Perhaps it was because of the song, but in this part of the jungle, no Aberration roared. It was as if the source of the song was the ruler of this forbidden area.
Once it appeared, all living things fell silent.
The Thunder Captain sat there silently, still looking off into the distance. It was pitch black, and there was nothing there.
Xu Qing had a complicated expression on his face. After a moment, he looked around, and his gaze finally came to rest on the barbarian ghost's spiked club and shattered shield.
The barbarian ghost's corpse was like all the other corpses in the area. When the fog of the song left, it turned into dust, as if it had never existed in the world.
Scavengers usually didn't have any relatives, so when they disappeared, there weren't many people who cared.
Even if there were, they would eventually be forgotten by the passage of time. Years later, no one would know, and no one would even remember.
Xu Qing suddenly thought back to the teacher in the slums who had been kind to him. Before he died of old age, he had said something to the group of children.
"To have someone in your heart that you can't forget is a kind of pain. To be remembered is a kind of happiness."
At the time, Xu Qing didn't quite understand what he was saying. But now, looking at the Thunder Captain, he more or less understood the meaning of the words. Instead of disturbing him, he quietly walked over to the barbarian ghost's corpse, took out a dagger, and began to dig.
Although he hadn't had much contact with the barbarian ghost, only a few days had passed, and they hadn't spoken much. But the barbarian ghost had imparted his experience in the jungle to him, and they had walked out of the deadly wolf tribulation together. In the end, he had borrowed the barbarian ghost's item to block the black blood.
Therefore, Xu Qing felt that he had to do something.
Just like when he left the city and cremated all the corpses in the city, he dug hard on the ground and gradually dug out a hole.
Then, he buried the barbarian ghost's spiked club and shield.
During this process, Xu Qing was so focused that he didn't notice the Thunder Captain behind him. At some point, the Thunder Captain had stopped looking at the jungle and was now looking at him.
A strange look could be seen in his eyes when he had first seen Xu Qing in the ruins of the city. After seeing Xu Qing burying the berserk ghost's weapon, he seemed to want to make a gravestone. Captain Lei sighed.
"Scavengers don't need gravestones," he said softly.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
This is the life of a scavenger. In life, we struggled in this world, but after death … we don't need to pay our respects. We just need peace. "
At this point, Captain Lei's breath became weaker and weaker. The severity of his injuries, the accumulation of foreign substances, and the exhaustion of his mind made him unable to hold on any longer. His world slowly blurred, and he closed his eyes and fainted.
Xu Qing approached, took out some Seven Leaf Grass from his pocket, and stuffed it into Captain Lei's mouth.
He didn't know if it would be useful, but since it was a necessary ingredient for making white pills, it should have some effect on alleviating the heterogeneity.
With that, he put Captain Lei on his back and used his clothes to tie him up tightly. Then he took a deep breath and sped through the forest.
When he passed by where the Blood Shadow Captain had turned into dust, Xu Qing saw a leather bag. He picked it up and opened it. There were no pills inside, only some miscellaneous items.
Thus, he put it away and left in a flash.
When Lei Dui's consciousness weakly recovered, it was already half an hour later.
He could vaguely feel that he was being carried by a thin and small body. His body moved up and down as the body moved. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the side profile of the young man in front of him.
He fell silent.
Xu Qing also noticed that Captain Lei had woken up and spoke in a low voice.
"Are you feeling better? You can continue to sleep. In a few more hours, we should be able to leave the forbidden zone before dawn."
Captain Lei didn't speak. His weak body couldn't hide his old age. He struggled to look up at the dark sky. His vision slowly blurred, and when he was about to fall unconscious again, he muttered.
"Child, do you know why I asked to take you away twice in the ruined city?"
Xu Qing didn't stop and shook his head.
"Then do you remember the scene when we first met?" Captain Lei's voice was weak.
"I remember."
Xu Qing's body moved and he jumped onto a large tree. His right hand reached out and grabbed a hidden mutated lizard that was charging at him. Then, he threw it to the ground.
