After a short silence, the camp owner looked at Xu Qing and said, “Kid, let’s let this matter drop. You saved Sergeant Thunder, and his nemesis is dead. There’s no reason for you and I to fight to the death. Besides, I’m an elder in the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect. If you keep fighting with me, you’re basically declaring war on my sect. Our patriarch is a Foundation Establishment expert!”

Xu Qing stood there quietly before coughing up a mouthful of blood. Staggering a bit, he reached up as if to wipe away the blood.

However, that was when the camp owner, who had seemed like he was ready to stop fighting, suddenly rushed forward, eyes flashing coldly. He moved even faster than before, the golden light around him erupting with greater intensity than ever as his body seemed to transform into gold.

“Golden Vajra Warrior: Third Dharma!”

From a distance, golden light seemed to cover the camp owner, and his killing intent burned with unmatchable intensity.

Xu Qing’s expression didn’t change at all. What was more, the stagger from before instantly disappeared. It was clearly an act. And he hadn’t been raising his hand to wipe the blood from his mouth, but rather, to lift it over his head. He closed his eyes. In his mind, he recalled the image in that temple in which the walking, god-like statue lifted its hand to unleash a saber strike that contained some sort of great dao. Xu Qing had practiced that saber strike countless times, but had never used it in combat. Right now, he had the feeling that he could use it.

Violet light spilled out, covering him, and circling up to his right hand.

The statue of the god was gold, but Xu Qing was different.

As the violet light surged, the camp owner howled and closed in. Then Xu Qing’s right hand dropped in a seemingly casual movement.

There was nothing spectacular about it, and in fact, it seemed completely ordinary. Even simple. Yet within that ordinary movement was something profound. Because of that profundity, as the violet light converged on his hand, and as the hand dropped past his head… the image of a saber appeared in it!

It was a huge, heavenly saber!

Violet light glittered, replacing the sunlight, superseding the golden light, taking over everything. As Xu Qing’s hand fell, that saber fell… and sliced through everything in its path! A sound like a thunderclap echoed out, and the ground in the camp shook. A rushing wind swept through the camp, accompanied by blinding light.

The scavengers backed away without even thinking about it.

As for the camp owner, he had been speeding toward Xu Qing, but now he slowed down, until he came to a complete stop about three meters from Xu Qing. First he looked at Xu Qing, then he looked down at the ground. Beneath him, there was a perfectly straight fissure. It was over twenty meters long, and it stretched much further past where he stood.

“That saber….” he murmured. Blood appeared on his face, stretching from his forehead down to his chin. Then it went to his chest, and toward his dantian region. Blood sprayed out as he split completely in two. After the two sides flopped to the ground, silence prevailed.

The only sounds to be heard were the faint gasps from the incredulous onlookers.

The setting sun shone on the young man who stood there, blood dripping off the tips of his fingers and landing below, causing ripples to spread out in the pools of blood that filled the street.

His reflection was hard to see in the blood, but even still, the coldness of his eyes was visible.

Xu Qing quietly put away his bloody dagger and skewer. He picked up the talisman treasure with its faint calligraphy, then turned and walked toward Crucifix and Graceful Raptor, who likewise had expressions of awe on their faces. Xu Qing took the unconscious Sergeant Thunder into his arms and carried him away.

Heads bowed, Crucifix and Graceful Raptor followed.

Xu Qing’s shadow stretched long in the evening sun. It seemed unspeakably melancholy as it moved across the blood-soaked ground.

The scavengers watched him leave, then turned their attention to the corpses, which were like bloodstains left behind as Xu Qing walked away. Some of the people present thought back to when Xu Qing had fought the giant horned anaconda in the beast trial, and how he had also left behind a streak of blood as he dragged it out of the arena. Those two images seemed to combine into one.

“Kid!” someone yelled. And then the other scavengers started to say the same thing.

“Kid!!”

“Kid!!!”

Their voices joined, growing louder. Old people, young people, adults. Even the girls in the feather tents. All of them looked at him with fervent admiration as they called his nickname louder and louder. It was… a special salute from the scavengers!

***

The sun had almost set. At the main gate to the basecamp, Xu Qing stopped to shift Sergeant Thunder onto his back, and then looked over his shoulder at Crucifix and Graceful Raptor. They looked back at him with respect and other complicated feelings. They had an idea what was going to happen next.

“You’re leaving?” Crucifix asked quietly.

Xu Qing nodded. “I’m going to take Sergeant Thunder on the final leg of his journey. Then I’ll leave this place.”

Neither Crucifix nor Graceful Raptor said anything.

It was really only at this point that Xu Qing realized he had to say goodbye. He gave them a deep look, and then glanced at the camp where he had spent almost half a year of his life.

Graceful Raptor took a step forward and straightened his hair. Ignoring the blood soaking him, she gave him a hug. “Take care of yourself.”

Xu Qing didn’t push her away. “What about you two?” he asked softly.

“We’re going away. Don’t worry. Crucifix and I can take care of ourselves. We’re strong enough that we can do well at whatever basecamp we end up in.” She smiled.

