Wu Youren did not know what had happened, but those who understood had understood long ago.
One of the guards who had given up challenging him chose someone else to challenge, while the other four simply lowered their banners and stilled their drums.
Wu Youren quietly committed those four men's names to memory.
The one who continued challenging others genuinely needed to enter a martial academy. Those four had clearly been picking soft persimmons to squeeze. They were not the same thing.
The intensity of the subsequent bouts would be reduced to minimize injuries, so they would run for five days.
On the second day, however, the first group of ten hostages would set off for their respective martial academies.
Wu Youren had few belongings, but they still filled two wicker trunks.
What relieved him most was that he did not have to wear his hostage uniform-he could leave it at Jin Garden.
There was no need to imagine the consequences of traveling in an enemy nation's hostage uniform.
He had only left Jin Garden twice before, both times in uniform to attend important celebrations in Liang.
That feeling of humiliation... needed no further elaboration.
Their means of transport was the automobile. Yes, this world had already entered the industrial age.
The ten hostages rode in six open-top cars. After leaving Jin Garden, they split into two groups of three cars and headed in different directions.
The Office of Protocol had announced that every five hostages would enter one mid-tier martial academy. This time, thirty hostages would enter the academies in successive groups.
The moment the cars slowly drove out of Jin Garden, Wu Youren silently breathed a sigh of relief-he had finally left that oppressive place.
Sharing his car was another hostage, He Wenhao, a baron's son one year older than him.
Over the past eight years, the two had rarely spoken, and that remained the case now.
At this moment, however, they could not help exchanging a glance, each seeing the relief in the other's eyes.
Yet as the cars drove on, pedestrians along the road cast contemptuous looks at them.
As several cars passed them, some people even stuck their heads out and spat.
That was because every car they rode in bore a large "Hostage" marking.
This was another of Liang's methods. Supposedly, such a conspicuous marking ensured that the populace would not be easily misled.
Hostages riding in these open-top cars often received stones and bricks, especially when the cars were moving slowly.
This was not merely public humiliation, but undisguised brutality: This is how we in Liang do things. What can you do about it?
Even the guards' uniforms bore "Hostage" armbands. There was no escaping this humiliation even without riding in a car.
Fortunately, neither Wu Youren nor He Wenhao had worn his hostage uniform on this outing, so the pressure was less intense.
The two were even interested in looking at the streetside scenery and local customs.
Great Liang's capital was called Tianjing. It seemed populous and certainly prosperous enough, yet there was always something indescribably strange about it.
The streetscape was not something the two hostages were qualified to judge. They simply watched in silence.
After living in Tianjing for eight years, they were only now seeing its sights at such close quarters.
There was no need to mention their arrival, when their hearts had lurched up and down with anxiety. During their two outings to attend ceremonies, they had been too busy keeping their heads down to avoid the onlookers.
After watching for a while, Wu Youren spoke. "It feels a little less tranquil than Zhongjing."
That was his genuine impression, expressed relatively tactfully. Strictly speaking, the city lacked a certain elegance and gravitas.
It was hardly surprising for a rising city to lack the accumulated weight of history, but the vacant lots and ruined walls that appeared from time to time seemed a little...
Speaking up so readily felt somewhat presumptuous, but was this not also a probe?
"That's why you're being sent to martial academies," one of the accompanying guards replied, not particularly taking issue with his attitude.
"The weird race has been growing more rampant. Tianjing is still doing well. Jin's capital is in even worse shape."
"They really exist?" He Wenhao could not hold back either. "Are they spirits and monsters?"
"All sorts," another guard answered without elaborating, clearly somewhat displeased with the hostages.
"Could we stop so we can buy a few things?" He Wenhao asked of his own accord.
"Forget it. We can't stop halfway," the first guard stated bluntly. "There are plenty of things in the martial academy, too."
"Great Liang has had an endless stream of good things these past few years. Many of them are things you'd never see in Jin... fuck?"
Before he had finished speaking, a black shadow fell from the sky and slammed heavily into the ground a short distance ahead.
The entire ground shuddered twice, then fragments flew in every direction!
"Enemy attack!" The three cars braked sharply, and several guards sprang straight out.
A voice came from the billowing dust. "Cough, cough. The power suddenly failed... good grief, I nearly fell to my death."
"You think saying the fucking power failed settles it?" one guard raged. "Do you know we're..."
"Enough, that's Young Marquis Wu," another guard hastily interrupted. "It was only a brake failure... what's the big deal?"
"Cough, cough. The young marquis?" The other guards fell silent.
The next instant, a figure shot away like lightning. "I'll leave this to you, then... clean it up quickly."
The dust gradually dispersed, revealing a massive crater in the road, over fifteen meters across!
It was not particularly deep, only two or three meters, but spiderweb cracks spread from its outer edge far along the road.
