Master's Wife

Long Bing crouched down and helped Tang Wulin straighten his collar, then casually adjusted Xie Xie's school uniform collar, which had slipped to one side. She stood and dusted off her hands, looking at the three children before her—their hair a mess, their eyes still carrying that dazed look from just finishing training. A trace of heartache rose in her eyes.

"How could Wu Changkong train you like this?" she muttered, reaching out to gently rub Gu Yue's head.

Xie Xie stood there with his hair sticking up and one side of his uniform collar higher than the other. He stared blankly at Long Bing, then turned to glance toward the training field—Wu Changkong had his back to them, speaking with a few students who had yet to leave. He did not turn around. Xie Xie scratched the back of his head and cautiously asked, "Are you really... our master's wife?"

Long Bing stood up and dusted off her hands. "That's right. I'm your master's wife."

Xie Xie opened his mouth, about to ask something else, when Tang Wulin spoke from beside him. "Did you... come here to teach us?" His tone was unhurried, and he looked at Long Bing with a calmness that did not quite match his age.

Long Bing glanced down at him and crouched again. She pressed down Tang Wulin's raised collar, then smoothed out a crease on his shoulder. Her movements were as gentle as when she had rubbed Gu Yue's head.

"I'm not here to teach you. I'm here to... pick you up." Her lips curved as she spoke, and her tone was like the evening breeze, making people relax without realizing it. "Your Teacher Wu told me he'd found three especially gifted children, so his expectations for you are naturally higher. But I was worried you might be exhausted, so I came to take the three of you out to relax today."

She turned to Xie Xie, straightened his crooked uniform collar, and brushed a patch of grass clippings off his shoulder.

Xie Xie stood still for two seconds before suddenly snapping back to his senses. "Oh! Thank you, Master's Wife!" His voice was so loud that even the students passing nearby turned to look.

Long Bing laughed, stood, and dusted off her hands. "All right, you three should go back to your dorm and clean yourselves up first. Then Master's Wife will take you out to relax." She reached out and rubbed Xie Xie's little head. His hair had already been messy, and she made it even messier, but he did not dodge at all.

"Thank you, Master's Wife," all three said in unison. Tang Wulin's voice came from the middle, neither too loud nor too soft, neatly covering the tail end of Xie Xie's voice.

The three turned and headed toward the dormitories. Xie Xie walked in front, moving much faster than usual, almost jogging. Tang Wulin and Gu Yue followed side by side behind him, neither saying a word.

Over on the training field, Wu Changkong had turned around and was looking at the students who remained. His expression was no different from usual. His gaze swept across their faces before lingering on Zhou Changxi and Yun Xiao. "Did you see those three? That special treatment was earned through their hard training. If you envy them, you can come to me for extra training too. Don't you want the same treatment?"

There was a brief silence below. Zhou Changxi and Yun Xiao leaned close together and spoke in low voices. They were not loud, but the training field was quiet enough that their words still carried over.

"What's there to envy... Those two go back to the dorm and drop dead right away." Zhou Changxi kept his voice very low.

Yun Xiao added from beside him, "Exactly. They traded their bodies for that privilege. We don't envy them."

"The main thing is, our bodies can't take it," Zhou Changxi added.

Their topic had already started drifting in the wrong direction, and someone nearby began to snicker quietly.

Wu Changkong still heard the laughter. "You lot, go run a few laps to warm up first."

There were not many people on the street outside the school gates. The evening wind blew out from the alley, carrying the greasy scent of dinners being cooked in nearby homes, mixed with the lingering heat from the boiler room in the distance. Long Bing held Gu Yue's hand as she walked in the middle. Xie Xie led the way several steps ahead, while Tang Wulin walked on Long Bing's other side. The setting sun slanted in from the west, stretching the four of their shadows across the stone-paved road, their lengths overlapping like a casually drawn sketch.

"You've trained for so long and can still keep going." Long Bing tilted her head to look at Gu Yue. "Master's Wife really admires you. With training this intense, anyone else would have collapsed long ago."

