A discussion at night

The huge battle had ended.

The people of the little village were at peace, although half the village was in mourning.

The number of loved ones lost was by no means forgettable, but peace was peace at the end of the day.

The people had also heard of how the bandits were working with slavers to sell them off.

When they heard that, it pissed them off. They also wanted to take them as slaves? They all swarmed to the guard house where the bandits were being kept and demanded they be brought out to answer for their crimes.

This was very problematic because the army would never let them dish out their own punishment.

It was a standoff.

But at the last minute, the Li family stepped in and stopped the madness.

"Lord first, please let us have our revenge," said a man in the lead.

They wanted revenge, but some of them still respected the Li family, so they had to hold back.

Others? Not so much.

"Li cowards, you better get out of our way. You weren't here when we suffered, so you better let us have our revenge."

Everyone had their own opinions.

"People of the li village, I truly understand your pain and need for revenge. Some of you have lost brothers, sisters, wives, and husbands to these monsters," said the lord first.

"But this is a country and it has its own laws."

"I can promise you one thing though, if they are to be executed, which I'm sure they will be right officer?" Lord First inquired

"They will be dealt the harshest punishment for their crimes according to the laws of northern Wei. I swear it on my honor," the officer in front said with a loud voice.

"Then they must be executed on our grounds, that is after they stand trial," said the lord. He, too, was putting pressure on the army officer

"Yes, that is a must."

"They have caused us so much pain that they must be executed here."

The bandits could hear these people whom they had terrorized deciding where they would be executed.

They could only sigh. They had lost and there was nothing they could do about it. Their leader was crippled.

His giant dire wolf was beheaded.

But then a voice echoed

"That's not enough." It was the executioner, Ken.

He had survived the stab and was doing well.

"We want to stone the leader."

The officer frowned, "they still insisted on killing him.?"

"Not with rocks Maybe a tomato or two, "said the executioner.

"These people need an outlet for their anger," he added.

The officer then heaved a sigh of relief.

"That is better," he thought.

And so he gave the order for the bandit leader to be displayed in the village square for the people to release their frustrations.

Of course, some knights were placed to protect him.

.....

'Four-flavor wine inn'

There sat about 15–16 men. They all had drinks in their hands.

"Brother Frank, you'll have to compensate us for stealing our kill." screamed Knuckles. He was very happy.

Although he hadn't received praise immediately, the lord fifth had let the high-ranking officer that knuckles as basically the mastermind of the whole operation.

She commended him and his team. She was also shocked to find out that Frank, Joey, and Jake were just candidates.

By the way, Jake, Joey, and the seniors that brought them here were doing fine now.

"Brother knuckles, you must be kidding; what am I but a poor boy? There's no way I can compensate you," Frank mocked.

Knuckles had said this same thing for the past few days, so it became clear to him that Knuckles wanted something.

But he paid him no mind.

Frank had the head of the dire wolf, but it really had no importance to him other than the teeth. The other parts would just decay.

"Shut up knuckles, don't embarrass Frank over here, you shameless knucklehead," said the giant-like man.

(See what I did there?)

If I recall correctly, he was called Marcus.

"Oh, Marcus, you big oaf, don't think I won't take you on," Knuckles said.

He then gulped down a bottle of wine.

"Let's go," said knuckles.

"As you wish," Marcus said while he grabbed his poleax and raised it up to hold over his shoulder.

He seemed like someone who was ready to throw down at anytime.

They glared at each other.

"Just fight already." It was sparrow. He just wanted to fuel the flames.

They both then glared at sparrow together, they then said in unison. "This little jerk Is annoying."

"Brothers come," said Wang Ben.

"A toast to a successful mission and brotherhood," he added.

"To a successful brotherhood mission," they all exclaimed.

They had saved the village; now it was time to get wasted.

.....

Night time

'Knock knock'

A knock sounded on Frank's door.

When the military garrisoned here, they each got their own rooms.

"Who's there?" Frank wasn't vigilant at all.

The whole place was surrounded by cadets, so what would he be afraid of?

"It's me, Wang Ben."

Frank then walked to the door and let him in.

"Brother Wang, what brings you here?"

Of course, Frank was intrigued; why would Wang Ben request to see him at this hour?

"Frank sit," wang ben instructed.

Frank sat on the floor with cadet Wang Ben.

Wang Ben said, "I've been meaning to ask you this question for a while."

"Fire away," said Frank.

"The old man that came into the battle stage, the one who beat you up," he paused, and then asked, "Do you know who he is?"

Frank replied honestly, "Not particularly no."

He only knew the old master was strong and was kind of a pill-refining freak.

He often said that pill refining was better than cultivation too.

"Oh, he is called pill refiner red smoke," said Wang Ben.

"At first I didn't know that it was him until I described him to my master," Wang Ben added.

"Tell me the truth, Frank: did he take you in as a discipline?"

"No he didn't," Frank replied promptly.

The old man didn't want to teach him cultivation, talk less of taking him as a discipline. The old man was also very weird too.

"Don't get me wrong, Frank, if he ever tries to do that, I want you to agree immediately," Wang Ben said

"Why?" asked Frank.

"Your father is strong, but he must be very far away now, so you need someone to depend on," Wang Ben said.

"I will not always be there and my master is a bit reclusive at times, so it's better you have a strong backer," he added.

Frank naturally understood, you need a backer in the military to succeed; if not, one wouldn't even know how they died.

"It is good to be his disciple. The faction he belongs to is fairly safe; they don't involve themselves in fights and struggles for power as much as the others."

"Factions?" Frank asked

"There are five factions in the fire-bird military base." Wang Ben understood that Frank was confused, so he explained

That the old man belonged to a faction called

"The four pavilion faction"

They were very erratic old men that lived in seclusion to pursue their "gifts."

"I belong to the warrior's faction. Towering Zen is also one of the leaders of the warrior faction."

The warrior faction is one that engaged in constant struggle. It is filled with mostly commoners who rose up in the military base.

Then we have

"The noble faction"

They were rich and influential. They looked down on the common people, but they also do not lack strong people.

"Are you aware that your friend Jack was recruited by someone from the noble faction?" said Wang Ben

Frank was stunned.

"Was that what they meant when they said he'd joined the enemy? Did the warrior faction have problems with the noble faction?" he thought

"Are only nobles allowed to join the noble faction?" Frank inquired.

"No, to become important in the noble faction, you must be a noble, but other than that, anyone can join the faction."

"We are not the only army in the kingdom, but the fire-bird army is huge. We control half of the south of northern wei. You must understand our factions are huge, so the noble faction won't be even strong without commoners. "

"And yet they looked down on them?"

Frank was soon lost in thought. The political situation of the base was much more complicated than he actually thought.

"Think about it, Frank," said Wang Ben.

After he said that, he got up and left. He had a feeling the old man would have Frank be his discipline, so he had to make sure Frank accepted.

He wanted that not just for Frank's safety, but he also had his own selfish reasons.

Frank just sat there staring into space. Who knew what was going through his mind?