Beyond the Timescape [Wuxiaworld]

At almost exactly the same time as the boy opened his mouth, the door of the house behind him silently opened. The boy’s parents stepped out, faces expressionless but eyes cold as they looked at Xu Qing.

Dark clouds rolled out to cover the evening sky, and raindrops began to fall. Thunder rumbled and lightning bolts crashed off in the distance. As the rain fell, villagers scurried home. The breeze kicked up the dirt and leaves in the street. To any casual observer, it would look like nothing more than an everyday storm. But Xu Qing could see that it was all happening because of the boy in front of him.

“Well, isn’t this interesting.”

Turning, he examined the boy’s parents. As he did, the Ghost Emperor mountain in his sea of consciousness glittered, and his pupils suddenly shone.

The boy’s parents shivered, and the coldness in their eyes suddenly changed to astonishment and terror. The exact same expression appeared in the eyes of the boy.

Xu Qing didn’t exert any pressure. After looking at them, he reined in the image of the Ghost Emperor mountain, then looked away from the parents. They weren’t of any concern to him. What he was interested in was the boy with the forced smile on his face. Xu Qing hopped off the fence and stepped forward.

The boy’s face fell, and he backed away.

Xu Qing tossed the white command medallion in his direction. “That qualifies you to join Seven Blood Eyes in the Eight Sect Coalition.”

The boy didn’t catch the medallion, and it landed on the ground with a thump.

Xu Qing didn’t care. He started to walk, and as he passed the boy, he said, “Do you want to become human?”

He walked out of the village.

After he was gone, the rain fell heavily. The pitter-patter of the water mixed with the crash of thunder as the ground, and the village itself, was washed clean.

Within that rain, the boy stood where he was, as did his parents. They didn’t move. All of them were looking at the white command medallion sitting there being rained upon.

Eventually, the boy spoke. “What do you think? Should I go check it out?”

The boy’s parents didn’t respond.

“Right,” the boy murmured, “I forgot. I created you. You have simple minds, and couldn’t possibly answer that question.”

He looked at the command medallion, his heart starting to pound.

The boy wasn’t human. Nor was he nonhuman. He was actually a grue, and a very special kind of grue at that. He didn’t have amazing battle prowess, but could think as clearly as any of the countless other intelligent species that inhabited the world. And yet, for some unknown reason, he had a very deep-seated desire to live as a human.

Years ago, after finding this village, he had taken human form. He had also created these two parents. Every day he happily attended class at school. Over and over again. After a number of years passed, he would erase the villagers’ memories of him and start over. And thus, he lived endless happy days as a young student.

Truth be told, he had already forgotten how long he had been doing this. Maybe years. Maybe generations. He’d watched his schoolmates grow up, get old, and die. Yet he had always remained the same. Throughout all those years, he had always kept the village safe. That was why it was such a peaceful place, and why it had so many elderly people and young ones.

Xu Qing had seen all of that thanks to the Ghost Emperor mountain. And he had also realized why Master Seventh wanted the boy to have an identity medallion. As for whether or not the boy would make it to Seven Blood Eyes, that wasn’t something Xu Qing needed to worry about. He just knew that this grue was definitely different from the others.

As the rain fell, Xu Qing floated up to the dharmaskiff and stepped aboard. Master Seventh didn’t ask any questions. He just flicked his sleeve, sending the dharmaskiff shooting off into the distance.

Master Seventh didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get back. He took his time traveling.

On one occasion, he took Xu Qing and Ding Xue into a big city. Crouching in a tree outside the mansion of a rich family, he observed a young prince.

Another time, they went to a small nation, where he watched some suffering commoners. Xu Qing had no idea what Master Seventh was thinking at that point.

On another occasion, they went to a place similar to a scavenger basecamp. Master Seventh seemed amused by everything that was going on, and would occasionally ask Xu Qing and Ding Xue what they thought of one particular person.

When Master Seventh saw someone he approved of, he would have Xu Qing deliver a white command medallion. All those who got such a medallion were young men and women in their teens. They included a rich prince, a destitute scholar, a beggar girl, and an emaciated child.

As all of this played out, Xu Qing gradually thought back to his time in the scavenger basecamp, and Master Seventh’s servant. On this particular outing, Master Seventh hadn’t seen fit to bring the servant along, so the work was left to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing eventually came to realize that everyone Master Seventh gave a medallion to had some unique quality.

For example, the prince’s soul and fleshly body weren’t very well connected. No ordinary person would be able to spot that, but now that Xu Qing’s vision was augmented by the Ghost Emperor mountain, he saw it right away. That indicated that the prince had been possessed.

The silly beggar girl in the impoverished nation seemed happy to beg for food, yet her body was ravaged by rot. What was more, anyone who bullied her during the day would suffer nightmares when they slept. The nightmares came from the girl. During the evenings, she would scrape off the rotting parts of her body and use them to create a curse of some sort. It wasn’t any sort of magical technique, but rather, some sort of innate ability. She hid it so well that no one had any idea what she was doing. What was more, the people who suffered from the nightmares didn’t die from them. However, their chances of suffering from fatal accidents dramatically increased.

