Wu Youren and Luo Xi exchanged wristwatch numbers and stayed in frequent contact during their preparations.
Having someone to work with really made a difference. In just three days, their preparations were more or less complete.
On the night before their departure, Wu Youren made a special trip to see the caretaker and let him know.
It could be called a courtesy, but mainly, he could not be sure whether the man was within the Life and Death Knot's reach.
The caretaker, however, warmly told him to go ahead; he would look after the vegetable garden while he was away.
You won't kill all my vegetables, will you? Wu Youren was deeply doubtful, but answered with a smile, "I might not be gone that long."
That night, he waited for half the night, but no one from the Life and Death Knot came calling.
When he got up the next morning, he actually felt a faint trace of disappointment. Am I really that unimportant?
Being ignored was certainly a good thing, but if it was only how things appeared, that was rather...
With an enormous backpack on his back, Wu Youren arrived outside the training ground.
He waited less than five minutes before Luo Xi arrived on a three-wheeled motorcycle with two wheels at the rear.
There was a small cargo box behind the motorcycle, with several bundles and a rifle on it.
Luo Xi looked Wu Youren up and down, a little puzzled. "You didn't bring a weapon?"
The paperwork for foreigners to legally own guns in Great Liang was rather complicated, but they were going to stake out the Weird Race-their opponents had no right to question that, did they?
Firearms aside, most martial artists relied more on their own fighting strength.
But what was the meaning of not even bringing a long weapon?
Wu Youren put his backpack on the motorcycle and patted the belt at his waist, which held a row of small daggers. "Aren't these weapons?"
He did want to buy a gun, but if other people were caught possessing firearms illegally, they would merely have them confiscated and pay a fine. His situation was different.
Especially with such a close watch on him, he would most likely be discovered immediately. That would be going out of his way to hand others a weapon against him.
He could buy a long weapon, but the problem was... they were too expensive!
Long weapons that could withstand a martial artist's internal energy cost even more than guns. Even if Wu Youren spent everything he had, he could only afford an entry-level one.
Was he supposed to stop living after that?
He would rather go without a long weapon than carry the most ordinary sort and give others reason to look down on him.
So he had only bought some cheap, ordinary daggers to use as disposable supplies.
"Just these..." Luo Xi really was at a loss for words. A little dagger like that cost far less than even a single weird-breaking bullet!
Wu Youren blinked twice. "I mainly want to gather some information."
Surely gathering information did not necessarily require bringing stronger weapons?
As for whether he had weapons but had not brought them, or whether it was something else, he had no intention of explaining.
At worst, they would part ways. He had prepared himself for that.
"True enough." Luo Xi hesitated, then nodded. "Carry a sharp blade close to your heart, and the urge to kill arises on its own."
Then he touched the pistol at his waist and glanced at the rifle in the cargo box behind him.
Only after a pause did he speak. "But if we encounter a suitable target, I can act on my own... right?"
"Listen to you." Wu Youren smiled at that. "We're just working together. I'm counting on your help when it matters."
"We'll both do our best." Luo Xi put his other thoughts aside and answered with a smile.
The other fellow's circumstances were a little odd, but as he saw it, at worst, he could treat it as a few days of outdoor recreation.
If he happened to gain anything at all, it would be worth it.
He took the boy from Jin to the martial academy's gate, scanned his identity card, and prepared to leave.
When Wu Youren scanned his identity card, he was blocked, so he took out Instructor Hong Yan's written order as well.
The gatekeeper checked it. The pass was genuine, and the martial academy had it on record.
But the permissions on this Jin boy's identity card were very strange-strictly forbidden to leave the martial academy!
The gatekeeper rarely saw permissions like these. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Please wait a moment."
"The senior instructor issued it!" Luo Xi could not hold back. "Do you want me to bring her here?"
The martial academy had more than one grand knight serving as an instructor, but Instructor Hong's strength stood out even among grand knights.
"I didn't say I wouldn't let you through," the gatekeeper replied without changing expression. "I asked you to wait. I still have other people to check."
In fact, he had already quietly sent word to ask others what exactly was going on.
Even if it had said "strictly forbidden to enter or leave at will," he could have let them through-Instructor Hong's written order would have been enough.
The problem was that the words "at will" were not even there. That really put him in a difficult position.
The martial academy's gatekeeping was not particularly strict, somewhat like a porter's lodge. Occasionally, if an acquaintance had forgotten their identity card, the gatekeeper would simply turn a blind eye.
But the current situation was rather too unusual. He absolutely did not dare let someone through on his own authority.
In a situation like this, contacting Instructor Hong directly would be most appropriate, but... he was not qualified!
He made inquiries through intermediaries and learned that Instructor Hong had shut herself away to research something and could not spare the time at present.
At first, neither Luo Xi nor Wu Youren minded, assuming the man needed to verify more information.
After all, the pass was genuine, and with so many people entering and leaving, the gatekeeper really was a little overwhelmed.