Quite a few parts lay scattered in the crater, along with tires. It looked... like a motorcycle?
You certainly don't see this often in Great Jin! Wu Youren did not dare voice that sarcastic remark.
He Wenhao looked at the buildings teetering a short distance from the roadside, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "This person... isn't human?"
They had just been talking about the weird race demolishing houses. There was nothing wrong with interpreting it that way now, was there?
"Have you lost your mind?" Several guards glared at him. "That's Young Marquis Wu! How dare you slander him like that?"
"We really haven't seen enough of the world," Wu Youren immediately said with an apologetic smile. "You gentlemen all know that. Please forgive us, please forgive us!"
Whatever his relationship with He Wenhao, once outside, they were both subjects of Great Jin. When someone needed to smooth things over, he had to help.
The other guards did not pursue it. They knew very well what sort of lives the hostages usually led.
Never mind current affairs and gossip. If they could find their own way back after leaving Jin Garden, they would already count as capable.
Yet among the other three hostages traveling with them, one named Feng Qianjun could not resist asking another question. "Was that... a Great Knight?"
Anyone addressed as a young marquis could not be very old, but a knight could not have caused such a commotion, could he?
"That was an ability user," a guard sneered. "What's a mere Great Knight worth?"
The five hostages instantly fell silent. They had truly never expected to encounter such a rare existence as soon as they went out.
This world's knight system had existed for thousands of years, but the Ability User system had emerged less than eight hundred years ago.
As spirits and monsters grew increasingly rampant, people discovered that killing members of the weird race could grant special abilities through their flesh, blood, or possessions.
However, resources were secondary when it came to becoming an ability user. What mattered most was one's own potential.
Wu Youren was quite unfamiliar with this system. He had only heard that the Weird-Repelling Jue seemed to have been made by ability users.
He felt somewhat puzzled. Are ability users' bodies really that sturdy?
Even a Great Knight probably could not have withstood that impact, yet the man had left as though nothing had happened.
While the hostages were still shocked and lost in thought, the guards who had stopped the cars were already taking out walkie-talkies to call the relevant maintenance personnel.
There was no helping it. They had encountered this incident, and the young marquis had specifically tasked them with handling the aftermath.
Besides, they were government personnel. Even if they wanted to entrust the task to passersby, the response time and results would be vastly different.
As for taking the hostages to the martial academy, that was far less important by comparison.
They did not forget to warn them, however. "You're already very fortunate now. Don't go looking for suffering when there's none to be had."
The five hostages had no intention of making trouble. They did not even exchange glances.
They were not fools. They had already left Jin Garden. Even if they wanted to run, they would have plenty of time to think it over at the martial academy.
They were all wearing ordinary clothes. Standing beside the guards, who could be certain they were hostages rather than people hitching a ride?
He Wenhao did not even mention buying things again.
Before long, a reply came over the walkie-talkie. The guards were overjoyed. "Good, a builder is on the way!"
Repairing roads and buildings was the responsibility of civil administrators, who had laborers and machinery under them. It was rare for a builder to make an appearance.
Noticing something odd about Wu Youren's expression, Feng Qianjun could not help asking, "What's wrong?"
He was an earl's son, the highest-ranking of the five hostages heading to Red Pine Martial Academy this time.
He alone had also ridden in a car by himself, watched over by three guards.
Wu Youren sighed softly. "I thought of my father. He nearly became a builder."
Although his late father had been raised by his grandmother, he had been brought up very well. Unfortunately, he had died in that war between nations.
"That does..." Feng Qianjun hesitated before speaking. "Why do I remember that he passed away?"
Their status differed greatly, and they had hardly ever spoken before. He had not even known much about the other's family background.
Only because this man had performed so remarkably lately, and was also heading to Red Pine Martial Academy with him, had he specifically asked around.
"Yes." Wu Youren nodded. Their current circumstances were rather sensitive, so he said no more.
Inwardly, however, he felt a little puzzled. Why is his attitude somewhat different today?
"What a pity," Feng Qianjun sighed softly. "Builders are a watered-down version of ability-based construction."
He had also learned that the other's father was a titled nobleman's illegitimate son.
But the treatment of powerful nobles' illegitimate sons... could differ as greatly as heaven and earth. The other's father might well have come within a step of advancing to ability user.
He Wenhao looked startled. "There's such a thing?"
"Hmph." A Liang guard snorted softly. "Making a fuss over what little you've seen. Half the builders in our Great Liang are proper ability users."
The corner of Feng Qianjun's mouth twitched, and he could not help sighing softly. "Advancing to an ability user through construction was originally invented by our Great Jin!"
After the phenomenon of ability users emerged, every nation had stepped up its frantic research, terrified of falling behind the others.
Ability users' progress differed across fields, too. As an earl's son, it was normal for Feng Qianjun to know certain details.
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