outside of time
“I’ve finally broken through.”
Xu Qing stood up and punched out, producing a crisp sound echoing through the air. In fact, the blast of wind even caused the door to the house to shake a little.
This scene caused Xu Qing’s eyes to open wide. He sensed that the current him was simply much stronger compared to yesterday.
If the current him fought against that giant-horn snake, Xu Qing believed that he could blast through the belly scales of the snake with a single punch.
Not only that, but his senses were also sharper than before. His vision was clearer, and his hearing also became more sensitive. Hence, the sounds of knocking from outside the courtyard could now drift into Xu Qing’s ears.
Xu Qing started and walked to the side of the house’s door. Under the moonlight, he peered through the gap and saw the figure of the little girl standing outside the courtyard’s gate.
It seemed that she had injuries on her body, and she was trembling slightly.
Xu Qing frowned. He originally didn’t want to bother about this, but the girl persisted and continued to knock lightly.
Hence, a long time later, Xu Qing finally pushed the door of the house open and walked out.
After seeing Xu Qing’s figure, the girl evidently grew nervous. She bore the impulse to retreat and stared at Xu Qing through the bamboo gate.
“Is something the matter?” Xu Qing asked.
“I…I also obtained the residency right of the campsite a…and also found a job in the campsite.” The little stuttered a little as she spoke.
“Understood.” Xu Qing nodded and was about to turn and leave.
“Wait…Thank you. I came here to thank you,” said the girl hurriedly.
“No need to thank me. It was me who wanted to eat the snake. This has nothing to do with you.” After Xu Qing finished speaking, he returned to the house.
The girl pursed her lips as she looked at Xu Qing’s departing back. She suddenly spoke loudly.
“No matter what, I still have to thank you. This debt of gratitude…I will surely repay you in the future.” After she finished speaking, her figure ran away and vanished into the darkness.
Xu Qing turned and glanced over, not minding this at all. He then returned to the house and drew in a deep breath, sensing the changes in his body. In his heart, he felt more confident about his thoughts of living a better life.
However, the faint piercing pain that originated from his left arm made him guess that the anomalous substances in his body must have been concentrated to a very high degree. Even the snake gallbladder didn’t manage to neutralize much.
At this moment, it was in the dead of the night, and there were no roars from ferocious beasts outside. Xu Qing then walked to his bedside and saw the clean bedding there before he took another look at his clothes, which were filled with dirt and grime.
He pondered a little before removing the clean bedding. After placing it to the side, he lay down on the wooden plank.
His hand instinctively grabbed the black-colored iron stick as waves of sleepiness surfaced.
This iron stick was the companion he trusted the most.
Ever since he had found it after searching through the garbage many years ago, he had decided to bring it everywhere with him and use it as his own weapon after discovering how sharp and durable it was.
“I will search the campsite for a place that sells white pills tomorrow.”
Xu Qing silently mused as he touched his leather pouch. Inside was his savings of these few years as well as a few valuable gems he had found inside the city.
He didn’t dare to take too many gems as he understood the logic of ‘the weak possessing a jade ring becomes a crime’. He had seen cases like that when he was younger.
As he contemplated, the feeling of sleepiness slowly overcame him, and Xu Qing gradually closed his eyes.
It was just that the iron stick in his hand was still clutched tightly, with no sign of relaxation.
The calm night passed as the rays of the morning sun cascaded down.
The next morning, Xu Qing, who woke up early, had already left the small house.
Before he departed, he looked in the direction of Captain Lei’s room. The other party wasn’t in, so maybe he had gone out. Hence, Xu Qing retracted his gaze and went to wander around the campsite.
Maybe it was due to the shock he had caused everyone when he forcibly harvested the gallbladder of the snake yesterday, when Xu Qing was walking in the camp, he could clearly feel the gazes of the scavengers in the surroundings. They were somewhat different when they looked at him now.
They no longer felt that he was easy to bully because he was young. From this, one could see the evil of human nature.
Now, there were more hints of recognition and vigilance. At the same time, the listless gaze of those youths around the same age as him, who were hiding in corners now, had a hint of envy when they looked at him.
Dignity was something one had to obtain by themselves.
Xu Qing silently mused in his heart.
While he was searching for shops at the campsite, Xu Qing also familiarized himself with the surroundings.
He discovered quite a lot of wild dogs in the camp. They were barking at each other and snatching goods. Most of them were thin, but some looked even more muscular and sturdy than some of the humans.
After paying attention to these wild dogs, Xu Qing continued to observe the campsite.
He did so until the map of the campsite was fully created in his mind. According to his mental map, he found a shop in the inner-circle area of the campsite.
The shop wasn’t small and there were streams of people leaving and entering. This looked like a lively place, and it seemed to sell everything within.
Xu Qing observed it for a while from outside and noticed the little girl from yesterday with a staff attire in the shop. Clearly, she must be doing miscellaneous jobs here. She seemed very busy, and droplets of sweat covered her forehead.
She only noticed Xu Qing after he walked into the shop. However, just when she was about to speak, she was dragged to the side by a scavenger who wanted to inquire about an item.
Xu Qing didn’t immediately pay attention to the things for sale in the shop. Rather, he first took a look at the people in the surroundings who came to shop.
There were a total of seven people. Some were browsing through the items for sale, some had their heads lowered as they contemplated, and some were bargaining. Two among them, one skinny and one fat, seemed to be part of a group.
The fat guy had a rotund figure, while the skinny guy had a horse-like face. Evidently, their attitudes were unyielding, and spirit energy fluctuations that weren’t weak radiated from them. One of them was currently scolding the little girl as though he was very unsatisfied with her answers.
And as the little girl anxiously apologized, Xu Qing began to check out the merchandise in the shop.
Things were the same as what he had guessed. This place was a general goods shop. There were alchemy pills, weapons, clothes, food, etc. They had everything.
Hence, he retracted his gaze and walked to the counter. He then calmly spoke as he looked at the shopkeeper who had an indifferent expression when he smoked a pipe.