The Third Year

This was their third year at Nuoding Academy.

There were fewer classes in the third year than in the first two. An even older Soul Master had taken over the Martial Soul Theory class, but he taught the same old material, and Wang Xingyu still barely listened.

Tang San still sat ramrod straight, occasionally jotting a few notes on paper.

Xiao Wu still lay sprawled over her desk, her head nodding lower and lower. The days passed like that, unhurried, like the water in Nuoding City's moat.

During the first year's vacation, the three had returned to Holy Soul Village together. When Xiao Wu first met Tang Hao, she hid behind Tang San, peeking out with half her head.

Tang Hao had been squatting outside the smithy, sharpening a knife. He looked up at her, said nothing, and went back to sharpening.

Later, Xiao Wu told Wang Xingyu that Tang San's father had a gaze that could see right through people. Wang Xingyu said she was overthinking it; he was just hungover and not fully awake.

Tang Hao hadn't left that year. Smoke rose from the smithy's furnace every day, and the muffled blows of a hammer on the anvil could be heard across half the village. Xiao Wu stayed in Holy Soul Village for the entire vacation and dug through every rabbit hole on the back hill.

During the second year's vacation, Xiao Wu said she wanted to go home.

Tang San asked where her home was, and she gave a vague answer about it being far away. Wang Xingyu stood nearby without a word.

The Star Dou Great Forest, the territory of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, really was far enough away. Xiao Wu left with her little bundle on her back, her scorpion braid swinging. Even after she had gone a long way, she looked back and called out that she'd see them when school started. Tang Hao hadn't left that year either.

Wang Xingyu and Tang San returned to Holy Soul Village to find the smithy's furnace still hot. Tang Hao was squatting outside, sharpening a knife as usual. When he saw Tang San return, he wiped the knife on his trouser leg, stood up, and said, "You're back," before turning and going inside.

The two eagerly followed him in. Wang Xingyu had also bought two jars of fine wine for Tang Hao.

This year was the third.

On the day vacation began, Xiao Wu packed her little bundle early and squatted outside Dorm Seven to wait.

When Tang San and Wang Xingyu came out of the classroom building, she was drawing circles in the dirt with a stick, bored out of her mind. She spotted them, tossed the stick aside, and stood up.

"Hurry up, hurry up! I have to check whether there are still rabbits in that hole I saw on the back hill of your village last time."

Wang Xingyu glanced at her. Last year she had said she was going home; this year she was following them back to Holy Soul Village again.

This hundred-thousand-year-old rabbit had probably thought it through: rather than go back to the Star Dou Great Forest and have Da Ming and Er Ming chasing after her, calling her Sister Xiao Wu, she might as well dig through rabbit holes in Holy Soul Village. Of course, he didn't say that aloud.

It was afternoon when the three returned to Holy Soul Village. The village looked the same as ever: dirt roads, earthen houses and thatched cottages, and the old scholar tree at the entrance. Old Jack was squatting beneath the tree, smoking his pipe. When he saw them coming, he took the pipe from his mouth, the wrinkles on his face bunching together. "You're back? Tang Hao's at the smithy."

Tang San nodded and headed for the smithy. Wang Xingyu and Xiao Wu followed.

The smithy door was ajar. Tang San pushed it open. The room was empty.

The furnace was cold. A thin layer of dust lay on the anvil. One of the hammers was missing from the wall. A letter lay on the table under a weight, its corner lifting and falling in the breeze slipping through the window cracks.

Tang San stood in the doorway without moving. Wang Xingyu and Xiao Wu stood behind him, also motionless.

After a long while, Tang San went in, picked up the letter, and opened it. It was short, and Tang Hao's handwriting was as messy as if he'd written it drunk.

After reading it, Tang San folded the letter and held it in his hand, standing for a long time in the empty smithy. The room was quiet, with only the sound of wind slipping through the window cracks.

Xiao Wu walked over and tugged at Tang San's sleeve. "What did your father say?"

"He left."

Tang San's voice was flat, as flat as the dust-covered piece of iron on the anvil. Xiao Wu's fingers tightened around his sleeve.

Wang Xingyu leaned against the doorframe, looking at Tang San's back. It was the third year. Tang Hao hadn't left in the first year or the second; Wang Xingyu had thought he wasn't going to leave.

