He waved his fist and said, "Ouch... I've never been beaten so badly before. But I haven't lost yet. Let's keep going."
Before he could charge at me again, I called out, "Wait a minute. Let's stop. We'll call it your win."
Bangzhi was stunned. "What? But I clearly lost just now."
"It's fine. Let's just say you won. Based on our agreement, you can now join Qingcheng." I smiled faintly.
Bangzhi seemed puzzled but didn't dwell on it. He scratched his head and asked, "So... will joining Qingcheng mean I get enough food to eat?"
"Of course! You can eat as much as you want. But it's not free. Joining Qingcheng means you'll have to follow orders and complete tasks."
"What kind of tasks?" Bangzhi asked, still a little confused.
"Fighting, like just now," I replied, looking at him with a smile.
"Sounds good," Bangzhi said, grinning innocently, as if no one would have guessed that just a moment ago, he was a fearsome brute with terrifying strength.
After leaving the training ground, Ling Xuan seemed a bit upset with me at first, but after some comforting words and realizing she hadn't suffered any serious injuries, her annoyance faded. I turned to Wen Ning and asked, "Wen Ning, what about the task I asked you to do?"
Wen Ning nodded, glancing at Bangzhi. "I've done some research on the name 'Bangzhi.' We can basically confirm that his background is clean. Based on the fight you just had, his basic strength level can be preliminarily rated as B-tier upper class. However, due to his lack of combat experience and the short duration of the fight, his practical strength is more like B-tier lower class. Still, he meets the requirements to join Qingcheng."
"Good..." I nodded, then said, "You can handle his induction into Qingcheng. For the guarantor's name... hmm... use mine. No, better yet, write down Lazy Child, Jingwen, and Old Ba and Old Lu's names too. As for Ling Xuan..." I glanced at her, "Get her a pass as well. I'll take responsibility for her."
"Are you sure about this? What about the higher-ups..." Wen Ning glanced at the others and asked.
"It's fine, let's leave it at that. We'll handle any issues with the higher-ups," Old Ba chimed in, looking at the three of them, and then turned back to me. "Isn't this brotherly enough for you, Hong Keng?"
"Tch..." I gave him a sideways glance before turning back to Ling Xuan. "Come on, Ling Xuan, I'll take you to your room. I need a shower anyway." Without waiting for her response, I led her out of the room.
I arranged her room right next to mine, so I could be nearby in case anything happened. Since it was already late and I had just finished a fight, I headed straight to the shower after returning to my room. After a hot bath, I went over to Ling Xuan's room for a chat before finally heading back to my place for a deep sleep.
I was fast asleep when I heard a faint knocking on my door. At first, I thought it was my imagination, but the knocking continued for quite a while. Finally realizing someone was actually at my door, I got up reluctantly and opened it. To my surprise, it was Ling Xuan.
She stood there with her head down, dressed in loose pajamas, looking apologetic.
"What's wrong? Can't sleep?" I asked.
"Yeah..." Under the dim light, her eyes were unusually bright, as if they were about to spill over with emotion.
"Come in then. I'll keep you company." I pulled her into my room, and we sat side by side on the bed. She looked at me and asked, "I'm sorry, did I disturb you? You must have been sleeping soundly."
"Heh... how could I sleep well? Now that you're here, I've been too happy to fall asleep," I said, smiling as I gently stroked her soft hair.
"You sure know how to talk..." she muttered, but a faint smile appeared on her lips, leaving me momentarily dazed.
She got up and looked around my room, which was an ordinary guy's room. Then she asked, "Hong Keng, do you live in this building all the time?"
I nodded. "Yeah, the people of Qingcheng live here when we're not on missions because our work is dangerous. The security here is tight, so staying here ensures our safety."
She glanced at me, her face suddenly darkening. In a low voice, she asked, "Then why didn't you ever tell me about this before? Don't you trust me...?"
Sensing trouble, I quickly grabbed her hand and explained, "No, it's not that. I was just worried about your safety. You know the kind of place I'm in and the skills I've mastered... I didn't want you to get involved. If something happened to you, I'd regret it forever..."
I was telling the truth. I had kept things from her in the past because I feared she might get hurt. How could I have known she'd end up finding her way here on her own? But now that she had, I had no choice but to come clean. As for her safety, I would take full responsibility for that.
Seeing how anxious I was, she couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, I'm not blaming you. I know you meant well. But now that I know everything, don't hide anything from me in the future. And no more getting into fights like tonight. You have no idea how worried I was about you two."
I shook my head with a helpless smile. "That's beyond my control. My existence comes with certain obligations. I can promise you I'll try, but I've got leaders above me keeping an eye on us. The country wouldn't just let a group like us sit around with nothing to do."
"Even so, you have to promise me you won't let yourself get hurt easily," she added after a moment's thought.
"Alright, I promise I won't get hurt easily!" I made a mock salute, which was so ridiculous that it made her laugh again.
"By the way, Ling Xuan, go change your clothes. I'll take you somewhere." I said after a moment's thought.
She gave me a curious look but didn't ask any more questions. After giving a soft "Mm," she went back to her room. I quickly changed into my own clothes, and soon enough, she returned, looking much cuter in her new outfit.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"You'll see soon enough. Come on, take my hand." I extended my hand to her, while using the other to push open the window. A gust of wind immediately swept into the room.
She shyly took my hand, and in the blink of an eye, we were soaring through the sky.
Even though she had experienced flying before, she still couldn't help but let out a gasp of surprise. I held her hand tightly and said, "It's alright, don't worry. I'm here."
After a brief moment, she calmed down and let the wind brush through her hair. Then she asked me again, "Where are we going?"
"We're going to see my master," I replied, "and get something from him."
"My master raised me since I was a child. I have no parents, and he treated me like his own grandson. Everything I've learned came from him. Now that I have such a lovely girlfriend, of course I need to bring you to meet him," I said, squeezing her hand with a smile.
Her face flushed bright red. She looked at me, a seventeen-year-old boy with a face that had already seen its fair share of hardship, and felt a pang of sadness. She leaned closer to me and whispered, "Hong Keng, I want to hear your story. Will you tell me?"
I nodded and, as we flew through the night sky, began recounting the stories from the past—stories from the Xianfeng era. It was something I had never done before, but perhaps only she could make me open up like this. From my earliest memories of being adopted by my master, learning martial arts, and joining Qingcheng, I poured out all the hardships I had faced over the past ten-plus years.
The night was calm, the moon hanging high and bright. The wind whipped past us, brushing against our skin, yet we felt no cold. A faint warmth spread between us, and for a moment, it felt as though we had merged into one. I realized then that I could never leave this girl in front of me—this girl who made me happy and anxious all at once, who stirred love and tenderness within me the moment I laid eyes on her.