The Town Stirs

The third time the rooster crowed, a knock sounded at the door.

Lu Qinghe was crouched by the stove, adding firewood. His hand trembled. Lin Xiu poked her head out of the inner room, her face still sleepy. Lu Yuan had already tied his shoes and was sitting on a small stool.

"I'll get it," he said.

He drew back the latch. Three men stood outside. At their head was Wang Mazi from the east end of town, whose Martial Soul was a hoe and whose Soul Power was level eleven. Behind him were Blacksmith Li and Fatty Zhou, both low-level Soul Masters scraping out a living in town.

Wang Mazi rubbed his hands and smiled. "Yuan, lad, is your father home?"

"He is." Lu Yuan stepped aside to let them in.

The three men crowded into the little courtyard. Lu Qinghe came out of the kitchen, a piece of firewood in his hand. Lin Xiu hurried to pour water-they had no tea leaves at home.

"Brother Lu, congratulations!" Wang Mazi's voice boomed. "You really broke through?"

Lu Qinghe nodded.

"Fifteen years, was it?" Blacksmith Li took half a step forward, his eyes fixed on him. "Brother, give us a hint? Did you come across some fortuitous opportunity?"

In the kitchen, Lin Xiu's hand paused as she poured the water.

Lu Yuan stood by the door without going in.

Lu Qinghe was silent for a few breaths before he spoke. "No fortuitous opportunity. I'd been stuck for so long, I just fumbled around on my own. That night, I don't know how, but suddenly it clicked."

The words came haltingly, but his meaning was clear.

Wang Mazi chuckled. "Brother, did you have a sudden enlightenment? That's good luck!"

"That's just what it was, luck," Lu Qinghe agreed.

Fatty Zhou had kept quiet all this time. Now he smiled and smoothed things over. "However it happened, a breakthrough is cause for celebration!" Then he changed tack. "But brother, that breakthrough of yours... it caused quite a stir. Yesterday morning, that white light shone for about half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, didn't it?"

Lu Qinghe's throat bobbed.

Lu Yuan walked into the courtyard carrying a chipped wooden bowl filled with clear water. He went to his father's side and handed it to him. "Dad, have some water."

Lu Qinghe took it and gulped down a big mouthful.

"Uncle Zhou," Lu Yuan said, turning to him with little expression on his face, "my father's Soul Ring is white."

The courtyard fell silent for a moment.

A white Soul Ring, a Ten-Year Soul Ring. The lowest-grade goods in the Soul Master World.

The smile on Fatty Zhou's face stiffened.

"Yes, white." Lu Qinghe put down the bowl, his voice a little steadier. "I got lucky and found a suitable one. Even then, I almost didn't make it."

Blacksmith Li and Wang Mazi exchanged a glance, much of the eagerness in their eyes fading. A white Soul Ring really was shabby.

Fatty Zhou, however, gave Lu Yuan another look.

The boy was too composed. Too composed for a six-year-old.

"Fair enough." Fatty Zhou smiled. "Well then, we won't trouble you any longer."

The three exchanged a few polite words, then turned and left.

The door closed. Lu Qinghe let out a long breath, the clothes on his back a little damp. Lin Xiu came out of the kitchen, her face pale.

"And this is only the first day." Her voice trembled.

Lu Yuan didn't answer. He walked behind the courtyard gate and looked out through the crack. The three men hadn't gone far; they stood at the mouth of the alley talking, gesturing animatedly.

He withdrew his gaze.

"Dad," Lu Yuan said, "more people might come today. Just stick to that story and don't say too much."

Lu Qinghe nodded. "I know."

"Mom, make a little extra food at noon," Lu Yuan added. "Whoever comes is a guest. We have to give them a bowl of water."

Lin Xiu stared. "Our rice..."

"Take it from my share." Lu Yuan spoke calmly. "We have to get through this."

Lu Qinghe glanced at his son and didn't object.

