Chapter 482: Chapter 397: Reason for Joining 2

When Wei Nan was done speaking, Sun Tao nodded.

To be frank, this was true for both Sun Tao and Wei Nan.

They weren’t really afraid of death.

They were afraid that if they died, no one would be left to care for their parents.

After all, back in the Old District, their parents had done everything they could to get them into a Martial Arts University.

They had practically poured everything they had into it, selling anything of value in their homes.

They had basically staked their family’s entire net worth on them.

All so their children could have a shot at success.

Perhaps there was an element of gambling in it.

Their parents had staked their own futures on them.

But Wei Nan and Sun Tao saw it as a form of trust and hope.

"What about you? Weren’t you scared when you first chose to join the Town Martial Department?" Sun Tao asked, looking at Wei Nan with curiosity.

Wei Nan laughed. "Who the hell isn’t scared?"

"The Town Martial Department, the Demon Hunting Bureau—are any of them not dangerous jobs?"

"Honestly, if it were up to me, I’d rather have gone to Lanshan University to study medicine. It pays well, and it’s safe. Or even Dragon Tiger University would have been great. I could have been a carefree Little Daoist, practicing Alchemy, drawing some talismans... that would have been a comfortable life!"

Hearing this, Sun Tao quickly asked, "Then why did you still..."

"For my brother!"

"Huh? Not for Lin Yi?"

"Of course it’s related. Lin Yi and I are childhood friends; we grew up together!"

"From elementary school all the way through high school!"

"We don’t have any secrets. Wherever he goes, I’m sure to follow!"

"Call it seeing a friend through thick and thin, I guess!"

"And there’s another reason—to fulfill my brother’s dream."

"You didn’t know my brother. He was a natural-born rogue—loved adventure, loved fighting, loved the thrill of it all!"

"Back in the Old District, he was like Lin Yi—an unaffiliated Demon Hunter. His main gig was Demon Hunting, even if it wasn’t officially recognized."

"But he was passionate about Demon Hunting, passionate about battle!"

"But then... he was killed by a demonic beast."

As Wei Nan spoke of this, his expression gradually darkened.

Sun Tao’s brow furrowed, and he was just about to say something to comfort him.

But Wei Nan just smiled. "So, you see, I’m carrying on my brother’s legacy now. For his sake, I have to keep fighting!"

"I feel like I’m carrying his convictions with me now."

"And I firmly believe that as long as I follow Lin Yi, I’ll be able to keep on fighting!"

Wei Nan’s words seemed to solidify Sun Tao’s resolve.

He nodded. "Hearing you talk like that, I’m starting to get pumped up myself!"

"Alright. I’ll go find Lin Yi later and talk to him about joining the Town Martial Department!"

"If he doesn’t agree, I’ll just keep whining and pestering him until he says yes!"

When Sun Tao finished, Wei Nan burst out laughing.

Just then, Zhou Qi and Shen Mengyi walked in from outside.

"Hey, are you two going to fight or not? What’s with all the chit-chat?"

While the two of them had been sparring earlier, Zhou Qi and Shen Mengyi had been watching the fight from outside.

It was a weapons sparring match, after all, and it was easy to get accidentally injured if you weren’t careful.

So watching from the sidelines was the best option.

But they had been watching from outside for ages.

Only to find Sun Tao and Wei Nan had started chatting inside instead.

They were talking up a storm, with no sign of wanting to continue their fight.

Sun Tao glanced at the two of them and said with a smile, "What’s there to fight? I already lost!"

"Zhou Qi, Mengyi, I’ve made my decision!"

"I want to join the Town Martial Department and become a Guard, just like Wei Nan!"

When Zhou Qi and Shen Mengyi heard him, they weren’t surprised at all.

Shen Mengyi even smiled and said, "You’re only just deciding now?"

"I decided a long time ago! I was just waiting for Senior Brother Lin to get back to tell him, but I didn’t expect him to go into seclusion!"

Zhou Qi also smiled and nodded. "I made my decision a long time ago, too. We’re about to be juniors!"

"It’s about time we went out to get some real-world experience!"

"Isn’t this perfect? The gang can finally be together again!"

At that, they all burst out laughing.

"Um, you guys can keep chatting. I have to go home," Wei Nan suddenly said, remembering.

Hearing this, Zhou Qi and Sun Tao nodded.

No one tried to stop him. After all, Wei Nan had gone to the Old District with Lin Yi.

He’d been gone for almost a year.

