So a few weeks...hmm...I'll need to repay the two kind sisters by then. Once the battle is concluded one way or the other I'm leaving. My revenge takes priority over all other things

Xing Kai planned what to do for the next few weeks while the militiamen, around 300 of them, quietly sneaked out of the warehouse. They left in small groups or pairs, never in large groups or it might attract suspicion from any of the militiamen actually sober enough to notice.

"This town transfer business will ruin us even if we manage to beat whatever town comes at us"

"I know. It would be better if we installed Cheng as the mayor by force"

"Exactly. Jin would throw his brother into a river with stones tied to his ankles if it meant he could become mayor"

A couple militiamen whispered to each while the warehouse emptied.

Nalan Jin has a brother?

Xing Kai positioned himself a little closer to the conversation.

"I agree. If the worst does happen, then I say we make Cheng the mayor. Captain Hong and Commander Shen Han can rule the town through him and finally bring us a bit of peace..."

"Why wait? I think we should kill that rat Jin and his dad-"

The small grouping of men immediately separated as the Captains looked their way. The squat, dark building was almost empty with only the 30 man team and two dozen others left with the Captains. The two dozen others were the remaining super elites who had not taken part in the mission.

"Ok" Hong said as he scanned the group. "It only makes sense to speak to you lot in particular seeing as you represent most of the town's strength."

The men saluted simultaneously, raising their right fist to their heart, with Kai lagging slightly behind. The Captains noticed.

"If I was in your place when I saw the Yao Grass being transported, I would have done the same thing. I don't agree with how you went about it, but the results are not bad." Hong nodded his head slowly. "But I would then go back and train furiously. More furiously then ever before, to prepare for what would come" Hong said.

Fan stepped forward with his hands behind his back.

"I would have ran" he said slowly. "I would take everything and run away. The danger is too great, the enemy too strong."

Don't tempt me

Kai looked at the Captains standing behind Fan and Hong. They were faintly smiling.

"I would agree"

"Yep, me too. We're archers. We care about keeping distance from the enemy even more than Spearmen do" agreed the two archer Captains. The third nodded his head.

The other two Captains, the swordsmen, didn't respond.

"Unfortunately we don't have the luxury of a mayor that is on our side. The townspeople either stay here and die or they stay here and survive. That difference rests on your shoulders..."

Fan and Hong continued motivating the men and convincing them that staying and fighting was the only method available to them. 300 heartbeats later the men were standing as tall as their backs would allow, with a fanatical fire in their eyes. They almost leaped straight through the door to begin training when the Captains finally released them. Xing Kai stepped forward with the last couple of men when Fan signalled them towards the door.

However as Xing Kai made his way towards the door the two ordinary looking, sword wielding Captains stepped forward and blocked his path. The two militiamen beside Kai were surprised but as they left the door they gave him a friendly thumbs up and a grin.

Shit, what's happening?

Xing Kai's heart was hammering wildly and sweat immediately broke out on his forehead. He instinctively placed his hand on his sword and looked around at the 5 other Captains that were walking up to him.

In the dark, and with his nerves stretched tightly, Kai didn't notice the Captain's surprised expressions at seeing him prepare to draw his sword.

They did suspect me! Idiot, I was duped

As the Captains gathered to stand beside the 2 others blocking Kai, he stepped back and took a squatting position.

I'll try the quick attack technique

The two swordsmen Captains were smiling faintly as they lowered their arms back down to their sides. Hong and Fan stood beside them and faced Kai, while the other 3 were standing to the side.

"Hey mute kid. All you have to do is nod or shake your head to the question. No need to freak out ok? Nothing's happening here"Hong said with a smirk.

As if

"So..." Hong glanced at the other Captains. "You're not at Peak stag-"

Before Hong could even finish his sentence, Kai grabbed his scabbard in a tight grip, and using all his strength, yanked the sword out of the sheath. With a lunge forward he closed the distance to smiling sword wielding Captains, intending to slash both of them across the chest in one motion.

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Sorry, but you two are the weakest here

Suddenly Kai felt a tap under his elbow and the sword sliced deep into the scabbard, jerked, and snapped.

No!

Horrified with the stub of a sword in his hands, Kai prepared to lash out with it. However he suddenly felt a lurch in his heart which made him freeze on the spot.

One of the ordinary looking Captains was standing right beside him. Still with a smile on his face.

The tap? He made me jam my sword!

Xing Kai growled in anger and prepared to throw the hilt at the Captains, however as soon as he looked up at the Captains he was hit by a wave. It swept right through his body, making his limbs weak, and his head dizzy.

With a tremble, Xing Kai's Heart's blood erupted with a wave that chased after the 7 Captain's sense. However the 7 senses left Kai's body as fast they hit him, as if they were only flicking him with their sense.

.....Wha...

Xing Kai blinked hard and finally felt his body free up.

Hong and the archers were chuckling, exchanging coins with each other, while Fan was staring at Kai. His arms were folded and his long fingers tapped rapidly on his arms.

"Told you he isn't a traitor didn't I? I've always been a better judge of character then you Hong" said one of the archers. He had soft brown eyes which shined as he accepted the coins passed to him by Hong.

"As if. How rare is it that someone finds a mystic plant? And a village brat of all people?" Hong snorted and turned away from the archers. All of the Captains were focused again on Kai.

