The Farewell Bonfire

"Are you really leaving?" Wang Shuo's voice came out of the darkness.

Lu Yuan was stuffing the last piece of clothing into his cloth bundle. He didn't stop. "Tomorrow morning."

The bed creaked as Wang Shuo rolled over. "Probably for the best." He paused. "This lousy place is no fun to stay in."

Lu Yuan tied the bundle shut and set it at the head of the bed. He hadn't lit a lamp, and the room was pitch-black, with only a sliver of moonlight slipping through the window.

"Some people want to see you off," Wang Shuo said suddenly.

Lu Yuan paused.

"Sister Bai Zhi, Li Wangye, and me." Wang Shuo sat up, his shadow swaying on the wall. "The old spot on the back mountain. Leave before dawn, once the bonfire burns out. No one will notice."

He spoke quickly, as if afraid Lu Yuan would refuse.

Lu Yuan was silent for two seconds. "All right."

The fire was already burning.

The firewood was a little damp, crackling as it burned and giving off thick smoke. The flames danced, casting a flickering light over several young faces.

Wang Shuo crouched beside the fire, poking at the wood. Bai Zhi sat on a rock with a small cloth bundle on her lap. Li Wangye stood a little farther away, his back ramrod straight, though his eyes kept straying toward the path.

When he saw Lu Yuan, Li Wangye took two steps forward, then stopped.

"You're here?" Wang Shuo looked up.

"Mm."

Lu Yuan sat down beside the fire. Heat washed over his face, chasing away the chill of the night.

No one spoke. There was only the crackle of burning wood.

Wang Shuo tossed a branch into the fire, sending a few sparks flying. "Probably for the best that you're leaving," he muttered, his eyes a little red as he turned his head away. "This lousy place... they don't treat us like people at all."

His words were hard, but his voice trembled at the end.

Bai Zhi raised her eyes and held out the cloth bundle in her hands.

Lu Yuan took it. The bundle was light and carried a faint herbal fragrance.

"I made them myself," Bai Zhi said softly. "Medicine for injuries and insect-repellent powder. You'll need them in the wild." She paused. "The medicine is mild enough for you to use with your current Soul Power."

"Thank you."

Bai Zhi shook her head and lowered her eyes.

Only then did Li Wangye edge over. He sat down next to Lu Yuan, gripping his knees with both hands, his knuckles white.

"Brother Lu," he began, his voice trembling a little, "I've memorized all those notes you left behind."

He raised his head, his clear eyes reflecting the fire.

"I tried it in secret, and it really works." He lowered his voice. "I'd been stuck at level three Soul Power for almost a year. I used your localized compression method for five days, and the bottleneck loosened."

He spoke excitedly, his face flushed red.

"I told Chen Shi too, and the kid nearly cried. His Martial Soul is a rusty hoe, and his innate Soul Power was only level one and a half. He gave up two years ago... but now he gets up to train before dawn every day."

Li Wangye caught his breath. "Brother Lu, don't worry. I'll quietly pass on the things that 'work.' Only to people I can trust, the commoner students who really want to change."

He clenched his fists. "There has to be a path for people like us, right?"

Only after he finished did he realize he'd said too much. A little embarrassed, he lowered his head.

Lu Yuan looked at him.

In the firelight, Li Wangye's face was still youthful, but something in his eyes had changed. It was a light that had been kindled, faint but stubbornly shining.

A sudden warmth stirred in Lu Yuan's heart.

After a moment's silence, Lu Yuan drew a few sheets of paper from his bundle. The paper was new, the ink barely dry. On them were the things he'd organized over the past few days-several core models for basic Soul Power control, stripped of their complicated derivations, leaving only the most practical steps, the easiest to get started with. The language was simple, and he'd even drawn diagrams.

This was what he'd prepared for Li Wangye.

"Take these." He held out the papers.

Li Wangye froze. He reached halfway out, then pulled his hand back and wiped it on his clothes before carefully accepting them. He looked down at the words on the pages, his fingers trembling slightly.

"This... this is too precious."

Lu Yuan shook his head. "It's only the basics. Controlling Soul Power is like learning to write. Only when you hold the brush correctly can you go on to write well." He paused. "But remember, don't rush. Make sure your foundation is solid before thinking about anything else."

Li Wangye nodded emphatically, clutching the papers tightly to his chest.

