Homeward Journey

The final few days of field duty went far more smoothly than they had at the beginning.

The road repairs had all been completed, and the medicinal herbs delivered to each village had been counted and checked. The remaining odd jobs were nothing more than helping villagers carry things or making a circuit around the village to see whether any wild beasts had wandered into the fields again.

No one had been injured.

Nor had they encountered anything truly dangerous.

For this group of youths on their first field assignment, the job had been even easier than they had imagined.

Still, it was undeniably more exhausting than practicing punches at the martial arts hall.

They left early and returned late every day, their shoulders aching and their palms sore.

Zhao Ming felt this most keenly.

On the way back, he held out his hand before everyone.

"Look."

Zhao Chuan lowered his head for a glance.

"What is it?"

"Blisters."

"I thought you'd grown martial arts."

"Get lost."

Zhao Ming irritably pulled his hand back.

Chen Mo smiled. "You've never done this kind of work before?"

"Not really."

Zhao Ming shook his head.

"There were people at home to do the chores, and I usually just practiced my punches. Who knew carrying medicinal herbs would be this tiring?"

"Now you know."

"Now I know."

Zhao Ming looked at the blisters on his hand, but instead began to smile.

"Still, it was pretty interesting."

Zhao Chuan was somewhat surprised.

"Weren't you always complaining about being tired?"

"Tired is tired."

Zhao Ming said, "But when those villagers saw us, it really was different."

As he spoke, the smile on his face deepened.

"Especially those kids who surrounded us that day and asked whether we knew how to fight. I still remember it."

Zhao Chuan curled his lip.

"That little bit of promise?"

"You're not happy about it?"

"Of course I am."

After saying that, Zhao Chuan added another line.

"Just not as obvious as you."

Listening to the two of them, Chen Mo could not help but laugh.

What they said was the truth.

After leaving the martial arts hall, many things had become different.

At the martial arts hall, they had merely been ordinary Outer-Courtyard Apprentices.

Someone was stronger than you when practicing punches; someone stood ahead of you in line at mealtimes; and during the Quarterly Assessment, you had to fight others for your ranking.

But once they reached the countryside—

As long as they wore those Blue Martial Arts Hall uniforms, even if they were merely helping carry a few baskets of medicinal herbs, the villagers would politely call them "young masters."

For youths who had only just crossed the threshold into becoming Martial Artists, that feeling could indeed easily create the illusion that they were already formidable.

Chen Mo did not dwell on it.

Though the things they had done these past few days were useful, they were ultimately different from a real fight.

He had seen those wild boars with his own eyes.

He had also personally touched that string of unfamiliar footprints by the fields.

Other than that, they had encountered nothing else.

They had not even truly entered the mountain forests.

The team had a clearly defined range of activity every day, stopping once they reached the area around the foot of the mountains.

Chen Mo did not find that strange.

There were some things the martial arts hall clearly would not let newcomers like them touch.

That evening, the team finally returned to the outskirts of Qinghe Town.

The familiar blue-brick town walls could already be seen in the distance.

Zhao Chuan, walking at the front, stretched lazily.

"We're finally back."

"Didn't you say field duty was pretty fun?"

Chen Mo asked.

"Fun is fun."

Zhao Chuan rubbed his shoulder.

"But the beds at the martial arts hall are still more comfortable."

Wang Lie walked beside them, the things on his back already shifted to his other shoulder.

Hearing the two of them, he said blandly, "I thought it was average."

"Of course you thought it was average."

Zhao Chuan turned back to look at him.

"These past few days, aside from carrying things, all you did was complain that the task was boring."

"It was boring."

"Then what do you want to do?"

Wang Lie thought for a moment.

"Fight someone formidable."

Zhao Chuan rolled his eyes.

"You only know how to fight."

Wang Lie did not refute him.

He merely glanced toward the distant mountain forest.

Though they had not encountered any danger these past few days, the feeling of truly fighting wild beasts or powerful enemies had still never appeared.

To him, this field assignment had been more like manual labor.

Yet Chen Mo noticed that after saying those words, Wang Lie's gaze lingered in the direction of the forest for a while.

Then he quickly withdrew it.

"Let's go."

Wang Lie said.

"Go back and practice punches."

That line made Zhao Chuan pause in surprise instead.

"Didn't you say field duty was boring?"

"The Quarterly Assessment is coming soon."

Wang Lie said.

"We can't delay."

Zhao Chuan blinked.

Then he broke into a grin.

"Now that's more like it."

Before long, the topic along the way returned to the Quarterly Assessment.

Zhao Ming began calculating roughly how many places he could climb during this period.

Some thought their punching techniques had improved considerably lately.

Others had already begun considering whether they should add extra training after returning to the martial arts hall.

Zhao Chuan had even calculated the gap between himself and the people ahead of him.

"I think I have a chance to squeeze forward this time."

"You said the same thing last time."

Chen Mo said.

"Last time, I didn't calculate it clearly."

"And this time you did?"

"I did."

Zhao Chuan nodded with a solemn expression.

"As long as none of you improve, I can improve."

Chen Mo burst out laughing.

"Your method of calculation is certainly simple."

