"Your Highness." Kebo bowed respectfully to the young man.
Fang Lin came to his senses and followed suit, bowing with a hand over his chest.
Xue Qinghe was the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, the heir apparent. Only Titled Douluo were exempt from paying him respects. Commoners had to kowtow when they met him, while high-ranking Soul Masters only needed to place a hand over their chests, without bowing.
As a Soul Elder, Fang Lin fell right in between and could only lower his head to the noble Holy Maiden.
Xue Qinghe nodded slightly, his gaze lingering on Fang Lin. "Are you a student at Heaven Dou Academy?"
Fang Lin was taken aback. He didn't know how Xue Qinghe had guessed his identity, but for now, he could only answer, "Yes. I'm Fang Lin, a student at Heaven Dou Academy. I came here for a guard duty assignment."
A gentle smile appeared on Xue Qinghe's face. "That fourth brother of mine is unruly and good for nothing. When you spend time with him, please encourage him to do better."
Then Xue Qinghe turned to Kebo. "Arrange a room for this brother in the inner courtyard and let him spend more time with Xue Beng. He's an imperial prince, yet he spends all day fooling around at his residence and associating with idle, good-for-nothing wastrels. What kind of behavior is that?"
Kebo nodded respectfully and stepped forward to escort Xue Qinghe toward the inner courtyard. He also took back the key to the middle courtyard he had originally intended to give Fang Lin.
Fang Lin opened his mouth, then let out a long, silent sigh.
Teacher Cheng's assignment had been arranged by someone who cared about Xue Beng and didn't know the truth. That much should have been right, but if that person was Xue Qinghe, then the implications were complicated...
Fang Lin felt his brain wasn't quite up to the task. This was supposed to be a perfectly good romance continent, so how had political intrigue entered the game?
There shouldn't be any danger for now. As long as Xue Beng keeps playing the fool, I can still collect Gold Soul Coins without doing any work.
Having thought it through, Fang Lin regained his composure. He casually pushed open the door to an empty room, fetched a stool, and sat down in the middle courtyard.
The five-thousand-year Whale Rubber was still waiting for him at the Seven Treasures Pavilion.
Once I've earned three thousand Gold Soul Coins, I'll stop. When Xue Qinghe realizes Xue Beng really is a fool, he probably won't keep testing him.
Less than a moment after entering, Xue Qinghe and Kebo came back out. Xue Qinghe's expression wasn't very pleasant, though. Presumably, Xue Beng was still in the middle of his fun, and as his elder brother, Xue Qinghe was too embarrassed to barge in and watch.
Kebo then took Fang Lin into the inner courtyard and arranged a room for him near Xue Beng's quarters, but Xue Beng still hadn't emerged from behind the beaded curtain.
Xue Beng's princely residence wasn't particularly large, only about a hundred meters from front to back. The inner courtyard had seven or eight buildings, and the most luxurious one in the middle was where Xue Beng usually lived. An attic stood to the left, occupied by a Five-Ring Soul King surnamed Cheng.
Fang Lin guessed that the Soul King surnamed Cheng was the true defensive force of Xue Beng's residence, as well as Xue Beng's Soul Master instructor.
Together with the six Soul Masters in the middle courtyard, whose ranks ranged from three to four rings, that was, on the surface, the full extent of the residence's Soul Master strength. It was about the bare minimum for a fallen prince.
The atmosphere in the residence wasn't as solemn and imposing as Fang Lin had imagined, either. Both the maids and the guards seemed to regard Prince Xue Beng as a foolish youth who loved to play, and they weren't particularly surprised by Fang Lin's arrival.
From everyone else's perspective, Fang Lin was a guard in name, a study companion on the surface, and in reality, a tenant they paid to stay.
And so Fang Lin quietly stayed at the residence, cultivating on idle. The only inconvenience was practicing his saber, for which he had to get up earlier than the servants.
Half a month passed like this. Though Fang Lin and Xue Beng occupied the same time and place, they had barely exchanged a few words.
The only time they spoke was early one morning before daybreak. Fang Lin was doing his morning exercises in the courtyard by the light of a crystal when Xue Beng came out with his clothes in disarray, seemingly for some air.
