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Beyond the Timescape – Chapter 7: Please, Eat

Chapter 7: Please, Eat

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nChapter 7: Please, Eat

nAs Xu Qing looked around amidst the shouting and screaming, the large gate they had just walked through slammed shut, sending a cloud of dust out in all directions. The sound acted like a bugle call, whipping the surrounding scavengers into an even more excited frenzy.

nXu Qing also noticed a raised platform straight ahead. Walking onto the platform was a middle-aged man in a brocade robe, followed by a host of attendants.

nHe was so far away that Xu Qing couldn’t make out much in the way of details. However, it was obvious the man was important. Despite the distance between the two of them, Xu Qing sensed spirit power fluctuations coming off of him, and they were far above the level of his own.

nThat alone put Xu Qing on guard. Although he couldn’t be sure, it seemed highly likely this man was the camp owner. Lending further weight to this speculation was the fact that the goateed man from yesterday was next to him, whispering something into his ear.

nThe camp owner nodded, then sat down. The goateed man remained standing next to him, looking down into the arena.

nAnother huge wooden gate opened, and from within came the sound of howling animals.

nAt the same time, a number of scavengers appeared.

nThere were four groups, each of them made up of three people. And they were pulling out large iron cages, within which were snarling beasts that lunged and snapped at the restraining bars.

nXu Qing’s eyes swept over the cages.

nHe saw two giant wolves, one larger than the other. Both had razor-sharp teeth, pitch-black bodies, and blood-red eyes. Saliva dripped down their jaws as they stared, with brutal ferocity, at Xu Qing and the other four combatants.

nThere was a bear with crimson fur and limbs thicker than the thighs of an adult human. A vicious expression covered its face as it repeatedly shook its cage. It took a lot of effort from the scavengers to keep the cage steady.

nIn the final cage was a beast that seemed less imposing than the others. It was a gibbon, its skin covered with painful boils. In a ghastly display, the creature repeatedly threw itself at the iron bars, causing some of the boils to burst.

nThe arrival of the beasts caused the crowd to roar.

nThe two young men in Xu Qing’s group looked even more pale in the face, and the girl seemed absolutely terrified. Even the older young man, who was already a scavenger, seemed nervous.

nHow come there are only four? Xu Qing thought, looking back at the open passageway.

nAs he did, the four howling beasts suddenly went completely quiet, as if they’d been intimidated into silence. At the same time, an iron cage twice the size of the others appeared, pulled along by six scavengers.

nSomeone in the crowd shouted, “A giant horned anaconda!”

n“I can’t believe the camp owner brought in a giant horned anaconda! I guess it makes sense, though. As far as he’s concerned, a beast like that isn’t worth much.”

n“Whichever of these brats gets that snake is dead for sure. Even if one of us ran into that thing out in the wild, we would need a partner to take it down. And even then, it wouldn’t be a sure thing.”

nThe anaconda, thicker than an adult’s waist, was dark gray, with markings that seemed to depict a host of horn-shaped mountains. It sat coiled in the cage, its huge head raised and its yellow eyes staring out coldly at the world around it. When the snake’s gaze shifted to the wolves, and the gibbon as well, the other creatures trembled in fear. As for the red bear, it roared at the snake, but at the same time, slowly backed away until it was on the opposite side of the cage.

n“Don’t let me get the snake. I absolutely, positively must not pick the snake….” Behind Xu Qing, both of the young men shivered and muttered prayers to the same effect.

nAs for Xu Qing, his eyes glittered. He had seen this kind of giant horned anaconda before. Back when he lived in the slums, he remembered a hunter had brought in a dead one. According to what Xu Qing had heard, this kind of snake was so strong it could wrap itself around a tree and snap it in half. It had very tough scales, allowing it to absorb more damage, but at the same time, wasn’t very fast. Furthermore, its gall bladder had remarkable medicinal properties, and could dispel filth from the body. The snake flesh itself was also very nourishing.

nHaving reached this point in his train of thought, Xu Qing was reminded of Sergeant Thunder and how he’d mentioned liking to eat snakes.

nThen Xu Qing thought about how he’d often caught snakes as a child, and he licked his lips.

nAlong with his progression in cultivation, his mutation blotch had been growing darker. And during his session the previous night, it had even started hurting. He had the feeling that if he could eat this snake’s gallbladder, it would probably help the situation.

nHe kept his eyes fixed on the giant anaconda as the time drew near to draw lots.

nThe goateed man had another scavenger bring forth five bamboo sticks, upon which were inscribed the names of the beasts.