"Simple is useful."

The group chatted and laughed all the way.

By the time they entered the martial arts hall, it was nearly dark.

The disciple responsible for registering field assignments stood at the entrance with a ledger in hand, checking each group one by one.

"First group."

"Repaired three sections of country road, escorted medicinal herbs twice, drove off wild beasts once."

"Completed."

"Second group..."

Chen Mo stood quietly behind the crowd, waiting.

When it was their turn, the registrar quickly finished writing and set the ledger aside.

Chen Mo was about to leave when his gaze inadvertently swept over the task ledger.

He paused.

"Can I take a look?"

The registration disciple looked up.

"Look at what?"

"The tasks further back."

"The older students'?"

"Yes."

The man did not think much of it and casually handed over the ledger.

Chen Mo flipped through several pages.

The entries at the front were the tasks completed by their batch of newcomers.

Further back, the contents of the assignments gradually changed.

Patrols around the outskirts of West Mountain.

Forest searches.

Escorts through the deep mountains.

Patrols in dangerous areas.

Several more were labeled "abnormal mountain beast handling."

The people responsible were almost all older students from the martial arts hall.

Chen Mo looked for a while.

Zhao Chuan leaned over.

"What is it?"

"Look."

Chen Mo shifted the ledger to the side.

Zhao Chuan lowered his head and scanned it.

"They're the ones doing all these?"

"Yes."

"When can we take them?"

"Who knows."

Zhao Chuan stared at one of the assignments for a moment.

"Patrolling the outskirts of West Mountain... that sounds more interesting than carrying medicine."

Chen Mo closed the ledger.

"Wait until you become an older student."

Zhao Chuan rubbed his nose.

"Fair enough."

The two of them put the ledger back.

After walking a few steps, Zhao Chuan suddenly asked again:

"Chen Mo."

"Yeah?"

"Did you feel like you got stronger this time?"

Chen Mo thought for a moment.

"Does carrying things count?"

"Of course not."

"Then no."

Zhao Chuan burst out laughing.

"I knew it."

Chen Mo laughed along with him.

"But after running around these past few days, I do feel like my stamina is a little better than before."

"Then we'll test it when we get back."

"Test what?"

"See how many punches you can throw now."

Chen Mo nodded.

"Alright."

After returning to their lodgings, everyone packed their things.

The next day was the hall's day off.

Chen Mo simply packed a few changes of clothes, then stuffed his small knife and some odds and ends into his bag.

Before leaving, he looked at his palm again.

The calluses on his palm had grown thicker and thicker.

After carrying medicinal herbs and repairing roads these past few days, another layer of skin had been worn away from his hands.

He remembered the unfamiliar string of footprints by the fields.

He also remembered that distant beastly howl from the village entrance.

But no matter how he thought about it, he could not make head or tail of it.

"Forget it."

Chen Mo slung the bundle over his back.

"I'll train again after I get back."

Early the next morning, the group set off together for Qinghe Town.

There were gradually more pedestrians on the road.

Some drove ox carts into town, while others carried shoulder poles to the market.

Familiar cries of vendors drifted over from afar.

Everything was much the same as when they had left.

Zhao Chuan talked nonstop along the way.

"Once we get back, I'm eating first."

"You didn't eat your fill in the village?"

"The village food was good, but I still want the martial arts hall's meat buns."

Chen Mo smiled. "All you ever remember is eating."

"You need to eat your fill to have the strength to practice punching."

Wang Lie, walking ahead, heard this and turned around. "How long until the Quarterly Assessment?"

Zhao Chuan froze for a moment.

"Only a few days, right?"

"And you still want to eat that much?"

"Eating and practicing punches don't conflict."

Chen Mo chimed in from the side.

"Just eat a little less."

"You two are both trying to control me."

Zhao Chuan muttered, but he obediently quickened his pace anyway.

The tall blue-brick walls of Blue Martial Arts Hall had already appeared in the distance.

Seeing the familiar gates, everyone felt a weight lift from their hearts.

This field assignment was finally over.

Zhao Ming looked back in the direction they had come from.

"Come to think of it, we really didn't run into any danger these past few days."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

Zhao Chuan said.

"Did you want to run into danger?"

"I never said that."

Zhao Ming quickly shook his head.

The group laughed.

Chen Mo smiled as well.

He turned and looked westward.

The mountain range still lay sprawled across the horizon.

The villages near the foothills could no longer be seen clearly, leaving only a hazy bluish-black blur.

The wind blew from that direction, carrying a faint damp scent of grass and trees.

Chen Mo stood there for a while.

Zhao Chuan had already walked several steps ahead. When he noticed Chen Mo had not followed, he turned back and called out.

"Chen Mo, come on!"

"Coming."

Chen Mo withdrew his gaze.

He quickly caught up with the others.

"When we get back, I'll fight you first."

The moment Zhao Chuan heard that, his spirits rose at once.

"Really?"

"Really."

"The loser treats everyone to buns."

"Fine."

"Don't you dare welch on it."

"Whoever welshes is a dog."

Zhao Chuan laughed loudly.

"You said it."

Still talking, the group walked through the martial arts hall's gates.