Over the next few days, we took out the remaining two groups one after another.
By rights, our mission was complete, and we could return to Qingyang Temple.
But Xiang Yifeng and the others hadn't finished their mission yet. We had to stay down the mountain, ready to assist them at any time.
That evening, the five of us had finished eating out and were about to head back to where we were staying.
We were staying at Xiang Yifeng's place. The apartment belonged to his father, but it had been bought years ago, so it was in a fairly old residential complex, on the fifth floor of a walk-up building.
Xiang Yifeng and the others had nothing planned that night, so we had a few drinks, though not much.
Zhang Rong and the others had been in great spirits these past few days. First, they had completed the mission Grandmaster had assigned them. Second, they had finally held their heads high in front of Xiang Yifeng and his group.
Seeing how excited they were, I couldn't help finding it funny.
Except when they were on a mission, I always felt like they were a bunch of elementary school kids.
"Senior Brother, what exactly did Brother Feng and the others... do to you?"
"They mocked us."
Zhang Rong said indignantly, "You could see the mockery in their eyes, that contempt! And since I'm the leader, I got twice as much!"
Surely it wasn't that bad? I thought. "Just because you joined later?"
Zhuge Ming took over, growing indignant too. "Because back when we first started going on missions, the Martial Uncles graded us, and we only passed six times."
"Six times isn't bad," I consoled him. "After all, you joined later. It's perfectly normal to lack experience in various areas.