Blood of the Army

by Tinalynge

  Xue Wei had already become a living legend in the Recruitment Camp, but now he was even more than a legend.

  Many of the young experts that were supposed to enter the Recruitment Camp this year also looked at Xue Wei curiously. They had only heard about him from others, and thus they had a hard time fully understanding whether or not his strength was genuine or if it was just some rumor that had grown.

  Many of the geniuses that were present saw themselves as peerless talents, so they had a hard time putting others in their eyes. Especially the people that came from outside of the capital.

  Xue Wei was special. He had a special status because of his uncle, but he was also said to be inhumane while fighting, a bloodthirsty, murderous personage who could only be described as the ‘crimson devil’.

  Such a description, for those who had not seen the fight, seemed as if it was exaggerated. As if it was a rumor that had been blown out of proportion.

  "Young Hero Xue Wei!" The Crown Prince was the first to step forward. "It is our honor that you attend our banquet today," he said smilingly, and just as he stepped forward, Xue Wei's pupils contracted into small dots. Right by the side of the prince was the black-clad young woman with silver hair and ice-blue eyes.

  When she saw Xue Wei, she smiled and lifted her cup in a silent greeting, her actions causing the Crown Prince to be stumped for words.

  "My lady, you know our Young Hero Xue Wei?" he asked hesitatingly. Xue Wei, who knew of her real nature, was curious as to how she was going to answer.

  "I know of him," she laughed with a pearl-like laughter. "We have encountered each other three times now, once in Tiankong City when I was roaming through the countryside, once here in the capital, and now the third time. One has to admit that there seem to be some sort of fate tying us together."

  Having said this, the woman winked at Xue Wei, who forced a smile in return. He now understood why she had visited him earlier. It was to warn him.

  She had displayed her capabilities and made him understand that no one in Tiankong City were her match. If he called wolf and everyone got ready to fight her, it was likely that not even the capital would remain standing. That the streets would turn into rivers of blood and that every single citizen would be slain.

  "My lady, it is my honor to meet you again," Xue Wei said sarcastically before he turned his attention to the Crown Prince once more.

  "Your Highness, this one feels fortunate to be invited to your esteemed banquet."

  "You are all geniuses of the nation, dragons amongst men, phoenixes soaring the skies. For this kingdom to have such promising talents, we are very fortunate." the Crown Prince smiled, and it was clear that he was serious about what he said.

  "Now, do not stand on ceremony. All of us are friends here. Do enter and mingle with the other geniuses. I am sure that a few of them recognize you from previous encounters."

  Saying this, Xue Wei looked around, and truthfully so he encountered experts from the Recruitment Camp, but he also noticed a face that he had not thought he would see.

  This was the young master he had met the first time he arrived in the capital, and he was rather pale when his eyes landed on Xue Wei.

  Luo Zhirou and Shen Mu were both next to the Crown Prince. It was clear that they were his loyal subjects, loyal followers, and were regarded rather highly by the Crown Prince.

  What made Xue Wei sigh a breath of relief was knowing that if the Crown Prince had only valued them because of their connection to Xue Wei, they would never have managed to reach the position they had now. To reach that position, they had to display their own ability, and the Crown Prince had deemed them worthy of his time and trust.

  "Young Hero Xue Wei, how could you ignore me like this?" Chu Huiyin came towards Xue Wei, her hand still elegantly holding a cup of rice wine, her face blossoming into a great smile of an innocent girl, and her demeanor that of a young girl in love.

  "Why would he have the honor of getting the attention of this woman?" someone muttered, just loud enough for others to hear.

  "I hear he is into men, that prophet from the center of the continent took a fancy to him," another joined in, and for once Chu Huiyin’s eyes displayed utter surprise, after which they turned dangerously dark.

  "You!" she said as she pointed at the man who had previously spoken, "what did you just say?"

  The man trembled slightly when he saw the enraged expression on the woman's face, but he cleared his throat and said with a loud voice, "You should not fancy this young man. He is already taken! In the training camp, he was very close with Prophet Lan from the center of the continent."

  Chu Huiyin was filled with disbelief, her entire face contorting with shock as she slowly turned and looked at Xue Wei.

  She then moved faster than anyone could see. Within a moment, she was standing next to Xue Wei and her nail had cut his arm, from which blood dripped down.

  Completely ignoring the others, Chu Huiyin slid her finger down the cut and afterwards lifted the finger to her lips and tasted it. Only then did her expression relax.

  "You!" she turned around and looked at the man who had spoken before. "Don't speak nonsense; his yang energy is still pure, so it is impossible for him to have been together with anyone!"

  Xue Wei was shocked by her actions. She was definitely not moving for the sake of saving his reputation – she was genuinely scared of him having been with the prophet.

  The young man who had said that Xue Wei was gay was stumped for words. He had been present back when Xue Wei and Lan shared one tent, and seen how they had behaved.

