"There is no such possibility," Instructor Hong stated without hesitation. "As long as you work under me, your only job is to kill Guizu.
"Whoever dares pick a fight with you, I won't stand for it!"
Yet after a pause, she added, "However, I won't meddle in your personal affairs either, so don't even think of using me!"
The people of Liang had many flaws, but they possessed one virtue: they rarely beat around the bush. As a grand knight, she was truly forthright in her speech.
Yet Hong Yan's attitude could also be seen in another light: a noble soul could be manipulated through their own principles.
Wu Youren asked again, "Yet the Protocol Office repeatedly emphasizes that Liang and Jin should remain friendly for generations."
"Hmph, once you go to the Protocol Office, you'll be saying the exact same thing," Instructor Hong scoffed dismissively. "Do you honestly think this rumor could have spread without the Protocol Office's permission?"
"Ah?" Wu Youren's jaw dropped in astonishment. "Hong Da, you knew all along?"
"I only just heard it from you," her voice came raspy and hoarse, but with absolute certainty. "Still, something like this shouldn't have been able to spread in the first place.
"It must have been those bastards from the Life-and-Death Knot... Is it over protection money?"
Chief Instructor Hong was truly sharp; she understood the workings of her own faction's system inside out.
"Perhaps," Wu Youren said, spreading his hands. "All these years, I've never fallen behind on my protection fees, yet they still wanted to rob the money I risked my life to earn."
Faced with such an astute woman, he dared not show the slightest hint of instigation—speaking the plain truth was enough.
As for what she would think, he had no power to sway her anyway, did he?
Still, finding out where she stood was satisfying enough. At the very least, he now knew how to deal with her going forward.
"I can't help you with this matter," Hong Yan said, her stance as clear as day.
"I've taken your protection money, so within Red Pine, I can guarantee your safety. But if I interfere too much in this sort of thing, it will be hard for me to justify to others."
Even someone as powerful as Hong Yan could not go against the Protocol Office over a mere hostage.
"That is only natural." Wu Youren felt no disappointment. So long as she guaranteed his personal safety in the end, the protection money was not spent in vain.
Compared to the Life-and-Death Knot or the guards at Jin Garden, this was already far better.
He had originally wanted to seize the opportunity to ask whether he could strike back if people pushed him too far.
Yet seeing her attitude... never mind. There was no need to put Instructor Hong on the spot.
He walked toward his cabin and spotted several martial artists lingering not far from his vegetable patch from a distance.
These martial artists were quite young, clearly students.
When they saw him approaching, they looked him up and down, their eyes filled not only with curiosity but with poorly concealed provocation.
Wu Youren ignored them, entered his cabin to fetch his tools, and continued tending to the vegetable garden.
"Hey, brat," an exceptionally burly youth shouted from outside the fence. "Are you the hostage from Jin?"
To the people of Liang, the term "hostage" was hardly unfamiliar.
During major celebrations, many commoners had caught glimpses of these hostages from foreign lands.
However, most spectators stood far away, unable to see their faces clearly.
Furthermore, the hostages were made to wear matching uniforms—a deliberate humiliation of their hostile nations, but one that also made it nearly impossible for the public to tell one apart from another.
Wu Youren acted as if he hadn't heard a thing, keeping his head down as he loosened the soil and pulled weeds.
Situations like this were child's play to him.
He had attended Liang's celebrations before, sitting in an open carriage in uniform and being pelted with rocks, bricks, and the like.
Worse yet, the hostages were forbidden from dodging; dodging was considered disrupting the ceremony, which could easily get someone executed on the spot.
Having endured such torments at a tender age—and more than once—what did this puny display amount to?
"Oh?" Angered, the burly youth drew his saber, slashed through the fence, and barged aggressively into the garden.
With a flick of his wrist, Wu Youren hurled a small dagger—covert and startlingly fast.
The flying blade struck the ground half a meter in front of the burly youth, splashing a spray of dirt, sunken so deep that only the hilt remained exposed.
"You!" The burly youth came to a screeching halt. Glaring at him in fury, he yelled, "You dare draw a weapon?"
Red Pine was relatively lenient when it came to brawls between students.
Martial artists ran hot-blooded, and as long as they weren't caught red-handed by an instructor, such scuffles rarely mattered.
Using weapons, however, was not only a violation of the rules but also a taboo within the Martial Academy.
High-minded principles aside, if even weapons went unchecked, what would become of order in the academy?
The burly youth had used his saber to hack down the fence, but had he actually intended to swing it at Wu Youren, he would have had to weigh the consequences before striking.
Of course, to martial artists, this was not the end of the world—who said bare fists and kicks couldn't kill?
Yet Wu Youren had launched a flying blade straight at him without the slightest warning, and done so with extraordinary stealth and speed. The shock left him furious and humiliated.
Wu Youren still didn't respond. He simply walked toward the burly youth, his face devoid of expression.
In his hand, he held his homemade mattock, fashioned from sheet iron, its edge gleaming with a snowy chill.
Yet that wasn't the point. The point was that a row of small daggers was tucked into his belt.
Despite having the advantage of numbers, the burly youth couldn't help stepping back two paces at the sight.
