Luo Wushuang turned to leave, and his voice came from afar. “Heavenly Saint Cult Master Qin Mu, Rolan’s Golden Palace Grandmaster, when I gain success to some extent in the future, I will definitely repay both of you greatly, taking revenge for my severed arm. Don’t die too early!”
He then vanished in the dense darkness.
Qin Mu continued to stand straight as before, with Carefree Sword circling around him.
He didn’t relax and stared into the darkness. After a moment, he finally left out a sigh of relief.
Pangong Tso’s face turned bitter and he grumbled, “Cult Master Qin, why did you have to announce our names? What should we do now?”
“If we didn’t say our names, he might not have retreated.” Qin Mu’s aura suddenly weakened, and he collapsed into a sitting position. Carefree Sword fell onto the ground, and he didn’t even have the strength to move it anymore. “If he remained to fight to the death, we really couldn’t have won against him. Only after hearing our names would he leave.”
Pangong Tso struggled to get up while looking at him with a calculating gaze. A lump of blood popped out from his Bloodshed Calabash as he calculated if he should take the chance to attack Qin Mu now while pretending to be angry. “You could have said fake names!”
Qin Mu raised his eyebrows, and Carefree Sword which was beside his feet secretly raised its tip while he said weakly, “When I do things, I never say my fake name. What’s more, we are returning back to thirty to forty thousand years later, so how could he even find us?”
Fury blazed in Pangong Tso’s heart as he gritted his teeth. “Cult Master Qin, how is Qin Mu, this name, real? You never say your fake name? How shameless of you to say that.”
More blood came out from the calabash and floated up silently.
He narrowed his eyes and changed to a different expression. He said pleasantly, “However, Cult Master is logical. Who knows, even though this scoundrel Luo Wushuang is slightly capable, he’s too arrogant so he definitely won’t live until thirty to forty thousand years later. Maybe he has already died in the war. Cult Master Qin, do you need me to help you up?”
Qin Mu raised his head with a sincere expression. “Good, my body is now exhausted. If you didn’t lend me a hand, I really wouldn’t be able to get up.”
Pangong Tso suddenly shuddered and hurriedly moved back with a chuckle. “Men should not touch hands. It’s best if I get farther away so there will be no gossip.”
Qin Mu was unconcerned and propped himself up with Carefree Sword. “Luo Wushuang has retreated so we need to leave as soon as possible as well. He might bring the army of Spirit Elite Guards. We can’t stay here for long.”
The dragon qilin pulled his dragon scales back and crawled out of the chest’s area. He heard a few bangs, and the chest closed up once again, becoming neither large nor small.
The dragon qilin climbed onto it while panting from exhaustion. Qin Mu also climbed up with difficulty before turning around to smile. “Grandmaster, come up as well.”
Pangong Tso shook his head and went under the chest, hugging one of its legs. “I’m fine here.”
Qin Mu kicked the dragon qilin and burst into laughter. “You are too careful. We’re using the same chest for transport and have the same enemies, sharing life-and-death together. Do you really think I would still lay my hands on you?”
The dragon qilin raised his front claws which were like blades. The moment Pangong Tso came up, he would be stabbed to death.
“Thank you, Cult Master, for your magnificent hospitality, but I’m used to being careful so I never trust anyone. Cult Master can let Fatty Dragon retract his claws.”
The chest began to walk through the darkness. Qin Mu closed his eyes to take a nap with a sword in his hands while Pangong Tso below was full of energy, trying his best not to sleep. He secretly took out a few spirit pills to stuff them into his mouth to regain his cultivation as soon as possible.
After some time, he felt some of his vital qi recovering, and his gaze flickered. He secretly executed Bloodshed Calabash. ‘This guy is extremely hurt, so it’s the best time to get rid of him…’
Suddenly, he smelt a medicinal fragrance and abandoned all thoughts of attacking.
Qin Mu had one hand in his taotie sack and secretly refined a few furnaces of spirit pills which he stuffed into his mouth from time to time. He then refined a few furnaces for the dragon qilin to eat secretly as well, not making any noise.
However, the medicinal fragrance still couldn’t hide from Pangong Tso’s nose.
‘If I want to scheme against him, it’s a little difficult,’ he thought to himself.
Finally, light could be seen in the distance; they had reached the relay station.