He hadn’t been able to go home to see his family that whole time. Now that he was finally back...

Of course Wei Nan had to go see how his parents were doing.

After Wei Nan left...

Sun Tao said with a smile, "Zhou Qi, come on. Let’s have a go."

"I want to try out a couple of moves I just learned from Wei Nan!"

Zhou Qi grinned. Among their group, he was considered the most talented.

His cultivation level was also the highest.

Hearing Sun Tao’s challenge, Zhou Qi laughed. "Alright, then. Let’s see what these moves you learned from Wei Nan are all about!"

And so, Shen Mengyi backed away.

She left the space to Zhou Qi and Sun Tao.

The two took their stances.

Sun Tao was the first to charge, rushing toward Zhou Qi.

Zhou Qi wielded a long spear, and his spear techniques had been taught to him by Lin Yi.

Zhou Qi had always been extremely confident in his own martial skills.

The instant Sun Tao charged, a cold glint flashed in Zhou Qi’s eyes. He thrust his spear straight at Sun Tao.

But Sun Tao quickly blocked with his long staff, managing to knock the spear aside.

While Zhou Qi was still slightly stunned, Sun Tao didn’t pause. His staff-work and footwork blended together, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished from Zhou Qi’s sight.

Just as the astonished Zhou Qi was about to locate Sun Tao, a vicious gust of wind swept in. Sun Tao’s long staff was crashing down on him from the side.

Terrified, Zhou Qi hurriedly brought up his spear to block.

CLANG—

The force of the heavy blow made the webbing of Zhou Qi’s thumb ache and sent a numbing shock up his arm.

He no longer dared to underestimate Sun Tao.

He quickly reset his stance, preparing to fight seriously.

However, Sun Tao gave him no such opportunity.

Before Zhou Qi was fully prepared, Sun Tao’s staff smashed toward him once again.

This time, Zhou Qi was utterly shocked.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The continuous heavy blows sent Zhou Qi scrambling.

Sun Tao grinned broadly. "Hahaha! Real combat is all about the element of surprise! There are no fixed patterns to speak of!"

"As long as you win, it’s not shameful even if you use some underhanded tricks. That’s the lesson Wei Nan taught me!"

After Sun Tao finished speaking, he attacked Zhou Qi again.

This time, he completely abandoned pure staff techniques.

To put it bluntly, as long as it led to victory, who cared about form?

As Zhou Qi desperately dodged and blocked, he seemed to grasp the underlying principle.

Countering each move as it came, winner takes all.

He, too, began to grasp this so-called "pattern of no patterns."

In truth, fighting without a set pattern didn’t mean fighting without any moves at all.

Nor was it just flailing about randomly.

It meant taking all the martial arts techniques one had learned and completely scrambling them.

It meant not being bound by convention; as long as you could win, anything was fair game.

Slowly, Zhou Qi also came to understand this.

He too began to fight Sun Tao without adhering to any set forms.

As a result, Sun Tao, who had held the advantage at the start, slowly began to find himself overwhelmed.

In the end, once Zhou Qi also began fighting completely without form, Sun Tao found it impossible to predict where his opponent’s next spear thrust would come from.

This, in turn, threw Sun Tao into a flustered panic.

Finally...

CLANG—

The long staff in Sun Tao’s hand fell to the ground.

He hurriedly said, "I’m done! I’m done!"

"You learn way too fast! I shouldn’t have told you any of that!"

Hearing this, Zhou Qi just smiled. "Hey, we’re all improving together. But Wei Nan really did learn a lot this past year. When he gets back from his family’s place, we should spar with him some more!"

"We can slowly learn everything he picked up out there!"

Sun Tao nodded with a grin. "Sounds like a plan. Oh, hey, should we go check on things? I want to join the Town Martial Department as soon as possible!"

Zhou Qi shot Sun Tao a look.

"No need. When Lin Yi is done with his own stuff, he’ll contact us."

"Sun Tao, are you sure about this? Joining the Town Martial Department... it’s dangerous."

Zhou Qi looked at Sun Tao, his expression serious.

Sun Tao just chuckled and nodded. "Danger is everywhere. I already talked it over with Wei Nan. Instead of cowering in a shell and living a stifled life, it’s better to be a man. Even if it means dying on the battlefield, a glorious warrior’s death is better than fading away into obscurity!"

"Besides, I’ve already talked to my parents about it."

"Once I join the Town Martial Department, my salary can be sent directly to their account."

"At least that will guarantee they won’t have to worry about food or clothing!"

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