Graduation

The graduation ceremony was held in the last rain of late summer.

A canopy had been set up in the courtyard of Nuoding Academy. The dean stood on the steps beneath it and read out a long list of names. Those called went up in turn to receive a stamped graduation certificate.

Each certificate listed its recipient's Martial Soul, Soul Power Level, and school evaluation in regular script.

There were only two lines in the evaluation section of Nan Feng's certificate.

"Soul Power, level sixteen. Bronze Tower Martial Soul. Outstanding practical combat ability; further study recommended."

Those few words summed up all six of his years at Nuoding Academy.

A fine rain drifted down beyond the canopy. Water streamed off its edge, forming a curtain in front of the steps.

Nan Feng stood at the back of the work-study students' line. The students ahead of him went up one by one to collect their certificates.

Xiao Wu was three places ahead of him. She went up with a spring in her step and even winked at the people below.

Tang San was one place ahead of him. His steps were steady. He accepted his certificate with both hands and bowed to the dean.

It was Nan Feng's turn. He walked up the steps, the air after the rain carrying the scent of earth and moss.

The dean handed him the thin sheet of paper, glanced at him, and nodded without saying much.

Nan Feng folded the certificate, tucked it inside his clothes, and walked down the steps to return to the line.

After the ceremony ended, the courtyard was filled with the sound of farewells.

Some people clapped one another on the shoulders and promised to "see each other at an advanced Soul Master Academy." Others crouched in corners, their noses red from crying.

Nan Feng made his way through the crowd alone, pushed open the dormitory door, and began packing.

He had lived at Nuoding Academy for six years. Everything he owned fit into a single old cloth bundle: a few changes of clothes and the hardwood cudgel. There was also an old piece of cloth he had used to wrap eggs. The eggs had long since been eaten, but he had kept the cloth.

He packed his things away one by one. Finally, he reached under his pillow for the graduation certificate and tucked it into the innermost layer of the bundle, along with the copper coin Old Chen had given him.

He had just tied the bundle shut when the door swung open.

Xiao Wu stood in the doorway. Raindrops dotted her pink clothes, and her scorpion braid had come loose in two places. The brightness usually on her face had dimmed.

She leaned against the doorframe with her hands behind her back and stared at him for several breaths.

"You're packing."

"Mm."

"Are you sure you're not going to Shrek?"

"I'm sure."

"Then where are you going?"

Nan Feng picked up the bundle and hefted it. It weighed a little more than when he had arrived, with several cultivation notebooks he had copied and a pile of spent candle stubs added to it.

"Gengxin City first."

Xiao Wu looked up at him.

"I need to take a look at the smithies and the soul market in Gengxin City. Once I'm done there, I'll head to Heaven Dou City."

Xiao Wu pressed her lips into a line. She brought her hands out from behind her back, clutching a neatly folded piece of paper.

It was an invitation to Shrek Academy, signed by Flender himself. She had gripped it so tightly that the paper had wrinkled.

She glanced down at the paper, then looked up at him again.

Nan Feng knew that look well. It was the same look she had given him on the white sand by the stream when she asked whether he had been afraid for even a second.

"Lingling is going to Heaven Dou City too." Xiao Wu's voice grew softer. "If you're going to detour through Gengxin City first, the two of you won't be going the same way."

"Mm. She's taking the main road to Heaven Dou City first. I'll go there once I'm done in Gengxin City."

Xiao Wu fell silent for a while. The rain had stopped, but the sky outside the window was still gray. A few rays of light slipped through the clouds and fell on the wet gray bricks in the courtyard.

She stepped forward, crossing the threshold and standing in front of Nan Feng, looking up at him.

In six years, Xiao Wu had grown quite a bit taller, but she was still half a head shorter than him and had to tilt her face up to meet his eyes.

"Tower Simpleton."

"Mm."

"The door to the first level of your tower can only be pushed all the way open when your Soul Power reaches level twenty, right?"

"Right."

"You're level sixteen now."

"Right."

"That's four levels away."

"Right."

Xiao Wu stared into his eyes. She bit her lower lip for a while, then released it, leaving a white mark.

"If you go far away and something happens, will you still be able to train your Tower Suppression enough to help me touch the seal?"

"Yes."

"What if you can't?"

Nan Feng looked at her. Xiao Wu's eyes were impossibly bright in the gray daylight, as though they had gathered all the light outside the window into their pupils.

He raised a hand and patted her on the head, very lightly, just as Old Chen used to pat him.

"If I can't, come find me and kick me."

Xiao Wu froze for a beat, then turned to look out the window, the corners of her mouth curving ever so slightly.

