Mr. Bai's Schedule

The next morning, the Shrek students woke to the sound of a gong.

Clang, clang, clang, clang.

It wasn't loud, but it was maddening, as if someone were banging a gong right against their foreheads.

Ma Hongjun rushed out of his room with his coat draped over his shoulders. Before his eyes were even open, he shouted, "Who is it? I'd only just dreamed about roast chicken!"

By the courtyard wall, Bai Jin held a small gong in one hand and a sheet of paper in the other. He was taking his time pasting it to the wall.

A few large characters were written on the paper.

Today's Schedule.

Dai Mubai walked over, rubbing his brow. Once he saw what it said, his face darkened.

First: everyone attacks Bai Jin. Objective: take the candy from his mouth.

Second: Tang San may not use a Hidden Weapon first.

Third: Xiao Wu may not kick anyone in the face first.

Fourth: every time Ning Rongrong's boost lapses, everyone runs another lap.

Fifth: Oscar must make sausages while running. Any he drops, Ma Hongjun eats.

Sixth: if Ma Hongjun's flames set a building on fire, he pays for it himself.

The final line was written in the largest characters.

Xue Qinghe attends as an observer and trains alongside everyone.

Ning Rongrong stared at it for a long while. "Uncle Bai, are you still half-asleep from last night?"

"I'm wide awake." Bai Jin had a freshly unwrapped lollipop in his mouth, and his tone was cheerful. "That's how I came up with such a good schedule."

Oscar stared at the fifth item, his face turning green. "Why does Fatty get to eat a sausage if I drop one?"

Ma Hongjun perked up at once. "I think that's a perfectly reasonable arrangement."

"Shut up!"

Tang San didn't laugh.

He looked at the second item, his brow faintly furrowed.

Bai Jin tapped the paper. "Tang San, I'm not saying you can't use Hidden Weapons. I'm saying they can't be your first instinct. In a real fight, your enemy won't wait for you to put every trump card exactly where you want it."

Tang San looked up. "I understand."

"No, you don't." Bai Jin smiled at him. "You're used to hiding yourself before looking for a chance to strike. That habit can keep you alive when you're weak, but when you're strong, it slows you down."

The courtyard fell quiet for a moment.

The words weren't harsh, but they drove into Tang San's heart like a nail.

He didn't argue.

Because he knew Bai Jin was telling the truth.

Half an incense stick later, training began.

Bai Jin stood in the middle of the courtyard with a lollipop in his mouth and his hands in his pockets, looking as though he might fall asleep at any moment. Three Soul Rings—yellow, purple, and black—rose one after another beneath his feet, then quickly faded, leaving only a nearly invisible ripple around him.

Dai Mubai moved first.

White Tiger Possession! Wind whipped around his tiger claws as he stepped forward, shattering a paving brick, and lunged straight at Bai Jin. Zhu Zhuqing flashed out of the shadows at his side, a streak of black light aimed at Bai Jin's wrist. Xiao Wu sprang up and flipped down from above, her long braid tracing an arc through the air.

They closed in from three sides.

Bai Jin didn't dodge.

Dai Mubai's tiger claws stopped three inches from his chest, as though they had plunged into an endless expanse of water. The farther they pushed, the slower they moved.

Zhu Zhuqing's claw tips halted just beyond his sleeve. He was right there, yet it felt as though a deep alley lay between them.

Xiao Wu's foot came down. The toe of her shoe stopped an inch from the lollipop stick, held up by a gentle force that left her suspended in midair.

Bai Jin looked up at her. "I said no kicking me in the face first."

Xiao Wu gritted her teeth. "I was kicking the candy!"

"The candy's in front of my face."

Off to the side, Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda lit up. Two beams of light fell on Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing.

"Strength! Speed!"

The pressure surged.

This time, Ning Rongrong didn't pour out all her boosts at once.

She remembered what Bai Jin had told her the night before: a support fighter wasn't supposed to hide in the back and recite a menu. She watched Dai Mubai's shoulders, the direction Zhu Zhuqing's feet were landing, and the shift of force through Xiao Wu's waist and abdomen as she hung in midair. As soon as Dai Mubai exhausted his first burst of strength, she withdrew his strength boost and redirected her Soul Power to Zhu Zhuqing's speed.

The switch was swift.

So swift that even Dai Mubai froze for a moment.

At last, a hint of approval appeared in Bai Jin's eyes. "If all you can do with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is pour Soul Power into people, you're wasting the Martial Soul your father gave you."