Seeing Fang Lin half-squatting in the courtyard, drenched in sweat, Xue Beng frowned in confusion. "What are you doing?"
Fang Lin turned and saw Xue Beng. He came out of his horse stance and replied, "It's called holding a horse stance. It's for strengthening the body."
Disbelief showed on Xue Beng's face. "You can strengthen your body just by squatting like that?"
Looking at Xue Beng's somewhat sunken eye sockets, Fang Lin nodded earnestly. "It works. And this position gets men twice the result with half the effort on the battlefield."
Xue Beng gave a mocking chuckle, contempt on his face. "Vulgar. Only commoners like you need that sort of thing. I suppose you don't even know what Whale Rubber is." Then his tone grew impatient. "There's a practice ground in the middle courtyard. Go practice there from now on. You're disturbing me."
"All right."
During Fang Lin's days at Xue Beng's residence, that encounter was merely a small interlude that caused no ripples.
Life afterward was much the same as at the academy: dull and regular. He trained, meditated, and occasionally went out to find Dugu Yan for a two-on-two Soul Fighting match.
Xue Qinghe appeared once more during that time and casually asked Fang Lin how Xue Beng was doing when he ran into him.
Fang Lin shook his head and sighed as he told him the truth.
It was worth mentioning that whenever Xue Qinghe came, he was always alone, keeping a low profile and dressing plainly.
Come to think of it, in the original novel, neither Xue Beng nor Xue Qinghe usually traveled with much fanfare. Otherwise, Xue Beng, an imperial prince, wouldn't have been beaten black and blue by Dai Mubai and the others at the foot of the mountain where Heaven Dou Academy stood.
Fang Lin couldn't help remarking, "The princes and crown princes of this world really do take the approachable route..."
Nearly three months passed like this. Fang Lin made a show of trying to strike up conversations with Xue Beng several times, attempting to encourage him to focus on cultivation, only to be rebuffed with a dark look every time. Fang Lin then took his leave of Kebo, "thoroughly disheartened."
"Sorry to have put you through this. You've stayed at the residence longer than most." Kebo sighed as he saw Fang Lin out, handing him a bag full of Gold Soul Coins before he left.
Fang Lin couldn't agree more with Kebo.
Who without a strong heart could stand being pressured every day by a prince with a sour face, especially one with such a poor reputation?
After leaving Xue Beng's residence, Fang Lin hefted the bag and expertly estimated the number of Gold Soul Coins inside. There were a full hundred.
He took one out and went to the entrance of an alley across from the Soul Fighting Arena, where he ordered two bowls of pure Clear Spirit Frozen Milk with no additives. After taking a cooling mouthful, he breathed out a contented sigh.
As he lowered his head, a pale calf appeared in front of the bamboo stool opposite him. Its owner then sat down, bringing a pair of exquisite curves wrapped in a purple qipao into view.
Fang Lin looked up and met Dugu Yan's gaze.
"You haven't been back to the academy for two months. I thought my grandfather had taken you away again." Dugu Yan looked at him rather searchingly.
During his days cultivating on idle at Xue Beng's residence, Fang Lin had gone out to find Dugu Yan for two-on-two Soul Fighting matches. After three wins and one loss, they had advanced to the Silver Soul Badge, and Dugu Yan had refused to go again. Fang Lin had then holed up at the residence to focus on cultivation. By his reckoning, it had been exactly two months.
"Hm? Have you heard from your grandfather?" Fang Lin pushed a porcelain bowl toward Dugu Yan, seizing on the key point.
At least five months had passed since Dugu Bo entered seclusion. By Fang Lin's reckoning, it should be about time.
"You still haven't said what you've been doing these past two months." Dugu Yan glanced at the porcelain bowl with displeasure, leaving the spoon untouched.
"Working for Prince Xue Beng. I mentioned it to you last time at the Great Soul Arena." Fang Lin chose to ignore Dugu Yan's slightly puffed cheeks and returned to the previous topic. "Has your grandfather come out of seclusion?"
"He came out three days ago. He should be staying with the clan these days. Come to think of it, since half a year ago, Grandpa has been spending more time with the clan."
Dugu Yan's words lifted Fang Lin's spirits. It seemed today really was a good day, with two joys arriving at his door at once.