Wu Youren paid Liu Jingming no further attention. Instead, he mulled over the phrase: "Not too high, not too low is best."
He wasn't so conceited as to believe he was always right and that others' thoughts were insignificant.
Coincidentally, he had a few other ideas. Was it time to give them a try as well?
The next afternoon, Daiqisi arrived. Today, she was the one providing Xiao Ha's starter feed.
By now, the young snow harrier didn't reject her so much anymore. Not only did it eat the food she fed it, but it also tolerated her stroking its head within reason.
While the two were talking, Cynthia approached from a distance. Catching sight of Daiqisi's petting, her face fell, and she spun around to leave.
She was bold enough; after all, she dared to harbor designs on snatching the "prospective consort of Princess Yongning," so she certainly wouldn't mind competing with an instructor from the Martial Academy.
However, Daiqisi's gestures were genuinely a bit too intimate—the little bird perched on his shoulder while she gently stroked its head...
Seeing this scene, Cynthia truly couldn't control her temper. More importantly, she stood no chance against her in a fight, leaving her no choice but to depart.
"Little brat," Daiqisi laughed smugly, watching her retreating back. "Go on, call me an old woman again!"
A woman holding a grudge was a terrifying thing. Setting aside whatever her relationship with the boy in front of her was, she would never let that foul-mouthed girl off lightly!
"Tsk," Wu Youren furrowed his brow, pursing his lips helplessly. "What a headache."
Daiqisi didn't buy his look, her eyes shimmering with amusement. "Looked to me like you were enjoying it."
"I'd better steer clear of her for a couple of days," the boy said, shaking his head. "Between the two of you... I can't afford to offend either."
In truth, he was merely making up an excuse. That very night, he quietly scaled the wall to slip out once again.
Looking at the perimeter wall behind him, his curiosity flared up again, and he couldn't resist scaling it back inside.
Just as he prepared to climb over the wall a third time, he suddenly... felt his hair stand on end!
In the dark, it felt as if some extraordinarily terrifying entity had fixed its gaze upon him!
"Holy shit..." Wu Youren spun around and bolted, not even daring to attempt sensing what on earth that thing was!
His intuition warned him that the moment he dared to try, he would be dead without question! Absolutely, positively, undeniably no second possibility.
Whatever Chen Quanxu had been constantly hiding from was probably this very thing!
At this moment, the curiosity bubbling in Wu Youren's chest was practically about to burst, and yet... he truly didn't dare test it.
Second only to his curiosity was sheer exasperation: *I'd already climbed out, damn it! Why did I have to go asking for trouble?*
Last time, he had scaled the wall three times; this time, he had done it twice.
He figured it wasn't just how frequently he scaled the wall, but specifically that he had repeatedly tested it within such a short span of time, triggering this reaction.
He wasn't sure how high the entity's realm was, but without a doubt, hopping out and hopping back in made him look exactly like Fang Tangjing taunting his opponent!
Once or twice might slide, but badgering and provoking like this over and over—if left unpunished, where would the mighty expert's dignity be?
Damn it all... In this moment, he couldn't have been more regretful.
He had made extensive preparations and drawn up detailed plans for this trip out.
Yet now, forced to turn back, it was truly...
At noon the following day, he strolled over to the Martial Academy's main gate alone to take a measure of the atmosphere.
This time, that sense of impending threat was gone!
In other words, leaving through proper channels was completely fine, but hopping the wall? Forget about it!
The following night, unwilling to give up, he gave it another shot. Sure enough, there were no lucky breaks to be had.
He didn't know whether he was banned from scaling the wall permanently, or if there was a cooldown period... or perhaps a cooling-off period for the big shot's temper?
However, if he wanted to leave through the main gate, letting Hong Da know was quite necessary.
After all, he had just turned her down; sneaking out on his own right after would be giving Boss Hong no face at all.
Two days later, when it was Manna's turn to feed Xiao Ha, the boy asked her to pass along a message.
Yet Hong Da's disciple rolled her eyes and immediately began shaking him down. "Heading out alone? No way, unless you take me with you!"
"Last time, Namuzha died!" Wu Youren sighed helplessly. "Coming with me isn't necessarily safe."
"If something happens to you too, tell me... Liang is huge, but where would I go?"
"Then bring a couple more along," Manna suggested. She had her own social circle; who didn't want to pull their friends into good opportunities?
"Forget it then," Wu Youren declined. It wasn't as if he didn't have Hong Da's comm-watch ID. "I'll contact her myself."
Yet how could Manna truly dare to block his lines of communication?
Before long, Instructor Hong reached out to the boy's comm-watch on her own initiative. "Why go out alone?"
There were multiple angles from which to answer this question. Wu Youren's reply was: "Everyone has family and friends. I don't want to take sides!"
A sly answer! Instructor Hong assessed it. "Then I'll tell them not to meddle in outside affairs."
Wu Youren fell silent for a long moment before asking, "And are you sure they'll all listen to me?"
A loud drum needed no heavy mallet; a hint was enough to make the point.
This time, it was Hong Da who lapsed into silence. Only after a lengthy pause did she reply, "Mm, understood. You're coming back, right?"
Wu Youren's answer was straightforward. "I've gone out alone many times, but Red Pine is the home I never stop missing."
