Chapter 158: Heart (Part 1)
Xie Qing had been asleep for a while in his tent. The campfire had been extinguished, and a thin, barely noticeable smoke was rising. The forest was shrouded in a dead silence.
The stars shone brightly in the sky as if they had become much brighter than usual tonight. And suddenly, a round object appeared in the beautiful, glittering sky.
Duum!
The sky was filled with bright purple colors. A round, distinctly purple-glowing point began to increase in size.
Someone might have thought that the Northern Lights had appeared, but the bright ball continued to grow, eventually becoming the same size as the Sun.
This caused panic among many astrologers. They suddenly felt that the past, present, and future blurred.
The panic lasted for about twenty minutes. In such a short time, the ball had managed to replace the entire sky and then disappear completely.
What had actually happened was unknown. Many predicted disasters!
***
Xie Qing woke up early in the morning. He packed up his tent and set off on his way again. He was heading nowhere, just walking where his eyes would take him. He loved to explore the world this way.
There might be dangerous places where he could lose his life, but having seen the beauty of this world, he was more than satisfied with his life.
“Hmm… this direction, if I’m not mistaken, leads straight to the Han Dynasty… oh, they’re very strict with foreigners there. I’ll have to make an effort to get them to let me into at least a village to replenish my supplies,” Xie Qing thought with a sigh. He was holding a map in his hand.
The edges of the map were frayed, and folds were visible on the surface. One could tell from its appearance how often it was used.
“One way or another… no harm in trying. I’ve run out of my Sleeping Potion. It’ll be extremely difficult if a monster attacks me at night,” the man thought and scratched his stubble.
There were bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. In recent days, he had become too restless. Even resting in nature didn’t help.
“Sigh…”
Xie Qing approached a stream, cupped his hands, and drank some water from it. He glanced at his reflection and felt a pain in his heart.
“Who would have thought that I would sink to this level… I used to be so handsome. Now, only faint traces of my beauty remain,” he thought, frowning darkly.
Xie Qing felt pain and suffocation from how his life had changed. But he couldn’t do anything about it.
Complaining about his life could go on endlessly. But the journey had to begin immediately to make it to the village by nightfall.
“This area is quite dangerous. Plus, they’ve spotted traces of demonic beasts here… damn, those bastards are breeding again,” Xie Qing thought, his eyes showing noticeable fear.
Demonic beasts are a category of monsters that were ordinary animals until they were infected with demonic Qi. After this, these weak creatures gained more power and posed a danger to entire villages, even if they hunted alone.
During his travels, Xie Qing had only encountered such a monster once, and it was injured and didn’t have the strength to pursue him. So, the man managed to avoid a confrontation and continued on his way.
And now, he was full of hope that his journey back would not encounter any problems. However…
“Holy shit…”
Xie Qing was sweating. In front of him were two monsters. They resembled wolves but were twice as large. Their fur was silver-black as if it shimmered in the light.
Their eyes were red as if filled with blood. And their fangs, so sharp and strong, instilled fear in any unprepared person.
Even with all his bravery, Xie Qing couldn’t help but shiver with fear. For the wolves had clearly focused their gazes on him, and in those gazes, he saw hunger.
“Damn it! How unlucky I am…” Xie Qing grumbled, not daring to move – this would only provoke the wolves. “Demonic Blood Wolves! Their strength is equal to a cultivator at the fifth stage of Enlightenment!”
What does the fifth stage of Enlightenment mean? It’s at least a body that has enough strength to crush a mortal’s skull with one hand!
For experienced cultivators, such beasts might be a meal, but for Xie Qing, he was more likely to be the meal!
“I need to do something… we can’t just stand here staring at each other forever!” Xie Qing thought and clenched his teeth, gripping his hunting knife, the tip of which was coated with poison. “This poison is enough to kill an ordinary animal instantly! But against these bastards, it’ll only serve as a short-term paralysis effect!”
Xie Qing was sweating. He was truly in a shitty situation, especially since he was up against two demonic monsters at once!
However, when he was already starting to think about how to properly delay them and escape, the wolves suddenly turned around and ran away.
“What?” Xie Qing clenched his hunting knife in surprise.
Although the wolves had long since disappeared over the horizon, he didn’t dare to let go of his only weapon, which could guarantee his safety.
“What… happened? Why did they leave?” Xie Qing thought, confused. He scratched the back of his head and turned around, bending down to pick up his backpack, which had accidentally fallen when he took out his knife, but…
Bang!
