Xiao Qi stood outside the threshold and did not come in.
Jiang Lin didn't urge him. He simply closed the booklet on the table, placed the bone fragments and short stick side by side on the corner of the table, then got up, poured a bowl of hot water, and placed it on the other side of the table.
After finishing, he sat back down, opened the booklet, picked up a pen and wrote a few lines, as if he had forgotten that there was still someone standing at the door.
The flame of the oil lamp flickered.
After a long time, Xiao Qi stepped over the threshold.
He walked slowly to the table, but didn't sit; he just stood there, his eyes fixed on the bone fragments and short stick on the table, motionless.
The light shone on his face, and his complexion was a little better than a few days ago, but he was still so thin that his cheekbones were prominent, and there was a thin layer of bloodshot under his eyes.
Jiang Lin put down his pen and looked up at him.
"Sit."
Xiao Qi didn't move.
Jiang Lin didn't repeat himself. He picked up the bone fragment from the corner of the table, placed it in his palm, flipped it to the side with the engraving, and pushed it over. Xiao Qi's gaze fell on the bone fragment, and her pupils contracted slightly.
"You put them there," Jiang Lin said. "I want to know what these marks mean."
Xiao Qi didn't speak, but he raised his hand and reached for the bone fragment. When his fingertips touched the edge of the bone fragment, he paused, then withdrew his hand. He let his hand fall back to his side, and his bandaged arm pressed even tighter against his body.
"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to." Jiang Lin put the bone fragment back on the table. "But there's one question you have to answer."
Xiao Qi raised her eyes.
"Why was your Martial Soul able to suppress Xiao Man's uncontrolled Vein Vine?"
Xiao Qi's lips were pressed into a thin line. He stood there, as if he had been thinking for a long time, or as if he hadn't thought about anything at all. Finally, he spoke, his voice hoarse and strained, like someone who hadn't spoken in a long time opening their mouth for the first time.
"Pain."
Jiang Lin didn't understand.
Xiao Qi said another word, "Inhale."
He raised his bandaged arm and placed it above the table, palm down. A faint, dark red light flickered through the gaps in the bandage, but the bone fragments on the table trembled slightly, as if drawn by something.
Jiang Lin stared at the bone fragment for a moment.
Then he understood— Xiao Qi's Martial Soul could absorb the Soul Power fluctuations of others. Xiao Man's uncontrolled Vein Vine were essentially due to her Soul Power running rampant and being released out of order.
When Xiao Qi grabbed the vine, the dark red light didn't suppress the vine; instead, it absorbed the out-of-control portion of the Soul Power.
"What happens after it's absorbed?" Jiang Lin asked. "Can you handle it yourself?"
Xiao Qi pulled her arms back, hugged them to her chest, and lowered her head. This action itself was the answer.
He couldn't withstand it. Every time he absorbed someone else's out-of-control Soul Power, that portion of Soul Power would run rampant in his own meridians.
The only thing Si Zi couldn't control was his own Martial Soul; what he couldn't control was the combination of other people's Martial Soul and his Martial Soul, the two mixed together.
So his loss of control in the mountain valley wasn't just because his own Martial Soul went berserk, but also because he had absorbed other people's martial spirits before.
Jiang Lin remained silent for a few moments before slowly speaking.
"Since when...?"
Xiao Qi didn't answer.
"The place you used to frequent," Jiang Lin softened his voice, "Was someone making you absorb other people's Soul Power?"
Xiao Qi's shoulder tensed slightly. It was a very slight movement, but Jiang Lin noticed it.
His Spirit Eyes gleamed faintly under the light, revealing the color of the small patch of skin beneath the bandage on Xiao Qi's arm—not a normal skin tone, but a dark purple from repeated burns and healing.
Jiang Lin did not ask any further questions.
He picked up the short stick on the table, turned it over to the side with the engraved marks, and placed it in front of him. The engravings were deep and crooked, as if they had been scratched out bit by bit with a fingernail.
He looked at it for a few moments, then glanced at the engravings on the bone fragment; the stroke patterns of the two engravings were very similar.
"You made this cut," Jiang Lin said. "It's on the bone fragments too."
Xiao Qi did not deny it.
Are these marks numbers, or names?
Xiao Qi's throat moved. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Finally, he reached out, took the short stick, and slowly drew a line across the stick with his fingernail. After drawing the line, he turned the stick around and pushed it in front of Jiang Lin.
Jiang Lin looked down. The newly drawn mark was parallel to the old mark, and almost the same length.
Xiao Qi tapped the new mark with her finger, then tapped the old marks next to it.
"One," he said in a hoarse voice.
Then he pointed to the engravings on the bone fragment and counted them a few times.
"Seven."
Jiang Lin understood. The marks on the bone fragment were numbers. Xiao Qi was the seventh. The marks on the short stick were ones he had just made himself—he was counting the days. He had stayed in the woodshed for seven days and made seven marks.
"The seventh one," Jiang Lin repeated the word.
Xiao Qi withdrew his hands and crossed them to his chest. He lowered his head, no longer looking at Jiang Lin or the things on the table. His demeanor was as if he had pushed something out and then closed the door.
