“I’m a bit angry,” said Heyan.

When these words came out, Wang Ba and the others simultaneously looked at her.

Stone had spent the longest time with Heyan and knew she was always good-tempered. Even when Wang Ba tried to steal her meat bun before, she only protected her food, never seriously expressing anger.

Now this monkey from who-knows-where had made Heyan angry.

Lei Hou laughed, “Brother He, weapons have no eyes, don’t take offense.”

“That’s only if you can hurt me,” Heyan smiled, flipping backward behind Lei Hou. Her nine-section whip moved like a long snake, swinging gracefully. Lei Hou dodged, but the whip seemed to have eyes, refusing to be shaken off. Instead, it grazed his cheek, instantly leaving a red mark.

Since it was just the whip’s tail that struck, there was no bleeding. Even so, Lei Hou’s expression turned ugly.

“Brother Lei, weapons have no eyes,” Heyan beckoned to him with her finger, “don’t take offense.”

Lei Hou charged forward wordlessly with his sword. His movements were skilled, killing intent surging – completely different from training with new recruits in the practice field. His sword tip aimed either at Heyan’s throat or heart, extremely vicious.

In comparison, the youth’s movements were much gentler. Though naturally small and frail, she showed no signs of fatigue in her maneuvers, as if possessing endless energy. She both swept and entangled, preventing Lei Hou’s sword tip from advancing an inch.

Heyan didn’t want to take Lei Hou’s life, but Lei Hou didn’t share the same mindset toward her. She considered that unless she completely defeated Lei Hou, as long as he had breath left, he wouldn’t give up trying to seize her flags.

However, crossing swords with Lei Hou also gave Heyan a strange feeling that she couldn’t quite explain. It made her feel as if something had been overlooked, making her whole body uncomfortable.

Just as she was thinking this, a sword light flashed diagonally. Heyan startled, leaning back to retreat. Her sleeve was instantly cut, letting the wind through.

Lei Hou stared at her with bright eyes, “At a time like this, you shouldn’t be distracted!”

“I was just thinking about how to make you quiet down,” Heyan said, “Brother Lei, has no one told you that you’re a bit annoying?”

Such blatant provocation, paired with her smiling expression, could make any ordinary person explode with anger. Lei Hou’s face immediately darkened as he thrust his sword forward. Heyan smiled slightly, throwing out her whip. The whip flowers circled her body like flying snakes, preventing the sword tip from advancing even an inch.

She continued smiling, saying as she moved, “Actually, you don’t know, but I’m quite good with the whip too.”

In an instant, the whip flowers crisscrossed, sweeping and rolling, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, making people dizzy.

The youth’s voice carried a bright laugh as if this wasn’t a tense flag battle but rather a casual match between companions in the training ground. She spoke while dancing through the flying whip flowers:

“This is called Inside-Outside Elbow Hook.”

“This is Left-Right Horse Feint.”

“This one, White Snake Spits Tongue.”

“Ground-Sweeping Dragon!”

Her movements became faster and faster. Wang Ba and the others had already stopped their actions to watch her, seemingly shocked by her momentum.

Previously at the training ground, they had already thought she was quite formidable, but now they realized she had been holding back then.

Lei Hou gritted his teeth, his expression becoming increasingly difficult.

He hadn’t taken Heyan seriously – no matter how impressive a recruit might be, they couldn’t be well-rounded. Just because Heyan was excellent with knife, bow, and spear didn’t mean she could defeat him. Yet now this youth’s whip techniques came naturally, as if she had practiced them thousands of times. This would be fine – being good with one weapon doesn’t guarantee victory in combat.

But Heyan was too cunning. After just a few exchanges with him, she seemed able to observe his weaknesses and specifically target them. In such a short time, he couldn’t find Heyan’s weakness to exploit. Lei Hou felt alarmed.

The youth’s smile grew wider, one whip technique flowing into another. To Lei Hou, the long whip before his eyes seemed like a spinning wheel, then like a hard and fierce steel rod, moving like an insect or dragon, with endless variations. He couldn’t help feeling dizzy.

Just during this moment of dizziness, he saw the long whip coming toward his face again. Lei Hou instinctively raised his sword to block, but in the next moment, the whip playfully curved and went straight for his chest.

