House Arrest

"Yu Qitian..."

Gu Chen looked at Yu Qitian in surprise.

He hadn't expected Yu Qitian, who had been at odds with him these past few days, to step forward at a time like this.

Yu Qitian gave a faint laugh.

"Don't read too much into it. I just can't stand watching someone bully the weak and look down on our new recruits."

"Heh, what a fine display of brotherhood."

Lei Chao laughed loudly and clapped his hands, his eyes full of mockery.

"But do you think just the two of you can stop me?"

"What if you add us to the mix?"

The other two new recruits, both fourth-tier Martial Disciples, exchanged a glance and stepped up on either side of Yu Qitian and Gu Chen.

The four of them exchanged smiles, and their spirit infected the hundreds and thousands of other war soldiers.

Their blood surging, everyone stepped forward and shouted,

"And us!"

Wave after wave of shouts rose and fell across the training grounds, their momentum terrifying!

The war soldiers trained together every day. They weren't as close as brothers, but they got along well enough.

Now that they had a common enemy in Lei Chao, they stood shoulder to shoulder, closer than ever.

Although these war soldiers were all only third-tier, and some were even just second-tier Martial Apprentices,

the pressure of hundreds of them shouting together made even Lei Chao instinctively take two steps back.

His face turned ashen, and his eyes filled with apprehension.

"Who's causing trouble?"

In the distance, several instructors who had been about to rest heard the waves of shouts and hurried over.

Seeing those familiar faces, Lei Chao's expression shifted. He respectfully saluted the instructors.

"Greetings, instructors."

Instructor Deng Li frowned.

"Lei Chao? What are you doing here?"

New Recruit Camp instructors were only responsible for training recruits during their first six months in camp.

When Lei Chao had joined the camp in the previous intake, Deng Li had been an instructor too, and had given that troublemaker Lei Chao plenty of grief.

Lei Chao hadn't expected Deng Li to be here.

Now, he was like a mouse that had seen a cat, with none of the swagger he'd shown when facing Gu Chen and the others.

"Li Xuan from the Logistics Camp has gone missing. I suspect it has something to do with the new recruits, so I came here to ask some questions."

"Ask questions? Heh."

Yu Qitian wasn't afraid of Lei Chao. With a cold laugh, he led Gu Chen over to Deng Li.

"Instructor, take a look. If he was only asking questions, did Gu Chen spit up all that blood by himself?"

The blood on Gu Chen had dried, but the stains were still there.

Training fights between new recruits shouldn't have drawn blood.

Deng Li immediately fixed Lei Chao with a hostile look, his voice turning cold.

"What exactly happened?"

In that instant, memories of how Deng Li had made his life miserable after he'd gotten into trouble in the New Recruit Camp flooded Lei Chao's mind.

His body shuddered violently, and he spilled everything that had happened, including the other veterans' suspicions.

The war soldiers who had followed him all shrank back, afraid Deng Li would take his anger out on them.

After piecing together what had happened, Deng Li snorted.

"If something happens in the Military Camp, there are people assigned to investigate it. Since when are you allowed to take the law into your own hands?"

"You, you, you, and the rest of you—everyone, go into the mountains and hunt a hundred one-star Demonic Beasts at fifth-tier or above. If you haven't finished by sundown, you won't eat for three days."

The crowd heard him and felt their scalps go numb!

The mountains were full of Wild Beasts, but the ones near camp were mostly weak Demonic Beasts.

Just finding a hundred fifth-tier, one-star Demonic Beasts before sundown would be no easy task.

And that wasn't even counting killing them and bringing their corpses back.

With this many war soldiers heading out together, they'd have to strip the nearby mountains bare.

When the war soldiers still didn't move, Deng Li's voice turned stern.

"What are you waiting for? Go!"

The war soldiers scattered in a panic, rushing toward the mountains, each afraid the others would get there first.

Not eating for three days was more than most people could bear.

"Lei Chao, you stay right there."

Lei Chao had tried to slip away with the crowd, but Deng Li stopped him.

"Go apologize to Gu Chen. Now."

Deng Li glared at Lei Chao and dragged him over to Gu Chen.

Gu Chen's strength was temporarily inferior to Lei Chao's, but Deng Li was certain that, barring any mishaps, Gu Chen would surpass him in the future.

Among the War Soldiers from the previous intake at the main camp, Lei Chao had barely made the top ten.

Gu Chen, on the other hand, was a solid top-four contender, and now he'd firmly claimed second place!

If he kept training steadily, he had every chance of becoming a Pian General one day!

Deng Li was a Martial Master, two major realms above Lei Chao.

Under Deng Li's control, Lei Chao had no chance to fight back. He could only hang his head and mutter to Gu Chen,

"I acted before I understood the situation. That was my fault."

Lei Chao's apology was clearly unwilling, and Gu Chen could feel the resentment radiating from him.

What Lei Chao regretted was probably only getting caught by Deng Li—not attacking him.

"It's fine. I don't have any other virtues, but I can take a beating."

Gu Chen narrowed his eyes, a trace of murderous intent flickering in their depths.

He knew that for some people, losing face was what enraged them most.

If Lei Chao got the chance to catch him out in the wild, he definitely wouldn't let him go.

Deng Li sighed helplessly, knowing that neither of them had let go of their resentment.

Before letting Lei Chao leave, Deng Li warned him in a low voice,

"Lei Chao, you're under House Arrest for a week. You're not allowed to leave the Warrior Camp during that time."

Lei Chao stopped in his tracks, understanding what Deng Li meant.

There were both veterans and newcomers in the Warrior Camp.

Keeping him there meant he couldn't go after Gu Chen.

Without turning around, Lei Chao asked,

"What about the hundred Demonic Beasts I'm supposed to hunt...?"

"You don't have to do it. Just stay in camp and don't do anything you shouldn't."

Deng Li distinctly stressed the final words.

Lei Chao understood that Deng Li was warning him.

He nodded and said, "I understand," then left without looking back.

Watching Lei Chao's retreating figure, Deng Li knew that his words had gone in one ear and out the other.

Deng Li could only turn to Gu Chen and say helplessly,

"Gu Chen, if you can avoid it, you'd better not leave camp for a while either."

"I can't keep Lei Chao locked in camp forever."

This was the most Deng Li could do to ease the conflict between them.

Gu Chen grinned.

"Don't worry, Instructor. I understand."

Deng Li sighed inwardly and patted Gu Chen on the shoulder.

"I have high hopes for you. You'll surpass me one day."

After giving Gu Chen a few earnest words of advice, Deng Li turned and left too.

Gu Chen thought for a moment, then glanced over his shoulder at Gu Lin.

"Gu Lin, go to the Logistics Camp and tell Gu Han to avoid going out as much as possible for a while, in case Lei Chao gets so angry over this that he takes it out on him."

"Okay."

Gu Lin didn't waste words and immediately hurried away.