When he realized he had backed away, his fury flared even hotter. "You punk, you dare use weapons... You're a dead man!"
With a flick of his mattock, Wu Youren flipped the small dagger out of the dirt.
He caught it with an outstretched hand, wiped off a bug over two inches long skewered upon the blade with a casual swipe, and leisurely slid the dagger back into his belt.
Then he turned and walked back, not uttering a single word or sparing the youth another glance.
Yet his actions had already delivered the message: *I wasn't attacking you; I was killing a bug!*
Wasn't it only natural for a vegetable patch to have a few worms?
The youths were struck speechless. Every one of them understood that if his flying dagger could kill a bug, it could just as easily "accidentally" injure a martial artist.
"Is that a threat?" the burly youth finally managed, laughing out of sheer outrage. "I refuse to buy this bullshit!"
*You're practically begging to die,* Wu Youren thought, at a loss for words. *Are people really this reckless?*
One had to know that once certain words left one's mouth, one forced oneself down a road of no return!
Then again, it was typical enough. If a youth wasn't hotheaded, could he even be considered young?
However, Wu Youren had no intention of letting the boy pin false accusations on him either, and finally spoke in a measured voice.
"These are the techniques I used when fighting the Guizu," he stated expressionlessly. "I felt my aim was lacking, so I need frequent practice."
At these words, the students were left even more dumbfounded. Before coming to pick a fight, they had heard a few things about this Jin hostage.
The boy had genuinely fought against the Guizu, and for quite a while too; his reviews... seemed rather decent as well.
Still, young people mostly acted on hot blood and impulse without bothering to learn the full picture.
Above all, among Great Liang's hostile nations, Jin was the primary threat—or rather, not quite a threat at present, but the primary hidden menace.
So when they had rushed over to cause trouble, they hadn't considered the fact that he had fought the Guizu at all.
The so-called bold and valiant martial artists weren't necessarily simpleminded, but when combined with youth... anyone who understood knew how it went.
Yet now, for him to say this right after making his move carried a distinctly chilling undertone.
The burly youth faltered for a second, then sneered. "Who gave you permission to farm in the Martial Academy? Does a Jin bastard like you even have the right?"
His phrasing reeked of blatant prejudice and insult, yet his companions chimed in with matching sneers.
Young people were adept at stirring up trouble out of nothing; whether their pretext held water hardly mattered, so long as they had an excuse.
They simply refused to believe that in Great Liang, a Jin bastard would be allowed to act so brazen!
"Instructor Keli..." Wu Youren slowly voiced those four words, silently completing the thought in his mind: *...never objected to my farming either.*
What he could say aloud was the second part: "...is still on the front lines in Suotu Town!"
Among their group, there were indeed those who knew of Keli. Though the academy had plenty of instructors, not many were currently holding the line at the front.
Instructor Keli, in particular, had remained trapped in a zone ravaged by severe Guizu incursions for an extended period, making him a major subject of Red Pine's current publicity.
The students exchanged glances and began whispering among themselves.
A Jin hostage was indeed hateful, but Instructor Keli was Red Pine's pride, having won substantial prestige and perks for the academy.
In the end, a somewhat leaner youth shot Wu Youren a skeptical glare. "You'd better not be lying!"
The eyes of the youths were still brimmed with defiance, provocation, and disdain.
Yet they had no choice; Instructor Keli's fame in Red Pine right now was simply too prominent.
The burly youth added, "Listen well: you'd better flatten this vegetable patch, or else this isn't over!"
This time, Wu Youren didn't even bother to respond; speaking to them was entirely superfluous.
This body of his was also that of a youth—how could he be entirely free of surging hormones?
When words escalated, nothing good ever came of them, so remaining silent was far better.
He tried his best to recall how his predecessor had felt during those celebrations: compared to having bloody menstrual rags thrown at him, what did a little humiliation like this even amount to?
"Do all of you have nothing better to do than stuff yourselves full of trouble?" a voice rang out as the administrator appeared.
Although his combat prowess was mediocre, he was the manager appointed by Red Pine and felt not the slightest intimidation facing students.
With a darkened expression, he barked, "If you want to stir up trouble, go somewhere else... With the Guizu looming before us, what are you doing causing disruptions inside the academy?"
Hearing this, the students exchanged glances before finally turning to leave.
It was obvious they were leaving grudgingly, but there was no helping it; they couldn't openly defy a manager appointed by Red Pine.
Even so, the administrator's gaze toward Wu Youren was hardly friendly.
Frowning, he warned impatiently, "Don't go getting into conflicts with them. In times like these, don't bring trouble to my doorstep!"
After a pause, he added, "This vegetable patch of yours is truly a nuisance."
He didn't demand that Wu Youren level the plot, but he had made his leanings abundantly clear.
Had it not been for the two jars of strong liquor each month...
"Many thanks," Wu Youren replied with a smile. "Money is tight for me as well, but you won't be shorted on your liquor, that's for sure."
"Tsk." The administrator shook his head and sighed. "I can only help you this much."
Wu Youren smiled and nodded. "Why don't you take some vegetables back to eat?"
"I... Oh, forget it, since I'm already here," the administrator said, pointing with his finger. "Get me some of this, and some of that..."
Chapter 85