Sit Over Here with Me First

"What is it?"

Xu Sheng picked up his teacup again, but he did not immediately take in those sixteen people.

He Zheng pointed at the young woman beside him.

"Her name is Song Xiaoqiao. She's level twenty. There's also He Gu, level sixteen. He's looking after the injured today."

Song Xiaoqiao released the pillar. Silver light flashed in her palm, and a thin rope looped around the wobbling wooden rack. The rack, which had been about to topple, stood upright again.

"Silver-Patterned Rope. My First Soul Skill is Binding Ring. I don't have a second ring yet."

After she finished speaking, she withdrew her Martial Soul, only to realize that no one was holding the rack. She hurriedly reached out to prop it up again.

He Zheng rushed over to help.

Xu Sheng watched the two of them scramble to steady the rack, then smiled and pushed a chair over for Song Xiaoqiao as well.

"Sit down and talk. The repairs can wait a little."

The player group He Zheng had belonged to was called the Edge-Chasing Association.

At its peak, it had more than forty members. Its leader, Zhuo Yuan, was level twenty-eight and had the Crimson Blade Saber Martial Soul. He had started with level-nine Soul Power when the server opened, and he had now teamed up with a local hunting party, making it easy for him to recruit people around Soto.

What they had said when people joined sounded good.

They would help one another. Whoever reached a bottleneck first would get help gathering a group to find a Soul Ring.

He Zheng had obtained his second ring there.

So, a while ago, he really had led sixteen people into the woods. They scouted routes, tracked beasts, carried things, and practiced working together whenever they came across a low-year Soul Beast.

But when Song Xiaoqiao reached level twenty, she put in three requests, and all three times she was passed over.

"The first time, they said conditions in the woods were bad and we had to wait," He Zheng said. "The second time, a new member showed up with a lightning-type Martial Soul and great talent, so they found one for him first."

"What about the third?"

"They told me to recruit five more people."

Xu Sheng glanced at him.

He Zheng rubbed his nose. "I didn't do it."

Song Xiaoqiao quietly interjected, "He went and argued with Zhuo Yuan."

"We talked it over."

"He cracked the table slamming it."

"I didn't use my Martial Soul."

Xu Sheng nearly snorted his tea up his nose.

This kid was pretty good at leaving himself some wiggle room.

He Zheng gave up on explaining and continued his account.

Of those sixteen people, some were willing to keep waiting, while others were already thinking of leaving. But going out with the hunting party would at least teach them a few things; if they really left, a handful of one-ring members banding together wouldn't even know where to begin looking for suitable Soul Beasts.

He Zheng wanted to find them another path.

He had promised that if he found a place to settle, those willing to follow him would at least have somewhere to turn with their questions.

Hearing this, Xu Sheng did not rush to pound his chest and make promises.

He set his teacup on the edge of the table and asked, "Then why did you come to me?"

"I heard that the people who went to the quarry with you back then are all still following you now."

He Zheng glanced over at Lu Song.

Lu Song was looking down, fiddling with the old shield rack by the door. Sensing the glance, he looked up.

"What are you looking at me for?"

"No reason."

He Zheng looked away and continued, "Some people also told me to seek out the Clear Sky Sect."

"Why didn't you?"

"Where would I find them?"

The question made Xu Sheng laugh.

He Zheng spread his hands. "I know they're powerful, but my surname isn't Tang, and I don't know where their doors are. I can't exactly carry a hammer all over the continent, shouting that I want to return to my ancestral clan, can I?"

Mo Yifan laughed out loud behind them.

"Even then, they might not acknowledge you."

"I wasn't planning to acknowledge them either."

He Zheng was perfectly matter-of-fact as he said it.

He really had started out with a good Martial Soul and level-ten Innate Soul Power. But after coming here, a hammer was still just a hammer, and he had to practice swinging it himself. He had seen the name of the so-called Chaotic Cloak, but when he actually tried it, three swings in a row were enough to twist his own waist out of line.

Someone had even been willing to pay him a high price to teach it before.

