Little Brother

On the evening of the opening ceremony, Tang Wulin organized his forging station in the dormitory. This set of portable forging tools had been a gift from Teacher Mang Tian before he enrolled—three years had passed, and the old hammer had been replaced with a more comfortable medium-sized one, while the anvil had been upgraded twice. Only the folding chair in the corner was still the old thing he had brought from Red Mountain Academy. The dormitory was much roomier than the one at Red Mountain Academy. It was meant for two people, but Xie Xie had been assigned next door, so Tang Wulin was living alone for now.

There were three knocks at the door. They were not loud, but the rhythm was brisk. "Who is it?" "Me, Xie Xie. Open up, will you? I brought a late-night snack."

Tang Wulin opened the door. Xie Xie stood outside carrying two oil-paper parcels, wearing the standard smile of a freshman trying to make friends. Though he was only nine and had not fully grown yet, his eyes were especially lively. His eyebrows moved when he spoke, making it obvious that he was the sort whose mind ran faster than his mouth, and whose mouth ran faster than his legs—a natural agility-type prospect.

"You came looking for me this late?" Tang Wulin let him in. Xie Xie set the oil-paper parcels on an empty stretch of table beside the forging station. The wrapping fell open, revealing two skewers of grilled squid and several sesame sugar cakes. "The last two skewers from the cafeteria's late-night stall. Five minutes later and they'd have been gone. Eat while they're hot." "...Thanks." Tang Wulin was a little baffled—they had only officially met for the first time today, so why was this guy acting like they had been friends for years?

Xie Xie dragged over a chair and straddled it, resting his chin on the back while he chewed a sesame sugar cake and looked Tang Wulin up and down. The tools spread across the forging station, the unfinished semi-assembled components, and the thermos in the corner—he had seen that thermos this afternoon, the same kind Lu Menge always carried with steam rising from it. He had his answer.

"Say, Wulin, what's your relationship with Teacher Lu?"

Tang Wulin nearly dropped the component in his hand. "What relationship? Teacher Lu is my teacher."

"Give me a break. Director Long is polite even to good students, but she doesn't look at them with that smile. In the entire academy, only you, Gu Yue, and Teacher Lu herself have matching thermoses." Xie Xie kept chewing, lowering his voice. "And the two of you got into Class Zero without taking the test—Teacher Wu made the call, Teacher Lu signed off, and Director Long didn't change a single word. What kind of treatment is that? The kind where you dare demand slots from the principal at the freshman commendation ceremony."

Tang Wulin took a sip of water, trying to hide his face behind the cup. Xie Xie gave him no chance to do so and went on. "I won't pry into anything else. I came today just to ask—when you two train and strengthen yourselves in the future, can you take me along?" He let go of the chair back and sat up straight, a rare seriousness in his posture.

"I trained my way to four rings myself, so I definitely won't make you carry me for nothing. Errands, information—if anyone in Class Zero talks behind your backs, I'll keep an ear out. Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi are both veteran students. If they get together with Wei Xiaofeng, nothing good will come of it. Someone has to keep an eye on them for you, right?"

Tang Wulin was silent for a moment. He set his thermos on the table, then raised his eyes to meet Xie Xie's. "All right. I'll ask Teacher Lu tomorrow. Then do something for me—tomorrow morning is Class Zero's first practical combat class. Teacher Wu wants Gu Yue and me to fight the entire class one by one. Help me tell the others beforehand not to get nervous. We'll stop at the right point."

Xie Xie's eyes lit up. He set down his cake and reached for his dagger, still saying, "No problem, leave it to me." Tang Wulin hurriedly added, "Not so fast—and can you find out about Zhang Yangzi's and Wang Jinxi's martial souls? I don't know much about them."

"Dark Phantom Eagle, assault type, good at aerial restraint; Bone Dragon martial soul, extremely high defense, so a head-on clash would be rough." Xie Xie recited the information without even thinking. "I already looked into it."

