In the next moment, Instructor Hong looked back at Wu Youren, her brow furrowing slightly. "This aura of yours...?"
"I don't know either," the youth gave a wry smile. "It feels like a stitch in my qi, yet it doesn't quite..."
In many cases, there was truly no need to provide an answer. Past experience had taught him never to underestimate other people's ability to fill in the blanks.
If their imaginations cooked up something unfavorable to him, he could just deny it when the time came; the consequences wouldn't become any more complicated.
Manna looked at the youth, then at her master. "Why don't we... head back first? We've been busy all night."
Hong Da shook her head and turned to leave, muttering under her breath, "Those materials of mine were wasted on you!"
It was evident she had already determined that his strange aura did not belong to an ability master.
Following closely behind the two women, Wu Youren whispered in an undertone, "What did that mean?"
The little snake remained coiled motionless on his bracer, offering no response.
Earlier, it had bragged about thrashing this one and that one, and now it was acting like this...
Still, it was understandable. Who didn't have times when they were forced into a tight spot?
When they reached the camp, both the female archer and Kenpa were somewhat surprised to see the youth's condition.
Reaping a crystal was certainly a good thing, but what was with this bizarre aura?
Fortunately, everyone had stayed up all night and was feeling drowsy. Only Kenpa yawned and asked, "You're not about to awaken, are you?"
The youth let out a sigh. "An awakening with an aura this faint? I'm more inclined to suspect a stitch in my qi!"
He truly could no longer suppress his aura completely, but he hadn't let everything leak out either.
Only that tiny sliver he couldn't keep down had uncontrollably escaped; trying to force it down entirely would only make it more conspicuous.
By rights, his explanation ought to have raised suspicion, and the others were hardly folks easily fooled.
Yet Wu Youren had been pulling off maneuvers like this for so long that he was thoroughly practiced at it.
Besides, this aura didn't match anything they were familiar with, and everyone was exhausted...
"Who's on the first watch?" Instructor Hong decided to rest for a while as well.
"I'll take it," the youth volunteered. "I have Xiao Ha to help me."
For now, the little snow harrier still didn't know how to raise an audible alarm, but in daylight, if anything unexpected happened, it would claw at the youth's shoulder.
Kenpa asked, "Weren't you busy all night too?"
Wu Youren smiled wryly. "Given my current condition, I'm just afraid that if I fall asleep, I might never wake up again."
Hearing this, the others fell silent, the lingering doubt in their minds shrinking even further.
Throughout history, the number of martial artists and ability masters who had run into problems with their cultivation was practically endless.
Compared to the idea of the youth pioneering an entirely new cultivation system, they were far more willing to believe he had genuinely run into trouble.
"Here's a watch!" Instructor Hong casually tossed one over. "It's paired!"
Seeing that Wu Youren had previously slipped away without saying goodbye, the others remained in a light sleep while resting.
Even so, a little rest was better than none. Three hours later, Kenpa woke up and offered to relieve him.
The youth, still suppressing his aura, waved his hand. "Go back to sleep. I can manage."
Later on, others woke up one after another and then drifted back to sleep.
By the afternoon, everyone had gradually stirred awake, and Wu Youren's aura had largely settled down.
Still, he turned down the chance to rest, saying he needed to stabilize things a bit longer and wouldn't dare sleep soundly until evening.
As for what the four of them had experienced the night before, he didn't pry.
The others didn't find that strange; the youth had always conducted himself this way.
Not only was he a person of few words, but he lacked excessive curiosity; regarding matters he preferred to steer clear of, he would never utter a single unnecessary syllable.
Instructor Hong left once again, while Manna pestered Wu Youren, eager to hear about his battles during the night.
Wu Youren was somewhat helpless. "I'm truly exhausted. What you really want to know is what kind of Guizu might yield a Guizu relic, isn't it?"
"I honestly don't know that. It's pure luck."
None of them went out that day, and they rested well that night.
The next morning, just as the four of them were talking about leaving, Instructor Hong returned.
Her expression when looking at Wu Youren was rather odd. "The night before last, where exactly did you go?"
"Roughly..." The youth drew a rough sketch on the ground. "Around this area. I can't say for sure beyond that."
"Is that so?" Instructor Hong regarded him with a meaningful look.
Wu Youren fell silent, saying nothing more, a hint of helplessness in his gaze.
Seeing this, Kenpa couldn't help chiming in, "Hong Da, what happened?"
Instructor Hong also remained quiet for a moment before speaking. "How many more days do you plan to fight?"
Though she said "you all," her calm gaze remained fixed on the youth.
"You decide, Hong Da," Wu Youren answered calmly. "Going back to sort out this stitch in my qi wouldn't be bad either."
Manna grew anxious. "Master, what in the world happened?"
"Nothing," Instructor Hong answered casually. "The barbarians sparked a few clashes the night before last."
"What does that have to do with Xiao Wu?" The female archer spoke up as well, indicating she couldn't follow.
"Someone has a grudge against him," Instructor Hong sighed. "Even if no one else investigates, I have to look into it!"
Hearing that, the youth raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Against me...? Who would hold a grudge against me?"
Looking into his clear eyes, Instructor Hong was at a loss for words, unable to keep from asking herself: *Am I being a little too hard on this kid?*
In the end, though, she stated forthrightly, "Does the Court of State Ceremonial count?"
