Three days passed by very quickly and it was finally time for both He Chao and Wei Yan to head out of the forest. Wei Yan’s wounds healed well enough for him to move around at a decent speed, but once he got back, it would take at least one month until his superior would be willing to allow him to become active again. However, Wei Yan was not concerned about any of that since his contributions alone would help him stand out greatly. 

Not just that, but before they left, He Chao made a point to tell him that he could keep the sword he used. Truth be told, the sword itself was a little big for He Chao to use himself effectively, but this still surprised Wei Yan greatly. He was at odds with how he could repay He Chao for his kindness, but at the same time, Wei Yan felt that he absolutely earned the sword due to his contributions during the battle. 

The journey back out to the border between the forest and the army stationed outside of it did not take more than two days to reach. Wei Yan told He Chao to remain silent and to allow him to do all the talking since there was no telling what may have changed all of this time since he took on the nearly impossible mission, in which he still had to report his failure of. 

“My name is Fan Jing and I am the new general for this area. Please state your name and rank and once we find that it checks out, my men will escort you on the edge of our camp and I will ask you some simple questions. Failure to comply will be unacceptable and if needed, we can do this the hard way if we must in order to be sure you are both human and not an enemy!”

Hearing that his initial superior was no longer in charge of the area caused Wei Yan to feel that something must have gone wrong, but he had no choice but to deal with the situation as he needed to in order to be sure that no misunderstandings would occur. He Chao had no idea that Wei Yan thought this, and so he only stood behind him waiting for clarification. 

“General Fan Jing, my name is Wei Yan and I am only a simple unranked soldier. I was given a mission not too long ago to enter into the forest and to leave a tracker of sorts deep within so that we could properly gauge any future demon beast hordes. My mission was a failure, but there were many gains, plus I came across this child as well.”

It did not take long for the general to realize who Wei Yan was, but having a human child no older than thirteen years old behind him was a cause for concern. Was He Chao abducted and forced into a pact with a powerful demon beast? Such thoughts appeared in his head but instead of making a big issue about it since He Chao was still just a child in his eyes, the general ordered five nearby soldiers to help escort them to a small building. 

He did not want to, but He Chao followed Wei Yan’s lead by handing over their storage rings and Wei Yan even handed over the sword he had on his side. “Now then, I will hear your report and decide how we will proceed afterwards. You claim that you have failed your mission but that there were still many gains?” 

“Reporting to General Fan Jing, I was able to slay a rank three lion type demon beast that had ruled over the outer area of the forest for many centuries and made a pact with three demon beasts that as long as I was able to slay their enemy, they would make sure that demon beast hordes would not enter into our area moving forward.”

“Unfortunately during the battle, I was severely injured but thanks to this little boy here, I was able to survive and after I quickly headed out to report everything. I was unable to head into the core region of the forest, but the fact that we will see far less hordes entering our lands should mean that this mission, although a failure, was actually a success.” 

“Wei Yan, you indeed have done very well and I agree that this mission should be considered a success. I can offer you the position of Lieutenant as a temporary promotion, but the commanders will want to interview you personally and may offer you an even bigger promotion. As for this human child, I can sense that he has begun his journey as a cultivator but do not sense anything abnormal.”

“It may be against my better judgement, but I am willing to allow this child safe passage as long as you are willing to swear a heavenly oath that in your opinion, he is not someone who is working against our Commandery and was not forced to work for a powerful demon beast. You will have to accompany him wherever you feel he should live moving forward, but after you must report to our headquarters to finalize your promotion and future prospects.”

Everything had gone as expected, and so after one more hour of coordinating with General Fan Jing, both He Chao and Wei Yan began to head towards the nearest city. It was clear that Wei Yan needed to head to the army’s headquarters as soon as possible, and He Chao only needed to visit a local trade market so that he could sell the unneeded items and treasures he had so that he could fund his way to his destination. 

“Wei Yan, once we reach the city we should go our separate ways once I sell everything that I need to sell using you to do so. I am sure that I can find a trade caravan or something equivalent that I could pay to escort me to the school and I can also pay someone else to help assist you with heading to your destination at a fairly good time.”

“Whatever you say kid, but remember, once you grow into an adult, you should find your way back here and visit me. I will be sure to find a gift to give to you for your help and it will be a good opportunity for us to catch up since I know that with your current strength, you will be able to pass me eventually regardless of how well the army decides to treat me moving forward!”