Move In First, Talk Later

The Red Pine Courtyard was bigger than Xu Sheng had imagined.

It was also more dilapidated than he had imagined.

When he pushed open the courtyard gate, waist-high weeds poked through first. There were two rows of buildings, front and back, with a stable to the side. Farther back stood several thick-walled stone rooms, their doorways still bearing traces of where iron bars had been fitted.

There was plenty of room.

Standing in the middle of the courtyard, he could even see the clouds through a hole in the roof to his right.

Mo Yifan stared up at it for a long while.

"This room makes it pretty convenient for me to get in and out."

"Then you can have that one," Xu Sheng said.

"I think we'd better fix it."

An old man with graying hair soon emerged from the back of the courtyard, carrying half a wooden bucket. He looked at them, then at the document Xu Sheng handed him, squinting as he read it several times.

"Are you in charge here?"

"For now, yes. What should I call you?"

"Qiao Fu. Just call me Uncle Qiao. The keys are inside. Don't stay in the two rooms that leak yet. The well on the west side works. One kitchen pot has a crack, but the other's still good."

Uncle Qiao turned and walked back as he spoke.

Xu Sheng's heart sank as he listened.

The way things sounded, would they even be able to cook a meal?

But when they reached the kitchen, the rice and flour were stored on wooden shelves off the ground, and a half-full sack of dried vegetables was tied shut. The stove was old, but it had been scrubbed clean. The supposedly cracked pot sat by the door with a few scallions growing in it.

Xu Sheng felt much more relieved at once.

With someone like him looking after it, the courtyard hadn't been completely abandoned, at least.

"Did you bring any people?" Uncle Qiao asked.

"Aren't they all right here?"

Uncle Qiao glanced at their hands, then at the sword Ji Juechen held in his arms. Without a word, he set the half bucket down in front of Xu Sheng.

"Then help me fill the water vats out back first. It'll take me half a day to draw it all myself."

Xu Sheng looked down at the bucket.

A moment ago, he'd thought he was about to become a big shot. How had it become his turn to draw water again as soon as he entered the courtyard?

Before he could move, Lu Song had already picked up the bucket and walked off.

Ren Yu put down her bundle and moved aside several fallen wooden poles in the courtyard. Mo Yifan stepped onto a low wall, pulled the dead branches out from under the eaves, and tossed them down. Ji Juechen found an old axe beside the woodpile, tested its edge, and began chopping firewood.

Wen Zhao stood at the gate watching for a moment, then took off his outer robe.

"What should I move?"

Xu Sheng perked up and immediately pointed him toward a bundle of timber.

"This!"

Great!

He hadn't even officially stayed on, and he was already doing the work!

Uncle Qiao had been ready to hire a couple of people nearby once these young Soul Masters started complaining about the dirt and the work. Yet in the time it took him to turn around, the woodshed that had been down for ages had been set upright, and the timber trapped beneath it had been stacked one piece at a time against the wall.

He stood there for a moment, then rolled up his sleeves.

"Don't stack it over there. The dew will get to it at night! Leave me two long ones. They'll do nicely for replacing the roof beams!"

The courtyard soon bustled with activity.

Xu Sheng didn't stay idle either. He flew up to the corner of the eaves and cleared the rotten leaves blocking the drain, then came down and helped Wen Zhao carry timber. By the time the sun dipped westward, several habitable rooms had been tidied up, and even the paths through the courtyard had been uncovered.

Everyone gathered by the well to wash their hands, and Uncle Qiao called them to dinner from the kitchen.

Before the food was brought to the table, more people arrived outside.

Cen Zhao and Bai Ji.

One carried a small bundle, while the other held a thin rolled-up quilt. Neither looked particularly presentable.

Xu Sheng was delighted.

"That fast?"

When he left the guest courtyard that afternoon, he had casually mentioned to the two of them that he had a place of his own, and that they could come take a look if they wanted somewhere else to live.

He'd only been casting a net for the time being.

He hadn't expected the fish to show up that very day!

Cen Zhao got straight to the point. "The landlord wants our old rented room for his nephew. Can we stay for a couple of nights?"

"Sure!"

Xu Sheng agreed readily. "There are plenty of empty rooms. Pick whichever you like. Just keep away from those two over there. The roofs haven't been patched yet."

Bai Ji looked at the table. "Do we have to pay extra for meals?"

"Not today. After this, we can eat together and split the cost of groceries."

Bai Ji immediately set her bedding aside.

"Where's a bowl?"

Xu Sheng fetched her one, feeling thoroughly pleased.

Look, wasn't that a whole tableful already?

