A Walking...

Having lived as a hostage in Hostage Manor for eight years, Wu Youren had developed an intense distaste for uniforms. Whether it was the guard uniforms with armbands bearing the character for "Hostage" or the hostage uniforms themselves, both were memories he hated to look back on. Since the man had brought up "uniforms," he was presumably not only capable of following through, but also well aware of how the hostages felt. That made their background obvious enough without another word. At the thought, Wu Youren felt genuinely disgusted. "Are you people ever going to let this go?" Seeing his reaction, the burly man laughed instead. "Haha, have you forgotten who you are? "Even if you entered the Martial Academy, does that change your status? What right do you have to lecture us?" Confronted by this lingering shadow, Wu Youren was genuinely at a loss for words, but the man was right. Entering the Martial Academy didn't change the fact that he was still a hostage. What right did he have to demand they stop monitoring him? In any case, being at the Martial Academy felt infinitely better than Hostage Manor. As a person, sometimes one really couldn't push one's luck. After giving himself a brief pep talk, he calmed down a bit and took a deep breath. "Fine, keep watching me if you want, but this protection fee is completely absurd." The guards at Hostage Manor had skimmed cuts from their stipends, but theoretically speaking, they truly were protecting the manor. Without them, an enraged Liang mob might have stormed Hostage Manor any given day; no one could say for sure. Yet here he was at the Martial Academy, concealing his identity, and they still wanted to shake him down for protection money. This move... genuinely sat wrong with him. "If you have too much money, you might stir up trouble," the burly man answered righteously. "It's for your own good!" "Gee, thanks a lot!" Wu Youren replied, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Was it really this crude and blatant? Yet the state's apparatus of violence was even more unreasonable—or rather, more blunt—than he had imagined. "If you mess up, cleaning up after you is a hassle. Far better to collect a regular fee. It's better for everyone, wouldn't you say?" Wu Youren knew full well he had no standing to reason with them, so he could only sigh. "I was planning to use those funds to break through to the next rank. Ruining a man's future isn't good karma... I can't give you too much!" "Fuck me!" The burly man was about to lose his temper, but hearing the last part, he also didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You don't have a damn future to ruin!" He didn't know whether a hostage turning the tables had ever happened in other worlds, but without a doubt, it was impossible even for the Seventeenth Prince of Jin! "Allow me to ask," Wu Youren said in a low voice. "If I join the Mirage Sea League, do I still have to pay the protection fee?" He hadn't wanted to exploit Cynthia too much, but he had no choice—even a single copper could stump a hero. The burly man gave an uncanny smile. "Mm, you can give it a try. Maybe you won't have to." "Forget it, then," Wu Youren made his decision. "Once I pay the protection fee, there won't be any other trouble in the Martial Academy, right?" "Of course," the burly man answered crisply. "From now on, you'll be someone covered by the Life-and-Death Knot." This Life-and-Death Knot claimed to be a faction within the Martial Academy, but they were almost certainly the operators representing the relevant authorities! Wu Youren sighed. "I really want to break through, but from the looks of it... I have no choice but to accept?" "You don't have to pay protection money," the burly man said, his smile growing even more bizarre. "We can even give you money!" "A walking five hundred thousand..." Wu Youren shook his head and sighed again. "How much do I pay?" "You want five hundred thousand?" The burly man stared in astonishment. Don't you have a fucking clue what you're actually worth? He decided to ignore the nonsense. "Four silver dollars a month!" "Fuck me..." Wu Youren had been exercising considerable restraint, but hearing that familiar number, he couldn't help grimacing again. Was there no fucking end to this? "I can't give you the funds meant for my breakthrough!" The burly man didn't want to push him too far; after all, there was a long road ahead. "Not paying isn't an option. Ten silver dollars, then." Sure enough, these were people handling official business, not common street thugs; they knew how to play the long game. Wu Youren gave a silent nod. "Is there anything else?" "Let us beat you up," the burly man said with another grin. "Got to see the act through to the end, right...?" Before long, Wu Youren walked out of the small grove, black and blue all over and limping. He looked terribly battered, but his emotions showed little turbulence, because this kind of thing... didn't surprise him. The lot of a hostage was never just about being a punching bag; it also meant enduring all manner of threats and inducements. This torment wouldn't end anytime soon; they were trying to break him like a wild falcon! However, even lifelong hunters could get their eyes pecked out by a goose. Heh, break him? Getting angry right now was pointless. What truly mattered was putting in the effort to figure out the mechanics of experience points as soon as possible. Love should be shown through deeds rather than words, and hatred was the same. Precisely because of this, he had to endure and stick it out at the Martial Academy. Only here did he have the opportunity to grow stronger quickly. Lost in thought, Wu Youren had only walked a few paces when a figure flashed ahead. It was Cynthia, showing herself. Her face was full of concern. "Are you... all right?" "What do you think?" Wu Youren shot back coldly, yet offered no further explanation as he kept walking on his own. "Those people... the Life-and-Death Knot... I didn't send them," Cynthia explained in a rush, knowing full well why he was angry. "Does saying that now even matter?" Wu Youren replied calmly. "You said we'd have a good