Outside of Time

Nanhuangzhou is huge.

If you look at it from a high altitude, you can see that its plate looks like an irregular oval, surrounded by the sea.

Although it is far away from the Wanggu Continent, separated by the endless sea, and is more like an island continent, the vastness of the area is something that many people cannot complete in their lifetime.

It's just that most of the places within it are inaccessible to humans and are blocked by the Mountain of Truth that runs diagonally through the entire Nanhuang Continent.

The southwest part of the Truth Mountain Range is an extremely vast restricted area.

It occupies nearly 70% of the area of ​​Nanhuang Continent. Only the northeastern area of ​​the Truth Mountain Range is where the human race lives.

Even so, there are not many humans.

In this northeastern region, there are many large and small cities densely packed like stars, some are solid and some are simple.

However, these cities were built to avoid the small restricted areas in the northeastern region.

When there is a choice, no one wants to live around the restricted area and live in a crisis where danger will come at any moment. Only desperadoes will be forced to gather together under the pressure of life, with red eyes and licking their lips. Struggling to survive with a knife.

As a result, scavenger camps were formed, and there were such camps around almost every restricted area. Looking at the entire human area, the number of scavenger camps was very mixed.

Standing on the top of the mountain at this moment, what Xu Qing saw was such a camp.

From a distance, the camp is not very big, and it looks like there are hundreds of people living in it.

Perhaps it was because of the early morning, the smoke from the cooking pots was curling up. Although it was not as prosperous as the city, it was still very lively.

There were faint shouts, curses, shouts, and unbridled laughter, intertwined together, and spread far away.

It's just that the valuable house in the words of the Lei Corps has become simpler and simpler from the inside to the outside, and the outermost part is basically just a tent.

Not far behind the camp, there was a dark jungle.

The mist was shrouded there, seeming to hide a terrifying presence.

Even if the sky is full of sunlight, it cannot reflect all of it. If there are gods and demons inside, the indifference will shock everyone.

It is also like a black alien spot on the human body, which is shocking and distinct from other areas.

"How do you feel after seeing it?" Lei Dui asked from the top of the mountain.

"It's almost like a slum." Xu Qing thought for a while and answered truthfully.

Captain Lei smiled, said nothing, and walked forward.

Xu Qing withdrew his gaze and followed Lei Dui. The two of them went down the mountain, getting closer and closer to the camp.

On the way, I also met people who were returning from an outing in twos and threes. They were all dressed similarly, mostly wearing dark gray leather jackets.

Xu Qing noticed that after seeing Captain Lei, all of these people looked in awe, and most of their eyes glanced at him with curiosity.

This made Xu Qing have more guesses about Captain Lei's identity.

In this way, at three o'clock in the morning, Xu Qing followed Lei Team and walked into the plain at the foot of the mountain and into this scavenger camp.

The camp has no walls, and the ground is very messy, dusty, dead leaves and garbage can be seen everywhere, and it feels a bit smoky.

And as he walked closer, the sounds he heard on the mountain before reached Xu Qing's ears more clearly.

In addition to the simple buildings, what caught the eye were the numerous scavengers.

Some are as tall and burly as a mutilated cow and are extremely arrogant, some are as skinny as firewood and sinister, and some are so old that they can't even open their eyes, but no one seems to dare to mess with them.

There were also some young people like him, huddled in the corner, looking at the sky godlessly.

Some of them are disabled.

There were many people here. Xu Qing closed his eyes slightly after seeing them. The auras of those people made him feel the fluctuations of spiritual energy.

There are all kinds of people, some are buying and selling, some are fighting with each other, and some are lying on the big rocks and basking in the sun.

Others walked out of tents with brightly colored feathers holding up their trousers, with lewd looks on their faces.

Xu Qing followed the Lei team into the camp. To outsiders, it seemed like he was walking into hell.

But apart from his inner vigilance, there was nothing strange about him, and he even felt vaguely familiar.

"It does look like a slum." Xu Qing murmured in his heart, scanning the tents with feathers hanging on them, and saw what appeared to be white figures inside.

There was even a young woman in dirty clothes walking out of a tent. She smiled lazily and waved to Xu Qing.

"Don't look around." Captain Lei glanced at Xu Qing.

"I know where that place is." Xu Qing looked back and replied.

The wrinkles on Lei Dui's face formed a dumb smile. 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 a ring shape, like a colosseum.

Xu Qing was observing along the way and had already constructed most of the map of the camp in his mind.

This is his habit. Many times, familiarity with the environment can often change the situation of a crisis.

At this moment, he looked up at the Colosseum-like building in front of him and noticed that in addition to the huge venue, there were many simple benches inside.

In addition, there were bursts of roars of ferocious beasts coming from inside the building.

There are some row houses like wooden sheds around, and there are a few scavengers in obviously cleaner clothes talking and laughing outside the row houses.

With the arrival of the Thunder Team, a skinny middle-aged man soon staggered out of the Colosseum.

This man was wearing a long robe that was different from the scavengers. He had three beards on his face, and he also had psychic energy fluctuations on his body. He pulled his skin perfunctorily when he came, glanced at Xu Qing, and then looked at Lei Dui.

"Newcomer?"

