Boomerang

"Quite adept at seizing an opportunity," Hong Yan murmured, though she showed no intention of pursuing the matter further. She had a general idea of what the Jin youth was capable of. The pair from the military and the Intelligence Bureau had clearly caught onto something and used the chance to squeeze value out of Wu Youren. To those in higher positions, this kind of maneuvering was all too common. And since the youth was a hostage from a foreign state, it was inconvenient for her to make too much of a fuss over it. "Barbarians? Heh. Just now, a whole bunch of them were acting wild around me." Upon hearing this, Sister Hua was taken aback. "That racket earlier—was that your doing, Sister Hong?" Hadn't the military claimed it was barbarian infighting? "I was just passing by and got caught up in it," Instructor Hong glanced at the soldier. "'Barbarian infighting' is a catchall basket... you can stuff anything into it!" The military knight answered meekly, "The military's focus is entirely on the interior of the mountains. As for the outside, close enough is good enough." "Hmph." Hong Yan gave a cold snort and paid him no further mind, turning her gaze instead toward the youth. "After all this time, how many Guizu relics did you manage to get?" Wu Youren looked at her, then at Sister Hua, and finally at the military knight, smiling without saying a word. "Six crystals," Sister Hua had no qualms about speaking up. "We provided him with provisions." "Not bad." Instructor Hong nodded slightly. "Little Wu, are you heading back to Red Pine, or coming deeper into the mountains with me?" "Well..." Wu Youren hesitated. After more than two months of running around, he was feeling a bit exhausted. More importantly, he worried that his qi refining stage cultivation might be seen through by a grand knight. Hong Yan disliked mulling over social pleasantries, but something this obvious was plain enough for her to see. She offered bluntly, "An eighty-twenty split on the harvest... twenty for you, eighty for me. I'll cover all the expenses!" At those words, the soldier and Sister Hua could not help exchanging glances: an apprentice knight and a grand knight, on an eighty-twenty split? In any other circumstance, being able to exchange a single sentence with a grand knight would give an apprentice knight bragging rights for at least three years! Just as Wu Youren was about to speak, the white mist ahead rippled, and a figure emerged. The distance was rather far, and before Wu Youren could get a clear look, Sister Hua was already shouting, "Hurry! The white mist behind you is stirring!" Hearing the shout, the person accelerated abruptly into a sprint, though his stride looked... somewhat stumbling and unsteady. As he drew closer, it became clear: it was none other than the young knight from before, the one who had wanted to enter the mountains alongside Wu Youren. He carried an enormous pack on his back, seemingly laden with quite a harvest. Stumbling and lurching forward, he collapsed onto the ground with a heavy thud, gasping desperately for breath. "Water... water!" Wu Youren handed over a decent-sized waterskin—the one provided by the Intelligence Bureau. Sister Hua had supplied him with plenty of food and water; he couldn't very well bury every drop of it, as he had to keep some around to keep up appearances. Now it came in handy! Sister Hua cast him a faint glance, saying nothing and making no move to stop him. Yet Wu Youren could imagine she was silently gnashing her teeth—*You drink from your own waterskin, but hand mine to him?* They didn't call the world a giant boomerang for nothing. Look up, and who has heaven ever spared? What Wu Youren found even more amusing, however, was that Sister Hua didn't just refrain from stopping him—she didn't even utter a word of warning! The young knight took the waterskin, gulped down over a dozen mouthfuls, and let out a long breath. His spirits visibly rallied. "This Guizu aura... I'm beat. It's just too terrifying..." His spirits had rallied... remarkably fast. Out of the corner of his eye, Wu Youren stole a glance at Sister Hua. Sister Hua's expression remained completely blank, and she said calmly, "Rest up first. There's no rush to talk about the harvest." "I know what I drank," the young knight replied evenly. "No need to rest either." Those from the Intelligence Bureau were ruthless toward outsiders, but equally ruthless toward themselves. Even knowing full well that certain substances might be addictive, when an emergency struck, they wouldn't hesitate to use them. He had laid it out bare, but Wu Youren kept his eyelids lowered, not looking Sister Hua's way at all. The truth was laid out for all to see; looking at her now would only be seen as a provocation—even though he was the original victim. The young knight reached into his waist, pulled out a small leather pouch, and opened it to reveal a small resentment crystal inside. With no small amount of pride, he declared, "At least I got something. Sister Hua... this counts as mine, right?" "A trivial thing," Sister Hua scoffed lightly. "Consider it reported. Handle it yourself." "I certainly won't fail to show my respects," the young man smiled. "Thank you for backing me up, Sister Hua." Though Wu Youren kept his eyes down and maintained an obedient posture, he understood clearly: if this fellow wanted to keep that crystal for good, he still had to grease his superior's palm. This subtly echoed what the chieftain's daughter had said. Sister Hua neither confirmed nor denied his remark, muttering under her breath instead, "Are crystals... really that easy to hunt nowadays?" "Not easy in the slightest!" The young knight grew anxious at her words. "It's treacherous in there; I burned through quite a lot." "Factor in all the costs, and I'll be lucky to break even." All costs, of course, included his tribute to the higher-ups. Sister Hua ignored his complaint—if she softened every time someone cried poverty, how could she lead her team in the future? Lifting her chin slightly, she asked, "What else is in the pack?" "On my way out, I hunted a wild beast," the young