There was a god in there, so numerous people were resting in that area. Bai Qu’er looked around anxiously until she finally saw a bloodstained chest carrying a youth and a fat dragon qilin over.
The chest took wide steps and was crossing the mountains without delay.
Bai Qu’er’s heart pounded with a new emotion. She hurriedly welcomed them while carrying the son of Bai Qingfu. Qin Mu jumped down from the chest and stretched his body, cracking his bones and asking in doubt, “Why haven’t you guys left?”
“Everyone can’t move anymore. These people don’t have much cultivation and are dragged down by their families, the old and the weak are in the majority.” Bai Qu’er suppressed her feelings in her heart and said in a low voice, “The gods of the relay station are no longer here, so I reckon they left to rescue Hundred Prosperities City. With their state unknown, there are only us in the relay station now.”
Qin Mu looked around and saw numerous people sleeping on the ground. Some weren’t though, and under the glowing light of the Dragon God Bead, their eyes were sometimes bright and sometimes dark. They were all quiet, however.
Most of those who had escaped with them were common people. The rich of Hundred Prosperities City had escaped faster, so most of them had gone with that god earlier. Their group was probably a complete wipeout.
The common people had weaker cultivation, so they had escaped a step later and went with them.
“We can’t stay here for long,” Qin Mu muttered. “Why don’t we put them into my chest, let me bring them as far away as possible.”
Bai Qu’er was slightly stunned as she looked at the chest. “Where’s the other person that went with you? He…”
“I’m here.” Pangong Tso showed up from under the chest and chuckled. “Lucky to not have to disappoint you and be still alive. Thanks for your concern.”
Qin Mu had the dragon qilin jumped down and said, “Sister Qu’er, wake them up. We really can’t stay here any longer. Since there’s no god to protect us, we have to move so that the pursuers won’t be able to catch up.”
Bai Qu’er nodded and woke everyone up. Qin Mu spread open the chest so they could enter. Pangong Tso also wanted to enter the chest, but Qin Mu shook his head. “If the pursuers catch up to the chest and there’s no one to defend, we will all be wiped out. Let’s stay outside.”
Even though Xing An’s chest was very sturdy, it couldn’t attack and had no offensive power. If everyone hid inside and an ‘extraterritorial devil’ came around, they would all die miserably.
Pangong Tso held back his anger and sneered. “Cult Master Qin, if we do as you say, it will be hard for us to survive in this chaotic world! We are escaping for our lives from Xing An and don’t have time save other people!”
Qin Mu laughed loudly and shook his head. “Grandmaster, I just want to preserve a little innocence and kindness in these times of chaos.”
Pangong Tso snorted and went under the chest while saying angrily, “Call me when the enemies come!”
Bai Qu’er also stayed outside. Together with Qin Mu, she sat on the chest. The dragon qilin also jumped up and lay down quietly. He fell asleep after a while.
“Why does Grandmaster like to be under the chest?” Bai Qu’er was puzzled.
“He is protecting us from divine arts that would come from underground,” Qin Mu explained.
Bai Qu’er finally understood it and said, “Grandmaster is thoughtful.”
The chest walked toward the east on light feet, and Qin Mu looked at the girl beside him. Bai Qu’er had just experienced a huge change, becoming destitute and homeless. She had been young and immature before, but in the span of a night, there was a look of unwavering determination in her eyes, and her gaze had become bright and clear. She had thrown away her former weakness.
Only now did Qin Mu notice that she wasn’t exactly a normal human, but had some characteristics of the dragons. Hidden in her hair were two small dragon horns which were covered by her beautiful hair secured with two hairpins.
He had cupped her face the first time he met her, but he hadn’t noticed the pair of small horns.
On her face was a look of anxiousness that was yet to disperse. She wanted to find someone to rely on, but could only force herself to be strong.
She wasn’t the type of girl that Qin Mu liked. Ever since he was young, he had been taught by the nine elders of Disabled Elderly Village that girls had to be plump to be beautiful. Village Chief, Apothecary, and Butcher told him that a girl had to have a round face, thick waist, and huge buttocks.
Bai Qu’er definitely didn’t fit those characteristics. However, the sight of her finding strength in her weakness stirred his heart.
“Are you tired?” Qin Mu chased away his thoughts and said, “If you are tired, you can lean on me and rest for a while.”