Xing Kai stared at his scabbard as soon as he had regained control of his body. The shattered blade had sliced so far into it that the blade had simply snapped at the hilt.

How did he do that? How did he get so close to me?

Kai was completely defeated without taking a single blow. He couldn't stop thinking about how he was countered so easily.

"Listen kid" Hong began. "I know your story. You found a strange looking plant and ate it something like that. Maybe one of those mercs Jin ran into fed it to you, maybe one of them was your dad..."

Kai growled and balled his hand into a fist.

Hong's brow twitched.

"Whatever it was, you received the blessings of God in the form of a mystic plant" Hong said. "Lucky bastard" he muttered under his breath.

"Get on with it Hong" Fan barked.

Hong grunted in reply.

"Those kinds of treasures give a person a special physique. Stronger bodies, better foundations for cultivation; that kind of stuff...and better healing abilities. According to Old Hag Zhou, you recovered from certain death in about a month...silly bat's probably going blind."

The archers and Fan nodded their heads with a grimace on their face.

"We suspected that you were growing a little too quickly, you were fighting too well, and even the Hag says you heal really quickly. Particularly since we saw you one the forest wall every night...we suspected something must be up" he said slowly. His deep voice reverberated in the empty warehouse.

"Hong made a bet with me that you were a spy sent from a Greater Town" said the brown eyed archer. He chuckled as Hong shot a warning look at him. "Fan thought you were a traitor too, but he didn't bet since he's broke-"

"Shut it." Fan shot back darkly.

Xing Kai watched their exchange numbly.

The healing...I never even realised they would suspect me that much for healing...how bad was I even hurt? Near death?

Xing Kai shook his head and looked down at his scabbard again.

I had no idea...I got far too carried away at the forest wall

Xing Kai cursed at himself. He was completely played with even as he thought he was getting stronger and preparing to leave.

Hell, would I have even managed to reach the forest before they would kill me?

He looked across at Fan.

He'd do it. Hong would too since he thought I was a traitor

Kai thought back over the weeks when he thought he was being clever, to when he was getting a hang of his cultivation and how to go about getting his revenge. Yet he was so ignorant that he could have walked into his own funeral pyre with a smug grin.

Only looking across at the two ordinary looking swordsmen was enough.

Those two, he would not forget.

"Seeing as you freaked out so badly, as Ken expected, when Hong questioned your cultivation is convincing enough for me" said another of the archers. He had the fastest arrow as far as Kai could tell during his forest wall nights. His had small build but huge arms and back muscles, which probably helped.

Who knows if that's true...maybe he's the weakest shot of the three, and they were concealing even more of there strength than I thought...comparing to that Soul Condensing warrior from before it seems like they probably did put on an act...

Xing Kai bitterly cursed at himself while Hong spoke.

"Don't worry though. Seeing as you got your boost from a mystic plant we can't exactly steal any treasure from you"

"Assuming you got your strength from a plant" Fan added

"What else would it be?" Ken, the brown eyed archer said. Fan didn't say anything.

"Since you have a better foundation for your body then most people from towns do, I had a feeling that you probably didn't have a miraculous breakthrough into Peak stage" Hong said. "Not forgetting that breaking through requires a lot of focus and steady work...where would you get the time for that in a fight?"

So my prepared lies were a total give away too?

Xing Kai's face fell, but he kept silent.

"Not forgetting that you don't have the manual for the 10th stage...a breakthrough does seem a little impossible don't you think?" Fan added.

"But you should be aware of somethings. Although you have a better foundation than most of these people who train in towns, a Soul condensing warrior is far beyond you, let alone us 7 and Shen Han, who trained in city armies. Ddon't think of any clever ideas. And don't get cocky." Hong said calmly. 

"Indeed. There were plenty of people as strong as you when they were at Late stage in the city armies...and the Zhou brothers were even strong than them. The Zhou brothers here, and Shen Han, were all able to fight several stages above their cultivation back when they were in Blood condensing stage" Fan said with slightly smug expression. The two ordinary brothers chuckled, one with a shy expression and the other winked. It was the swordsmen who had mysteriously appeared and tapped his elbow.

Xing Kai said nothing, and just silently ground his teeth.

"Enough about that stuff. He does now about the cities so it doesn't matter anyways" said Ken, the archer Captain with brown eyes.

Fan snorted.

"Seeing as you have plenty of room to grow, we'll need you to quickly cultivate and try to reach Soul condensing stage. You're going to train with us and you can't disagree" Hong said firmly. The archers also became serious, with no joking expression on their face.

Even the Swordsmen were not smiling.

"You can't run."

"You must fight for the town."

"So...do you accept?" Hong said with a smirk. His huge bear like frame, powerful gaze and deep rumbling voice were unlike anything Kai had ever experienced before. Standing before Fan, a snake in human form, the three archers, who could pull wild beasts apart with their bare hands, and the mysterious swordsmen...Xing Kai felt something. That, although he was capable of bursting forth with astounding force, enough to throw boulders, and move with great speeds, like a bird in the air...even after becoming a cultivator that would kill to grow stronger, like a monster from the stories he heard from the old village men...he was still quite short.

Kai nodded quietly.