Maple Forest Town was larger than the villages they had passed through before. There were shops, tea stalls, cloth shops, and a grain store with a sign hanging on both sides of the main street. Although it was afternoon, there weren't many people on the street, but the atmosphere was noticeably more lively.
Bai Lingyu walked ahead, looked around, and turned to Jiang Lin, saying, "This town has at least several hundred households; it's bigger than Bluestone Village South Mountain Valley Village combined."
Jiang Lin nodded, his gaze sweeping across both sides of the street before stopping in front of a noodle stall with a makeshift awning.
"Let's have some noodles first."
The four sat down at the low table. The noodle stall owner was a lean old man in his fifties, his apron covered in flour. He worked quickly and efficiently, and when he saw customers, he greeted them with a smile, "Four of you, want some noodles? My family's braised noodles are famous in town. I guarantee you'll want more after you try them."
"Four bowls, boss," Bai Lingyu said.
The noodles were served quickly, steaming hot, with a layer of oil and scallions floating on the surface. A Shan buried his head and shoveled down two large mouthfuls. Yi Chen ate slowly, but seemed more at ease than in the previous few days; at least he dared to look around.
Bai Lingyu took a couple of bites of noodles, put down her chopsticks, and casually asked the owner, "Boss, I have a question for you. Are there any children in your town... with strange growths on their bodies?"
The boss paused in wiping the table, looked up at him, and his smile faded, "Why are you suddenly asking this?"
"We are Soul Master," Bai Lingyu said. "We were just passing by when we heard that some children had awakened special Martial Soul, but nobody in town recognizes what they are. We've come to see if we can help."
Upon hearing the words " Soul Master," the shopkeeper's expression immediately changed, becoming more polite but also hesitant. He glanced around and lowered his voice, " Lord Soul Master... are you referring to the Old Zhou?"
Bai Lingyu and Jiang Lin exchanged a glance.
"What happened to the Old Zhou?" Jiang Lin asked.
The shopkeeper sighed, put down the rag, and sat down on a low stool next to him, as if he had started talking. " Old Zhou is a blacksmith at the east end of town. His family has been blacksmiths for three generations. He's an honest and hardworking man, but he's had a hard life. His son and daughter-in-law died in an accident a couple of years ago, leaving him and his grandson Xiao Man to depend on each other."
" Xiao Man just turned six this year. She was supposed to be waiting for the Spirit Hall to come and perform the awakening ceremony. But our town is remote, and the Spirit Hall didn't come last year, and we don't know when they'll come this year. Then, starting two months ago, that child Xiao Man..."
The boss lowered his voice, as if afraid of being overheard. "My right arm is starting to feel strange. Some bluish-black marks are appearing under the skin, one after another, like tree roots."
Sometimes the marks would move, as if they were alive. Old Zhou was so anxious that he went to see a doctor, but the doctor couldn't figure it out and only said that it might be caused by evil spirits entering the body. He prescribed some medicine, but it didn't help at all.
Bai Lingyu frowned. "Just a mark? Nothing else?"
"Yes," the boss's voice lowered, "They appear at night. After Xiao Man falls asleep, those marks grow from his arms, like vines, tangling the bed in a mess. Old Zhou is afraid he'll strangle the child, so every night he ties him to the bedpost with a rope to sleep."
Bai Lingyu paused for a moment, her hand holding chopsticks still. A Shan also looked up, glancing at the boss and then at Jiang Lin. Yi Chen listened quietly in the corner, her eyes flashing, but she remained silent.
The boss added, "That child is pitiful. He used to be quite cheerful, but now he shrinks behind his grandfather whenever he sees a stranger and doesn't dare to say a word."
Old Zhou was a man who cared about his reputation. He didn't mention it, but everyone in the village would avoid the blacksmith's shop when they passed by. He knew this better than anyone else.
We neighbors saw it all, but we couldn't say anything or offer any help.
The noodle stall remained silent for a moment.
Jiang Lin finished the last bite of noodles in his bowl, put down his chopsticks, stood up, took out a few copper coins and placed them on the table. "Boss, how do I get to the blacksmith's shop?"
The shopkeeper paused, looked at him, then at Bai Lingyu and the two children behind him, hesitated for a moment before saying, "Go to the end of the east end of town, the house with the clanging and banging is it... You really want to go?"
"Let's go take a look," Jiang Lin said. "From what you've said, that child's situation is somewhat similar to the one we encountered on the road."
The boss rubbed his hands together, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, finally lowering his voice to add, "That child is truly pitiful, and Old Zhou really has no other choice. If you really have a way... please help him. Xiao Man was such a lovable child."
Jiang Lin nodded. "Don't worry, if we have a way, we won't ignore it."
The boss looked at him, his lips moved, but in the end he said nothing, only nodded heavily.
The four walked across half a street and, sure enough, heard clanging and banging sounds.
