As Feng Qianjun voiced his praise, faint wails drifted in from outside the factory.
"So many?" another hostage prince muttered softly.
He dared not say more, lest the Liang guards think he was mocking them.
But at that moment, all the hostage princes wondered: had the war between humans and Weirds already deteriorated this far?
Hearing him, a guard snorted displeasedly. "Focus on defending. Whether you live or die doesn't matter. Just don't ruin our assignment!"
All that talk of friendship between Liang and Jin was bullshit. These words were the truest reflection of what Liang's soldiers and police actually thought.
The next moment, Wu Youren felt another faint stirring of perception, and his gaze swept toward a corner of the factory.
"Hm?" He Wenhao stood nearby and couldn't help following his gaze.
When the two turned their eyes, the others grew curious as well, glancing over out of the corners of their eyes while remaining on guard.
There was a vague clump of shadow there, but it showed no movement, as though it were a stain that had always been on the wall.
"What are you..." Before one guard could finish, the driver had already raised his hand and fired another two shots.
Amid a shower of sparks, another agonized cry rang out. "Urgh-ah-"
"Fuck..." Another guard fired twice, blasting the Weird shadow apart.
Immediately afterward, a figure flashed into view. One of the Knight-level guards had darted back inside.
Dealing with these Qi Weirds was extremely easy for them. They had held off earlier to see whether their opponents had any follow-up moves.
Now that they had swept outside, hearing a disturbance in the factory meant they had to come back and check.
How many members of the Weird Race they killed wasn't the key. The priority was protecting the hostage princes as much as possible.
The man swept his gaze around upon entering and understood what had happened. Then he looked around, gave a soft snort, and left.
"Focus on defense. Don't take risks!"
The dozen or so people inside the factory also knew perfectly well that taking risks now would be utterly pointless.
Four Knights were pursuing the remaining enemies outside and could still spare attention for the factory. What the hell was the point of taking risks?
"Why don't we gather together?" one hostage prince suggested quietly. Wasn't that what focusing on defense should mean?
"Better to form mutually supporting positions," Feng Qianjun said calmly. They were all descendants of the powerful and privileged; their theoretical knowledge couldn't be too poor.
At that moment, he was somewhat curious about Wu Youren. "How did you notice... hm, sense something was wrong?"
But the person he questioned gave no response until He Wenhao raised his voice. "He's asking you a question."
"Huh? Oh." Wu Youren's blank eyes cleared. "I can't really explain it either. It was purely a feeling!"
His brief distraction had been because... more experience points had come in!
Only a tiny sliver, but he probably hadn't sensed it wrongly.
So I can only get a share of experience points when a Qi Weird connected to me is killed?
Whatever the case, gaining experience points from killing Weirds was a very good thing.
His cultivation ranked near the bottom among the hostage princes, and his rate of improvement was too miserable to look at.
Leaving aptitude aside, even his supply of blood food was severely inadequate.
Fortunately, quite a few members of the Hostage Prince Corps were suppressing their cultivation, planning to attempt a breakthrough to Knight after turning eighteen.
After all, while held hostage in an enemy country, displaying dazzling cultivation talent would definitely not be a good thing.
That was the only reason Wu Youren hadn't looked like even more of a drag on the group.
Now that he had a cheat, the underlying pressure had eased considerably, even if he still hadn't figured out how to use it.
By his own reckoning, the old gardener plus today's gains had saved him at least a month of arduous cultivation.
His estimate might not have been accurate, but being able to improve quickly without blood food was enough in itself.
Just as he was weighing this up, a piercing scream came from outside, clearly louder than those of the earlier Qi Weirds.
After that, the fighting gradually subsided. Before long, the four Knight guards returned, even their uniforms dry, untouched by the rain.
"A Resentment Qi Crystal." A small, dark gray stone lay in the guard leader's palm, about a centimeter across and rather irregular in shape.
He tossed the stone casually in his hand as he remarked offhandedly, "A pity. Not much use, and it's only the lowest grade."
"Still, it's worth three to five thousand. Everyone here gets a share, brothers."
The guards at Jin Garden earned only about thirty silver dollars a month.
In the capital, that sum could just about support a family of five, but it wasn't quite enough to live comfortably.
Fortunately, they could make a little on the side, bringing their total monthly income to fifty or sixty.
By comparison, Wu Youren's monthly living allowance was only twenty silver dollars, of which two actually reached his hands.
Food and lodging at Jin Garden cost him nothing. Twenty dollars could maintain a basic level of respectability, but two was nowhere near enough.
And the regular payment he had to hand over to the guards was only four dollars-a truly negligible amount compared with the other hostage princes.
For a crystal like this, the Knight guards took the lion's share, while even the Knight Apprentices could receive at least several dozen dollars. It counted as a tidy windfall.
Seeing this, the five hostage princes couldn't help stepping closer, wanting to examine the dark gray stone.
"It's for the brothers." The leader kept tossing it, a mocking look on his face. "You gentlemen have vast family fortunes. You can sit this out!"
