"Who's there?!"
"Show yourself!"
The moment the three of us stepped into the clearing, the people milling about there were quick to react. They drew their swords and adopted offensive stances, getting ready to repel an attack that would never come.
"Yeah, we're coming out. Relax." I held up both hands, as if in surrender. I tried to ease the tension in my shoulders. If they saw that I was coiled and prepared to strike back at them if they attacked, they wouldn't be so amenable to standing down.
My eyes shifted about, observing the crowd. They were wearing standard uniforms of sort, and I recognized those as robes from the Ten Thousand Swords University. Apparently the students from the Ten Thousand Swords Academy had arrived in Starry Forest way ahead of us. They even had their campsite set up, complete with wood and campfire. A series of tents had already been assembled, but the students had gathered outside and around the fire. Most likely they were holding a strategy meeting.
There were a few other people wearing other clothes that indicated that they weren't from Ten Thousand Swords Academy. Given the way they were subconsciously distancing themselves from the much larger Ten Thousand Swords University group, it was clear that they were from the other academies, but there were relatively fewer of them.
"Who are you?!" One of the Ten Thousand Swords University student demanded, pointing a sword at me. I had stepped to the front, ready to shield both Si Nan and Mu Zi Xing should the necessity arise.
And it was looking likelier by the minute.
"We are students from Seven Stars University. We're in Starry Forest for a mission. To look for the thousand year old ginseng."
"You! Aren't you…that guy?!"
A familiar voice rose from the back and I caught sight of someone recognizable pushing his way to the front. My lips curled, but I hid my distaste as best as I could. Of all the people I expected to see, Cang Mu was at the bottom of the list.
Then again, Cang Mu was a student of Ten Thousand Swords University, so I shouldn't be surprised. It was a small world.
"Bastard! It was your fault that my grandfather died! I'll kill you!"
Drawing his sword, Cang Mu lunged at me…only for an ice sword to sail through the air and pierce the ground in front of him. My assailant pulled back, hissing as frost spread over his hands. He shattered the ice by flexing his qi, and then turned back to glare at his fellow schoolmate.
"Ms. Xia, what is the meaning of this?"
To my astonishment, yet another acquaintance emerged. Xia Xing Yue stepped to the front, ice swords hovering around her. She folded her arms and glared at Cang Mu.
"What do you think you are doing? Attacking students from other universities like this? You want to get punished when you return?"
"You…! That's Shu Cong! It's his fault that my grandfather died!"
"Huh? I've been meaning to ask, but when did your grandfather die?" The last time I had seen Cang Zhong, he might have been severely wounded by Qi Xing, but he was still very much alive. Someone of his caliber wouldn't die from having a tree land on top of him.
"Cang Zhong was executed by Director Shen Jian after he returned and found out that he tried to murder you," Xia Xing Yue explained. I almost choked when I heard that. Inwardly, I thought the old, murderous psychopath deserved it, but I wasn't stupid enough to say that out loud in front of a clearly enraged Cang Mu.
"I'm sorry." I bowed my head. Even though I had no reason to apologize, I thought I would do so in order to establish a good working relationship with the other party, and as a show of my sincerity.
"Fuck you! I'll only forgive you if you die!" Cang Mu tried to lunge at me again, only for Xia Xing Yue to block him.
"Stop your nonsense, Cang Mu. Your grandfather abused his authority to settle your personal feud with an outsider, and then had the audacity to commit murder in broad daylight. He deserved to be executed."
"Xia Xing Yue, you…!"
"And if you want to blame somebody, go take it up with Director Shen. He's the one who took the life of your grandfather, not Shu Cong."
"I don't care! If it weren't for that bastard, my grandfather wouldn't have been executed!"
"Enough!" Xia Xing Yue pointed her real sword at Cang Mu. "Don't force me to restrain you and take you off the mission. Do not let your personal feelings get in the way of our mission. If you're more interested in carrying out your individual vendetta than helping us obtain the thousand year old ginseng, you can leave right now."
"You…!" Cang Mu spluttered, but he backed off when he saw all the other Ten Thousand Swords University students coming to support Xia Xing Yue. They were all glaring at him while taking the side of the beautiful girl.
Evidently Xia Xing Yue was their leader. No wonder she was commanding Cang Mu without any impunity.
"Calm down. You know as well as I do that sector 12b is full of dark pumas and shadow leopards. The more people we have, the higher chance we have of successfully surviving that area and obtaining the thousand year old ginseng."
She nodded at me.
"I've personally witnessed Shu Cong's skills and can vouch for him. His abilities will be a great boost to our mission."
"Thank you, Ms. Xia. I am flattered, but I don't think I'm as strong as you make me out to be. Nonetheless, I will definitely do my best to help."
I cupped my hands and bowed my head humbly. Cang Mu seethed, but he saw that he wasn't receiving any support from any of his schoolmates, save for the cronies who followed him back when he was trying to rape Hu Mei Er and the other girls from Snow Plum University.