Crucifix didn’t say anything. He just stepped forward and gave Xu Qing a firm hug.

With that, Xu Qing walked a few steps, turned and waved, then left the camp and walked toward the forbidden region.

Crucifix and Graceful Raptor stood there watching him get farther and farther away. When he finally disappeared from sight, Graceful Raptor said, “What do you think, Crucifix? Will we ever see him again? We never even asked his real name.”

“We’ll see him again. And as for names… they aren’t important.” Reaching out, he took Graceful Raptor’s hand.

***

Xu Qing carried Sergeant Thunder on his back, just like he had when the old man was injured and he took him out of the forbidden region. In fact, he followed the same path back. Unfortunately, Sergeant Thunder grew less and less heavy, as though the life force in him were draining away. And slowly but surely, an aura of death built up in him.

Xu Qing’s sorrow grew stronger. He entered the jungle, going deeper and deeper in one specific direction. Eventually, the sun set, and night took hold.

Because of the energy and lingering killing intent on him, no mutant beast blocked his path. They simply let him pass in his grief.

About two hours later, a raspy voice spoke from behind him.

“Kid, I had a dream.”

Sergeant Thunder was awake, and he had an absent-minded look on his face. He didn’t ask Xu Qing where they were, or how they got there. He didn’t ask what happened to him.

“I dreamed of Taohong. And you.”

Xu Qing’s eyes were bloodshot, and his heart heavy with sorrow. He started walking faster, but did everything possible to keep his gait steady. They were almost there.

“In the dream, you were just as clever as you are now. You were always first place in class.” It sounded like Sergeant Thunder wanted to laugh, but speaking took too much energy. His voice was getting weaker. “It was a really good dream. I can’t hold on much longer, Kid.”

Xu Qing raced forward as fast as he could. He tried to somehow use the powers of his violet crystal to heal Sergeant Thunder, but it didn’t do any good. The old man’s life force just kept slipping away.

Another hour later, they reached the spot where they’d encountered the Singing.

Xu Qing put Sergeant Thunder down beneath the same big tree as before. His eyes were red and his nose stung as he looked down at the old man’s wrinkled face.

“Sarge…” he said softly.

As the old man leaned against the tree, his eyes flickered open. They were cloudy and somewhat blank. But a moment later, he realized where he was, and he smiled. There was still some life left in his eyes.

“Got any liquor, Kid?”

Xu Qing nodded and took a jug of alcohol out of his sack. Opening it, he put it to Sergeant Thunder’s lips and helped him take a drink. The sergeant’s eyes shone a bit brighter after he swallowed. It was like the glow of a candle right before it went dark.

Sergeant Thunder looked up at Xu Qing’s red eyes, and he chuckled. “You don't need to cry.”

The sergeant seemed to regain a bit of strength, and with Xu Qing’s help, pushed himself up against the tree into a standing position. Then he tried to reach out and tousle Xu Qing’s hair, but couldn’t manage it, and his hand fell back. Xu Qing reached out, grabbed his hand, and put it on his head.

The old man smiled.

“You know, I’m actually lucky to have someone with me at a time like this. And I have some alcohol, too. Even better, once I die, there’s someone here to bury me. A lot of people in this world die sad and alone, out in the middle of nowhere, their corpse rotting away in the sun. You know, death isn’t something to be afraid of. What’s really scary is being alone in the moments before you die….”

The light in Sergeant Thunder’s eyes was starting to fade.

“Kid, help me take one last drink.”

Grief filled Xu Qing’s heart as he carefully put the jug of alcohol up to Sergeant Thunder’s lips. The alcohol spilled out, but didn’t enter his mouth. The sergeant looked over Xu Qing’s shoulders, his gaze vacant as he murmured, “Are you coming for me, Taohong…?”

The alcohol seeped down the sergeant’s garment onto the ground below. He didn’t drink. The light in his eyes went out as his life force dissipated.

Xu Qing trembled, bowing his head as he lost control of his sorrow. It swept over him from head to toe. He gripped the jug of alcohol so hard his fingers bit into the clay surface, but he didn’t notice. A long moment later, he bit his lip, put the jug off to the side, and looked at the old man in front of him. The old man who would never wake up again.

In his mind, he could see that time in the city ruins when Sergeant Thunder had looked over his shoulder and suddenly said, “Kid. Do you want to come with me?”

Tears seeped out of Xu Qing’s eyes, creating rivulets as they cut through the blood on his face and fell onto his garments. Back in the slums, he had never cried. But right now, he couldn’t control himself.

He stood there with Sergeant Thunder until the sun rose. Then he buried the old man beneath the tree, along with the jug of alcohol.

Scavengers didn’t need gravestones, as no one would visit them to mourn.

But Sergeant Thunder had a gravestone.

Xu Qing stood in front of it, staring blankly.

Time passed. Eventually, he reached into his sack and pulled out a small item wrapped in hemp cloth. It was a piece of candy. Putting the candy in his mouth, he leaned against the tree and closed his eyes. The candy was sweet.

Someone had once told him that, when he felt bad, he should eat this candy, and it would make him feel better.