Rejected Yet Again

Military Marquis Xu and the others were indeed going hunting in the mountains, but they were none too pleased about taking a recruit along.

Of course, given Wang Qi's outstanding performance and everyone's expectations for his potential, Military Marquis Xu did not refuse him outright.

"That's right, we're going hunting... but if you come with us, you might miss dinner. Are you still willing?" Xu Sanlang hoped to turn him down this way.

The men beside him were all astonished, apparently not expecting him to be so accommodating toward a young recruit.

Wang Qi looked them over and noticed that only three carried bows, while the other two carried sabers.

Although the two saber-wielders had taken off their armor, their powerful builds were impossible to hide... clearly, they were there to provide the muscle.

Wang Qi therefore judged that this hunting party would only make a short trip and would not venture too deep into the mountains. He said, "No problem. We can have dinner out there... don't worry, I know all about that."

Military Marquis Xu did not indulge him this time. Knowing his colleagues did not want to take a recruit along, he snapped, "Enough nonsense. Stay in camp and find something to do."

With that, he walked out through the camp gate without looking back...

Wang Qi scratched his head in frustration. So that really would not work. Apparently, he had been rejected again.

But what else could he do?

Practice shooting at targets with the other recruits?

That would be no fun at all.

So he checked the state of his body and discovered that the warm Lesser Yang Qi within him was continuously radiating warmth from his dantian throughout his limbs and bones.

Even the discomfort from overtaxing his mind had eased considerably as a result.

He realized then that he had been rushing his practice earlier.

Now, he began reciting the incantation at an unhurried pace, sensing the fluctuations and outward spread of his mental power as he chanted...

For the moment, he lost his goal-driven urgency to practice spellcasting. He simply immersed himself in the sensation of his mental power spreading outward, as though his entire being had formed a connection with something beyond himself...

Xu Sanlang and his colleagues walked out of the barracks together. They were all company Military Marquises serving under Commandant Lin.

Three were Military Marquises of the Archer Company, while the other two were Military Marquises of the Sword and Shield Company.

They soon forgot about Wang Qi, joking and chatting as they headed toward the mountains...

Just then, a voice carried on the wind suddenly reached their ears: "Come back!"

They were startled, for it was unmistakably Commandant Lin's voice.

They hurriedly turned and ran toward camp, thinking something urgent had happened...

Then they saw their respected Commandant Lin pacing irritably by the camp gate...

"Get over here!"

Commandant Lin called them straight over, then grabbed Xu Sanlang and pointed at Wang Qi, who was muttering an incantation with a leisurely, contented air. "Take him out of here... no, from now on, you must take him out at this time every day!"

This was the source of Commandant Lin's irritation... to a high-ranking spellcaster like him, Wang Qi's incessant chanting was like having children's songs played on repeat beside an adult's ear. It was enough to drive him mad.

Xu Sanlang: "..."

He wanted to say that he had only just turned Wang Qi down, and now he had to go back and bring him along... did his dignity count for nothing?

Wang Qi was reciting the incantation for the eleventh time. He found that once he changed his mindset and rhythm to a soft, lilting chant, he really did feel much more comfortable.

For a while, even his regret at not being able to go hunting with Xu Sanlang faded. He thought this was quite nice too...

But just as he began losing himself in that rhythm, he heard footsteps that sounded distinctly furious rapidly approaching him...

Wang Qi's heart tightened. He did not think he had done anything wrong. Were they coming for him?

He looked over in astonishment and saw Xu Sanlang's group already standing before him, bristling with aggression...

Looking at the astonished, bewildered Wang Qi, Xu Sanlang was also unsure how to face the boy... but how clever he was!

"Bring your bow and arrows and come with us. Now!"

His rough, gruff voice made him sound utterly ferocious.

Still bewildered, Wang Qi hurried to obey. He slung his short bow over his back, fetched three full quivers from the training ground and put those on too, then jogged back to Xu Sanlang and the others.

Xu Sanlang was quite pleased with Wang Qi's response. He simply could not understand how such an obedient, well-behaved boy had managed to offend Commandant Lin.

He did not understand, but that did not stop his expression from softening a little as he said, "Keep close. We'll be moving fast from here on, so make sure you don't fall behind."

The trip back and forth had already cost them quite a bit of time, and they did not want to return to camp at midnight.

Thus, the group headed into the mountains at a fast run with their loads...

Meanwhile, seeing Wang Qi finally taken away, Commandant Lin, whose nerves had been worn thin by two days of torment, at last breathed a sigh of relief and enjoyed a moment's peace.

This was a problem of his, perhaps an occupational hazard: whenever he sensed fluctuations in Spiritual Force, he instinctively tensed up.

It showed how sensitive and vigilant he was, and was quite an impressive ability.

Lately, however, Wang Qi seemed to be wearing that ability out...

As for the others, although Scribe Zhao also grew somewhat irritated by constantly sensing those Spiritual Force fluctuations, he would never pay them as much attention as Commandant Lin did.

Commandant Lin knew perfectly well that a young soldier was practicing the simplest of spells, and that there was really nothing to worry about.

Yet his sensitivity to those fluctuations in Spiritual Force still made his entire body tense and enter a state of combat readiness... given enough time, it really could break a man.

And so, without even realizing it, Wang Qi had once again become someone's unwelcome nuisance...

The six marched swiftly onward through the mountain forest.

Wang Qi, however, was not particularly pleased. Those five made far too much noise as they ran. If there really was any game nearby, surely they would have scared it off long ago.

Just a moment earlier, for instance, his ears had caught what sounded like an animal grazing in the bushes to the east, only for these rough fellows' racket to frighten it away.

As a seasoned hunter with ten years of experience, he hurriedly spoke up. "Wait! Military Marquis, are you really here to hunt?"

Xu Sanlang looked back at him irritably. "Of course we're here to hunt. Can't keep up already? Let me tell you, even if you can't keep up, we won't give you any special treatment."

Wang Qi stared steadily at him for a while... perhaps two or three seconds.

Suddenly, he pivoted and drew his bow, scooping up a handful of arrows with one hand. With an arrow between each pair of fingers and another in his palm, he held exactly five.

The arrow gripped between his thumb and forefinger was already set against the bowstring, and he swiftly loosed it.

Then the twangs of the bowstring blended together as he shot all five arrows in rapid succession!

While still in flight, the five arrows spread into a fan, streaking together toward a patch of grass more than fifty paces away.

Only then did the others look over in astonishment, just in time to see a mountain goat spring from the grass.

It dodged three arrows, but had nowhere to escape the remaining two, which struck it...

Only then did Wang Qi put away his bow and look at Xu Sanlang, raising an eyebrow slightly without a word... yet he had already said everything: See? Hunting is that simple.