Wu Youren heard their voices, but he acted as if completely oblivious, maintaining his brisk pace as he walked away.
The off-road vehicle slowed and pulled over to the curb, but he had already turned on his heel and slipped into a nearby alley.
Two men got out of the vehicle and hurried after him, but rounding the corner into the alley left them dumbfounded. "Where did he go?"
There were a few pedestrians in the alley, but no sign of the youth with the bird.
Only after asking around did they learn that the youth had simply walked a bit faster, without climbing any walls or anything of the sort.
The two gave chase in hot pursuit, but unfortunately, they still lost his trail.
Staring at the bustling street filled with coming and going crowds, the two were slightly bewildered and hurriedly contacted their superior via smartwatch.
After several seconds of silence on the other end, a soft sigh came through. "Forget it. Come back and join the banquet."
Only after regrouping with their main force did they learn that the youth they had just lost might be the one Commander Jeff had ordered them to keep close tabs on.
Still, there was nothing to be done. It had happened too abruptly; they couldn't be entirely certain of his identity, and the boy hadn't committed any obvious offense...
The New Army was indeed powerful and assertive in Liang, but even they couldn't run wild with reckless abandon.
Who knew how many people were lying low in the dark, just waiting to catch them slipping!
Had the matter been serious enough, they could swiftly declare a citywide lockdown and strictly guard every checkpoint, but right now, that was out of the question.
Wu Youren had taken a page from Instructor Bloodburn's book from last time: smash up the butcher shop, then turn tail and bolt.
He hadn't accelerated instantaneously, but in the end, he was sprinting at full tilt.
Weaving through twists and turns, he covered a good seven or eight kilometers, and after turning yet another corner, he abruptly slowed down, strolling along as if nothing had happened.
Wu Youren had no idea who those two men chasing him were or where they came from.
However, Tianjing was no longer a place he could stay—at least not until Xiao Ha could fly.
Raising a pet really was quite an ordeal.
He observed the checkpoints along the streets and noticed that outbound traffic still faced no inspections; evidently, the situation wasn't severe.
Even so, he bought a backpack, tucked Xiao Ha inside, and swiftly left the urban district.
Shortly after night fell, a car pulled up beside the small woods, and a man got out.
It was none other than the one-eyed, middle-aged man who had been loitering at the street corner near Red Pine's Tianjing liaison office.
He unloaded several fuel drums and drove away, not caring in the least whether anyone was around or if the fuel might get stolen.
Seeing that it was him, the doubt in Wu Youren's heart was cleared up: this fellow truly was under Chen Quanxu's control.
In that case, the fuel didn't need to be inspected either. He rolled out his motorcycle and began strapping down the fuel drums.
He waited until midnight before the horned owl finally flew over, and the two returned together to the Rust Belt.
The youth recounted the events of noon. To his surprise, Chen Quanxu took a keen interest in who had awakened.
Ultimately, though, Chen Quanxu merely sighed. "A pity. No chance to make a move."
Wait, what...? Wu Youren was genuinely baffled by him. "What good would controlling him do?"
Wasn't this kind of conduct basically teetering on the edge of becoming a fallen ability master?
The horned owl didn't answer until they reached their lodgings, offering only a single sentence: "There are some hypotheses that need testing."
"Sigh." The youth didn't pursue the topic, merely letting out a sigh. "In the short term, Tianjing is off-limits."
"Not necessarily a bad thing," Chen Quanxu replied. "Get some rest."
Two days later, Wu Youren appeared on the wasteland during the day. He didn't ride his motorcycle, simply wandering about on foot with his blades slung across his back.
Nowadays, quite a bit of scattered Guizu aura lingered across the wasteland, undoubtedly the fallout of that night.
Some had spotted the youth with a bird on his shoulder occasionally striking against stray pockets of Guizu aura with remarkable efficiency, hardly resembling an apprentice knight.
During this period, there were also fools lacking good judgment who wanted to make a move on him, but the youth was not only tough, he was also swift on his feet when making an escape.
In the blink of an eye, seven or eight days passed. On this particular day, fine flakes of snow drifted down.
The year's first snowfall had arrived without a sound.
Wu Youren returned to the quarantine point; moving about in the wild in this weather was truly inconvenient.
The quarantine point was overflowing with people as well, but fortunately, as a Red Pine student, he could find an open patch of ground to pitch his own makeshift shelter.
Waking from sleep, he found the surroundings blanketed in white, and the population at the quarantine point had skyrocketed.
Not only was lodging a problem, but food was also becoming scarce, and the fuel supply was tightening up as well.
Not only was Wu Youren all by himself, but he had also claimed a prime spot and even had meat strips to feed Xiao Ha.
Once again, someone developed crooked ideas and sent two apprentice knights over to test the waters.
Both were young men, and their provocation was completely devoid of finesse.
"Yo, people can barely find a bite to eat, yet this beast actually gets meat?"
Before finding Xiao Ha, Wu Youren had shared that exact mindset; he had never believed that a beast could have an equal right to survival as a human.
If the little snow harrier hadn't pulled off that huge feat, he would likely still feel that way.
Now, however, things were different after all.
He fired back unceremoniously, "None of your damn business. Get lost!"
