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Although he wasn’t sure about the details of the Captain’s next big plan, he was confident he knew the general idea. And that led him to the conclusion that this wasn’t going to be a quick job.

Therefore, he requested a leave of absence from his post, effective immediately. For the next three days, he spent time in the county capital shopping for various items he would need. After all the shopping was done, he spent time in his sword pavilion studying the Nightshade eye that Ghost Hand gave to him. It was a truly miraculous object that had the ability to boost psychic powers. And when he tapped into the power of his violet moon heavenly palace, he could purge it, causing it to transform in unusual ways.

The three days passed in a flash.

The evening sky over the county capital looked different for those three days, perhaps because of the change of seasons. Instead of the evening sky being a deep yellow color, it was crimson. That color spread out to cover everything, making it as bright red as blood. It was hard to say whether it was an auspicious omen or an ill one. The sky was the same for all three days.

On the last day, Xu Qing stood in his sword pavilion looking out at the sky, and a strange feeling filled him. It was a sudden feeling of unease. He quickly dispelled it. His eyes flickered with suspicion. He had never experienced anything like that before, and after some consideration, he could only conclude that it had something to do with his life essence bluegreen dragon. As he thought about it, someone approached within the red of evening.

It was none other than the Captain.

He looked to be in very high spirits as he rushed over. Upon seeing Xu Qing, he chuckled and performed an incantation gesture to put a spell formation in place. Then he had Xu Qing activate the sword pavilion’s formations as well, ensuring that they had complete and utter privacy.

“Everything’s ready, little Ah Qing. It’s just going to be you and me this time. Nobody else. I originally wanted Ning Yan to come along, but once that little brat passed his assessment, he vanished. I looked everywhere but couldn’t find him. I wonder if he realized I wanted to use him as a meat shield.”

The Captain sighed as thoroughly as if he’d seen a roasted pigeon suddenly fly off into the night.

Xu Qing was actually surprised by the development. After some thought, he asked, “Is it going to change things now that he’s not coming along?”

“It’ll definitely change things,” the Captain replied, eyes glittering. “Thankfully, you gave me that Nightshade jade slip, therefore, it won’t be a huge deal that we don’t have Ning Yan. This time around, little Ah Qing, we’re not going to be rushing into things impulsively. We have to rely on our smarts. And that’s because I’m taking you... into Holytide territory!”

Xu Qing thought about it for a moment. “And we’re going in disguised as Nightshades?”

The Captain laughed heartily, his eyebrows dancing up and down. “You’re the only person who truly understands me, little Ah Qing. You’re completely right. We’re going to disguise ourselves as Nightshades and sneak into Holytide territory. Think about it! The Holytides are enslaved to the Nightshades. If we disguise ourselves as their masters, then we’ll basically be able to do anything we want.”

Xu Qing nodded. Of course, there were many details that needed to be handled, but the Captain was innately skilled at disguise, so Xu Qing wasn’t worried about all that. Given the general idea of what they were going to do, he was confident that they could succeed.

“What do you mean when you say Holytide territory?” Xu Qing asked. “Where, exactly?”

“Eastern Wasteland County!” the Captain replied, keeping his voice low. “There are fourteen counties in the Holytide region. Eastern Wasteland County actually borders Sea-Sealing County, and it has a very strange area within it called Ten Entrails of the True Immortal!”

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed slightly. He didn’t know a lot about the Holytides, but that name seemed extremely unusual, and didn’t leave him with a good feeling.

Noticing Xu Qing’s facial expression, the Captain continued, “It’s a bizarre name, right? Ten Entrails of the True Immortal. The name refers to a tree with ten trunks that resemble entrails as they twist and turn their way up into the sky.

“The Ten Entrails Tree actually has a very long history. Before the arrival of the broken face of the god, it grew over more than half of the entire region, and was worshiped by countless species.

“People say that, back then, all eyes were drawn to the branches of the tree, which were festooned with countless corpses, all of which were sacrificed to hīm. Supposedly, such sacrifices would bring blessings, and not even Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity did anything to stop the custom. And that’s because there’s another legend associated with the Ten Entrails of the True Immortal.”

