Ning Fan clutched his stomach, frowning slightly.

Hui Zi's words were quite shocking to him.

Ning Fan had never once considered Hui Zi an enemy, let alone wanting to take his life.

Lin Chuan had said that just making Hui Zi bleed a little would suffice.

So in Ning Fan's mind, this was merely a test.

He aimed to cause minimal harm to Hui Zi, just enough to pass the challenge. That would be sufficient.

But Hui Zi was teaching him something entirely new.

"Then you could kill me too, why don't you?" Ning Fan felt a wave of pain surging through his abdomen, yet he stubbornly asked.

Hui Zi's kick had been heavy.

But not lethal.

"Oh? You even know how to draw inferences? Alright, smarty-pants, use these five days to figure out why I didn't kill you. I'll give you a hint, and that is..." Hui Zi stood up, lowering his head, the smile in his eyes gradually fading, replaced by a cold glint: "I'm not sparing you out of mercy."

This look made Ning Fan feel a chill.

He believed that Hui Zi had truly considered killing him.

Why?

Why would he so easily harbor murderous intentions towards a complete stranger?

Ning Fan stared at Hui Zi for a long time before struggling to his feet despite the pain. He picked up the black sword he had dropped when kicked away, strapped it to his back, and turned to walk into an alley.

"Giving up already? Kids these days, not a shred of manliness!" Hui Zi sneered.

But Lin Chuan narrowed his eyes, watching Ning Fan's retreating figure: "He'll be back."

Hui Zi was taken aback, then pouted, "What? Brother Chuan, you really want to recruit him even if he comes back?"

"How did you figure that out?"

"Nonsense, if you didn't want to recruit him, why make him slash at me? Got nothing better to do?"

"You little rascal, is that how you talk to your brother? Itching for trouble?"

"Come on, why are you picking on me? I'm always well-behaved!"

After bantering back and forth for a bit, Lin Chuan suddenly smiled: "Do you think that kid can succeed?"

"Brother, I feel like you're insulting me!" Hui Zi grimaced, "I've been playing with hawks all my life, how could I let a little chick peck out my eye?"

"I think he can," Lin Chuan mused thoughtfully. "Want to bet on it?"

Hui Zi grew a bit more serious.

He didn't think Lin Chuan was joking.

Could Brother Chuan really believe that a kid who only knew how to take tests could hurt me?

"Let's bet my next mission's reward."

"Deal."

Lin Chuan patted his shoulder: "Then let's bet 5,000 Solas, leaving you some money for food."

Seeing Lin Chuan about to leave, Hui Zi quickly pulled him back.

"Hold on, Brother Chuan, why are you so sure I'll lose?"

"Because his grades are better than yours."

"Damn it!"

Hui Zi was very dissatisfied with Lin Chuan's answer.

However, it was also because of Lin Chuan's words that Hui Zi became serious.

He had already raised his alertness level to that of outside-district strength!

However, for an entire day, Ning Fan seemed to have truly given up and didn't appear again.

But on the second day, just as Hui Zi was setting up the rickety wooden sign of the "Stray Dog Pack," he saw Ning Fan.

Ning Fan was sitting at the base of a wall about a hundred meters away.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

What made Hui Zi uncomfortable was that the kid was staring at him intently, without making any moves.

At noon, Hui Zi watched as Ning Fan pulled out a greasy piece of food from his pocket, eating while still staring at him.

This was the cheapest food in the Lower City, shadow dog meat - a notoriously unpalatable but affordable option.

The taste was indescribable, both sour and stinky, with a woody texture. No matter how much you chewed, it felt like your throat was being scraped by a knife when you swallowed.

Moreover, it had a high concentration of miasma.

If there was any advantage to this food, it was that it was cheap and filling.

The small piece in Ning Fan's hand cost only five Solas but could last for three days.

After eating a few bites expressionlessly, Ning Fan put the remaining shadow dog meat back in his pocket.

Throughout the entire process, his gaze never left Hui Zi.

Hui Zi felt creeped out.

At first, he could ignore it, but imagine how you'd feel if someone stared at you unblinkingly from sunrise to sunset?