"What?!" The two apprentice knights had already been looking to stir up trouble, and at his words, their faces darkened. They raised their fists to strike.
Wu Youren wasn't one to indulge them in the slightest. Reaching down, he drew his waist saber, his figure swaying as his wrists snapped, unleashing two slashes.
In a single exchange, both apprentice knights were wounded.
"Stop!" a harsh voice barked, followed instantly by three flashing silhouettes.
Three knights appeared, surrounding the youth in a three-on-one confrontation. "You're courting death!"
Not only was it the strong against the weak, but also many against one. Yet facing this situation, the young apprentice knight didn't show the slightest stage fright.
He flashed the smartwatch on his wrist and said coldly, "You'd better figure out where you are first!"
"So what if you're a Red Pine student?" one knight sneered. "Report this to the administrators!"
The administrative personnel of the quarantine point weren't solely Red Pine instructors.
Strictly speaking, the government was the true authority, having authorized the military as the primary administrator.
Other factions assisted in the management as well, though because Red Pine was the closest, it contributed the most effort.
Upon hearing the news, the military dispatched personnel to the scene. The instigators immediately turned around and made a false countercharge.
"This little brat violated the quarantine point's rule against drawing weapons! Are you going to handle this or not?"
The military cared little for acts of predation and pillage; in their eyes, society was just one vast jungle.
Let alone at a quarantine point, even on the battlefield, were instances of seizing spoils of war from allied troops rare?
Knowing full well how they operated, Wu Youren waved his smartwatch before the military men could even speak. "I've already notified my instructors."
It was just calling in backup—who didn't know how to do that?
Before long, Manna, Rossi, and Kenpa arrived.
As the saying went, one could never have too many friends. The dividends of his previous generosity now showed themselves.
After getting a brief rundown of the situation, the three knights stated bluntly that their student had done nothing wrong.
Manna's attitude was the firmest: "Daring to pillage right inside the quarantine point—who spoiled you into thinking you could get away with that?"
She didn't frame it as mere troublemaking at all, directly defining the other party's conduct as outright robbery.
Seeing a mere student summon three knights at once, the military men realized that pursuing this matter further would be awkward.
After all, supplies were currently tight at the quarantine point, and they still required Red Pine Martial Academy's full cooperation.
However, for the instigating party to act so boldly inside the quarantine point, they too had connections within the military.
The military officer could only try to gloss it over. "How about this: hand over some healing medicine, pay a bit of compensation, and we'll call it even."
"Pay compensation?" Kenpa's brow furrowed. "Are you sure about that?"
"Yes, quite sure," the military man snapped, growing annoyed. "We've already been very considerate of Red Pine's feelings."
His irritation wasn't without reason. "From dawn until now, in less than half an hour, there have already been over a dozen brawls."
The people of Liang harbored too many terrifying memories of snowfall; facing the looming threat of hunger and freezing cold, their instinct was to hoard supplies.
In the face of these brewing signs of chaos, firm measures had to be taken.
"I don't agree," another voice rang out as Daiqisi arrived as well. "They are the ones who should compensate our student!"
She stated coldly, "If the instigators go unpunished, brawls will only increase, not decrease!"
"Don't cause a scene," the man said, a headache building when he saw her.
Daiqisi was extraordinarily high-profile right now.
Earlier, she had assisted the City Guard Bureau in cracking the case involving fallen ability masters, earning commendations from both the authorities and the Martial Academy.
A few days ago, when the Guizu aura breached the containment line, she had coordinated with Red Pine to flush out two fallen apprentice ability masters.
Her earlier commendations had been won over the corpses of fallen ability masters, so it was only natural that their faction had targeted her.
Yet, daring as she was, she had boldly used herself as bait to lure in another batch.
Not only was she in the limelight right now, but this style of conduct would make her a ruthless figure even within the military.
Seeing that it was her, the military officer had a headache. "What relation does this youth have to you?"
Daiqisi ignored the two soldiers completely, looking straight at the three opposing knights. "Just say the word: are you paying or not?"
This way of doing things matched her recent persona perfectly.
The three knights exchanged glances, turned on their heels, and walked off without uttering a single word.
Admitting defeat was one thing, but expecting them to pay compensation... not a chance. If there was one thing Great Liang produced in abundance, it was people who refused to back down easily.
Daiqisi cast a sidelong glance at the two soldiers. "You saw it yourself. It's not that I'm looking for trouble; they're the ones who don't know what's good for them!"
The two soldiers exchanged looks, unable to reply, and could only turn and leave.
Daiqisi raised her smartwatch, barked out a couple of orders, and then looked at the youth. "You finally decided to come back?"
"It's snowing," Wu Youren replied with a smile. "Thank you, Instructor, for standing up for me."
"Come on, let's talk over here," Daiqisi said, dragging him to the side.
Rossi looked around at the onlookers and waved them off. "Disperse, disperse! Nothing more to see."
The reason these instructors had rushed over so urgently had little to do with personal sentiment; mainly, they were wondering whether the youth had managed to score some good loot again.
Last time before he left Red Pine, Manna had bumped into him, asked a casual question, and ended up acquiring a Guizu relic from him.
Young as Manna was, after benefiting so nicely, she hadn't been able to resist showing off, and thus the others had all found out.
Chapter 204