talk. I didn't realize we'd be talking with fists." "This really had nothing to do with me," Cynthia said, genuinely anxious. "I had no idea anyone followed me here." "Fine, let's say that's true." Wu Youren didn't want to rack his brain over it; the matter might as well end here. The fleeting affections between young men and women were probably like this—quick to come and quick to go... The ancient God Deng wasn't entirely sure. Yet Cynthia's reaction was quite different. "You... agreed to pay the protection fee?" "What else was I supposed to do?" Wu Youren asked in return. He needed her to spread the word anyway, so there was no reason to hide it. More to the point, he still harbored resentment. "Or did you want me to end up with broken arms and legs?" The female martial artist's eyes darted about, her expression turning solemn. "How much do you have to pay?" "Let's drop it; it's embarrassing enough as it is," Wu Youren gave a bitter laugh. "Still, I suppose I belong to an organization now." Cynthia fell silent and walked beside him for a few steps before speaking again. "How about... I cover half of it for you?" Wu Youren came to an abrupt halt and turned his head to look at her. After several breaths, he enunciated every word, "No need!" Over a mere two silver dollars, could he really bring himself to ask? There was no way to explain it. Deep down, he disliked living off a woman—and even if he did, he would do it on his own terms! The crucial issue was that he couldn't be certain whether she was genuinely ignorant or only feigning it. There was no point tormenting himself over such a headache when there was an obvious, simple solution! "I... I..." Cynthia hesitated for a moment before gathering her courage. "I'll treat you to sand pupae to make it up to you!" Sand pupae were not only immensely nourishing, but also exceptionally delicious—far beyond anything that certain hostage had treated them to last time. "Don't bother," Wu Youren replied without hesitation. "I can afford it myself anyway!" Four silver dollars a month—save that for a year, and what blood food couldn't he afford? Cynthia didn't have the mildest temper either, and she finally snapped. "Do you not trust me?" "Where are you getting that from?" Wu Youren answered casually, avoiding a direct response. His persistent lukewarm cynicism was more than the female martial artist could bear. After walking in silence for dozens more paces, she finally erupted. "Fine! If you don't trust me, then forget it!" What martial artist didn't have some temper? She quickened her stride and marched ahead. Wu Youren watched the distance between them widen bit by bit, his gaze placid. Only when her figure couldn't resist glancing back at him did he clear his throat lightly. "The Mirage Sea League is no match for the Life-and-Death Knot. Don't go stirring up trouble!" Regardless of whether the two factions were two sides of the same coin, was there anything wrong with his friendly advice? If a conflict arose between them because of this, the Life-and-Death Knot couldn't blame him—he was merely speaking the truth. In fact, he was secretly hoping for it. If the two really were separate entities, it would be best if they tore into each other. All this time, it had been Liang factions stirring up trouble among the hostages; returning the favor just a little bit could hardly be considered out of line, right? Hearing his words, Cynthia froze for a moment, then turned around, picked up her pace, and vanished in the blink of an eye. When Wu Youren returned to the dormitory, Salinen happened to be there. Seeing Wu Youren's state, he was taken aback. "What happened to you...? Did Cynthia hit you that hard?" "We're through," Wu Youren said flatly. "You can make your move now. I never even held her hand." "That... wouldn't be right, would it?" Salinen was clearly tempted, yet he insisted, "If you don't want her, I'm not touching her either." The relationship between the three roommates was visibly growing closer, yet a natural divide still objectively existed. Wu Youren was well aware that the help these two could offer him was far inferior to Cynthia's, but... it was still better than nothing. When Subar returned and heard the two had broken up, he immediately demanded a dinner treat as a "ceremony" to mark the occasion. Wu Youren actually agreed, though this time it wasn't as lavish as before. The three of them spent less than two silver dollars in total. Even so, that was still quite good. In the apprentice knight stage, the vast majority of martial artists relied on dietary nourishment. Wanting meat at every meal came with an extraordinarily high cost, while eating one's fill of it was nothing short of a dream. However, a free meal wasn't so easy to enjoy. That very night, Wu Youren had his hands around Subar's neck. Salinen had had a bit of alcohol and was sleeping especially soundly; by the time he realized what was happening, people from the neighboring room were already knocking on their door. Subar's injuries weren't particularly severe. What was serious was that the incident had broken containment... or rather, it had escaped their dormitory room! Fortunately, the two roommates had already experienced this once before, and this time, Wu Youren had seemingly suffered emotional turbulence. Another key point was that they had just freeloaded a dinner off him that evening; after all, eating someone else's food softens one's stance. Thus, the next day, the two forced Wu Youren to treat them to another meal, and the matter was considered settled. However, his two roommates also gave him a solemn warning: if there was a next time, they would definitely report it to the academy administration! A day later, once their anger had cooled, Wu Youren treated the two to yet another meal, claiming he truly couldn't control it effectively. Then he brought up his previous request again, hoping his two roommates could help him ask around about where to find tasks in the Martial Academy that involved slaying specters. Most mandatory tasks from the Martial Academy were delivered via comm-watch, but regular tasks had to be scouted through various channels.