But after they had waited for over an hour, Luo Xi began to lose patience.
Choosing a moment when fewer people were passing through, he spoke up. "How much longer do we have to wait? Do you want me to bring Instructor Hong here?"
The gatekeeper was helpless too. He had asked several friends already, but none could explain what was going on.
Left with no choice, he could only report to his superior, who replied: then ask what they intend to do.
The gatekeeper had indeed asked-they wanted to go out and investigate nearby Weird Race activity.
That was a very compelling reason in itself. The reason the Weird Race had no long-term activity around Tianjing was precisely that quite a few people quietly did this sort of thing.
"Then just assign them an area, won't that settle it?" His superior offered a compromise.
The gatekeeper had not answered them because he was gathering and analyzing the relevant information, but had yet to find the most suitable option.
Hearing the question, he hesitated before asking, "Do your plans include any specific destination?"
Luo Xi grew even more displeased. "Your responsibility is checking people entering and leaving the martial academy. Aren't you asking a bit much?"
"We have no specific destination," Wu Youren answered seriously. "We're just investigating Weird Race activity, with no particular target."
Instructor Luo could afford not to show the man any consideration, but he could not. He was even more concerned that the Life and Death Knot would make a great issue of it.
"Then how about this?" the gatekeeper said solemnly. "There are signs of possible Weird Race activity in Suotu Town's third district."
"If you go there, I can let you through."
"You want to give us assignments?" Luo Xi snorted in displeasure, then tapped his wristwatch a few times.
Then he looked up at the man. "There's no mission like that. It isn't among the instructors' internal missions either."
Although he was still trying to secure an assistant instructor position, he came from Red Pine, with impeccable roots and decent connections.
So it was perfectly normal for him to be able to check the instructors' internal missions.
"I don't know about the instructors' internal missions," the gatekeeper said expressionlessly. At the martial academy, these were two separate systems.
"If you're willing to go, I'll let you through now. Otherwise, I can only trouble you both to wait a little longer."
His words were polite, but his tone was firm. He clearly had no intention of bending the rules.
"Then I'll check right now." Luo Xi refused to believe it. He was even beginning to wonder whether he had offended this fellow before.
His investigation was highly efficient. In just ten minutes or so, he confirmed one thing: there really were signs of possible Weird Race activity in Suotu Town.
He had not found it through the mission system earlier because someone had already accepted the mission internally, bypassing the process entirely.
He confirmed this through his friends' channels, and even learned that the martial academy had already sent two martial artist squads to investigate.
But he was still displeased. "Who takes orders from whom once we get there? Little Wu, what do you think?"
"I have no say in this." Wu Youren sighed. "The main thing is, can we leave if we don't go to Suotu?"
"Then you'll have to wait a little longer," the gatekeeper replied. "That's the situation with the current Weird Race missions."
"I'm just curious," Luo Xi said, puzzled. "I never knew gatekeepers could assign missions."
"Are you doing this because of him, or because of me?"
Did that even need asking? The gatekeeper's expression was strange too. "If Knight Luo Xi wants to leave, am I qualified to stop him?"
Luo Xi nodded. "Then you have a problem with the senior instructor. Understood!"
"What do you understand?!" The gatekeeper grew anxious. He could not just slap a label on him like that. "He's strictly forbidden to leave the martial academy!"
"Exactly." Luo Xi did not see any problem at all. "Why else would Senior Instructor Hong issue him a written order?"
"I can't make you understand." The gatekeeper knew very well that this fellow was not yet an instructor at the martial academy. "Nor am I obliged to explain!"
"How about we head back?" Luo Xi was truly angry now. "Kid, I'll remember you."
"We're already here," Wu Youren said timidly.
"Then... fine." Luo Xi hesitated, but finally sighed.
"If I hadn't delivered this written order on her behalf, I would never swallow this undeserved treatment. Kid, you're in big trouble."
"I'll be waiting for you to make trouble," the gatekeeper said, his temper rising too. "This had nothing to do with you in the first place. Why kick up such a fuss?"
"Forget it," Wu Youren could only urge. "At worst, we'll just go to Suotu."
To him, staking out the Rust Zone was not much different from going to Suotu.
"All right, then." Luo Xi, who had been so furious, actually agreed.
His reasoning was simple. Spending a few days together would deepen his friendship with the boy from Jin, even if they gained nothing at all.
As for his grudge against the gatekeeper, they would see. Once he became an instructor at the martial academy, he would have plenty of time and opportunities.
Oh, still thinking of getting revenge afterward? The gatekeeper was no fool either, but he found it rather laughable.
We belong to entirely different systems. You want to make things difficult for me, but can you even reach me?
"We're going to Suotu." Luo Xi did not argue the point with him. "Come on, say we can't go to Suotu either, if you've got the guts!"
"You said it yourself." The gatekeeper did not stoop to his level. "You can leave. You'd better not take the wrong road!"
Apart from affairs between men and women, taking the wrong road generally had very serious consequences!