Ning Rongrong bit her lip and didn't talk back.

She suddenly understood. Bai Jin might have a sharp tongue, but his eyes were sharper. He wasn't telling her to be less willful. He wanted her to earn the right to be willful on the battlefield.

Oscar wasn't idle either.

He ran laps around the courtyard, gritting his teeth as he chanted his Soul Spell. Sausages flew out one after another. Two nearly rolled into a drainage ditch, but Ma Hongjun snatched them up with quick hands.

"Fatty, don't actually eat them!"

"If they drop, they're mine!"

"If you two keep arguing, you're both eating vegetables for dinner," Bai Jin said without looking back.

Both of them fell silent at once.

Bai Jin finally moved.

He merely flicked a finger. The air rang softly, and Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu were all thrown back. The force wasn't heavy, but it sent them to their original positions, their feet landing precisely where they had started.

Tang San struck at that instant.

Blue Silver Grass burst from cracks in the ground. Rather than wrapping around Bai Jin, it coiled toward the space beneath his feet. At the same time, Tang San charged forward, his right fist tucked beside his ribs. His movement was so plain he hardly looked like a disciple of the Tang Sect.

A trace of amusement entered Bai Jin's eyes.

"Yes. Just like that."

Tang San drove his fist forward.

No Hidden Weapons, no poison, no tricks of any kind.

His fist still stopped in front of Bai Jin, but it came closer than Dai Mubai's had.

Half an inch.

Bai Jin glanced down and said approvingly, "You can have an extra bowl of rice at lunch today."

Tang San let out a breath. His arm tingled faintly.

The punch hadn't landed, but it had let him touch on something.

Not victory. Rhythm.

Just then, a gentle voice came from beyond the courtyard gate.

"It seems I've come at a bad time."

Xue Qinghe stood at the gate with only two attendants behind him. He took in the battered Shrek students in the courtyard, his expression still composed.

Bai Jin beckoned to him. "Your timing's perfect, Your Highness. Your turn."

Xue Qinghe's smile stiffened slightly. "I'm only here to observe."

"The schedule says you train with us."

"Sir, I am the Crown Prince."

"Does a Crown Prince not have legs?"

Oscar nearly burst out laughing, but Ning Rongrong jabbed him with an elbow.

Xue Qinghe watched Bai Jin for a moment, then finally entered the courtyard. He did not release his Martial Soul. Instead, he took an unsharpened longsword from an attendant and said politely, "Then I ask for your guidance, sir."

Bai Jin studied the way he held the sword, and the smile in his eyes deepened.

"Just use what you can use in public."

Xue Qinghe did not answer.

When his sword flashed, Tang San's pupils contracted.

The Crown Prince's swordplay was not flashy, but it was astonishingly steady. Every stroke seemed to have its distance calculated in advance. He sought not to wound, but to force his opponent into the position he wanted. If Bai Jin's Limitless had not stood between them, Tang San doubted he could have found an opening within ten moves.

More importantly, Xue Qinghe did not make a single unnecessary movement.

He seemed to know exactly what he should reveal and what he should keep hidden. His sword was steady, his footwork was steady, and even his breathing was as measured as a piece of court etiquette. Tang San could see no opening, only restraint.

Bai Jin saw more clearly.

What "His Highness the Crown Prince" was holding back was sharper than the sword's edge.

So he did not press him.

He simply caught every stroke with Limitless, keeping the distance at a point where Xue Qinghe could retreat but had to keep advancing. The Shrek students watching could tell: this was training, but it was also a test.

Bai Jin stepped back half a pace.

It was the first time he had retreated that day.

Xue Qinghe lowered his sword and smiled. "You let me have that, sir."

"Of course," Bai Jin said readily. "If I didn't, you'd have to call in sick to court tomorrow."

Xue Qinghe: "..."

Training continued into the afternoon.

By the time everyone was too exhausted to bother speaking, Lin Yu finally hurried over. He wore the black robe of a Spirit Hall deacon, its hem still spattered with wet mud.

"Mr. Bai, something's happened in the old district."

Bai Jin crunched the lollipop stick between his teeth. At last, his eyes lost their lazy look.

Lin Yu lowered his voice. "A dead man was found in Warehouse No. 3. He had no wounds, but his Soul Power had been drained dry. There was a White Ghost Mask on the wall, too."

Tang San clenched his fists.

Bai Jin looked around at everyone in the courtyard and smiled.

"Afternoon class is canceled."

Everyone was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.

Then he added, "There's an exam tonight."