Commanding Wind and Cloud

Marc Gavin looked hard at Qian Jin and kept gawking with his beard covered mouth, hands clamped around his waist. This news was more surprising than hearing that an ordinary warrior went to the Lucifer Empire and chopped off the head of the Demon King to be brought back to Zence.

What came most intolerable to Marc Gavin was Qian Jin’s innocent look, as if he was not talking about a piece of news as shocking enough to trigger the Stars to fall to the ground. It was more like that he was only speaking of supper.

Would it kill you to put on a mysterious look or an anxious one? Would it?! Marc Gavin gazed at Qian Jin while panting and couldn’t believe what he had heard. But seeing the serious look on Qian Jin’s face, he knew that he meant it. This boy he regarded as his successor in taking charge of the Torrent Battle Fort didn’t appear to be joking at all.

"So, thank you for your help, my uncle." Qian Jin chuckled and turned back to walk toward the gate of the Torrent Battle Fort. Being a warrior student of the Punitive Expedition Academy, it was his obligation to come back to school as soon as possible. There was nothing left to nag about the school’s Hundred Battle Ranking List which was closely related to the resources one could receive.

Fight!

Qian Jin jumped onto the carriage where Gabriella was already in and flung the reins to whip the horse into a gallop outside the city. Leaning across the pillar of the carriage, he looked up to the sky and started meditating. The Hundred Battle Ranking List was directly related with the resources of fighting techniques and warrior stones as well as the qualification seat for the test one could get in the future, so he had to try his best to fight for it.

To act low-key? Look down upon the Hundred Battle Ranking List? Qian Jin screwed his lips, saying silently that he was not the leading role in the traveling poets’ cliché stories, disguising themselves as low-key from time to time and looking down upon the ranking list made by the academy.

The Hundred Battle Ranking List was a ranking list in direct relation to resource allocation. Qian Jin stretched his arms to the fullest to relax his bones and joints and wondered what ranking he ought to be taking now in the Hundred Battle Ranking List after defeating the 40th place Wei Buhuan at last night’s party.

To substitute Wei Buhuan for taking the 40th place in the Hundred Battle Ranking List? Or... Qian Jin scratched his head and gave up on thinking about the school’s provisions. Everything would become clear as long as he visited the Principal at school.

"Aha?" Qian Jin changed his sitting posture and looked to a long queue of warriors dressed in shining armor by the end of the street demons. Carrying all kinds of weapons in their hands, and wearing murderous and hostile intent on the face, these warriors were glancing at everyone go to and fro on the street, as if all these pedestrians were all disguised Demons sneaking into a city of the Zence Empire.

They were wearing heavy murderous intent. Qian Jin frowned slightly at one row of city guarding soldiers passing by him, wondering why they were appearing so nervous.

Walking past Qian Jin, one warrior suddenly stopped, looked up and down into the carriage, and poked his saber at Qian Jin. "You, jump down. Take the inspection."

Qian Jin propped his palms on the carriage shafts to jump off, and stationed in front of the city guarding soldiers for inspection. It was the unshakeable obligation of every Zence citizen to cooperate with the soldiers in taking the inspection.

The guarding soldier looked at Qian Jin hostilely, wondering why this person showed a contemplative look under his gaze, instead of eschewing like many others did.

"Your name and the place you came from..."

Hearing the interrogation from the soldier, Qian Jin felt a headache, regretting not having chosen a carriage with the label of the Torrent Battle Fort, in which way he would escape the trouble he was undergoing now.

"Qian Jin. A warrior from the Torrent Battle Fort. Currently attending the Punitive Expedition Academy..."

"Qian Jin? The one from the Torrent Battle Fort?" The captain of the soldiers walking ahead of the rest, who had a height of one hundred and eighty-five centimeters, a strong build and brown skin, turned around at Qian Jin.

The entire queue stood straight and continued their inspecting, eyes filled with atrocious ruthlessness.

Qian Jin felt by instinct the hostility shown by the crowd. He couldn’t understand why these people held hatred toward him without having seen him before.

"You are Qian Jin?" The captain looked Qian Jin up and down in a venomous way. "Is he the ’Qian Jin’ who got on the wrong side of the mayor’s child?" The captain said to himself, "To instigate the mayor’s child equaled humiliating the mayor, as well as looking down upon us soldiers."

"We believe scouts of the Demons have sneaked into Yulee, so we are now on an inspection." The captain stabbed his saber at Qian Jin’s carriage. "We believe you have hidden a Demon scout, so we have to rummage your belongings."

