Names, Don't Miss a Single One

On the way back to the Red Pine Courtyard, Xu Sheng didn't fly again.

He rode in the vehicle sent to meet them, half his clothes cut open and a medicated bandage wrapped around his shoulder. He looked very much like a man who had finally learned to behave.

His mouth, however, never stopped.

"Lu Song, that block of yours was great."

Lu Song sat on the edge of the vehicle, grinning as he listened.

"I almost didn't hold. If it weren't for that tree behind us, we'd both have gone down."

"The tree didn't lift your shield for you."

Xu Sheng spoke with absolute certainty. "You get the credit you deserve."

He turned to look at Cen Zhao.

Cen Zhao had a bandage wrapped around his arm too. When he'd pulled Luo Xiao earlier, he'd not only torn his wound open but scraped the webbing between his thumb and forefinger raw. Seeing Xu Sheng look over, he quickly tucked his hand into his sleeve.

"My spear thrust didn't go in."

"I know."

"The chain didn't lock him down either. It only caught him for a moment."

Xu Sheng looked at him. "If you'd actually hauled a Soul Elder back dangling from your chain, we'd need a new team leader."

Cen Zhao stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing.

At the back of the vehicle, Jiang Shi held his bow, not letting go of it once the whole way.

Every so often, he summoned his Soul Ring to take a look, then hurriedly put it away again, afraid that if he used even a little more Soul Power, the thing he'd worked so hard to obtain would disappear.

Bai Ji couldn't take it anymore.

"It's still there."

"I know."

"Then why do you keep looking?"

Jiang Shi thought for a moment. "Just one more look."

Bai Ji rolled their eyes, leaned against a bundle, and closed their eyes.

Xu Sheng looked at them, feeling thoroughly pleased.

It felt a little different from when he'd gotten his own first ring.

Back then, all he'd thought was, I finally have a Soul Skill!

Now he found himself thinking that the team had another person who could help from a distance. From now on, anyone who wanted to sneak around behind them would have to ask the bow at their side if it would allow it first.

The more complete their ranks, the more they could do.

Now this was a team!

When the vehicle reached the courtyard gate, Uncle Qiao was already waiting.

The old man's face darkened the instant he saw the bandage on Xu Sheng's shoulder.

He didn't ask how the fight had gone or what they'd brought back. Instead, he pushed open the kitchen door.

"Anyone who can walk, get inside on your own. Anyone with an injured arm, don't carry anything. There's hot soup in the pot, and the healer will be here in a little while."

Xu Sheng was just about to say his injury wasn't serious when Uncle Qiao pointed to the dried blood on the hem of his clothes.

"Is that dye?"

Xu Sheng shut up and obediently went inside.

Fang Zhan was in no hurry to return to the city.

He handed the two players who had taken part in the attack over to the personnel sent to meet them for safekeeping, then questioned the other two separately. The old identification document found on Luo Xiao also matched the records of a field operative who had gone missing earlier.

As for Yue Zheng, the others didn't cover up the information about him buying things and checking routes for Luo Xiao over the past few days.

Some genuinely hadn't known he was involved with a wanted man. Others had vaguely guessed but hadn't taken it seriously.

After that fight, none of them wanted to shoulder the blame for a dead man anymore.

Xu Sheng simply gave a clear account of what he'd seen, without adding extra charges against anyone.

There were people to make the arrests and people to conduct the investigation. He had no interest in taking the whole mess that remained onto his own shoulders.

But when Fang Zhan was ready to write his final report, Xu Sheng came over again.

"Deacon, put everyone's names down."

Fang Zhan looked up. "Whose?"

Xu Sheng pushed a sheet of paper over to him.

Xu Sheng, Ji Juechen, Lu Song, Ren Yu, Mo Yifan, Cen Zhao, Bai Ji.

Jiang Shi had been added underneath.

Eight of them, not one missing.

Fang Zhan picked up the paper. "Is Jiang Shi on your team too?"

"Not yet. But he shot an arrow earlier and helped us out."

Xu Sheng paused, then added, "If you ask who landed the final blow, you can write it down as it happened. Don't make it sound like I charged in alone while everyone else stood around watching."

Fang Zhan studied him for a moment, then nodded.

"Don't worry. I've asked exactly how the fight went."

Only then was Xu Sheng satisfied.

Fang Zhan had just put pen to paper when Mo Yifan came over too.

"Deacon, my part says I went out to deliver a message, right?"

"Yes."

"Could you also write down where I went out from?"