Tang Wulin fell silent for a moment before saying, "Xie Xie, you can be more casual around me. You don't need to force yourself to act familiar. But honestly, everyone in Class Zero is thinking about how to surpass the two of us. You came to train with us—aren't you afraid they'll isolate you?"

Xie Xie stood, shoved his dagger into the strap on his calf, and stuffed the last sesame sugar cake into his mouth. "People have been chasing after me since the day I was born—I ran all the way to Eastsea Academy before finding somewhere I could settle down. Isolation? What's there to fear? You'd be an idiot not to cling to a strong thigh. Eat the sugar cakes while they're hot. See you tomorrow."

He reached the door just as Tang Wulin picked up a sugar cake and took a bite. Tang Wulin suddenly looked up. "Your martial soul is a dagger, right?"

"Light Dragon Dagger, agility type." Xie Xie leaned against the doorframe. "What about it?"

"I happen to be short one short blade for an off-hand piece of equipment." Tang Wulin smiled indistinctly around the cake in his mouth. "Once I finish beating the rest of Class Zero, I'll measure you up."

Xie Xie froze for a moment, then returned an equally bright smile. The door closed softly behind him, and his footsteps gradually faded down the corridor.

Tang Wulin lowered his head and continued polishing the component, taking another bite of the sesame sugar cake. Xie Xie was right. Class Zero was unlike an ordinary class; every person admitted was a favored child of heaven, and none of them accepted anyone else's superiority. Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi had ranked at the very top of the entrance examination, and Wei Xiaofeng was no pushover either. Tang Wulin had already seen those unconvinced, appraising looks at the opening ceremony. Still, someone taking the initiative to knock on his door was better than having no friends. He had to get up early tomorrow—he could not be late for the first practical combat class.

Meanwhile, at the corner at the end of the corridor, Gu Yue leaned against the wall with a cup of soybean milk she had barely touched. From where Xie Xie exited, she happened to glimpse the extra oil-paper parcels on Tang Wulin's table. Her perception far surpassed that of soul masters at the same level, and she had heard every word Xie Xie said inside the room. When she returned to her own room, she quietly locked the door from within and sent Tang Wulin a message.

"What did Xie Xie say when he came to see you?" Tang Wulin did not hide anything. "He brought a late-night snack, tried to get close, and said he wanted to be friends with us. He also said he had already gathered information on everyone else in Class Zero." "A smart person—Class Zero needs someone to run errands." Gu Yue lay against her pillow holding her communicator, her fingertips pausing over the screen for several breaths before she added, "Those sugar cakes were the last ones from that stall—he noticed you like sweets. We can keep this person."

Tang Wulin asked what he needed to pay special attention to when facing Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi tomorrow. Gu Yue's reply was concise enough to sound like a list of orders. "There is a pause of about 0.3 seconds in the Dark Phantom Eagle's left wing when it dives, a gap while it catches its breath. The Bone Dragon Shield Armor is not full coverage; there is a weak point less than five centimeters wide behind the hip joint." "I was asking how we should coordinate." "Coordinate? Tomorrow, you attack head-on. I'll control one from range and follow up by controlling the other. Go fight first—I'll help if you can't beat them."

Tang Wulin chuckled at the screen and replied, "Playing favorites." Gu Yue did not respond again.

He put down the communicator, packed the components from the forging station into his toolbox one by one, then picked up the thermos matching Lu Menge's and looked at it. Tomorrow would be Class Zero's first lesson: a gauntlet battle, cultivation suppressed to three rings, fighting the entire class one at a time. He walked to the wall and turned off the light. Outside the window, the moon cast the shadow of a ginkgo tree across the curtains, its golden leaves rustling softly.

The next morning, in the Class Zero classroom. After Wu Changkong announced the rules of the sparring matches, he tucked the record board beneath his arm and said coldly, "First group—Tang Wulin and Gu Yue versus Zhang Yangzi." Beneath the stage, Xie Xie gestured at Tang Wulin. A corner of the intelligence note that had already circulated among the students protruded from the edge of his desk.