Figure It Out Yourself

"Move out!" Chen Chong rose, letting out a long howl like an alpha wolf howling at the moon atop a mountain ridge. The other twenty-nine burly men bellowed in unison and charged downward at breakneck speed. In an instant, Xu Yao felt as if billowing war smoke surged around him, suddenly giving him the impression of charging across a battlefield amidst thousands of men and horses. Plumes of dust roared into the air, driving forward through the sky in a straight line of yellow smoke. Black Mountain's Mountain Protection First Brigade tore down from the mountain peak. At the foot of the mountain. A squad of men and horses that had just arrived looked up at the same time. Catching sight of the yellow smoke and dust surging forward in a straight line up high, they burst out laughing. The leader turned to the youths beside him and said, "You see that? If you can't become warriors, you might have to go temper yourselves in the army. If you join the army and march onto a battlefield, and you ever see smoke and dust like that surging across the opposing army in a straight line without the slightest disorder, you either run for your lives immediately or get ready to save your hides by any means necessary." "That rising plume represents only one thing: the world's finest elite!" "They might not necessarily possess the highest martial prowess, but they are guaranteed to have the most terrifying lethality!" The young men stared at the rising column of yellow smoke, nodding earnestly yet bewilderedly. "Yes, sir." In the time it took to exchange those few words, a booming roar sounded as First Brigade swept onto the main road. Coming face-to-face with this other group amid the drifting yellow dust, Chen Chong let out a thunderous roar: "Who goes there!" The leader on the opposite side gave a hearty laugh: "Third Sister! We meet again—it's me, Lei Laohu!" "Bastard!" With a resounding boom, Chen Chong cursed and charged right in, throwing a punch straight at the man's chest. Fury flared in Chen Chong. Ever since he had suffered that wretched injury, he had been saddled with that nickname. Every time he heard it, he felt a knot of suffocating fury in his chest. Whenever someone dared mention it to his face, a fight was inevitable. *Boom! Crash! Clang...* The two brigade captains brawled right on the road, trading punches and kicks. It gave everyone the earth-shattering sensation of two bear kings violently colliding. Both brigades watched with rapt attention. Liu Zhen and the others were completely composed, their arms crossed over their chests. The opposing side, however, appeared rather tense. Only then did Xu Yao realize that not all Mountain Protection Brigades were made up entirely of such lion-and-tiger burly men. In the brigade across from them, there were only five men built like that; the rest had builds no different from ordinary folk. There were also three youths about his own age. With a thunderous bellow, Lei Laohu took a kick from Chen Chong right in the gut and tumbled backward. Howling in pain while clutching his stomach, he yelled, "Brother Chen! Brother Chen... that's enough, that's enough!" Chen Chong emerged from the swirling dust, grimacing as he spat out a curse: "Lei Ming, you son of a bitch, dare call me that one more time and see if I don't beat you to death!" Lei Ming grimaced, clutching his belly. "Brother Chen is as mighty as ever." Straightening his back, he waved his hand. Several bear-like, tiger-like brutes bowed deeply first. "Chief Chen... Captain Chen, greetings!" Only then did the others follow suit, bowing and shouting, "Greetings, Captain Chen!" Chen Chong nodded and walked at the front alongside Lei Laohu. The two companies naturally merged into one. The pain had vanished from Lei Ming's face as he chatted warmly with Chen Chong: "Brother Chong, about this round of warrior qualification trials... you still don't have anyone entering from your brigade, right? Leave an empty spot, haha! You gave all the previous ones to other brigades. This time it's finally my turn. How about doing your little brother a favor..." Chen Chong kept a stern face. "I have someone this time! Just so happens to be one!" Lei Ming's face froze instantly. He halted so abruptly that he almost collided with Liu Zhen behind him, jumping up and shouting, "Where did you get someone from?!" "My nephew!" Chen Chong said unhurriedly. "Where on earth did you get a nephew?! The moment it's my turn, you suddenly have someone..." Lei Ming raged in frustration. "You're an ancestral bare branch! Where the hell did a nephew come from?!" Chen Chong rolled his eyes, turned around, and waved. "Xu Yao!" "Here!" "Come greet Captain Lei!" "Greetings, Captain Lei." Lei Ming stared at Xu Yao as if looking at a ghost, sizing him up with an utterly bizarre expression. He looked him over from head to toe, and then from toe to head, before finally saying with a grimace, "Boss Chen, no offense, but this bean sprout?" Chen