nThe oldest young man was the first to draw. When he saw which beast he was to fight, he breathed a visible sigh of relief.𝒃𝙚𝙤𝙫𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝙢

nNext were the two younger men, and then the girl.

nThe two young men seemed to pray fervently as they drew their lots. Afterwards, they had pained expressions on their faces.

nThe girl simply looked despairingly at her result. She had drawn the giant horned anaconda. The last bamboo stick was left to Xu Qing. It was for the smaller of the two wolves, which was clearly the weakest of the five beasts. Looking at the stick he’d drawn, he frowned.

nThe scavengers left, and the combatants were taken to a small pen off to the side where they could watch safely. The crowd roared as the first battle was announced.

nThe first to engage in battle was one of the younger men. Trembling, he stepped out into the fighting arena to face the red bear.

nThe battle went quickly. The young man wasn’t a match for the bear at all. He held his own for only a few blows, then fell to the ground and was torn to pieces.

nBlood sprayed everywhere. About half the crowd cheered, while the other half hurled curses at the dead combatant for losing them money.

nThe sight caused the other young man, who was supposed to fight next, to shake with fear, and ask if he could back out of the trial.

nThe crowd hissed in displeasure as a scavenger took the young man away.

nThird in line was the young man who was already a scavenger. He had been paired with the larger of the two wolves. Given his experience as a scavenger, he was much more ruthless than an average person.

nAfter several shocking rounds of combat, he gained the upper hand and killed the wolf, though he was gasping for breath by the end of it. Thus, he became the first victor in the trial. The gate opened, and he left, doubled over in pain.

nFourth in line… was the girl.

nAs the giant horned anaconda was released from its cage, she gritted her teeth and walked past Xu Qing, despair in her eyes.

nBefore she could walk out into the arena, though, Xu Qing said, “Let’s switch.”

nThe girl stopped walking and stared at him in shock. Before she could do or say anything, he handed her his bamboo stick and took hers, which had the words ‘giant horned anaconda’ inscribed on it. Not even taking note of the gratitude in her eyes, he walked out toward the snake.

nThe crowd howled, as many of the spectators had been paying attention to the order of combatants.

nThat said, other than the people who had already placed bets on either him or the girl, no one cared very much. The camp owner didn’t mind and was content to let things play out as they happened.

nXu Qing kept his eyes on the huge snake as it slowly crawled out into the open, its scales grating against the iron bars as it did.

nThough it instinctively focused on him, he was different from the prey it was used to. As a result, it didn’t immediately attack him. Instead, it coiled up outside the cage, then lifted its head high into the air as if trying to decide what to do with him.

nThe cheering of the crowd grew louder, while the jeering faded.

nXu Qing’s expression remained the same as ever as he strode forward. Perhaps because he had entered the snake’s strike range, or perhaps because of the atmosphere generated by the crowd, the giant anaconda’s yellow eyes seemed to grow colder. It smacked the ground with its tail, causing a boom to echo out in the arena, then struck, its mouth opening wide to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth. A noxious aroma blasted out as it lunged toward Xu Qing to devour him.

nXu Qing looked coldly at the incoming snake. Just as the beast was about to hit him, he jumped to the side. He didn’t immediately launch a strike; instead, he ignored the giant head as it passed him, then focused like a skilled hunter on the snake’s abdomen.

nThe massive jaws snapped onto nothing but air.

nThen the snake growled as it slashed its tail at Xu Qing. Acting on instinct, it sent its head and tail into movement as if it were hunting in the wild, making a circle as it seemingly attempted to wrap itself around him.

nXu Qing remained quiet and focused on the abdomen. As the tail neared, he clenched his right hand into a fist and struck out.

nBAM!

nHe had only trained in the Sea and Mountain Incantation up to the first level, but even that gave him a significant boost to the strength of his fleshly body. He struck the tail, sending it flailing off to the side. The anaconda was clearly hurt, but it wasn’t a fatal blow. In fact, it seemed to make it angry. Eyes burning, it struck again at Xu Qing with its massive jaws wide open.

nHowever, that was when Xu Qing’s eyes glittered as he found the opening he’d been looking for, and he stepped right toward the snake.

nWith his right fist, he unleashed a vicious punch. Then a second, and a third….

nFists rained down furiously!

nHis onslaught forced the snake into retreat. Then it shrieked as it tried to wrap itself around him. However, his punches were so forceful it had no hope of succeeding.

