Chapter 58: A Birthday Alone

As the wind blew, rippling the water, the little boat creaked, bobbing up and down, creating gray froth.

Inside the boat, Xu Qing was completely focused on his pill concocting. One by one, he took out the medicinal plants he needed, either plucking off the leaves, extracting the sap, or removing stamens before carefully putting them into the stone bowl. As he worked, more and more medicinal liquid built up.

After confirming the mix ratio and making some final adjustments, he added the seven-leaf clover. And then, at just around midnight, he carefully added the sap of the condensing spirit leaf into the black liquid. Hissing and popping sounds rang out, and a green smoke rose up that he brushed away. Then the medicinal liquid in the stone bowl turned white and semisolid. At the same time, it glowed faintly.

He had succeeded!

After a final inspection, he took the liquid out and rolled it into the shape of a large pill. Putting it down to dry, he looked at it, his eyes glowing with satisfaction.

I finally made a white bolus!

All of a sudden, he thought back to Grandmaster Bai’s lectures in the scavenger basecamp.

Today was a special day, and because of that, such memories caused his mood to become unusually tranquil. A moment later, he sighed and looked out into the darkness outside the boat.

The moon hung in the sky, its reflection visible on the rippling surface of the water. Everything was quiet, except for the faint sea breeze, humid and cold, causing his hair to sway gently.

Grandmaster Bai should be back in the Violet Lands by now. I wonder where Crucifix and Graceful Raptor ended up….

Does Sergeant Thunder’s grave have weeds growing on it already?

I still haven’t found any lifespan flowers..

He was used to being alone, and was also used to adapting to new situations. But in the end, he was still a kid. Sitting there quietly, he thought back to the place he’d once lived in the scavenger basecamp, and that familiar old man who loved eating snake meat. He’d often listened to him talking about the latest gossip in the camp, while enjoying a smoke and a drink.

The memories were vivid.

Xu Qing looked down.

That scholar back in the slums once said that when you start thinking about the past, it means you’re growing up….

Xu Qing took out a jug of alcohol he’d purchased while on patrol earlier. Looking back up at the bright moon, he raised up the jug respectfully, then took a drink.

From a distance, it was possible to see a young man alone on a boat, drinking respectfully with the moon.

The alcohol in the capital city was stronger than in the basecamp. It burned when it went down, becoming like a fire in his belly that spread out to fill his entire body. After taking a drink, he took a moment to breathe before drinking again.

I wish Sergeant Thunder’s soul a good journey in heaven.

I wish Grandmaster Bai health and longevity.

And I wish myself… a happy birthday.

He took another drink.

Today was special because it was his birthday.

Xu Qing seemed like he was sixteen, but in reality he was only fifteen. Given how much he’d grown, he was a lot more experienced than someone the same age as him.

This year, just like so many years in the past, he spent his birthday alone. The only difference was that this time, he had some alcohol.

Taking another drink from the jug, he thought about his family. He could still remember them. However, the memories were hazy, no matter how hard he tried to recall the details. It hurt inside. He didn’t want the memories to be hazy, but… there were some things you just couldn’t change.

Time passed.

“Are you all… doing well?” he murmured, his head bowed.

The wind blew, brushing against his hair and face. It was cold, and it gradually pulled him out of his memories, and caused his eyes to harden. Again, his facial expression went back to its usual cold and detached state.

Keep on living. As long as I stay alive, then I’ll have a chance to see Dad and Mom again. And that… would be amazing. Therefore, I have to get stronger!

He looked up, and the moonlight shone down on him. He seemed like a lone wolf staring off into the distance.

Then, he settled down cross-legged to start his cultivation routine.

Time passed.

After his birthday, he settled into a routine. For days, he went on patrol during the day, and worked on pill concocting and cultivation in the evenings.

Even by using spirit stones to speed up his cultivation of the Seaforming Scripture, progress was still a bit slow. It took several days to go from the sixth level into the seventh.

He knew that his speed would continue to slow going forward, although compared to other people he would still be astonishingly fast.

Once in the seventh level, Xu Qing could tell that his battle prowess was vastly superior to before. In fact, he was completely and utterly confident that if he had to fight the version of himself that had just arrived at Seven Blood Eyes, he would kill him in thirty breaths of time or less.

