Chapter 6: Children
The Southern Phoenix Continent was huge.
If one looked down from a high altitude, one could see the appearance of its plate, an irregular oval shape surrounded by the sea.
Although the distance from the Wanggu Continent, separated by the endless sea, was more like an island land, the vastness of the range was something that many people could not walk through with a lifetime.
It's just that most of the places within it are difficult for the human race to step into, being blocked by the Truth Mountain Range that runs diagonally across the entire Southern Phoenix Continent.
The southwestern part of the Truth Mountain Range is an extremely vast forbidden area.
There occupies nearly 70% of the area of the Southern Phoenix Continent, only the northeast area of the Truth Mountain Range is the residence of the human race.
Despite this, the number of human races was not small.
In this northeastern region, densely star-like existence of many large and small cities, some strong, some simple.
But the construction of these cities, all avoided a small restricted area in the northeast region.
There is a choice, no one wants to live in the forbidden zone around, live in that kind of moment will have danger to descend in the crisis, only the desperado, only in the last resort, life is forced to converge together, red eyes, licking the blade struggle to survive.
So the formation of scavenger camps, and almost every forbidden area around, there are such camps, look at the entire human region, the number of scavenger camps is very mixed.
Standing at the top of the mountain at the moment, what was reflected in Xu Qing's eyes was such a camp.
From afar, the camp was not very large, and there were hundreds of people living within it.
Perhaps it was early in the morning, smoke curled up, although not as prosperous as the city, but also very lively.
Hidden voices of scolding, cursing, hawking, as well as unrestrained laughter, intertwined together, spread far away.
It was just that the house that possessed value in the mouth of the Lei Team, from the inside to the outside, the structure became more and more simple, and the outermost one was basically just a tent.
As for the rear of the camp not far away, there was a dark jungle.
It was foggy there, as if it hid a horrible existence.
Even if the sunlight in the sky was thick, it couldn't all be reflected in, as if there were gods and demons within, indifferently shocking the eight directions.
It was also like a black alienation point on a person's body, which was shocking to the eyes and at the same time, it was clearly separated from the rest of the range.
"What do you feel when you see it?" On the top of the hill, Team Thunder spoke.
"About the same as a slum." Xu Qing thought about it and answered truthfully.
Lei Team smiled, didn't say anything, and walked forward.
Xu Qing withdrew his gaze and followed behind Lei Team, the two of them descending all the way down the mountain, getting closer and closer to the camp.
On the way, they also encountered people returning from their outings in twos and threes, all dressed similarly, with dark gray leather jackets predominating.
Xu Qing noticed that when these people saw the Lei Team, each of them showed a sense of awe within their complexion, and most of their eyes swept towards themselves with curiosity.
This caused Xu Qing to have more speculations about the identity of the Lei Team.
Just like this, when the sun rose, Xu Qing followed Team Lei and walked into the plains underneath this mountain, into this scavenger's camp.
The camp had no walls, and the ground was messy, dusty, with dead leaves and garbage everywhere, giving it a somewhat pandemonium feel.
And as he walked, the sounds that he had heard on the mountain before were also more clearly transmitted into Xu Qing's ears.
In addition to a simple building, there are also the many scavengers.
Some of them are as tall and lanky as a wrecked bull, some are as thin as firewood with a sinister eye, some are as old as if they can't open their eyes, but no one seems to dare to mess with them.
There are also some young people like him, shrinking in the corner, looking at the sky.
Some of them, all of them were physically disabled.
There were also quite a few people in here, Xu Qing's eyes slightly narrowed after seeing them, the aura on those people made him feel the fluctuation of spiritual energy.
People of all shapes and colors, some were buying and selling, some were fighting with each other, and some were lying on the boulders with sun screens.
There were also some carrying their pants as they walked out from within the tents hung with distinct feathers, their faces revealing lecherous intentions.
Xu Qing walked into the camp along with the Thunder Team, and to outsiders, it seemed as if he was walking into hell.
However, other than his inner vigilance, there was nothing different about him, and he even had some vague feelings of familiarity.
"It does resemble the slums." Xu Qing murmured in his heart, his gaze sweeping over the tents with feathers hanging from them, seeing what appeared to be white figures inside.
Even inside one tent, a young woman in ** clothing came out with a languid look and smiled as she waved at Xu Qing.
"Don't look around." Team Lei swept Xu Qing a glance.
"I know what's there." Xu Qing withdrew his gaze and replied.
The wrinkles on Team Lei's face piled up in a dumbfounded smile, and without saying anything, he led Xu Qing through the camp until he reached his destination.
It was a huge wooden building located in the center of the camp, in the shape of a ring, as if it was a coliseum.
All along the way, Xu Qing was observing, having already constructed most of the map of this camp in his head.
This was his habit, many times, familiarity with the environment could often change the situation of a crisis.
At this moment, he looked up at the coliseum-like building in front of him, noting that in addition to the huge grounds inside, there were many simple benches on the inner perimeter.
In addition to that, there were also bursts of hissing sounds of ferocious beasts that came from inside the building.
There were even some rows of houses like wooden shacks around the perimeter, with a few scavengers dressed in obviously cleaner clothes talking and laughing outside the rows of houses.
With the arrival of the Lei Team, soon from within the arena, a dry and thin middle-aged man shook out.
This person wore a tunic that distinguished him from the scavengers, with a three-sided beard on his face and the same fluctuations of spiritual energy on his body, and after walking in with a very perfunctory tug of his face, he swept his eyes at Xu Qing, and then looked back at Team Lei.
