Everyone else heard the conversation between Wu Youren and Luo Xi.
Their relationship really was an eye-opener. So these two... were merely partners?
Fortunately, they were all seasoned travelers who knew that hearing was unreliable and seeing was believing. Those words could not be taken entirely at face value.
"If you don't want to cooperate, that's none of my business." Luo Xi smiled and spread his hands, then turned to look at the female martial artist.
"Look, you've frightened the little fellow."
"Then end your partnership with him." The female martial artist turned and walked straight away.
"Now this is really..." Luo Xi sighed helplessly, then looked at Wu Youren. "What do you say? End it?"
"Sure." The boy from Jin nodded without hesitation, then added, "Sorry... you really can't blame me for this."
Luo Xi was somewhat surprised by his answer. He truly could not understand the boy's reaction.
The boy might indeed have a special talent, but could he please get one thing straight? They had just encountered a Monkey Tiger!
In mountains this vast, if one Monkey Tiger could appear, so could a second!
If they separated, could a Knight Apprentice survive in the mountains with his meager strength?
Never mind encountering the Weird Race or the treachery of human hearts. Making it safely out of the mountains on his own strength alone would be difficult enough.
The place the boy had originally planned to visit, the so-called Rust Zone, posed certain dangers too, but at least it was not in the mountains.
Who gave you that confidence? Luo Xi raised an eyebrow. "Once we end this, that woman won't have much holding her back when she acts."
"Nothing I can do about that." Wu Youren's face was exceptionally calm. "If something really does happen, it'll be because I'm weak."
Being coerced and voluntarily attaching himself to someone were not the same thing.
In the former case, even if the Life and Death Knot found out, they would have little grounds to make an issue of it-it would purely be the result of insufficient strength.
"All right, enough joking." Luo Xi smiled. "They have the same objective as us."
Wu Youren's eyes shifted as he considered the matter and asked, "They aren't from the martial academy?"
"No." Luo Xi shook his head. "Looks like there's something to this Suotu business."
Originally, only the martial academy had sent people to investigate. Now other factions had become involved, and the situation was clearly showing signs of escalating.
Wu Youren nodded. "I have no objection to traveling together."
He was not deliberately rationing his words like gold. Rather, the more he said, the more mistakes he might make.
Luo Xi wanted to ask him something else, but seeing the boy lower his eyelids again and resume stance training, he forcibly swallowed his words.
After some thought, he went back to the female martial artist's convoy and struck up a conversation with her.
His greatest objective at present was to secure a position at the Red Pine Martial Academy. Although she was not from the academy, she had connections with it.
Luo Xi's coldness toward others was merely the vigilance expected of a Knight. Wherever there was a chance to borrow someone's strength, he would not pass it up.
Wu Youren practiced his stance for an hour, then relaxed his posture and rested for a while.
Outside the cave, the downpour had turned to light rain, but the rushing water had actually grown louder.
The middle-aged man from earlier approached again. "May I ask your name, young fellow?"
Wu Youren glanced at him and casually asked, "What else do you need, uncle?"
Earlier, he had demanded a silver dollar per person. That had fallen through, yet his tone had become more polite instead.
His identity now had a safeguard, and potential allies had appeared, so naturally he could lower his guard somewhat.
The middle-aged man also marveled inwardly. This boy was neither elated by external gains nor saddened by personal losses. His temperament really was unusually steady.
Did he really come from an impoverished family? He was no longer quite so sure, but still answered solemnly, "I wanted to ask whether you accept investment."
"Investment?" Wu Youren was startled at first, then smiled and shook his head slightly. "No, thank you!"
Yet the man remained rather persistent. "Would you mind telling me why?"
Wu Youren felt a little helpless. Even people who snatched sons-in-law from the examination rankings had to wait until a man made the list, didn't they?
There isn't even a first stroke to this Ability User business yet, and you actually dare place a bet!
He did not want to reject angel-round investment, but he truly had no choice. His identity would not allow it.
Thus, he could only say mildly, "I don't think I have much potential for growth."
"We don't mind," the middle-aged man declared confidently. "Investment always carries risks."
"But I mind!"
At that, the man truly felt rather helpless. "Then has someone already invested in you?"
Wu Youren looked at him calmly without answering.
"At least leave me your name." The middle-aged man could only settle for less. "We did cross paths, after all."
At that moment, Wu Youren truly wished he were in Jin!
He sighed and shook his head decisively. "I don't like restrictions. I absolutely hate them!"
Whether it was series A, B, C, or an angel round, where in this world was there a free lunch?
So that was the reason? The middle-aged man raised his eyebrows. "You misunderstand, young fellow. I simply want to be on good terms."
"Let's leave it at that." Wu Youren no longer wanted to talk.
He said somewhat impatiently, "Don't push anything too hard. Otherwise, I'll treat this as if I'd never met you!"
"Understood." Seeing his hackles rise, the middle-aged man finally stopped pressing.
As he left, he did not forget to add, "I'm Huo Laer of Anping Trading. Anping is a business under Earl Shengming."
