Having arranged the invitation for assistance, the bearded man returned to the original topic. He still wanted to know how Red Pine had detected the concealed Guizu aura.
While the two were talking, martial artists from Red Pine came and went nearby, but neither of them made much effort to lower their voices.
Daiqisi came over, thanked the bearded man, and turned to find the boy.
Beaming with joy, she said, "The City Guard Bureau has tons of jobs like this. You're about to make a fortune!"
*I knew this would happen!* The boy gave a slow nod, forcing a faint smile.
"Yeah, but we can't make it too cheap for them... If word gets out, we won't get to play anymore."
What Hong Da had quietly mentioned the night before about "a foundation to build a life on" must have meant this.
Once Aviator grew up, if it still possessed this detection ability, he, as its master, would naturally reap the benefits.
Such a scarce capability was something ordinary people could never replicate. Even if his status was that of a foreign hostage, what of it?
Helping Liang maintain social order was a genuine, practical capability.
Wu Youren understood this, but in his view, that scenario might not turn out much better either.
Still, that was a matter for later. His most pressing priority right now was time to grow!
Therefore, he had to make it clear: the secret could not be leaked—they still needed to farm rewards!
"I know," Daiqisi said, startled for a moment before nodding. "Eating your fill once is very different from eating your fill every day."
Then her pretty face fell. "Unfortunately, a few too many people already know."
Wu Youren looked at her, caught between tears and laughter. "You already got your reward, but the others haven't."
"Then I have to let them know," Daiqisi said, showing that she knew how to handle interpersonal matters. "Lest anyone fails to realize it."
Seeing her turn to leave, Rossi, standing nearby, reminded her, "Farm rewards in moderation. If you do it too frequently, you'll ruin the going rate."
"Yeah, I got it," the female instructor replied, hurrying off.
In the end, the bearded man still failed to uncover any concrete details.
It didn't matter, though. As long as he maintained a proper attitude, having a first pleasant surprise meant there could be a second.
The bearded man wasn't certain whether Hong Yan held secret methods of her own.
Yet that wasn't very important. What mattered most to him was the demonstration effect!
He departed before noon, and before leaving, he even arranged for someone to order a feast to be delivered as soon as possible.
Wu Youren had originally planned to hide in his room, but in a situation like this, standing out too much wasn't wise, so he chose to silently join in and scrounge a meal.
With this appearance, Aviator's presence on his shoulder drew far more attention than before.
Fortunately, with Daiqisi having passed the word around, no one stared blatantly at the young bird.
Everyone deliberately averted their eyes, though fleeting glances still darted his way from time to time.
When the meal was nearly finished, Manna finally spoke up. "Its eyes... look like they've opened a slit?"
She truly couldn't hold it in, but as Hong Da's disciple, she had less to fear.
"Yeah," the boy nodded, resolute in not offering a single extra word.
As it turned out, even the middle-aged knight couldn't help chiming in. "You should give it a name. It'll make training it easier."
Namuzha glanced at him, his gaze somewhat complex.
"I've already thought of one," Wu Youren answered briskly. "Xiao Ha."
As usual, he offered no explanation—this world didn't seem to have the term *aviator glasses* anyway!
"What kind of name is that?" Manna wrinkled her nose. "For such a handsome snow harrier... you could at least give it a name that sounds delicious."
"It's fine," Instructor Hong spoke up, a rare occurrence. "It's an open-vowel sound. Easy to shout."
After returning to his room, Wu Youren was still pondering Namuzha's glance.
*Did he care about the naming rights... or did he mind me cementing my role as the chick's master? Does having a name make it troublesome to train after seizing it by force?*
This was no longer just baseless animosity; at the very least, greed played the dominant part.
Fortunately, the City Guard Bureau's invitation to assist had no mandatory requirements, allowing him to turtle in his room without stepping outside.
With the boy staying in, the others had their own affairs to attend to, taking the opportunity to take time off under the pretext of assisting the investigation.
Later in the afternoon, a fine drizzle began to fall.
Whenever the weather turned like this, Wu Youren inevitably felt a trace of restlessness. Steeling his resolve, he thought, *Whatever, I'll go for a walk.*
Stepping into the courtyard, the chilly drizzle landed on him and Xiao Ha.
Aviator drew its neck in, pressing closer to his throat, likely feeling the cold.
Wu Youren walked two laps around the courtyard. Seeing that Xiao Ha didn't particularly mind the rain, he strode out through the courtyard gate.
"Where are you going?" the discipline inspector asked from behind him.
The nature of his work meant he had few close friends, yet plenty of free time. He visited the city frequently, so this time he hadn't gone out.
"Just wandering around." Wu Youren was never one for many words, and he spoke even less to this man.
"Hey, count me in!" Manna called from the second floor. "Wait till I grab an umbrella."
"I'm not using an umbrella," the boy said, shaking his head. "Just walking around nearby."
"Wait for me anyway!" Manna yelled, then muttered softly under her breath, "What if?"
*Heh,* Wu Youren sneered inwardly. *There is definitely no 'what if'!*
A grown adult, yet after everything was laid bare this morning, she was still hung up on the government's reward.
