You're the One

Hearing this, Keli was incensed to the point of laughing. "Do you really think so little of the martial academy?" Yet the newcomers had the confidence to be so brazen. "Red Pine is a martial academy of Liang, not of Jin! Clear out quick, and we'll pretend this never happened!" Keli swore he really hadn't wanted to take them seriously, but those words were infuriating. "Strange. Aren't you afraid of the martial academy's disciplinary code?" "Discipline? What's that?" someone from the opposite group sneered. "You really fucking think everyone is scared of that?" Yet someone else tried to smooth things over. "All right, cut it out. The man across from us might be a knight! We're Sally's retinue!" That title was not invoked casually; it actually carried some weight within the martial academy. The vast majority of the academy's instructors were merely knights themselves, with grand knights being exceedingly few. Most instructors who had heard of Sally would not go out of their way to make trouble over trivial matters. Even so, blurting it out at a moment like this truly showed little respect to the academy! "Retinue, my ass!" Instructor Keli snapped in irritation. "All of you stand still and don't move, or your life or death won't matter!" Every student of the martial academy knew that when an instructor uttered the words "life or death won't matter," you had better believe it! Yet since these people dared to stir up trouble in the first place, they truly had some nerve. One of them spoke up. "Since there's an instructor here, we'll give him some face. Let's go." Such a move wasn't entirely out of line, but Keli glanced sideways, and seeing the calm expression on the Jin youth's face, an unexplainable wave of annoyance washed over him. "I fucking told you not to move... Are you courting death?" Figures blurred, and then several bodies flew through the air, crashing down onto the ground. Seven people had come in total. Three were slammed to the dirt, disoriented and battered, while the remaining four fled for their lives. Two of them had been struck and injured at range by Instructor Keli; they ran with a limp, but their speed was truly astonishing. "My knife..." The corner of Wu Youren's mouth twitched. Someone had used their thigh to forcibly snatch his dagger! "I really gave you too much face," Keli said, not bothering to chase the four. Standing before the three on the ground, he looked down at them and spoke: "You don't even place the academy's discipline in your eyes. How dare you?" The male martial artist was among them. He rolled on the ground in pain, not even daring to speak. Another clutched his arm and wailed, his arm broken by the fall. Only the fellow with an injured foot showed some spine. Lying on the ground, he rubbed his ankle while gritting his teeth. "Instructor, that guy is from Jin!" "You've got some guts," Keli said coldly, paying him no further attention. He looked at the one rolling around. "'Life or death won't matter,' yet you still dared to let people run. What nerve!" The male martial artist kept rolling on the ground, not daring to utter a word. He knew very well that the instructor was dead serious now. The one wailing, however, also gritted his teeth and shouted, "He isn't from Liang!" "Damn it, too much talk!" Instructor Keli raised his leg and kicked him. He could overlook the first tough guy, but someone copying him... absolutely not! Then he gave a cold snort. "Only by embracing all rivers can our Great Liang achieve such a golden age!" However, he didn't seem particularly interested in such platitudes, dropping the subject after just that one line. In the next moment, he turned his head to look at the Jin youth and tilted his chin slightly. Wu Youren spoke up. "Reporting to Instructor, this is the one who wanted to challenge me to a duel against the Guizu." Keli had earlier told him to choose someone himself. Now that this fellow had delivered himself right to his door, how could he possibly pass up the chance? If he had a choice, it naturally had to be this one whose mouth was foulest and who had made the biggest fuss! "I'm not having a duel with you!" the male martial artist shouted. What a joke. If it were a duel against Wu Youren directly, he would have had some confidence; but a contest to kill Guizu? Forget it! His persistent provocations earlier had only been because... they had greater numbers! "Then you're the one," Keli said with a furrow of his brow, his tone impatient. In his heart, he preferred to favor martial artists of Liang, but a slippery coward like this was truly a disgrace to Great Liang! "Hand over your comm-watch. I'm issuing a compulsory mission!" "Instructor, I serve Lady Sally. Please, have mercy," the male martial artist pleaded bitterly. "Never heard of her," Instructor Keli said bluntly. "What kind of instructor is she?" "She is a student, the daughter of Viscount Jingmo..." The male martial artist didn't care whether Keli had truly never heard of her or not and directly declared her background. "Viscount Jingmo is not an instructor of Red Pine!" Keli stated calmly. "Is there a royal decree transferring him here?" Even when the Life-and-Death Knot asked him to step in, they had to inform him of Wu Youren's identity first; one could well imagine that he was a man who did things strictly by the book. The male martial artist was struck dumb, only able to stammer in defense, "We were just indignant that a man of Jin deceived Lady Sally." "What the fuck... What a world of difference!" Keli couldn't help muttering. He didn't know specifically what had transpired between Sally and Wu Youren, nor did he care to find out—it was nothing more than trivial student squabbles. He didn't believe for a second that a Jin hostage would dare provoke the daughter of Viscount Jingmo. Comparisons truly were odious; looking at the Jin youth's composure, then looking at this fellow before him... Even standing before an instructor, he was still trying to sweet-talk his way out of responsibility... Did he fucking take instructors for fools? His voice grew increasingly chilled and stern. "Do you not intend to cooperate?" Right at that moment, Cynthia walked over and beckoned toward the male martial artist. "Hand over your comm-watch!" Seeing this posture, the man finally dared not say another word, obediently handing over his comm-watch. Yet in the next moment, he glared fiercely at the female martial artist and muttered under his breath, "You're a person of Liang too!" Cynthia scoffed, countering disdainfully, "You only have the courage to bully others with numbers. You think you're worthy of being called a citizen of Liang?" "Fine, fine, fine," the male martial artist nodded through gritted teeth, seething inwardly: *You'd better never fall into my hands.