She unfolded the invitation, smoothed it flat, and pointed to Flender's signature at the bottom.

"It says, 'We welcome any young person with the potential to be a monster.' You're not a monster. You're Tower Simpleton."

"Go on. Shrek suits you. Tang San will be there, so you'll have someone with you."

Xiao Wu folded the invitation again and tucked it into her pocket, then tilted her head and gave him one last look.

There was reluctance in that look, and unwillingness to concede. Nan Feng couldn't read the rest of it.

She said nothing more. She reached into her pocket and pressed something into Nan Feng's hand.

Nan Feng looked down. It was the red hair ribbon, the one she wore during their morning training on the back mountain, washed until it had faded a little.

"Don't lose it," Xiao Wu said. "I'll check the next time we meet."

She turned, pushed open the door, and ran out. Her pink figure rounded a corner in the courtyard and disappeared in the direction of the school gate.

Nan Feng stood in the empty dormitory, clutching the red hair ribbon. A trace of warmth from Xiao Wu's palm still lingered on it.

He untied the old one from his wrist, folded it, and tucked it into his bundle. He had picked it up by the school gate years ago after Xiao Wu dropped it. Its edges had already begun to fray.

He tied the new one around his left wrist with a double knot and tested the fit. It was just right.

Half an hour later, Nan Feng stood at the gates of Nuoding City with his bundle on his back.

The main road was muddy after the rain, with crooked carriage tracks stretching into the distance.

Xiao Wu and Tang San had already boarded a carriage bound for Suotuo City. The wind lifted a corner of the curtain, and Xiao Wu's hand reached out and waved back.

Tang San leaned out from the other side and cupped his hands to Nan Feng without saying a word.

The carriage set off. Its wheels rumbled over the muddy road.

Nan Feng stood by the roadside, watching the carriage travel farther and farther away. The curtain fell again, and Xiao Wu's hand withdrew. The boards at the back of the carriage creaked as it jolted along.

The carriage rounded a dirt rise ahead and disappeared completely at the end of the main road.

Nan Feng stood at the city gate for a long time. The autumn wind swept in across the open fields outside the city, making the hem of his clothes flutter.

He looked down at the red ribbon on his left wrist. The newly tied knot swayed in the wind, and the end of the ribbon brushed the inside of his wrist, tickling a little.

Ye Lingling came out through the city gate and stood beside him. Her plain white dress stood out against the gray daylight.

She said nothing, simply standing there with her gaze on the distant dirt road where the carriage had disappeared.

"Let's go," Nan Feng said.

Ye Lingling nodded. The two walked back into Nuoding City, one behind the other, passed through streets and alleys that were growing lively, and found the cheapest inn to stay in.

Gengxin City lay to the northwest. Heaven Dou City lay due south. At the fork outside the south gate, the two roads parted.

Early the next morning, the two left through the south gate with their bundles on their backs and walked to the fork.

Ye Lingling stopped and glanced south, then turned back to look at Nan Feng.

"See you in Heaven Dou City," she said.

"Mm. See you in Heaven Dou City."

Ye Lingling nodded, then turned and set foot on the main road south. Her plain white figure receded into the morning mist, finally disappearing behind a stretch of low hills.

Nan Feng stood at the fork until she was out of sight, then turned onto the road northwest.

The road to Gengxin City was narrower than the main road to Heaven Dou, its surface full of potholes. He settled the bundle on his back and set off.

The autumn wind swept in across the open fields, making the hem of his clothes flutter. He glanced down at the red ribbon on his left wrist, its newly tied knot swaying in the wind.

Nan Feng pulled his left hand from his pocket and rubbed his fingertips over the copper coin Old Chen had given him.

The deep yellow light tinged with purple from the Soul Ring in his palm pulsed against the patterns on the coin, answering the blue light in the crack at the base of the tower, one rising as the other fell.

His Soul Power was level sixteen. He had obtained his First Soul Ring, but the tower door had yet to open. Xiao Wu had gone to Shrek, and so had Tang San. Ye Lingling was going to Heaven Dou City first to wait for him.

His six years at Nuoding Academy were over. He couldn't yet see the road ahead clearly, but he knew the direction.

The door to the tower's first level waited for him at level twenty. The smithies of Gengxin City waited for him at his first stop. Heaven Dou City lay farther away.

Xiao Wu had been in a great hurry when she ran out earlier, but she had still paused at the courtyard gate. He had seen her, but he hadn't called out to her.

Some things didn't need to be said. Some roads didn't need to be traveled together.

He set off toward Gengxin City, walking into the morning mist as it gradually dispersed outside the city.