These Are the People I Want

Xu Sheng had just entered the training yard when he heard someone shout overhead.

"Make way, down there!"

He looked up. A fiery-colored figure dropped from the top of the wall, stumbled, and nearly crashed into the water vat in the yard.

Xu Sheng reached out to steady him. Once the man had found his footing, he hurriedly folded the wings behind his back and looked up at the wall.

"Thanks. I meant to land on the steps, but I couldn't manage the last bit."

"Running low on Soul Power?"

"I wasn't paying attention while I was flying around the wall. It wasn't until I headed back that I realized it was a bit far." He moved over to the wall and sat down, still panting after he finished speaking.

A young woman in the yard handed him a water flask.

"I called you back just now, and you waved at me."

"I thought you wanted me to fly higher."

She shoved the flask into his arms. "I waved and you flew higher. If I'd jumped, were you planning not to come down at all today?"

He choked on a mouthful of water and fell silent.

Once he had caught his breath, his gaze landed on Xu Sheng's white wings.

"You can fly too? How far can you go in one stretch?"

"I haven't really tested it. Right now I mostly use them to get over obstacles. I can't fly for long."

"Perfect, then. Let's practice together next time! When I fly around on my own, there's no one to tell me how far off my landing spot is."

Xu Sheng nodded. "Sure, but we'll need to find somewhere more spacious."

Du Wenhe came out of a room to the side, carrying several wooden practice sticks.

"Get to know each other. Lu Song, Ren Yu, Mo Yifan."

The man by the wall was Mo Yifan, a level-twelve Soul Master with the Flame Eagle martial soul. The young woman who had just spoken was Ren Yu, whose martial soul was the Green Jade Vine. Like the big man holding a shield on the other side, Lu Song, she was level eleven.

Each of the three had a Yellow Soul Ring.

Over the past few days, some people had meddled carelessly with opportunities and dropped back to a low level. Others had already started cultivating properly and found someone to take them hunting for their First Soul Ring.

Xu Sheng had been in Suotuo City for a month, and the three before him had long since gained a foothold here.

By the thirty-second day, he had trained his way to level sixteen, and the field assignments were gradually becoming easier to handle.

"This is Xu Sheng, and Ji Juechen is behind him." Du Wenhe pointed over Xu Sheng's shoulder. "The day after tomorrow, you'll all come out of the city with me. Today, practice working together first. Find out what each of you can do here in the yard."

Lu Song put away his shield and reached out to shake Xu Sheng's hand.

"I've seen you before. You helped lift that medicine cart out a few days ago, didn't you?"

"You were there too?"

"I was pushing from behind. When the wheel came out, it rolled over my foot."

Xu Sheng froze. He remembered someone seeming to shout behind the cart that day and hurriedly looked down at Lu Song's feet.

"Does it still hurt?"

"It's been fine for ages. I was shouting back there, and you were putting your back into it up front. I figured I might as well not stop you and just get the cart out."

"You should've shouted again." Xu Sheng couldn't help laughing, though he was a little embarrassed too. "I'll treat you to a good meal later. Once we got the cart out, Uncle Liang was too busy praising me."

"He even praised you?"

"Quite a few times."

Lu Song looked at his own foot and laughed too.

"Then I have to take you up on that meal."

Lu Song waved a hand and dropped the subject. He was sturdily built, but his voice wasn't loud. After speaking, he stepped aside to make room.

Mo Yifan had caught his breath. He picked up a wooden stick and hefted it in his hand.

"Deacon Du, how are we practicing today?"

Du Wenhe pointed to a bronze bell hanging in the middle of the yard.

"You three guard the bell. Xu Sheng will try to get past you. If he touches it and makes it ring, he wins. Juechen, keep an eye on them. If they really can't hold back, help stop them. If he can't make it ring before the little hourglass runs out, you've defended it."

Ji Juechen walked to the wall and laid his iron sword across his knees.

Xu Sheng handed him his steel sword and took a wooden stick from Du Wenhe.

"Go easy on the Soul Skills, and especially don't set fire to the wooden targets." Du Wenhe looked at Mo Yifan. "The one you burned the day before yesterday hasn't been replaced yet. Stand facing another direction."

Mo Yifan acknowledged him and walked over in front of the bell, keeping clear of the wooden target behind him.

Lu Song took half a step forward, and a heavy Black Armor Shield appeared in his hand. Ren Yu moved around to his right, several green vines extending along the ground.

Xu Sheng glanced at the bronze bell and suddenly stepped to the left.

The shield turned with him.

He immediately changed direction, thrusting his stick toward the edge of the shield to flick it aside. Lu Song didn't lunge at him. Instead, he stepped back carefully, keeping himself between Xu Sheng and the bell the whole time.