Wang Shuo suddenly stood and walked to the edge of the slope, his back to the fire. As the night wind blew over him, he raised a hand and wiped his face.

"Damn it," he cursed, the words muffled in his throat.

Lu Yuan knew what he was thinking. Over the past few months, Wang Shuo had taken plenty of trouble from Zhao Shi and his people because he was close to Lu Yuan. His allowance had been docked, his workload increased, and once he'd nearly been thrown out on a charge of fighting.

His grievances had been bottled up for so long that they had turned into a fire.

"Lu Yuan." Wang Shuo suddenly turned around, his eyes bloodshot. "When you get out there... if you make something of yourself, don't forget us."

The words were blunt, even a little childish.

Lu Yuan looked at him and nodded.

"I won't forget."

The words were very soft. Wang Shuo heard them clearly. He pulled at his mouth, trying to smile, but couldn't manage it. In the end, he simply plopped back down beside the fire.

The atmosphere grew quiet again.

The fire gradually died down. The wood was nearly spent, and the firelight softened as it shone on each face. In the dancing light and shadows, those young faces took on a complex aspect-there was the melancholy of parting, uncertainty about the future, and a tiny spark of expectation that refused to go out.

Lu Yuan looked at those faces.

Wang Shuo, Bai Zhi, Li Wangye. They were different from him. They had no memories of a previous life, no blueprint ahead of their time. They were just ordinary people on this continent, relying on a little talent and a great deal of hard work to carve a crack in their predetermined destinies.

But it was these very people who made him feel that the knowledge he had brought might truly become a "key."

Not just one to unlock his own shackles.

"The road ahead is long," Lu Yuan said suddenly.

Three pairs of eyes turned to him.

"Take care of yourselves," he said.

The words were plain, yet they were like a stone tossed into water, sending ripples through everyone's hearts.

Wang Shuo lowered his head. Bai Zhi gave a quiet "Mm." Li Wangye held the papers against her chest even tighter.

The bonfire flickered a few final times and went out.

Only a pile of dark red coals remained, glowing fitfully in the night.

As the sky began to lighten, Lu Yuan shouldered his belongings.

The cloth bundle was light. A few changes of clothes, a little dried food, the packet of medicine from Bai Zhi, Zhou Chun's letter, and Shen Moxin's notebook. That was everything he owned.

Wang Shuo and the others had left ahead of him. As agreed, they couldn't leave together, lest they attract attention.

Lu Yuan stood at the edge of the hollow and looked back.

The coals had gone completely cold, leaving only a small pile of gray-white ash. The morning breeze stirred up fine dust, scattering it into the thin mist among the trees.

He turned and followed the narrow path out.

After he passed through the woods, the academy's back wall came into view. The dull gray stone wall stood silently, its outline visible in the early light.

Lu Yuan didn't stop.

He went around the wall and onto a path leading out of the mountains. It was narrow and overgrown with weeds on both sides, and dew soaked the hems of his trousers.

The morning light gradually brightened, dyeing the eastern sky pale blue.

What he didn't know was that shortly after his figure disappeared around a bend in the mountain path, a Soul Guidance Lamp was still burning in Teacher Sun's study deep within the academy.

Teacher Sun sat behind his desk, tapping his fingertips on its surface now and then.

The door was gently pushed open. A man in a close-fitting gray outfit slipped inside and stood in the shadows, his hands at his sides.

"Has he left?" Teacher Sun asked without looking up.

"He just left the back mountain, heading east." The man's voice was low.

Teacher Sun stopped tapping and picked up a sheet of paper from his desk. There were only a few lines on it, recording the time and direction of Lu Yuan's departure.

He looked at it for a few seconds, then put it down.

"Follow him," Teacher Sun said mildly. "Let's see where this 'genius' of ours is going."

The man bowed slightly.

"If necessary..." Teacher Sun paused, drawing a fingertip lightly across the desk. "You can help him 'speed up' his journey."

His meaning went without saying.

The man raised his head, a flicker of understanding in his eyes. He asked nothing and merely replied:

"Yes."

With that, he silently stepped back twice, his figure sinking into the shadows and disappearing.

Silence returned to the study. Teacher Sun leaned back in his chair, his gaze falling on the brightening sky outside the window. The corners of his mouth curved ever so slightly.

There was little warmth in that curve.