He suddenly collided with something. With a very soft, pleasant sensation…
And when the man looked up in surprise and froze.
“Are you going to stand like that for a long time?” a cold female voice sounded.
Xie Qing took two steps back and retreated. He looked warily at the figure that had suddenly appeared.
She was tall, only slightly shorter than Xie Qing, who was about two meters tall.
Her hair was particularly striking, as if covered in gold. In her bright golden eyes, one could see greatness.
Her body was… em… quite mature if you know what I mean.
But Xie Qing was not surprised by this.
“Horns… and a tail… this is…” he looked at the girl in shock and thought, “A descendant of the Dragon Clan!”
The cultivation world was teeming with various races. Some were weak, while others were infinitely strong.
But one exceptional race stood out – the favorites of the Heavens, the Dragon Clan!
They had the special ability to control other races, could control nature, and had a long lifespan! They were the rulers of the Heavens!
And with his own eyes, Xie Qing saw a representative of their kind! No wonder those wolves ran away. Who would dare to stay in the presence of a predator?
However, the girl only glanced at Xie Qing and was about to say something, but suddenly, her eyes rolled back, and she fell to the ground.
“Huh?”
***
Night had fallen. Xie Qing had set up camp two kilometers away from the place where he had encountered the wolves.
Fortunately, he had found a cave where he could temporarily set up camp. He didn’t light a fire – he didn’t want to die of suffocation, after all.
So, he had to huddle under a warm blanket. The cave was damp and cold, but at least it was safe. The hard, rocky walls with sharp, protruding, spike-like stones.
“Not the best place, but at least my back is covered. The only thing to fear is the entrance, but I’ve poured the last drops of my Sleeping Potion there and set up a simple trap and alarm system…”
The man sighed deeply and coughed slightly. He turned his gaze to the left and narrowed his eyes. There, the Dragon girl he had met not long ago was lying down.
Although it was somewhat dangerous to take her with him, Xie Qing felt extremely uncomfortable at the thought of leaving his savior to lie on such a dangerous spot.
He had thoughts of her possibly killing him, but Xie Qing’s eyes became empty as he looked apathetically at the stars.
The night was cold, especially cold. After an hour or so, the sky was covered with clouds, and it began to rain.
A few drops fell inside, creating a small noise. Xie Qing couldn’t sleep, so he took out a book and started to read.
The title of the book was “Mortal Meets Immortal Fey!” It was a nearly childish, naive story about how a mortal meets a beautiful woman who turns out to be immortal and falls in love with her.
According to the pattern of such books, the woman falls in love, but her fiancé, who somehow appeared out of thin air, interferes with their marriage. And the mortal, fueled by his hatred and love, becomes a cultivator, conquers the Heavens, and lives happily ever after with the woman.
Such naive stories… sigh. Xie Qing looked like a middle-aged man with stubble, extremely manly and gloomy. His height gave the impression of a warrior who could break the heads of enemies with his bare hands.
But now, he was sitting and reading something so childish…
“Are you reading a book? Hah? That’s a story for children…” a cold female voice sounded from the side.
Slap.
“That’s my favorite book from childhood. In it, I find the past, see the present, and ignore the future,” Xie Qing replied indifferently, slapping the book shut. There was apathy in his voice. “A mortal’s life is too short. I have fun as I can…”
“I don’t understand mortals.”
The Dragon girl got up and stretched her neck. Her hanfu was slightly wrinkled, revealing glimpses of her beautiful legs and collarbone. However, Xie Qing tactfully didn’t stare.
Putting the book in his bag, the man looked at the girl, who had already put her clothes in order.
“Lady, you must be very tired from the journey? I have a Stamina Potion, but I doubt it’ll have an effect on you,” Xie Qing said respectfully.
“It won’t have an effect, you’re right. Potions for mortals are like cheap booze for us higher beings,” the girl replied with obvious disdain. But, after a moment of silence, she added in a quiet voice, “…this… em… you… uhh…”
“You’re welcome,” Xie Qing replied calmly and bowed his head. “It’s an honor for me to be useful to the Lady.”
An awkward silence hung between them. Xie Qing was silent, not knowing what to say next, but then…
Guurrr…
“Ugh…”
The man tactfully didn’t ask about the stomach growling.
“I’m a bit hungry, and I was planning to make something. I hope the Lady will agree to have a late dinner…”
“D-don’t mind if I do…” the girl replied awkwardly.