The vines at Xu Sheng's feet suddenly shot up.

He was nearly tripped. He beat his wings, stepped across, and jabbed his stick at Ren Yu's wrist.

She didn't meet it head-on. She raised a hand and drew it back, sending two vines winding toward his stick arm from different directions.

Mo Yifan saw an opening. The Flame Eagle possessed him, and his Yellow Soul Ring lit up. A restrained blast of fiery feathers swept across the open ground, heading straight for Xu Sheng's shoulder.

Xu Sheng hurriedly ducked.

The fiery color skimmed past his shoulder and struck the edge of the Black Armor Shield.

Lu Song's arm dipped. "Mo Yifan, aim before you fire! I'm behind him!"

"Sorry! I'll move to the other side."

Mo Yifan hurriedly stopped. Xu Sheng seized the chance to circle around the other side of the shield, only to stop short.

The vines were still there.

Ren Yu had kept her eyes on his feet the whole time. She raised her hand and bound his lower leg.

Lu Song's shield pressed toward him. Xu Sheng turned sideways and took the impact, but couldn't push any closer to the bell.

He spread his white wings and braced himself on the stick, trying to retreat. The vines tightened sharply, and his other foot couldn't keep up.

Du Wenhe called a stop.

Ren Yu released the vines, and only then did Xu Sheng pull his foot back.

Mo Yifan looked at the bronze bell, then at Xu Sheng, and couldn't help laughing.

"We held it. When you ducked just now, I thought we were in trouble."

"I thought I could get through too. I didn't expect her to have another vine in reserve." Xu Sheng pulled the vine off his boot and gave Ren Yu a thumbs-up.

Xu Sheng looked at the vine hidden on the ground, then at Lu Song, who stood firmly in front of the bell.

He had wanted to show off a little first, to give the three of them a taste of what he could do and make them easier to lead later. Instead, they had shown him a thing or two first.

But now he was even more eager.

Lu Song's shield really was steady, and Ren Yu could keep her cool. If Mo Yifan had sent that attack from another direction...

They could all be put to use!

"Let's switch sides." Xu Sheng twirled his stick and beckoned to Ji Juechen. "You try to take it. I'll join them."

Mo Yifan looked up, his eyes lighting up at once.

"Four against one?"

"What, did you want to fight him one-on-one?"

Mo Yifan looked at the two yellow rings lighting up beneath Ji Juechen's feet and promptly moved behind Lu Song.

"Four sounds good."

Xu Sheng took back his steel sword and walked over to a damaged wooden target nearby.

His Yellow Soul Ring rose, and a pale reddish-gold light flowed along the blade. He brought the sword down, slicing off a protruding section of hardwood from the target.

"This is my Soul Skill. It's for breaking through armor."

Lu Song examined the cut. "In a real fight, I can't just keep waiting for you to circle around. I'd have to find a way to force you to draw your sword first."

"Let's do that in a moment. Hold him off from the front and leave the sword to me." Xu Sheng sheathed his sword, picked up the wooden stick again, then leaned close to Ren Yu and said a few words in a low voice.

Ren Yu looked at the bronze bell and nodded.

Ji Juechen stood at the other end of the yard. "I won't use my Soul Skills."

That was exactly what Xu Sheng had been waiting to hear. He immediately said, "Deacon Du heard that!"

Ji Juechen ignored his grin. He raised his stick and charged.

The first time, the bell rang before Mo Yifan had even found a position to attack from.

He stared behind him in a daze, but Xu Sheng had already picked up the stick that had been knocked aside and was calling Lu Song forward.

"Again! Don't turn with him this time. Just block the middle."

The second time, Ji Juechen changed direction several times in succession, but Lu Song's shield guarded only the front and was never drawn away.

Xu Sheng glanced at the hourglass. Only a thin layer of sand remained.

Ji Juechen cut in past the edge of the shield again. The moment he shifted his feet, the vines on the ground shot up.

He leaped to avoid them, but Mo Yifan's fiery feathers were already cutting him off overhead.

This time, Mo Yifan didn't chase him with his attack. The fiery feathers swept past the front of the bell, blocking the place where he could land and forcing Ji Juechen to veer outward.

Xu Sheng was waiting right there.

With a beat of his wings, he got there before Ji Juechen could land, holding his stick across the sword's path. His First Yellow Soul Ring lit up beneath his feet, reddish-gold light clinging to his left fist as he drove it toward the stick coming to intercept him!

Ji Juechen could take the punch, but the wooden stick might not.

He pulled back his stick and turned, but Lu Song's shield was already bearing down on him. The second bundle of vines Ren Yu had left behind the shield took the chance to wrap around him.

Ji Juechen's left foot tightened.

