Dark Night

Hearing Manna's words, the female archer sighed. "So you've... set your sights on a big one?" "It's useless," Wu Youren spoke up from not far off—a rare occurrence. "The Guizu relics the barbarians harvest are all managed centrally." "Holy crap!" Kenpa shot him a strange, sideways glance. "You even know that?" The youth fell silent. The two barbarians he had encountered last time had only been scouts, which was why the knight among them had kept a stockpile on hand. Now that the barbarians had arrived in force, most of the spoils were likely held by the grand knights. However, he had no way to explain the distinction, so he was better off keeping quiet. Manna knew a bit of the inside story, and hearing this, she was immediately crestfallen. "We can't go attacking a grand knight, after all." When wiping out that barbarian squad earlier, the four of them had exerted every ounce of strength, yet they still hadn't completely annihilated the enemy. Even if they brought Kelvin along this time, it would be impossible to wipe out a force led by a grand knight. That man's strength might be impressive, but if he was stepping in for free, how could he possibly go all out? "You're not thinking of offering more money, are you?" The female archer gave her a wary look. "I'm against it!" "That would defeat the original purpose," Kenpa agreed with a nod. "Our goal is revenge, and taking some weapons to ensure we don't take a loss!" "Now you're thinking of Guizu relics, even considering paying more... Young lady, don't be so impatient!" "I was just saying," Manna retorted stubbornly. Pausing, she added, "Besides, testing Kelvin's mettle wouldn't be bad either!" The other three fell silent. Only after a while did Kenpa say, "At most, we can look for a slightly larger squad." Right at that moment, Wu Youren raised an eyebrow and whispered, "Someone's coming!" Movement on a rainy night was never a good sign. Kenpa raised his hand and immediately doused the campfire. The good news was that they had been camped here for several days, so their campsite was well-fortified and they knew the surrounding terrain inside out. The bad news was that staying in one place for too long made it easy to be targeted without even realizing it. Fortunately, the other party was moving very cautiously as well, without sweeping the surroundings with wide-range perception. Passing by several hundred meters away, they didn't notice the camp at all. Quite a few people passed by—at least several hundred. Hiding in the camp, the four looked at one another, not daring to breathe loudly. What the hell was going on? Suddenly, a figure flickered, and another person appeared inside the camp without tripping any of the alarm traps. "It's me," a raspy, gravelly voice said softly. "The barbarians are up to something. Who's coming with me to check it out?" It was hardly surprising that Hong Da knew where the camp was and how to bypass the traps—after all, Manna was in their squad. The youth shrank into a corner and lowered his head. Visibility in the camp was virtually zero, but Instructor Hong actually sensed him. "Little Wu is excused. What about you three?" "I'll follow Master," Manna replied promptly. The female archer and Kenpa merely nodded without speaking—neither of them necessarily wanted to go, but they certainly lacked the courage to refuse. Earlier they had clamored about killing barbarians; if they backed out now when real business came up, what would Hong Da think? "Be ready to provide backup," Instructor Hong said, then led the three quietly away. The four stalked behind the barbarian column for a good while before Manna whispered, "Master, why didn't you call him?" In her eyes, although the youth's combat ability left something to be desired, his perception... Even if it didn't quite match her master's, it couldn't be far off—and when it came to sensing threats from the Guizu, he might even be stronger. The low, raspy voice came back, "He has the right not to take the field in battles between humans." "But..." Manna felt somewhat unsatisfied. That guy had clearly been plenty enthusiastic when killing barbarians. "Didn't I tell you?" Kenpa chuckled under his breath. "You're the one who wants to kill barbarians!" At that same moment, Wu Youren was also conversing with Chen Quanxu. "Can that puppeteer take down a grand knight?" "I don't know," the little snake answered offhandedly. "But someone from the Far West wouldn't make a move even if he could kill a grand knight." "Why?" "Because you have to pay," the little snake answered. "They only care about money... Why do you care so much about killing barbarians anyway? Don't you have proper business to attend to?" "Uh," the youth faltered, then caught on. "Could the people from the Life-and-Death Knot be shadowing this column too?" "Wouldn't that at least count as proper business?" Chen Quanxu's stance was clear: hadn't he been killing barbarians just to cause trouble for the Court of State Ceremonial? Now that he could deal with the real culprits, why mess around with trivial sideshows? Wu Youren had no choice but to accept the rebuke, offering an awkward excuse: "Being watched by them every day, I've gotten used to taking the roundabout route." "How many great matters are waiting for you?" Chen Quanxu was thoroughly blunt. "Don't be so petty-minded!" The youth quietly left the camp. He had only taken two steps when the little snake called out to him again, "Where are you going?" Wu Youren was baffled again. "Catch up and trail them, of course." "Trail what?" Chen Quanxu said matter-of-factly. "I know where Dark Night is. Follow my lead." Holy crap! Wu Youren was stunned once more; this senior was truly a man of action. "Thank you, Senior. I really had no idea. But..." "Going there all by myself... isn't that, well, a little too overconfident?" He knew the other was very powerful, but he also seemed to have... some unspoken difficulties. If he went to fight all