Lei Hou inwardly cursed his bad luck, but it was too late. The whip, as if having eyes, directly wrapped around the dozen or so flags in his embrace and pulled them back.

Lei Hou tried to entangle the whip with his sword, but the whip could extend and retract at will, refusing to be caught by his sword. Slippery as it was, it returned to Heyan’s hand.

“This is called Golden Thread Wraps Gourd,” Heyan weighed the flags in her hand and smiled, “Thank you, Brother Lei, for bundling them together for me.”

Lei Hou had been arrogant, believing none of the recruits competing for flags on White Moon Mountain today could defeat him. Thus, he had been extremely brazen with the flags, simply tying them together and keeping them in his embrace. Now that Heyan had taken them all, he couldn’t help feeling a bit of regret. If he had been more careful and separated them, he wouldn’t have lost everything at once.

Seeing everything taken by Heyan, Lei Hou could no longer maintain his gloomy expression and charged at her without another word.

Heyan stepped back several paces, smiling, “Once it’s in my hands, it’s mine. No one can steal my things.”

“What if I insist on taking them?” Lei Hou’s killing intent surged, his sword like a shooting star.

“I don’t like fighting,” Heyan sighed, “If you insist on stealing, I’ll just have to beat you up.”

The two figures instantly clashed together.

Wang Ba and Lei Hou’s companions had already tired from fighting. Moreover, without flags in hand, there was no point in continuing. They had all sat down under a tree to watch. They also clearly understood that this was a contest between Heyan and Lei Hou – whoever won would take the flags.

“Can you tell which of them is better?” Lei Hou’s companion asked.

Jiang Jiao shook his head: “Can’t tell.”

“Why ask? It’s Heyan!” Wang Ba answered matter-of-factly.

“Oh? What makes brother say that?”

“Don’t know, just a feeling.”

“…”

“…Want some pine nuts?” Huang Xiong even offered a pine nut to the other party.

“Thanks, thanks. Mmm, fragrant!”

Before they finished the small handful of pine nuts, they heard a “thunk.”

Everyone looked forward together. The two figures had separated. Lei Hou’s face was expressionless, while the youth smiled holding her whip.

A sword lay on the ground.

“You lost,” said Heyan.

Lei Hou’s expression was ugly, and he remained silent. After a moment, he said heavily, “You cheated.”

“All’s fair in war,” Heyan picked up the sword from the ground and returned it to him, seriously saying, “I injured your leg. Rest here for half an hour before moving, otherwise your leg will have lasting damage, and you’ll never make progress in training again.”

Lei Hou turned his face away, taking the sword, not wanting to look at her.

“It’s alright,” Heyan patted his shoulder and said meaningfully, “Victory and defeat are common in military affairs, enduring shame is what makes a man. It was just a flag competition, you were already excellent, but unfortunately, you met me.”

She pointed at herself: “I’m the best.”

Wang Ba and the others had heard Heyan say this countless times. At first, they were contemptuous, but by now, they had become numb to it. Besides, what she said wasn’t wrong.

Heyan called to Jiang Jiao: “Let’s go.” Then she said to Lei Hou’s companions, “You all rest here and protect Brother Lei well.”

That person looked at her uncomprehendingly.

“You’ve beaten so many recruits on the mountain. When they come down later and see Brother Lei can barely move, they might team up to beat you back.”

“So I say,” she righteously declared, “Don’t do evil, no matter how small.”

…

Lei Hou’s group was left behind as Jiang Jiao and the others followed Heyan down the mountain.

“He said earlier that you cheated,” Huang Xiong couldn’t help asking, “How did you cheat?”

“It wasn’t cheating, I just deliberately sold him some openings,” Heyan shrugged, “He wanted my life, while I just wanted to make sure he couldn’t walk and couldn’t chase me. He misunderstood my intention, so…”

“That monkey wasn’t that impressive,” Wang Ba said indifferently, “Talking so big, but lost so quickly, so weak!”

“You’re wrong there,” Heyan shook her head with a smile, “He’s truly very skilled. Among the recruits of Liangzhou Guard, if not for me, he would be number one.”

