Save the Medicine for Now

Meng Xingzhou had brought things with him.

Two packets of dried fruit, a jar of fruit wine, and a rough map whose edges had frayed from use.

The first two went on the dining table; the last stayed in his hand.

Seeing this, Xu Sheng immediately felt that Meng Xingzhou was quite to his liking.

He had come to eat, but he hadn't forgotten the business at hand.

"You didn't have to bring anything."

As he spoke, he had already moved the wine jar closer to himself.

Meng Xingzhou glanced at him and sat down with a smile.

Xu Sheng wasn't as difficult to deal with as the rumors made him out to be.

Before coming, he had heard Xu Sheng's name: an Angel Martial Soul, a Soul Elder killed with a group of teammates who had only one ring each, and a permanent residence afterward.

Some said he had gotten lucky; others said he had followed the right person.

But Meng Xingzhou worked for Spirit Hall himself and knew exactly how great the difference was between two rings and three. To get that lucky, one at least had to come back alive first.

So when he entered, the first person he looked at was Ji Juechen.

That sword was very ordinary.

The man holding it, however, made him take a second look.

Ji Juechen also looked him over, his gaze moving from Meng Xingzhou's palm to the long staff on his back.

"Bamboo?"

Meng Xingzhou nodded and raised a hand, closing it around empty air. Purple light appeared in his palm, and a length of purple bamboo gradually took shape. Its nodes were distinct, and tiny flashes of electricity flickered across its surface from time to time.

The staff on his back was an ordinary one for practice. The one in his hand was his Martial Soul.

"Purple Lightning Bamboo."

Ji Juechen studied it more intently.

Xu Sheng quickly picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks and put it in Ji Juechen's bowl.

"Eat first. We can talk afterward."

Meng Xingzhou had brought wine as a guest. What would people say if Ji Juechen struck him with his sword before they had even eaten?

But Meng Xingzhou smiled. "If you want to try, we can do it after we've finished talking business."

At that, Ji Juechen settled down in his seat.

Xu Sheng was relieved too. As the food was served, he asked about the five visitors' Martial Souls.

Besides Meng Xingzhou, there were Pei Chuan with the Ironback Rhinoceros, Chen Che with the Golden Feather Falcon, Ye Wanqing with the Frost Moon Bow, and Lin Huai with the Bronze Chain.

The five had been working together for a while. Each had a place when advancing or retreating, and they didn't need to wait until they headed out to decide who went in front and who covered the rear.

Ye Wanqing set the quiver from her back beside her, looked first at Jiang Shi's bow, then asked what arrows he used.

The two archers were soon chatting away.

Pei Chuan was heavily built, and the chair creaked as soon as he sat down. He looked down at it, and Lu Song silently brought him a bench instead.

The exchange got the two of them acquainted first.

Halfway through the meal, Meng Xingzhou finally unfolded the map.

"We've traveled the two routes Deacon Fang mentioned once before. This route is longer, but carts can get through. The one through Bluestone Gorge is shorter, but troublesome after rain. If we're going together, I think we need people on both routes."

Xu Sheng wiped his hands and leaned over to look.

Meng Xingzhou traced his fingertip over two marks on the map and continued, "The five of us can go ahead first. You leave some people at the relay station, and if we run short of hands, they can come forward to meet us."

Xu Sheng looked up at him.

Meng Xingzhou spoke frankly. He wasn't trying to use Xu Sheng as a hired hand.

As he saw it, for two teams meeting for the first time, settling on the simplest division of work first would save trouble. His side all had two rings and could hold their own if they ran into trouble, while Red Pine Courtyard had plenty of people and was well suited to providing support.

But Xu Sheng clearly wanted more than that.

He reached out, moved the empty bowl in front of him aside, and spread the whole map flat.

"If you really run into a broken bridge, how many of your five would cross, and how many would stay behind?"

"Depends on the place. Chen Che can fly, so he'd scout it out first."

"How many people can he carry at once?"

Chen Che had been eating vegetables. Hearing this, he raised his head.

"I can take a rope across first. As for carrying someone across a ravine, it depends on how far it is. I can't just open my mouth and promise."

Xu Sheng nodded, finding the answer honest.

"Someone on my side can take a rope across first too, and carry a person as well."

