In the end, the four of them chose a conventional way, going outside the city to capture monsters and sell them on the black market.
In reality, the main force earning spirit stones was still Luo Jiujiang and Xie Chuncan. After all, Feng Xue, as a member of the Taotie bloodline, had the natural ability to repel demonic beasts of all sizes, leaving birds and birds swarming wherever she passed. Xiao Ren was a skilled swordsman, but unless it was a critical situation, none of them would ask her to separate from Feng Xue.
Xie Chuncan and Luo Jiujiang were both capable of working independently. For greater efficiency, they worked together for two days to get a general feel of the environment before splitting up and dividing the spirit stones they earned that day among the four of them in the evening.
When the four of them were traveling, they were particularly careful to see if their tails were clean. They lived like this for more than ten days, uneventful as water.
Xie Chuncan returned an hour or two earlier than usual. Not only were his hands empty, but the quiver on his back was still loaded with white-feathered arrows, and the arrows were in the same position as when he left. Feng Xue, seeing his expression, thought they were being watched. "Is someone chasing us?"
Xie Chuncan shook his head. He held onto the door frame and stepped on the threshold. He stared at the vase of wild flowers on the table that Feng Xue had given Xiao Ren when he taught him to play the day before yesterday for a long time, but in the end he did not take a single step into the house.
It was not until the colorful shadows of the trees outside the window shifted from the pistil to the mouth of the vase that he said softly, "I am here to say goodbye."
He spoke with his sleeves half-tied up, his tone gentle and modest, almost making one forget his charisma for playing chess behind Feng Xue's back, or his casually ribbing Luo Jiujiang with his comedic jokes. Feng Xue paused, then remembered that before this pretentious fellow encountered these idiots, he had actually been a literary youth who recited poetry whenever he appeared on stage.
"Why are you leaving now? Come inside and wait. Jiujiang will be back soon. You can tell him goodbye in person." Feng Xue stepped aside to let him pass through the door, but Xie Chuncan just shook his head. "I'm not coming in. If you'd like, you can tell Jiujiang goodbye for me."
Feng Xue narrowed her eyes and looked at Xie Chuncan suspiciously from head to toe. "Did you and Jiujiang have a fight? Everything was fine yesterday. He ate three bowls of rice, and you asked for more four times. He even used fish bones to make a clam. Don't you want to go to the sea with him?"
Xie Chuncan lowered his head and smiled, sadness and joy mixed together between his brows. It was hard to tell whether it was more self-deprecating or nostalgic. "I'm going here to avenge my grievances, to kill and burn. Now that I'm out of this place of death and have gathered enough spirit stones for teleportation, it's time to set off. The lives of the 3,700 households of the Xie family are under my watch every day, and I'm running off to play in the sea midway. What kind of thing is that?"
"...You know we won't help you?"
"In my line of work, I don't care about life or death. Just digging into past events will stain my hands with blood. If I miss any clues while searching for the people involved, I'll kill the good people even if they cry out in injustice. It's such a dirty job, and I don't hate you, so why would I drag you and Jiujiang into it?"
"..." Feng Xue opened her mouth, her gaze finally resting on the young man's thin shoulders. She smiled bitterly and said, "Is anything I say now just empty talk?"
"I didn't mean that, but if you don't want to keep me, I'll thank you. Next time we meet, I'll definitely buy flowers for Xiao Ren."
Feng Xue looked up to the sky and sighed, "Otherwise, why would I miss the rule of law so much? Xiao Ren doesn't need a flower from you either. As long as we can see you again next time, you can still be safe and sound. God has eyes, you must have some luck - you still want to see the sea, right? You have been worried about me for so long!"
"It doesn't matter. I'm lucky to have escaped from this deadly place. As for seeing the sea, I wouldn't even dare to dream of it." Xie Chuncan smiled and took out a bundle from his storage bag. "Here, one for each of you, Xiaoren, and Jiujiang. Don't mind if it's crudely made. I spent a whole day making it."
Feng Xue opened the bundle and saw three neatly folded clothes inside. There were some words written on the inside of the clothes with specially treated blood ink. The blood words were bright and eye-catching.
"Logically speaking, I'm delivering clothes to you and Xiao Ren, but you don't know how to avoid suspicion. Isn't that a bit inappropriate? But I have nothing and this is all I can do. We are friends for life and death, and we've seen each other through many humiliations. Let's not worry about it." Xie Chuncan put his hands into his sleeves to cover a new wound on his wrist that was covered with medicine powder.
The tree's shadow had already moved away from the vase. Xie Chuncan looked at the sky and said, "I should go."
He turned around and walked down the threshold. He walked slowly but never looked back.
“—Wait a minute!”
Feng Xue, reminiscent of something, chased out of the house, carrying an inkstone. Ink spilled from the inkstone, soaking a large part of her sleeve. She remained indifferent, looking a bit mad. As soon as Xie Chuncan stopped, she brandished her brush and wrote all over his clothes: "Auspicious Imperial Guard! Auspicious Imperial Guard! Children's words are careless, but they are blown away by the wind!"
"...What are you doing?" Xie Chuncan looked down at his once fine clothes, now covered in Feng Xue's awful handwriting, which looked like "European Spy" and "Lucky...What's that curve?"
"Lucky S." Feng Xue wrote furiously without even looking up. "You're an archer, so you'll definitely have a smooth journey!"
She spoke loudly, but her voice seemed to be blocked and she was choking.
There weren't many people who could talk to each other in a dead place, and even fewer who could have a calm conversation. Even though they'd called each other "madman" and "lucky e" countless times, they'd been friends for five years.
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Luo Jiujiang's steps were particularly brisk when he came back.
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