Wind Rising over Distant Mountains
Another autumn came, and Long Tian turned eight.
The ginkgo leaves yellowed and fell, then new shoots sprouted, the cycle repeating itself. Yet the old banyan tree beside the training ground grew ever more lush, its trunk and branches a size thicker than when Long Tian had first arrived. Zhao Xiaopang squatted beneath the tree, reciting his lessons under his breath. Last year, he had been dead last in Class C, but now he had managed to awaken a faint trace of Soul Power-a round, plump "chopping block" Martial Soul. It looked comical, but he had at least crossed the threshold to becoming a Soul Master. Zhao Xiaopang himself had grinned for three days straight, telling everyone he met, "I have a Martial Soul!" Even when sweeping the courtyard, he hummed more tunes than before.
Chen Hao had changed even more. At the end of last year, his Ironback Wolf Martial Soul had finally broken through the limit of the second Soul Ring and successfully gained a Third Ring, sending his cultivation soaring to level seventeen. No one in Class B could match him now. Yet he had become much more restrained, no longer trying to get the better of everyone at every turn. Sometimes, when he ran into children from Class C in the courtyard, he would even nod and greet them, startling Zhao Xiaopang into thinking he had taken the wrong medicine.
After a year of refinement, Long Tian's two Soul Rings had long since become smooth and flawless as jade. Patterns covered the entire inner surface of his first Soul Ring, shimmering with a dim light of chaos; those on his second Soul Ring had also spread more than halfway around. The two Soul Rings slowly drew upon each other, one above the other in his dantian, like two interlocking gears, and the power of light and darkness flowed ever more smoothly between them. His cultivation had settled firmly at level fifteen.
He could now fly with his Yin-Yang Twin Wings for nearly half an incense stick's time. Although he still could not travel long distances, he could already wheel and turn with ease above the training ground. He had also devised a technique of his own: in battle, he used the sudden burst of acceleration from his wings together with a charged light projectile from his first Soul Skill to unleash a Wing Thrust Light Cannon, far surpassing an ordinary light projectile in both speed and destructive power. After serving as his target once, Zhao Xiaopang refused to do it a second time. Clutching his arm, which had been jolted numb, he said, "You're murdering your classmate."
His days were quiet and fulfilling, but Long Tian knew the deadline of his fourteenth birthday was drawing closer. He counted it out: he had one year and three months left. In that time, he needed to add at least one more ring. Otherwise, if he entered that city with only two rings, he feared he would not even be able to find the Iron Guard's door.
One afternoon in late autumn, Mr. Wang summoned him to the second floor of the lecture hall again.
When Long Tian pushed open the door, he found that Mr. Wang was not alone. A tall, broad-shouldered middle-aged man in a gray robe stood with his back to the door, his head lowered as he studied the landscape painting on the wall. At the sound of footsteps, he turned around. He had thick brows, a broad mouth, rugged features, and an old scar on his jaw. The weathered look about him was vaguely similar to that of the gray-robed man Long Tian had met in the snow last year, but he was not the same person.
"This is Shen Mo's elder brother, Shen Qiu," Mr. Wang said. "He's with the Iron Guard Sixth Squad."
Shen Qiu nodded to Long Tian and spoke in a steady voice. "Shen Mo sent me. He has something he needs delivered to your father, but security in Spirit City has been tight lately, and he can't leave the city. He asked me to make the trip for him. I stopped by to tell you first-your father may send someone with another message in a few days, asking you to prepare in advance."
Long Tian's heart tightened. "In advance? How much sooner?"
Shen Qiu said in a low voice, "It's hard to say. Things haven't been peaceful within the Iron Guard lately. Someone has started digging into old cases, and word of what happened to your father back then has surfaced again. If things take a sudden turn for the worse on his end, he may ask you to come over as soon as possible."
Digging into old cases. Long Tian clenched his fists, the string in his heart winding a little tighter. He nodded. "I understand."
Shen Qiu did not linger. After saying his piece, he turned and left, his gray figure slipping out through the side door and over the wall, like a fallen leaf swept away by the wind. He came and went without a sound. Mr. Wang sat silently behind his desk for a while, then poured Long Tian a cup of tea. Long Tian took it without drinking, holding it for warmth, the steam blurring his expression.
"Sir," he asked, "if I want to add another ring in the coming days, where can I go soonest?"
Mr. Wang glanced at him and adjusted his glasses. "Soonest? There are a number of Soul Beasts around three to five hundred years old on the outskirts of the Heavenly Wolf Mountain Range, but very few have both light and dark attributes. To find a suitable one, you'll still have to go farther afield. I checked the map. There's a kind of Yin-Yang Swamp Frog in the Cloud-Hidden Swamp north of Spirit City. It has about four hundred years of cultivation and balanced light and dark attributes, but the swamp terrain is treacherous. I wouldn't feel at ease letting you go alone."
"I promised my father I'd wait for him." Long Tian took a sip of tea, his palm reddening slightly from the heat. "I need strength now, and the sooner the better. Sir, please arrange a trip to the Cloud-Hidden Swamp for me."
Mr. Wang looked at him appraisingly. After quite a while, he nodded. "Give me three days. I'll find two reliable people to go with you. I won't allow you to go alone."
Long Tian did not argue. He agreed, then rose and took his leave. Outside the lecture hall, he stood beneath the covered walkway and drew a deep breath of the crisp autumn air. Looking at the yellow leaves swirling across the courtyard, he pressed down the restless heat in his heart. Soon. Everything is moving in that direction.
On the evening two days later, Zhao Xiaopang came running to the dormitory to find him, acting all mysterious. He clutched a letter in his hand. "For Long Tian" was written crookedly on the envelope, with a lopsided star drawn beside it. Long Tian opened it and saw handwriting as uneven as a child's just learning to write:
"Brother Long Tian, are you going to the Cloud-Hidden Swamp? My dad says that place is really dangerous. I had my cousin bring back a roll of snake-repelling powder from out of town. I heard it works on all the snakes and bugs in the swamp, so I put it in your pack. Don't always charge in alone. Take me along, and having me block a hit for you with my chopping block would be better than having no one to help you. -Zhao Xiaopang"
Another line had been added below in small characters: "The Vegetable Stump Martial Soul really can block a hit! I've even tried it!"
Long Tian read the letter twice, then folded it and put it away with his stack of important things. The corners of his mouth stayed curved up for a long time.
On the night before his departure, he sat on the edge of his bed and took out the token and jade pendant to look at them once more. The token's edges shone faintly, polished by the warmth of his body, and the character "Tian" looked soft and lustrous in the lamplight. He spoke softly to the token. "Dad, wait for me a little longer. I'll be strong enough soon."
Outside the window, the autumn wind swept over the courtyard wall, sending a few fallen leaves spinning away in the moonlight. In the distance, layers of mountain silhouettes lay against the night like a slumbering giant beast. Beyond that beast's back, the lights of Spirit City burned through the night. In a secret room in a gray-brick building, someone was leafing through a yellowed old case file. At the foot of one page was a line of faded writing:
"Iron Guard Seventh Squad Mission Log · Autumn, Year 2638 · Top Secret."
The person's fingers rested on the words "Iron Guard Seventh Squad," and for a long time, the next page remained unturned.