With a bang, as the lizard fell, a large number of vines on the ground twisted and quickly wrapped around it. As the lizard struggled, the vines pierced through its leather armor and devoured its flesh.
Xu Qing used this opportunity to jump up, avoid the danger, and continue to fly away.
At this time, Captain Lei weakly muttered behind him. His voice was weak and sickly, and if it weren't for the fact that he was very close, it would have been hard to hear.
"I saw you cremating the corpse. At that time, you were next to the fire, illuminated by the light of the fire, as if you had fused together with the fire. It was like I saw … a trace of warmth in this cruel world."
Xu Qing paused and fell silent. Behind him, Captain Lei fell unconscious once more.
After several breaths of time, Xu Qing silently lifted his foot and continued to rush through the forest, passing through the trees and rapidly flying away.
Time passed. Soon, two hours had passed.
Xu Qing avoided danger, his figure getting closer and closer to the edge of the forest.
At this time, the sky was at its darkest, and the cold from the forbidden zone invaded his surroundings. Luckily, Xu Qing had been moving at high speed, and the heat generated by his body was able to resist the cold.
However … as he moved forward, the cold became more and more intense. After an incense stick of time, Xu Qing suddenly came to a stop. His face darkened as he looked ahead.
In front of him, a thick fog had appeared in the forest.
This fog was extremely thick, spreading out in the distance. But, it was different from the singing blood fog that Xu Qing had seen before. It didn't seem to give off too strong of an oppressive feeling.
It was just that as far as his eyes could see, everything that was shrouded in fog was a blur. It was impossible to see anything around him.
In particular, at this time of night, the fog was even more intense. Xu Qing wanted to avoid it, but even after running for a long time, all he could see was the fog.
He knew what this was.
When he first entered the forbidden zone, Luan Ya and Luan Ya had said that there was a type of danger in the forbidden zone called fog.
If one was shrouded in this fog, they would lose their sense of direction and eventually become lost.
Moreover, once this fog formed, it would take a long time for it to naturally disperse.
Xu Qing felt that although he could endure until the fog dissipated and the abnormality in his body wouldn't explode, the weakened Captain Lei couldn't. If he was trapped in this fog, he would definitely die.
This left Xu Qing with no choice but to retreat. He tried to use a wider area to bypass the fog.
But … the fog was too thick. No matter how fast he was, he was still caught in the fog. There was nowhere to hide and he was submerged in the fog.
But in next to no time, the mist that enveloped Xu Qing gradually thinned, and in the end, Xu Qing's bewildered figure was revealed once more.
He lowered his head and looked at his feet.
There was no shadow in the night, but Xu Qing could feel the fog around him rapidly surging into his feet.
It was as if the invisible shadow had formed a vortex and was swallowing everything around it.
The speed at which it was swallowing wasn't fast, and it didn't take long before it seemed to be full. It stopped absorbing, causing the fog to submerge Xu Qing's figure once more.
But … when the shadow finished swallowing, a feedback force surged into Xu Qing's body and gathered in his eyes. As far as his eyes could see, the thick fog became transparent.
Or rather, it couldn't be described as just looking, but sensing!
The fog was clearly still there, and it was clearly incomparably thick, but in his perception, it was only slightly blurry. It was far from being able to block his vision and make him lose his way.
This caused Xu Qing's breathing to quicken. He lowered his head and looked at the invisible shadow beneath his feet.
"You … just what are you …?" Xu Qing whispered.
After a moment, he lifted his head and sensed his surroundings. After a moment of silence, he immediately moved. He didn't slow down, and like a ghost, he sped through the thick fog.
Not long after, Xu Qing, who was flying through the thick fog, saw living people.
They were two scavengers.
Xu Qing faintly remembered seeing them before in the camp. At this moment, the two of them were holding hands and slowly exploring the thick fog like blind men.
But in Xu Qing's perception, their advance was actually a circle. Clearly, they had already noticed this. The sweat on their foreheads and their heavy breathing revealed their nervousness and despair towards the future.
After glancing at the two of them, Xu Qing looked away and was about to leave.
