Wan Lan stood with her hands in her pockets, looking in bewilderment at the whispering people.
"So what are they all arguing about?"
Kou Ying shook their head. "Maybe they're having a clash of ideas."
Su Wuwei guessed, "Or maybe they're just buttering each other up? It's pretty hard to get all these people together, after all."
Ye Buyu covered her ears. "I want to go outside. It's too noisy here."
Mu Bingge glanced around the rather empty hall and realized that the noise Ye Buyu meant probably came from souls.
"Are there a lot of souls here too?"
Ye Buyu swallowed. "A lot."
There hadn't been this many when they first came in, but from the moment Qin Yue appeared, souls had kept emerging, gathering around different people.
A group surrounded old Newmanda. They seemed to be students, and every one of them was discussing something with the others.
They spoke with relish, like classmates gathered together over a contentious problem, discussing different solutions with excitement on their faces.
Upstairs, many people also surrounded Duke Slyder, their faces filled with regret and longing as they spoke incessantly, unable to convey their thoughts.
Li Fulin had the fewest souls around her. Every one of them looked solemn, writing something over and over.
And the one with the most souls...
Ye Buyu looked toward Qin Yue. There were more souls there than anywhere else, packed so densely they formed a small mountain. Most wore battered armor and bore the scars of war.
They surrounded Qin Yue with familiar reverence. Some chuckled as they patted his empty trouser legs, while others patted his shoulder in anguish, talking nonstop.
The instant she saw them, she understood where these souls had come from. They were souls of the Present World Allied Army, who had