In one of the scavenger-like locations, there was a boy who worked at a medicine shop. Every evening, the owner of the shop would force the boy to eat sludge, after which the boy would bleed profusely. The shop owner would carefully collect the blood, then put it into bottles and sell it the next day as a healing tonic.

Tightly kept secrets like this were things that Master Seventh was adept at noticing. As a result, Xu Qing learned a lot. What was more, each person he gave a medallion to had immense potential.

After passing out more than twenty identity medallions, Master Seventh stopped his search. Looking at Xu Qing, he sighed.

“A new grand era is coming. Last time I searched Emperor-Receiving Prefecture like this, people with potential were hard to find. In the end, the only one I found was your Third Elder Brother. But nowadays, there are a lot more people with potential. This time, as before, I plan to select one out of fifty. Let’s see whether you end up with a new Junior Brother or a new Junior Sister.”

Master Seventh seemed pleased with the results so far.

“Xu Qing. Xue’er. Of all the potential apprentices we gave command medallions to, which ones do you think will reach me in the end?”

Ding Xue thought for a moment, then said, “Uncle, I think the girl who can curse people will do great!”

Master Seventh smiled and looked at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing thought back to all the people he had seen, and in the end, his thoughts focused on the rich prince. “I think the possessed one has the highest chances.”

Master Seventh seemed surprised by that. “Why do you say that? I thought you would pick the very first one, that boy.”

Xu Qing shook his head. “He’s not cautious enough. Of the entire group, only that prince is truly cautious.”

“Very interesting.” Master Seventh threw his head back and laughed. With that, he took control of the dharmaskiff and piloted it back in the direction of Seven Blood Eyes. The trip was over.

On the way back, Xu Qing had some spare time, which was rare. He spent it continuing the search for his 121st dharma aperture. He was starting to form a plan for what to do next, but wasn’t completely sure about some of the details. Finally, he asked Master Seventh, who confirmed his suspicion. The Seven Blood Eyes taboo treasure might help him to find the 121st dharma aperture, but he would have to find the right opportunity to make the attempt.

After some more thought, Xu Qing remembered the little mirror he had found some time back. Taking it out, he studied it.

Master Seventh glanced at it but didn’t say anything.

Xu Qing didn’t ask any more questions. As days passed, and he continued his study and contemplation, his plan solidified.

The mirror was a fragment of a magical treasure, and it seemed likely it was similar to the Seven Blood Eyes taboo treasure. Of course, the powers of this mirror were different. This mirror seemed capable of stimulating the soul. If someone looked at their reflection in the mirror, their soul would be dazed, and they would feel intense pain. If they died, then the mirror would produce a gruish copy of them that the mirror could control.

It seemed useful in terms of what it could do. However, the mirror had not been ensorcelled. Therefore, though it would be terribly effective on mortals, to cultivators with a cultivation base, the results wouldn’t be very amazing. And definitely not fatal.

If I could catch someone off guard with this thing, it might be effective. Xu Qing remembered that when he had first acquired the mirror, looking at it had stung his eyes, and distracted him momentarily. A moment of distraction like that could be fatal if used in the right moment. After some thought, he put the mirror away with the plan of testing it out later.

A few more days went by before the Eight Sect Coalition appeared in the distance.

Ding Xue seemed very reluctant to part with Xu Qing. However, that didn’t stop him from disembarking and heading toward Zhang San in the Transportation Division. He had been gone for a long time, and had used his dharmaskiff’s self-detonation feature twice in a row. The dharmaskiff has served splendidly, but now it needed to be repaired.

It was currently noon, and as he sped through Seven Blood Eyes, his expression suddenly flickered, and he looked down.

On the street below was the Mute. Unlike all the occasions before, the Mute wasn’t wearing a dog skin jerkin beneath his daoist robe. He only had on the daoist robe. He was walking in an unusual manner. Instead of sticking to the shadows, he was brazenly strutting down the middle of the street. Though he still seemed to have his guard up, he looked very different compared to what Xu Qing was used to. His vigilance seemed to contain excitement and even curiosity as well. And his curiosity seemed to be focused on the living people around him, as if he might try to devour one of them at any moment. Most relevant of all, the Mute seemed very weak. Not his body, but rather, his soul.

Xu Qing had seen something like that before. It reminded him of that rich prince who had been possessed. Using the Ghost Emperor mountain in his eyes, Xu Qing looked at the Mute. His eyes narrowed. Striding forward, he landed right in front of the Mute.

His sudden arrival caused the Mute’s expression to flicker, and he instinctively backed up. Then, seeing who Xu Qing was, he quickly bowed his head and dropped to kowtow.

Before he could drop to the ground, Xu Qing reached out and grabbed him by the neck. Lifting the terrified Mute up to his face, he looked at him with extremely cold eyes and said, “Who are you?”

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