The burly man had heard of Keli, but after a moment's hesitation, he still remarked, "This student's efficiency in killing Guizu isn't low."
"I know," Hong Yan replied crisply. If she didn't even know that, why would she have issued him a writ?
However, she had no desire to explain so much. "Take out my writ for a moment."
That document was Wu Youren's talisman, kept close to his person at all times, so upon hearing her command, he quickly retrieved it.
The burly man glanced at it, his eyes narrowing slightly. "It's a pass you personally issued. Is this student that important?"
Every Martial Academy had its so-called 'genius students,' 'grand knight prospects,' and other designated talents; this was hardly uncommon.
Under normal circumstances, he had no interest in interfering with a Martial Academy's cultivation plans.
As a grand knight, he also looked down on an apprentice knight's meager combat strength.
Yet this student truly was something of an exception. His ability to slay Guizu was remarkably formidable—even Red Pine's instructors were well aware of it.
And right now, this was a war against the Guizu. How could a Guizu domain ever be permitted to form around the grand imperial capital of Tianjing?
The military had already received absolute orders: this hidden threat had to be eradicated as swiftly as possible.
Liang soldiers valued honor as well, but in times of war, every available asset had to be utilized without passing over even the slightest bit of help.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered asking in the first place.
The scar at the corner of Instructor Hong Yan's mouth twitched. "There is no need for you to know the Martial Academy's business."
The burly man took no offense. "Since you're responsible for liaison and support anyway, take him with you... Surely there's no problem with that?"
Instructor Hong's thoughts stirred, and she looked toward the Jin youth. "Then will you follow me?"
Wu Youren smiled. "All right, Hong Da, I would be glad to."
No matter what he truly thought inside, at this moment he had to accept with open arms—there was no other choice.
Although Instructor Hong knew his identity, among those privy to the truth, she was the only one who showed no interest in plotting against him.
In terms of sheer reliability, he would rather trust her than 'his own people' who had entered Red Pine alongside him, such as Feng Qianjun.
"Then lead the way," Hong Yan said easily. "You should be quite familiar with the vicinity, right?"
In an area infested with Guizu aura, as long as a grand knight avoided crossing paths with those exceptionally dangerous Guizu aura masses, they could basically come and go as they pleased.
Still, since someone more intimately familiar with the local Guizu situation was present, they were only too happy to save themselves the trouble.
"Lead the way..." Wu Youren hesitated briefly before asking, "To Suotu Town?"
"Not far into the mountains, there's a Red Pine patrol outpost," Instructor Hong answered casually. "First head to..."
Pausing, she gave the Jin youth another look. "Don't tell me that's where you came from?"
Wu Youren paused for a beat before answering, "I came out to scout the path back."
Hearing this, the burly man regarded him with keen interest. "How many days have you been out?"
"I slipped out yesterday while it was raining."
"Then you must have found somewhere to hole up yesterday," the burly man said bluntly. As a soldier, he was thoroughly familiar with wilderness survival. "Take us there to wait for word from the others."
These two grand knights were stationed in the center to coordinate and provide support; others had naturally been dispatched ahead to scout.
Just like the two scouts Wu Youren had run into earlier—they were the true pathfinders.
*Thank goodness I just finished digging that cat-ear dugout!* Wu Youren silently counted his blessings. "It's just a hiding hole, extremely cramped."
"Lead the way," Instructor Hong's raspy voice rang out, carrying an unmistakable undertone of indisputable authority beneath its languid drawl.
The Jin youth moved forward cautiously in the lead, while the two grand knights trailed leisurely behind.
After following for three or four minutes, the pair exchanged a glance. The burly man nodded slightly and murmured two words: "Not bad."
Not just anyone could earn praise from a grand knight, let alone an apprentice knight like Wu Youren.
His footwork was light and his movements elusive; he could steer clear of Guizu aura masses well in advance. Even if it required a slight detour, it drastically enhanced their safety.
Through this zone thick with Guizu aura, he walked as effortlessly as if strolling through a private garden.
The burly man wasn't afraid of risking proximity to the Guizu aura masses, but following behind the youth, they walked the safest path without having to worry about a thing.
Instructor Hong's face remained impassive. She had known for some time that the Jin youth possessed a keen ability to anticipate Guizu aura. "Otherwise, how could he have survived?"
Ten-odd minutes later, the two spotted the crude cat-ear dugout.
"That's... it?" Instructor Hong was somewhat disappointed. "Why didn't you dig it a little larger?"
"For a temporary shelter in the wild, it's already quite good," the burly man surprisingly disagreed with her. The military truly was packed with rough-hewn men.
"I'll dig it out a bit more," Wu Youren offered before Instructor Hong could speak. He hauled out the miscellaneous gear stored inside the hole, brandished his small entrenching shovel, and began digging.
The two grand knights looked around comfortably, chatting idly.
"This rain will last another few days. I'm afraid supplies at those Suotu outposts won't hold out much longer."
"That's the military's problem. We pointed out from the start that the situation looked grim, but you didn't take it seriously."
"This is right on the outskirts of Tianjing. Do you think deploying troops is a simple matter? Violating military taboos carries the penalty of execution. It's your Red Pine that didn't take things seriously enough!"
"The Martial Academy has no such duty. If we'd truly taken the initiative, we'd only have been accused of overstepping... We're merely fit to provide cannon fodder."
