They encountered more beasts on their way back, attracted by the smell of blood, but the men were full of vigour and so the wild monkeys and boars were killed with relish. After a few hours they soundlessly entered the camp through the broken forest wall.

In the maze of paths behind the wall they were greeted by Captain Hong and the other 6 Captains. Before the Captains even had a chance to count their numbers, officer Jie showed them the bags of Yao Grass.

The 7 men immediately went wide eyed. The Captains glanced at each other with flashes of excitement on their faces, which made the men’s chest swell with pride.

"Go to the warehouse at the far end. We'll meet you there in 5 minutes"

Captain Hong's voice was low and deep, reverberating in everyone's chests. The 7 captains flickered and seemed to have disappeared into the camp.

The 30 militiamen quickly ran to a low roofed wooden warehouse where they stored bent weapons, vats of poison and enemy clothing. There were crates stacked to one side and large gate like doors at the far end which were as thick as a small tree. The men waited in silence while some were treating the few injured men among them.

Xing Kai had managed to cut his stomach with a small knife during their journey through the forest, so he also appeared to be treating his injuries, with the assistance of a couple others.

In a little over 300 heart beats, the Captains returned and with them came every militiamen under their command. The 7 Captains stood on a raised platform of boxes and faced the militiamen. Captain Hong and the tall, spear wielding Captain Fan stood at the forefront while the 5 other Captains were lined up behind them.

"Men...we have conducted an important secret raid tonight. The mission was led by officer Jie and officer Di, comprised of a total 30 elite militiamen. They were tasked with destroying the Zen family's winter food stocks discovered by officer Lin, 8 months ago."

Hong let this sink into the militiamen in the almost pitch black warehouse. With his deep commanding voice and the eerie scene of hundreds of men standing in silence, the men were enveloped in an atmosphere of duty and kinsmanship.

"The mission was successfully completed, with no deaths among our own numbers."

The men nodded, feeling both proud and triumphant that their brothers could land such a devastating blow to the rival Zen town. The shared looks between the 30 and the other militiamen was enough to transmit their feelings to each other.

"However...during the course of the mission the men managed to capture a quantity of Yao Grass"

The listening men instantly became wide-eyed and held their breaths.

"Officer Jie, could you report to us the details of the mission?"

Hong looked over at the 30 men standing separate to the neat rows of the other militiamen. Officer Jie gave a crips nod, stepped out among the circle of 30 men, and turned to address the hundreds of militiamen.

For the next 20 minutes, officer Jie meticulously described every detail of their mission from the number of enemies faced, to how many killed, and how many injured. Even the number of beast attacks along the way and where they occurred was described. Each man’s performance in the mission was described...including Xing Kai's.

"On our way back, officer Kai found a strange odour. I made the decision to follow officer Kai's direction and…”

The next few minutes particularly made the 29 men grin and the listeners to marvel. The Captains, however, shared a few looks and narrowed their sights on Xing Kai, which made him break out in sweats.

I knew it!

Xing Kai quickly looked down at his feet and racked his brain for what to do.

Everyone thinks that I'm at Late stage...at best I could say that I luckily broke through somehow into Peak stage and then...with a lucky trick I managed to defeat the Soul condensing expert

Kai quickly glanced around at the men and the Captains.

...they don't seem to be suspicious?

The militiamen gave Xing Kai amazed looks but they were focused on officer Jie's telling. In fact, even the Captain's had withdrew their gaze. Kai released his breath in relief.

Thankfully nobody saw the fight in detail

“Did you clear the area of any clues that could could lead those men back to us?” a captain asked officer Jie.

I can't let anybody suspect I'm a Blood cultivator...otherwise I'm finished

Xing Kai kept a close watch on everyone for signs of suspicion while the report was given.

“After killing all 5 monkeys we quickly fled, and managed to avoid their ape leader’s detection. No more than 12 minutes were required on track B2 for us to reach the wall. Sir.”

Jie ended his most successful report to date with a poorly concealed smile on his face. The Captains nodded their heads and lifted up the four bags that everyone had been expecting from behind them. Everyone’s attention was drawn towards the much anticipated bags of treasure.

“As you can see, we have a large amount of Yao Grass at hand. There’s almost 450 leaves in here; more than Nalan town has ever come across”

Hong raised the bags up, casting a dim yellow glow on his hand and face. His eyes almost seemed to be glowing all by themselves in his fearsome face.

“We have enough resources here to really build up the power of the town. To make it safe for our families. Well...if we make the right decision that is..."

All of the listening men sobered up immediately; everyone understood the problem at hand. Captain Fan took a step forward and allowed his penetrating gaze to roam over the men.

