Bai Tang: I'm Here to Tell a Story, Not Fish for Sympathy

If she told it from beginning to end, the story would be very, very long.

If she only told the story of the Xianzhou Luofu, it would be very, very short.

"Where should I start? Ah, let's start from when I was born. Take a look at me, General Jing Yuan. I should look familiar, so you probably know who I am, right? I'm Baiheng's younger sister, Bai Tang. I don't exist in your world, do I?"

Not everyone had come to the Express to listen in person. March 7th and Stelle had dragged Dan Heng into sitting across from Bai Tang. Dan Heng had also asked her for quite a few poisons, while Himeko sat beside her, drinking coffee.

Welt pulled up a chair and sat in the aisle.

To avoid working, Jing Yuan had also dumped everything on Fu Xuan, calling it training for her, before appearing on the Express and sitting down on Bai Tang's other side. Yanqing had been brought along for some reason and sat beside Jing Yuan.

The others, such as Jingliu, who had requested it herself, and Blade, who surely had the Stellaron Hunters beside him, only joined by phone.

"Bai Tang and Baiheng are both lovely names. I like them a lot. My sister was much older than me, and I was a little younger than Jing Yuan. She loved telling me stories, all about her friends."

Baiheng had many friends, but the ones she would have told stories about were probably those few favored children of heaven.

"When I was three, I pestered my sister to take me to meet Jingliu. I fell in love with her at first sight and went to learn the sword from her. I was her super-strong disciple for more than ten years. I was more talented with a sword than Jing Yuan, and Master loved giving me extra lessons."

Bai Tang was proud of that. Master had praised her talent with a sword!

Master had said she would teach her swordsmanship to anyone who wanted to learn, regardless of their talent, but Bai Tang was so talented that even Master coveted her.

If Bai Tang hadn't sought her out to become her disciple, Jingliu would have gone to ask her in person whether she wanted to learn the sword, making her desire known.

"Brother Yingxing's craftsmanship was the very best. He gave me four weapons because I kept pestering him for them. He made one sword just for me, the Blessing Sword. I saw the others at his place and secretly took them, though he chased me around and beat me afterward."

As she spoke, Bai Tang took out Blessing for everyone present to admire.

"Brother Yingxing gave them all to me in the end. This is the Peaceful Sword, this one is called Dripping Water Pierces Stone, and this is Dark Willows, Bright Flowers."

She took out the Peaceful Sword too. Of the last two, Dripping Water Pierces Stone was a great hammer. Bai Tang was strong enough to lift it easily and used it to smash things she couldn't open. Dark Willows, Bright Flowers was a staff, used to beat dogs when she didn't want to kill them.

When Blade heard Bai Tang praise his abilities, he couldn't keep the corners of his mouth down. Of course Yingxing's craftsmanship was the best!

The Stellaron Hunters all laughed at the sight. A little more praise, and Blade would stay happy for a long time.

"Brother Feng was great too. He often took me into Vidyadhara territory to watch him hold meetings, and he taught me how to hit people where it hurt. The targets were those disobedient dragon preceptors. Brother Feng said they were about to undergo rebirth anyway, so it would be a waste not to."

Jing Yuan: That really was Dan Feng's style.

Dan Heng: Was that what his previous life was like?

Jingliu: A past we can never return to...

Blade: Hmph, that's just what His High Elder was like.

"Jing Yuan was my senior fellow disciple. At first, I called him that like I was supposed to. But whenever he couldn't beat me, he'd cheat and pull out a board to challenge me to a game. Hmph, he knew perfectly well I couldn't play. So I started calling him something else. Why call him senior fellow disciple? Jing Yuanyuan was much better."

Jing Yuan: "..." He really would have done that in the past. Back then he could cheat, but now he simply couldn't afford to lose.

Hearing a story about Jing Yuan's childhood, Yanqing perked up in an instant and listened intently. His eyes widened when he learned the general had that side to him.

"My sister loved telling me stories and taking me out in a Starskiff. Her rides were thrilling, but she wrecked a Starskiff every time. Her dream was to become a Nameless, and I found a train car for her. Unfortunately, something happened when we were about to leave."

They had only died, that was all. Bai Tang would bring them back to life anyway. They had to believe in her abilities!

Now she was a Nameless, and once Baiheng was revived, she could be a passenger. How wonderful!

"Jing Yuan wanted to become a Galaxy Ranger. I found traces of them and had already told Jing Yuan about it. We were going to leave, but then something happened, so we never made it."

Well, he had only died too. Unlike the Jing Yuanyuan here, who was trapped, her Jing Yuanyuan had died. Once he was revived, he could become a Galaxy Ranger!

"They doted on me, and I liked them a lot too. Once, for my birthday, Brother Yingxing built me a giant Gundam! The kind that could go big! Since it was a gift for me, it was named Tang."

They knew about that. It had appeared during the fight against Phantylia, and Welt had really coveted it when he saw it.

"Master taught Tang swordsmanship so it could protect me. Dan Feng gave the Gundam the ability to attack with a water dragon, and my sister said she'd be its guardian spirit, just like the general's spirit. Finally, Jing Yuan piloted Tang in and wished me a happy birthday."

At that, Bai Tang showed a heartfelt, happy smile.

"Do you know about Shuhu? Tang played a huge part. One blast from its cannon woke Brother Feng up from his dragon madness! I was the one piloting it that time!"

She wasn't a child. She was super amazing!

"Later..."

Bai Tang fell silent and spoke of it briefly, nothing like how much she had said before. "A machine that should have been scrapped caused trouble and set us up. First it was Master, then Brother Feng, my sister, Brother Yingxing, Jing Yuan, and finally me. We all died, one after another."

"But you don't have to worry. I completely scrapped the one who caused it, without even leaving ashes behind! Impressive, right?"

She was here to tell a story, not fish for sympathy. The causes and consequences of their deaths weren't important, and neither were her thoughts at the time, so she condensed that whole part into a few sentences. What mattered was that she was super amazing: she had not only gotten revenge, but could also bring her family back to life!

Bai Tang planted her hands on her hips, asking for praise.

"Mhm, Bai Tang is super amazing."

Jing Yuan was the first to indulge Bai Tang. He spoke slowly, coaxing her like a child and going along with her, until her tail was practically pointing at the sky.

Bai Tang made it sound easy, but how could the others not know? She simply didn't want them to worry.

All six of them were favored children of heaven. How could they have been made to die one by one, starting with the strongest? Bai Tang must have been only sixteen or seventeen at the time.

She had become Jingliu's disciple at three and followed her for more than ten years. Judging by how much she cherished those years, if she had lived on, it couldn't have been just over ten years. She could have been a disciple for hundreds of years, so how could it have been only ten-odd?

No matter how gifted she was, she couldn't have completed her training in just over ten years. At the very least, she would have had to reach adulthood before she could say she had.

Even Jing Yuan still called himself Jingliu's disciple now.

"Mm, impressive."

Jingliu was the next to speak, her voice coming through the phone. Those words signified her recognition.

It could be said that Bai Tang could now call this Jingliu her master.

Jingliu: Your disciple is very good. She can be mine now.

Bai Tang's master, Jingliu: The moment I said I wasn't teaching her anymore, you tried to snatch her. What can you teach her while you're insane?!! She's already completed her training. She doesn't need you!!