Heyan had crossed hands with this person. She didn’t know what he did before, seeing he was only in his twenties, but in terms of martial arts, he must have trained for at least ten years. Moreover, his inner strength was profound, his techniques skilled. If there was anything not good about him, it was that his killing intent was too heavy. Although he hadn’t taken any lives, his fighting style could easily seriously injure companions.

Precisely because his skills were so good, his method of seizing flags was so simple and brutal. However, flag-seizing was never about setting up an arena where the last one standing wins. Although Lei Hou was very skilled, he had been constantly fighting other recruits on the mountaintop, going up and down the mountain non-stop, which inevitably consumed much of his energy. When fighting, he was fine for short periods, but over time, his weaknesses became very obvious.

As for Heyan, going up and down the mountain today, they always moved as a group of five. Wang Ba and the others were also seriously contributing, while Heyan, apart from arranging and deploying, hadn’t fought many times. Thus, she was full of energy and had plenty of strength to observe Lei Hou’s weaknesses.

“Will he not come after us?” Jiang Jiao was still doubtful, frequently looking back, “I think we should walk faster, in case he catches up later.”

“Don’t worry,” Heyan said, “Unless he doesn’t want to continue practicing martial arts in the future, he won’t follow. But you have a point – we should get down the mountain early.”

…

In the guard post’s room, a game of Go remained unfinished.

Shen Han’s mind was preoccupied and had no interest in playing. The young man opposite him seemed completely unhurried, neither concerned about the flag competition’s outcome, leisurely drinking tea and playing Go, his calmness almost infuriating.

A black-clothed guard entered from outside walked to Xiao Jue’s side and softly reported, “Heyan encountered Lei Hou, fought with him, and Lei Hou was defeated. All twenty flags are now in Heyan’s possession.”

He didn’t avoid Shen Han, so Shen Han heard this and immediately drew in a sharp breath.

They had been watching Lei Hou since he started competing for the first flag. This young man had previously kept a low profile – if not for this flag competition, they wouldn’t have known Liangzhou Guard had such a capable fighter. He was recommended by Instructor Du Mao’s relative, and while seemingly unremarkable before, he possessed real skill.

Since he began competing for flags on the mountain, he remained undefeated in combat. Unlike Heyan’s habit of hiding in ambush, he was straightforward and did not attempt to conceal himself. Fortunately, his excellent martial skills helped him defeat countless opponents, seizing fourteen flags at once, twice as many as Heyan.

Initially, Shen Han had looked forward to Lei Hou and Heyan’s encounter. He wanted to see who would win in a confrontation. Shen Han thought Heyan, who usually relied on cleverness, might not match Lei Hou’s direct approach, given Lei Hou’s impressive skills.

Unexpectedly, Lei Hou still lost to Heyan.

“Heyan’s group is heading down the mountain,” the messenger continued, “In half an hour, they’ll enter the formation.”

Shen Han looked at Xiao Jue.

At first, he thought there was no need to use a formation against a recruit. Now Shen Han had only one thought: this youth seemed to know and master everything – perhaps even this formation couldn’t trap him.

Xiao Jue remained calm, lowering his eyes as he captured Shen Han’s white stone.

Shen Han asked softly, “Commander… he will win, right?”

Xiao Jue curved his lips: “Perhaps.”

…

The sun was beginning to set.

The daylight changed from brilliant gold to warm red, filtering through the branches like vast red clouds, soft and bright, like a maiden’s red gauze dress.

Bird calls echoed from deep in the forest. Perhaps because all twenty flags were now in hand and victory was assured, everyone was in good spirits. It felt less like they had come to compete for flags and more like a leisure outing, now preparing to return home.

Wang Ba said, “Wonder if this time when we return, besides possibly joining the vanguard, will there be any other rewards?”

“There should be.” Heyan casually asked, “What do you want?”

“Wine! Good wine, of course! Haven’t had much to drink since coming here – I’m dying for it,” Wang Ba complained, “If I had wine, I’d have even more strength than now!”

“That’s wine, not medicinal food,” Heyan said, somewhat amused.

“Maybe they’ll give out good weapons,” Jiang Jiao said, “When I enlisted, I didn’t bring weapons from home. The training ground’s spears don’t feel quite right. It would be nice to get a good spear as a reward.”

