None of it mattered anymore! Wu Youren shook his head, casting those melancholy thoughts to the back of his mind.
As a hostage, one had to realize that one's life was not one's own. Ending up dead and buried haphazardly in a foreign land was a common fate.
He recalled that one year, Liang claimed Jin soldiers had crossed the border to harass them and demanded an exorbitant indemnity, which Jin refused to pay.
A hostage was subsequently executed. He remembered it was even a female hostage—mainly meant to frighten the Seventeenth Prince.
He had forgotten exactly how that affair wrapped up in the end. At any rate, Jin paid compensation, and the hostages were all left fearing for their lives.
So He Wenhao... was dead, and that was that. What kind of justice could anyone hope to seek?
Wu Youren did not consider himself cold-hearted. Thinking back to his days at Hostage Manor, what kind of life had he lived?
Without anything to compare it to, he might have simply resigned himself to it, assuming this was just how the mortal world operated—strictly stratified.
Yet he was a transmigrator. Whether people had ascended to godhood in ancient times or not hardly mattered; what mattered was that he came from an era of information explosion!
So he merely shook his head impassively. "I'm not familiar with the person you mentioned, either!"
*Cold-blooded!* Qigeli, watching from the side, silently slapped that label onto him.
Instructor Keli had not explicitly stated that this youth was a Jin hostage, but he had hinted that he was no ordinary native of Jin.
There were quite a few people from Jin who managed to do well for themselves in Liang. These two presumably belonged to the same social circle.
Yet Wu Youren actually... completely disregarded the death and injury of his companion. One couldn't say he was necessarily in the wrong, but he was certainly not someone to associate with deeply.
Feng Qianjun froze for a moment. Not knowing whether it had fully registered with him, he continued clutching his leg on the ground and hissing in pain.
He did, however, stop looking at the Liang youth standing nearby.
Next, the people from Red Pine began testing them for Guizu aura and treating the critically wounded.
Feng Qianjun's injury was not considered severe, so he was placed toward the back of the queue.
They still needed to be kept under observation for about an hour before being brought into the quarantine zone, which was a precaution to prevent incidents from breaking out inside.
During this time, the count's son's pain eased slightly. He shot two more glances at Wu Youren, his eyes still brimming with venomous malice.
Yet at a certain moment, his gaze turned somewhat blank—*What am I seeing? He actually has a gun?*
At that moment, his feelings grew extraordinarily complicated.
Even he himself currently carried nothing more than a curved saber of modest length, though it was of decent quality.
That had little to do with financial ability; it was mainly to avoid attracting unnecessary trouble.
Once inside the quarantine zone, Feng Qianjun composed himself and looked thoughtfully at his wristwatch...
At this moment, Wu Youren's heart was far from as calm as he made it appear.
His relationship with He Wenhao had indeed been thoroughly ordinary, but the other youth had also been a member of the hostage group, with a status far above his own.
If even someone like that was gone, what right did he have to think he could hold out for long?
An unprecedented sense of urgency surged into his heart.
Just then, Qigeli curiously asked, "Which Jin native association are you guys from?"
"Not familiar," Wu Youren replied vaguely. He remarked indifferently, "The vibes of those people are off. I don't like them."
As dusk approached, Keli returned. Regrettably, he had not managed to sell the iron scrap.
In such haste, he couldn't get a price at the Martial Academy that satisfied him, but to avoid trouble, he did not carry it on his person either.
The main reason he rushed back before completing the trade was that he felt a bit uneasy leaving the Jin youth behind.
It wasn't that he was worried about the other party's safety, but rather that he wasn't sure what further trouble the kid might stir up.
Appearing quiet and harmless to humans and beasts? That was strictly on the surface!
As a Jin hostage, to dare draw and shoot an academy instructor point-blank without a word... what kind of nerve did that take?
Had Wu Youren known what Keli was thinking, he probably could only have smiled wryly. *Am I the type of person who loves to show off?*
He had only wanted to get a little piece of the action, asking for nothing more. Alas, it was all the fault of experience points!
Remarkably, Keli actually brought Cynthia along this time. His explanation was simple: with one person short, they brought in a replacement.
Wu Youren did not know that the instructor had previously stopped the girl from tagging along, so he didn't think much of it.
Even though it was getting late, Keli decided to set out with the group anyway, without consulting the other three.
Their destination was still in the direction of Suotu Town, but the off-road vehicle halted not long after entering the mountains.
Qigeli parked beneath a cliff, and the four of them shouldered their bags and packs, climbing up the adjacent mountain peak.
Only then did Keli explain his intention: they would skirt along the outermost rim of the mountains, feeling their way inward bit by bit.
If they ran into anything unusual, they would still have time to run, wouldn't they?
It was easy to imagine that the heavy casualties suffered by Lao Liu's squad had dealt Keli quite a shock.
Before darkness fell completely, the four chose two neighboring hollows near the peak to rest, forming a mutually supporting flanking position.
When the terrain was suitable, there was no need to pitch tents.
Qigeli didn't dare ask questions recklessly, but after settling down, he couldn't help asking the instructor, "Why didn't we rest in the quarantine zone?"
Keli replied, "I'd like to see whether that half-dead Guizu dares come looking for me!"
Wu Youren felt this stubbornness was rather pointless. It was nothing more than an inability to suppress greed after laying eyes on Guizu treasures.
