Chapter 6

"Tap tap tap." The sound of knocking came from outside the door. Tang Ning opened his eyes, ready to get up, but his body was tightly entwined by Liu Ruhan.

Tang Ning gently pushed her: "Ruru, Ruru, get up quickly, someone's here."

Liu Ruhan opened her eyes groggily, her watery eyes looking at him, and she snuggled closer into his embrace, lightly rubbing her face against his.

"Someone's here!" Tang Ning repeated.

Liu Ruhan finally heard clearly and released her small hands from around him.

Tang Ning lifted the quilt and got out of bed to open the door. Outside, the sky was just beginning to lighten, with thick fog swirling. Wang Dehu stood at the door. When the door opened, he walked in: "I'm about to leave, came to see you two."

Hearing this, Tang Ning suddenly felt a bit reluctant. They hadn't been together for long, just one day, but the feeling of reluctance was so real.

Although he always said it was because of Mr. Shen's order, Tang Ning knew he was a good person.

He could have arranged for them to stay anywhere, but he brought them to his own home.

He could have sent them to any blacksmith shop, but he went to great lengths to bring them here because Tang Ning had mentioned that his parents were killed, and he remembered it, bringing him here to learn martial arts.

"You should learn martial arts well here. Even if you can't avenge your parents, learning a good martial art will at least help you make a living. Fulfilling the wish of an old friend and completing the task given by Mr. Shen, I'm leaving." Wang Dehu finished and turned to walk out the door.

"Wang Uncle." Tang Ning called out to him.

Wang Dehu turned around.

Tang Ning knelt down and bowed three times: "Thank you."

"Thank Mr. Shen Congnan." Wang Dehu said.

Tang Ning watched his departing figure with a sense of loss.

Liu Ruhan walked over and wiped the dust off his forehead with her small hand.

Tang Ning held her hand and closed the door, then climbed back into bed. Liu Ruhan hugged him, leaned in, and kissed his cheek, then pressed her face against his.

Tang Ning was slightly stunned; they had never done this before.

Liu Ruhan's face gently rubbed against his, and at this moment, he felt a very strange sensation, but he couldn't quite describe what it was.

The two of them stayed in bed for a while, the sky getting brighter, and faint voices could be heard from outside the door.

After a while, the voices grew louder.

"Ruru, let's get up too!" Tang Ning said. As soon as he finished speaking, a knock came from outside the door.

The two got out of bed and opened the door.

A man in black stood outside, tall and stern, with a black longsword on his back: "Are you the ones Wang Dehu brought yesterday?"

"Yes." Tang Ning nodded.

"Follow me." The man said and turned to leave.

Tang Ning held Liu Ruhan's hand and hurriedly followed.

The two followed him out of the gate, where a carriage was waiting. The man got in, and the two followed him into the carriage.

The carriage started, and Tang Ning held Liu Ruhan's hand, sitting on one side while the man sat on the other, his hands resting on his knees, his back straight. Despite the carriage's swaying, his body remained still.

"Where are we going?" Tang Ning asked softly.

The man glanced at him but didn't answer. Tang Ning didn't dare to ask again.

After an unknown amount of time, the carriage stopped. The man got out, and Tang Ning naturally followed.

They were in a valley surrounded by mountains, with the sounds of birds chirping all around.

Not far away, a group of children around Tang Ning's age were walking briskly on the mountain path, carrying two buckets of water on their shoulders.

The leaves rustled slightly, and a man leaped from the air, landing in front of them with a flip.

This man was also dressed in black, with a bamboo stick in his mouth, a playful smile on his face: "Oh, Senior Brother Qi, what are you doing here?"

"These two are for you."

"Really? At this time, still accepting new members? And a girl, huh, not bad looking."

"It's Master's order."

The man pouted: "Follow me then!"

"This is where you'll be staying. My name is Qin Luo, you can call me Chief Instructor Qin. You can rest today and explore a bit. Tomorrow, you'll start training with them. That's the kitchen; you can eat with them when they do." The man said as he led them to their quarters.

"Chief Instructor Qin, I'll train with them, but what about her?" Tang Ning asked softly.

"Right, I almost forgot. It's a girl. I'll arrange for her tomorrow."

After the man left, Tang Ning and Liu Ruhan entered the room. Compared to the guest rooms in the horse gang, this room was much smaller and simpler, but it was clean.

They stayed in the room for a while. As noon approached, Tang Ning saw the others heading to a hall, so he pulled Liu Ruhan along.

As soon as they entered, the crowd's eyes turned to them.

Being stared at by dozens of people felt very awkward. Tang Ning lowered his head and joined the queue behind someone.

"Who are you? I've never seen you before." A boy around his age asked.

"I just arrived today." Tang Ning said softly.

"How can someone still come today? Hasn't the recruitment period ended?" The boy asked, puzzled.

Tang Ning didn't know how to answer, so he said, "I don't know."

"Who is she? Why is there a girl?"

"She's my sister, she came with me."

"Oh, I'm Gu Chengqian, I've been here for two months."

"I'm Tang Ning, and she's Liu Ruhan."

Liu Ruhan kept her head down, her hand tightly gripping Tang Ning's.

Tang Ning followed the queue to the counter, picked up his meal, and found a corner table to sit down.

Liu Ruhan followed him, and after they finished eating, they returned to their room.

"Hey, you live here?" A voice came from behind as they were about to enter.

Tang Ning turned around to see a boy with regular features and fair skin, who was Gu Chengqian from earlier.

"You live here?" Gu Chengqian asked.

Tang Ning nodded.

"I live here too, in the room next to yours."

There were four rooms on this corridor. Tang Ning lived in the third one, and Gu Chengqian pointed to the second one.

"Do you not need to train?" Tang Ning asked.

"After each meal, we have an hour of rest. I have nothing to do, can I come in and sit for a while?"

"Come in."

The three entered the room. Gu Chengqian sat on a stool, and Liu Ruhan sat on the bed, close to Tang Ning.

"Are all the people here from two months ago?" Tang Ning asked.

"Of course not. Some have been here for a year, some for two years, and some for three years."

Tang Ning nodded, no wonder he saw many people in the hall who were much taller than them: "Do all of them have to stay for three years before they can leave?"

"Not all of them. Most have to stay for three years. They have an annual assessment, and those who pass can become formal disciples of the horse gang."

"Formal disciples?"

"Yes. Only those who pass the assessment are formal disciples and will be taught advanced martial arts. If they don't pass after three years, they become external disciples of the horse gang."

"Do you know what the horse gang does?"

"Of course. The horse gang is the largest greenwood gang in our Chu Kingdom. All horse transactions in Chu must be registered and approved by the horse gang. The current leader of the horse gang is Cui Yilin, known as the Sword Rain Scholar, a recognized master of swordsmanship and one of the four great experts in Chu."

"Sword Rain Scholar?"

"Exactly. His swordsmanship is extremely high, and when he wields his sword, it's like rain, fast and dense. Plus, he always dresses like a scholar, hence the name Sword Rain Scholar."

"Have you heard of Xizhou Iron Arm Wang Dehu?"

"Xizhou Iron Arm? Never heard of him. By the way, where are you from?"

"We're from Anning County