Oddball

Hostage Manor wanted to eliminate the parasitic ghost not on the close attendant, but on the hostage. Before fully infecting its host, a parasitic ghost could potentially be exorcised—but only potentially. Liang's Court of State Ceremonial had already said they could try to help; if a foreign hostage had trouble, it wouldn't reflect well on them either. But Hostage Manor refused—not so much a matter of national dignity, but mainly because they feared the other side would destroy the body and erase the evidence. The Jin natives strongly suspected the people of Liang were the masterminds; once their methods were exposed, of course they'd destroy everything. As for why the Guard Captain sought out Chen Quanxu—because... he was the only ability master. Jin was vast, with no shortage of ability masters, even grand ability masters—but would they possibly appear in Liang? Hao Wei not only wanted Chen Quanxu to help save the person, but also hoped to find the source. The horned owl crouched in the distance, silent; his attitude went without saying. The Guard Captain finally even said, "if you couldn't contact your helper, could you at least take a look?" Wu Youren said he was unable to help; what he cared more about was, "Your Highness... should be unharmed, right?" He wasn't concerned about the Seventeenth Prince; rather, if that person truly had trouble, his current situation would definitely be affected too. Facing this question, Hao Wei's answer was rather absolute: "Even if I were possessed by a parasitic ghost, it still wouldn't be possible." The Seventeenth Prince was two years older than Wu Youren, currently attempting to become a knight, but... his family background was too deep. So he had been faking illness before? Such a thought flashed through Wu Youren's mind. But the next moment, he tossed that guess aside; royal family matters had nothing to do with him. The boy said very calmly, "Then just keep watch, wait for him to act up, and then find the real culprit." Cruel? Not at all; one could say this was a hostage's natural mission. Liu Jingming's father, who had married into his wife's family, put it plainly: once you came to Liang, don't think about going back. If their deaths could add a bit of diplomatic leverage for Jin, it would be worth it; they'd even receive a grand funeral back home. "The problem is... sigh," the Guard Captain sighed, "His father guards the gateway of Jin!" Hearing this, Wu Youren's mouth twitched, "Count of Fubei?" Nobles with directions in their titles were rarely associated with the character "pacify". Stabilize, Settle, Calm, Peace, Subdue, Drive, Clear, Control, Trample, Suppress... these were common; what the hell was "pacify"? But Jin really did have a Count of Fubei, surname Lei! His second son was named Lei Lixing; he had once kicked someone's food tray, unsuccessfully, and they thus bore a grudge. "I know you two have a feud," Hao Wei said with a serious expression, "but if we let him die, the northern border will probably fall into turmoil!" Jin's north was Liang; the Count of Fubei was on the front lines resisting Liang. Without these connections, why would Jin have a hundred hostages? On the border adjoining Liang, there were not only counts but also dukes and marquises, but the Count of Fubei was a very important link. His son was sent as a hostage—specifically requested by Liang. Especially worth noting: the count father's original title was "Dibei"! Hostages not being valued by their families was common sense, but not absolute. Lei Lixing was the legitimate second son, and he got along well with the legitimate eldest son; the problem was just that his mother died early. When the Count of Fubei sent him over, the son born to his second wife was still young; otherwise, well, outsiders couldn't judge... Lei Lixing was no pushover among the hostage mission, so why could everyone tolerate him? Wu Youren was otherwise out of the loop, but this news was too well-informed; hearing it, he nodded. "Exactly, he really can't die. We have a feud, so I must avoid suspicion." Was that what I meant? The Guard Captain's mouth twitched; he wanted to say something, but it ultimately became a heavy sigh. "Paths are walked by oneself. Sigh, the wristwatch I gave you—you're going to pretend it doesn't exist?" "It's at Red Pine," the boy answered calmly, "I've been outside recently." "I have some news to tell you," the Guard Captain shook his head helplessly, "Be careful of Sena." "Sena?" Wu Youren was stunned, "What kind of existence is this?" "The prince of Taowuan Kingdom," Hao Wei was a bit puzzled, "You don't know him?" "That oddball hostage?" The boy smiled helplessly; he just didn't know the other's name. What puzzled him was, "I need to be careful of him?" "You already know he's an oddball," a smile the Guard Captain could hardly suppress appeared in his eyes. Indeed, when mentioning him, not just people from Hostage Manor, but hostages from other countries basically had the same expression. Defeated countries would send hostages to Liang; the King of Liang liked to use this method to display national strength. The number of hostages each country sent wasn't fixed; smaller countries just sent one prince. Jin was a great power; one prince wasn't enough to influence state policy, so it had a hundred-member hostage mission. Taowuan Kingdom was very small, total