But what's Tang Hao going to do? After all that, surely he isn't going to kill the ordinary people at the bottom of Spirit Hall?

Probably not, right? Otherwise, I really will have to think about whether to resurrect his lover.

"Come on." Tang San tucked the letter into his clothes and turned around. "Let's go to the back hill."

The grass on the back hill was thicker than it had been three years ago. The three walked up the slope without a word. Halfway up, Tang San kept going. When he reached the top, he didn't stop there either, but went over and continued on. Wang Xingyu and Xiao Wu followed.

On the far side of the slope was a small hollow, sheltered from the wind and touched by just the right amount of sunlight. At some point, wildflowers had sprung up there, tiny white blossoms crowded together in clusters that carpeted the entire hollow.

Tang San walked into the middle of the flowers and sat down. Wang Xingyu and Xiao Wu sat on either side of him. The setting sun spilled over the crest of the slope, dyeing the little white flowers orange-red.

Xiao Wu hugged her knees and gazed at the flowers. Suddenly, she spoke. "You can think of me as family."

Tang San turned his head to look at her. Xiao Wu didn't look at him, her eyes fixed on the flowers. "Really. From now on, I'm your family."

Tang San looked at her for a long time.

"Okay."

Xiao Wu turned to look at Wang Xingyu. He was plucking the petals from a little flower, and his hand stopped when she looked at him.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Family." Xiao Wu tossed her scorpion braid back. "The three of us are family from now on. We share our blessings and face our hardships together."

"Sure."

"Then let's decide the order." Xiao Wu sat up straight. "Little San's the oldest, so he's first. I'm second. You're the youngest, so you're third."

Wang Xingyu raised his hand. "Why am I third?"

"Because I'm older than you."

"How old are you?"

Xiao Wu opened her mouth, then got stuck. Wang Xingyu looked at her. A hundred-thousand-year-old Soft Bone Rabbit really was older than him, but she couldn't say that. Xiao Wu tossed her scorpion braid back. "I'm older than you anyway. It's settled."

"All right." Wang Xingyu lowered his hand.

Xiao Wu nodded in satisfaction. She hugged her knees again and looked at the little flowers dyed orange-red by the setting sun. After a quiet moment, she suddenly spoke again.

"If someone wanted to kill me, what would you do?"

Tang San looked at her. "They'd have to step over my corpse first."

Wang Xingyu was eating flowers. There were no melon seeds, so he was making do with flowers instead.

I've finally seen the famous scene for myself. Wow, it's kind of stirring, but also kind of awkward. Why does it feel a little funny too?

Xiao Wu's eyes curved. Then she turned to look at Wang Xingyu.

Under that gaze, Wang Xingyu felt his back tighten.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Although the feelings were there, that line really did sound like a confession of love.

Wang Xingyu's response was two murderous glares.

"All right, all right, me too. They'd have to step over my corpse first."

Xiao Wu burst out laughing. Tang San turned his head away, his shoulders shaking.

"Family. What's so hard about saying that?" Tang San suddenly spoke, his voice full of laughter he couldn't hold back. "How filthy-minded!"

Wang Xingyu froze. "Wait, how am I filthy-minded?"

"That expression you just made." Xiao Wu wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Filthy-minded."

"What expression? What expression did I make?"

Xiao Wu didn't answer. She flopped into the flowers, laughing and rolling around. White petals flew up beneath her, landing in her hair and on her clothes.

Tang San sat beside them, the corners of his mouth raised as he watched the sunset, his fingers tapping lightly on his knee.

Wang Xingyu sat among the flowers, watching Xiao Wu laugh so hard she couldn't straighten up, while Tang San's shoulders were still shaking. In his third year after transmigrating to the Douluo Continent, he had become sworn siblings with Tang San and Xiao Wu. Tang San was the eldest, Xiao Wu the second, and he the third.

Saying "me too" really had been a little silly, but so be it.

The sun had set, leaving only a final layer of gray-blue light on the horizon. In the twilight, the little white flowers turned a faint silver, crowded together in clusters that carpeted the hollow. The three lay among the flowers, none of them speaking. Above their heads, the stars lit up one by one.

"Let's go." Tang San sat up. "Let's head back and scrounge a meal."

The three walked down the hill. The twilight stretched their shadows long, overlapping one another. One had blue hair, one had a scorpion braid, and one had black hair.