"Great. You'll surely be a good help." Xia Xing Yue smiled and gestured. "Please, Shu Cong, you and your friends should join us. We're discussing our strategy for obtaining the thousand year old ginseng right now. I will revise the plan to account for your presence. With you around, we will feel more assured when facing off against a shadow leopard."
"I don't know what I can do, but don't hesitate to let me know if Ms. Xia needs anything from me. I'll endeavor to do what you ask."
"That's all I need. Also, don't be so formal. Don't address me as Ms. Xia. You're the one who saved my sister twice, after all."
Si Nan and Mu Zi Xing glanced at each other, not knowing what was going on. I had to introduce them to Xia Xing Yue so that she could assign them whatever roles they needed. As expected, a healer like Mu Zi Xing was in high demand and I could see the collective relief on the other students' faces when they learned of Mu Zi Xing's skills.
I could see them casting dark looks at Cang Mu. I immediately understood why. The idiot had almost ruined their chances of recruiting a healer to their side. If he had attacked me, there was no way in hell Si Nan and Mu Zi Xing would work with them. The three of us, if we had survived, would be forced to flee.
In missions like this, the presence of a healer made the difference between life and death. This far out, with no hospital or advanced medical facilities in sight, the healer was the only thing standing between survival and a grisly death on the battlefield. Even the most basic healing techniques could patch up mortal wounds for long enough to get the casualty to a more proper medical facility. Not to mention the risk of dying from infections brought about by battlefield injuries was greatly reduced if the healer could close the wounds before they got exposed to bacteria and other stuff in the wilderness.
To think that this idiot almost drove away such a precious healer because of his thick-headed stupidity and desire for vengeance over his corrupted grandfather. Additionally, I could see the other Ten Thousand Swords University students keeping their distance from Cang Mu's clique. It was no wonder. Cang Mu and his cronies went around harassing and raping girls while abusing his grandfather's authority to cover up his misdeeds, which earned him a notorious reputation.
Of course the other students – especially the girls – would stay as far away from him as possible.
Cang Mu, for his part, was absolutely seething with rage. His fury was directed at Xia Xing Yue now, but I could still sense the hatred roiling off him, those negative emotions mostly directed at me. I wondered briefly if the moron had tried to hit on Xia Xing Yue. Evidently he tried, but Xia Xing Yue was clearly stronger than him. If he unwisely tried to make a move on her, there was no doubt she could kick his ass – as well as the asses of his lackeys together with him.
And he could no longer run crying to his now deceased grandfather. Though I suspected that even if Cang Zhong was still alive, his influence was nowhere close to that of the Xia clan or Frozen Cloud Sword Palace.
"You had better watch out," Cang Mu snarled as he tried to childishly bump into me, but I skillfully dodged him (thanks to Heavenly Flow and Earthly Paths). He cursed when his childish attempt to bully me failed, but continued to deliver threats. "We are in the wilderness right now. Anything can happen, especially accidents. If I were you, I will watch my back."
How stupid was this fella? If you want to plot something against me, don't fucking tell me about it! Scheme secretly and attack me from the shadows! What was the point of warning me? So that I could get my guard up and be more careful around you, which would lead to a higher chance of failure for your grand plans of revenge? What exactly do you achieve, other than a smug sense of satisfaction?
Sometimes I wondered if these villainous bullies ever used their brains.
"Cang Mu! Where are you going?" Xia Xing Yue demanded. "We have to discuss our strategy!"
"Go ahead and discuss your plans by yourself," Cang Mu replied with a sneer. "You'll just tell us what to do tomorrow anyway. Don't worry, we'll obey and do our best not to get in the way. We're going to bed for now."
Then he and his subordinates disappeared into their tent. Xia Xing Yue glared after them, then she turned to me with an apologetic bow.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't able to control Cang Mu. I'll also keep an eye on him tomorrow. He is a horrible bully. I should have argued against bringing him along, but he also applied for this mission…"
"It's all right. It's no one's fault." I brought up a hand to placate her. "Don't worry about it. Let's focus on the matter at hand for now."
"Right. As you already know, the thousand year old ginseng is located here. But our scouts have detected a pack of dark pumas and a couple of shadow leopards in the vicinity. To obtain the ginseng, we'll have to fight through those spirit beasts…"
After discussing the strategy, Xia Xing Yue then clapped her hands and dismissed the students in the gathering.
"All right, all of you. Get some sleep. We'll have a long day tomorrow, so you had best rest as much as you can. We'll have to post sentries…"
"Wait, I can draw a spirit array to create a barrier," I told her. "So you don't have to worry about sentries."
"Okay, I'll rely on you. But since anything can happen, I'll still post a couple of sentries." Xia Xing Yue looked around. "With this many people, as long as we take shifts, it should be fine. It's not that I doubt your abilities or your barrier formation, but it's best to be safe than sorry. Especially in a place like this."
"I understand." I nodded, even as I got up and prepared to draw the barrier formation. While inscribing the first spirit rune, I smiled. "I would have done the same thing as you if I had the same amount of resources."