on his own, that wouldn't just be getting ahead of himself—it would be pure suicide! "Go take a look first." Chen Quanxu hadn't actually promised to join the fight. He declared self-righteously, "I only know their general location. I haven't been there in the past few days, so I don't know if anything has changed." Then let's take a trip! Wu Youren didn't refuse, advancing according to the other's directions. Hadn't he longed to clash with them in real combat with cold steel? It was just that the conditions had never allowed it before. Yet after walking for a while, he couldn't resist asking, "Senior, would it be convenient for you to lend a hand?" "Make me step in just to deal with a few small fry?" Though the snake was small, its tone was anything but modest. "This is your own grudge. I can cooperate with you, but on minor matters like this, there's no need!" "Do you think it's easy getting Hong Yan to intervene? Don't make casual requests of high-tier cultivators." "Telling you their location already shows my goodwill to cooperate... If I die one day, you won't need to avenge me either!" Wu Youren was silent for a while before replying, "If you die in service to the state, I will avenge you!" "Don't fucking bring up 'state affairs' to me!" As if its tail had been stepped on, the little snake reacted with unusual intensity. "You and I are just fellow countrymen. If you find you can't beat them in a bit, we'll just retreat directly." Fellow countrymen backstabbing fellow countrymen had no scruples either! The youth didn't want to dwell on the term. Since the senior wasn't pedantic, he boldly ventured a request: "If I can't beat them, I'll definitely retreat. Senior, could you help memorize their auras?" "I already told you, don't ask so lightly." Chen Quanxu was truly an exacting person. "Helping you memorize people is a trifle, but... let's see what happens today first." The location of the Dark Night execution squad left Wu Youren utterly speechless: it was only a dozen or so kilometers from Red Pine's quarantine point. "This isn't far from the Martial Academy at all!" "Why do you think I look down on them?" Chen Quanxu remarked disdainfully. "Trash is trash. All they can do is disgust you. Put them on a real battlefield? If they didn't piss themselves, it'd only be because they hadn't drunk enough water!" Wu Youren fell silent, speaking only after a while: "A bunch of trash like this bullied me for eight whole years!" He was deliberately stoking his own killing intent—if he could strike, he still would, doing his best not to let the senior look down on him. "They have the entire state of Liang behind them!" Chen Quanxu seemed to enjoy arguing. "When you're caught in the game, you must endure what you have to endure!" Yet this time, Wu Youren didn't intend to hold back. "Senior, you were caught in the game back then too, weren't you? And you didn't endure it!" "I'm not the same as you." Chen Quanxu wasn't angry, but he didn't explain either. After a moment, he sighed, "How the hell did I ever have your kind of luck?" Wu Youren had hurried all the way, yet he still had to tread carefully, and with the light drizzle, the journey took him over three hours. The camp where Dark Night was stationed was actually of respectable size, arranged in the layout of a fortified shelter. However, Chen Quanxu had explained that this was the base for the entire Court of State Ceremonial, with emissaries taking turns on duty to handle mediation and pass information up and down the chain. These were the official personnel operating in plain sight; Dark Night was responsible for protecting the duty emissaries and disposing of any barbarians who failed to fall in line. "There are several Dark Night observation posts nearby," Chen Quanxu finally revealed his true objective. "Each observation post has one knight and two or three apprentice knights... You're not lacking even that much courage, are you?" "Well... one must still be cautious," the youth said. A smile had already surfaced on his face, yet he insisted on maintaining a veneer of composure. "Then what's the deal with your left hand pinching the web between your right thumb and forefinger?" Coiled around the wrist bracer on his left arm, the little snake saw it clear as day. "Uh, Zhuge... Youren is cautious to a fault all his life. Forget it, let's not talk about that. Time is short, we have to hurry." Dark Night had set up multiple observation posts, the furthest two kilometers from the official station. This one was closer to the mountains and held considerable strength: one knight and four apprentices, and they even ran double sentries at night! Wu Youren bypassed it for the moment—not because he lacked courage, but because he wanted to find where the burly man, Salim, was stationed first. Ever since Wu Youren entered Red Pine, that man had constantly devised ways to make things difficult for him. This grudge had to be avenged. It was truly only because he hadn't had Chen Quanxu before and hadn't known where Salim was; otherwise, he never would have endured until today. Most fortunately, he discovered Salim at the third observation post. This post was less than a kilometer from the official station, manned by three people in total. One apprentice knight was on night watch, while Salim and another apprentice knight were dozing inside a semi-underground bunker. The bunker was of decent size, capable of accommodating five to six people to rest without feeling crowded. In other words, it probably wasn't at full capacity right now. "It's him," Wu Youren sensed the man's aura. "To think he didn't head out... Heh." "Take him out!" the little snake said crisply. "I can help mask your presence to a degree." "That's too focused on a single target," Wu Youren said. Remarkably, he managed to rein in his emotions. "I want to take out that five-man observation post first—or at least kill the two sentries on watch. Senior, do you have any suggestions?"