Xu Sheng perked up at that. "You want people to know how far you flew?"

"No." Mo Yifan pointed to a ravine on the map. "I thought I could go straight through here, but once I got down there, I found part of it had collapsed. I had to take an extra detour both ways. I'm afraid whoever reads the report will wonder why it took me so long to get back."

The room fell quiet for a moment.

Only then did Xu Sheng notice that Mo Yifan had hardly spoken since sitting down. Earlier, when everyone had been talking about who had blocked which attack, he'd only listened, occasionally touching the scuffed edge of his shoe.

"You didn't hold us up," Xu Sheng said.

Mo Yifan looked up.

"We were fighting in there, and we didn't know if there was anyone else up ahead. You went out to find the people meeting us—that was your job. What, because I sent you out, did you have to stay and take a few hits before it counted as doing your part?"

Xu Sheng pushed the map toward Fang Zhan.

"Mark the collapsed road too. Whoever goes next time, don't let them take that detour again."

Fang Zhan nodded and added a few strokes.

Only then did Mo Yifan finally settle comfortably into his seat. He picked up the bowl of water on the table, now gone cold, and drank more than half of it in one gulp.

Lu Song poked him from the side.

"There's one flatbread left in your bag."

Mo Yifan immediately turned his head. "I brought three!"

"You ate one, and I ate one."

"Didn't you say you dropped it?"

"That was last time."

Xu Sheng couldn't hold back. He leaned against the table and laughed, pulling at his shoulder and making it hurt. He quickly straightened up again.

He'd brought these people out, so naturally they should share the credit. Once everyone had another accomplishment added to their record, the Blood Angels would have the confidence to stand tall beside other teams.

Besides, if he hogged all the benefits, why would anyone work with him?

When everything was settled, Fang Zhan headed out, but stopped just before he reached the door.

"As for the other two people's Soul Rings, I'll take them out again tomorrow. You all focus on healing first. You've done enough this trip."

Hearing that, Xu Sheng hurriedly called into the courtyard, "Wen Zhao!"

"What?"

"Go with the deacon tomorrow!"

Wen Zhao straightened up beside the well, water still clinging to his face.

"You're getting pretty handy at assigning people, aren't you?"

"Isn't your friend going?"

"...I was going anyway."

"Perfect. We'll save you an extra bowl of meat tonight."

Wen Zhao was about to say something else when Uncle Qiao answered first from the kitchen.

"We will! Save him some!"

Wen Zhao opened his mouth, then closed it again.

In this courtyard, even the man in charge of meals was backing Xu Sheng up!

After night fell, Xu Sheng finally got a little time to himself.

He returned to reality, changed his clothes, and went home in time for dinner.

His mother put some food in his bowl, watched him for a while, and asked what he'd been busy with these past two days. He'd even been slower than usual to reply to messages.

"I took some people out to take care of something and got into a fight."

His father immediately looked up. "Did you win?"

"We won."

"That's good, then."

His mother gave his father a look.

His father added, "Of course, you need to be more careful next time."

Xu Sheng scooped up a couple of mouthfuls of rice and couldn't help laughing.

After eating, he told them a few things about what he'd been doing lately. When he mentioned having a courtyard and a group of people working with him, his father listened intently and even asked whether anything was growing in the courtyard.

"No."

"Can't leave that space empty. You could at least plant some scallions and garlic."

Xu Sheng thought of Uncle Qiao's cracked pot and nodded repeatedly.

If those two ever met, they'd probably be able to talk all afternoon.

By the time he returned to the Red Pine Courtyard, the sky had changed.

Ji Juechen was sitting by the door, wiping his sword. When he saw Xu Sheng return, he shifted to the side, leaving him a place to sit.

Xu Sheng looked down at the sword.

This time, the blade's edge hadn't chipped.

The one Yue Guan had given him was indeed much better than the previous two.

"Like it?" Xu Sheng asked.

Ji Juechen nodded.

"I'll find you a better one later."

"This one is good enough."

Xu Sheng was about to say more, but Ji Juechen raised his head first.

"When your shoulder's healed, let's try that move from today."

"Which one?"

"Turning around using the shield."

Xu Sheng looked at him for a long while before finally sighing.

Here he was, thinking about how to get this brother better equipment in the future, while Ji Juechen had already made plans for him as soon as he finished recovering!

But when he thought of the moment during the day when their two swords had fallen one after the other, Xu Sheng couldn't help smiling again.

"All right. Once I'm healed, we'll work on it some more."