Rossi was not an impulsive man by nature, but various major factions from Tianjing were gathered in the military camp right now. If someone spoke to him in such a patronizing tone and he made no response at all, Grand Instructor Hong Yan would likely be displeased!
The middle-aged knight glanced at him upon hearing his words and said nothing more. There were far too many crouching tigers and hidden dragons in this camp.
By dusk, people began returning in dribs and drabs.
The later it grew, the more people returned, until four or five hundred had arrived. All of them had fought in the Guizu domain—some had gone and returned on the same day, while others had been fighting for more than a day or two.
Nearly thirty percent of them were wounded, lightly or severely.
Arrangements were made to treat the wounded, while those who were unhurt or had only superficial injuries went off to eat, drink, and recuperate.
In a scene like this, the five from Red Pine were practically invisible.
Even Hong Yan had no intention of flaunting her cultivation—wasn't it pleasant enough to sit quietly and listen to the others talk?
The slight pity was that each team mostly talked among themselves, with very little communication between groups. Some people even retreated into their quarters and never came out, whether to rest or to contact the outside world.
Under these circumstances, the Red Pine Martial Academy group heard almost nothing of value.
They were in no hurry, though; this was only human nature. Whatever spoils or intelligence these teams had obtained would naturally be digested within their own factions first.
Hundreds of people crammed into an outpost of several tens of thousands of square meters made for a rather dense crowd. When all of them were martial artists, burdened by negative emotions such as poor spoils, injuries, and bad teamwork, what would happen?
Minor bouts of mutual cursing, shoving, and even standoffs cropped up every now and then.
Fortunately, this was a military base, and the soldiers maintained order. Over trivial spats, the soldiers simply folded their arms and watched the spectacle, since they had nothing better to do. Only when tensions escalated to the brink of a brawl would they step in and tell them to knock it off. Normally, martial artists were willing to give the military some face, even if everyone had a formidable background.
The Red Pine group of five sat idly by their doorway, watching the scenes unfold.
"What a bore," said the male knight accompanying Instructor Hong. His name was Namuzha. "Can't they say anything useful?"
"No one's stupid," Manna replied offhandedly. "We'll still have to investigate on our own... Hong Da, should I go around and pay a few visits?"
Having eavesdropped for a while, they hadn't come away entirely empty-handed; several teams had ties to Red Pine.
"No need." Hong Yan shook her head, her expression placid. "Better to rely on ourselves than beg others."
What grand knight didn't possess some pride? Grand Instructor Hong's pride was famous throughout Red Pine.
Just then, another argument broke out between two teams. It started when one side, reviewing their own blunders, was mocked by the other.
Neither side was willing to back down. The shouting turned to shoving, and hands were already resting on weapon hilts.
As usual, soldiers stepped in to mediate, but a grand knight from the mocked side spoke up: "Get lost! Mind your own business!"
"Who's that?" Namuzha asked Manna in a low voice.
"No idea. Someone from the New Army, not familiar," Manna said with a faint shake of her head, glancing at Hong Da.
Hong Yan remained seated, watching the show without a word.
The mocking side had no grand knight, only four knights, one of whom was lightly injured.
A burly knight sneered, "Childish is childish. Don't blame people for laughing!"
The grand knight hadn't originally joined the squabble, but hearing this was too much to bear. With a darkened face, he snapped, "Boy, do you really want to die?"
The burly man stiffened his neck and retorted stubbornly, "No one under the Marquis fears death! Come on, touch me!"
"I could crush you with one hand!" the grand knight sneered. "A has-been Marquis—who are you trying to scare?"
"No need for you to step in, Boss," a knight from the New Army stepped forward and said. "A duel?"
"Fine! To the death!" The burly man laughed in fury. "Outside?"
The man had dared insult the Marquis—something he could never tolerate, especially in public!
"To the death?" The grand knight snorted coldly. "If you dare harm him, I will kill you!"
In Liang, there was no rule against the strong bullying the weak; outnumbering opponents was also standard practice. They believed that might made right.
The grand knight hadn't acted directly, largely because there were too many onlookers around. But stepping in to avenge a subordinate was only natural.
Yet the burly man still refused to back down. Sneering, he demanded, "Would you dare say that to Instructor Xia'erzi's face?"
Hearing that, Hong Yan's expression finally tightened slightly. She looked at Manna and gave a slight nod of her chin.
Having followed her for years, Manna knew Hong Da's habits intimately.
She stood up and said in a deep voice, "Is Instructor Xia'erzi the one who came from Marquis Tanyong's Estate this time?"
At her words, the surrounding crowd parted to leave a gap so the two sides could talk—spectators always loved a bigger show.
The burly man caught sight of the five people sitting nearby.
The camp was brightly lit, but it was still no match for daylight, so he couldn't see their faces clearly.
Even so, hearing the question, he gave a slight nod. "The instructor is... still inside the Guizu domain."
"Break it up," a lazy, raspy voice sounded. Hong Da had finally spoken. "Save your strength for dealing with the Guizu!"