The Captain’s eyes shone brightly.

“Legend has it that the Ten Entrails Tree is the embodiment of the last member of the Woe-Immortal species who, countless years in the past, actually became an immortal!” [1]

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed.

The Captain took out an apple and a peach. After tossing the apple to Xu Qing, he took a bite from the peach and continued, “The Woe-Immortal species is mysterious and unfathomable. They believed that the entrails were like a wheel that was integral to one’s life force. They viewed the entrails as the source of everything. To them, immortal ascension involved cutting open one’s body and using it as the vehicle to become an immortal. By extracting their ‘spirit entrails’ and planting them into the ground, they could absorb the nutrients of the world itself.

“According to the story, this one particular Woe-Immortal succeeded, becoming the only true immortal in the Revered Ancient mainland. As for Ten Entrails Tree, that’s the original body of that immortal. However... when the broken face of the god arrived, that immortal was imprisoned and is still asleep.”

“That’s what a true immortal is like?” Xu Qing asked. The Captain’s description definitely didn’t match up to what he imagined an immortal to be like.

“Never thought it would be like that, did ya?” the Captain said, looking very pleased with himself. He took another bite of his peach. “But yeah, that’s what true immortals are like, little Ah Qing. You see, you just don’t know enough about the world we live in. Later on, you really need to learn a thing or two from your Eldest Brother.”

Xu Qing thought about it and came to the conclusion that what the Captain said was right, so he nodded earnestly.

Looking even more pleased than before, the Captain quietly went on. “What did you think immortals were like? We humans use various expressions to describe them, such as: the demeanor of a transcendent being; surpassing the world and transcending the mortal; as unrestrained as wind and mist.

“But the truth is that different species have different understandings of immortals. The Woe-Immortals thought of the ten entrails as being an immortal. And other nonhuman species have their own myths and legends describing what immortals are like. In the future, we’re going to travel to all sorts of interesting places with their own strange stories. What a fun and interesting world.”

The Captain smiled.

Xu Qing felt a bit dazed.

“Surrounding the Ten Entrails Tree is an endless jungle. And that’s where we’re going! Every hundred years, that jungle produces a huge crop of ‘true immortal dao fruits.’ As you can imagine, the fruits are extremely gruish in appearance. They look like eyes.

“What’s more, you can’t eat them. If you do, you go insane and develop multiple personalities. I mean, even people from the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society, whose techniques require them to have multiple personalities, wouldn’t dare to eat them.

“That said, the true immortal dao fruits are a rare material that can be used in equipment forging. They can be used to make all sorts of magical devices and treasures. They’re very formidable, and as you can imagine, very valuable. Because of the official trade embargo with the Holytides, the county capital will often put out missions to get those dao fruits. And guess, what? A single one is worth 10,000 military credits!

“If we can get a few hundred dao fruits, then we would have a few million military credits, right?

“And thus, little Ah Qing, we see how absolutely incredible your Eldest Brother is. I dug around in the Credit Auditing Branch for a long time before I uncovered this extremely profitable opportunity. Of course, the dao fruits are only the first goal of the mission. There’s more later....”

Grinning complacently, the Captain finished his peach, then took out another one. He took a bite.

Xu Qing instinctively plastered a look of admiration onto his face, but his eyes flickered with a thoughtful look.

“Little Junior Brother, could you please be a little more sincere? Your facial expression is too forced. Do I need to give you a lesson...?”

Xu Qing nodded, then opened his eyes very wide to make himself look incredulous. “Eldest Brother, does Ten Entrails of the True Immortal have anything dangerous other than the tree itself? Furthermore, considering how valuable those dao fruits are, won’t the Holytides also be harvesting them?”

It was a bit hard for the Captain to accept Xu Qing’s new facial expression, but he did. Continuing to eat his peach, he went on to further explain his plan.

“Ten Entrails of the True Immortal is an inherently dangerous place. However, hē is sleeping, after all.

“The jungle surrounding the Ten Entrails Tree has grown dao fruits for countless years, and as a result, a number of city-states have popped up there. Those city-states all pay fealty to one of the four great royal dynasties of the Holytide region. Whenever the dao fruits ripen, those city-states are responsible for harvesting them and offering them as tribute to the dynasties.

