The Cat-Faced Man charged at Tang Long. As it drew near, it leaped high into the air, spread all ten claws, opened its gaping maw, and lunged at Tang Long with a savage bite.
Facing this, Tang Long fixed his gaze on the Cat-Faced Man's movements and darted backward. At the same time, he gripped his sword with both hands, raised it high, and brought it down with a vicious slash.
The Cat-Faced Man crossed its arms to block.
Sss!
Tang Long's powerful slash was stopped by its flesh and blood. With a whoosh, a layer of flame burst across his sword and instantly traveled from the blade onto its body.
The flames seemed to have wounded it badly.
It let out a shrill cry and was about to leap away.
At that moment, a spear shot through the air. With a poof, it pierced the Cat-Faced Man through the back of its chest.
Fei Shan had arrived. Seeing Tang Long locked in a fierce fight with the weird entity, he had taken it by surprise and landed a successful ambush. Before the Cat-Faced Man could make another move, he flicked his spear upward, hoisted it into the air, and swung it hard toward the Rune Soldier.
A flash of yellow light gleamed in the Big Carp Talisman Soldier's mouth. A yellow thread finer than a strand of hair shot out and pierced the weird entity in an instant.
The Cat-Faced Man turned to flying ash in midair without making a sound.
A wisp of blackish-gray air streamed out and flowed into Jiang Yan's left hand.
Weird Value: 7
The Cat-Faced Man had been completely slain by the Rune Soldier.
Jiang Yan stood not far from the Rune Soldier. He had watched as Tang Long and Fei Shan subdued the weird entity together, then saw the Rune Soldier kill it.
His eyes burned with excitement. Once your martial arts were strong enough, you didn't have to fear weird entities!
Meng Sheng and Qian Peng had gone deathly pale. Someone had died on their very first day.
Was the Patrol Team really this dangerous?
The two of them were already regretting it. Compared with throwing their lives away for nothing, perhaps spending their whole lives as miners wasn't so bad after all.
The entire square fell quiet.
After a long while, Tang Long called out, "It's over. Everyone, stand beneath the Rune Soldier for twenty breaths."
No one complained.
By the time the inspection was over, night had fallen. Only the Rune Soldier's warm yellow light remained.
"Good. Hurry back. You need to pay close attention over the next few days. I expect you'll be assigned to groups and officially sent on patrol in a few days."
Shan Renhu spoke quietly to Jiang Yan and the other two.
Then he turned and parted ways with them.
He had a place of his own, a small courtyard he rented in the village.
Jiang Yan and the other two headed back together. Meng Sheng and Qian Peng chatted as they walked, seeming to exclude Jiang Yan.
Jiang Yan could tell, of course, but he said nothing. The two had abandoned him and Shan Renhu to run off earlier that day. Along with their guilt and shame, they also resented Jiang Yan for not running with them.
What a twisted worldview.
Qian Peng's face was still pale. He rubbed it hard and said, "The Patrol Team is way too dangerous. We have to train like our lives depend on it. If we could become Martial Apprentices and be as strong as Captain Tang, that'd be great."
"Then even if we ran into a weird entity, we could at least escape if we couldn't beat it."
"Ha, keep dreaming." Meng Sheng shook his head. "Becoming a Martial Apprentice isn't that easy."
"Didn't you see Shan Renhu? He's been training for at least a year, and he's still stuck at a bottleneck."
At that, he swore furiously under his breath.
Qian Peng's body trembled. "Th-then what do we do?"
Meng Sheng opened his mouth, but said nothing.
Qian Peng turned to Jiang Yan. "Jiang Yan, what do you think?"
"Train in martial arts. Didn't you just say that?"
"Become a Martial Apprentice, become a Body-Tempering Martial Artist, become a Xiantian Martial Artist. When we see a weird entity, we'll chop it to death!"
Jiang Yan looked at Qian Peng and grinned, showing a row of white teeth.
The new lodgings the Dahe Gang had prepared for them were much like the ones in Iron Mine Village: each person had a cramped little room.
They were small, but at least they offered some privacy. It felt pretty good.
He drew a bucket of water from the well in the courtyard and washed his face carefully. He immediately felt much more refreshed.
He wasn't the only one in the courtyard. Quite a few people were silently practicing the Chopping Iron Four Forms.
Watching them train so hard and earnestly, Jiang Yan sighed inwardly. Actually, I wanted to take things step by step and develop a sense of qi through my own talent, then become a Martial Apprentice.
Too bad I'd never get to experience the satisfaction of achieving it entirely on my own, he thought silently.
"Jiang Yan."
Ren Tao had returned at some point. When Jiang Yan got back, he had even looked for him in the square.
"I heard someone in the square was possessed just now. Is that true?"
Fear and curiosity flickered in Ren Tao's dark eyes. He had returned late, and by the time he reached the square, it was all over.
He was both curious and afraid. He wanted to know what the weird entity called the Cat-Faced Man looked like, but he was also worried that the Patrol Team's work could be so terrifying.
Jiang Yan looked at Ren Tao. They had been partners in the mining district, and their relationship had been only so-so. Yet after changing places, with everything around them and everyone different, he felt an inexplicable warmth at the sight of him.
"Yeah. I was in the square just now."
"Then tell me about it."
Ren Tao's eyes lit up, and he urged him on.
Jiang Yan glanced around. "This isn't a convenient place. Come to my room."
The cramped room had nothing in it but a bed. The two went inside without lighting an oil lamp.
In fact, they didn't even have one.
After a while, I'll reveal that I'm a Martial Apprentice and rent a small courtyard like Old Shan. This is way too uncomfortable, he told himself silently.
He didn't dare reveal his strength now. He really didn't. He wasn't afraid that others would think he was a genius; he was afraid they would mistake him for a weird entity.
Human Race and weird entities could never live together in peace. Weird entities spread fear and fed on the blood and flesh of the Human Race, while the Human Race wanted nothing more than to kill them.
If he was suspected of being a weird entity, he'd be in trouble.
"Jiang Yan, what are you dawdling for?" Ren Tao urged him.
He also gave him a light kick.
In the darkness, Jiang Yan silently made a note: On such-and-such day, that damn nobody Ren Tao kicked Martial Apprentice Jiang Yan.
"It went like this..."
Jiang Yan spoke steadily as he recounted how Tang Long and Fei Shan had joined forces to subdue the Cat-Faced Man.
He also shared some of the things Shan Renhu had taught them to watch out for.
When he finished, the room fell silent for a moment.
After a long while, Ren Tao finished digesting what Jiang Yan had told him. "Jiang Yan, that veteran who's training you is a real..."
He swore viciously. "The guy training us is a total bastard. If you hadn't told me all this, I could've died without even knowing what killed me!"
Old Shan really was an honest man.
"By the way, Ren Tao, have you ever had your aptitude for martial arts tested?"
"No. You have to be sixteen before you can test your aptitude. I'm not old enough yet!"
"You...you're not sixteen?"
Jiang Yan slowly turned his head in the darkness. Though he couldn't see a thing, Ren Tao's dark face and stout limbs still appeared in his mind.
"Actually, I'm still a child."
Ren Tao added another comment.
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