Under Pressure

You don't know? Even Burning Blood knows already! Wu Youren felt somewhat helpless upon hearing this. The discipline inspectors were well-informed, but the secrecy order was truly strict. Manna hesitated at these words, then sighed. "Master said it's not a big deal. I'm not allowed to spread it outside." "Damn..." The male archer felt a sense of dismay. "No wonder!" He and the female archer had previously supported Suotu; that counted as an extra mission. After the mission was completed, although he was badly injured, he was still quarantined for ten days... not the usual three days. He had some misgivings, but others told him it was because Suotu's Guizu hazard was special, and they had to be careful. Now he finally understood—so there could still be this kind of hidden danger. Although Daiqisi had been promoted, she wasn't much older than Manna. "It shouldn't be too serious, right?" "It's very serious," the one who spoke was actually Liu Jingming, his expression grave. "Sounds like the kind that could kill an entire village." Truly worthy of being a viscount's descendant; he had come to Great Liang as a child and actually knew these things. "It's not that bad," Kenpa, well-traveled and knowledgeable, had been frightened by the news earlier but was now much better. "The worst off are ordinary people. Even apprentices aren't safe, but knights have much stronger resistance." "Knights aren't enough," the male archer shook his head, but didn't say anything more. They debated back and forth, but Wu Youren looked at Liu Jingming. "Stockpile more supplies, and keep some for yourself." "Keeping them for him won't do any good," Kenpa said bluntly. "Even we can't manage it. If you want to stockpile, you have to go to Hong Da... and actively pay a cut." "That's reasonable, isn't it?" Manna heard this and was a bit unhappy. "If you're going to quibble, don't come to my master!" Kenpa gave a dry laugh. "I was just reminding you." He did know other grand knights, though not well. Although his relationship with Hong Da wasn't close either, they had cooperated quite a bit recently. In short, if the parasitic Guizu really spread, in that kind of situation, even with Hong Da's reputation, it might not be reliable. But even so, that was already the most reliable choice. Everyone had their own thoughts. Daiqisi glanced at the male archer and asked thoughtfully, "Right near us?" The male archer nodded slightly. "Anyway, I was quarantined for ten days." The youth glanced at Liu Jingming. "Someone from Jin at Haicheng Martial Academy has been infected." "Damn..." The other person was stunned upon hearing this. "Lei Lixing?" Everyone knew Haicheng was the martial academy paired with Red Pine Martial Academy. "So it really came from Suotu?" "Don't talk about those things," the male archer stared at Liu Jingming. "Is this person very important?" "His father is the Count of Funbei," Liu Jingming sighed, brow tightly furrowed. No one investigates hostages' identities, so this wasn't exactly leaking secrets. What was deadly was, "He's the heir!" "Funbei? That's not too bad," Daiqisi was ultimately young. Although not very sensitive to titles, she knew what "Fu" meant. Kenpa glanced at her and said calmly, "This title used to be Di Bei. It was changed after the great war." He had experienced that war. He hadn't fought many hard battles, but he knew which enemy commanders existed. "Jeez," Daiqisi patted her chest, then glanced at Wu Youren. "Good thing Great Liang won." "Your team really has hidden dragons and crouching tigers... Wait, is there also trouble on the frontier?" She really was slow on the uptake. Liang natives didn't fear war, but facing terrifying parasitic Guizu, if the borders were also issuing warnings, who could stay calm? "Those are just rumors," Wu Youren coughed lightly. "Don't take them seriously. A close attendant in Jin Garden has also been infected." "A close attendant?" Liu Jingming gaped. "Official Liu?" The prince's close attendants basically had no contact with the outside world. The only exception was Official Liu, responsible for supervising external procurement. They both had the surname Liu and used to exchange a few words. Wu Youren shook his head. "No, it's someone who has never gone out. Don't ask me who—they've already been taken away by the Court of State Ceremonial." "Jin Garden, that's in the city," Daiqisi's gaze was a bit vacant. "Is it really that dangerous?" "It's not that big a deal," Kenpa spoke up again. "Just stockpile some supplies. Be prepared." Four instructors came. Besides the curious youth greeting a fellow townsman, the second reason was to see if there were any new Guizu relics. After hearing gossip and getting crystals, everyone should head back. But this mood... was rather unpleasant. Wu Youren pulled Liu Jingming aside and said softly, "Got anything good stashed away? Take it out and use it." "Don't worry, I understand," the son-in-law's son replied in a low voice. "You be careful too. This might not be a naturally occurring parasitic Guizu." The off-road vehicle left, and the youth stood there blankly, not speaking for a long time. "Is it that strange?" The horned owl landed. "During the Jin-Liang War, Liang threw corpses contaminated with Guizu aura." "It's not that strange," Wu Youren thought for a moment and replied. "Hmm, if Liang does this, shouldn't Jin learn from them?" A single sentence from Chen Quanxu ended his question. "Liang even throws away its own people's corpses!" After a long while, the youth smiled bitterly and shook his head. "I really can't afford to accompany them in this... I thought there