The blacksmith shop was small, with several forged sickles and hoes hanging at the entrance. The charcoal in the furnace was glowing red, and a burly old man was hammering a piece of iron.
He stood with his back to the street, drenched in sweat, pounding away as if he were pouring all his emotions into that lump of iron.
Jiang Lin stopped at the door, not in a hurry to go in.
Old Zhou hammered the hammer a dozen times before stopping, panting heavily as he put it down and turned around.
His face was weathered, his hands calloused, and his eyes tired yet alert. Seeing four people standing at the door, he frowned and asked in a curt tone, "Buying weapons?"
"We're not buying anything," Jiang Lin said. "We heard you have a child and that vines have grown on your right arm, so we came to take a look."
Old Zhou's expression changed instantly. He gripped the hammer in his hand tightly, took a step forward, and blocked the doorway. "Who sent you? Soul Master? From the Spirit Hall?"
"We're not from the Spirit Hall." Jiang Lin didn't back down. "We're just passing through as Soul Master. We heard there were some children here having problems with their Martial Soul Awakening, so we came to see if we could help."
Old Zhou stared at him for a while, then glanced at Bai Lingyu and the two children behind him. His gaze lingered for a moment on A Shan's left hand— A Shan's hand hung down, the scales faintly visible. Old Zhou's lips moved, but he didn't speak.
Jiang Lin didn't press forward; he simply stood there, his voice neither loud nor soft. "The thing on your grandson's right arm isn't necessarily an illness, nor is it evil energy. It's very likely his Martial Soul."
Old Zhou was stunned for a moment, then frowned, his tone clearly disbelieving. "... Martial Soul? My grandson has something like that on his arm, and you're telling me it's Martial Soul? Are you kidding me?"
Jiang Lin didn't rush to refute. He turned slightly so that Old Zhou could see A Shan standing behind him, the scales on his drooping left hand faintly visible in the sunlight. " Old Zhou, did you see this child's hand?"
His A Shan, and his Martial Soul is his left arm. He was initially treated like a monster by the villagers, and no one dared approach him. Later, I helped him awaken his martial spirit, and he realized it wasn't an illness.
Old Zhou's gaze fell on A Shan's left hand, staring at the scale patterns for several breaths, as if comparing them to the bluish-black things on his grandson's arm.
Jiang Lin continued, " Xiao Man just turned six this year, and the people from the Spirit Hall haven't come to perform his awakening ceremony yet. But his Martial Soul couldn't wait and just appeared on its own—"
This shows that his Martial Soul is very powerful, but he is young and physically weak, so he cannot control that power, which is why he lost control.
Old Zhou slowly loosened his grip on the hammer.
"I'm not here to harm him," Jiang Lin said. "I'm here to help him complete his awakening. Once he truly understands what his Martial Soul is, that power will stop causing trouble."
The courtyard remained quiet for a long time. A gust of wind blew through the stove, stirring up a cloud of ash. Old Zhou stood at the doorway, his back to the house, his shoulders tense. After a long while, he said in a hoarse voice:
"... Come in and take a look."
Jiang Lin stepped across the threshold. Bai Lingyu remained at the door, gesturing for A Shan and Yi Chen to wait outside.
The room behind the blacksmith's shop was dimly lit, and the air smelled of herbs. On a wooden bed against the wall, a thin boy was curled up in the blanket, his right arm exposed, with a thick hemp rope tied to his wrist, the other end of which was tied to the bedpost.
His right arm was covered with bluish-black lines that stretched from his wrist to his shoulder, intertwined like tree roots, with some areas slightly raised, as if something was slowly flowing under his skin.
The child was half asleep when he heard someone come in. His eyelashes fluttered, and he opened his eyes. Seeing the stranger, he shrank back abruptly, his back hitting the wall with a dull thud. His eyes were wide open, his eyes red-rimmed, and his lips were tightly pressed together; he couldn't utter a single word.
Old Zhou hurried over, put one hand on the child's shoulder and gently patted him with the other. "It's okay, Xiao Man, don't be afraid, Grandpa's here."
Jiang Lin didn't approach, but squatted down a few steps away, making himself the same height as the child. He looked Xiao Man straight in the eye, his voice slow and soft:
My name is Jiang Lin. I'm here to help you.
Xiao Man nestled in her grandfather's arms, her body still trembling. The bluish-black lines on her right arm seemed to sense something and slowly twitched.
Xiao Man glanced at her "disobedient" arm, then at Jiang Lin, her eyes filled with fear, confusion, and a faint, unspoken expectation.
Jiang Lin didn't reach out; he simply squatted down and waited quietly.
After a long time, Xiao Man's lips moved slightly.
"... It moved again."
Jiang Lin looked into his eyes and nodded. "I know. It heard me."
Xiao Man stared at him, as if trying to determine whether this person was lying to him.
The room was so quiet that only the sound of breathing could be heard.