"I'm just curious. I wanted a look." Wu Youren gave a dry chuckle. "I've never seen one before."
In truth, he wanted to sense whether an item dropped from killing a monster could increase his experience points.
Unfortunately, his body showed no response whatsoever, and neither did the Weird-Repelling Jue.
This cheat... is a bit tricky. If only it came with an instruction manual.
"Resentment Qi Crystals aren't much use to builders," another Knight said flatly.
"Thank you for the guidance." Wu Youren stepped back twice and cupped his hands. "I really was just curious."
"Everyone wants to become an Ability User. That's perfectly normal," the Knight said casually. "But you have to choose the right path!"
Wu Youren dared not respond again. Anyone who wasn't deaf could understand the hidden meaning in those words.
Just then, the guard leader's ears twitched, and he darted out of the factory.
The next moment, the faint sound of an engine drifted over, quickly growing clearer.
The guards inside the factory had switched the vehicle's headlights back on, considerably brightening the interior.
Before long, a motorcycle roared into the factory.
There was only one rider, with three guns of varying lengths hanging on either side of the bike.
The rider leaped off, a long saber on her back and a revolving hand cannon at her waist.
It really was a cannon. The muzzle's outer diameter exceeded five centimeters, while the barrel was only thirteen or fourteen centimeters long.
The next moment, a minibus stopped at the factory entrance as well. Four or five people got out, led by the guard leader.
The motorcyclist removed her helmet. She was actually a woman, with a cold face.
Below the left corner of her mouth, a deep scar extended leftward to her jaw, adding immeasurably to her murderous air.
"Instructor Hong, these are the five." The guard leader pointed at the hostage princes. "We hope your academy will take good care of them."
Then he cleared his throat. "This is Instructor Hong Yan, a Great Knight from Red Pine Martial Academy. She has exceptionally extensive combat experience."
After a pause, he added, "From now on, she'll be responsible for your overall affairs..."
"Mm, Instructor Hong's family all died in the War between Liang and Jin. You'd best not provoke her."
A Great Knight whose entire family had died at Jin's hands? All five hostage princes fell silent.
They had thought they had escaped with their lives. Now it seemed... they were still too young.
"Reporting, guard. I have an idea." Wu Youren immediately raised his right hand.
He spoke loudly. "We shouldn't stay here long. The Resentment Qi Crystal might attract more of the Weird Race. We'd best go somewhere safe."
Everyone fell silent. You're just a fucking hostage prince. Is it your place to speak?
He had even pointed out their haul of a Resentment Qi Crystal. Though it wasn't particularly high-grade, it was still... worth some money!
"Where do you want to go?" Instructor Hong spoke in a classic smoky voice, tinged with world-weariness, but even more with coldness.
"Anywhere," Wu Youren answered without thinking. "Going back to Jin Garden for now is also an option."
"Then we'll go to Red Pine," Instructor Hong said expressionlessly. "More than anything, I dislike involving the innocent."
"But if your performance fails to match your status, the punishments you deserve... you understand."
"Remember, once you enter Red Pine, you're no longer hostage princes. You're only martial artists of the Martial Academy!"
"We'll remember." The five hostage princes nodded in unison.
The other four understood Wu Youren's thinking perfectly.
Leaving Jin Garden was cause for celebration, but encountering an instructor whose entire family had died at the hands of people from Jin-and a Great Knight at that...
They'd be fucking better off returning to Jin Garden. At least they could live smoothly for a few more years.
But now there was nothing to say. They simply had to cooperate, because they had no right to speak.
And so, the group picked up their luggage and boarded the minibus.
The guards did not continue with them. This was the handover site, and after signing the official documents, they headed straight back.
From there, it took over another hour of driving to reach Red Pine Martial Academy.
Five people had come from the Martial Academy. Apart from the Great Knight and the driver, two of the remaining three were probably guards.
Only one unremarkable-looking Knight gave the five hostage princes a general account of the situation.
Red Pine was indeed a mid-tier Martial Academy. Around two thousand martial artists enrolled each year, but usually half were eliminated within a year.
Apart from recruiting martial artists from Great Liang, the Martial Academy also recruited foreign talent-not hostage princes, but simply outstanding individuals from other countries.
At present, Red Pine Martial Academy had nearly a hundred martial artists from Great Jin. The longest-serving among them had already spent eight years at the academy.
At this point, a hint of pride appeared at the corners of his mouth. "When Red Pine's martial artists return to Jin... their competitive advantage is even more pronounced!"
The five hostage princes remained silent. Though they spent year after year in Jin Garden, some news from their homeland still reached them.
What he said was true. Martial artists who returned from studying in Liang were more favored by Great Jin's authorities.
There was no helping it. After all, Great Jin had lost that war.
There was no shame in admiring the strong-at least it meant recognizing reality.
(First update of July. During the new book period, please keep reading and support the book with votes of all kinds and bookmarks.)