The two newcomers didn't eat for free, either. Cen Zhao ate quickly and went to help nail the bed boards in place. Bai Ji put the kitchen things in order and brought in the dried vegetables Uncle Qiao had hung under the eaves, so they wouldn't get damp again at night.

When Xu Sheng went to look at the rooms in the back courtyard, Cen Zhao followed him.

"Do you really want us on your team?"

"You only just realized that today?"

Cen Zhao laughed at that, then looked down and kicked aside a piece of scrap wood by his foot.

"I used to be with a team. That's what they said at first too. We trained for a few days, went out once, and after that they kept me in the back carrying things. Nobody cared whether my spear was any good."

"And after you finished carrying?"

"I carried more. When we got back, they said I wasn't hurt, so I didn't need a share of the medicine."

Xu Sheng understood.

Cen Zhao wasn't afraid of doing hard work. What he feared was being treated as nothing more than a breathing packhorse wherever he went.

Xu Sheng thought for a moment. Rather than pound his chest and declare he would never do such a thing, he reached out and nudged the spear haft at Cen Zhao's waist partway out.

"That thrust of yours this afternoon—if someone had blocked for you up front, would you still have taken that blade to the shoulder?"

Cen Zhao thought back for a moment and shook his head.

"Try working with Lu Song tomorrow. He likes holding the front, and you like fighting around the sides. See if you can make it work together."

"And after we try?"

"We'll talk after. If you're good, even if you wanted to hide it, I wouldn't let you."

Xu Sheng laughed first as he spoke. "Who keeps a good spear in the house and goes out poking people with a wooden stick every day?"

Cen Zhao didn't immediately agree to join the team, but he straightened the spear haft at his waist and nodded.

When they divided up the rooms that night, Xu Sheng chose one near the inner courtyard, put away his bundle, and set the Red Pine Courtyard as his second settlement.

The one in Soto remained as it was.

With this place, he wouldn't have to go through so much trouble traveling between the two worlds. He looked at the empty third slot, his spirits lifting further, and felt certain he would need to find an even bigger place later.

Only when it grew dark did Xu Sheng remember his wooden plaque.

He went and fetched a ladder, intending to hang the words "Blood Angels" in the most conspicuous spot by the gate.

Uncle Qiao held the ladder below, his frown deepening the longer he watched.

"To the left."

Xu Sheng moved it a little.

"More to the left."

He moved it a little farther.

"Still need to-"

"Uncle Qiao, any farther and it'll be outside the wall."

"The Red Pine Courtyard's old plaque is right in the middle. You can't cover it up."

Xu Sheng looked up at the old plaque, then at his own much smaller wooden sign, feeling a little reluctant to accept it.

This was an old companion that had been with him since Soto.

Surely, now that it had come to Spirit City, it could at least get a decent spot?

After thinking for a while, he simply climbed down and hung the wooden plaque at the entrance to the inner courtyard.

Anyone stepping inside would see it at first glance.

Good!

The outside belonged to Spirit Hall; the inside was his!

When the moon rose, Xu Sheng made a circuit of the courtyard.

Lu Song was already asleep, snoring loudly inside his room. Ren Yu was sorting ropes by lamplight, with Bai Ji sitting beside her and lending a hand. Mo Yifan complained that his arms ached as he counted the roof tiles he had lifted that day, preparing to replace them all tomorrow.

On the open training ground, Wen Zhao had finally crossed blades with Ji Juechen.

After only a few exchanges, Wen Zhao took a blow from the back of the sword.

"Again."

He rubbed his shoulder and charged in again.

Xu Sheng watched with a broad grin.

Having such a considerate subordinate was simply wonderful!

How much more would he be able to get done once he had a few more people?

As he was thinking, Uncle Qiao came up behind him and handed him an old booklet.

It recorded the food they had left, the usable rooms, and several nearby routes commonly taken by Soul Hunting teams.

"Back when things were busy, we could set out more than a dozen tables in the courtyard in a single day. Soul Masters coming back would rest here, and the injured had a place to wait for someone to come get them."

Uncle Qiao turned to the back, where several pages were blank.

"Later, fewer people came, so I stopped keeping records."

Xu Sheng looked down and leafed through it, then took the brush and wrote eight names in the blank space.

Five of his own people, and three guests.

When he finished, he looked at the names for a while, then circled Wen Zhao's name in the guest column.

Uncle Qiao didn't understand. "What's that about?"

"Leave an extra quilt in his room."

"Didn't he say he was leaving in a few days?"

Xu Sheng looked up at the open ground.

Wen Zhao had just been forced back and had raised his hand toward Ji Juechen again.

"One more time!"

Xu Sheng closed the booklet.

"No rush. He can stay here for now."