Not Awakened

"Don't listen to him," Sister Hua said, showing Wu Youren no face at all. "The kid is full of schemes." Immediately after, she changed the subject. "Where is that saber of yours? Bring it out and let me take a look." She had received word from the military knight early that morning, and one of the matters concerned that curved saber. Wu Youren went into the cave and brought out the saber. She examined it carefully. After scrutinizing it for a good half-minute, she frowned slightly and handed the curved saber back. "It feels... there really is a bit of that flavor to it." "What flavor?" Wu Youren was genuinely curious. "Isn't it just a common fine blade?" "Style," Sister Hua replied simply. "Just like your biguijue." "Sty... le?" Wu Youren examined the curved saber several more times. He had to admit that his eye for such things was indeed somewhat lacking. Still, not wanting trouble, he couldn't even be bothered to ask further. "If you want to buy it, how much will you pay?" "I'm not buying," Sister Hua shook her head bluntly. "If I lowball you, you definitely won't sell. If I pay more... why spend good money courting trouble?" "Then I'll just use it," said Wu Youren, terrified of poverty as he was. "If even you can't be sure, Sister Hua, how many people could recognize it anyway?" Sister Hua scoffed. "That's the style barbarians favor most." "Barbarians?" Wu Youren paused, surprised. "The tribes west of Great Liang?" He knew little about the barbarians. Whether in Hostage Manor or at Red Pine, the name was rarely brought up. Still, in the eyes of the Great Jin people, the Liang were already considered barbarians. For people the Liang called barbarians... just how uncivilized must they be? "There are tribes to the north as well," Sister Hua replied before asking curiously, "Didn't your girlfriend tell you?" *Cynthia isn't my girlfriend!* Wu Youren couldn't be bothered to explain, merely asking out of curiosity, "The Mirage Sea League is barbarian?" It was a loose regional organization, and it really didn't seem to be in Liang's heartland. "They border the barbarian lands," Sister Hua said, eyeing him suspiciously. "Do you really know nothing about this?" Wu Youren smiled without answering. He could barely stay alive himself; why would he care about Liang's frontiers? The military knight, who had been secretive yesterday with talk of an "important personage," spoke up now that Sister Hua had laid it bare. "They say barbarians are being summoned to help deal with the Guizu domain?" Sister Hua nodded. "Arrangements are already being made... Young Wu, those fellows are genuinely unreasonable." "Oh." Wu Youren nodded at the news, not bothering to say another word. Having lived as a hostage in a foreign land for eight years, he had rarely met anyone willing to be reasonable. Unreasonable was unreasonable either way—how different could it be? "Don't look down on them," the military knight piped up, sharing inside knowledge. "Even in the army, the barbarians are notoriously difficult to manage." "Barbarians... in the army?" Wu Youren was stunned. Did Liang actually recruit foreign mercenaries? "They have dedicated units," the military knight explained simply. Sister Hua was more forthright. Seeing that he didn't understand, she gave him a brief breakdown. "Barbarians" was the collective term for the tribes surrounding Liang. Their lands were barren, resources scarce, and their civilization barely developed. In earlier years, the Liang people routinely raided the barbarians for slaves, sparking numerous wars. Although most were merely on the scale of pacification campaigns, over time they took a heavy toll, and the returns were meager. Moreover, some barbarian tribes were formidable fighters, and they had gradually begun integrating into Great Liang society. The authorities deliberately courted them, as these people could endure hardship, lived on little, and fought fiercely. Tough, grueling jobs that many Liang people refused to touch were taken by barbarians for low wages. Thus, in contemporary Liang society, the barbarians occupied the very bottom rung, though their warriors remained exceptionally capable. More importantly, some of the larger tribes knew how to band together for mutual protection and had loose organizations. That was why even Sister Hua was reluctant to provoke them. When blood rushed to their heads, those fellows were truly capable of anything. Nowadays, barbarians had penetrated deep into Liang society. If the authorities truly moved against them, countless menial jobs would go unfilled. Social order would descend into chaos as a result. The investigation into the curved saber stemmed from several members of barbarian tribes going missing nearby; they had demanded that the authorities look into it. Because they might need to rely on the barbarians to confront the Guizu domain soon, the government and military had begun cooperating with their demands. Sister Hua and the military knight were well aware of all this, but couldn't be bothered to care. Most martial artists daring enough to roam nearby were looking to strike it rich, risking their lives for wealth. Even bona fide Liang people could meet mishaps out here—what made barbarian martial artists so special that they couldn't die? However, if the Jin youth had killed barbarian martial artists to seize weapons and the barbarians sought payback, neither knight could stop them. The original purpose of a hostage was a pledge to restrain a rival nation's actions, akin to kidnapping, where the ransom was long-term cooperation from the other party. And where there was kidnapping, killing the hostage was always a possibility. Still, one couldn't just kill the hostage on every passing whim. Yet in this matter, if the barbarians held the moral high ground, the Liang