Loophole 3

After Heng finished what he had to say to Yin Hai , he decided to head back to camp, but to his annoyance Yin Hai followed right behind him. Heng really wanted to punch him for making his life complicated as until he reached the training ground he trained usually,  his vision constantly contracted,  meaning someone was staring at him.

'Fucking piece of shit....don't you have anything else to do beside spy on me?' Heng was grateful for the skills effect,  but he felt annoyed at its effects. ' That fucker better hide himself, because if I catch him....

........

Time passed and the time for Heng to go on his mission arrived. He and nineteen others were gathered up on front of the southern gate and were receiving somewhat of a briefing from the Squad Commander  Li. Li  was a man in his late thirties who didn't really portray the figure of a soldier. He had a short beard,  long hair tied on a bun behind his head,  and was somewhat chubby. If you encountered him on the street je would look to you as if someone who was maybe a stall owner or maybe an accountant or something,  but as he wore his armour,  he looked like a small tank

"Listen up,  and listen well!  Today were headed on a routine patrol of our southern territory.  It is usually a normal patrol without incidents,  but recently there have been some disturbances in the area we are to check out. So , I hope you have steeled your resolve...." said commander Li as he mounted his horse . The rest immediately followed and followed him on foot. They didn't have a horse as commander Li, only  a few mule like creatures they used to transport supplies. Heng usually wouldn't have complained about something like this as it was normal on this world to travel far on foot, but two headaches had somehow tagged alongside him.

"Hey,  BROTHER HENG,  what a coincidence huh? Who would have thought we would be deployed together for this mission." cheerfully said Wu Tao as he hummed something under his breath.

".....

Of course Heng didn't say anything as he didn't want to get roped into one of Wu Tao's stupid topics. He continued on his quiet marching eager to finnish this mission, but it was not ment to be. Another blonde figure approached him, and spoke only four words...

"We need to talk."

At that moment Hai really wanted to give up. Nothing was going the way he wanted to. 

.....

Their day was uneventful as they marched about 25 km before they ended their march and set up camp. It was crude and offered no real protection besides the big fire which besides used to cook,  was used to deter any wild animals. It was a clear night sky which made the moon shine brightly upon them tonight.  It was nothing compared to modern electric lamps,  but Heng was used to it by now. What he wasn't used to was annoying things happening to him.

After they ate their dinner, and as they were about  to go to sleep , Yin Hai approached him.

"Qin Heng....it seems I owe a 'thank you'?"

"For what?" asked Heng , clearly confused.

"It was as you said,  someone was truly following us. I didn't even think that it was a possibility,  but I was wrong." with a somewhat dejected face Hai gave Heng  two things: a small booklet,  and a wooden box  about 20 cm wide and 15 cm long. Heng looked at the two things Hai offered to him , but didn't take them.

"What,  you don't want them? They will greatly help you on your cultivation you know. "

"Hmph,  do you take me for a fool? I know you're just doing this to rope me in. If I accept these things I'll be in your debt. "

"No....these are as thanks to helping figure put something important. "

"Nevertheless,  they still will tie me to you, and make me enemy of others."

"I see...."said Hai as he saw Heng's stern face and retracted his hand , but with a quick grab Heng held his hand.

"But  I also understand that if I don't have some kind of backing and if I don't become stronger,  I'll most likely end up dying an early and horrible death. So....I accept your 'gift'."

"Good, great....I knew that you would see the bigger picture! I'm also certain that you will like the 'gift' you received."

"We shall see....

......

Several nights later Hen was sitting cross-legged on the hard and cold ground,  but he was feeling very hot.  His skin was pink as sweat evaporated from his brow. Several gold needles pocked his skin at different places and an empty porcelain bottle lay at his leg's as he breathed hard. This continued for several minutes until Heng abruptly opened his eyes and rushed towards a nearby tree to take a piss. 

"Aahhhhh....

It felt releving as he emptied his bladder,  but he couldn't help but from at the red colour of his piss. If it was the old Heng he would have panicked,  but he knew it was just a side effect of the training he was doing.