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As Xu Qing walked along, he could sense his fifth heavenly palace within him. The totem tattoo of his imperial-class technique was still there on his back, and his battle prowess had not dropped because of putting Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits into his fifth heavenly palace. His imperial-class technique still provided the battle prowess of a single heavenly palace. However, it was now more threatening. And the same could be said of his fifth heavenly palace.

In fact, if he ran into someone else with five heavenly palaces, then as long as techniques and magical treasures weren’t a factor, then fundamentally speaking, he would stand on the same level as the most elite members of the countless species that existed. And when you looked at people who weren’t the elites, then on a foundational level, his five heavenly palaces would be considered above and beyond.

After all, every single one of his heavenly palaces was astonishing and unique. Though they might not be considered literally unrivaled, they were close. Two of his heavenly palaces were made from life lamps. One was from a taboo poison pill. One was the violet moon. And now he had a golden crow dragon chariot palace.

Those were the reserve powers Xu Qing had built as he walked his path. All of them came as a result of him putting everything on the line. Most people wouldn’t get strong overnight. They had to take their time and build up that strength. It was the same with Xu Qing. That was why he could fight people with more palaces than him.

Xu Qing was in a very good mood. As he walked along, the smell of fried dough sticks coming from the breakfast vendors made him think about Seven Blood Eyes. [1]

“I wonder when I’ll be able to go back,” he murmured, looking in the direction of Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. He missed Master Seventh and Sir Bloodsmelter, as well as the breakfast vendors he’d visited in both Seven Blood Eyes and the Eight Sect Coalition.

Picking a vendor, he sat down and ordered breakfast. Although the flavor wasn’t exactly the same as back at home, it was still good.

***

As Xu Qing ate, the boy squatted impatiently off in the distance, watching him. He seemed bored, to the point where he kept looking around at the crowds bustling down the streets. Eventually, something caught his attention on the second floor of a nearby building. In the window there, a figure had appeared briefly in the window, and seemed to be looking venomously in Xu Qing’s direction. Curious, the boy vanished.

When he reappeared in that building, he saw a pretty woman cursing a young man.

“Pathetic! That Xu Qing is not only a secretary-general, but also, he’s a jailer in the Corrections Division! Meanwhile, you got a mere civilian post as a clerk? And you just accepted that?? Where’s your sense of pride? Aren’t you the top person in your generation in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture? Why didn’t you go ask help from your Sect Grandfather?”

Of course, the person being berated was Zhang Siyun, while the person doing the berating was his mother, Yao Yunhui. Because of the sensitive nature of her position in the Justice Palace, she couldn’t communicate such words via a jade slip. Therefore, she had arranged for Zhang Siyun’s Sect Grandfather to come for a visit. Unfortunately, on the way she received a message from her clan, within which were the details of the palace lord’s warning. In turn, the clan had strictly warned her not to provoke the Swordsage Palace.

Yao Yunhui was not pleased about that. And then she happened to spot Xu Qing on the street, and her feelings of revulsion flared. Because of that, just looking at her son made her angry.

Zhang Siyun kept his head bowed. Inside, he absolutely hated Xu Qing. Every time his mother compared him to Xu Qing, the perverse energy in his heart grew stronger and stronger. The truth was that he had gone to see his Sect Grandfather, only to have been met with a strange look. That said, considering how angry his mother was, he didn’t offer any explanation. He just silently endured her cursing. Besides, he didn’t think that his job as a clerk was useless. At the very least, during the month he had been working at that post, he had found a number of clerical errors that had earned him the praise of his superiors. Of course, he couldn’t mention that to his mother.

Actually, I was a lot better off in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture.

She went on cursing for a while until her transmission jade slip vibrated. Taking it out, she checked the latest message, whereupon her expression turned very dark. A crack rang out as she snapped the jade slip in half.

“He’s busy with official work? I arranged this meeting days ago, and he’s only now backing out? I bet this is because of that dharmic decree issued by the palace lord! Nobody from the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society has any backbone. They’re all imbeciles!”

Yao Yunhui only seemed to be getting angrier and angrier.

