Going to Nuoding Academy

On the morning Nan Feng left for Nuoding Academy, a light rain fell on Blacksmith Village.

Nan Feng stood beneath the old locust tree at the village entrance, a bundle on his back, waiting for the carriage. Old Chen stood beside him, holding a packet of freshly boiled eggs wrapped in three layers of old cloth. He tucked it into Nan Feng's bundle.

Old Chen's hands were large, with thick knuckles and black soot embedded beneath his fingernails that would not wash away.

He reached behind his waist and pulled out a small cloth pouch containing twenty copper coins, then tucked that in too.

"Buy yourself water on the road," Old Chen said.

Nan Feng held the bundle against his chest and looked up at Old Chen. Old Chen's eyes, which had reflected the forge fire for decades, were a little dimmer than usual.

He reached out and patted Nan Feng on the head, neither hard nor gently, much as he would pat a billet of iron at the forge.

"Don't cause trouble when you get there."

"Mm."

"If you can't win a fight, run."

"Mm."

"Don't come back unless you have to. Travel costs too much."

Nan Feng couldn't help laughing. The corners of Old Chen's mouth twitched too, so slightly that one wouldn't notice without looking closely.

By the time the carriage came bouncing down the dirt road to the village entrance, Old Chen had already turned and started back. His retreating figure was like a silent block of iron, walking step by step toward the smoke- and fire-blackened smithy.

Nan Feng jumped aboard. Someone was already sitting in the carriage.

He had black hair and wore blue cloth clothes faded white from washing. He sat straight and proper by the window, an old cloth bundle resting on his lap.

Tang San nodded to him and moved farther in, making room for him.

"You're taking this carriage too?"

"Mm. I'm the only one from Holy Soul Village."

Nan Feng sat down beside Tang San and put his bundle on his knees. Outside, the driver called out and snapped his whip against the carriage shaft. The wheels rolled over the muddy dirt road, and the carriage lurched into motion.

After the spring rain, Blacksmith Village's dirt road was muddy and sticky. The wheels got stuck twice, and each time the driver had to get down and push. Nan Feng and Tang San were tossed from side to side inside the carriage.

Nan Feng grabbed the wooden handrail on the carriage wall. Tang San braced himself on the seat in a remarkably steady posture, his lower body as firm as if nailed to the floorboards.

Mysterious Heaven Skill, Nan Feng said to himself. With a stance that steady, Tang San could already project his internal power outward.

Once the carriage left Blacksmith Village's territory, the road became much easier to travel. Gravel covered the main road, rattling constantly beneath the wheels, and the carriage no longer bounced so violently.

Nan Feng moved his bundle aside and was about to close his eyes for a rest when the driver suddenly called out from outside.

"We're picking up one more person at the Holy Soul Village turnoff ahead!"

The carriage stopped again. The curtain was lifted from outside, and a pink figure slipped in.

"Thank you, driver!" Her voice was clear and bright, with a natural familiarity.

Nan Feng looked up. The little girl who had entered the carriage wore her hair in a scorpion braid. She had pink clothes, big eyes, a round face, and fair skin tinged with pink.

She carried a bundle bigger than her head, which she tossed into the carriage. It landed on the floorboards with a thud; it was no lightweight. She jumped in, sat down opposite Tang San, and brushed the dust from her hands.

Then she looked up and swept her gaze around the carriage. It stopped first on Tang San's face, shifted to Nan Feng, then returned to Tang San.

"Are you going to Nuoding Academy too?" she asked.

Tang San nodded.

"Then we're classmates!" The little girl sat cross-legged and stuffed her bundle into a corner, looking for all the world like a squirrel that had leaped onto a branch. "I'm Xiao Wu, the Wu from 'dance.' What about you?"

"Tang San."

"Nan Feng."

Xiao Wu tilted her head and looked at Tang San. "Tang San? From Holy Soul Village? I heard there's someone with Innate Full Soul Power from Holy Soul Village this year. Is that you?"

Tang San nodded.

Xiao Wu clapped her hands. "I knew it was you! Then you're my rival."

She turned to Nan Feng and looked him up and down. "What about you? What's your Martial Soul?"

"Bronze Tower."

Xiao Wu blinked. Her expression changed from curiosity to confusion, then to one of someone trying not to laugh.

"A tower? What can it do? Build houses?"

"It can suppress things."

"What things?"

"Lots of things."

Xiao Wu stared at him for two breaths, then pursed her lips. "Sounds boring."

She turned to chat with Tang San, asking him this and that: where Holy Soul Village was, what his Martial Soul was, and whether the food in the cafeteria was good.

Tang San didn't say much, but Xiao Wu always found another topic to keep the conversation going. She gestured with her hands and feet as she spoke, her scorpion braid swinging behind her. Her voice filled the carriage.

Nan Feng leaned against the carriage wall, watching the fields sweep past the window. Wildflowers bloomed along both sides of the spring road, yellow, white, and pink, their colors especially vivid after the rain.

Outwardly, he looked lost in a daze, but his consciousness had sunk into the depths of his soul.

Inside the tower, Old Huai poked his head out of the crack, his cloudy eyes fixed in the direction outside. He was sensing Xiao Wu across the space between them.

"Something's not right about that girl." Old Huai's voice drifted out of the tower, carrying a gravity Nan Feng rarely heard from him.

Nan Feng asked inwardly, What's not right?

