Recruitment - Falling Out

Chapter 112: Recruitment Wu Youren sat on a boulder, glanced at the arrow beast whose limbs and snout were bound, and decided to stay a few more days. Today's testing and scouting had depleted some of his physical stamina; he needed to eat something high in energy. Then again, one couldn't be too particular about cooking in the wilderness. As he prepped the ingredients, he raised a hand, sending a tiny fireball down onto the firewood—if he wanted practice to make perfect, he had to keep training. Just as he chopped the ingredients into large chunks and prepared to toss them into the stone basin, a soft gasp of surprise came from not far away. "Huh? An ability master?" It was that same rough voice. Wu Youren's right index finger twitched slightly, but he continued what he was doing. After tossing the ingredients into the "pot," he raised his head and looked calmly toward the source of the voice. This spot was closer to the edge of the mountains, so the fog was relatively thick, with visibility around five or six meters. A burly man stepped out, followed by the bald woman. This time, however, his attitude was far better; he even forced a smile onto his face. Though that smile... was hard to describe, hardly better than weeping. "Cooking, are you?" Wu Youren felt somewhat helpless. "I stepped back earlier, but not because I was afraid of you two!" "I'm from Red Pine Martial Academy. Plenty of our instructors are taking part in the fighting; one might be right nearby." "Right, your wristwatch is Red Pine's," the burly man said with a nod. "The Teli Tribe doesn't like people who look down on us." *A wristwatch...* Wu Youren truly hadn't expected the man to identify him by that. As for the unfriendly attitude toward Red Pine? He accepted the explanation; the reasoning was sound enough. He gave a slight nod without replying, clearly unwilling to engage with them. At this moment, he felt a twinge of regret. He had still been careless! Had he known these two could track him down, he would have switched to a different shelter. The traps set around this place were too few, and their lethality lacked punch. Yet his aloof attitude seemed perfectly normal in the burly man's eyes. To awaken at such a young age, he had every right to be arrogant. He asked cautiously, "We're hungry too. Can we buy some of your food? We'll pay cash!" Wu Youren glanced at him and hesitated before saying, "I didn't make much, though." He had already guessed why the man was suddenly treating him with such courtesy. "I brought food," the burly man said, fishing out a large chunk of meat from his pack. It weighed seven or eight jin and was wind-dried. "This is earth dragon meat. Would you mind boiling it in your stone pot? We'll pay!" *Earth dragon...* Wu Youren recalled what he knew. The creature was somewhat like a Komodo dragon. Unlike a real Komodo dragon, this beast inhabited deserts and the Gobi, adept at burrowing through the ground. An earth dragon's main prey was giant sand worms, though it would occasionally scavenge carrion when food was scarce. Consequently, its meat carried an earthy funk, but it replenished qi and blood exceptionally well and fetched a steep price. The hostages had limited access to general information about Liang, but they had absorbed quite a bit of data regarding cultivation. "You'll have to wait until I finish cooking before you make yours. Otherwise, this pot of broth will be ruined!" The burly man exchanged a glance with the bald woman and continued, "Since you know about earth dragons, we can treat you to some. It's great for your qi and blood." *Am I the kind of person who eats strangers' food?* Wu Youren shook his head slightly and changed the subject. "How did you find me?" The question was somewhat blunt, speaking too intimately with mere acquaintances, but since they clearly wanted something from him, it shouldn't matter. "Good nose!" The burly man tapped his own nose with a finger. "Best tracker in the Teli Tribe." *I forgot about that!* Wu Youren nodded slightly. Earlier, he hadn't taken precautions because he assumed they couldn't catch up to him. Who would have thought the man was tracking by scent? Liang also possessed methods of tracking by scent, though they usually relied on trained beasts. Once a human's sense of smell grew that keen, there was no need for beasts. Wu Youren hadn't thought of it earlier because martial artists coming to slay Guizu rarely brought tracking beasts with them. Still, he had a doubt. "Can you smell the trail of Guizu aura?" "Can't smell that," the burly man answered with blunt honesty. "There's no living breath to it." *Then your skill isn't of much use in a Guizu domain, is it?* Wu Youren nodded. "A pity, then." "It makes tracking you very easy," the burly man argued immediately. Evidently, he hated being underestimated. "None of those traps of yours caught me either. I went right around them!" There really had been a reason Wu Youren had let down his guard: he had passed several of his traps on the way. If they had pursued him hot on his heels, they would definitely have triggered them. Whether the snares could actually trap someone was debatable, but an alarm trap should have given a warning! Yet he hadn't received a single warning and hadn't imagined someone had actually trailed him here. He nodded, forcing an unnatural smile of his own. "So my traps...?" "Still there," the burly man replied crisply. "The Teli Tribe doesn't bother with pointless chores." As barbarians, they certainly possessed no sense of civic duty. As long as the two of them could bypass the traps, why waste effort destroying them? Analyzing traps took mental effort, destroying them took physical work, and doing so would offend the trapper. As for any benefit, it would only help strangers. Why bust his ass just to play the fool for others? Wu Youren nodded. "A very pragmatic outlook on life. I like it." "Good that you like it," the burly man said with a nod, a genuine smile spreading across his face. "Friend, you haven't signed on with a backer yet, have you?" The question went a bit beyond his curriculum... Wu Youren genuinely didn't quite understand. This barbarian seemed to know more about Liang than he did! He couldn't ask directly, so he could only probe from an angle. "Underestimating me, are you? At my age, do you think people wouldn't notice?" "Precisely because you're young," the burly man replied without hesitation. "Whoever signed you would at least assign two or three knights to protect you." *So that's how it is!