A scout from the Demons? Qian Jin looked at the captain in sheer surprise, just to find that though this person held full and inexplicable hatred toward him, he didn’t talk like lying. Had Lucifer Lucy sneaked out to inspect the geography of Yulee City? Or had she done something which sold him out? If so, he had to expel this demon beauty as soon as possible.

Two staunch warriors pounced at the carriage fiercely, and kicked open the door of the carriage brutally. With a harsh clashing sound, they pulled the sabers from the sheaths. Against the glistening light from the sun, the sabers displayed Gabriella’s silhouette stationed in the carriage.

Seeing the brutal behavior of the two soldiers, Qian Jin couldn’t help frowning. "For what were you making such a fuss, given that it was just an inspection instead of the confiscation of family property? Had the carriage done you wrong so that you kicked it so hard? Would you pay me back if it got broken?" Qian Jin thought to himself.

"Captain John, there is someone with an unknown identity."

The two soldiers gazed at Gabriella, who covered her face with the big mage hat, ferociously.

"Oh, really?" The captain called John waved his hand, seeing which the soldiers standing behind him quickly formed a circle around the carriage. Two soldiers carrying crossbows took off their weapons, and nocked two arrows at the carriage with bloody murderous intent as if they would directly release the shoot and kill Gabriella should she made any offense.

Looking at the surrounding soldiers, Qian Jin nodded lightly. Seen from either the adversary’s side or the mutual warriors’ perspective, this small team had made a perfect coordination, in that at the same time the saber and shield takers got separated, two soldiers carrying crossbows stood out for blockage, forming a small cycle of offense and defense. Only by undergoing the test of real bloody battles could someone be able to stress such a formation.

Gabriella walked out of the carriage and hid behind Qian Jin consciously. The arrows and sabers shimmering cold lights, along with the brutal kicking at the door were inexplicably appalling to her.

Noticing Gabriella’s reaction, John felt contented. The combat force of them, as city guarding soldiers, might not be strong enough, but they had the support of the Zence Empire at their back. Whether you came from the Torrent Battle Fort or the Punitive Expedition Academy, you had to obey the law of the Zence Empire.

The powerful warriors in the remote cities and towns might have privileges over a number of laws. But when it came to metropolises like Yulee, even the president of the Torrent Battle Fort had to obey the law faithfully.

"I doubt that you are the Demons’ scout. Uncover your hat and let me see your face." John raised his chin slightly and looked at Gabriella loftily, "right now."

Gabriella sidled toward Qian Jin further and replied timidly, "I, I am Gabriella, first-grade mage student in the Punitive Expedition Academy. Here is my student card."

Seeing the fair and tenuous hand poked out of the mage robe, John flashed out a light from his eyes and screwed his lips rightward, wondering if this was the girl favored by the mayor’s child. "Okay, I will give this young warrior called Qian Jin a lesson to have him know who the real leader charger of Yulee is. John thought to himself."

"Student card?" John lifted his hand fiercely, trying to grasp the student card held in Gabriella’s hands, "how do I know whether this is a faked one. Lift your hat..."

Bang.

A crisp and slap-like sound rang from the center of the silent street, attracting the attention of all passers-by. The lifted wrist of John was being grasped incisively by the young male warrior standing in front of the female mage, which gave rise to that crisp sound just now.

"You..." John lifted his two bold brows high and beamed a light of surprise from his atrocious and lofty eyes. Did this young warrior know what he was doing? Had he gone crazy to stop the city guarding soldier from handling public affairs? Once you did so...

A sinister smile crawled onto John’s eyes, saying that this young warrior was after all too naïve in knowing nothing about the outcome. In the narrow sense, Qian Jin was stopping city guarding soldier from handling public affairs, but in the broad sense, he could be deemed as taking on usurpation, so long as Captain John told him off to some influential figure.

"Boy, do you know what you are doing now. You..."

"The Warriors’ Code puts that the primary responsibility of a warrior is safeguarding the people surrounding him and every member of the Zence Empire." Qian Jin kept seizing John’s shivering arm firmly. "Even if you are conducting administration, as a warrior, you shouldn’t treat a member of the Zence Empire so impolitely, let alone that she was a mage. Don’t forget the fact that the most trustworthy ones to a warrior are his comrades-in-war in the front line, and mages at the back end who are friends with such warriors. Is this the way you treat your friends?"

"You..." John was nearly choked to death. Looking not that cunning, this young warrior turned out so good at parlance, both in rationality and in manner.

The citizens passing by looked at Qian Jin bemusedly, wondering whether this young boy had too many guts or had gone crazy. How dare he offend the captain of the city guarding soldiers? Well, as long as the captain got rid of his clamping, this young warrior would be broken both arms and legs by the excuse of refusing to take the inspection.

Translator’s Thoughts

Udong Udong

8/10