"Her demonic Qi is strong. But it's not ordinary demonic Qi. Something is suppressing it, keeping it buried deep. You can't tell on the surface, but I can smell it." Old Huai's nose twitched, as though sniffing across the space between them.

"Hundred-thousand-year transformation. That girl is a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form."

Nan Feng's heart skipped half a beat. He had long known that Xiao Wu was a transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit; he had known since reading the novel in his previous life.

But hearing Old Huai confirm it himself, he still couldn't say how he felt. A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form, living among humans and hiding her identity as she dealt with everyone.

Xiao Wu was smiling so happily now, her scorpion braid swinging so freely. Deep inside her body lay a seal that could be torn open at any moment.

"Be careful. Her seal has nothing to do with you, but you have a Primordial World Imprint, and her soul's structure is different from an ordinary human's. If you spend too much time with her, Primordial World Power will seep into her soul. When that happens, her seal will loosen and her transformation will become more stable, but it will also draw more attention."

Nan Feng asked inwardly, Then what should I do?

Old Huai withdrew into the crack, his voice lazy.

"Nothing. Let nature take its course. You can give her a hand if you like. You'll have to help people evolve their Martial Souls sooner or later anyway, so one more won't make much difference. But don't rush to act. Your Soul Power is still too shallow. Wait until the tower's first floor opens."

Nan Feng withdrew his consciousness from the tower.

In the carriage, Xiao Wu and Tang San had already moved on to discussing their plans after reaching Nuoding Academy. Tang San said he wanted to devote himself to cultivation, and Xiao Wu said she did too.

There was a light in her eyes as she said it, bright and clear, as though she wasn't the least bit afraid of whatever might be waiting for her on the road ahead.

Nan Feng looked at her. He knew Xiao Wu's future: meeting Tang San at Nuoding Academy, growing up together, and entering Shrek together.

He also knew about Slaughter City, Sea God Island, and Jialing Pass.

But the Xiao Wu sitting before him now was only a six-year-old girl, chatting eagerly with people she had just met.

A red hair tie was fastened around her scorpion braid.

"Hey, Tower Simpleton." Xiao Wu suddenly turned and called to him.

Nan Feng paused. "What?"

"You haven't said anything this whole time. What were you thinking about?" Xiao Wu leaned over, bringing her big eyes so close to his face that Nan Feng could see his own reflection in her pupils.

"Don't you like talking?"

Nan Feng leaned back. "I was wondering how far away Nuoding Academy is."

"Who cares how far it is? We have a carriage anyway." Xiao Wu pulled back and leaned against the carriage wall, stretching in a movement as expansive as a real rabbit's.

"I'm sleepy. I'm going to sleep for a bit. Wake me when we get there."

She closed her eyes, and her breathing soon grew slow and even. Her scorpion braid lay across her shoulder, its pink hair tie swaying with the carriage's jolts.

Tang San leaned against the wall on the other side, resting with his eyes closed. His hands lay on his knees, his fingertips trembling.

Nan Feng didn't know what method of the Mysterious Heaven Skill he was practicing. He could see that Tang San's breathing was slow, half as fast as a normal person's.

Both of them were maintaining their usual state in their own ways.

There were three people in this carriage who were out of place in this world. The transformed Soul Beast was sleeping, and the visitor from another world was cultivating.

Nan Feng was a third kind. He bore a Primordial World Imprint, and behind him were a nine-story tower and the old thing inside it who had stood guard for three lifetimes.

The carriage rolled and swayed along the main road. Outside the window, the fields gave way to low hills, then to sparse woods.

Dusk rose from the horizon, tinting the light inside the carriage a warm yellow. Just as the outline of Nuoding City's walls emerged ahead, Xiao Wu woke up.

She rubbed her eyes and yawned, then leaned against the carriage window to look outside, muttering, "Finally here."

Tang San opened his eyes and flexed his fingers, his gaze calm as he looked toward the city gate.

Nan Feng held his bundle against his chest. His fingers touched the eggs Old Chen had tucked into the bottom, and they still held a trace of warmth.

As the carriage passed through the city gate, he saw that the lanterns had already been lit. Their dim yellow light shone on the stream of people coming and going: youths in school uniforms, an old man driving a donkey cart, and a peddler carrying a shoulder pole.

Nuoding City was much bigger than Blacksmith Village, and much bigger than Holy Soul Village too. There were people everywhere, sounds everywhere.

Xiao Wu was the first to jump down from the carriage. She turned and waved to the two of them. "Come on! Let's go register!"

Tang San jumped down, and Nan Feng followed. Three children stood at the entrance to Nuoding City, dusk above their heads and a flagstone road beneath their feet.

Before them was a street that ran straight to the city center.

Xiao Wu walked in front, her steps quick and light, her scorpion braid swinging behind her. Tang San walked on her right, following at an unhurried pace.

Nan Feng walked at the back, his pace neither fast nor slow, his grip on the bundle in his hands steady.

He looked up at the dusk over Nuoding City, and the corners of his mouth curved. It was a faint smile, almost invisible in the fading light.

This was his first time leaving Blacksmith Village, his first time riding in a carriage, and his first time sitting in the same carriage as Tang San and Xiao Wu.

The scenes he had read about in a book in his previous life had now become the real road beneath his feet.

He took a deep breath and stepped into the night of Nuoding City.