Chapter 18: A Single Sentence Turns Impending Death into Nothingness

Five hundred coins to buy a life.

Qin Changsheng listened to the snoring of the youth in the Taoist robe and lay perfectly still, not daring to reveal that he had already awakened. He was uncertain how long the hypnotic effect of the "Yellow Wind" lasted, and this uncertainty made it impossible for him to judge the right moment to wake up. If the youth discovered that he had witnessed every detail of his actions, the youth would certainly kill him to silence him. Lying there motionless was a true test of one's nerves.

Qin Changsheng kept his breathing steady. He knew his odds against a Nascent Soul expert were slim; although he could kill a Golden Core cultivator despite being at the thousandth level of Qi Refining, the gap between a Golden Core and a Nascent Soul was like heaven and earth. Furthermore, the strange peach-wood sword in the boy's hand and that bizarre donkey made him deeply wary. He dared not attempt an escape. He had no choice but to feign ignorance.

Fortunately, the youth had no immediate desire to kill him. Since that was the case, he could use this opportunity to cross the mountain range with him. If there were other unknown dangers, a powerhouse like this youth could serve as a free bodyguard. Though it felt like dancing on the edge of a blade—risking a backlash—in such a dangerous environment, he had no other choice but to choose the lesser of two evils.

"I will wait for a better chance to leave."

Having made his decision, Qin Changsheng relaxed and quietly entered a semi-sleep mode.

"Hmm?"

The snoring youth, upon hearing Qin Changsheng’s breathing patterns change, stopped snoring. A look of surprise flickered in his cold, indifferent eyes. Qin Changsheng hadn't fled; he had simply chosen to sleep. This fellow... he was truly a strange one.

"But I pretended to be asleep for so long, waiting for you to run—if you don't run, how am I supposed to kill you?" The youth’s mouth twitched. As a killer with principles, he wouldn't kill someone he found agreeable, but if that person harbored ulterior motives, he could be killed. He hadn't expected that by giving Qin Changsheng a chance to break his principles, the man would choose not to run, forcing him to uphold those principles instead.

How... disappointing. This kid. But having pretended to sleep for so long, wouldn't it be awkward if he suddenly woke up now?

Still, if he continued to sleep, that perverted donkey was over there doing such lewd things, and the sounds were simply unbearable. The youth felt a surge of inexplicable irritation; he wanted to kill someone to vent his frustration. Yet, since Qin Changsheng hadn't run all night, he had waited in vain for an opportunity and eventually, against his will, drifted off to sleep himself. Thus, a miraculous scene unfolded: two people with eight hundred schemes between them ended up actually falling asleep while pretending to do so.

The next morning, the sun rose from the east, bringing light and warmth to the gloomy forest. Qin Changsheng stretched and reached out, relieved to find the little fox still alive and resting quietly in his arms.

"Morning, Brother Changsheng. Did you sleep well last night?"

The youth in the Taoist robe approached slowly, leading his donkey. Unlike the cold and eerie figure from the night before, he looked sunny and cheerful this morning, and even the donkey seemed stubborn yet cute.

"Morning, Brother Chen An," Qin Changsheng replied calmly. "I wonder if you happened to see my horse? I don't know what happened, but when I woke up, it was gone. It’s a pity; that was one of my spirit stones."

He pretended to look around for his horse. The truth was that his horse had been ruined by the donkey the night before and then devoured. The donkey had provided a graphic demonstration of "I love you, so I will eat you"—it truly loved after it ate. It was only then that Qin Changsheng realized that sometimes donkeys didn't just eat grass; they might be eating meat while... well, you get the idea. The donkey now looked harmless, and he couldn't fathom how it had managed to devour a blood-sweat horse much larger than itself in one go.

"Must have been eaten by some beast. If you lack a mount, Brother Changsheng, you are welcome to ride this stubborn donkey with me," the youth laughed heartily.

"Uh, I think I’ll walk."

"Brother Changsheng, you misunderstand. Although my stubborn donkey has a penchant for the same-sex, my own orientation is quite normal," the youth joked, knowing exactly what Qin Changsheng feared. "If you're really worried, you can ride behind me? That way, you won't have to worry."

"Hahaha, Brother Chen An is truly a witty man." Qin Changsheng touched his nose awkwardly. "I’m also afraid I might have such leanings myself, so I always keep my distance from men when I'm out."

Amidst this awkwardness, the members of the caravan who had died the previous day began to move again... The youth simply acted as if nothing were amiss, remounted his donkey, and resumed his tug-of-war with the stubborn creature. Qin Changsheng, though fully aware that he, the youth, the donkey, and the fox were the only living things left, continued to walk along as if nothing had happened. He wanted to see how long the youth could maintain the charade of a merchant caravan consisting of hundreds of people.

Half a day later, the caravan was still operating steadily. The youth remained the same, and Qin Changsheng continued to lag behind, preferring to walk. There was little conversation between them.

Two more days passed. Qin Changsheng did not see a repeat of that night's events until they caught up with a new caravan. A joyful smile appeared on the youth's face. He stopped and looked at Qin Changsheng with a playful glint in his eyes.

"Brother Changsheng, shall we go solicit some investments together? I feel that, like me, you possess the bearing of an Immortal Emperor. Why don't we team up? We might be able to get more that way."

It was clear that he had murderous intent toward the caravan ahead and couldn't resist striking. Since Qin Changsheng was the only one who didn't fall into a deep sleep, he wanted to recruit him.

Hearing this, Qin Changsheng sighed, realizing his feigned sleep had been discovered. This youth was truly terrifying.

"Brother Chen, aren't you afraid that my participation will take away from your own investment? Their resources are limited, after all. One person can take more... with two, it’s a bit thin."

The youth laughed aloud and leaped off the donkey. "Brother Changsheng, your perspective is too narrow. If you only look at one caravan, indeed, it’s not enough to split. But if you look at the entire world—from the Eastern Lands to the Western Deserts, from South to North, from this vast heaven and earth to others—how many caravans are there? How many resources? Does having one more person mean I, Chen An, cannot achieve the status of an Immortal Emperor?"

"When you stand high enough, you will find that Immortals are as common as the dirt, and Immortal Emperors are as numerous as dogs. All of this depends on whether you can break out of the cycle of the weak."

"The world is but an instant, time is like a journey; in the long river of time, everything is passing smoke, eventually turning into the dust beneath our feet..." The youth wore a mocking, desolate sneer. "All living beings are like leeks in a vegetable garden. If you don't come to harvest them, someone else will. Eventually, someone will even come to harvest you from the garden you grow in."

"So, we must seize every opportunity to leap out of our original gardens before we are harvested, until we leap out of all the gardens. Only then can we truly enjoy watching this world..."

After finishing this grand lecture, the youth expected the young man before him to be stirred with passion. Instead, he saw Qin Changsheng nod calmly and dismissively. "Brother Chen is right."

"Are you not interested, Brother Changsheng?" The youth felt a slight tightness in his chest, irritated by this calm man.

"I am going to die..." Qin Changsheng said slowly, his eyes filled with absolute tranquility. "In about eight or nine years."

The youth fell silent. All his passionate fervor had vanished into the wind, dissolved by a single sentence about impending death.