The Ashes of Fate - Chapter 13

Translator – Synthsoon

Zhang Ying was gone.

An Jing blinked as he gazed around the tiny room, his housemates, friends and followers were to his left.

Yet the hunter boy wasn’t in his bed.

His bed was very neat, to the point of being abnormally neat. Both the pillows and the blankets were stacked very flatly like tofu.

An Jing knew this was definitely not Zhang Ying’s handiwork, because that stupid boy would never fold the blanket, he taught him a few times already, and it still looked as if a dog had been playing on top of it.

“How did Zhang Ying disappear?!”

Another hour later, Cang LingZu woke up and realized it, he couldn’t help but exclaim.

He and Zhang Ying got along well with each other, one was a hunter, while the other was from a Martial Arts family. Both practiced Martial Arts since childhood, and they were also interested in hunting, fighting, swords, spears, and sticks. Although Zhang Ying wasn’t as powerful as him, he wasn’t bad at all, he was especially good at shooting arrows and was the best at it out of everyone, inspiring others to learn from him.

The two of them followed An Jing on weekdays, almost inseparable.

“Did he run around and get confined?”

Zhan Feng muttered, although most of the children in the Life Suspending Manor are more mature than their peers due to their experience as vagrants, in a safe environment there are naturally some naughty children who are stubborn and like to run around, so they are punished by being confined and not given dinner.

Zhan Feng was most concerned about eating, he was tall but never took risks, while Zhang Ying was the opposite, if it wasn’t for An Jing calling him out a few times, that kid would definitely run around.

“Go ask the instructors.” Ye XiuYuan said softly, he was the smartest of all the kids. Looking slightly sideways at An Jing, he found the boss of Dormitory One was expressionless, he didn’t know what he was thinking, but his heart already had some ideas: “Maybe … he just left. “

Leave? Did that mean that he … was eliminated?

Had the second round of eliminations already begun?
A possibility welled up in everyone’s mind, but they didn’t dare say it. It was only until after they searched the entire dormitory and the Martial Arts arena and found no trace of Zhang Ying, were they forced to admit the truth.

Zhang Ying was eliminated like the disciples who left before him.

And he wasn’t the only one who was eliminated.

This time there were twenty seven people who were eliminated. It was only a small number of people, but within this group there were some who were performing well and some who were performing average, which made it impossible to deduce the exact criteria for elimination.

Before dinner, just like last time, one of the instructors made an announcement to the group.

“I knew it.”

Ye XiuYuan sighed, he said he had known the result would turn out like this, but he expected that he might leave before Zhang Ying, he didn’t think it would be the hunter boy who would leave the mountain first.

“I think, I can still be a book keeper.”

After dinner, during the evening training session at the Martial Arts Field, he spoke bluntly to An Jing and the others: “I’m not suitable for this kind of Martial Arts training, the recent training is beyond my abilities, perhaps one day I will also leave this mountain.”

“I will probably do the same.” Gu YeQi sighed, the girls’ dormitory was also missing a few people, one of them was her little sister who came with her from Ming Shan City’s refugee camp, and she was feeling lonely with one less person to talk to.

Not to mention, although Gu YeQi could still accept the current amount of training, she felt it was getting more and more strenuous, making her feel a little worried about not being able to catch up with An Jing.

“Zhang Ying just didn’t train properly, I’ve told him that Martial Arts training is about practice, not actual combat!”

Cang LingZu was sullen, kicking the dirt under his feet he said, “Every one of them is thinking about leaving, but I just want to stay as long as possible – they always teach me the real thing, and the more I learn, the more skills I can rely on when I get off this mountain.”

“Not to mention, it’s definitely harder to get meat after leaving the mountain, Zhang Ying will regret it!”

Having lost a playmate, he could only act tough for a bit.

“That’s one way to put it.” Zhan Feng licked his lips, reminiscing about the taste of dinner, and lazily said, “Indeed.”

Ye XiuYuan and An Jing shook their heads together, as he turned his head to look at An Jing, the frail teenager said emotionally, “Maybe only Brother An can climb to the peak …… I only hope that you won’t forget about us when that time comes.”

“How could I.” An Jing said in a deep voice, “Escaping the Frost Scourge together, training together for so long, and living in the same dormitory, we are all brothers now, how could I forget about you all.”

In fact, there were many doubts in his mind, for example, Manor Master Yao wasn’t here the entire day, most instructors had also disappeared, is it possible that they all left to send the children down the mountain?

Even though he woke up an hour late, was Zhang Ying woken up and told to leave in the middle of the night? Would he stay so quiet the entire time and leave without saying farewell? These were all unknown.

Moreover, today, he also didn’t hear the sound of the carriages going up and down the mountain nor did he see any traces of carriages entering and leaving.

Were the eliminated children still on the mountain?

However, these doubts could only be suppressed.

(I’ve been planning to do this for a long time. Today, the Manor Master and most of the instructors aren’t here…… I won’t sleep tonight, instead I’ll go check out the entire manor, perhaps I can find those who have been eliminated)

An Jing had already made a decision in his heart, but he wanted to comfort everyone first: “Everyone, go to bed early today, the better you sleep, the better your spirit will be, and you’ll get better results from your training, then no one will get eliminated in the first place.”

“Brother An is always so calm …… Maybe a little too calm.”

Ye XiuYuan smiled, his eyes always had a hint of melancholy.

After all, he was a budding scholar who came from a solid family and once aimed to enter the capital, but now he had been reduced to such a place with little prospects for the future. Even in the best-case scenario, he would only be a book keeper. Even if he recognized his fate, he wouldn’t be able to bear it.
“If I’m not calm how could I become your Senior Brother?”

Tired of seeing his pessimistic attitude, An Jing gave a slap to the back of his head: “You’re still so young and you’re already this depressed about life? It’s not like we won’t see each other again, if you think you aren’t fit for Martial Arts it’s only because you lack practice, you’ll be doing two extra movements for leg training tomorrow!”

“Eh?” Hearing this, even Ye XiuYuan’s temperament became anxious: “Leg practice? Two more moves? It’ll kill me, big brother! I don’t want to wake up the next day with shaky legs!”

“You’re the one who talks too much, three!”

Under An Jing’s violent suppression, night arrived quickly.

After everyone had fallen asleep, An Jing, who had closed his eyes tightly, suddenly opened them.

Today, there was no instructor out on patrol, so it was the perfect time for a night out.

An Jing quietly walked out of the dormitory, and with a few leaps, he jumped up to the roof of the dormitory, and then to the wall, where he could observe the terrain of the entire manor.

In the past, he never felt it. But now, he could see the Life Suspending Manor was situated between two mountains, creating a unique terrain. Based on the memories of his past life, this unique terrain was named ‘Twin Dragons Playing a Pearl’, and the Manor was the pearl between the two dragons, allowing it to absorb the essence of its surroundings.

The place where the children lived was designed to be the center, as it was guarded by layers and layers of watertight defenses. Instead of a manor, this whole place looked more like a small fortress.