“There will be danger there, of course. But since we’ll be there as Nightshades, then as long as we handle ourselves with care, we won’t run into any trouble!”

The Captain licked his lips as his eyes glittered with a crazy look.

“I think the biggest question is how we’ll get there,” Xu Qing said. “We can’t just show up as Nightshades. That would be too suspicious.”

The Captain had apparently already planned out that part of the job.

“When the dao fruits ripen, they need to be fertilized with a special object called a cloudmother stone. Cloudmother stones are very common in other places, but guess where they grow in great numbers? In Daybreak Prefecture of Sea-Sealing County!

“Whenever the dao fruit harvest approaches, Holytide caravans will sneak in to smuggle cloudmother stones out. And though there’s technically a trade embargo with the Holytides, as we all know, the Yao Clan are actually pro-Holytide. This whole event is a huge source of income for the Yao Clan.” The Captain looked over at Xu Qing. “Get what I mean, little Ah Qing?”

Xu Qing’s eyes shone with a strange light. “We’re going to use one of those caravans to get us into Holytide territory?”

The Captain burst out laughing. “Exactly! I’ve planned it all out down to the last detail. That’s why I asked you for recordings of those Nightshades. With those recordings, I’m confident that I can perfectly disguise us.

“Although it’s not public knowledge that the Swordsage Palace captured some Nightshades, I secretly leaked the information to the caravan we’ll be targeting. They know the general situation, although they don’t know how many Nightshades were arrested.

“Therefore, we’re going to have to put on a little show. And to do that, we’ll need the help of some swordsages.... You’re close with Kong Xianglong, right? Maybe he can handle it.”

Xu Qing considered it, then nodded.

“Well then, everything’s set. We’ll head out tomorrow!” The Captain took a deep breath, and his eyes shone with anticipation. Gulping down the rest of his peach, he said, “We’re going to get rich, little Ah Qing. And we won’t run into any dangerous situations. We’re going into this scenario disguised as the masters!”

Xu Qing understood completely. The job would be extremely dangerous. That said, he was prepared. Besides, there was an astonishing amount of military credits up for grabs, and it caused his eyes to shine with anticipation.

The one thing Xu Qing didn’t ask about was how they were supposed to get back to the county capital once the job was done. That said, he and the Captain had worked on enough jobs together that he wasn’t worried about a detail like that. In all likelihood, it would come down to luck.

After seeing the Captain off, Xu Qing took out his transmission jade slip and sent Kong Xianglong a voice message. After explaining the situation, he asked for help.

Kong Xianglong laughed heartily. “A Nightshade disguise? That’s smart! How about I join you?”

Xu Qing hesitated. “Well, my Eldest Brother and I....”

“Oh, got it. Well... maybe I won’t join you after all. Xu Qing, I know you don’t want to hear this, but I really need to remind you to be careful around that Eldest Brother of yours. That one-meter light of his is very worrisome. Don’t get scammed by him.”

Xu Qing smiled bitterly, then went on to exchange a few more messages with Kong Xianglong, ending with an agreement to meet first thing in the morning.

Seeing how late it was, Xu Qing organized his bag of holding. Then, after thinking about the fact that he had no idea exactly how long he would be gone, he sent a message to Arch-Immortal Plumdark letting her know that he was going out for a bit. Having done that, he sat down cross-legged to meditate until the morning.

However... before light could fill the sky, someone appeared outside of his sword pavilion.

It was none other than Arch-Immortal Plumdark.

When she stepped inside, the fragrance of her perfume filled the sword pavilion. Looking tenderly at Xu Qing, she said, “I’m not going to stop you from leaving. But you don’t have enough protective items, so I’m going to give you one.”

As she stood in the doorway, the moonlight behind her cascaded down, causing her beautiful gown to glitter like silver. She seemed like she was standing in a river of moonlight, and her graceful expression and warm eyes were like lotuses floating on the river.

1. Just as with the Demi-Immortals, the “Woe-Immortals” are a specific species. Their species name is not inherently related to cultivation levels. ☜