ALL NOVEL 119: New Member?
Walking over to one of the linked carriages sections in the corner, Lin Songmei and the rest of the party took a seat on the couple of benches lined against the wall. Advantages, advantages! By choosing this carriage, they could sit back down for a little longer while everyone else stood around.
With Yan Mingqing and Zhao Liying still a little frosty, Wang Taigang waved the group over to the bench he and Han Youhong were sitting on.
“Let’s take a moment to introduce our fighting styles,” Taigang grinned as everyone gathered around, sitting on the ground and sitting on the bench. “Mingqing and I already sort of know Liying’s fighting style. In general though, because we’re going to be fighting a mix of machines and humans, it’s better to have some familiarity. Want me to start?”
Watching four heads nod back at him like ducklings towards their mother, Taigang rolled his eyes with a laugh. As his fists turned golden as he channeled Qi into them, Taigang explained “I use an absolute Yang technique. I fight with my fists, not much to say, I’m a front line combatant.”
Done with introducing himself, Taigang tossed a coin at Mingqing, “I choose for you to go next. Once you’re done, choose the next person.”
“Alright...” Mingqing trailed off, starting to defrost as she sat next to Songmei. “I’m a front line combatant as well, but can fight midline. I fight with a constellation ice technique. I assume we’re not sharing exact technique names for the sake of privacy so I won’t go into it further.”
Pulling her sheathed sword out of her spatial storage ring, Mingqing pulled the blade out just a touch while channeling Qi into it. Shifting so everyone could see her blade, Mingqing shrugged faint, icy, starry mist to begin radiating off the sword once more. “Just a passive effect of my technique. That’s it though, I’m done.”
“Oh, it’s me?” Songmei murmured, catching the coin with an awkward lean. Pulling out her still plain bow, Songmei shrugged. “I’m a backline combatant, I use a bow and a crystal nature technique. It’s still kinda boring, someday I'll have a soul-bound crystal bow, but I’m just working with this for the moment.”
Tossing the coin across the circle at Youhong’s forehead, Songmei grinned as he caught it with a glare. Clenching his empty hand, a pair of chain blades appeared, clattering onto the ground as their immaculate curved blades gleamed under the sunlight.
“I use chain blades. I cultivate a moon technique. I’m midline.” Youhong sighed, popping a lychee jelly into his mouth. “Nothing else to say. I have lychee jelly that I will not share.”
“Me now?” Zhao Liying murmured as Youhong stored his weapon while passing the coin. “I use a spear, front and midline combatant I guess. I usually fight alone so I don’t really care, just put me somewhere. I use a ravaging flame technique.”
Standing up and backing away from the circle, Zhao Liying checked to see her surroundings were empty before extending an arm. With a wrist flick, a long spear appeared in her hand. Pointed with a golden blade extending a little further than usual, Zhao Liying gave it a playful twirl before walking back over.
“Similar to Yan Mingqing and her sword, I’ve had this spear since I was young. The handle is made with a reinforced metal woven with wood. It’s not that heavy, but it's still durable.” Zhao Liying introduced, storing the spear back into her ring before pointing to her wrist. “I also have a bracelet here that allows me to recall the spear whenever I throw it, so that’s just a nice quality of life thing.”
Nodding along, gave Zhao Liying a thumbs-up and smile as she sat back down. Without too much else to say though, Songmei broke the silence with an awkward cough. “You know... this might be a bit of a rude question to ask while we’re waiting, but for Taigang and Youhong, you both are like... also mega rich. From when in childhood did you train? Is there a reason you two don’t have weapons from when you were children?”
“Nah, it’s fine to ask. We got nothing else to talk about while waiting anyway.” Youhong consented, leaning back on the bench while crossing his legs. “Families in different levels have different practices. Though Taigang and I are ‘mega rich,’ we’re not the top of the top. That’s those two.”
Ignoring the “Hey!” of protest coming from Zhao Liying and the shrug coming from Mingqing as he pointed towards the two, Youhong continued. “Their heritage is a better guarantee than anything else for having cultivation talent. Therefore, their parents just give them a weapon they like starting from childhood. Eventually they’ll become your soul-bound weapons, yeah? Taigang’s family is like... second layer, and mine is like third. We’re still living cushy lives, just not as famous as them.”
“Yeah,” Mingqing shrugged again, sneaking a hand on Songmei’s leg, “We do have to go through tests from our families in order to get the weapons though. For the most part it's seen as the earlier you get your weapon the more ‘potential’ you have. It was a lot more draconian a few generations back, but now it’s eased up a bit.”
Lifting Mingqing’s hand off her leg and interlacing Mingqing’s fingers with her own, Songmei leaned over and chided Mingqing. “Good to know you’re so full of potential then.”
“Do you know what you’re saying?” Mingqing whispered back with a squint.
“I don’t mean it like that,” Songmei retorted with a glare before turning back to the group. “Anyway, thanks for humoring my little question.”
For some reason though, the rest of the group’s eyes seemed a little colder and a little more lifeless than before, but Songmei just chalked it up to nervousness. She was also nervous for the upcoming mission so it was totally understandable!
Making some more idle conversation, the five of them passed some time while waiting for the carriage company to finish their... whatever. Songmei had no idea what they needed so much time for, but they sure were taking their sweet time. Sure, groups had begun to leave, but it seemed they were still a fair bit further down the queue.
A couple of minutes later, with a group of ragtag cultivators gathering on the other side of the carriage, a representative from the company strode up, his boots clicking against the cobblestones of the courtyard.
It was Yang Tianshu.
Of course it was.
Spending some time introducing himself to the other group, Yang Tianshu, leader of the whole company itself walked over with a genial smile.
Songmei’s only consolation was at least it was someone who was the same height as her...
“Good morning, good morning,” Yang Tianshu smiled, walking over with the classic grandfather walk. The slow, slight outward steps, walking stick, and even slight hunch. “We’re going to get going soon, so gather around. I already told the other group, so don’t worry about them, they’re setting up in and on the carriage.”
“Why... you? Were we just lucky?” Youhong raised an eyebrow, a little suspicious as to why the company head itself was coming along with them.
“Oh... no reason,” Yang Tianshu murmured, tapping his cane against the ground. “I’d just thought it’d be important to keep an eye on the few direct disciples. Especially you two girls from big families. I’d be in some hot water if something happened to you two. Did you think I wouldn’t recognize you two earlier this morning?”
“Yeah, we honestly didn’t.” Mingqing agreed, looking over to the other people in the group who let out similar murmurs of surprise.
By managing to catch Yang Tianshu off guard, the group was rewarded with an “interesting” before he continued with his explanation. “We do these runs everyday. I went and checked all of your mission statuses. It’ll be a pleasure to work with you all for a week.”
“Is it safe for you to come with us though?” Taigang interjected with a worried face, “It might be hard for us to defend you, you know? Especially since you’re even more important to the company.”
“There’s a variety of reasons you shouldn’t worry.” Yang Tianshu reassured before nodding his chin towards the carriages as they began to glow to life. “Let’s get going though. I’ll speak to you more on the carriage.”