The clear-eyed youth rolled his eyes—an exceedingly rare gesture for him. "The way they treat me... isn't that just required by their duty?"
"The Court of State Ceremonial... shouldn't it be in Red Pine?" Manna spoke up.
Well-informed martial artists all knew that the barbarian incident had brought the Court of State Ceremonial to mediate, but shouldn't they be based inside the Martial Academy?
"Outside Red Pine," Instructor Hong replied after a moment's contemplation. This ought to have been confidential, even if the security classification wasn't very high.
Still, she didn't go into great detail. "Though it isn't far from the Martial Academy."
"Not far..." Kenpa repeated softly, not saying anything further.
Still, there was an underlying implication: even if it wasn't far, how long would a round trip take, even for a knight?
Running solely on two legs, and then having to find the time to instigate a clash... aren't you thinking a bit too highly of him?
It was just that the one speaking was Hong Da; even if anyone wanted to question her, they had to have the nerve.
A few seconds later, the female archer muttered under her breath, "I really wouldn't have thought the Court of State Ceremonial would set up outside Red Pine. That's a bit unsafe."
Instructor Hong froze for a second before looking over at her. "What do you mean, you wouldn't have thought? So you've learned to beat around the bush now too?"
"I hadn't heard about it either," Manna caught on. "If even I don't know, how could he possibly know where the Court of State Ceremonial is?"
Instructor Hong truly had a bit of a headache dealing with her. "I was the one who issued his pass! I'm just asking a couple more questions to understand the situation!"
"I understand," the youth spoke up calmly. "Hong Da is doing it for my own good. Once everything is made clear, there won't be any problem."
He truly held no resentment. Facing Instructor Hong's questioning was far better than facing interrogation from others in the Life-and-Death Knot!
Manna frowned. "Don't you know how to argue back even a little?"
The youth fell silent, then gave a soft laugh after a few seconds. "Heh, argue... I don't even know what happened."
"All right, let's leave it at that," Instructor Hong declared. "Clear out Guizu aura for two more days, and then we'll head back."
"Why not head back today?" The female archer glanced at the youth. "He doesn't look to be in good shape."
"Let's wait two more days," Wu Youren had no choice but to say. "Hong Da is doing this for my sake."
"Mm," Kenpa nodded in agreement. "Trouble happened the night before last. If we head back today, it might look like we have a guilty conscience."
As an onlooker, he saw the matter very clearly. Though Instructor Hong seemed severe on the surface, at heart she still harbored an intention to protect the youth.
Over the next two days, almost as if the Guizu knew they were about to leave, multiple clusters of Guizu aura appeared before them.
In two days, they eliminated seven clusters and actually yielded two more crystals, turning this trip into a quite profitable harvest.
Around dusk that day, the four finally struck camp and drove off-road vehicles back to Red Pine.
By the time they reached the quarantine checkpoint, darkness had fallen.
Three of the four were instructors, but since they had recently been clearing Guizu aura, they were still required to undergo quarantine.
However, their conditions were far more lenient. Once the aura screening was complete, they didn't have to stay inside at all; instead, they pitched a shed nearby.
That night, Manna contacted Red Pine and had someone deliver a lavish dinner.
To be in quarantine and still have takeout delivered—having insiders made all the difference.
Partway through the meal, Daiqisi and Ranxue came over as well, joining in on the feast.
The two of them mainly wanted to find out how much the group had harvested.
After discussing the spoils, they couldn't help bringing up the news of Namuzha's death—after all, they had just fought together at Mount Xuanling not long ago.
"The gains aren't all that much either," Daiqisi sighed while drinking. "Another one dead. These barbarians are really... Who goes there?"
"We're looking for someone," came the answer from two knights and two apprentice knights who had walked up. One of them pointed at the youth. "We need to question him about a situation."
"Get lost!" Daiqisi waved a hand dismissively. "Can't you see we're drinking?"
"Court of State Ceremonial," the leading knight flashed an identity token. "Don't cause trouble... We're not people you can afford to mess with."
Ranxue was still sighing over Namuzha's death, and on top of missing out on a piece of the action this time, his mood was a complicated tangle of emotions.
Hearing those words, he grew irritated. "Didn't Salim tell you?"
The knight paused, taken aback, before speaking. "We're here precisely because of Salim's disappearance."
"Salim... disappeared?" Ranxue asked in astonishment. "The knight who went missing from the Court of State Ceremonial was him?"
"Yes," the four opposite them were in an equally foul mood. One raised a hand, pointing at the youth. "He's been out in the wilderness the entire time, so he's a prime suspect."
"Suspect, my ass!" Ranxue snapped irritably. "Salim wouldn't even dare give him a hard time!"
Not long ago, he had been the one to drive Salim off, even bringing up the New Army factor; in his eyes, the matter was already done and dusted.
"He's been with us the entire time," Manna spoke up. "He had no chance to do anything. Hong Da can vouch for him."
The four newcomers fell silent. After a few seconds, the leading knight spoke. "Salim wouldn't dare give him a hard time? What do you mean by that?"
"Go find out for yourself," Ranxue waved them off impatiently. "Shoo, shoo! Don't ruin our drinking!"
Chapter 181