population under 500,000; basically just a slightly larger tribe. What was laughable was that this country had always been a vassal of Liang and had never fought Liang at all. When Liang went to war with other countries, if close to Taowuan, they would still send troops to participate. How could such a country have hostages? However, this was Taowuan's oddest feature—other countries had them, so we must have them too! Since it could reassure Liang and please the King of Liang, even without a hostage, they would forcibly create one! Clinging to powerful thighs was normal in international relations, but clinging so perversely was truly breath-taking. Still, although many criticized them, they also enjoyed the benefits they deserved. Taowuan's hostage Sena received treatment completely different from other hostages. Someone like Wu Youren couldn't even leave Hostage Manor; they could go out anytime and never faced discrimination. Even when conflicts occurred on the street, they could summon Liang's Court of State Ceremonial to mediate. The Guard Captain's expression turned serious; he said in a deep voice, "He clashed with the New Army." Wu Youren had heard this news from Liu Jingming during the day, but he hadn't taken it to heart. Although they were all hostages, they were worlds apart; what did it have to do with him? Now hearing Hao Wei repeat it, he thought for a moment and caught on: "He sides with Liang's Crown Prince, so he might deal with me?" The New Army was the King of Liang's method of replacing the old with the new, targeting the Crown Prince—strictly speaking, the noble forces behind the Crown Prince. The big moves the New Army was making now had a little to do with Wu Youren, but only as a trigger; he wasn't even the main advocate. Sena's status was indeed special, but as a foreign guest, daring to go head-to-head with the New Army was placing a heavy bet. What made Wu Youren laugh and cry was: if you want to fight, fight head-on; why find someone like me, who's barely related? Is it worth it? "You've said he's an oddball," the Guard Captain looked at him meaningfully, "what wouldn't he do normally?" The boy shook his head, "I don't want to guess, Sir. Just tell me—is there any definite news?" Hao Wei pondered and answered, "Not very definite; I just heard someone suggested this, so... your wristwatch?" Wu Youren fell silent; the other's intent absolutely wasn't just to have him carry a wristwatch. To put it small, it might be to win him over by showing off intelligence capabilities. To put it large, it was an obedience test, hoping to gradually lock in their relationship through this. Undoubtedly, he needed intelligence right now, and that was also what the Guard Captain was good at. Compared to Hao Wei, Chen Quanxu's intelligence ability wasn't worth mentioning; Liu Jingming... wasn't even fit to hold his shoes. In the end, he still smiled slightly, "Fine, I'll see when I return to Red Pine." Did this count as submission? Not really; he had already made a decision: to try to stay away from all whirlpools. Although lacking intelligence would bring many inconveniences, the lesser of two evils! For now, he hadn't refused outright, just leaving some room for both sides. The Guard Captain could guess his intentions; however, compared to last time's stubborn resistance, this time the other's attitude had at least loosened. Some things couldn't be rushed; he sighed lightly, "Still so stubborn. You're out in the wild, so be more careful." The boy nodded, then spoke again, "Thank you for the reminder, Guard Captain, but, sigh..." "Since Sena regards me as a thorn in his side, we'd better keep our distance, so as not to drag Hostage Manor into it." With a face full of sincerity, "Jin now really can't stand any more turmoil." You! Looking at the other's clear eyes, the Guard Captain almost wanted to curse; this offensive-and-defensive maneuvering, who the hell taught you that? The key was that the other's logic really had no flaw at all! Once again, the Duke of Wei's illegitimate son felt his brain wasn't enough. He nodded slightly, "Okay, thanks for thinking of Jin. I'll give Liu Jingming a wristwatch later." Hao Wei had already realized this person was too hard to subdue; to ensure future contact, he could only first grab Liu Jingming. He had said before, without exaggeration, that wristwatches not easily monitored by Liang were truly few. "Really sorry," Wu Youren smiled, "causing you trouble." The Duke of Wei's illegitimate son nodded slightly, "It's fine, then I'll go... Seventeenth Prince, his health is indeed poor." After saying this, he flickered away into the distance, as if worried about being questioned further. Wu Youren had no reaction at all, standing there blankly for over ten minutes, then walked back into the house. Shortly after, the horned owl flew in silently, "That Sena might not come looking for you." "I thought so," Wu Youren, having lived two lives, most disliked all kinds of deception. "But increasing vigilance isn't a bad thing. Are you close with him?" "I've seen him twice in secret," Chen Quanxu answered, "The person is quite arrogant, but you can tell he values his life." "Then that's an opportunist," Wu Youren shook his head, "This kind, impatient to pick sides, heh." "But he might hire others to act," the horned owl said seriously, "You don't think he can't do it, do you?"