Two more groups came before noon.

The first was a pair of hunters from the west side of town. They asked outright whether he'd eaten some rare herb or exotic plant in the mountains. Lu Qinghe shook his head and said no, and the two left half-convinced.

The second group was more troublesome.

The visitor was a man in his fifties surnamed Wu. His Martial Soul was a wooden staff, his Soul Power was level seventeen, and he ran a martial arts school in town. The old man considered himself a "senior" among Maple Leaf Town's Soul Masters and spoke with an affected air.

He sat on the only intact stool in the courtyard, held a bowl of plain water, and took a leisurely sip.

"Qinghe," Old Man Wu said, setting down the bowl, "we've known each other for twenty years, haven't we?"

Lu Qinghe stood beside him. "Yes, Uncle Wu."

"Back when you'd just awakened your Martial Soul, I even gave you a few pointers." Old Man Wu stroked his sparse beard. "You're a solid fellow, willing to work hard. It's just that your head is... a little too straight."

Lu Yuan crouched under the eaves, scratching at the ground with a twig.

"I'm genuinely happy for you about this breakthrough." Old Man Wu changed tack. "But some things going around town don't sound too pleasant."

Lu Qinghe said nothing.

"Some people say your breakthrough had something to do with your boy." Old Man Wu glanced toward Lu Yuan. "They say young Yuan kept running outside town a while back, picking up stones and leaves. Someone else said they saw him burying things in the backyard."

The courtyard was so quiet they could hear the wind.

The twig in Lu Yuan's hand paused.

"Grandpa Wu." He looked up, his face almost expressionless. "I picked up stones to help Mom build up the stove. As for burying things... I wanted to grow some vegetables, and we don't have a vegetable plot, so I dug a hole in the backyard."

He spoke openly, his eyes clear.

Old Man Wu stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed. "It's normal for children to play. I was just mentioning it."

He stood and patted Lu Qinghe on the shoulder. "Qinghe, we're both commoner Soul Masters. Life isn't easy for us. If you really did find some method and wanted to keep it hidden, that's fine too. Just... don't get into trouble."

There was more to those words than met the ear.

Lu Qinghe said in a low voice, "Uncle Wu, it really was just luck."

"All right, luck." Old Man Wu chuckled twice and left with his hands behind his back.

Once he was out the door, Lu Qinghe slammed a fist into the wall, sending dust sifting down from the adobe.

"That old bastard..."

"Dad." Lu Yuan stopped him. "Don't get angry."

He stood and dusted off his hands. The marks on the ground were a mess, but on closer inspection, they resembled curves following some kind of pattern.

"The rumors have already started," Lu Yuan said. "We can't suppress them. The more we explain, the more they'll think something's fishy."

Lin Xiu came out of the house, her eyes red. "Then what do we do?"

"Let them talk." Lu Yuan cut her off. "When they get tired of talking, they'll stop on their own. As long as we don't change our story, they have no proof."

He paused, then added, "They're not the ones we really need to worry about."

Lu Qinghe and Lin Xiu both looked at him.

Lu Yuan didn't explain.

At the Soul Master Hall, Zhao Shi's face grew darker as he listened to the report.

The small, thin man spoke in a low voice. "...Lu Qinghe tells everyone he had a sudden enlightenment on his own and got lucky. But his boy is too composed. A six-year-old who doesn't hide when people come, and even helps answer their questions. Old Man Wu went to sound them out, and the boy fended him off with a few words."

Zhao Shi sneered. "That means he has something to hide."

"And another thing," the thin man said, lowering his voice. "I went around to look outside the Lu family's backyard wall. There's freshly turned soil by the corner, fenced in with broken roof tiles. I couldn't see what was planted there."

"Planting something?" Zhao Shi narrowed his eyes.

"The Lu boy said he wanted to grow vegetables."