He didn't have an overflowing sense of compassion. Living in this cruel world, he had seen far too many examples of people in the slums who tried to save people without a purpose, only to suffer a backlash.
But for people whose vision was obscured, their hearing would be extremely sharp. Thus, when Xu Qing left, they still heard his footsteps.
The two scavengers immediately looked nervous. They couldn't tell whether the sound came from a man or a beast. So, one of them growled in a ferocious manner, as if to intimidate others.
The other scavenger shouted for help. In order to show his sincerity, he even took out a white pill and spirit coins from his leather bag, promising to give them away for a chance of survival.
Xu Qing stopped and turned back to look at the white pill in the scavenger's hand. He also felt the weakness of the thunder team behind him.
So, after thinking about it, he rummaged through the leather bag and found a candle to light it. But the flame was weak, suppressed by the fog, and was slowly dimming.
While the flame was still there, Xu Qing retreated a bit and looked at the two scavengers not far away.
"Seven steps to the right, then ten steps to the left …"
As Xu Qing's voice entered their ears, the two scavengers trembled. Ecstasy appeared on their faces, and their breathing quickened. They immediately followed Xu Qing's instructions.
Soon, under Xu Qing's continuous instructions, they circled left and right, avoiding the danger. The fog in front of them also slowly thinned as they approached the place where the flame was.
When they walked into the area where the flame was about to go out, they were illuminated by the light. They were like blind people who saw the light again. They instantly threw themselves beside the candle, their hearts filled with excitement.
As for Xu Qing, he was hiding in the darkness at the edge. Even though the light of the flame was faintly illuminating him, his figure was still blurry. He expressionlessly looked at the excited scavengers and spoke.
"Give me the white pill."
One of the scavengers trembled. After surviving a disaster, he didn't hesitate and immediately threw the leather bag containing the spirit coins and white pills to Xu Qing, thanking him repeatedly.
The other scavenger was just about to take the pills, but when his gaze swept over Xu Qing's figure, he restrained his excitement.
Because Xu Qing was in the darkness and the fog was thin, he couldn't see Xu Qing's face clearly. He could only see that Xu Qing's body was small and thin, and that there was an unconscious person on his back.
A dark light flashed in his eyes, but he smiled and put on a sincere expression.
"Little brother, I've finished all the white pills on me. But don't worry, once the fog dissipates, or if you have a way to get me out of here, I'll definitely repay you double."
After he finished speaking, his eyes flashed and he looked in Xu Qing's direction, eager to give it a try.
His companion also felt vexed in his heart. He felt that he had given the pills too quickly.
Xu Qing looked deeply at the scavenger who hadn't given the white pills, but he didn't say anything.
He simply waved his right hand and a gust of wind blew past. The flame of the candle was instantly extinguished, and the area was once again plunged into darkness and fog.
A cry of alarm came from the scavenger's mouth. Xu Qing moved closer and pulled the leather bag from his body. Then his calm voice echoed in the area.
"There's no need. You can stay inside."
"Wait, I was wrong, I was really wrong. I gave you the white pills, I …"
The scavenger suddenly became anxious. He wanted to grab something, but his body was blocked by a tree and he fell to the ground.
When he got up, he called out even more anxiously. Intense regret filled his body and mind.
"Little brother, listen to my explanation, I …"
Xu Qing ignored the scavenger's cries and walked towards the other scavenger who had given him the white pills.
The scavenger's face was filled with shock. He was once again trapped in the fog and was filled with panic. Without him noticing, Xu Qing walked past him and spoke faintly.
"Follow my footsteps."
Once he finished speaking, Xu Qing didn't turn his head and continued walking forward. When the scavenger heard Xu Qing's words, his breathing quickened and he immediately followed his footsteps. At that moment, he felt an unprecedented joy in his heart that he had given the reward so quickly.
It was especially so when he heard the anxious cries behind him quickly turn into frenzied curses. The despair in his voice made his heart tremble, and he felt an even stronger sense of respect for the owner of the footsteps in front of him.
----
"I woke up late … It's too hot today. I want to stay in the forest in the forbidden zone for a while …"