1573 Hunting

A week passed. The several hundred warriors who had newly entered Subduing Demon City had Awakened their potential under the guidance of their teachers, taking the first steps in their future development. Once they knew where their potential was, they just needed to study and cultivate in that direction.

Of course, not everyone had gotten an awakening. Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha were like two blocks of wood, showing no potential at all. They could only watch as Jiang Zhibei and the others received Turan’s guidance while they sipped on tea and ate snacks. Like two completely uninvolved pedestrians, they whiled away the time.

“Were you hearing things again last night?” Traveling Buddha asked Xia Fan.

“How did you know?”

“You’ve got dark circles around your eyes, brother. You’re so sleep-deprived that you’re about to become a panda.”

Xia Fan sighed and helplessly shrugged. “It’s bizarre. Ever since I heard Turan’s demonic music, I frequently hear strange sounds in my ear, and ear plugs don’t help. It’s like it’s some mental energy that’s going straight into my brain. There’s no means of physically stopping it.”

Traveling Buddha nodded and offered Xia Fan a cup of tea. “What sort of sound is it? Even when we fought together on the battlefield, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you come down with any sort of mental illness. You can kill so much that you leave the ground covered in bodies and still sleep soundly, so why does this little noise prevent you from sleeping?”

Xia Fan took the cup and sniffed it lightly. Under the influence of the Little Old Buddha’s extravagant lifestyle, Xia Fan had gradually begun to develop an understanding of tea leaves, and his tastes grew more and more rarefied. Now that he understood quality, he could no longer treat tea brewed from expensive leaves like plain water.

Xia Fan bitterly smiled. “Yes. When I was learning engineering, even though the old combustion engines made so much noise, whenever I was tired, I could just fall asleep on the engine covers.

“But this sound is different. It has a powerful resonance, as if the sounds are waiting for my reply. It’s a little like when I first got my Scent ability. When I unlocked it, all sorts of odors entered my nose, disrupting my thoughts. I felt like my brain was going to explode. Just try imagining it. The smell of a fox four hundred kilometers away, the unflushed toilet in someone’s house… I could smell it all! That sort of sensation was just too scary…

“Later on, I learned to slowly shut off my sense of smell, freeing myself from the distraction. When I need it, I can activate my Scent ability, and when I don’t need it, I can shut it off. Maybe I just haven’t learned how to block out the sounds I’m hearing yet. Once I learn how to, I’ll be free of this noise.”

Traveling Buddha’s eyes brightened. “In other words, you’ve activated some kind of hearing ability?”

Xia Fan shook his head. “No, I can only listen to certain sounds, like the breathing of creatures and the calling of birds. If someone is talking several hundred meters away, I still can’t hear them.”

Traveling Buddha stroked his chin in confusion. “That’s weird. You can only hear the sounds of animals, but you can’t hear the sounds of people talking…”

“What are the two of you talking about?” Turan arrived with Le Jiajia and the others. He couldn’t help but be curious as to what Traveling Buddha and Xia Fan were so avidly chatting about.

“It’s nothing, just casual conversation. The training is over so quickly?” Xia Fan said. He didn’t want to divulge that he had been hearing sounds lately, for he felt like that was a private matter.

Turan nodded. “Support types don’t have that many lessons in the first place, and tomorrow is a test, so I need to give you enough time to rest.”

“What’s being tested?”

“To put it simply, it’s to test the combat power of you probationary Demon Subduers. As you guys aren’t combat types, you’ll just be going through the motions. When the time comes, the combat types will wear red combat uniforms while you guys will be wearing green. When the warriors hunting you see your color, they’ll understand that you’re non-combat and won’t be too hard on you.”

“Hunting us?” Traveling Buddha frowned unhappily. “Are you treating me like a rabbit?”

Turan laughed. “It’s not like that. Old students will hunt new students. This has always been a rule of Subduing Demon City. Tomorrow, just go along with the rest. Once you’re captured, the test will be over. Combat types naturally want to last as long as possible, but non-combat types don’t have that requirement.”