Sighing inwardly, Zhang Siyun said, “Mother—”

“Get the hell out of my sight!” Yao Yunhui said coldly.

Zhang Siyun didn’t say anything. He stood, bowed to his mother, and left. His expression seemed lonelier than usual, and his hatred for Xu Qing burned hotter than ever. After walking down the street some distance, a tremor suddenly passed through him, and his vision spun. He reached out and put his hand on the wall to steady himself. The image of a red moon flickered in his eyes, and a vicious expression filled his face. It only lasted a minute, and then he was back to normal.

Is something wrong with the technique? This is the seventh time I’ve gotten dizzy like that.

Expression unsightly, Zhang Siyun went on his way.

Back in the building, the boy hadn’t paid any attention at all to Zhang Siyun. He was now standing next to Yao Yunhui, a curious expression on his face as he tried to determine if this woman had malicious intentions regarding Xu Qing.

As Yao Yunhui sat there, the anger slowly left her face. Eventually, she took a sip of the lotus seed soup that was sitting on her desk. Her movements were refined. She seemed like a completely different person than the one who had just angrily cursed Zhang Siyun.

Yun’er, I’m being hard on you to bring out your determination and backbone. I want you to succeed. Years ago, your father never had enough courage, and he never realized that my intentions were good.

A cold light appeared in her eyes.

Xu Qing, you stole my Yun’er’s good fortune, and ruined his prospects for the future. I’m not going to just let that go. I can’t do anything to you in the county capital. But once you’re outside, I’ll figure out a way to make you pay for your crimes. I won’t kill you. I’ll just make sure Yun’er can bear witness to your final fate, and maybe gain some confidence as a result.

The boy could sense what Yao Yunhui was thinking. He suddenly looked worried. He had promised that girl that he would protect Xu Qing. However, he couldn’t kill anyone. After some thought, he faced Yao Yunhui and exhaled gently. His breath landed right on her face.

Yao Yunhui’s spoon stopped moving through the bowl of soup. For some reason, she found herself thinking differently than before. It was as if, all of a sudden, she wanted to focus on the positive aspects of other people.

“That Xu Qing isn’t so bad,” she murmured. After the words left her mouth, her eyes widened. Looking around suspiciously, she rose from her chair.

Something’s off! She quickly performed an incantation gesture to scan the area, but didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.

The boy, looking a bit annoyed that his idea hadn’t worked very well, again exhaled.

Yao Yunhui shivered, and then a thoughtful expression appeared in her eyes.

“Xu Qing isn’t that out of line.” Yao Yunhui’s eyes went wide at the downright outrageous nature of her words. Without any hesitation, she performed another incantation gesture, causing defenses to spring up around her. At the same time, she scanned her mind and soul. Everything seemed normal. Even still, she immediately left the building, appearing a moment later in an alley outside. As she walked along, she thought back to what just happened.

Although Xu Qing isn’t completely loathsome, I still need to punish him a bit.

The moment the thought occurred to her, the boy, who had been following her, looked angry. This time, he exhaled nine times in a row.

Yao Yunhui shook from head to toe and started breathing heavily as the revulsion for Xu Qing inside of her faded, to be replaced by a good feeling.

A moment passed.

Xu Qing is mostly innocent in all of this. And Yun’er has done some things that aren’t exactly appropriate....

Looking pleased, the boy brushed his hands off and walked away with a skip in his step.

***

By now, Xu Qing had finished his breakfast and was back in the Corrections Division. Just like always, he walked down the stairs to Level 57 and entered D-132. It was pitch-black inside, but the moment he entered, it got a bit brighter. Other than that, there was no change compared to before. The cloud troll still had its back to him. The human woman was still coaxing the scarecrows to sleep. And the Rockdevil rotated. As for the head, it looked helplessly at him and repeated the same things it always said.

“Don’t stomp on me. I don’t like being stomped....”

Xu Qing walked the path around the cells, examining all the inmates. After passing thirteen of them, he reached Sir Inkwell.

Sir Inkwell respectfully clasped hands in greeting. “Good morning, exalted Jailer.”