"Newcomer?"
"The rules are already known." Team Lei spoke slowly.
"What's the name?" The three-handed beard asked casually.
"A little kid, where's the name, just call the kid." Thunder Team said indifferently.
"Come with me then, kid you're in luck, there's already a few ahead of you, it's almost time to start tomorrow."
The three-handed beard snorted and turned towards the row house.
Xu Qing looked at the Thunder Team.
"Go ahead, I'll come pick you up tomorrow." Team Lei looked at Xu Qing, some expectation in his eyes.
Xu Qing looked deeply at Lei Team, nodded, didn't say anything, and stepped behind the three-handed beard.
Until they reached the front of the row house, that Three-handed Hu explained a few words to the scavengers on the side and turned to leave.
Xu Qing was also arranged to enter the row house and was told not to go out without permission.
The moment he stepped into the row house, Xu Qing saw four pairs of eyes converging on him from different locations within the house.
They were three teenagers around his age as well as a youth, three men and one woman.
The two teenagers appeared to be a few years older than him, sweeping over Xu Qing at the moment, sizing him up without bothering.
As for the girl, she was a little younger than Xu Qing, shrinking in a corner with a huge scar on her face.
She nervously and vigilantly looked at everything around her, including the original three, but also including the newcomer Xu Qing.
As for the oldest youth here, it seemed that he was originally a scavenger, and now he was just changing camps.
So after seeing Xu Qing, the corner of his mouth turned away with some disbelief, and he turned his gaze away with aggression, staring at the girl in the corner and licking his lips.
But obviously not having officially obtained the right to reside in the campground, he didn't dare to act recklessly now.
Xu Qing didn't bother with them, finding a place against the doorway, plopping his knees and closing his eyes, meditating silently.
Time slowly passed, perhaps due to Xu Qing's arrival being too quiet, gradually the three people in the row house other than the little girl, all ignored them and talked to each other.
Among them, the words of the two teenagers clearly had a pleasing intent towards the youth.
The content of the conversation was also mostly related to this trial.
Through their conversations, Xu Qing learned that every once in a while, when the camp had accumulated enough people who wanted to obtain the residence qualification, it would organize a trial.
The rules of the trial were simple.
Since the owner of this camp had kept many mutated beasts in captivity, the trial for obtaining the residence qualification was to draw lots in public and fight with the drawn beasts.
Either they live or die, and they are each other's prey.
Those who live, can take away the trophies, and obtain the residence qualification.
The dead, everything they own will become food for the beasts.
And every trial will be held in this arena.
Most of the scavengers in the camp will buy tickets to watch this bloody scene, from which they get pleasure at the same time, the camp owner will also open a gambling game, so as to make profit.
This cruel world, human life is very worthless.
But if you are not qualified to enter the city and cannot enter the camp, living alone in the wilderness, the risk of death will be even greater.
Of course the slums were also an option, but it was obvious that those who could decide to enter the scavenger camps had their own stories inside of them about having to come here.
Xu Qing meditated while he went to listen.
It wasn't until their talk about the matter of the gods opening their eyes many days ago that a teenager suddenly spoke up.
"When I came here, I heard someone say that you were a survivor from that catastrophe?"
At those words, Xu Qing slowly opened his eyes.
Looking over, he noticed that the object of the teenager's words was not himself, but the little girl in the corner.
The little girl's body trembled as she silently nodded.
Xu Qing's gaze fell on this little girl.
Everyone else had heard about it, while he had experienced it all, so he profoundly knew that those who could survive the havoc and come here might not be as fragile and simple as their eyes made them out to be.
Seemingly noticing Xu Qing's gaze as well, the little girl raised her head to look at Xu Qing.
Xu Qing reclosed his eyes and continued to meditate, he had to fight for all the time he could to cultivate, this was fundamental for him to be able to live a better life.
Just like this, the night passed.
Early the next morning, along with the sounds of clutter and clamor from the outside world, the door of the row house was suddenly pushed open from the outside.
The sunlight poured in, covering the body of the scavenger standing in the doorway, and as its shadow fell into the house, enveloping the figure of the little girl in the corner, a cold voice came out.
"Pack up and come with me, it's time for your good show."
"Finally."
The youth inside the house who appeared to be originally a scavenger was the first to get up, smiled, and greeted the person at the door.
Those two teenagers also hurriedly followed behind, Xu Qing was the fourth person to walk out, and as for the little girl, she was the last.
The scavenger at the door seemed to recognize the youth, and after laughing and cursing a few times, he ignored the others and led the youth towards the arena.
As they approached, the noise, clamor, and shouting became thicker and thicker.
Until after their group stepped into the fighting arena, the sounds around them exploded all at once.
Can see in this fighting arena around the bench, at this moment has more than a hundred people exist, there are men and women, as if the group of demons surrounded, together in watching a good show.
Their voices were very loud, the little girl there obviously body trembled a little, those two teenagers are also pale.
Only the youth, with some excitement in his eyes looked towards the viewing seat.
Then there was Xu Qing, whose complexion did not change too much as he began to observe the environment within the arena, the fighting area.
"The range isn't very large, not suitable for pulling, no cover, not suitable for dodging."
"The surrounding wooden boards are very high, not suitable for drawing danger to the viewing seat, but there exists a few door marks, seems to have another passage."
"So ...... either dragging with the help of those scavengers shouting to frighten the beast, looking for the time to strike, but there is also the possibility of causing the beast to rage, then can be a quick battle, the most favorable."