Jiang Lin didn't ask any more questions. He put away the bone fragments and the short stick, got up and walked to the other end of the table, picked up the bowl of water that had been cooled down, and placed it in front of Xiao Qi.
"You'll sleep in the living room tonight," he said. "The low couch is yours."
Xiao Qi looked up at him, then at the low couch in the corner. He stood there for a long time, as if calculating what this arrangement meant. In the end, he didn't go to the low couch, but turned and walked towards the door.
Jiang Lin thought he was going back to the woodshed.
But Xiao Qi stopped at the threshold. He turned around, walked back to the table, picked up the bowl of water, and took a sip. He drank it quickly, choked, coughed twice, and then took another sip.
Then he put down the bowl, walked to the low couch, sat down, turned his back to Jiang Lin, curled up his legs, and hugged the bandaged arm to his chest.
In the lamplight, his silhouette appeared very small.
Jiang Lin sat back down at the table and opened the booklet. He didn't write immediately, but just watched as the wick burned down a bit and a little ash settled. Then he picked up his pen and wrote a line on a new page.
" Soul-Absorbing Physique. Number Seven."
After he finished writing, he paused for a long time and then added another line below.
"Teach them to collect first, then teach them to release. The order cannot be reversed."
The next morning, Jiang Lin called the four boys to the training ground.
He didn't mention yesterday's events, nor did he mention Xiao Qi. He simply drew a few lines on the ground, dividing the training ground into four sections, and then had the four boys stand in their respective sections.
"Starting today, the training method has changed," Jiang Lin said. " A Shan will practice gathering, Yi Chen will practice releasing, Xiao Man will practice stability, and Lin Du will practice precision."
A Shan looked bewildered. "Master, what does 'collect' mean?"
Jiang Lin walked over and pressed his hand on Ashan's forearm. The scales on A Shan's forearm had just emerged, and when Jiang Lin pressed them, half of them retracted, but the other half didn't retract completely.
"When you throw a punch, the scales can cover up at any time, right?"
A Shan nodded.
"Then try it now, when you punch, only cover the back of your hand, not your forearm."
A Shan threw a punch. Scales emerged and crawled up his forearm. Jiang Lin shook his head. "Stop."
A Shan threw another punch. This time, he stared at his forearm; the scales had crawled halfway up when he abruptly stopped. His arm twitched, and the scales retracted.
"Again."
A Shan kept throwing punches, repeatedly releasing and withdrawing them, and sweat quickly beaded on his forehead.
Jiang Lin turned to look at Yi Chen. Yi Chen was standing in another area, waiting quietly. Jiang Lin walked over, squatted down, and tapped his brow with his finger.
"Your Spiritual Power was running outwards when you were squatting yesterday. It's not a bad thing, but you need to learn to control its direction." He pointed to a wooden stake at the edge of the training field. "Try touching that stake with your Spiritual Power."
Yi Chen closed his eyes. After a few breaths, he opened them and shook his head.
"Didn't encounter it."
"No rush," Jiang Lin said. "If we don't find it today, we'll try again tomorrow. We'll succeed eventually. Now, let's find the right direction."
He walked over to Xiao Man. Xiao Man stood there, her hands clenched tightly together in nervousness. Jiang Lin didn't mention the vines going out of control yesterday; he just stood beside her for a while, then said, "You don't need to practice the vines. Practice your breathing today."
Xiao Man paused for a moment.
When the vines sprout, do you panic?
Xiao Man nodded vigorously.
"Then first learn to overcome it, to calm yourself down." Jiang Lin squatted down to be at eye level with him. "Slow down your breathing, count to four, inhale. Then count to four again, exhale."
Xiao Man tried taking a puff, but couldn't hold it in until she counted to three and choked. Jiang Lin didn't laugh; he just said, "Again."
Finally, he walked over to Lin Du. Lin Du was standing there, waiting for him to speak.
"Your leg technique is fine, but your landing point is wrong," Jiang Lin said. "You land too close to the inside of your body, which will hurt your knees in the long run. Today we'll only practice one movement—walking."
Lin Du frowned.
"Walk from that side to this side, toes pointing forward, don't veering off course." Jiang Lin pointed to both ends of the training field. "Do it a hundred times."
Lin Du did not refute, and turned to walk away.
Jiang Lin returned to the middle of the training field, standing where the four areas intersected. He held a notebook in his hand, but didn't immediately start writing. Instead, he glanced at the stone benches beside the training field. The benches were empty; Xiao Qi had taken the short stick with her.
He turned his head and looked towards the entrance of the hall.
The door opened a crack. Xiao Qi stood behind the door, half her face showing, watching him teach Si Zi. Jiang Lin didn't turn around to call him, but continued to jot down a few notes in the notebook. Then he raised his voice, as if speaking to Si Zi, or perhaps to the person behind the door.
"Practicing the basics isn't about making you stronger. It's about enabling you to control yourself."
The dark red light shining through the crack in the hall door flickered briefly but did not go out.
Jiang Lin's lips twitched slightly.
Good. Xiao Qi didn't go back to the woodshed today.
(Can you guess which faction Xiao Qi used to belong to?)