It sounded fearless and certainly commendable in bravery.
However, the drop rate for Guizu items was inherently low. Expecting a single mob to drop loot twice... what was he dreaming about?
Still, one had to have dreams. What if it worked?
Cynthia, on the other hand, was quite excited, chatting with Wu Youren while digging the hollow deeper.
Liang also had a custom of avoiding raising death flags; talking about the Guizu right now was rather taboo, so she chatted about academy affairs.
That included how well she had tended to the Jin youth's vegetable plot over the past couple of days.
Oh, and she had even sent some vegetables to another dining hall—because she disliked the original manager!
*Just keep stirring up trouble...* Wu Youren was rendered speechless. She seemed terrified that his days might be too peaceful.
Growing vegetables was indeed not a lucrative venture anyway; his original intention had merely been to lay low.
Thinking of He Wenhao's death, a hint of urgency rose in his heart. "You didn't give away the vegetables I pickled, did you?"
"Didn't you say you'd sell those in winter?" Cynthia indicated that she was quite adept at managing daily life.
Near dawn, a commotion on the highway below the mountain startled them awake.
After looking closely, they confirmed it was a convoy rushing back from Suotu: two motorcycles and three off-road vehicles.
Driving in the dead of night meant they must have run into trouble, but none of the four had any interest in meddling—this spot was right at the mountain exit.
The instructor did, however, remind everyone to watch out for Guizu trailing behind the convoy.
Yet before they could make a move, a powerful aura swept across the base of the mountain, locking onto them with faint killing intent.
The next moment, the convoy slowed down, and a knight leaped out of a vehicle. "Who goes there?"
"Red Pine instructor Keli, on an academy mission," Keli dared not withhold an answer. "I did not realize a grand knight was gracing us with their presence."
"From Red Pine..." A couple of mutters came from below before the knight spoke up again. "Guard this exit!"
Keli was taken aback and asked in a low voice, "May I ask where you gentlemen are from?"
Issuing orders to an academy knight so casually—who did they think they were?
The knight below turned and boarded the vehicle. "Just wait. You'll receive your academy mission shortly."
Seeing the convoy drive off, Qigeli couldn't help sticking out his tongue. "Holy crap, big shots. Good thing they didn't requisition the vehicle we parked down the mountain!"
"Looks like something new happened in Suotu," Keli sighed softly. "Luckily, we're only posted at the mountain entrance."
The background of the other party was even bigger than they had imagined. In less than half an hour, before the sky was even light, the instructor's wristwatch vibrated.
Anyone who could get the Martial Academy to issue a mission at this hour was definitely no ordinary figure.
Keli had already taken on a mission earlier without officially completing the procedures; this time, he was permitted to suspend his scouting and accept the new assignment.
Word was that major upheavals had occurred in Suotu. His task was fairly flexible: he only needed to watch the mountain pass.
Since the squad had only one knight, he wasn't required to interrogate passersby—merely observe the situation and report back in a timely manner.
The assignment was relatively easy, though far less free, requiring ten days of guard duty until a relief squad arrived.
"Forget it, the pay isn't bad," Keli said, sounding as though he were explaining to them, yet also as though reassuring himself.
Once broad daylight arrived, the four began excavating a living area near the mountaintop.
With a ten-day mission period, relying on tents and crude hollows would be far too sloppy.
Even Keli pitched in for half the morning, and his work was more effective than all three apprentice knights combined.
By midday, two hollowed caves were basically formed, offering a good vantage point.
Afterward, Keli and Wu Youren scouted the surrounding area, which was an essential precaution.
The two returned around dusk, just in time to see a convoy heading into the mountains.
They weren't responsible for inspections and only needed to stay atop the mountain, so they went about starting a fire and preparing dinner.
Although Cynthia was female, she possessed good martial skills as an apprentice knight and had gathered plenty of firewood, enough to last through the night.
Just as everyone was eating and chatting, a convoy came barreling out from deeper in the mountains, kicking up billowing clouds of dust.
The convoy came to a halt at the foot of the mountain, and two men rushed up—a knight and an apprentice knight, both spattered with blood.
The knight called out, "Does anyone have ghost-dispelling powder? We'll buy it, and your food too..."
"We can spare you some food, but not the ghost-dispelling powder," Keli replied offhandedly.
Hearing this, the knight's expression darkened, and his hands dropped loosely to his sides in a combat-ready stance. "What are you doing here?"
A mere single knight and three apprentices—weren't they acting a bit too arrogant?
"Instructor from Red Pine, on a mission to guard the pass," Keli said without even looking at him. "It isn't dark yet. Hurry on your way."
"Then get us some food," the knight softened instantly. In this region, Red Pine's influence rivaled that of the local government.
Climbing from the foot of the mountain to the peak took some effort, but starting a fire down below would take even longer.
Two more knights from the convoy came up carrying their own dry rations, asking only to heat them up, while the first man carried the food back down the mountain.
After a brief exchange, they learned the other group was a Guizu-hunting squad belonging to a merchant consortium.
Most martial artists hunting Guizu cooperated with merchants, and any merchant capable of maintaining their own hunting squad possessed unquestionable strength.
Even Keli put away his haughtiness. "What on earth has changed around Suotu Town?"
Chapter 51