Huang Xiong touched the Buddhist beads on his neck and said, “I just want a hot meal of beef. Drinking big bowls of wine and eating large chunks of meat – that’s living!”

Stone pondered for a long while before saying, “Take Little Wheat up the mountain once, he’s always wanted to hunt rabbits.”

Among the four people, three had wishes related to food and drink. Heyan wasn’t sure whether to praise their simple desires. Jiang Jiao asked, “What about you? What reward would you like?”

“Me? Nothing in particular,” Heyan said, “I’d be very happy just to join the vanguard.”

“You are obsessed with achieving military merit,” Wang Ba said sourly.

“Naturally. Being as capable as I am, wouldn’t it be a waste not to achieve merit? I’m hoping to earn the Commander’s recognition, perhaps become one of his guards,” Heyan thought that if so, being around Xiao Jue daily would help her gather news about the He family.

“Keep dreaming,” Wang Ba rolled his eyes, “If you manage that, I’ll call you father.”

Heyan: “…”

Just then, Huang Xiong stopped and said, “Have we been going in circles here? I feel like we’ve been here before.”

“Get out of here,” Wang Ba retorted, “Do you even know the way?”

“I also feel like we just passed through here,” Jiang Jiao added.

Heyan remained silent. Stone took out a grass rope from his chest, walked to a tree ahead, and tied it on, saying, “Mountain paths are complex, trees look similar so mistakes are common. Let’s walk a bit more and see.”

The group continued downward. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, they saw a tree ahead with Stone’s grass rope tied to it.

This time, everyone fell silent.

After a moment, Wang Ba spoke, his voice containing a barely noticeable tremor, “Have we encountered a ghost wall?”

He became more animated as he continued, rambling, “I heard from a scholar on our mountain who said that once when walking a mountain path at night, he kept going in circles in one spot. Having no choice, he sat down and slept in his clothes. The next morning, you know what happened?”

He deliberately created suspense, but no one responded. Wang Ba reluctantly continued, “When he woke up and looked, he found himself in a graveyard!”

Heyan held her forehead: “Brother Wang, this might not be the best time for ghost stories.”

“What’s there to fear?” Huang Xiong said gruffly, “I have Buddhist beads – ghosts and demons can’t come near. But you,” he turned to Heyan, “Did you remember the path wrong?”

“No,” Heyan said.

“Then how did we suddenly get lost?” Jiang Jiao also felt confused. Though White Moon Mountain was large, they shouldn’t get lost. The ascent had been fine – how could they not find their way down?

“We are indeed heading downhill,” Heyan said, “But we’re also definitely going in circles here.” A thought crossed her mind as she walked to the tree with the grass rope and looked around.

This was a wild area, with trees less dense than the mountaintop, with weeds growing everywhere and scattered stones lying about.

Stones?

Something stirred in Heyan’s mind. Walking a few steps forward, she saw a pile of stones. She bent down to look carefully. Several huge rocks were randomly piled together, shapeless, looking like they had been casually moved there by hunters for resting.

“What are you staring at those stones for?” Wang Ba asked, “Is there writing on them?”

Heyan straightened up and said, “No writing, but this is why we can’t get out.”

“What?” Jiang Jiao and the others gathered around, all looking at the stones but seeing nothing special. Stone frowned and asked, “What do you mean?”

“The Eight Gates of Qi Men Dun Jia – Life, Injury, Rest, Obstruction, Scenery, Death, Shock, and Opening. Someone has set up a formation here,” Heyan said, “We’ve entered the formation, that’s why we’re going in circles.”

While everyone understood the individual words, they couldn’t make sense of them together. They looked at her, not even knowing where to begin asking questions.

Heyan was also puzzled. Wang Xiaohan was nowhere to be seen, indicating he and his group had already gone down the mountain. They couldn’t have broken through the formation, suggesting it wasn’t here before – so why was it here now?

Who had specifically set up this formation for her? Shen Han? Or Xiao Jue?

[Author’s Note: Here’s a cold joke – Lei Hou is from Guangdong, because “Lei Hou ah!” (A pun on the Cantonese greeting)

(No regional discrimination intended, just telling a cold joke _(:зゝ∠)_)]