nFinally, the blows landing on its abdomen, caused the weak scales there to shatter, and blood to spray out. The thing was obviously badly hurt.

nSeeing this, Xu Qing didn’t give it a chance to shift positions.

nEyes flashing coldly, he used his left hand to pull out his dagger, which he plunged right into the anaconda’s flesh.

nThen he ripped the blade through the creature.

nBlood sprayed everywhere as the giant horned anaconda shrieked. A shocking and ghastly wound opened up on the serpent’s belly, revealing the gallbladder inside.

nThe snake was huge, but that was because of its mutations. As a result, the gall bladder was actually small, roughly the size of a chicken egg.

nWithout the slightest hesitation, Xu Qing plunged his hand inside, grabbed the organ, and ripped it out. The snake howled.

nBlood rained down onto the sandy soil underfoot.

nIgnoring the gore, Xu Qing held the gallbladder for a moment as he looked around at the scavengers. Then he put the organ in his mouth and swallowed it.

nMeanwhile, the snake, which was still alive, thrashed about, howling. Eyes wild, it once again lunged at Xu Qing, as if hoping to swallow him alive.

nHe looked at it coldly, and at the very last minute, jumped up. Then, in midair, he extended his right hand, within which was a black iron skewer.

nEyes burning with killing intent, he dropped down and used his own momentum and body weight to back the skewer, plunging it right into the spot where the snake’s heart was.

nThe skewer shattered the scales like a hammer crushing an ice cube.

nRumbling echoed in the arena as the giant horned anaconda trembled wildly. Then its head and tail slumped to the ground as it made a final, despondent cry. Finally, it smacked its tail a final time on the ground.

nAs the sound echoed out… the dust settled, and the crowd of scavengers looked down, astounded.

nQuite a few of the spectators were on their feet, staring at the young man with the iron skewer, standing atop the corpse of the anaconda. They wouldn’t have reacted this way if the snake had been killed by an adult. But this was a skinny kid who had efficiently extracted the gallbladder, then killed the snake, all the while maintaining a cold and indifferent facial expression.

nEven in a scavenger basecamp, this was an unusual thing.

nThe little wolf and the red bear, who were still in their cages, were so terrified that they just huddled there, shaking.

nIt was almost as if this wasn’t a trial, but a hunt.

nAs the spectators looked on, Xu Qing put away his iron skewer, stuck his hand into the gaping wound on the snake to pick it up, then walked toward the exit, leaving behind a long trail of fresh snake blood.

nUpon reaching the exit gate and seeing that it wasn’t open, he looked over his shoulder.

nA moment later, the goateed man who stood on the platform above waved his hand, and… the gate rumbled open.

nOutside, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, was Sergeant Thunder. He gave Xu Qing a grin.

n“Can I stay at your place?” Xu Qing asked.

n“Sure.”

nWith a nod, Xu Qing tossed the snake corpse onto the ground between the two of them.

n“You like snake meat, right? Please, eat.”

nSergeant Thunder gaped for a moment, then threw his head back and laughed heartily. Picking up the snake corpse, he led Xu Qing back toward his house.

n***

nXu Qing was gone, but the crowd in the arena was still cheering. Meanwhile, in one corner of the arena was an old man in a violet robe. Next to him was an expressionless middle-aged man who looked like a servant, and had a pentagram tattoo on his forehead.

nWhether it was their clothing or their bearing, they were obviously different from the people around them. In fact, no one seemed to even notice their presence, not even the camp owner.

nThe old man had a ruddy complexion, and also seemed to radiate destructive power. He obviously wasn’t an ordinary person. As he sat there watching Xu Qing leave, a smile broke out on his face.

n“What an interesting young man.”

nDeathblade’s Thoughts

nSome of you might have been following my work for years, others might be new. So I figured I would do a quick intro and update about the Deathblade Clan. We consist of:

nDeathblade. I also go by the pen name Jeremy Bai.

nMadam Deathblade (MDB). My wife, born and raised in North China. Her favorite things are: Chinese palace drama TV shows; good food; me.

nBattle Boy. My son, who was originally called Baby Deathblade (BDB). He’s now 7 years old going on 12. He’s a very chill kid who loves reading, gaming (especially Minecraft), Naruto, Adventure Time, and many other things. He picked the online gamer handle Battle Boy, so that’s what I’ll call him for the time being.

nPrincess Deathblade (PDB). My daughter who is 2 years 11 months going on 16. Unlike her brother, she’s a fireball of destructive energy.