Du Yu lightly raised his glasses. “Teacher is right. Tomorrow, the five of us can just muddle our way through. As non-combat types, it doesn’t matter how low our scores are.”

Even though Turan explained again that Subduing Demon City didn’t have any compulsory requirements for non-combat types, Traveling Buddha kept scowling. He felt like being chased around like prey was kind of humiliating. Ever since he had been partners with Xia Fan, they had always hunted other people, never been hunted themselves!

“Let’s wait and see. I only know how to beat people up, not to be beaten by others,” Traveling Buddha said proudly.

Turan had nothing to say to that. When he had wanted to send Traveling Buddha to the combat division, Traveling Buddha had refused, demanding to stay together with Xia Fan in the small support squad.

…

The next morning, Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha were brought to a vast forest outside the city. The new probationary Demon Subduers were lined up along the dividing line between the forest and the lawn, grouped in teams of five. Xia Fan’s class was a ready-made team, but as they were a support team, they were wearing grass-green uniforms. They looked like five stalks of seagrass, swaying in the wind.

Traveling Buddha folded his arms and grumbled, “I feel like a little chicken…” He didn’t like the green combat uniform. The other warriors were all wearing bright red uniforms, signifying their passion and excitement. Only the five of them were wearing green, making them stand out like sore thumbs.

“It’s fine. At least this lets us hide better. Red is too easily spotted in the forest,” Xia Fan reminded him.

The senior Demon Subduer students taking part in the hunt were wearing black uniforms, but that wasn’t the biggest difference. They also had personal flying beasts that allowed them to take to the skies and hunt from above.

The advantages were obvious. Whether it was in numbers, speed, elevation, or teamwork, the new students were far inferior to the older students. They probably wouldn’t last for long. The longer they lasted, the more points they could get. According to the rules, if a new student was bold enough, they could hunt the older students, but as their opponents had the aerial advantage, there were probably few people who could do so.

City Lord Lu Tailai finished explaining the rules of the hunting exam, and then loudly announced, “Now, you can enter the hunting ground! One hour from now, the older student group will set out! The squad that lasts until the end and scores the most points will get a valuable gift! Work hard!”

Whoosh!

Even as Lu Tailai finished speaking, the new students rushed into the forest like rabbits, fleeing into its depths and scattering. Meanwhile, the older students held the reins of their flying beasts and smiled silently.

—

Xia Fan’s group of five also entered the forest. They walked the complicated forest paths, clearly moving more slowly than the combat teams. This was particularly true for Jiang Zhibei, who weighed 325 kilograms. When he ran, he was like a tractor, creating a huge ruckus and making the earth shake, and he wasn’t even able to go that fast. He would only run a few steps before he was panting for breath, sweat falling from his body like a rainstorm.

“This is so annoying. Can’t you be a little faster?” Traveling Buddha cursed. He grabbed Jiang Zhibei’s combat uniform and lifted him up. A body weight of 300+ kilograms was as light as a chicken to Traveling Buddha.

Xia Fan frowned and asked curiously, “It looks to me like you don’t want to lose. When did you suddenly get so serious?”

Traveling Buddha rolled his eyes. “How can a single dog like you understand my mood? I’m a father now, and what am I going to say if my son asks me about this? Am I going to tell him that I didn’t meet the grade and was even the one being hunted? Absolutely not!

“I don’t just want to win today, but to win any other thing in the future! I want my son to know that his dad is the best!”

Xia Fan was speechless. Single hounds truly had no rights! Even Traveling Buddha was starting to discriminate against him!

Traveling Buddha’s strongest ability was defense. He was like a shield while Xia Fan was like a sharp blade. As partners, they were perfect, but now, Xia Fan couldn’t use his blade, so winning was no longer easy!

“Let’s go this way.” Xia Fan sniffed the air, using his Scent ability to choose the right direction. He headed in a direction with more beasts in the hopes that the beasts of the forest would help them fend off the attacks from the hunters.