He had asked the man to demonstrate it first, planning to secretly learn it himself.

The man left that very day.

Xu Sheng's shoulders shook as he listened. Unable to help himself, he reached out and patted him.

"All right, at least you didn't come out of it a complete loser."

Joking aside, the matter was clear now.

The man before him had not brought a hammer here looking to be kept in comfort, nor was he someone who would sell out several companions after a few sweet words.

He wanted to find a place where they could get things done together.

As it happened, Xu Sheng needed someone like him too.

He shifted his chair to the side and patted the space he had cleared.

"Sit over here with me first."

He Zheng froze.

"Just like that...?"

"As for joining Spirit Hall, Brother Du will pass the request up. I'll find people to discuss hunting rings with you. As for those sixteen, let them choose for themselves. Anyone who wants to ask can come ask, and I need to see what sort of people they are too."

When Xu Sheng finished, he held out his hand to Song Xiaoqiao.

"Let me have another look at your Martial Soul."

The silver rope fell into his palm again.

Xu Sheng tugged at it, tested how it loosened and tightened, then asked how many times she had been into the woods before and what kind of enemy she feared facing most. Song Xiaoqiao had been ready to explain what she could do, but his sudden question about what she feared left her stunned for a moment. Then she said, "Anything too heavy. Even if I tie it up, I can't pull it."

"Then we need to pair you with someone who can hold the front."

He Zheng had just opened his mouth to respond when Xu Sheng tilted his head toward Lu Song.

"You two can practice together a couple of times tomorrow. Don't use the wooden rack to test it. It's just been repaired."

Du Wenhe had been sitting to the side without interrupting.

Only when Xu Sheng looked up at him did he drawl, "There are still people living behind this courtyard."

"I know. They can try it in the front courtyard."

"You still remember?"

"It's our old place. How could I forget?"

"It belongs to the Hall."

"Right, to the Hall."

Xu Sheng answered without the slightest hesitation, but his hand had already shifted the courtyard gate key on the table closer to himself.

Du Wenhe saw it and pinned the key down with his teacup.

"Let's talk about tonight first. He Zheng has a soul fight."

Only then did He Zheng remember and hurriedly explain. He had signed up for a two-on-two match at the Soul Fighting Arena. His original partner had injured his shoulder yesterday and had yet to be assigned a match tonight, so he probably wouldn't be able to make it.

"Can't you change partners?" Xu Sheng asked.

"We'd have to register a new team."

"Then change."

He Zheng raised his head. When he saw Xu Sheng point at himself, his eyes gradually lit up.

"You'll team up with me?"

"What, can't I?"

"You can! It's just that you've only just finished your journey..."

Xu Sheng drank the last of his tea and stood up.

"I've been sitting in a carriage for days. I could use some exercise."

He had come to recruit people. He couldn't just sit here talking about what he could do.

He Zheng had shown him his Clear Sky Hammer, so he ought to show He Zheng just who had put up the Blood Angels' sign.

Ji Juechen stood by the door and suddenly spoke.

"I'm going too."

"You want to fight?"

Ji Juechen nodded.

Xu Sheng smiled. He had been about to tell him not to compete with He Zheng for a partner, but just as the words reached his lips, he saw that Ji Juechen had already begun wiping his sword.

Ji Juechen wasn't even looking at He Zheng.

He meant that he was going to fight a match himself.

That evening, in the Edge-Chasing Association's courtyard, Zhuo Yuan was waiting for He Zheng to return.

Two lists sent over by the hunting party lay on the table, with a blank space left on one of them.

Before the man returned, a message arrived.

"He Zheng went to the Soul Fighting Arena."

"Wasn't his partner injured?"

"He found another one, called White Wings."

Zhuo Yuan stopped as he was lifting his brush.

"The one from Spirit Hall?"

"That's right. Song Xiaoqiao went with him too."

Zhuo Yuan set down his brush. After a moment, he turned the list with the blank space face down.

"Come on, let's go take a look."