Gu Yue said, "It's mainly because our teacher teaches well."

Long Bing laughed and gave her hand a little swing. "You're so young, yet you already know how to talk like that. How many boys will be chasing after you in the future, little Gu Yue?" Gu Yue's ears reddened, from the rims all the way to her earlobes. She did not reply, merely lowering her head to watch the tips of her shoes as she walked. Tang Wulin caught sight of her profile from the corner of his eye, a faint warm glow resting over it beneath the sunset. He looked once, then withdrew his gaze.

"Is there anything you three want to eat? Master's Wife is paying." Long Bing's tone was light, as though she were speaking to younger siblings. She had taken many children out to play before and had always been the understanding big sister type at the academy. Coupled with Wu Changkong's usual coldness around others, many people at the academy had wondered who had pursued whom. But Long Bing herself knew that he had handed over everything he could give her, and never asked about what remained.

Xie Xie stopped ahead of them and spun around. "Master's Wife, are you really paying?" His expression wavered between shock and excitement, and his voice rose. "This won't be a small bill!"

"It's fine." Long Bing smiled and waved her hand. "Your teacher's salary is all in my hands anyway."

She said it casually, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. But standing beside her, Tang Wulin saw the corner of her lips curve upward—a tiny, tiny motion she might not even have noticed herself. Xie Xie froze for a beat, then abruptly turned around and practically bounced into the air. "Me, me, me! I know! I know a restaurant with really delicious food!"

"Good." Long Bing laughed. "Then the important task of leading the way is entrusted to Xie Xie."

"Received!" Like a soldier taking orders, Xie Xie strode ahead with his head high and chest out. His walking posture was so exaggerated that it was a little comical, his shoulders held stiffly straight and his steps wide and quick.

After Xie Xie walked ahead for a while, Long Bing and Gu Yue followed behind him, while Tang Wulin walked at the rear. Long Bing looked down at Tang Wulin, slowed her pace, and walked beside him.

After thinking for a moment, she spoke more softly. "Tang Wulin, I heard from your teacher that your martial soul mutation has a lot to do with your appetite. Is that true?"

Her voice was gentle, like the evening breeze, carrying a warmth that unconsciously put people at ease. Tang Wulin turned his head to look at her. She was slightly tilting her head toward him, the smile left over from talking to Xie Xie still resting on her lips.

Tang Wulin was silent for a beat. "...Yes, Master's Wife. Only when I'm full can I bring out all of my strength."

Although he could change those negative effects in this life, he still wanted to preserve this trait that belonged uniquely to him.

"Then your big appetite is because your martial soul needs it, not because you eat too much." Long Bing spoke slowly and calmly. "Your mutated martial soul has a great demand for energy. There's nothing we can do about that, right?" Her voice was low, as if she were telling him something important, yet afraid that saying it too heavily would make him uncomfortable.

Tang Wulin did not respond immediately. His pace did not change, but his gaze returned from the distance.

When he had been little in his previous life, he had told himself the same thing and used that reason to comfort himself many times. But hearing it from someone else felt different. His eyes grew hot for an instant, so faintly it was like being brushed by a wave of steam. He blinked and forced that warmth back down.

"...Right," he said.

Long Bing did not press him further. She merely reached out and touched his head. Her palm landed lightly atop his hair, as if confirming that he was there, then withdrew. Tang Wulin did not dodge, nor did he look up at her. He simply kept walking, his steps a little steadier than before.

"We're here!" Xie Xie shouted from not far ahead.

The roadside shop was small. A wooden sign hung crookedly above the entrance, its edges curled as though the wind had battered it countless times. The door stood half-open, warm yellow light spilling out along with the scent of meat broth and cooking fumes. Xie Xie was already standing at the entrance, waving at them.

Long Bing led Gu Yue toward it, with Tang Wulin following behind. He took two steps forward, then stopped and turned to look back in the direction they had come from—the outline of the training field was still visible in the distance, wrapped in dusk and gradually darkening. He withdrew his gaze and stepped through the open door.