Soul Masters and Ordinary People

After their sparring match, the three of them did not stay at the academy. Xiao Wu had long wanted to go out on their weekly day off, but the academy was far from the city, and a round trip took quite a while. Most days, they wandered around the nearby villages instead.

Since Chu Heng was there, he went along with them. The village market was small, selling mostly fruit, vegetables, farm tools, and everyday odds and ends.

Xiao Wu walked ahead. Though she had been there many times, she still stopped whenever something new caught her eye. Tang San stayed beside her, occasionally taking things from her hands.

Chu Heng strolled along at his own pace, enjoying the chance to spend time with his friends.

"Chu Heng, what are you smiling about?"

Tang San turned and asked.

"Nothing."

Chu Heng shook his head.

"I just think it's nice to wander around like this once in a while."

Near noon, the three ate at a stall by the village entrance. Afterward, Chu Heng suggested going into Nott City for a look around.

Xiao Wu was tempted, but she shook her head.

"Not today. I still need to train this afternoon."

Tang San nodded too.

"Let's go another time."

Since they both had plans, Chu Heng did not press them. After they parted, he returned to the city alone and spent half the day roaming its streets. He bought a few things he needed for daily life and did not return to Spirit Hall until evening.

Early the next morning.

Chu Heng had not fully woken when a soft noise came from the main room.

Someone pushed a window open from outside, and a familiar figure slipped nimbly into the room.

"Chu Heng!"

Su Xianling stood at the bedroom door and called inside.

"Your break is over. Aren't you getting up?"

Chu Heng opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling beams for a moment before resignedly throwing off his covers.

"Coming, Sister!"

Chu Heng hurriedly straightened his clothes. When he opened the door, he gave the fuming Su Xianling a cheeky grin.

"You're here so early, Sister!"

"You call this early?"

Su Xianling reached for Chu Heng's ear, but he dodged aside. She paused, then moved faster, reaching out again and catching it before he could react.

"You little rascal. You've learned to dodge me now?"

"I wouldn't dare!"

Seeing no way to escape, Chu Heng could only plead for mercy and hope Su Xianling would go easy on him.

Fortunately, Su Xianling had no intention of giving him a hard time. After a light punishment, she let go and took him with her.

Chu Heng had assumed Su Xianling would take him to her usual training spot. Instead, after they went downstairs, she headed straight to a counter and accepted several sheets of paper from a staff member.

"Lady Xianling, these are today's assignments."

"Mm."

Su Xianling glanced through them, then beckoned to Chu Heng.

"Let's go."

Chu Heng hurried after her. Once they left Spirit Hall, he could not help asking:

"Sister, aren't we training today?"

"I hold a position here too, so I still have duties to carry out. You can help me with a few things first."

Su Xianling glanced at him.

"What, you don't want to?"

"Of course I do!"

Chu Heng shook his head at once. He was delighted not to get beaten up first thing in the morning.

Their first stop was an irrigation canal south of the city.

It had rained a few days earlier. Trees washed down from upstream had jammed the canal entrance, and silt had piled up around them, leaving the nearby fields without water. Several villagers stood in the water, pushing together against a thick tree trunk, while others hauled on ropes from the bank. After all that effort, the trunk had barely budged.

Su Xianling approached and identified herself. Once everyone had stepped back, she leaped down beside the canal and gripped a branch jutting above the water with one hand. Soul Power surged through her. As Chu Heng watched, she lifted the trunk—so thick it would have taken several people to encircle it—and flung it onto the bank.

"..."

Chu Heng silently looked down at his skinny arms. If she used that strength to pull his ear...

He did not dare imagine it.

Su Xianling cleared several more blockages. Chu Heng kept busy too, carrying away scattered pieces of wood and handing tools to those who needed them. When the canal began flowing again, the villagers on the bank breathed a sigh of relief.

An elderly man wiped his brow and thanked Su Xianling repeatedly. He even invited them to stay for a meal, but she waved off the offer.

"Get the water to the fields first. That can't wait."

With that, she took Chu Heng to their next stop.

A household near the edge of the city had been visited by a Soul Beast the previous night. The creature, not yet ten years old, had slipped into their pen and killed two birds. After daybreak, it had hidden in the woodshed, and the whole family was afraid to go near it.

Su Xianling heard them out. Moments after going inside, she emerged carrying the Soul Beast.

The homeowner came over to inspect the pen. Looking at the trampled wooden fence, he felt both relieved and pained.

Seeing this, Chu Heng helped raise a fallen wooden frame. Su Xianling did not stop him. She even found a length of rope and handed it over. Together, they helped put the pen back in order before leaving.

By the time they had finished the assignments on the papers, it was noon.

Chu Heng followed Su Xianling, glancing back at the woman still waving from outside her gate. Then he suddenly asked:

"Sister, do you usually do things like this?"

"Sometimes. My training doesn't take much time each day, so when I'm free, I come help them with a few problems."

Su Xianling turned her head.

"Why? Do you think it's boring?"

"Not exactly."

Chu Heng shook his head.

"It's just that you're already so strong. Doesn't coming out to do these things take too much time away from training?"

Su Xianling stopped and studied him for a moment, but she was not angry.

"Then who do you think should do them?"

"Send someone else..."

Chu Heng trailed off halfway through.

Su Xianling smiled.

"Of course we could send someone else. But I was free today, and I could handle it. What's wrong with me coming?"

She pointed to the yard behind them.

"As a Soul Master, you could deal with these things too. But for that family, it was terribly difficult. And the canal earlier—you saw me move a few logs, but if the water had stayed blocked for another few days, what would those families have eaten this year?"

Chu Heng did not know what to say.

"If Spirit Hall establishes a branch here, it ought to do something for the people who live here."

Su Xianling's voice was calm.

"Of all the Soul Masters on this continent, how many were born into great sects? Most had parents who farmed or worked for a living, saving what little they could so their children could train without worry. Does awakening Soul Power give someone the right to turn around and look down on people just like their own parents?"

Chu Heng felt a stir of shame. I've barely begun training, and I'm already thinking like that!

Su Xianling reached out and picked a small wood shaving off his shoulder.

"The food we eat, the clothes we wear—could we have any of it without them? Soul Masters have their abilities, and ordinary people do their own work. Spirit Hall is accepted by everyone precisely because we help them through their difficulties."

Chu Heng looked at Su Xianling. He could not see a trace of pretense on her face.

"I understand, Sister."

He meant it.

Su Xianling nodded in satisfaction, then raised a hand and patted his head.

"Good. Come on, let's eat."

Chu Heng was about to follow when she added casually:

"After lunch, we train as usual."

"Huh?"

The emotion on Chu Heng's face froze.

Wait, what?

He'd thought he was getting out of it today!