might still be some humanity." "You're putting on an act with me—what's the point?" Chen Quanxu snorted coldly. "Hurry up and think of more poisonous schemes. Fight poison with poison!" "My life motto is actually to be kind to others," Wu Youren muttered softly. "But senior, can you really control animals possessed by parasitic Guizu?" The horned owl nodded. "Control isn't a problem. Just don't get contaminated yourself. But using it to drive off the possessing parasitic Guizu... we'll have to try." After a pause, he asked again, "You're not thinking of treatment, are you?" Not treatment—that naturally meant spreading it. The youth lightly hummed in agreement. His relationship with Lei Lixing was such that not kicking him when he was down was already generous. If it were Liu Jingming, he might consider it. What he was thinking now was: "Could the parasitic Guizu in Jin Garden have been done by Liang's Hall of Esoteric Masters?" "Jeez," the horned owl's feathers puffed up at these words. "If you're talking about the fallen ability master system, I can believe that..." The people of the fallen system were pure lunatics. Researching parasitic Guizu wasn't surprising. But in Chen Quanxu's understanding, even if caused by a fallen ability master, at worst it was mismanagement—some parasitic Guizu escaped. In the past Jin-Liang War, the corpses Liang threw had also accidentally died from Guizu aura contamination. Given Liang's ruthlessness, they hadn't deliberately let people be contaminated with Guizu aura and used it as an offensive weapon—just making use of waste. Chen Quanxu didn't like Liang's Hall of Esoteric Masters either, but that was mainly because of the national prefix. In the eyes of any ability master, the three words "Hall of Esoteric Masters" carried extraordinary significance. The same went even for fallen ability masters. He believed that if the Hall of Esoteric Masters had sufficient reason, they could research parasitic Guizu, but they definitely had to take precautions. Accidentally letting a parasitic Guizu escape? That was too absurd! For something that could cause catastrophic consequences, with the Hall of Esoteric Masters' capabilities, if they wanted to prevent it, how could they fail? As for deeper possibilities... he didn't want to think about it, subconsciously refusing to think about it! You're still overestimating certain people's bottom line, Wu Youren sighed inwardly. A beacon of civilization deliberately cultivating plagues, targeting genes for racial genocide—look it up? If he hadn't once lived in an age of information explosion, with the education he'd received, it would be hard to imagine such things still happened. It was truly: hell is empty, the devils are on earth. But since he'd seen this, he still knew how to appropriate methods. All he regretted was that he currently lacked the strength. "Let's just assume some ability master was careless. We'll try borrowing a few." "I have no objection," Chen Quanxu understood his meaning—they didn't need to ask where they came from. Whether it was fallen ability masters or the Hall of Esoteric Masters, neither had been cultivated by them. Especially since now two people in Jin Garden had been hit. If they had a chance, helping it spread wasn't a big deal. He could only sigh, "I've discovered we're not exactly good people." Wu Youren answered casually. "In our hometown, calling someone a good person can be seen as a disguised insult." "Is there such a saying?" The horned owl expressed high skepticism. Their two families weren't far apart. But the more important question now was: "Want to find a parasitic Guizu... Shadow-Splitting Yue... sigh, so torn!" "Wait two more days," the youth looked at the unloaded supplies. "I'll get everything ready. If it doesn't snow, we'll head into the mountains." "Look," Chen Quanxu muttered. "The moment we talk about harming people, even going into the mountains becomes motivating!" The youth's face fell, and he spoke sternly. "I've developed a sense of crisis. I need to improve my self-defense ability." "Then... that Kelvin?" "We can talk about that after we come out of the mountains." Unfortunately, plans never kept up with changes. Two days later, Wu Youren had distributed the supplies and said he'd rest one day before entering the mountains. But in the evening, Manna and eight others came to find him. It was the group from Mount Xuanling, minus Hong Da and Namuzha—everyone else was present. They had received an official document from the City Guard Bureau: there was a Guizu hazard in Tianjing's urban area, and they hoped the group could help. The one who came asking for help was that bearded grand knight from Red Pine Martial Academy, named Krog. Last time Daiqisi had distinguished herself was in autumn. Now it was deep winter, and everyone had been observing Xiao Ha's growth. This time it was the original team. The eight had discussed this long ago: as long as they had the ability to participate, benefits should be shared. Like Daiqisi—although she had already received benefits, she also had an obligation to help. Actually, aside from the person with the greatest merit, anyone who participated would receive some benefit after the City Guard Bureau filed a report. The key was that this kind of thing wouldn't happen only once or twice. The eight stuck together, and outsiders who wanted to forcibly join had to consider the resistance they'd face. But these were secondary concerns. Right now, the most important question was whether the Jin youth was willing to cooperate. Wu Youren thought for a moment and asked, "Is it to find a parasitic Guizu?"