* Wu Youren nodded. "Maybe the knights protecting me are just keeping their distance." "Come off it," the bald... or more accurately, hairless woman cut in, unable to listen any longer. "If someone had signed you, would you be at Red Pine? "You would've gone straight into Great Liang or Tianjing Martial Academy!" Those two martial academies were the only two high-tier martial academies in the entire realm of Liang. Red Pine had produced ability masters before—more than one or two, in fact—but those two high-tier academies had produced vastly more. "Well, that..." An awkward look crossed Wu Youren's face. After a moment's hesitation, he conceded, "Fine, you're entirely right." Then, with a solemn expression, he added, "My clan crossed someone they shouldn't have. Can we please not pry into it?" "Brother, that's where you're wrong," the burly man said, extending a hairy paw to clap him on the shoulder. Catching the guarded look on the youth's face, however, his hand froze in midair. He pulled his hand back and pretended to scratch casually at his beard. "Crossed someone you shouldn't have? Who is it? Name them!" Wu Youren could understand why the man was so enthusiastic—ability masters were exceptionally rare. Half a year ago, when he and Rossi had taken shelter from the rain on a mountain path, someone had already wanted to invest an angel round in him. Still, he shook his head. "There's no need, truly. The waters in Tianjing run deep. The Teli Tribe can't afford to get mixed up in it." "Then we can take you back to our tribe," the hairless woman spoke up. "You can focus on pushing for full ability master in peace. "You won't have to worry about resources. Teli will cover everything!" The woman had both decisiveness and sharp eyes—though in truth, almost anyone could have figured it out. At his age, he couldn't possibly be a full ability master. Even an apprentice ability master would make him a genius among geniuses. Likewise, as long as such a prodigy didn't meet an early end, advancing to full ability master was only a matter of time! "Thanks, but no thanks," Wu Youren said placidly. "My enemies are rather powerful. It's better if we keep our distance." The woman froze for a second, then chuckled. "Talking about power to Teli? Heh, our tribe has over ten thousand knights alone!" *Can't take that at face value!* Wu Youren knew very well that anyone out in the world was bound to brag a little. Still, even if she exaggerated tenfold, over a thousand knights was already formidable, wasn't it? Curiosity showed on his face. "Then how many grand knights do you have?" "Over a hundred," the burly man chimed in eagerly. "It might not sound like many, but our combat strength is fierce." *Guess if I believe you.* Wu Youren nodded impassively. "That really is impressive. Are they truly stronger in combat than Liang's grand knights?" "Of course," the burly man answered without thinking. "Liang's martial artists are fine for dueling, but on a battlefield slaughtering... uh, never mind." He cut himself off because the hairless woman glared at him. Only then did he realize that bad-mouthing Liang's martial artists right in front of a student from a Liang martial academy was probably bad form. Back when barbarians gathered amongst themselves, they talked like that all the time. Now that circumstances were different, he had to watch his mouth. Wu Youren didn't mind the man cutting himself short and casually steered the conversation to other topics. He didn't take the initiative, speaking only in fits and starts and showing little enthusiasm. At the same time, he was genuinely curious about barbarian affairs; this was a rare opportunity to gather intelligence. It was mainly the burly man speaking with him, whose manner was blunt and rarely convoluted. Only when the man misspoke did the hairless woman chime in to check him. From this, it was obvious that her status was slightly higher. Throughout their exchange, the burly man's intention to recruit him could not have been more blatant. Even when Wu Youren didn't take the bait or deliberately changed the subject, the man would stubbornly steer the conversation back. Finally, Wu Youren couldn't take it anymore. "Is your Teli Tribe that short on ability masters?" "Not really short, no," the burly man declared without hesitation. "Still, aren't ability masters the more the merrier?" "The main issue is a lack of resources," the hairless woman suddenly cut in. She remarked coolly, "When someone has the potential to become an ability master, we have a hard time keeping them." Wu Youren rolled his eyes inwardly: *Could the two of you at least get your stories straight before opening your mouths?* He knew the barbarians were backward and uneducated, but that didn't mean they were necessarily honest and dependable. It was one thing for the seemingly reckless burly man to talk nonsense, but how could this woman be just as unreliable?