s why I didn’t take it away.” The captain’s expression was cold as he spoke coldly with a hint of threat.

Xu Qing frowned.

Qing Qiu looked calm, but her heart trembled. However, she tried her best not to reveal anything. This was because once she revealed her concern, it would be equivalent to telling the other party the answer.

“I’ll let you go in three months. At that time, I’ll return this scythe to you. Of course, if you play some tricks, I’ll crush that small stone first and crush it bit by bit.” The captain’s voice was hoarse and his tone was like that of an evil person. He even lifted his finger and knocked on the scythe.

The unconscious evil ghost trembled again.

Qing Qiu fell silent and stared fixedly at the captain. After a long time, she gritted her teeth and nodded.

Just like that, time flowed by and another day passed very quickly. As the convoy arrived at the border of the Lin Lan province and stepped into the territory of the Holy Wave Race’s Great Wilderness East County, that youth clearly heaved a sigh of relief.

All the clansmen in the convoy relaxed one after another. Here, they wouldn’t encounter any danger from the human race.

As for Xu Qing and the captain, they were also invited by the youth. They dissipated their concealment and appeared in the external world.

Looking at everything unfamiliar here and in the direction of Fenghai County, Qing Qiu’s heart sank. There was also a hint of sorrow. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to escape for the time being.

“Two upper race members, we’re safe now.” The Holy Wave Race youth had a smile on his face and there was still fanaticism in his eyes. He cupped his fists toward Xu Qing and the captain..