Human greed stemmed from human nature; it truly was hard to rein in with mere logic.
The discipline inspector couldn't resist speaking up either. "Count me in too?"
He knew his relationship with the boy wasn't great, so he offered proactively, "I'll cover the bird feed for today and tomorrow. Let's call it one turn."
"You!" Manna glared down in annoyance. Clattering down the stairs, she asked crossly, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm just a bodyguard," the discipline inspector answered casually. "If anything good turns up, it's all yours. I won't take a cut. Fair enough?"
He genuinely wasn't in a hurry; his primary objective right now was to smooth things over with the boy.
"What could possibly turn up?" Manna mumbled under her breath. "Whatever, let's just take a stroll along the street."
The three of them walked along the street. Most passersby were hurrying along; few strolled leisurely without rain gear like the three of them.
Only after walking a while did Wu Youren gather that the discipline inspector's real name was Ranxue, not a nickname.
Wu Youren liked walking in the rain because he enjoyed the leisure, the coolness, and the white noise.
Having two shadows trailing behind him didn't stop him from relaxing, though it made him even quieter.
Ranxue and Manna chatted intermittently, gradually noticing that the boy barely spoke.
The two exchanged a look, and the former asked in a low voice, "Is he always like this?"
"Not necessarily," Manna answered uncertainly. "When talking about mechanisms, he talks plenty..."
If not for that, he probably wouldn't have drawn the New Army's attention in the first place!
Seeing her fall silent, Ranxue gave her a look. "Play along."
Manna naturally understood what he meant—what if the boy was sensing anomalies in their surroundings?
In this kind of weather, there were still vagrants along the street huddled beneath eaves, and some had pitched crude tents.
Yet no one dared target the three of them. Leaving the boy aside, the other two had battle qi protecting their bodies, causing the rain to slide off naturally.
Who would be stupid enough to pick trouble with two knights?
After walking for over an hour, they passed several shopping centers and shops, some of which were quite large.
Manna was rather puzzled that the boy showed no interest in browsing inside—*haven't you been stuck in the Hostage Manor the whole time?*
The three made a loop, heading back from another direction. Wu Youren finally stopped in front of a cooked-meat shop, intending to buy something to eat.
"This place isn't reliable," Ranxue said, finally seizing a chance to speak. "There are a lot of counterfeit goods here."
The boy froze for a moment, then nodded slowly. If he could sell fake wine and fake honey, why couldn't others sell shoddy meat?
That was perfectly reasonable.
The shopkeeper was a burly, middle-aged man with a massive head and thick neck. Judging by his looks alone, he seemed made for butchery.
Hearing those words, he glared fiercely at Ranxue. "Get the hell out of here!"
The discipline inspector's expression darkened. "What did you say?"
"I told you to get lost!" Grabbing a broad cleaver, the shopkeeper glared with furious eyes. "Who the hell isn't a knight!"
"Go to hell!" Ranxue was hardly good-tempered either. Raising a fist, he threw a punch right at him. "Trash like you!"
People of Liang truly possessed this sort of temper; a single disagreement could easily escalate into a brawl.
However, the discipline inspector didn't draw a weapon—for a street scuffle, there was no need!
The shopkeeper set down his cleaver as well and clashed with him.
The intensity of the fight hadn't reached the point of drawing steel, not to mention there was a female knight standing across from him.
Manna didn't join the fray, but she rested her hand on the short sword and pistol at her waist, quietly scanning her surroundings.
If a discipline inspector from a martial academy couldn't beat a meat seller, it would be an utter joke.
What she was watching out for was the possible arrival of helpers from the surrounding area.
Sure enough, someone rushed out from a neighboring shop at once. "Stop fighting, stop fighting! On a rainy day like this, cool off a bit!"
"Back off!" Manna drew her short sword, speaking coldly as battle qi flickered along the blade. "Don't go looking for death!"
"Where did these two blockheads come from?" someone jeered from the side. "Did you even bother asking whose turf this is?"
The scene grew lively, and Wu Youren gave up on admiring the rain, watching the spectacle with detached eyes.
What an eye-opener. People always said Liang natives had explosive tempers, and it seemed they weren't lying!
Right at that moment, he felt someone approaching behind him and cast a cold glance back.
He hadn't joined the brawl and was standing far away, purely as a bystander—*is someone trying to fish in troubled waters while I'm watching the show?*
Yet as his gaze swept across the man, he froze slightly: they had actually met once before!
The person was none other than the one-eyed middle-aged man from yesterday, who had acted quite assertive when facing him and Daiqisi.
Later, however, he had been stepped on by Hong Da and thoroughly put in his place by Namuzha.
What Wu Youren remembered most vividly was that this man had intended to use those thugs as winter provisions.
Recalling that, a deep disgust welled up inside him. Frowning, he barked in a low voice, "Get lost!"
The man gave off the aura of a strong apprentice knight, perhaps even a former knight, but Wu Youren genuinely wasn't afraid of him.
To his surprise, the one-eyed man didn't get angry at all. Instead, he flashed a bizarre smile, revealing a jagged set of broken teeth.
In a low voice, he said, "You really do have a Jin accent... I didn't wait for you in vain."
Chapter 155