“But this fortunate event will have consequences.”

Fan’s cold voice reached everyone’s ears sharply.

“Without a doubt this Yao Grass was a shipment meant for and sent by a powerful entity. For the guards alone to have more experts than a good-sized town...this is probably the work of the highest level township. One with a population bordering on a million.”

A million people...to support a town like that the militia would be atleast 10 times greater than ours...

“They will definitely investigate this loss and in no time at all, conclude us and Zen town as the likely culprits. For a town of that strength...it wouldn't even matter which one of us did it. Both towns will get wiped out and the town insignias stolen”

The men swallowed.

“They will come looking for us. Either before or after they wipe out Zen town. They have little reason not to” said Fan.

“Especially since the Great Town Promotions are concluding. All of the powerful towns are looking for an excuse to steal other town's insignias” Hong concluded.

Did I bring a disaster onto the town?

Xing Kai's brows met.

“There are two important points to consider here: firstly, this hard earned Yao Grass would certainly be split up among all 13 captains for fairness if the militia learned of this. We would receive the least as we are small in numbers, even though it was our brothers who did all the work.”

Everyone nodded solemnly.

“Secondly, a high grade town with many Peak Blood condensing stage men and a number of Soul condensing men will come looking for us.”

The men could all see where this was headed. Slowly and silently people began raising their fists into the air.

The unmistakable sign of battle.

“Therefore we will not be reporting this to the town. Even if we told them that we were going to be attacked, those lazy, philandering fools in the militia wouldn’t change. This treasure is better off in our hands, where we can use it to rapidly build up a small force of elite soldiers.”

All of the men had raised their fists into the air.

A unanimous agreement.

Looks like this town is going to end up in a serious war...I can't die here before getting my revenge

Xing Kai raised his fist like the others, but his eyes showed very little actual determination to fight.

I need to leave before the battle...but to do that I'll need to travel through the wilderness without relying on the tracks...

Xing Kai shook his head to the idea of wandering the wild virgin forests without any help or directions.

What a rut I'm stuck in...I'm not strong enough to leave and carve my own path out, and I can't grow any strong here since I've ran out of resources

Xing Kai suddenly paused.

Since when did I start thinking of people as resources?

“The distribution of the Yao Grass among us brothers will be as fair as possible. Listen carefully. All early Blood condensing Stage cultivators at the 1st layer will receive 1 Yao Grass leaf. Those at 2nd and 3rd layer will get 2 leaves.”

“For those at the middle Blood condensing Stage, everyone at the 3rd layer gets 2 leaves, while the rest receive 1.”

“Finally 2 leaves are to be given to each person at Late stage. Naturally the peak Stage men will not enjoy much of the benefits of Yao Grass, so they will not get any.”

As Hong described the allocation, the men left their fist raised up high. There were no complaints.

“Special exceptions shall be made for officer Kai, who will receive 6 leaves, and the other men who partook in the mission each of whom will receive 1 extra leaf.”

Wait, 6! I get 6 of those leaves! That would be enough for me to breakthrough! I could definitely leave and travel the wilderness then!

Kai tightened his fists and felt a shiver of anticipation. Xing Kai accepted his 6 glowing yellow leaves from one of the ordinary looking captains and clutched them tightly.

What a stroke of good fortune. With this, I don't have any reason to stay here anymore...

I can finally hunt down those men

Xing Kai chuckled in his throat, producing a horrible grating sound. His dark eyes burned with fury.

Maybe God is finally supporting me...

Xing Kai looked at the leaves clenched in his fist.

I would never have thought that I would even end up holding things like these in my hand. What would the others say?

Xing Kai shook his head ruefully as he opened his palm.

The leaves were quite bizarre, smooth like any blade of grass would be, yet not as supple as expected. The colour of the grass seemed to be like straw, simple and unremarkable. However the glow it produced was very mystical, moving and flowing in a pattern known only by itself.

The glow...it looks like it's flowing through small veins in the leaves...the plant's Loumai I guess...

Xing Kai felt like his surroundings were gently fading away as he gazed into the soft warm glow.

He smelled one of the blades of Yao Grass.

He brought one of them to his tongue.

“Listen well”

Captain Fan called out to the men with his sharp piercing voice, which jolted Kai back into focus.

“Keep this between us at all costs" Fan said. His eyes racked over the militiamen, testing to see if anyone would buckle. "We must do this because the town is in danger, and only we can properly respond to defend it. Train well in the next few weeks...that will be about as much time as we can hope for. By then…”

Fan shared a look with the other captains; the men looked about each other with tense expressions too.

“By then the town ownership transfer would have been completed anyways" he muttered.