Trouble

"All right," Manna conceded, defeated by Ailin's attitude. Youth truly was spirited and bold. She changed the subject. "This bundle of yours—do you need me to pass it along for you?" Ailin hesitated a moment before replying, "Then I'll trouble you to do so. It's just some ordinary supplies." Such little schemes... Manna smiled faintly. "Don't worry, I won't touch your things!" Ailin thanked her and hurried away. Later that afternoon, Wu Youren walked out of his room, looking refreshed and clearheaded. "Xiao Wu," Manna called out, pointing toward the bundle under the eaves. "Ailin left that for you. She had to head back for a bit." "Keep it for yourself, Sister," Wu Youren said with an airy wave of his hand. "Why would a grown man want a woman's things?" "Cut the nonsense," Manna said, her expression straightening into a stern look. "A girl gives you something, and you pass it off to someone else?" "Well... all right then!" Wu Youren nodded, picked up the bundle, and went back into his room. A moment later, he emerged again holding a book—the volume on material lore gifted by Count Shengming's estate. He sat down by the doorway and began reading. Manna's gossipy curiosity flared up again. "What did she leave you?" "Didn't open it," the boy answered casually. "I'll give it back when she returns." He was naturally a little curious as well—what man wouldn't be curious in a situation like this? Yet he reined himself in. Who knew if there might be something tainted inside, just like the food and water Sister Hua had once provided him. Even if there wasn't, he had no desire to deepen their intimacy any further, even if she might not be a swallow. In his current state, he had no business entertaining such matters, let alone falling into a potential trap. The following evening, Instructor Hong Yan finally appeared. Beside Namuzha and Rossi, she brought six additional knights—four men and two women. There was also an extra carriage, mainly because there were plenty of supplies and two carriages weren't enough. Among the four male knights, there was surprisingly one Wu Youren had met before. It was the discipline inspector who had once interrogated him: *Why are you farming?* When the inspector saw him, he was taken aback as well; this student had left a very deep impression on him. Deep doubt surged in his heart. *Did I see wrong? An apprentice knight?* Then he noticed the boy's gaze linger briefly on him, clearly recognizing him as well. The knight's heart gave an involuntary lurch: *Could this kid hold a grudge?* He had pulled quite a few strings to join this team. Why hadn't anyone mentioned on the way here that there was an apprentice knight student among them? Still, this was no time to ask questions; he could only keep his confusion buried in his chest. Having returned, Hong Da naturally asked about the recent situation first. Learning that the continuous overcast rain had caused unusual activity in the Guizu domain, she nodded slightly. "Normal." As for the military's demand for the various teams to provide reinforcement, that was only to be expected. Instructor Hong stated crisply, "Rest up today. Tomorrow we enter the Guizu domain. We arrived just in time." The danger in the Guizu domain had escalated, but so what? Once a mission was accepted, there was no point dwelling on anything else. As the saying went, the rougher the wind and waves, the pricier the fish. Seeing her disciple hesitate as if wanting to speak, she asked, "What else is there?" Manna smiled. "I'll report to you in private later." Hong Yan lifted her chin and addressed the others, "Head inside and get the supplies settled." Wu Youren hesitated, then spoke up, "Hong Da, could I have another room?" With those four new knights added, there would be seven people in the male martial artists' room. When it was just him, Rossi, and Namuzha, it hadn't mattered much, but with four more... "You?" Instructor Hong glanced at him, startled for a second before the corner of her mouth curled up slightly, as though she had thought of something amusing. Then she nodded faintly. "Fine. Manna, come with me to put in a request." The six male knights entered the room and began arranging the supplies, while Wu Youren stood outside, gazing blankly into the drizzle. While busy working with his hands, the discipline inspector couldn't hold back. "That student?" Not just him; the other three knights were puzzled as well. An apprentice knight was one thing, but getting a private room in a military camp? Whose damned young master was this? What was more... Hong Da had actually gone to secure one for him without even asking why. Namuzha and Rossi exchanged a glance, and in the end, it was the latter who replied, "That fellow is restless in his sleep!" What kind of bizarre answer was that? Another instructor spoke up, "Namuzha, care to explain?" The two of them had already been quite familiar back at Red Pine, and since they were teaming up to kill Guizu together, there was nothing that couldn't be asked. Namuzha paused, then chuckled. "He really is restless in his sleep... Mmh, and he has a bit of a special ability." A special ability... The four instructors instantly understood. Wasn't that an ability master seed? The discipline inspector's lips twitched as he carefully recalled their previous encounter. Then he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. His conduct back then... had been fairly just, and he had let it go in the end. Wait, which bastard was it that reported this fellow back then? Unfortunately, too much time had passed, and he couldn't quite remember. By the time they finished settling in, Instructor Hong and Manna returned, having indeed secured an additional room. Such a thing was genuinely rare in the military camp. Though there were hundreds of rooms here, accommodations were tight. While there were quite a few empty rooms, a reserve had to be