Although he was still a far cry from being a match for Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior, Xu Qing was confident he could at least hold his own for a time in such a fight.

Once I’m a bit stronger, I’m going to go back and kill Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior!

He would feel uneasy until the day he accomplished that. Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior surely knew how Seven Blood Eyes operated, and wouldn’t try to kill him in the sect. But he could lend someone a knife and have them do his dirty work for him.

Xu Qing knew he had to improve his cultivation base and get rid of that threat once and for all.

He had done a lot more research into dharmaboats, and had read the jade slip instructions thoroughly. What was more, he had practiced enough that he had complete control over the operation of the boat.

For now, he’d decided that the first thing he needed to focus on was the hull. He would upgrade his dharmaboat by means of improving its hull and defenses. That would prevent the boat from being damaged, and would thus ensure that he didn’t need to worry about making repairs. What was more, Seven Blood Eyes was a place where you always had to worry about being ambushed. The dharmaboat was the most secure and safe location, a place where he needed privacy to rest, concoct pills, and work on cultivation. Because of that, he needed the boat to have adequate defenses.

As the days passed, Xu Qing concocted quite a few white and black boluses. Furthermore, he created some more poison powders. As he concocted pills, he paid very close attention to everything that happened, thus improving his understanding of plants and vegetation. After every concocting session, he would carefully organize his leftover plants. Thus, the interior of his dharmaboat eventually became packed with all sorts of ingredients.

Because of the dense population in the city, he didn’t think it was a good idea to experiment with new poison concoctions. However, he did start building up a good collection of ingredients to do so.

Next time he got a chance to leave the city, he would find a safe place for some experimentation.

He got more and more familiar with working in the Violent Crimes Division. The entire division was still focused on tracking down members of Night Dove, with new information coming in on a daily basis.

Xu Qing had the feeling it wouldn’t be long before the division tightened the net and took action.

On one particular day when Xu Qing was supposed to be on night duty, he submitted an application to switch shifts with someone. All constables in Violent Crimes had to go on night patrol at some point, although those shifts were a lot more dangerous. His application was approved, and thus, as the sky grew dark, Xu Qing straightened his clothing, put some poison powder packets into his sleeves, strapped his daggers and iron skewer into place, and then walked out of his dharmaboat.

Darkness was already driving away the evening light, and a light rain ensured that the sky wasn’t even visible.

Xu Qing slipped into the darkness, blending into the rain and the shadows. As the rain splattered onto him, and the cold wind hit him, he took in a deep breath.

The rain drove away any heat that remained in the city, but it couldn’t get rid of that unique smell the city had. Xu Qing sped along, splashing through the puddles formed by the rain. As the splashes rippled out, they looked like flowers. In fact, it seemed like each step he took formed lotuses beneath his feet.

The night grew deeper, and the rain fell harder. Xu Qing sped by alleyways and closed-up shops. He saw people fighting in the streets, but avoided them.

Eventually, he reached Plankspring Way. Staying beneath the eaves of a building across the street, he watched the inn through the rain. It was only a few days ago that he had learned that the wanted criminal Master Greencloud was staying in this place.

According to the information in the bounty list, he’d come from a small sect in the Violet Lands called the Spirit Cloud Sect. The man was in the ninth level of Qi Condensation, and was vicious, merciless, and given to lust. After killing some female disciples in his sect, he fled. During the process, he had pillaged numerous villages, raping and killing to his heart’s content.

Originally, Xu Qing hadn’t been inclined to go arrest him. He had no beef with the man. In the brutal, chaotic world they lived in, everyone lived in their own way, and Xu Qing wasn’t inclined to go around sticking his nose in the affairs of others.

But Master Greencloud had made a mistake.

Xu Qing had been expecting his informant to come back two days after their initial meeting to ask for the antidote to the poison he’d given her. Except, she never showed up. The next day, Xu Qing had gone looking for her. The city was a windy place, but that couldn’t drive away the unique scent of the poison powder he’d used. Therefore, it wasn’t hard for him to track down her residence. Inside, he saw signs of a struggle, and then traces of the poison powder going in a different direction. He’d followed it to this inn. After waiting outside for a time, he saw a person enter the inn, covered in that very same poison powder.

It was none other than Master Greencloud from the bounty list.

Therefore, Xu Qing had requested time off so that he could come here.

That woman was his informant, and therefore, this was now his matter.