Xu Qing’s face was completely expressionless. After looking around coldly, he went back to sit by the door. The shadow and the patriarch emerged to have their daily dose of fun.

The boy appeared as well, sitting off to the side so Xu Qing could see him. There was some helplessness in his eyes, as he knew it would only be a short time before Xu Qing woke up.

He was right. After Xu Qing meditated for a while, he looked around suspiciously.

It seems I’ve forgotten some things. Why do things seem unusually peaceful...? Why do I get the feeling this place should be red? What did the palace lord tell me? Why does the boy seem so helpless? And why is the head always telling me not to stomp it? Why is my memory so bad all of a sudden? Is it because I’m stationed here...? Don’t tell me something’s secretly influencing me?

He opened his bag of holding and rummaged around. Everything seemed normal. Frowning, he looked at the cell block, his expression turning more and more unsightly. He suddenly had the very strong sensation that there was a veil blocking his sight. Eyes turning cold, he unleashed the power of his taboo poison core, and his violet moon heavenly palace. His aura changed, and every part of him grew stronger.

Meanwhile, the head started howling. “He’s waking up again! He’s waking up! Please, please don’t stomp on me! Can’t you do things differently for once?”

Sir Inkwell sighed, closed his eyes, and waited to be burned to death again.

Expression grim, Xu Qing stood up and walked forward.

A moment later, everything was quiet. Other than the finger of the god, Xu Qing had destroyed everything. Looking at the finger, he could sense terrifying fluctuations that made it clear he couldn’t do anything to it. They were so far apart from each other, that he knew even touching it would kill him.

A moment passed and he took out a bamboo slip. After recording details of everything, he walked to the door, where he stood for a long moment. Without turning around, he calmly asked, “I wake up every day, don’t I? Every single day I come in here and figure out that there aren’t fourteen inmates, but six. And five of the inmates are undying, no matter how many times I ‘kill’ them.”

The boy appeared and nodded.

“Previously, I recorded reminders for myself, and took other measures to help me remember. But whenever I leave, the power of that god wipes those things out of existence. And any object I use to record information ultimately vanishes.”

The boy nodded.

“Once I open this door, I’ll forget everything, right? The palace lords knows about all this, right? This is both good fortune and a test, right?”

The boy just continued nodding.

It was obvious to Xu Qing that Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior and the shadow were also having their memories tampered with.

A moment later, he smiled. “In that case, let’s keep going. I just hope that one day when I open the door, I won’t forget everything. And that’s when I’ll get true good fortune.”

The boy nodded helplessly.

“I bet I’ve said this same thing over and over again, haven’t I?”

Xu Qing smiled again as he looked down at the information he’d recorded on the bamboo slip. At that point, his eyes glittered.

There might be another way. I could sow karma here, and wait for it to develop....

After some more thought, he crushed the bamboo slip and tossed it onto the ground.

“Could I ask you for a favor?” he said. “Keep this broken bamboo slip for me. Put the pieces with the others. I probably carved up a lot of them.”

Nodding, the boy held up some of his fingers as if to tell Xu Qing how many bamboo slips he had.

Xu Qing smiled, took a deep breath, then pushed the door open and walked out. Out on the stairs, he started walking up, all the while thinking about military credit.

There are fourteen inmates in D-132. Always the same. I really need to start thinking of a way to get some military credits.

A few days passed.

Xu Qing’s routine changed. He spent days on guard duty at D-132, while at nighttime, he would go on various missions to earn military credits. He would capture criminals, go on search-and-rescue missions, or help other departments. There was always something to do.

The third day after Kong Xianglong was released, Xu Qing got a message from him when he was getting off of his shift.

“Xu Qing, I got a big job that’ll pay lots of military credits. You in?”

1. Fried dough sticks (youtiao) are a quintessential breakfast item in China. Although the story never mentioned them specifically on previous occasions when Xu Qing got street food, it makes sense that he would have eaten them. They even offer these things at McDonald’s in China. They’re sort of like doughnuts, except not sweet, and they’re usually eaten along with congee or something else to dip them into. Here’s a tiny gallery of images that includes a street vendor making them, plus the McDonald’s version. ☜