Wu Youren was somewhat surprised by the question. "I've already told you, but does this matter that much?"
"Someone is looking into it," the soldier replied calmly. "They suspect your saber might just be the genuine article."
"Do they have nothing better to do?" Wu Youren said in astonishment, shaking the leather cord in his hand.
Bound by the cord were four weapons—sabers and swords, all battered and worn, though they could still fetch a modest price back at Red Pine.
Bewilderment filled his eyes. "Broken weapons are everywhere inside the Guizu domain... Are they that bored?"
The military knight looked at him impassively. "A major battle is about to begin."
"A major battle?" Wu Youren was slightly taken aback, then slowly nodded. "Understood."
Even so, he was not particularly worried. Whether that saber had been seized by the bladesman knight or belonged to him originally, Wu Youren had already chopped it to pieces.
Noticing his expression, the military knight cleared his throat. "The saber being sought involves an important figure."
"An important figure? How could someone like that be within my power to deal with?" Wu Youren answered dismissively.
For now, his publicly known realm remained merely that of an apprentice knight.
The soldier pressed on. "If they decide to investigate, your status won't protect you!"
A hostage's status was a shackle, but at times it could also serve as a shield.
He was, after all, the descendant of a foreign noble. The people of Liang could humiliate him, but his bizarre death on foreign soil would be difficult to explain away.
"If that's what they think, there's nothing I can do," Wu Youren answered placidly.
He sensed the man was seizing this chance to coerce him, but the more the soldier tried, the less Wu Youren allowed himself to be swayed.
With so many debts to his name, one more hardly mattered; when covered in lice, you stopped feeling the bites. At worst, he would simply flee back to Hostage Manor—assuming he could get away.
For this man to rack his brains trying to threaten him, whatever he was scheming was bound to be nothing simple.
Sure enough, the military knight brought up his previous proposal: "Join the army—under my command. I can protect you."
*Does that important figure have influence in the military too?* Wu Youren shook his head in amusement.
"If he's really that important, how did he lose his saber in the first place?"
"It seems you haven't thought it through yet," the soldier said, reading his attitude and leaving room to maneuver.
Then he changed the subject. "How was your haul this time? You didn't come out empty-handed, did you?"
"Two," Wu Youren answered gravely. "I brought one out with me."
"Heh," the soldier scoffed coldly. "So you really were holding out. My intimidation wasn't in vain after all!"
"It has nothing to do with that." Wu Youren shook his head. Sure enough, once interests were involved, not a single one of them was an easy mark.
Fortunately, he had an excuse ready at hand. "I don't know who the next crystal should go to. Talk it over between the two of you first."
"It's mine, of course," the soldier said without hesitation. "She went first last time, so it's my turn now."
Wu Youren shook his head. "You two settle it first... I don't want to offend either of you."
The soldier was rendered speechless. After a long moment, he added, "I can help you find information on awakening—so long as you're willing to enlist."
"I wouldn't dare dream of it..." The youth shook his head like a rattle drum. "I still want to live!"
"Useless coward!" The soldier glared at him, irritated yet helpless.
There was no helping it; even if he forced the youth to hand over two resentment crystals, they would still be two short.
The exchange went smoothly enough, though just before departing, the soldier suddenly asked, "You haven't already awakened, have you?"
His ability to sense an ability master was slightly inferior to those fellows from the Intelligence Bureau.
Even so, this time he could distinctly feel that the Jin youth's aura had changed compared to before.
Wu Youren shook his head and replied helplessly, "It's only been ten or so days. Do you really think I could hunt down three resentment crystals?"
Crystal drop rates depended on luck, but there were still basic probabilities; one couldn't ignore common sense.
The soldier did not press the matter, though he cast a suspicious glance up and down the youth before taking his leave.
Wu Youren remained calm and composed. He truly had advanced during this trip into the mountains.
However, what he had advanced was his Daoist system; he didn't believe the other man could discern differences in that kind of realm.
Still, how should he put it? In his view, having advanced to qi refining, his strength was at least on par with the knight realm.
His overall combat power had risen. Even if others could not see through his system, certain intuitive impressions could not be entirely hidden.
Since things had come to this, all he needed to do was keep a low profile and deny any malicious guesses that came his way.
Putting these stray thoughts aside, he relaxed his mind and soon settled into meditation.
***
Sister Hua arrived sooner than he had expected, showing up before noon the next day.
She and the military knight argued for quite a while over who should receive the fourth crystal before she finally agreed to yield it to him.
However, the next two would belong to her.
The premise of her concession was that this military squad had indeed held on to their original patrol duty and had not been replaced.
If a new batch of patrolling soldiers were rotated in, keeping this secret would become far more difficult.
Sister Hua ultimately stated that she was willing to grant him this favor, but she would make no further concessions.
Wu Youren witnessed their entire argument from start to finish without uttering a word.
Once they reached an agreement, he entered the white mist once more. In just half an hour, he brought out the fourth crystal.
Sister Hua praised him briefly before raising a new question: moving forward, how should the three parties coordinate?