"Fencing vegetables in with roof tiles?" Zhao Shi stood and paced a couple of steps around the room. "Keep watching. The backyard in particular."

"Yes."

After the thin man withdrew, Zhao Shi went to the window. From there, he could see a good portion of Maple Leaf Town. The cluster of low adobe houses where the Lu family lived was crowded into the town's northwest corner.

He recalled the rumors he had heard that morning.

People in town had begun saying that Lu Qinghe's breakthrough might have something to do with his son.

Zhao Shi didn't believe a six-year-old could understand much of anything.

But he did believe someone was behind Lu Qinghe.

A commoner Soul Master stuck at a bottleneck for fifteen years suddenly broke through, right after Zhao Shi had set his sights on the Lu family-how could that be a coincidence?

Either Lu Qinghe had really stumbled into dogshit luck.

Or someone had given him guidance. And that person didn't want to show himself, so he had a child provide cover.

Zhao Shi leaned toward the latter.

He returned to the table and opened the Lu family's file. On the entry "Lu Yuan-Martial Soul: Blue Silver Grass (mutated), innate Soul Power: half a level," he scored a deep line with his fingernail.

Blue Silver Grass. A Trash Martial Soul.

Half a level of Soul Power. Trash Soul Power.

With a start like that, he ought to have resigned himself to his fate.

Zhao Shi stared at the line for a long time.

Suddenly, he remembered something. A while back, Lu Yuan had bought Soul Condensing Grass seeds at the market. The lowest-grade kind, cheap but almost impossible to grow.

He hadn't paid it any mind at the time.

But now that he thought about it, what did a six-year-old want with Soul Grass seeds?

To grow them for fun?

Zhao Shi's lips twitched into a cold smile.

Interesting.

He wanted to see what waves this family with its Trash Martial Soul could possibly stir up.

By evening, the rumors had reached the south end of town.

In the Qian family courtyard, Qian Xiaohao was practicing saber techniques with two of his followers. He was also six this year. His Martial Soul was the Iron-Backed Saber, and his innate Soul Power was level four, making him one of the best among his peers in Maple Leaf Town.

One follower came running in, out of breath.

"Brother Xiaohao, have you heard? That good-for-nothing father from the Lu family broke through!"

Qian Xiaohao halted his saber and frowned. "Which Lu family?"

"The one in the northwest corner of town, the one whose son is called Lu Yuan, with the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul!"

Qian Xiaohao remembered. He had seen the boy on the day of the Martial Soul Awakening. Thin as a bamboo pole, he had drawn laughter from everyone present when he awakened Blue Silver Grass. His innate Soul Power of half a level had made him even more of a laughingstock.

"So what if he broke through?" Qian Xiaohao curled his lip. "A white Soul Ring, right?"

"White, yes." The follower nodded. "But some people in town say Lu Qinghe's breakthrough had something to do with his son. They say Lu Yuan might know a way to cultivate..."

"Bullshit." Qian Xiaohao cut him off, his face full of disdain. "A Trash Martial Soul with half a level of Soul Power-what the hell would he know about cultivation methods?"

He planted his saber in the ground.

"If you ask me, a blind cat just happened upon a dead mouse. After being stuck for fifteen years, even a pig could squeeze out a fart."

The two followers burst out laughing.

Qian Xiaohao pulled out his saber and slashed through the air.

"A Trash Martial Soul is a Trash Martial Soul. What flowers could it possibly produce?" He snorted. "In a couple of years, when we enter the Soul Master Academy, I'll show him what a real Soul Master is."

His followers voiced their agreement.

Qian Xiaohao said nothing more and resumed practicing with his saber. But the irritation in his heart remained, lodged there like a thorn.

Lu Yuan.

He remembered the way the boy looked at people. Calm and detached, unlike a child.

It made people uncomfortable.

Qian Xiaohao hacked viciously, and the wooden post split with a crack.

He wanted to see just how far a Blue Silver Grass could go.