man said with a grin. "I made sure of it—it's not corrupted by Guizu aura." He gave the pack a shake, and out tumbled... an arrow beast! The arrow beast was bound in vines, bearing several deep wounds. It was alive, but barely clinging on by a thread. The young knight chuckled. "I didn't know how long it would take to break through the white mist, so I kept it alive... to drink its blood if needed." To be fair, life at the bottom of the Intelligence Bureau wasn't easy—no low-level operative had it easy, anywhere. Yet the young knight seemed quite content. "Fortunately, I broke out quickly. Since it's still alive, shall we eat it together?" "Poor thing..." Wu Youren couldn't help muttering, his eyelids twitching faintly. *Of all the things to catch, you really managed to nab this one—* on the arrow beast's body, one could still vaguely make out the marks from where he had previously bound it. Did this fool really think a barbarian blood curse was something to trifle with? Hearing him speak, the young knight glanced over. *This is the fellow who handed me the spiked water!* It wasn't an actual grudge, but he had taken a dislike to the youth long ago. "How much did you hunt?" Wu Youren stepped back two paces and offered a polite smile without a word. He wasn't afraid of the man; he was simply worried that when the young knight slaughtered the arrow beast, blood might accidentally splatter onto him. Sister Hua spoke up instead, "He brought out two." She said nothing more. Whether others read between the lines was none of her concern. The young knight's mouth worked as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he kept silent. The youth's cultivation was lower than his, yet he had emerged earlier and remained in far better condition. Could he honestly claim the kid had just stumbled upon them by sheer dumb luck? Instructor Hong gave a cold snort upon hearing this, her face expressionless. "Are there Guizu relics you didn't bring out?" True, the youth was a hostage from Jin, but he was also a Red Pine student under her wing. Squeezing him so brazenly—who were they looking down on? Wu Youren offered a dry chuckle. "Sister Hua didn't mean it like that. A few Guizu were blown up by ghost-destroying mines, and there wasn't time to clear the field." Smoothing things over was the right call here. He had to keep in mind that at the end of the day, Instructor Hong was still a citizen of Liang! "Ghost-destroying mines..." The young knight's face froze. *All by yourself, you dared to use ghost-destroying mines in there?* Hong Yan couldn't be bothered to entertain them and turned back to the youth. "How many days do you need to recover?" Wu Youren pondered for a moment before speaking. "At least half a month." Instructor Hong wasn't surprised. Having lived through prolonged warfare, she understood all too well how grueling it was. Over two months of continuous combat, even with occasional days of rest in between, could not be fully recovered from so easily. "Then will you return to Red Pine, or stay here?" "I'll head back to Red Pine first," Wu Youren replied, casually glancing at Sister Hua. The female knight looked away, thinking to herself: *Boy, you'd better have some sense. Don't go assuming someone will always be around to protect you.* "Go pack your things," Instructor Hong said casually. Only after the youth stepped into the cave did she turn to Sister Hua, asking in a low voice, "Are you restricting his movements?" She had no intention of going out of her way to champion a Jin hostage, but exploiting the kid was one thing—restricting his personal freedom was another entirely. "No," Sister Hua shook her head, not daring to say much more. She had met Hong Yan twice before, but they were merely acquaintances with no real rapport. If the tactics she had used against Wu Youren were ever exposed by the boy, it would go far beyond mere exploitation. Three Intelligence Bureau knights pursuing a single apprentice knight, and even chasing him right into the Guizu aura... that would be terribly hard to explain away. Nor did she dare mention withholding a payment from Wu Youren. Though delaying and defaulting on payments was common practice in the Intelligence Bureau—something everyone was accustomed to—it could not be brought into the open. If the grand knight took it seriously, it would be viewed as disregard, or even an outright provocation, toward a grand knight. By comparison, forcing Wu Youren to help hunt a few resentment crystals was hardly a big deal at all. Hong Yan snorted coldly, her voice devoid of emotion. "Enough is enough. Know when to stop!" She simply disliked scheming against others, but that didn't mean she was blind to right and wrong. Sister Hua said nothing more; silence was the best choice right now. The military knight's mouth twitched. He had originally intended to bring up the matter of the traps again before the kid left. Yet sensing the tense atmosphere, he decisively held his tongue. It was merely a few traps they wouldn't be able to utilize. As for who might end up stumbling into them? Consider it their own bad luck. Watching the youth shoulder his bags and walk away with Instructor Hong, the three were left speechless for a time. After a long while, Sister Hua let out a soft sigh. "I actually thought he was reluctant to leave." The soldier snorted and gave no reply... Wu Youren followed the grand knight down the mountain, walking along the base for a stretch. He had no idea what she was up to, nor did he dare ask. Instructor Hong stopped beside an enormous boulder, five or six meters high and weighing at least a dozen tons. Gripping the rock with both hands, she shoved it aside without appearing to exert much effort at all, revealing a cave entrance behind it. The cave was low, not even a meter high, and roughly two meters deep. Inside sat a miniature motorcycle, about forty centimeters tall. It looked like an oversized toy meant for children. Yet the more Wu Youren looked at it, the more familiar it became. In astonishment, he blurted out, "Is this your..." It was clearly a scaled-down model of the vehicle Hong Da had ridden before!