Wu Youren dug the shelter while listening intently to the gossip—information like this was out of his reach not only at Hostage Manor, but even at Red Pine!
Yet, what did it feel like when the gossip abruptly turned to him?
"This student is rather interesting. Judging from his aura, he's already in a position to push for knight."
"He has his own plans," Hong Yan replied without a flicker of emotion. "What, taken a liking to him?"
*Taken a liking to me?* The small shovel in Wu Youren's hands paused imperceptibly, alarm bells ringing in his mind.
"Not yet eighteen," the burly man noted with a sharp eye. "If you're truly willing to part with him, hand him over to the army. Within ten years, I'll return a grand knight to you."
"The kind delivered back in a little box?" Hong Yan casually lit a cigarette, leaning entirely into the image of her gravelly voice.
She exhaled a plume of smoke comfortably. "Red Pine has no shortage of boxes."
"I could look after him to a reasonable degree," the burly man said, unperturbed by her sarcasm. "Though he'd certainly have to be forged through trial and hardship."
"Martial artists bred in the academies don't carry the best reputation in the ranks—far too delicate."
"A genius who dies young is no genius at all," Hong Yan replied, maintaining her nonchalant air. "You'd best keep your hands off him."
In truth, a slight vigilance had already stirred within her: Was this... reeling in a big fish lurking in the military?
She had no interest whatsoever in the games of espionage and shadow warfare, and was even less inclined to get dragged in.
Yet as a knowledgeable citizen of Great Liang, she held her fundamental allegiances; she could not simply sit back and watch her nation's interests be compromised.
"Forget it, then," the burly man said breezily. "Great Liang has no shortage of geniuses; we won't miss one or two!"
To him, this was merely a time of pressing manpower needs. Once they weathered this crisis, he couldn't be bothered to waste energy on such matters.
He was only a grand knight, after all; above him stood Divine Might Knights.
Besides, the military had more than one Divine Might Knight—why would he burden himself with so much extraneous worry?
"All right, that's enough," Hong Yan actually took the initiative to call a halt. "We'll stay one night at most. If there's no news by tomorrow, we head into the mountains."
Just as the burly man was about to reply, the watch on his wrist vibrated; someone had sent an alert.
Glancing at the message, his expression darkened. "A bunch of fucking useless trash... How can their spines be so weak?!"
Then he turned his gaze to Wu Youren. "Do you remember the route you took coming out?"
"I'm afraid it won't be very practical to take that path anymore," the Jin youth answered, shaking his head slightly.
"Guizu aura is constantly shifting. I can guide the way, but I can't guarantee what lies ahead."
"Such composure is rare," the burly man praised first, then declared, "Then you just lead the way, and Hong Da, you provide support."
"Count me out," Instructor Hong shook her head. "I think you're chasing shadows. Are you certain they'll retreat along the main road?"
Never mind her; even Wu Youren was confident that retreating along the main road would be nearly impossible.
Back at the very beginning, when the martial artists suffered their initial collapse, it had been viable; quite a few had escaped by car or motorcycle.
But attempting to pull out from deep within now? Having made his way out only yesterday, he was the best qualified to say.
Anyone capable of escaping alive at this stage would treat climbing across mountains and ridges as second nature.
Stubbornly attempting to flee along the main road? In a short web drama, they would be the type who couldn't survive past episode two.
"I just feel... we ought to do something," the burly man admitted, looking somewhat sheepish.
Then he pivoted sharply. "Let me ask—does our young friend here know that the patrol outpost where you were stationed blasted down the mountainside?"
*Blasted down the mountainside?* Wu Youren froze for an instant. That plan had originated with him; he had even made some of the preparations and shared it with Cynthia.
Now that it had finally materialized, it wasn't surprising; he had already guessed as much earlier.
Since it was a fait accompli, he saw no point in playing coy, so he raised his watch.
"To avoid being detected by the Guizu, I've kept it switched off the entire time... The Guizu activity yesterday was exceedingly severe."
"Indeed," Hong Yan agreed without hesitation. "If we hadn't fought that battle outside last night, the outer perimeter would be in shambles, and those inside would have had it even worse."
"You turned off your watch," the burly man pointed at the Jin youth, wearing a look of complete helplessness.
Yet he couldn't fault him. Anyone who had seen combat knew that communications silence was often an indispensable measure.
However, by keeping his watch switched off, Wu Youren had truly missed an enormous amount of intelligence.
Setting aside yesterday's transmissions, today alone there had been numerous radio messages broadcast indiscriminately to everyone in range!
Several of those had been sent by Cynthia.
Earlier today, she had conducted her routine check-in with the Red Pine instructors, reporting that she was still at her post. Yet not long after, she broadcasted an alert stating that they intended to evacuate.
The evacuation had been exceedingly hurried; she had merely reported that they planned to blast down the mountain rock to block the road, and requested the instructors' authorization.
The Red Pine instructors had indeed received the transmission at the time, but unable to make a decision on the spot, they had simply ignored it.
To be precise, the instructors moved unpredictably and had never maintained constant availability anyway—sometimes they genuinely failed to receive a signal, and other times they simply pretended not to.
Receiving no response, Cynthia considered that she had done everything in her power to notify them, after which she detonated the outpost and withdrew.
The military had also received word of this, though their intelligence had arrived through the army's own communications network, which carried far greater range.
At present, Cynthia's whereabouts remained unknown. What was certain, however, was that a contingent of military personnel was likewise fighting their way toward the outside.
Chapter 73