Ch23 Loot

She gets up from behind the boulder, and every time I blink, the muscular purple-haired woman gets closer and closer.

Blood gushes from my stomach, and even pours out of the corners of my mouth.

I start to look through the items in my storage space.

There are three small storage bags, ones that the stewards use to carry wood away from the servant camps.

Intuitively, I can feel how they work.

There is a lingering energy within each of them, the imprints of the three dead men.

The same exact energy is present in a small black ring on the Blood Sword Sect cultivator’s finger, yet, it feels extremely sharp and far too dangerous for me to try and deal with right now.

Quickly, I choose the storage pouch that is tied to Zhou Kang’s corpse, and pull it out into my hand.

With the fading consciousness I have left, I start to push my own qi into the bag to try and override the imprint.

Every blink, the darkness in between grows longer.

Everyone in this world is my enemy; some are just waiting for their time to strike.

I do not know Xu Hong’s motives for running at me now, and do not want to gamble on the chances of it being for good or ill intent. When she comes within 50 or so meters, around the blast range where trees have fallen during my duel, finally there is a mental click that triggers and lets me pour qi into the pouch in my grasp.

Instantly, I see everything resting inside. I let the spatial pouch fall into my system storage space, so I can manipulate and sort them with far more precise mental clarity.

There is an enormous pile of wood, over 500 tiny spirit fragments, 2 full spirit stones, and over 40 burnt, misshapen elixirs.

One of them is a very familiar color, a marrow cleansing pill.

About a dozen of them are qi gathering pills.

The rest are mostly a strange grey-colored pill I’ve never seen before.

At the bottom of the pile, I find a small white pill with a consistency that is familiar. One I came across before I even became a servant at this sect.

Without wasting another second, I pull the inferior quality healing elixir out of my storage alongside an upgrade card, and drop it in my mouth while the bright white light flashes in my face.

The moment the warm rushing sensation floods into my meridians, and I feel the blood flowing out of my body cease all of a sudden; I even pull the longsword still stuck through me into my storage to let the healing process naturally take place.

I blink one more time, seeing only black for a few seconds before the intense splash of hot medicinal energy elevates all of my senses.

For a moment in time, my spiritual senses expand from 3 meters outward to over 30, allowing me to scan my neighbor still running my way.

All of my senses are spiked. I can see every scar on her body, and can subtly feel the invisible heavy strength built up from her Martial Warrior physique. For a moment, I can feel her emotions. She’s filled with worry, surprise, and strangely enough, the urge to save me… It feels warm and inviting, kind of like the opposite of the sensation I get from qi cultivators’ killing intent.

This burst of senses quickly vanishes, as I feel the medicinal pill flowing into deeper parts of my consciousness, and a golden essence seeping into my soul. All of my broken bones in my arm, chest, and ribs tingle and grow hot while shifting back together.

My instincts still push me to try and stay on guard, but the momentary burst of compassion I got from Xu Hong lets all my defenses down and allows the perfected healing elixir to take over.

My vision goes white, and I lose consciousness.

—

[Ding!]
[Congratulations! Side Quest Complete: Kill 5 Humans (5/5)!]
[Collect Your Rewards!]
[YES] [NO]

Golden text floating in my vision is what I wake up to. I choose yes immediately.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

[Ding!]
[Rewards have been deposited into your storage!]
[x3 Perfect 1st Tier Upgrade Card]
[x1 Minor Lottery Draw]

I feel three more bronze upgrade cards enter my storage, bringing the total back up to seven. With it, another black and red minor lottery die appears.

Considering the life-saving copper bell talisman I claimed from the last one of these, my hands are itching to roll it again.

Yet, I quickly sense someone nearby.

I look past the fading text in my vision and see the ceiling of a thatched hut that isn’t mine.

“You’re awake already… it’s been less than an hour, and not a single scar or broken bone left on you.” A feminine voice rings in my ear in a playful tone.

When I turn my head, sharp purple eyes full of depth and intelligence stare back at me.

Xu Hong sits on top of her wooden chest, and I lay on her bed in nothing but my underwear.

My shirt and pants are wet, hanging off the end of the bed to dry.

She sees the direction of my gaze.