The three-wheeled motorcycle drove out of the Martial Academy, but Luo Xi was still somewhat indignant. "I never knew gatekeepers could be so vile!"
That's because you haven't seen worse. Wu Youren smiled. "Maybe he wanted to extort something from me."
He was not deliberately accusing anyone unjustly. That was simply the logic of survival in Jin Garden.
Nor did he know that the Martial Academy's gatekeepers and instructors belonged to two separate systems, so he could think of no reason for the man to make things difficult for him.
That made this the most reasonable explanation.
Luo Xi had also been wondering whether there was... something unusual about this fellow's identity.
Hearing that, he understood. "That really could be it. Red Pine's reputation has been... sigh, forget it. This isn't something we can discuss in detail!"
Was that really the reason? Wu Youren confirmed his guess through the other man's reaction.
He nodded. "Forget it. It's not worth dwelling on. I didn't give him any money in the end anyway."
Neither of them had any idea that their guesses were a hundred and eight thousand miles off the mark!
The remarkable thing was that their words corroborated each other, not only fitting together seamlessly, but also taking them further and further off course!
Complaints aside, however, they still had to go to Suotu Town, even if all they had given the gatekeeper earlier was a verbal promise.
They could have refused, but agreeing and then failing to act was another matter entirely.
Suotu Town was much farther from the Martial Academy, over a hundred kilometers away, and more importantly, over half the route consisted of mountain roads.
The roads were not particularly easy to travel, but fortunately, the motorcycle handled off-road terrain fairly well and could average around fifty kilometers an hour.
There was little traffic either. In total, they encountered only two convoys and a lone open-top off-road vehicle.
As they traveled, the sky grew overcast. Luo Xi had been here before and said there was a supply point not far ahead.
The weather in the mountains was changeable. If it rained, they could stop there briefly.
When the motorcycle reached a bend beside a cliff, they suddenly discovered a large stretch of scattered rocks on the road ahead, including two sizable ones.
They must have just slid down from the mountainside, but a motorcycle had already stopped ahead.
It was also a conventional three-wheeler, and its two riders had dismounted.
The two were experienced. They had parked a long way off and, rather than rushing to move the rocks, were warily scanning the cliff and valley.
Luo Xi was no novice either. As soon as they came within sight, he began braking gradually.
Wu Youren leaped off. Rather than hurrying forward, he rested a hand at his waist and asked in a low voice, "Could someone be lying in ambush?"
On remote roads, some unusual situations did not occur naturally, but were the work of highway robbers.
"There's a good chance," Luo Xi replied without getting off. He planted one foot on the ground and took both hands off the handlebars.
"Don't go forward. Wait here. Anyone who dares take this road with just two people won't be weak."
Over three hundred meters separated the two motorcycles, a relatively safe distance in the wilderness.
The people by the motorcycle ahead noticed the vehicle behind them and sensed the pair's vigilance, growing wary themselves.
Fortunately, Luo Xi had not dismounted at all and did not look as though he was preparing to fight.
As for Wu Youren, he was clearly a callow youth, carrying neither a long weapon nor a firearm. How much of a threat could he pose?
Even so, the helmeted rider ahead turned sideways, keeping a highly vigilant watch behind him.
The two inspected their surroundings a while longer before the one without a helmet approached the scattered rocks.
The smaller stones were easy enough to clear, but the two large ones took considerable effort to push.
Seeing this, the rider on lookout waved toward the pair behind them, then pointed at the rocks ahead.
His meaning was clear: both our vehicles need to pass, so are you two just going to watch?
Luo Xi spread his hands without answering, but his attitude was equally clear: we're strangers, so we'd better keep our distance.
The helmeted rider ahead pointed at the sky: it's about to rain. Are you sure you're in no hurry?
"All right." Luo Xi gave a soft grunt, started the motorcycle again, and slowly drove forward.
The others were not necessarily bad people, but out here in the wilds, maintaining a suitable degree of vigilance was good for both sides.
Even if they suddenly conceived malicious intentions, seeing how alert the pair were would make them weigh the consequences.
Wu Youren did not get back on at all. Instead, he quickened his pace, keeping up with the motorcycle.
Even while moving briskly, he did not neglect to observe his surroundings.
The distance between the two parties slowly narrowed. Two hundred meters, a hundred meters, fifty meters...
At around twenty meters, Luo Xi stopped the motorcycle again and grunted softly. "I'll hold the line. Go see if you can help."
"Watch how I react," Wu Youren said as he stepped forward.
As he walked, he kept looking around, appearing exceptionally vigilant.
When he came within seven or eight meters of the helmeted rider, he flicked his hand. Three cold gleams flashed, shooting toward the man in a triangular formation!
The change came so suddenly that no one had expected the callow youth to launch a violent attack.
Fortunately, Luo Xi came from the martial academy. Whatever else might be said, his practical combat experience was exceptionally rich.
When he heard Little Wu say, "Watch how I react," his vigilance had risen another notch.
This was their first time working together, but he could still notice obviously unusual phrasing.
Seeing the youth from Jin strike, he moved, vanishing straight off the motorcycle and darting diagonally forward.