authorities would not forcibly intervene to stop them. Uncivilized as they were, they were already part of the workings of Liang society, and some were formidable warriors. Wu Youren finally understood what kind of situation he was facing. Still, he remained slightly puzzled. "Are there really that many barbarians in Tianjing? Red Pine doesn't seem to have any barbarian students." "That's because Red Pine doesn't accept barbarians," both knights replied in unison. The soldier had more authority on the current local situation. "There are plenty of barbarian adventurers around here. Without military orders, we can't easily intercept them." Wu Youren raised an eyebrow. "So order in the area has broken down, and people go missing all the time..." "Hold it right there," the soldier said sternly. "Order around here is perfectly fine. None of what you're saying is happening!" What was he getting at? Chaotic as the surrounding area was, that was the Guizu's doing; it had nothing to do with the military's ability to maintain order. Wu Youren didn't mind the rebuke. He had never intentionally asked about gossip unrelated to himself before. What he considered was that the two people talking in front of him each had their own schemes, so this information might not be entirely reliable. He pondered for a moment and asked, "If a hostage clashes with barbarians, what would the authorities' attitude be?" Neither party was mainstream. The latter weren't truly Liang people, while the former held implicit foreign backing. Sister Hua answered casually, "The authorities usually stay out of it. It doesn't matter who kills whom." "What are you saying?" The military knight shot her a displeased glance. Then he looked back at the youth. "The hostage will come out worse. Over the years, quite a few barbarians have gained citizenship." Sister Hua glared at him resentfully. "You're ruining my game!" Her apparent unconcern just now had actually been a covert trap. "You call that good?" the soldier shot back bluntly. "All you people in the Intelligence Bureau care about is snatching credit, stirring up trouble all day long!" "Have you had so few operations blow up in your faces? When the time comes, don't expect our military to wipe your ass again." He had a point, but Sister Hua was left exasperated. "A minor matter like this... needs the military?" "If you want to win him over, just say so. Making up stories about me to make yourself look good is pretty cheap, isn't it?" Well then. Turns out neither of them was a saint; each had an agenda. Wu Youren wasn't surprised. Young though he was, he had seen far too many people adept at scheming, and he remained sharply on guard. Still, that the two of them would expose each other so undisguisedly in front of him was actually... a good thing. At the very least, neither saw any need to be heavily guarded around him right now. Otherwise, he wouldn't even have been privy to such information. On this point, he was absolutely certain. Countless days and nights in the past, that was how he had lived... receiving next to no outside information, with channels virtually nonexistent. What was change? This was it. As long as he worked hard enough, life would get better day by day. Of course, Wu Youren also understood that this improvement in treatment came because both sides had something to gain from him. Not that it mattered; there were no eternal friends in this world, only eternal interests. As long as he maintained his value, days like this could continue. Even so, he quietly cautioned himself: he must never let it get to his head. An improved external environment was a good thing, but none of it was guaranteed. If he lost his head, he would be completely finished. After the two knights bickered for a bit, the soldier looked back at the youth and said in surprise, "You're not even amazed?" "Isn't that obvious?" Sister Hua sneered back. "He's a hostage. Who knows how much of the world he's seen!" "I really haven't seen much of the world," Wu Youren shook his head, wearing a dazed look. "I only attended the King of Liang's twentieth-year celebration..." His voice grew quieter and quieter. That time, the entire hostage contingent had been paraded out, an experience far too humiliating to look back upon. Sister Hua was completely unmoved, advising the soldier instead, "He has more than twice the wits you do. Save your breath." "Heh," the soldier chuckled dismissively, turning back to the youth. "You should see just how unfriendly everyone else is toward you. I'm inviting you once more to join the army... I'll provide materials on ability masters." "Goddamn it!" Sister Hua flared in anger, her face twisting. "Can you stop inflating the price?" Was this... a tag-team routine? Wu Youren couldn't help but suspect as much. One pressured him directly, the other reeled him in slowly—were they trying to force him to yield? In the end, he shook his head. "Let's stick to business. Once the big battle begins, will conditions around here change?" Both fell silent. This Jin youth truly had a mind of his own, unmoved by either soft persuasion or hard pressure. After a few breaths, Sister Hua spoke. "It's possible, highly probable even. Right now is just a brief preparation phase." "Then I'll rest for a day," Wu Youren said seriously. "I'll seize this window to head back in one more time." "Rest, then," the soldier said, turning to walk off. "The two of us will keep watch for you." Sister Hua nodded as well. "Good timing. I need to receive some supplies—they arrived early today... Is there anything you need help with?" "No," Wu Youren shook his head and walked into the cave. The two knights sat not far off, chatting in low voices. "Did you notice? He might have awakened." "No. I brought a detector... There's a reading, but he's still far from awakening."