What bothered Hui Zi even more was that by nightfall, even after he had closed shop, Ning Fan still maintained this state.

"Hey," Hui Zi couldn't help but walk over, taking the initiative: "What's your deal? What's the point of staring at me like this?"

Ning Fan looked up: "I'm thinking of ways to make you bleed."

"Thought of anything?"

"I have."

"Oh? Ready to make your move?"

"No."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing much. Lin Chuan said I have five days. Today's only the second day. I'm not in a hurry, why are you?"

Ning Fan calmly stood up: "Are you leaving?"

"What? You want to follow me home?"

"No, I just wanted to tell you, don't sleep."

Ning Fan suddenly smiled, looking quite polite: "I know where you live."

"Fuck!" Hui Zi felt like he was punching cotton!

What kind of game was this kid trying to play?

As it turned out, Ning Fan had indeed put pressure on Hui Zi.

That night, Hui Zi really didn't sleep.

He was truly afraid of an unexpected setback, it would be too embarrassing!

Fortunately, years of being in the wild had accustomed him to going without sleep for a day or two.

On the morning of the third day, Ning Fan was already waiting at the base of the wall early.

Hui Zi glared at him irritably.

Just like yesterday, Ning Fan didn't take his eyes off him even while eating meat.

"Kid, what's the deal? Planning to sneak into my house and ambush me tonight too?"

"I didn't go yesterday."

Ning Fan smiled: "After you left, I just found a place to sleep."

Hui Zi nearly coughed up blood in anger!

"You little..."

"But I'll definitely go tonight!"

Ning Fan said seriously.

Actually, Hui Zi had a way to guarantee winning the bet with Lin Chuan, completely preventing Ning Fan from having a chance to hurt him.

That would be to incapacitate Ning Fan right now.

But the problem was, wouldn't doing so be admitting that he was truly afraid of being successfully ambushed by a little brat like Ning Fan?

Face!

The deputy captain's face!

It's very valuable!

"Fine! I'll be waiting for you!" Hui Zi gritted his teeth fiercely.

That night, Hui Zi lay in bed with his eyes wide open until dawn.

Ning Fan had broken his promise again.

Hui Zi had considered the possibility that Ning Fan was deceiving him, but fearing an upset, he didn't dare to take the risk.

On the morning of the fourth day.

Hui Zi was in extremely poor condition.

As soon as he saw Ning Fan again, Hui Zi didn't even bother setting up the "Stray Dog Pack" sign, instead walking straight towards Ning Fan.

"Why didn't you come last night?"

"I fell asleep."

Ning Fan apologized: "I meant to take a short nap and act in the second half of the night, but I must have been too tired. When I opened my eyes, it was already dawn."

"You still have the mood to sleep?!"

Hui Zi exclaimed in exasperation: "It's already the fourth day! I'm leaving the district tomorrow night, and the closer we get to the deadline, the more cautious I'll become! Don't you understand this?"

"I understand."

Ning Fan looked like he was taking the lesson to heart: "But I only have one chance. I need to be absolutely certain before I make my move, otherwise I'd just be giving you a reason to hurt me."

Hui Zi raised an eyebrow.

This kid wasn't stupid after all!

"I get what you're trying to do. You're just waiting for me to wear down, planning to ambush me when my mental state declines, right?"

Hui Zi snorted coldly: "Kid, you're underestimating Marauders! In the wild, we can go six or seven days without sleep without affecting our combat ability!"

"With my strength, I couldn't possibly let you hurt me even with my eyes closed!"

"Mm, I see. Thank you for the reminder. I won't underestimate you."

Ning Fan nodded politely.

Hui Zi glared at Ning Fan for a long time, finally snorting and going back to set up his wooden sign.

That night, Ning Fan again told him he would come to ambush him.

Although he had been stood up for two nights, Hui Zi believed him this time.

Because he thought Ning Fan's reasoning made sense.

"Tonight is my last chance, I'll definitely come."

Hui Zi waited all night.

The next morning, when he saw Ning Fan again with dark circles under his eyes...

"Damn you! You little bastard! Why didn't you come again last night?!"