maintained. Fortunately, Hong Da had gone on a bit of a rampage earlier and already made quite a name for herself, so no one wanted to cross her. However, the new room wasn't in the same row as theirs; instead, it was adjacent to the crowd from Count Shengming's estate. "When you have nothing going on, stay over here," Instructor Hong instructed. "Only go over there to sleep." "Understood," Wu Youren nodded slightly, still maintaining his taciturn demeanor. In the blink of an eye, darkness fell. After finishing dinner, the group began planning tomorrow's operation. With so many supplies brought along this time, someone had to stay behind to guard them. Instructor Hong assigned Manna and Rossi—newcomers needed opportunities, after all. Crucially, the four of them had exerted themselves quite severely last time, so it was best not to bring all of them in again. Once the plan was settled, it was still early, yet Hong Da had already begun shooing people out. "You've traveled all day. Even if you want to chat, get back to your rooms and do it lying in bed!" The others filed back into their rooms, leaving only her, Manna, and the boy from Jin outside. Wu Youren wanted to head back next door as well, but he figured Hong Da would want to say something to him—Manna had definitely snitched. So he could only sit quietly under the eaves, staring at the gloomy sky. Yet Instructor Hong didn't speak to him at all, merely chatting casually with Manna about this and that. Through their conversation, Wu Youren also gathered roughly why Hong Da had taken so long to arrive. In short, it was a string of troubles. The Guizu in the Suotu Town area had grown increasingly restless, charging out wave after wave. Among them were plenty of grand knight-level Guizu, occasionally even traveling in packs of two or three. Fortunately, the military had reinforced their numbers, and large groups of barbarians had arrived, holding fast along the ridge line and organizing numerous teams to charge in and slay Guizu. In short, the situation was far more severe than before. The barbarians had also stirred up plenty of trouble. Their discipline was abysmal; they would scramble madly whenever treasure appeared, yet turn and run the moment the Guizu threat turned dire. This resulted in substantially higher casualties among them, and when the military demanded they enforce strict discipline, they met with fierce resistance instead... Instructor Hong had been delayed not only by the paperwork for requisitioning additional knights, but also because she had been invited to join a squad of grand knights to intimidate the barbarians. Furthermore, this recent rain had worsened the Guizu crisis; otherwise, she could have requisitioned twelve knights. Manna listened with mild astonishment. "I didn't expect this place to be comparatively safer." "A Divine Might Knight has already gone in," Instructor Hong remarked casually, elaborating no further. Given her status and standing, however, she wouldn't make frivolous claims. Without them realizing it, the drizzle that had paused began falling again. Hong Da finally looked at Wu Youren. "Go back and rest. No need to sit around listening to us talk." The boy stood up silently and left. Only after he turned the corner and disappeared from view did Manna ask, "Aren't you going to talk to him?" "That's his life," the raspy, smoky voice replied offhandedly. "I gave him a word of advice before I left. That's enough." More than enough? It was already the height of benevolence and duty. Most Liang martial artists raised their students with a hands-off approach, and she took that to an extreme. Wu Youren wasn't even her student, but rather a hostage from Jin. Was it lacking for her to have gone this far? "The proposal he raised..." Manna started, but dared not continue, as her master turned her gaze over. Instructor Hong remarked indifferently, "Curiosity should be directed toward the right things." She was by no means lacking in intellect, and she encouraged her disciple to maintain an inquisitive mind, yet a martial artist's energy was limited. Not to mention, this was a monumental mess. What business did they have meddling in it? Arriving at his new room, Wu Youren was in no hurry to rest. He shut the door and first set up three simple mechanisms, primarily intended as alarms. Ordinarily, a military camp was relatively safe, but he had provoked quite a few potential enemies earlier. Once they were installed, he thought it over, opened the door, and set up a relatively conspicuous alarm mechanism. As he was setting it up, a voice sounded from behind him: "Just this level? Anyone with eyes could spot that." Wu Youren naturally knew that. After a brief pause, he answered, "Someone passing by unintentionally wouldn't notice easily." The mechanism itself served as a subtle warning; if made too covert, it would defeat its intended purpose. "How on edge do you have to live?" the New Army commander remarked dismissively. "Tomorrow, when Red Pine heads into the Guizu domain, you aren't going." The boy's hands paused for a beat before continuing to set the mechanism. "Please go tell Hong Da that." Jeff scoffed lightly. "A grand intermediate martial academy is going to miss a single apprentice knight like you?" Wu Youren didn't reply; that was never something he needed to concern himself with in the first place. The next moment, a raspy, smoky voice rang out: "Yes, we are. Red Pine has plenty of people, but every single one is indispensable." "I'm doing this for his own good." Jeff wasn't surprised that Hong Yan noticed what was happening here—how far apart were they, after all? Unfortunately, Instructor Hong's way of thinking differed drastically from his. "Even if you were doing it for your own good, does that give you the right to disparage Red Pine?" Yet the New Army commander had no intention of reasoning with her, stating flatly, "He cannot go!" "Your reason?"