  He had even heard how Lan had called Xue Wei his darling and asked for him to come to the center of the continent. Was all this just for show?

  Chapter 39 - This I Vow

  Xue Wei was as puzzled as everyone else present, though his reasons were completely different.

  The many spectators were of the impression that this young woman was infatuated with Xue Wei, and that she had feared that the love of her life had been gay, but Xue Wei knew better.

  The killing intent that Chu Huiyin had shown in their last encounter was not for show. Xue Wei was certain that this woman wished to rip him to shreds at any given moment, so the infatuation that the others saw was clearly just a method to get close to him.

  Why was she so interested in him? Why was she in such a panic when she thought he was into guys? It was clear that that had been no act but rather her actual emotions as she had moved almost with a frenzy.

  She had not cared the least about her reputation by cutting his arm and tasting his blood. It was strange indeed.

  Meanwhile, Xue Wei grumbled about the fact that he had been cut. Her nail had cut him as if he was made from tofu, and she had not cared about his wellbeing at all.

  Furthermore, how was she capable of determining whether or not he had pure yang energy within him by simply tasting his blood? Xue Wei was certain that even if he tasted his own blood, he would not taste anything else other than the metallic taste of blood itself.

  Chu Huiyin's face, which previously had an expression of extreme anger and malice, turned calm once more.

  "Please don't spread false rumors," she said to the man who had said that Xue Wei had long since lost his purity, that he had given himself to the prophet. "Young Hero Xue Wei is a true dragon amongst men. Why would he fancy another man?" she asked coquettishly, as if she was a young woman that had been wronged.

  Everyone was rather unsure of what had happened. Only a few experts, the Crown Prince and Tie Haolong included, were frowning and looking at Chu Huiyin with distrust; everyone else had long since dismissed her violent reaction as mere jealousy.

  Xue Wei knew that talking with this Ice Harpy about the Wayfarers would be unwise. He could possibly reveal her true identity this way, but then he would run the risk of revealing the fact that he cared for someone among the caravan of Wayfarers that Wang Xiaoyun belonged to, which would lead to her unleashing her fury upon them.

  I
t was clear that she hated Xue Wei. That hatred would extent to anyone he cared for, and thus they would become easy targets. Xue Wei was not willing to see this, so he kept his mouth shut about the Wayfarers.

  Then a thought hit him. The strongest person he had met was without a doubt Lan. Although this Chu Huiyin was strong, she did not seem as strong as him, so was it possible for Xue Wei to perhaps get some help from an unexpected front?

  Just as Xue Wei was about to proclaim his rather dubious love for Lan, he stopped.

  Chu Huiyin suddenly turned around and looked at him; her eyes were sharp like two swords, and she seemed to be trying to swallow him with her eyes alone.

  "Do not even think about that," she said with a warning voice. "Lying to me will do you no good. Now be a good boy and accompany me," she ordered. Xue Wei, who had schemed to put Lan and Chu Huiyin up against one another, could only breathe out and shake his head. The words he wanted to say were forever buried in his chest.

  "Please enjoy the evening," Xue Wei said to his four newfound friends before he allowed Chu Huiyin to drag him with her towards a remote corner.

  There were a few places to sit down, and the Ice Harpy sank herself into the soft cushions once she took a seat, after which she patted a cushion next to her. "Sit," she said. However, although a warm and soft smile played on her lips, Xue Wei could sense the murderous air behind it.

  He had no choice but to sit, and he felt exhausted. This woman would not leave him be, but she would not talk straight either.

  "So, are you close to Prophet Lan?" Chu Huiyin asked after a bit of time. Xue Wei, who now knew that lying would get him nowhere, just shrugged his shoulders.

  "We spent two weeks together," he said, and then the Ice Harpy nodded her head. "Makes sense," she said, "he has always had a peculiar attraction to the odd and strange, the rare and the abnormal."

  "Well, thank you," Xue Wei said dryly, clearly understanding that he was the one being described as odd, strange, rare, and abnormal.

  "It was not a compliment," Chu Huiyin said smilingly. Xue Wei said nothing as a maid approached them, bringing with her snacks and drinks.

  Both Chu Huiyin and Xue Wei accepted a cup of rice wine and a few snacks that they placed on the table that was next to the cushions. The maid went away shortly after.

  Neither spoke for some time, just drinking the sake and eating snacks.

  "You know I will kill you one day, right?" Chu Huiyin suddenly said. "I hate you. I hate you more than anything else in this world, so you will have to die by my hands. I want to savor the feeling of hunting you. I want to experience you being in despair. I want you to beg for mercy before you die."

  Chu Huiyin’s eyes had an insane gleam to them, and her voice was getting lower and lower, as if she feared that someone would listen in on her abrupt confession. Each and every single word was filled with malice; her eyes were lit with madness, and her lips were curled into a sinister smile that seemed to already feel the pleasure of torturing him throughout.