n

Chapter end

<<Prev
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Catalogue
Chapter 1: Living
Chapter 2: Mutagen
Chapter 3: May You Rest in Peace
Chapter 4: An Unexpected Guest
Chapter 5: Scavenger Basecamp
Chapter 6: The Kid
Chapter 7: Please, Eat
Chapter 8: Set for Three
Chapter 9: Consequences of a Threat
Chapter 10: New Clothes
Chapter 11: A Gathering
Chapter 12: The Dangers of the Forbidden Region
Chapter 13: Vile Shadow
Chapter 14: Danger Everywhere
Chapter 15: Blood-Colored Evening
Chapter 16: You Ask When I’ll Return, My Lord; I Can’t Give
Chapter 17: What Are You?
Chapter 18: Grandmaster Bai
Chapter 19: Life
Chapter 20: Home?
Chapter 21: Thirsting for Knowledge
Chapter 22: Temple Complex
Chapter 23: Single Saber Strike
Chapter 24: Kid, You Answer
Chapter 25: Dao of Poison; Corpse-Ravaging Powder
Chapter 26: The Dusk of a Person’s Life
Chapter 27: A Stranger Like Jade
Chapter 28: You Don’t Need Light to Travel the Night
Chapter 29: The Sorrow of Parting
Chapter 30: An Unexpected Gift
Chapter 31: He Bought Insurance from Me
Chapter 32: Life to the Left, Death to the Right
Chapter 33: Eternal Darkness
Chapter 34: A Chance Encounter
Chapter 35: Troubles Bring a Frown
Chapter 36: Killing with Impunity
Chapter 37: Power over Life and Death
Chapter 38: Total Extermination
Chapter 39: A Requiem to the Mortal World
Chapter 40: Growing Up
Chapter 41: Nets Above and Snares Below
Chapter 42: Faceless Woman in White
Chapter 43: Complete Success with the Hobgoblin
Chapter 44: Cause and Effect
Chapter 45: Seeking Revenge over the Smallest Grievance
Chapter 46: Razing the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect
Chapter 47: Seven Blood Eyes
Chapter 48: Buy Corpses?
Chapter 49: Godly Blood
Chapter 50: Seventh Peak
Chapter 51: A Boat for Life
Chapter 52: Colleagues
Chapter 53: Sea Cultivation
Chapter 54: Total Transformation
Chapter 55: An Unusual Captain
Chapter 56: A New Recruit in the Violent Crimes Division
Chapter 57: Take a Spirit Coin
Chapter 58: A Birthday Alone
Chapter 59: A Lonely Figure on a Rainy Night
Chapter 60: Invitation Only
Chapter 61: A Beautiful Young Woman with an Umbrella
Chapter 62: A Ladies' Man
Chapter 63: Hardworking Xu Qing
Chapter 64: Coo. Coooo
Chapter 65: A Secret Worth 100 Spirit Stones
Chapter 66: Trying to Take Credit for My Work?
Chapter 67: Crossing the Line!
Chapter 68: Everyone Has Difficulties
Chapter 69: Fair and Just
Chapter 70: Let Me Treat You to an Egg
Chapter 71: Jabbering Patriarch
Chapter 72: Terrifying Huang Yan
Chapter 73: Domineering Second Highness
Chapter 74: The Path to the Yellow Springs
Chapter 75: Fish-Killing!
Chapter 76: Drought Demons can Scorch all Living Things
Chapter 77: Forbidden Sea Dragonwhale
Chapter 78: Zhang San Makes an Investment
Chapter 79: A New Person at Sea
Chapter 80: Bronze Dragon Chariot
Chapter 81: A Fair Price
Chapter 82: Countless Movements Became Sinister
Chapter 83: A Dragon from the Depths
Chapter 84: Magical Enlightenment from the Sea
Chapter 85: The Summit of a Fiendish Island
Chapter 86: Don’t Mess with Me
Chapter 87: A Vicious Night
Chapter 88: Xu Qing’s Rules
Chapter 89: Unbreakable Alliance
Chapter 90: A Golden Glow that Causes Madness
Chapter 91: Killing for Treasure
Chapter 92: Blood-Soaked Sealizard Island
Chapter 93: Like a Phoenix. Like a Hawk
Chapter 94: Gu Muqing
Chapter 95: The Creditor Comes Knocking
Chapter 96: A Gruish Inn
Chapter 97: The Asuras Appear
Chapter 98: One out of Fifty
Chapter 99: Traveling to the Crimson Wilds
Chapter 100: The Patriarch’s Anxiety
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