The bronze bell was only a step away, but before he could reach for it, Mo Yifan put his arm in front of it.

"Time!"

Du Wenhe set down the little hourglass.

Xu Sheng grabbed Lu Song's shoulder and burst out laughing.

"We held it!"

Mo Yifan looked down at his arm and saw that he really hadn't been hit. He hurriedly pushed the bronze bell farther behind him.

Ji Juechen glanced at the vine around his foot, waited for Ren Yu to release it, and returned to the other end of the yard.

"Again."

Xu Sheng was happy to oblige. "Still not using your Soul Skills?"

Ji Juechen looked at him but didn't answer immediately.

By the wall, Du Wenhe laughed first.

Half an hour later, the five of them sat beneath the veranda.

Mo Yifan rubbed his arm, still asking whether the bell had actually rung just now. Lu Song reached over and shook it for him. A clear chime rang out, and both men laughed.

Xu Sheng laughed too, passing the medicine bottle in his hand around in front of the three of them.

None of them could beat Ji Juechen alone, but together, they had actually held him off once. A shield, vines, a Flame Eagle, plus himself and the sword fanatic-would he have to worry about having no one to use in the future?

He set the medicine bottle on the table.

These were the people he wanted!

"How about we practice together often from now on?"

"Just for these two days?" Lu Song asked.

"Longer than that. Once we've practiced enough, we can team up on field assignments too. We held the bell today; next time we can guard a cart or rescue people together. We can even hunt Soul Rings together."

Ren Yu put down the medicine bottle. "You want a regular group to work together? When there's an assignment, who makes the arrangements?"

"Of course we listen to the deacons when the hall gives us an assignment. Otherwise, we'll discuss the timing among ourselves. If anyone can't make it, just say so beforehand." Xu Sheng looked at the three of them. "I want to find a team that can work together long-term. We're going out with Deacon Du this time, but sooner or later we'll take on work ourselves."

As he spoke, he pointed to the bell in the yard.

"You can hold people in place, Lu Song is steady on defense, and Mo Yifan can scout from above. Juechen and I will fight at the front, and you won't have to just guard a bell anymore."

Ji Juechen gathered up the wooden sticks and returned them to the rack.

"Let's try again tomorrow. I still haven't gotten past that last move."

Du Wenhe heard them talking and put down the register in his hand.

"You can give it a try first. On this round, Xu Sheng will lead you in escorting the items, and I'll conduct the awakening. If you run into anything you're unsure about, come to me first. If anyone has other plans, say so now, and I can find a replacement."

Lu Song thought for a moment and asked, "Can we still practice here after we come back?"

"Yes, the yard will be open as usual," Du Wenhe said.

"Then I have no problem with it."

Mo Yifan glanced at Xu Sheng's sword. "I'll go too. But can you teach me a few sword moves? There are times when I can't fly anymore, so I should have a weapon in my hand too."

Xu Sheng fetched him a new wooden practice stick.

"I'll teach you what I know. Practice with us first, and pick something that feels right in your hand."

Ren Yu asked about the villages along the route and worked out how many days the trip would take before nodding her agreement.

Once everyone had agreed, Xu Sheng finally unrolled his sleeves.

Du Wenhe walked away with the register, and Mo Yifan started packing up. While the others weren't looking, Xu Sheng held up three fingers to Ji Juechen.

Three people, secured!

Ji Juechen looked at his hand and asked, "Three more rounds this afternoon?"

Xu Sheng's smile froze for a moment.

"Go eat first."

He pushed the field-assignment medicine he had been issued toward everyone and gave them two bottles each. Ren Yu wrapped hers in cloth, Lu Song put his away carefully, and Mo Yifan still wanted to ask how they would fight that afternoon. Xu Sheng ushered him and his wooden stick all the way to the yard gate.

He had only just gathered everyone together, and he wanted to enjoy a proper meal!

Two days later, just before they set out, Xu Sheng changed into his field clothes and put on a half-mask that covered his brows and nose.

Du Wenhe handed his field badge to Lu Song for a look.

"White Wings. If there are outsiders around on the road, just call him that."

Lu Song nodded and handed the badge back. Ren Yu also committed the name to memory, then checked everyone's luggage one last time.

On the cart, six black stones were wrapped up one by one, and the blue Soul Power crystal was placed in a box. Du Wenhe climbed onto the cart, told them to watch the items and keep the boxes from being jostled, then led the group out of the city.

Xu Sheng walked beside the cart and glanced back.

Ji Juechen held his sword, Lu Song had made room for Ren Yu's luggage, and Mo Yifan was asking how much farther they had to go.

Xu Sheng unfolded the map and pointed it out to him.

"Follow the edge of the fields. The first village is just past that slope ahead. We'll walk there first and save our Soul Power for the climb."