On the training grounds, the corners of Instructor Hong's mouth curved up slightly. She showed her comm-watch to her disciple. "See that? How does it feel to read?"
"It's... pretty pleasant," Manna answered after some thought. "Feels warm."
"That's where you fail to see through him," Instructor Hong sighed. "Men from Jin have far sweeter tongues than men from Liang!"
"Liang men only know how to use their fists on women!" Manna nodded. "They're not nearly as considerate as Jin men."
"That's why..." Instructor Hong offered no definitive judgment, merely letting out a soft sigh.
Then she said leisurely, "A sweet tongue alone isn't scary. The trouble is, he's good-looking too!"
"Master, I really didn't think that far!" Manna started in fright, scrambling to clear herself.
She knew her master had never cared for men, but that didn't mean she couldn't take a liking to one.
At the thought that she might be suspected of laying a finger on her master's personal possession, Manna's heart nearly leapt into her throat.
"I like my cousin—he's very talented... Er, it's Daiqisi who runs over to the greenhouse every single day."
"What kind of nonsense is rattling around in that head of yours?" Instructor Hong rolled her eyes in annoyance.
Then she typed a line onto her comm-watch: "Go ahead out, then. Remember to pay your taxes when you return, just like last time!"
"Master, didn't you mistype the word 'tax'?" Liang natives held no superstitious reverence for the master-disciple bond—at least nowhere near the respect Jin people accorded it.
Especially female masters and disciples; everyone knew that when women went wild, men didn't even factor into the equation.
"Get the hell out of here!" Instructor Hong raised her long leg and sent Manna flying with a direct kick. "Insolent disciple!"
*As long as Master isn't angry, that's fine,* thought the soaring, insolent disciple in midair...
Another three thousand silver dollars? Wu Youren stared at his comm-watch, his expression shifting rapidly.
His trip out of Red Pine this time was only meant for a few new experiments.
And now look at him—before he had even set out, he had racked up a thirty gold coin debt!
Over eight years in Hostage Manor, the total silver dollars embezzled from him hadn't even exceeded two thousand!
Still, Instructor Hong was different in the end. When she took money, she truly delivered. He harbored no resentment about it.
To expand his room to survive, running on debt... so debt it was. Three thousand to buy the freedom to come and go from Red Pine at will was a worthwhile deal.
The only regret was that when Hong Da was the creditor, the debtor was certainly not going to be treated like a king!
Wu Youren prepared for two more days. Early in the morning on the third day, carrying two large backpacks, he set out from Red Pine.
His height now approached one point eight meters, though he remained lean and sinewy. Either of the two backpacks was bulkier than he was!
Near Red Pine it was still fine, but once he passed the quarantine checkpoint and barbarians began appearing, the glances cast his way turned rather strange.
Wu Youren felt as if he were a "walking supply depot."
In barbarian life, grabbing whatever they wanted for free was second nature. Fortunately, in the area he currently traveled through, Liang natives still made up the vast majority.
Besides his backpacks, he carried a saber, a spear, and a sword on his back, with a juvenile bird of prey perched on his shoulder. He hardly looked like an easy target.
Most barbarians merely looked twice. Even the few who felt an itch to act were talked down by older, more seasoned companions.
A youth, alone, an apprentice knight... all of that was true, but what gave him the nerve to stride out so openly and brazenly?
After Wu Youren covered six or seven kilometers, the people around him thinned out considerably, while the proportion of barbarians steadily rose.
From time to time, military patrol squads appeared, giving the impression that order was reasonably well maintained.
Covering another five kilometers, he could barely see anyone at all.
He picked a spot to halt, set up a simple campsite, and began eating and resting.
After resting for two hours, Wu Youren pushed forward again, but this time he changed direction and picked up his speed.
Sprinting another seven or eight kilometers, he spotted a thicket of brush ahead. After a brief hesitation, he veered off in another direction once more.
Ten-odd seconds into his new heading, a roar erupted from the thicket.
Wu Youren twisted his torso and hurled his backpacks to the ground.
In the next instant, he pivoted, dropping flat onto his stomach to use the backpacks as cover while raising a rifle to take aim.
Two motorcycles emerged. Seeing his posture, they immediately slowed down.
Then someone yelled, "Don't misunderstand! It's me, Talisi!"
"Tsk," Wu Youren sighed helplessly, calling out in a loud voice, "Leave immediately, or I fire!"
"You are an honored guest whom our Protocol Office is meant to protect!" Talisi stopped her motorcycle, swung a leg over to dismount, and walked forward on her own. "There are many barbarians out here and order is chaotic. It's too dangerous for you alone!"
*Bang!* The rifle went off, a bullet tearing into the sky.
The boy stated calmly, "That shot was a warning. The second won't be!"
Talisi hesitated for a moment, yet still halted her steps. "You hold far too much prejudice against us!"
*Hiding sneakily in the bushes counts as goodwill?* Wu Youren sneered inwardly.
However, he had no interest in arguing over it. Raising a hand, he tossed out another grenade.
The safety pin was still in the grenade, nor had he thrown it very far, but he was certain she could see it.
Then he stated coldly, "I reported my departure from Red Pine to the Martial Academy. I advise you not to take any chances!"
Chapter 186