"What's going on?" asked Manna from the middle. Having worked with the Jin youth for so long, she could no longer even be bothered to extend her own senses.
It took effort and was less accurate than his anyway, so why bother?
"People," Wu Youren said, tilting his chin up slightly, his gaze profound.
Five or six figures were searching carefully for something not far from their camp. All of them had knight-level cultivation.
The three who had just returned could have avoided a confrontation for the moment, but who could stomach swallowing such an insult?
More importantly, the camp held plenty of supplies they had painstakingly hauled over!
"Let me handle this!" Namuzha volunteered. "They really think they can bully us just because they have more people?"
He crept forward silently, hunkered down inside a bush, and projected an elusive, echoing voice:
"Leave immediately, or don't blame us for being impolite!"
"Huh?" A soft sound of surprise came from the other side. The figures hesitated a moment before halting.
Anyone with a shred of worldly experience knew that in an environment like this, no matter how immense your background was, you shouldn't act as if heaven were first and you were second.
Five years ago, Prince He's son had died in a clash out in the wilds.
Thinking that as the son of an imperial prince he would scare anyone out of their wits, he ended up slaughtered—and the grand knight accompanying him was killed as well.
An apprentice ability master traveling with them had run fast enough to deliver the grim news.
Even so, he couldn't escape the Prince He Estate venting its fury upon him and ultimately died in an interrogation room.
As for who the murderer was? The case remained unsolved to this day. Liang had publicly claimed it was an assassination carried out by an enemy state.
This was the Mount Xuanling Guizu domain. Deep down, everyone harbored thoughts of killing others for treasure, but everyone also had to stay on guard against being killed!
One of the knights called out, "We're looking for a thief. Whose household do you belong to?"
"Get lost!" Manna's voice rang out, equally elusive and drifting. "Don't make us say it a third time!"
A male voice and a female voice at least demonstrated that more than one person had arrived.
"Ahem." A light cough sounded, carrying a hint of majesty. "Call your elders to speak!"
Remarkably, a grand knight was concealed among their ranks.
Yet what answered him was a black dot descending from the sky.
The grand knight's perception was exceedingly sharp. Before the black dot even landed, he had already recognized what it was.
His expression shifted slightly. "A ghost-destroying mine? Retreat!"
Inside a Guizu domain, it wasn't that ghost-destroying mines couldn't be used, but because the consequences were difficult to control, one had to use them with extreme caution.
Many martial artists would save their last ghost-destroying mine for themselves.
For the other side to toss out a ghost-destroying mine without giving a damn carried... quite a few implications!
But whatever the implications, it had already demonstrated the other party's resolve: Come on, let's make a mess of things!
Several figures retreated violently in unison.
Nothing had even happened yet, and the other side hurled a ghost-destroying mine right off the bat. It wasn't just a terrible temper—they clearly didn't lack money!
Normally, martial artists who could enter the Mount Xuanling Guizu domain were generally well-off; those short on funds didn't even have the credentials to come in.
Then again, if you really didn't lack money, why enter this Guizu domain in the first place?
Even Instructor Hong Da, who could cover all expenses, still couldn't buy a light green honeycomb stone, could she?
A ghost-destroying mine couldn't be called exorbitantly expensive, but it certainly wasn't cheap either, yet they had thrown it out just like that.
The key was that the aftermath this thing triggered was uncontrollable!
And what was even more uncontrollable was the other party's mentality—just how short-fused did someone have to be?
Yet within a few breaths, the situation took an unexpected turn.
The aftermath of this ghost-destroying mine... was controllable!
It hadn't exploded at all!
The grand knight had already perceived the truth. It was an unfused ghost-destroying mine. He sneered with disdain, "A threat?"
A third voice appeared, somewhat clear and crisp, yet carrying a touch of youthful innocence. "The second one won't be like this."
"What the hell..." The grand knight was somewhat speechless. "Using ghost-destroying mines like this inside a Guizu domain—which martial academy are you from?"
Not all knights graduated from martial academies; those with family heritages had no need for one.
However, for those who wanted to broaden their horizons, make friends, and weren't strapped for cash, it was a good choice.
"Fanghua Martial Academy," Manna chimed in, having picked up bad habits as she spouted nonsense off the cuff.
Still, it suited her gender. Among the eight intermediate martial academies, Fanghua Martial Academy was the only one where female students made up more than eighty percent.
Then she countered with a question, "And which martial academy are you from?"
"I'm from Tianjing Martial Academy," the grand knight replied offhandedly. This was one of the two high-tier martial academies in Liang.
When the top tier met the upper tier, there was usually some sense of superiority, but he wasn't so petty.
Fanghua was the only intermediate martial academy in Great Liang dominated by female students, and its underlying influence was astonishing.
Many well-off female martial artists who could have entered a high-tier martial academy ultimately chose Fanghua instead.
The grand knight naturally understood that the other party might not be telling the truth, but he had no intention of dwelling on the topic.
He stated bluntly, "There was a petty thief here spying on us. Is he your companion?"
Immediately after, however, the youthful voice spoke up again. "You really won't heed advice?"
"Bullshit!" a voice came from up high not far away.
With a flicker of movement, Rossi showed himself. It turned out he had been hiding in a tree.
