Hong Yan remained silent for a long while before speaking. "Every child belongs to someone's family. Tianwu ought to show some restraint in how it conducts itself."
Tianwu's grand knight was thoroughly unsatisfied upon hearing this. "Enough. I've already agreed to pay compensation."
"It is not your place to tell Tianwu how to conduct its affairs!"
Pausing briefly, he added, "Back at Tianwu, that elder helped advance Chief Instructor Saixi's career!"
No wonder they had dared invoke Saixi's name—they truly had the backing to do so!
Hong Yan replied impassively, "Above grand knights, there are Divine Might Knights!"
She felt anger rising within her as well. Your Tianjing Martial Academy didn't play fair, and others weren't even allowed to call you out on it?
The man paused in surprise at her words, then actually chuckled. "Is all this for that spirit-type apprentice ability master?"
Those from Tianwu truly were accustomed to acting haughty and arrogant, and it showed even in how they reasoned through problems.
His line of thinking was that Hong Yan's fierce reaction must have touched some sore spot.
Otherwise, there was no reason to butt heads so stubbornly with Tianwu—even if she could call upon a Divine Might Knight, would it truly be worth the favor?
Instructor Hong shook her head speechlessly. What irritated her most was this exact brand of arrogance.
"Do you deny it?" a voice rang out as Commander Jeff strolled inside.
He spoke with a beaming smile, "I already told you, wouldn't it be great to hand that kid over to me?"
Hong Yan gave him a slight nod. "You never tire of stirring up drama."
"Fine, then it's settled," Tianwu's grand instructor said as he turned to leave, no longer reproaching Hong Yan for her attitude.
Even hailing from Tianjing Martial Academy, he preferred to keep the New Army at a respectful distance.
Seeing him depart, Grand Knight Jeff lowered his voice. "Don't worry, I won't pester your Red Pine people."
"Right now, I only want to confirm whose family that kid actually belongs to."
Hong Yan stared at him blankly for quite a while before shaking her head and letting out a sigh.
"Well, you'd find out sooner or later anyway. A hostage from Jin!"
"Holy... shit!" The New Army commander finally lost his composure, his eyes going wide in an instant. "Is Red Pine trying to commit treason?"
Instructor Hong looked at him speechlessly. It was a long moment before she muttered, "This habit of yours, slapping treason labels on people..."
"Indeed, my bad," Jeff nodded, admitting it candidly. "Occupational hazard, occupational hazard."
Then, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he added, "No wonder. He told me his family wouldn't agree—it'd be bizarre if they could agree to this."
"He turned you down, and I didn't push him either," Instructor Hong said, speaking a few extra words for once. "It was for the good of your New Army."
"Tch, would my New Army fear something like that?" Jeff snorted dismissively. "Just a bunch of scheming plotters lurking in the shadows!"
"And here I thought he was a scion of some big shot."
Pausing, he asked again, "What's the kid's background?"
"Are you ever going to drop this?" Instructor Hong frowned. She had thought he would show some trepidation.
Still, the same logic applied: even if she didn't tell him, it would be child's play for the New Army to look it up if they wanted to.
She sighed. "Grandson of a lord."
"Huh?" Commander Jeff was stunned. "Even that qualifies as a hostage? Have the old fogies at the Court of State Ceremonial gone senile?"
"Don't bring that up with me," Hong Yan waved a dismissive hand. She had no interest in hearing the New Army pass judgment on others. "Go check for yourself how many hostages Jin has."
Commander Jeff's eyes rolled around. "One last question: if I manage to convince him, will you let him go?"
Instructor Hong watched him calmly, taking a long moment before asking, "Do you think I have any say in a matter like that?"
Commander Jeff nodded and turned to leave.
Instructor Hong stared after his retreating figure, frozen for five or six seconds, before shaking her head and letting out a soft huff.
Wu Youren noticed that after that night, the way the other teams looked at their four-person group had completely changed.
Red Pine had originally been a middle-of-the-road existence among the intermediate martial academies, keeping a low profile and drawing little attention.
Even if some people knew Instructor Hong was acquainted with Xia'erzi, it hadn't seemed like that big of a deal.
This time, Hong Da going on a rampage made everyone understand that even within the same martial academy, different instructors could make a world of difference.
A sheep leading a pride of lions versus a lion leading a flock of sheep... the gap felt just that vast.
However, Hong Da had likely been utterly exhausted from this expedition into the Guizu domain. After that night's rampage, she closed her doors and rested for two more days.
During this time, people approached constantly to strike up conversations with Manna, Namuzha, or Rossi.
The martial world was just this pragmatic most of the time; no one wanted to associate with the weak.
Many wanted to chat with Wu Youren as well—out of the four, the fact that there was an apprentice knight was truly conspicuous.
Yet he rarely stepped out of his quarters, doing even his stance-training indoors, and remained taciturn whenever he did venture outside.
Two days later, Hong Yan showed herself again and announced a new decision.
She was going to make a trip back to Red Pine. Their supplies had been heavily depleted and needed restocking, but more importantly, she needed to deliver their intelligence and spoils back.
She was taking Namuzha with her, and Rossi had to drive along as well, leaving Manna and Wu Youren behind.
Instructor Hong gave explicit instructions: the two of them were not to leave the military camp without good reason, and if anything happened, they should seek out the people from Marquis Tanyong's Estate.