Bai Qu’er nodded and gently leaned on his shoulder. The dragon qilin’s soft snores could be heard behind them.
Yet she couldn’t sleep. When she closed her eyes, it was the devastation of Hundred Prosperities City, the figures of her mother and uncles fighting against the extraterritorial devils, the battles in the darkness, the countless people dying miserably, and also the smiles when her brother and sister-in-law when they turned back before going to fight the devils rose in her mind’s eye. From time to time, there were malicious faces of the monsters in the darkness suddenly appearing in her nightmares.
“That’s right, I haven’t asked you, but when we first met, you said you had time traveled here.” Bai Qu’er opened her eyes and asked in a strong voice, “Is it true?”
Qin Mu nodded.
“Where are you from? The past or the future? Is that place at peace?”
“Very far in the future, some thirty-forty thousand years. Over there, it’s still peaceful for now, but it’s hard to say how long it will last.”
“Thirty-forty thousand years?” The girl leaning against his shoulder became silent for a moment. “I don’t know if I can still live for that long. The days here are too bitter, so bitter that it’s hard to live on…”
“You need to live on, the people in the chest still need you.” Qin Mu smiled at her and said in a soft voice, “You’re much stronger than I had imagined. Many people, even men, would have long broken down when faced with such a situation. I know living is very difficult, but you have to carry everyone’s hopes, and also the hopes of your brother and sister-in-law as well as their child.
Bai Qu’er trembled, then nodded lightly.
“Will you walk down with me?” she asked.
Qin Mu was silent for a moment.
“The sky is almost bright.” He looked toward the east. Because of the whole night of fighting, his voice was hoarse and had a unique masculine quality to it. “After the day breaks, I will probably vanish. I had come here because of a wonderful chance, but I don’t know what it means. You might have to lead them for the rest of the journey. Live on…”
Bai Qu’er raised her head and looked at the sky that was suffused with white on the east.
Qin Mu stood up and said with a smile, “Good sister, I probably won’t be able to help anymore, so you will have to walk the rest of the journey by yourself.”
Bai Qu’er’s heart was full of mixed feelings. She stood up in a daze and looked at Bai Qingfu’s son who was still in her arms. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Qin Mu cupped her face and used his purest smile to encourage her. “Live on, you must live on!”
Bai Qu’er’s heart was incomparably confused. She hugged him tightly with one hand while trembling. “Don’t go, I’m afraid I can’t persevere for long enough…”
“All traces of me will probably be wiped clean in this prehistory and nothing I brought over will be left behind. However, I can leave behind a phrase that once moved me.”
The sky gradually brightened, and the first rays of the sun lit up the horizon in the east. The light landed on the mountain, and the darkness around them retreated rapidly.
Qin Mu wrapped one hand around the young girl while motioning at a cliff with his other. Carefree Sword flew out and moved like dragons and snakes, leaving behind his words in stone.
His treasure sword flew back, and Qin Mu tightly hugged the girl who was about to face the dangers before the sunlight reached him. Bai Qu’er hugged him back as if she could keep relying on him like that forever.
A ray of sunlight sprinkled down, and Qin Mu who was in her embrace vanished like smoke.
The chest also vanished, leaving behind a bunch of people who were at a loss.
Bai Qu’er was stunned. She suddenly turned her head back to look at the cliff and saw the words left behind my Qin Mu’s Carefree Sword.
Human lives are greater than heaven!
Bai Qu’er suddenly felt the immense weight of the phrase. The hope of all the people next to her lay on her shoulders, and their hopeful gazes became a terrifying pressure and source of motivation for her.
“Follow me!’ She raised her arm spoke with a voice full of vigor while carrying the child. “I will bring you guys out of desperate straits and find a place where we can survive!”
Hope was renewed in everyone’s heart, and they followed her into the distance.
‘You are from thirty to forty thousand years later?’ Bai Qu’er turned back to look at the cliff where Qin Mu had left his words before turning around again. She brought everyone in the direction of the rising sun. ‘I will live on, and I will find you! Wait for me! I will… reunite with you here.’
‘It will be a reunion that crosses ten thousand years, so wait for me. When you left, I didn’t manage to say I like you, so when we reunite, I hope to not leave any regrets behind again.’