Meng Xingzhou looked at his back.

He had heard that the Angel Martial Soul could fly. But flying alone and carrying another person were two different things.

Xu Sheng wasn't in a hurry to explain. He simply pointed at Xu Lizhi, who was earnestly gnawing on a bone.

"We have a food-system soul master."

The little fatty raised his head at the words. A little soup still clung to his mouth, and he hurriedly wiped it off with a cloth.

When his two yellow Soul Rings appeared, the bowl Pei Chuan had just lifted stopped in midair.

Meng Xingzhou looked at Xu Sheng, then smiled.

"No wonder you're so confident."

He no longer insisted on his original arrangement. Instead, he pushed the map toward Xu Sheng.

"How do you want to divide things up?"

"Once we're out there, whoever's suited to the task takes it. Scouting, crossing gullies, carrying the wounded—we can't pick people based only on how much Soul Power they have."

Meng Xingzhou listened without hastening to agree.

Xu Sheng understood as well. The man had put a great deal of effort into bringing up a team; he couldn't be expected to hand all five people over just because he'd eaten a couple of pieces of Xu Sheng's meat.

He had to win him over.

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly smiled. "How about we get some exercise after dinner?"

Ji Juechen raised his head.

"Not just your one match." Xu Sheng held him back first, then turned to Meng Xingzhou. "Five against five, a contest to capture a token. When we go to provide support, we won't necessarily have to knock everyone on the other side flat every time. Bringing people and things back is what counts as getting the job done."

Meng Xingzhou was somewhat interested.

"What do you want to wager?"

"No money. Whoever wins gets to arrange the on-the-spot groupings for this joint operation, and the other side follows their lead. If something isn't clear, ask, but once the fighting starts, we can't have both sides shouting their own orders."

Xu Sheng made it clear: the agreement was only for this assignment, and only concerned cooperation between the two teams.

Meng Xingzhou thought for a moment and nodded.

"All right. But Deacon Fang still needs to know about the field arrangements."

"Of course. If he thinks it won't work, we'll discuss it again."

Xu Sheng agreed readily.

Meng Xingzhou took the opportunity to look at Ji Juechen, then glanced at Wen Zhao.

With two assault-system fighters, plus Xu Sheng and the food-system soul master, the remaining choice would most likely be a control- or agility-system fighter.

He had just worked out a rough lineup in his head when he heard Xu Sheng start calling people.

"Old Lu, Bai Ji, Cen Zhao, Lizhi. With me, that makes five."

Meng Xingzhou froze for a moment.

Neither Ji Juechen nor Wen Zhao was going?

In that lineup, aside from Xu Sheng and Xu Lizhi, the other three actually had only one ring each.

Cen Zhao had just picked up the fruit wine and nearly choked at the words.

"Are you serious?"

"If you really want to watch, I'll swap you for Wen Zhao."

"Who said I wasn't fighting?"

Cen Zhao put down the wine and even rolled up his sleeves.

Meng Xingzhou didn't laugh. He could see that Xu Sheng wasn't joking, and he studied the group carefully once more before saying, "Then let me see what you can do."

Pei Chuan, meanwhile, leaned over to Lu Song and said quietly, "My charge is hard to pull back. Don't try to take it head-on. Move your feet out of the way a little, and you'll be fine."

Lu Song nodded.

Still worried, Pei Chuan said to Xu Sheng, "I have some medicinal oil specially made for treating external injuries. I'll go back and get you some later."

He sounded very sincere.

Xu Sheng, however, wasn't very happy to hear it.

They hadn't even finished the meal, and Pei Chuan was already arranging medicine for his injuries?

"Save it for now."

Xu Sheng filled a bowl with soup for him.

"You might need it yourself."

Pei Chuan grinned, picked up the bowl, and drank.

He took Xu Sheng's words for a joke.

On the other side of the courtyard, Bai Ji had already put down her chopsticks and called Xu Sheng over.

"Is it windy there?"

Xu Sheng turned and began telling her about the venue. Cen Zhao came over too. The three lowered their voices and used a chopstick to sketch a few things out on the table.

Meng Xingzhou watched them from half a table away, and suddenly lost interest in drinking more wine.

This contest was probably not as simple as he had thought a moment ago.