In the process, he also drew the revolver at his waist and fired three shots in rapid succession.
His target was none other than the helmeted rider.
Only after pulling the trigger did he ask, "What's going on?"
He would not ask questions before striking, because this was a sudden encounter in the wilderness.
In extraordinary circumstances, he had to choose to trust his teammate and stand with his own rather than judge who was right. There was no other option.
Little Wu's attacks would not be very powerful. Those three little daggers might not even penetrate the other party's defenses.
Revolver rounds at such close range should be able to inflict some damage.
The chances of killing the target outright were not great, however, because Luo Xi could sense that the other party was definitely more than a Knight Apprentice.
Against someone with a Knight's cultivation, an attack like this was almost incapable of causing fatal injuries.
"Use Weird-Breaking Projectiles!" Wu Youren swiftly dodged diagonally backward, stumbling and tumbling.
It was not that he could not control his movements, but that these were necessary tactical evasions.
"Fuck!" Luo Xi understood instantly.
At the same moment, the three small daggers and three bullets all struck the helmeted rider.
A ripple spread around the rider's body, shaking the bullets and daggers alike into powder.
At the same time, the rider's figure shuddered violently, and various parts of his body began to writhe strangely.
Then came a furious shout. "You're courting death!"
"Now this is fucking hitting the jackpot!" Luo Xi bared his teeth, drew another revolver with his left hand, and fired four shots in succession.
He had two revolvers at his waist, one loaded with ordinary bullets and the other with Weird-Breaking Projectiles.
He had thought he was shooting a human and made the wrong choice. Now he corrected it in time.
The four Weird-Breaking Projectiles became two clusters of red light, two attacking the helmeted rider and two attacking the one moving the rocks.
At the same time, he did not forget to issue a warning. "They're not Weird Race. They're spirits!"
Those that knew how to assume human form were not the traceless Weird Race, but spirits of the mountains and wilds.
"They're still Weird Race," Wu Youren said, dodging while throwing out one small dagger after another.
His predecessor had some grounding in throwing knives, mainly because there had been no other weapons to practice with in Jin Garden.
The small daggers he threw now were almost incapable of hurting the enemy either.
Nevertheless, he remained quite composed. His role, as he defined it, was primarily to disrupt.
He also threw two blades at the one moving the rocks, but had no attention to spare for the results!
On the battlefield now, he was the weakest. Protecting himself was what mattered most.
He did not believe Luo Xi would make a great effort to protect him, and even if that were possible, he did not want to hold his teammate back.
"Take care!" he shouted, darting beside the motorcycle, grabbing his backpack, and retreating explosively.
They had already agreed that this was merely a collaboration. He did not expect the other man to rescue him, nor was he obliged to save the other man.
That was how things in this world ought to be.
"Just protect yourself!" Luo Xi snorted coldly, his voice hurried. He sounded as though he had no attention to spare either.
After the two clusters of red light struck, the two figures remained standing, their bodies beginning to twist violently-they were indeed not human!
The next moment, the helmeted rider let out a wild howl. "Awooo~~~"
After twisting, it actually transformed into a huge brown leopard cat.
The leopard cat's head, however, bore a human face-not particularly human-looking, but more like a monkey's face.
"It really is a Monkey Tiger." Luo Xi put away both guns and drew the long weapon from his back.
It was a broad-bladed greatsword with a single cutting edge, something that could be called a short-handled horse-chopping saber.
Besides chopping and slashing, the weapon could also thrust straight forward, something ordinary long sabers could not do.
Luo Xi thought little of his opponent. He lunged forward and slashed viciously. "A mere orange Monkey Tiger dares show off?"
A spirit's strength was not necessarily related to its color, but that was indeed the case for Monkey Tigers.
A brown Monkey Tiger was only equivalent in strength to a Knight.
But Luo Xi was an elite Knight trained by Red Pine Martial Academy. Ordinary human Knights of the Great Liang State were all slightly inferior to him.
With his long weapon now in hand, how could he tolerate a wild orange Monkey Tiger running rampant?
At the same time, he did not forget to warn his teammate. "Careful. That one might be a human thrall. Just keep it occupied!"
Monkey Tigers were already strong fighters among spirits, but what made them even harder to deal with was their proficiency in arts of beguilement and their ability to lure humans to their deaths.
The souls of humans lured to their deaths might be driven by Monkey Tigers. These were the thralls from the saying "serve as a thrall to the tiger."
Luo Xi was not afraid to fight a Monkey Tiger, but adding a human thrall would make things somewhat troublesome.
Now that he had a companion, the human thrall could not join forces against him. Otherwise, Little Wu would be free to attack from the side, skirmishing at will.
As he gave the warning, he secretly wondered: How did this youth from Jin spot something so strange?
By now, Wu Youren had already run seventy or eighty meters away, taking things out of his backpack and tossing them out as he ran.
After a bout of twisting, the human thrall transformed into a large cloud of brown smoke and pursued him closely.
As it chased him, it let out furious snarls.
Its voice was very indistinct, but some human words could still more or less be made out. "Brat, you're dead!"
(Update posted. During the new book period, please support it with follow-up subscriptions, votes, and favorites.)