His patron was an earl. No wonder a mere Knight Apprentice spoke so grandly.
Seeing no response, Huo Laer sighed inwardly. He had been rash in his earlier conduct after all.
For a mere boy to understand so much, he must have been approached by recruiters before.
When his overture was rejected, the others understood too. Even an earl's banner did not work, so there was no point harboring idle hopes.
A little over ten minutes later, the rain stopped, but they could not leave yet.
Only after waiting another hour or so did Luo Xi say, "We can go. Any later and we really will have to spend the night."
In fact, nightfall was already approaching. The safer choice would have been to wait until dawn before leaving.
Flash floods needed time to build up.
But he no longer wanted to wait. It was not because he was worried about his colleagues from the martial academy; he simply did not want to miss the opportunity.
Besides, he traveled this stretch often and was quite familiar with its general conditions.
The female martial artist's convoy also knew the area well. "Then let's go together."
The road was muddy and difficult throughout, and getting splattered all over with mud while riding a motorcycle was inevitable.
Only when the sky began to brighten did they leave the mountain road and arrive at Suotu Town.
The area surrounding this town could be considered an unbroken stretch of level ground, but in reality, it was merely a small basin in the mountains.
Looking at the sky, Luo Xi muttered, "Good thing we got out in time. If we'd waited, there might have been more rain."
"More rain?" The female Knight poked her head out of the vehicle. "Weather like this is rather rare. Are you sure?"
Storms were usually followed by clear skies stretching for miles. The odds of consecutive downpours were extremely low.
"Not very sure. I'm just showing off," Luo Xi answered casually.
"Otherwise, wouldn't we have traveled all night for nothing... fuck, a distress call from Red Pine?"
"We'll go together," the female Knight said decisively. "We need firsthand information!"
Two hours later, they reached the scene and saw six people stranded on a rocky outcrop amid the floodwaters.
The outcrop covered roughly a hundred square meters. Unfortunately, its surface was uneven.
Six people stood on it, along with two tents and some supplies, but no vehicles or motorcycles.
Raging mountain floodwaters surrounded them, easily over a hundred meters wide.
"I'm honestly impressed they managed to court death to this extent," Luo Xi muttered. "I'll contact them."
The Red Pine communication wristwatch had an internal channel, and the situation was soon clarified.
The previous night, while rain fell throughout the mountains, most of Suotu Town had merely been overcast.
Anyone familiar with the mountains knew this was perfectly normal.
These six had encountered the Weird Race during the night and retreated toward higher ground as they fought.
The rocky outcrop they occupied had been considered the highest point nearby at the time.
There was nothing really wrong with that assessment. The problem was that a flash flood had arrived in the middle of the night.
The Weird Race's attacks were unaffected by the flood, so the fighting continued until daybreak, when they finally withdrew.
Over a hundred members of the Weird Race had besieged them, at least three with Knight-level cultivation, while the six on the other side included only two Knights.
Fortunately, dawn had come. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
Wu Youren listened to their exchange, his heart as still as water, until he sensed something was amiss and turned to look.
Quite a few people were actually watching him.
Luo Xi was communicating with his colleagues and had no attention to spare for him, but the female martial artist's convoy was different.
He was regarded as a potential Ability User, one specializing in sensing the Weird Race. Even though he had rejected their recruitment, plenty of people were paying attention.
"That boy," someone quietly informed the female Knight, "seems to have discovered something."
The next instant, someone snorted coldly. "Just playing to the crowd. I haven't sensed anything."
Immediately afterward, a boy dressed in white stepped out of a vehicle.
He was slightly plump, with white teeth and red lips, but his complexion was pale too, making him look rather sickly.
Wu Youren glanced at him and paid him no mind-as long as a person or object did not trigger his senses, he generally would not let it distract him.
The boy in white, however, seemed somewhat displeased with him and gave him a cold glance.
The female martial artist asked without a ripple of emotion, "Then have you discovered anything?"
"No." The boy in white shook his head. "Everything here seems normal to me."
Then he raised a hand and pointed at Wu Youren. "Make this person leave. He's a fraud!"
"What has he swindled you out of?" Luo Xi's eyes abruptly widened. "Is the Red Pine Martial Academy's name something you can casually slander?"
"Luo Xi, let it go." The female martial artist shook her head at him. "He's our prospective Ability User. He's already partially awakened."
"So what if he's a prospective Ability User?" Luo Xi muttered resentfully. "It's not as if we at Red Pine don't have Ability Users!"
Across the vast Great Liang, there were only eight mid-tier martial academies in total. However rare Ability Users were, each academy could still produce a few.
He did not want to provoke the boy, but the more he thought about those words, the more infuriating they became.
He could also tell what condition the boy in white was in: unsteady footsteps and almost no internal energy. He might not even have reached the threshold of a Knight Apprentice.
More importantly, those words not only insulted Red Pine, but also called his integrity into question.
How could he swallow that?
(Everyone says one update isn't satisfying. Starting tomorrow, there'll be two updates a day. Please keep reading, vote, and add this to your collection to support me.)