  "I don't believe that you can," Xue Wei said hesitatingly, almost surprised at the discovery he made, and his words caused the smile on Chu Huiyin's lips to freeze. Her maddened eyes looked at him. "Why not?" she asked with a raspy and hoarse voice.

  "If you could kill me, you would have done it already. I know you hate me, and when we were alone in the Tie mansion, you could have killed me with no one being the wiser as to what had happened.”

  "You could have killed me at any time in Tiankong City, and all the blame would have been on the Li family. On the way here, we encountered beast hordes and bandits, no doubt roused by you, but even then you did not kill me."

  "So even when you dream of killing me – you clearly want to do it more than anything else, even now you wish to kill me – why don't you just do it?"

  "Could it be because of Uncle?" Xue Wei was speaking lowly too, ensuring that no one heard them. When Xue Wei mentioned his uncle, Chu Huiyin’s face changed; she grimaced and looked away.

  "Don't mention this ever again," she said through gritted teeth, and stood up. "I better go and greet the Crown Prince again. Being with you is such a bore," she continued, and then she walked away, vanishing into the crowd of people.

  Xue Wei stayed in the corner for a bit of time. "It seems that Uncle is not as weak as a Heavenly Warrior," Xue Wei muttered to himself. "For this woman to fear him, he might even be a Saint?" Xue Wei was unsure. He had never before seen anyone above the initial four Warrior ranks, but he understood that it was not as simple as it seemed.

  Still, this woman had feared his uncle, so was the hatred she felt for him also due to this Uncle, or was there some other reason?

  Xue Wei was deep in thought for a long time before he shook his head and smiled wryly. With the information he had, it was simply impossible for him to be able to reach any conclusions. Since he could not do so, thinking about it was a waste of time.

  Downing the rest of the rice wine in his cup, Xue Wei left it on the table and started mingling with the many geniuses in the hall.

  All of the ones from the last year's Genius Camp looked at Xue Wei with a mixture of reverence and fear, while the ones who were to go into the following year's recruitment camp were filled with curiosity and burning with an urge to battle him.

  Unfortunately for all of them, he was at the fourth layer of the Earth Warrior rank, a rank way above any of them. This meant they did not even have the qualifications to challenge, and none of the fourth layer Earth Warriors from the previous year's Recruitment Camp were silly enough to challenge him either. They knew of his might; challenging him was the same as asking to have their faces slapped in public.

  The rest of the banquet happened without a hitch. Many of the younger geniuses spent most of their time on the stage that had been prepared, sparring against one another and displaying their skills.

  The older geniuses all chatted and did their best to build friendships and find comrades.

  They all understood that now it was time for them to enter the real world. It was time for them to engage in frenzied battle for the land, its people, and its resources.

  In their coming life, they would encounter Beast hordes time and time again, so the more friends they had, the more people were likely to assist them in the war.

  With more allies, they were also more likely to survive. Tie Haolong had also spent the entire night chatting with one captain after another, trying to get new allies and good friends.

  Everyone knew that Xue Wei was in Tie Haolong's group, which meant everyone had been polite and friendly towards him. To be able to fight with Xue Wei would prove beneficial to them all.

  It was well past midnight when Xue Wei and Tie Haolong reunited with Xiao Jie, Gu Dixing, and Song Yuyan. Together, they headed back to the Tie mansion.

  Just as they were about to leave, Chu Huiyin appeared again. She was beaming at Xue Wei this time. "We will see each other again soon," she promised, and waved her hand delicately at Xue Wei as they withdrew from the party.

  For most of the time on their way back, no one spoke, but as soon as they had left the royal grounds, Tie Haolong looked at Xue Wei and asked with a low voice, "That woman, she is not a good one. Do you truly know her?"

  "I have encountered her a few times," Xue Wei acknowledged, "but I dislike her as much as she dislikes me," he continued.

  "We both wish to kill each other with a hatred that I cannot really explain. She hates me to the bones, but the feeling is mutual. Just sharing a room with her today has made me feel uncomfortable."

  Xue Wei was not overreacting. His uncle was a Primordial Beast Hunter, and Xue Wei wished to become one too. He truly wanted nothing more than to kill this Ice Harpy, but he also understood that he did not have the strength to do so right now.

  In fact, the entire capital did not have the power to deal with her, and thus he had stayed quiet. But in his heart, he had already decided that there would be a day when he would kill this Ice Harpy.

 
He would never let her kill him, but one day he would become stronger than her and kill her. This he vowed to himself while walking back to the Tie Mansion.

  Chapter 40 - Collision

  The time had gone by fast, and it was now the day for them to gather once more with the rest of the recruitment camp.

  This time it was not only the genius camp that was gathering, but it was also the entire recruitment camp. All of them had been gathered at the designated military post.

  Here, the commander and all the captains were standing on a podium and looking down at them all.

  "Welcome!" the voice of the commander boomed in the crisp morning air, and everyone stood straight as they looked at him, all with various expressions on their faces. Some were worried, others eager.