Chong remained impassive, his needle-like beard twitching slightly as he said flatly, "Yeah, this bean sprout." "Your nephew?" "My nephew!" "Why is your nephew surnamed Xu?" Lei Ming protested indignantly. "Someone surnamed Lei could be my nephew too!" Chen Chong remained unfazed. "If you, Lei Laohu, have a son, what would he call me?" "Uncle." "Attaboy!" "Hahahahaha!" Instantly, the strapping men on both sides doubled over, roaring with bear-like laughter. Lei Ming's face twisted. Just as he was about to erupt after being taken advantage of, another group of burly men approached with booming strides. The man leading them beamed the moment he saw the two captains: "Third Sister! Birdie! You two arrived early!" "Damn it!" Both of their faces turned green at the same time, and together they lunged forward, throwing punches and kicks... A short while later, the three captains walked at the very front, bruised and battered, conferring in low voices with solemn expressions as they walked. Xu Yao followed the crowd forward when he suddenly felt three hostile gazes directed at him. Turning his head, he saw three youths in the adjacent company sizing him up with burning, piercing eyes. Xu Yao recalled Chen Chong's teaching: *The battle for promotion means wresting, seizing, and even killing!* So he glared right back without yielding an inch. "Bean sprout, what're you looking at?" The youth leading them was thickset and broad-shouldered, raising an eyebrow. "Who are you calling a bean sprout?" "You, of course. Just look at that puny frame of yours. You actually want to register for warrior qualification?" "And why can't I?" "Hey, listen to you. Why's your tone so aggressive?" "Huh?" Xu Yao was baffled. *You're a complete stranger who started sizing me up with ill intent. When I looked back, you gave me a derogatory nickname, and after I say a single sentence, suddenly my tone is aggressive?* Then he realized: *They're intentionally picking a fight! These three punks want to knock me out of the running.* He abruptly understood the true meaning behind Chen Chong's words. "What if my tone is aggressive? I can get a lot more aggressive than this." Xu Yao spoke with blatant malice, "Looking for a fight?" He finally understood: because everyone in Chen Chong's brigade had taken Lion-Tiger Pills, they didn't need the qualification spot. In past rounds, First Brigade had always held an unused quota and passed it along to other brigades. This time, countless people had their eyes locked onto that spot. And now he had popped up out of nowhere... No wonder these three youths couldn't stand the sight of him. They had already treated that spot as their own property! "Don't you run off later," the three youths warned, pointing their fingers at Xu Yao. A cold smirk curled at the corner of Xu Yao's mouth. Throughout the entire confrontation, Liu Zhen and the others acted as if they neither saw nor heard a thing, and the burly men of the opposing brigade also looked away, treating the spat between the boys as though it didn't exist. Once they turned and entered the grand compound of Fifth Brigade, Liu Zhen finally asked Xu Yao with a hint of amusement in his tone, "How do you feel?" Xu Yao said slowly, "When people want to snatch what's mine, they can always find an excuse." Liu Zhen shook his head. "No, not enough." "Huh?" "Figure it out yourself some more." Staring at Liu Zhen's back, Xu Yao's face twisted slightly. *Why isn't Sister Liu, notorious for lecturing, giving a lecture this time?* *Figure it out myself? Figure what out?!* Inside Fifth Brigade's grand compound, Chen Chong led his men to pick a spot right where the sun beat down scorchingly, settling down comfortably to bask in the sun. A few others came over intending to take the spot, but Chen Chong chased them away. No one was foolish: it was still morning, so the sun beat down here, but after a short while, the shade would shift over. With meetings, public executions, and martial duels scheduled today, nobody knew how long the ordeal would drag on, making Chen Chong's chosen location the prime spot. Xu Yao looked around and counted. Counting the original occupants of the compound along with the incoming contingents, there were twelve brigades in total. Every single brigade had youths like him, and more than just one. Eleven brigades had settled down quietly. Only the resident Fifth Brigade remained nowhere to be seen, locked away inside the main hall with no one allowed out. Yet even with so many brigades gathered here, not a single person stepped forward to pry or ask questions. Everyone simply kept their eyes fixed upon the Demon Suppression Bureau's gold-inscribed black sealing talismans posted on the doors. Their gazes were complicated. Right at the hour of the snake. A powerful aura radiated from afar, reaching the front gates in the blink of an eye. It brought a gust of wild wind that billowed with a sharp whoosh, snapping Fifth Brigade's banner completely straight!