Every single tree in a Guizu domain harbored tremendous potential risks. Fortunately, their camp was nearby, and he was very familiar with the surroundings.
The other group hadn't found Rossi right away simply because they hadn't considered that possibility yet.
The next moment, he darted behind another tree. "I was only keeping you from coming any closer."
"This is a Guizu domain; anyone can go where they please," a tall knight spoke up.
He didn't look very old, his expression exceedingly aloof. "You won't let us come close? Who gave you that right?"
"Then how is that spying?" Rossi retorted sullenly. "I called out to warn you early on."
This was the most common type of dispute encountered in a Guizu domain, nothing out of the ordinary—one side claimed territory, and the other side refused to back down.
Namuzha couldn't hold back anymore. "Haven't you heard of first come, first served? Are you leaving or not?"
"We can leave," the tall knight said in a deep voice, "but you must—"
The next instant, three black dots flew through the air, cutting him off mid-sentence.
The grand knight frowned and raised a hand, sending a distinct ripple through the air.
A tangible wave of air swept outward, knocking the three black dots aside.
He knitted his brows, speaking with innate authority, "Juniors, you—"
Before he could finish, another five or six black dots came flying at them.
Immediately afterward, explosions rang out in succession, one after another all around them.
"Madmen!" The grand knight's expression turned grim. With a sweep of his hand, another pronounced ripple of air wrapped around the people beside him.
Leaping backward violently, he gritted his teeth and shouted, "Juniors, don't let me find out which household you belong to!"
He truly hadn't expected anyone to be crazy enough to throw this many ghost-destroying mines without a single word of explanation!
Robberies were never scarce in a Guizu domain, and underhanded dog-eat-dog ambushes were just as common.
Yet this kind of mutual destruction right from the first meeting was truly rare.
The grand knight couldn't bear to let any of these knights die under his watch, so he had no choice but to retreat first.
Fortunately, his perception was extraordinarily sharp.
Activating his senses fully, he steered clear of potential hazards along the way and retreated nearly two kilometers in no time.
Gazing at the churning, rampant Guizu aura ahead, his face was thoroughly unsightly.
The tall knight's face was also slightly pale, stripped of his earlier composure.
Even so, he said in a low voice, "It doesn't look like they were surrounding a Guizu relic, nor does it seem likely to be a shelter."
Those were the two main reasons they had been searching relentlessly and refusing to let Rossi go.
As long as they could overpower the other party, they would likely reap some gains.
However, this stunt pulled by the other side basically ruled out both possibilities.
"We took a bit of a loss," another knight spoke up, equally young.
Everyone had entered the Guizu domain to gather intelligence for their respective factions, pursuing long-term interests.
At the same time, if the opportunity arose, they didn't mind stretching their legs to line their own pockets on the side.
Yet this time, rather than getting a taste of abalone, they had only walked away reeking of fish—wasn't that a total loss?
"They probably don't have a grand knight," the tall knight said sullenly. "And they're extremely violent!"
The young knight paused for a moment, then nodded. "Actually, they took an even bigger loss... Wasting so many ghost-destroying mines, and they'll likely hold a grudge."
The meaning of their exchange was clear: the opposing party was an extremely volatile factor; a deep grudge had formed between them, posing a significant potential threat.
As for their actual strength, it was probably nothing special.
Hearing this, the other knights nodded in agreement and turned their eyes toward the grand knight.
The grand knight gave a soft snort. "This matter certainly can't be dropped just like that."
"Whether we took a loss or not doesn't matter. We can't tarnish the reputation of Tianjing Martial Academy... Besides, order in the Guizu domain needs to be maintained."
So this group truly was a team dispatched by Tianjing Martial Academy!
The tall knight nodded slightly and then asked, "Did anyone recognize that fellow?"
Rossi had revealed himself just now; although it was only a fleeting glimpse, someone had caught sight of his face.
Wu Youren and the other two had approached from afar and concealed themselves early on, revealing nothing of themselves.
Unfortunately, not a single person recognized Rossi.
He had entered a martial academy at a young age, and after successfully breaking through to become a knight, he had been actively campaigning to become an assistant instructor at Red Pine.
He had very little contact with outside martial academies, let alone an aloof, high-and-mighty high-tier institution like Tianjing Martial Academy.
At that exact moment, Wu Youren and the other three had already slipped into their shelter.
The clash had taken place only seven or eight hundred meters from camp. Under normal circumstances, no one would have been willing to stir up such a storm over that short a distance.
Especially once the Guizu aura ran rampant, traveling even such a short stretch became exceedingly perilous.
Fortunately, the other three knew that the Jin hostage's ability to sense danger was remarkably sharp; a hostile environment like this might not necessarily pose a problem for him.
Wu Youren had been the first to throw a ghost-destroying mine—first an unfused one, then three more.
Seeing this, Manna and Namuzha were able to deduce that the danger was likely not very high, so they had followed suit.
As for Rossi? Needless to say, hadn't their acquisition of bone glue last time also been a reckless gamble?
Having survived a situation like that, this riot of Guizu aura didn't seem like much.
Taking advantage of the lingering effects of the ghost-destroying mines while the Guizu aura was scattered, the four made a daring dash to rendezvous swiftly.
Under Wu Youren's guidance, everyone finally made it safely into the camp.
Chapter 128