"I already know the rules." Lei Dui said slowly.

"What's your name?" Sanbihu asked casually.

"If a little brat has a name, let's just call him kid." Captain Lei said calmly.

"Then come with me. You're lucky, kid. There are already a few in front of you. We can start almost tomorrow."

Sanbihu breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and walked towards the townhouse.

Xu Qing glanced at Lei Dui.

"Go ahead, I'll pick you up tomorrow." Captain Lei looked at Xu Qing with some expectations in his eyes.

Xu Qing took a deep look at Captain Lei, nodded, said nothing, and followed Sanbihu.

When he arrived in front of the row house, the man with three beards exchanged a few words with the scavengers beside him, then turned and left.

Xu Qing was also placed in a townhouse and told that he was not allowed to go out without permission.

The moment he stepped into this row house, Xu Qing saw four pairs of eyes converging on him at different locations in the house.

There were three young people of similar age to him and a young man, three boys and one girl.

The two teenagers seemed to be a few years older than him. They glanced at Xu Qing and looked at them without paying attention.

As for the girl, she was a little younger than Xu Qing, huddled in a corner, with a huge scar on her face.

She looked at everything around her nervously and vigilantly, including the original three people and the new Xu Qing.

As for the oldest young man here, it seems that he was originally a scavenger, but now he just changed camps.

So after seeing Xu Qing, he curled his lips in disapproval, turned his eyes away, stared at the girl in the corner with aggression, and licked his lips.

But obviously he has not officially obtained the right to live in the camp, and he does not dare to act recklessly now.

Xu Qing ignored them, found a place near the door, crossed his legs and closed his eyes, meditating silently.

Time passed slowly, perhaps because Xu Qing was too quiet when he arrived. Gradually, the three people in the row house, except the little girl, ignored him and started talking to each other.

The words of the two young men were obviously meant to please the young man.

Most of the content discussed was related to this trial.

Through their conversation, Xu Qing knew that this camp would hold a trial every once in a while when enough people wanted to obtain residency qualifications.

The rules of the trial are simple.

Because the owner of this camp has kept many mutated ferocious beasts in captivity, the test to obtain residence qualifications is to draw lots in public and fight the drawn ferocious beasts.

Either life or death, each other is prey.

Those who are alive can take away the loot and gain residency status.

Everything about the deceased will become food for ferocious beasts.

And every trial will be held in this Colosseum.

At that time, most of the scavengers in the camp will buy tickets to watch this bloody scene. While getting pleasure from it, the camp owners will also open gambling games to make profits.

In this cruel world, human life is worthless.

But if you are not qualified to enter the city and cannot enter the camp, and you live alone in the wild, the risk of death will be greater.

Of course, slums are also an option, but obviously those who decide to enter the scavenger camp have stories in their hearts about why they have to come here.

Xu Qing meditated and listened.

It wasn't until they were talking about the story of the gods opening their eyes many days ago that a young man suddenly spoke.

"When I came here, I heard someone say that you were a survivor of that catastrophe?"

As soon as these words came out, Xu Qing slowly opened his eyes.

As he looked, he noticed that the target of the boy's words was not himself, but the little girl in the corner.

The little girl trembled and nodded silently.

Xu Qing's eyes fell on this little girl.

Others had heard about it, but he had experienced it all, so he knew deeply that the people who could survive the catastrophe and come here might not be as fragile and simple as they seemed.

Seemingly noticing Xu Qing's gaze, the little girl raised her head and looked at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing closed his eyes again and continued to meditate. He wanted to find all the time to practice. This was the basis for him to live a better life.

Just like that, the night passed.

Early the next morning, along with the chaos and clamor from the outside world, the door of the terraced house was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

The sun shone in, covering the body of the scavenger standing at the door. When its shadow fell into the house and enveloped the little girl in the corner, a cold voice came.

"Pack up and follow me. It's time for your show to begin."

"The wait is finally here."

The young man in the house who seemed to be a scavenger was the first to get up, walked over with a smile, and said hello to the person at the door.

The two teenagers quickly followed behind. Xu Qing was the fourth to walk out, and the little girl was the last.

The scavenger at the door seemed to know the young man. After laughing and cursing a few words, he ignored the others and led the young man towards the Colosseum.

As we got closer, the sounds of noise, clamor, and shouts became more and more intense.

It wasn't until a group of them entered the Colosseum that the surrounding sounds suddenly erupted.

It can be seen that there are more than a hundred people on the benches around the Colosseum at this moment, including men and women, as if they are surrounded by demons, watching a good show together.

Their voices were loud, and the little girl visibly trembled, and the two teenagers also looked pale.

Only the young man looked towards the audience with some excitement in his eyes.

Then there was Xu Qing. His expression did not change much and he began to observe the environment of the fighting area in the Colosseum.

"The range is not very large, so it is not suitable for pulling. There is no cover, so it is not suitable for hiding."

"The surrounding wooden boards are very high, which is not suitable for attracting danger to the viewing seats. However, there are several door marks, which seems to be another passage."

"So... we can either wait and scare the beasts with the screams of the scavengers, and look for opportunities to strike. However, this may also cause the beasts to become furious. A quick victory would be the most advantageous."