Wu Youren's stance was the simplest: *This has nothing to do with me; I'll follow whatever you two decide.*
Yet the discussion between the other two involved far more complications.
First and foremost was considering the current situation in Suotu.
Wu Youren was completely in the dark about it; this was even the first he had heard that Instructor Keli had resurfaced.
Sister Hua was far better informed, and at this moment, she felt it necessary to show off.
She could not compete with the soldier over patrol assignments, so demonstrating her own strengths was undoubtedly the only way to secure a greater voice.
Keli had originally been a burly man with a fair chance of breaking through to grand knight, but this time, that was completely ruined.
When he returned, he was so emaciated that a gust of wind could have blown him over. More critically, he had lost an arm and walked with a limp.
It was said that his face had also been attacked by the Guizu, leaving it pitted, scarred, and hideous to behold.
For a martial artist, appearance was secondary; losing the function of two limbs, however, would severely cripple his combat strength!
Yet Sister Hua remarked dismissively, "At least he came back alive and passed the Guizu aura screening. That's better than anything."
Beyond that, she briefed them on recent developments regarding the Guizu threat in the surrounding area.
In short, there was a better than sixty percent chance that this Guizu domain would fully take shape.
For such a situation to arise in the vicinity of Tianjing was a massive slap in the face to Great Liang.
Yet at the same time, another faction believed this was a rare opportunity to study the Guizu.
Great Liang possessed vast territory, with at least a dozen established Guizu domains within its borders, ranging from weak to formidable.
Having one appear so close to the national capital was indeed deeply humiliating, but wasn't it also the perfect opportunity for research?
Most of Great Liang's most talented and powerful figures were gathered near Tianjing!
Compared to the safety of the capital, the importance of uncovering the truth behind Guizu domains was truly... a matter of perspective!
Many felt that Great Liang's dignity came first.
Yet others could not help but ask: back in the beginning, how had the state of Jin developed the ability master system if not through relentless investment?
To this day, the two factions within Liang had yet to reach a consensus, though tightening control over the area was an absolute necessity.
The military forces rushing toward Suotu were increasing drastically, and many researchers and ability masters were arriving as well.
Even other martial academies had dispatched substantial personnel; Red Pine was no longer the sole power on the scene.
Hearing this, Wu Youren looked pleased and couldn't help remarking, "Does that mean we won't be short on manpower anymore?"
"Hm?" The two knights exchanged a glance, and then the soldier spoke up. "What are you so happy about?"
"More people to help kill the Guizu," the Jin youth said, looking thoroughly bewildered. "Isn't it the more companions, the better?"
The two knights were struck speechless. Finally, Sister Hua couldn't take it anymore. "Are you planning to back out of your promise regarding the crystals?"
"One matter at a time," Wu Youren answered casually. "So long as a person lives, their debts don't die. As long as I'm alive, I'll definitely deliver on what I promised."
"Oh?" Sister Hua was slightly taken aback. She had always harbored a suspicion that the youth actually enjoyed their current arrangement.
As for the specific reason, she couldn't say.
If she had to pinpoint one, it was that... this youth was not someone easily fooled.
Previously, the two of them had strong-armed him into a forced trade. Did they really think he had no temper at all?
Yet the youth had endured it. Perhaps he had realized he lacked the strength to resist, but... why couldn't it be that he was actually enjoying the benefits?
The soldier's mindset was rather more straightforward.
With a darkened expression, the knight said, "We hate buying on credit most of all. We're men on the battlefield—alive today, gone tomorrow. We settle on the spot!"
"Even if you want it settled on the spot, I don't have it, do I?" Wu Youren rolled his eyes. "We won't be able to stay in this place for long anyway; you can't blame that on me."
"Never mind blaming you—not even a grand knight gets a say in this," the soldier acknowledged readily.
Deep down, he still possessed the blunt pragmatism of a soldier. The current situation was indeed murky and chaotic.
"Heh," Sister Hua chuckled dryly. "Even a Divine Might Knight might not have the final say!"
Both men fell silent. When it came to authoritative intelligence, who could surpass the Intelligence Bureau?
"The prospects here are very complicated," she said impassively. "We'd best put aside our selfish interests for now and properly manage this stretch of territory first."
She remained convinced that the Jin youth had an interest in this area; otherwise... this fellow was nowhere near as harmless as he seemed.
Wu Youren, however, was the first to declare his stance. "I have no selfish interests whatsoever. In fact, I can abandon this place at any time!"
If they thought he had a stake here, they were sorely mistaken. Needless to say, was there any section of the mountains he couldn't enter from?
It was merely that by easing tensions with these two factions, entering from here left fewer loose ends.
In truth, their growing interest in him and their increasingly probing scrutiny had already begun to make him uncomfortable.
If not for the fact that these two influential backings were quite useful for warding off trouble, his cautious nature would have driven him to seek other avenues long ago.
As the saying went, once a person grew accustomed to their comfort zone, it truly was not a good thing.
Chapter 108