* Watching this, Keli frowned slightly: *Have the youths these days been pampered to such a degree?* With this, the sudden farce finally drew to a temporary close. On his way back, the male martial artist still wanted to lodge a complaint with the viscount's daughter. Sally had already received word. Over the comm-watch, she said, "I asked you to help me vent my anger, not to butt heads with an instructor!" She showed signs of washing her hands of the matter, yet her reasoning was sound enough—fool around and cause trouble all you want, but don't mess with an instructor. In the end, though, she still asked which instructor had intervened. Having already accepted the mission, the male martial artist naturally knew it was Keli. Sally fell silent. Only after quite a while did she state that this instructor was not one to provoke; not only was he powerful, but his way of conducting himself was also rigid and unbending. There were quite a few instructors with this kind of temperament in the martial academy; one could even call them the mainstream. She could only state that the matter should be dropped for now; if an opportunity arose in the future, they would speak of it then! Though Instructor Keli was strict, he had only punished those blind fools without implicating her. If she insisted on thrusting herself forward, leaving him no choice but to drop all pretense of ignorance, that would be truly tactless. She merely had two relatives who were grand knights; she wasn't a grand knight herself! Naturally, Lady Sally's face was not so easily swept aside; for now, she was simply keeping score! Yet to the male martial artist, this attitude was practically the end of the world. "My Lady, a compulsory mission was assigned to me!" "What is a compulsory mission to a student of the martial academy?" Sally made her stance unmistakably clear. "There is no need to tell me about this!" This response was truly a bitter blow; the male martial artist wanted to weep, but had no tears. Two days later, Keli notified Wu Youren to gather at the martial academy's main gate. Unlike Rossi, he wouldn't go pick the boy up. Heading out to start his off-road vehicle, he found Cynthia waiting there with a large backpack. "Instructor, I want to go too!" "Don't fool around," Keli snapped irritably. After a brief pause, he added, "Keep your distance from him. Don't get too close!" He knew the true identity of the Jin hostage, but the matter was of great importance; unable to say much, he could only offer a veiled warning. Watching the off-road vehicle drive away, Cynthia blinked in confusion. "Keep my distance?" When Instructor Keli arrived at the academy gates, Wu Youren was already there, carrying a large backpack. The two waited a while longer before the male martial artist finally showed up, accompanied by a young apprentice knight. The former was named Aoliwen, while the latter was Keli's student, named Qigeli. After issuing the compulsory mission, Keli hadn't wanted the man to break the rules, which was why he sent his own student to supervise him. Sure enough, just seeing how late the pair had arrived made it obvious the process had not gone smoothly. Yet it didn't matter now; everyone was assembled, and there was no need to dwell on the details. When leaving the academy, the gate guard still showed some hesitation over Wu Youren's identity medallion. Fortunately, Keli was on an official mission and was an accredited academy instructor, so the guard hesitated briefly before letting them through. He merely muttered under his breath, "Another one of these identity medallions." Wu Youren showed no expression on his face, but inwardly his thoughts stirred: *So Feng Qianjun and the other three have gone outside too?* Yet that doubt lasted only a fleeting instant. Before coming to the martial academy, they had already been told that they might be deployed to the front lines. With the Guizu crisis severe in the direction of Suotu, wasn't fighting the Guizu only normal? Qigeli drove the vehicle out of the martial academy. The moment they hit the road, Aoliwen spoke up. "Instructor, I've had an upset stomach these past two days, which is why I arrived late." Keli let out a grunt and didn't acknowledge him, though the coldness on his face softened slightly—an explanation was better than none. After driving for a while, he finally asked, "Wu Youren, the monkey-tiger last time—how did you detect it?" *Monkey-tiger...* The corner of Aoliwen's mouth twitched. Offending this Jin youth had truly been a mistake on his part. Over the past two days, he had used every means at his disposal to inquire thoroughly about Wu Youren's background. Except for the boy's origins, he had learned almost everything about him, including how he had fought the monkey-tiger alongside Knight Rossi. After finding all this out, he was genuinely full of regret. He shouldn't have rushed to the front line to target this Jin youth. Above all, Sally's indifferent reaction had been the heaviest blow to him. "The biguijue had an abnormal reaction," Wu Youren replied calmly, pulling out the jade piece and giving it a slight shake.