The New Army's grand knight balked at this. "Who do you think you are? Not very old, but you certainly talk big!"
"I'm a friend of Xia'erzi's," Instructor Hong replied just as lazily. "What, want to spar with me?"
The grand knight froze for a moment before retorting, "Didn't you hear them insulting the New Army just now?"
He had to exercise some restraint, because Xia'erzi was known as the foremost figure in Marquis Tanyong's Estate beneath the Marquis himself!
Rumor had it that even in his prime, the Marquis might not have been guaranteed a victory against him.
Marquis Tanyong had originally wanted to appoint him Chief Instructor, but Liang had issued a decree that no one below the rank of Duke could establish the position of Chief Instructor.
Thus, the marquisal estate had only one instructor, while the others were merely assistant instructors.
Among the grand knights of Liang, Xia'erzi was undeniably at the very top, capable of holding his own against two or three grand knights without losing ground.
The New Army's grand knight knew full well he was likely no match for the man.
Yet against Xia'erzi's subordinates, he felt not the slightest fear—what was killing a knight or two? No big deal.
Even if Xia'erzi came looking for him, he wouldn't be afraid: *Your man insulted the New Army, so I killed him. What of it?*
However, a friend of Xia'erzi stepping forward was a different story.
Not just any grand knight was qualified to be his friend!
Moreover, judging by her bearing, she clearly had a substantial backing of her own. How could he push things aggressively?
Still, he had to uphold the New Army's prestige!
"Correct mistakes if you've made any; guard against them if you haven't," Hong Yan answered leisurely. "I heard the exchange. It wasn't an intentional insult.
"As martial artists, you must learn to advance through criticism... The New Army has just been formed. If you can't stomach criticism, you won't go far."
The grand knight replied stiffly, "The New Army's affairs are not for outsiders to meddle in. How should I address you?"
"Can't even recognize me? Heh." The raspy voice scoffed softly and went silent.
"It's Grand Instructor Hong of Red Pine," someone in the crowd recognized her.
"Hong Yan..." The grand knight finally realized who she was. She was quite famous within the circle of grand knights.
He wasn't entirely certain of her exact combat prowess, only that she was undeniably strong. What he did know was that Instructor Hong had a fiery temper.
It wasn't surprising that she was being reasonable now—she was merely mediating, not defending Red Pine's own matters.
Furthermore, she had an entire intermediate martial academy behind her.
She clearly didn't fear him either; otherwise, she wouldn't have bothered to withhold her name. That demeanor alone bespoke immense confidence.
The New Army didn't fear a mere intermediate martial academy, but having just been established, they couldn't go around making enemies on all sides, could they?
The grand knight pondered for a moment before waving a hand dismissively. "Fine. As expected of an academy instructor, Instructor Hong places great importance on lecturing."
This was giving himself an out, but the reasoning was plausible enough—weren't academy instructors supposed to instruct martial artists?
Hong Yan disliked intrigue, but since he was offering a gesture of goodwill, she had to give some response.
"Mm. May the New Army flourish and provide Liang with more pillars of strength!"
With that, the dispute that even the military hadn't managed to settle came to a close.
The New Army's grand knight actually walked over to the Red Pine five of his own accord. "Senior Hong, your fame precedes you."
"Don't call me that; I'm not necessarily older than you." Hong Yan sat up straight. She disliked socializing, but some pleasantries were unavoidable.
The man introduced himself as Jeff. He had come from a noble family and had previously served in the Imperial Guard.
"I've heard of you," Rossi volunteered. "One of the Eight Tigers of the New Army."
"The New Army is newly founded," Jeff said, remarkably free of arrogance when addressing them. "We hope Hong Da will lend us her full support!"
"I'd like to see how far the New Army can go, too," Hong Yan said placidly. "I wouldn't dare claim 'full support,' but I can only do my best."
She had zero interest in the court's struggle between the new and the old.
Jeff could sense her detachment, but it didn't matter so long as she wasn't hostile.
With the New Army newly formed, he was tasked with befriending and winning over various factions.
His earlier hostility toward Marquis Tanyong's Estate had also stemmed from other considerations.
After chatting for a bit, he suddenly looked at Wu Youren. "This is... an apprentice knight? No, there's another flavor to him."
"Just an ordinary student," Instructor Hong replied casually. "He only entered Red Pine half a year ago. He's fairly good with mechanisms."
Assigning tasks to the Jin youth within Red Pine required little caution, as nothing could go wrong on academy grounds.
When dealing with the outside world, however, things became tricky—especially amid this struggle between the old and the new.
"Is that so?" Jeff smiled at her, then released his perception to examine the youth carefully.
Doing this was rather rude—why should an outsider scrutinize a Red Pine student like this?
Yet from an instructor's perspective, it was entirely normal; to draw out a student's potential, didn't one need to examine them thoroughly?
After a long while, Jeff laughed, a strange glint flashing in his eyes. "Interesting. Hong Da, I want this student."
Chapter 121