As she was about to leave the camp, she hesitated for a moment before addressing the youth from Jin: "Use your head when things happen!"
After seeing Hong Da off, the two who were staying behind walked back. Manna couldn't help grumbling, "Does Master think I'm lacking brains?"
"She's telling us to be cautious," Wu Youren replied casually. "Those two matters might not be truly over."
It wasn't that he was paranoid; Hong Da had explicitly ordered them not to leave the camp—could the hint be any clearer?
"It doesn't matter anyway. The round trip will only take two days," Manna said dismissively.
In the afternoon, the two of them were standing outside chatting when a group of people walked past.
One of the knights glanced at Wu Youren twice and let out a soft exclamation of surprise.
Once they had walked off, Manna asked curiously, "You know people on the outside?"
She knew the youth from Jin quite well; he had gone straight to Red Pine after leaving Hostage Manor and rarely ventured out of the academy.
"He's from the Intelligence Bureau," Wu Youren replied deadpan. That man was the young knight Sister Hua had brought along previously.
Wu Youren had handed him a spiked waterskin back then—it was provided by Sister Hua, not an intentional scheme of his own to harm the man.
Even so, their relationship was definitely far from amicable.
"Why do you..." Manna frowned, eyeing him up and down, "attract so much trouble?"
*You think I want to?* Wu Youren curled his lip and said nothing.
Not long after, a female knight from Count Shengming's estate came over to ingratiate herself with Manna.
It felt as though the count's estate was genuinely considering sending a younger scion to Red Pine, as they had been currying favor for the past two days.
The female knight even glanced at the youth from Jin. "We tracked down Holar. He said he wanted to invest in you from the start."
"The risk was too high," Wu Youren said, not keen on chatting. "His foresight is lacking."
To confirm the details so quickly, Count Shengming's estate was certainly efficient enough.
Just after the female knight left, the young knight from the Intelligence Bureau walked over and said directly to Wu Youren, "Come with me for a moment."
Wu Youren looked at him, gave a slight shake of his head, and said blankly, "My apologies, that's not convenient."
"I'm not asking for your permission," the young knight said coldly, shooting a glance at Manna. "Understand?"
Manna couldn't help rolling her eyes. Were people from the Intelligence Bureau always this overbearing?
"I am currently on an assignment for Red Pine," Wu Youren answered, unperturbed.
A sneer crossed the young man's face. "Am I giving you too much face?"
"The Intelligence Bureau has no authority over the Court of State Ceremonial, does it?" Wu Youren countered calmly. "Hong Da is leading our team; you are disrespecting her."
This was also why Hong Yan hadn't been able to flatly refuse Commander Jeff of the New Army.
If it was something he didn't want to do, Red Pine had an obligation to protect him; but if he was willing, Hong Da had no authority to interfere.
"Hong Da... heh," the young knight chuckled. "Do I need to ask Sister Hua to come?"
Those two weren't even in the same league. Wu Youren rolled his eyes. "Focus on exploring the Guizu domain."
"Fine, fine, fine," the young knight sneered, nodding as he turned away. "Don't you regret this."
He had just turned past the row of buildings when a large hand came down on his shoulder, and a crushing aura enveloped him at the same time.
"Kid, don't make a sound, understand? Come with me."
"A grand knight?" The young knight remained fairly composed; serving in the Intelligence Bureau exposed one to far too many unexpected dangers and crises.
He even asked calmly, "Do you know who I am?"
"From the Intelligence Bureau, right?" the grand knight answered with a beam. "Allow me to introduce myself: Jeff, commander in the New Army."
"The New... Army?" The young knight's eyelids twitched, and his scalp prickled with a sudden numbness. "We have no dealings with each other."
"You do now," Jeff said, still smiling pleasantly. "You looked pretty familiar with young Wu."
"Not very familiar," the young knight forced himself to say. It dawned on him: wasn't this man one of the Eight Tigers of the New Army?
He could only answer honestly, "We had one encounter before. Right now, I only wanted to ask around for some information about the Guizu domain."
Troubling Wu Youren this time was purely his personal doing.
Regarding the abnormal movements in the Mount Xuanling Guizu domain, the Intelligence Bureau was not the primary force conducting scouting; their main task was compiling and analyzing reports.
Scouting required hands-on work in the field, and given their own strength, they couldn't complete it swiftly, so the tasks had been distributed to various factions.
Later on, however, the Intelligence Bureau decided they still needed personnel on the ground gathering firsthand intelligence rather than merely interpreting reports from different groups.
The young knight had arrived with their main detachment and ended up spotting Wu Youren in the military camp.
Eager to earn merit and knowing that the youth from Jin was somewhat extraordinary, he hadn't made a scene, quietly coming over to intimidate him instead.
As for whom the boy had come with, it really didn't matter to him—weren't they just those few from Red Pine Martial Academy?
The Intelligence Bureau truly held no regard for intermediate martial academies; functionally speaking, they held sway over them.
Against the New Army, however, things were entirely different. The New Army was a product of factional court struggles; compared to them, the Intelligence Bureau was truly nothing.
"Refusing to cooperate, are we?" Jeff's face darkened. "I say you're very familiar. I could tell just by his reaction."
"Commander, this puts me in a very difficult position," the young knight said steadily. "I have superiors of my own."
"Oho, playing tough?" Jeff grinned. "I love the tough-mouthed ones. Be sure you hold out a little longer!"
Chapter 137