Chapter 5 – Na’er
Tang Wulin was clearly unhappy as he walked out of the Red Mountain Academy’s gates. The long day coupled with these major events clearly dampened his expectations.
He had grown up in an ordinary household, full of harmony. His parent’s relationship was excellent, and they loved him dearly. Even when he made a mistake, they would sincerely correct him.
However, today was the first time he had ever encountered these so called “challenges.” Because his martial soul was Bluesilver Grass, he was rejected at by the other students. To make matters worse, the teacher didn’t treat him very well either.
During the afternoon, the teacher clearly spent the least amount of time instructing him on how to meditate.
“Is my martial soul really that bad?” Tang Wulin’s depressed expression gradually changed into one of stubbornness. “Even if my martial soul is no good, I’ll definitely become an important Soul Master. Dad told me before, success is 99% effort and 1% talent. Since my martial soul isn’t any good, then I’ll just have to put in even more effort!’
With his optimistic nature, he had already overcome the depression of the day while inadvertently resolving himself.
‘Anyways, why am I so hungry?’ Tang Wulin was puzzled as he rubbed his belly. The academy included one meal for lunch, and that meal was limitless. In the aspect of food, the Soul Master class also had much better food than the ordinary classes. Tang Wulin had eaten so much that he was given the nickname of “Rice Bucket.” He had eaten enough to fill half a dozen other students, and far surpassed the capacity of an adult.
His eating capacity wasn’t small before, but it certainly hadn’t reached this extent! It was only afternoon now, yet he was already hungry.
He was going to go and see if there was anything good to eat at home. His eye lit up at the mere thought of eating.
As he was walking down the road, a small figure attracted his attention.
The afternoon sun wasn’t too harsh, but the weather that day was unusually good. So, the sunshine simply produced a comfortable warmth. The sunlight had shined down upon a smear of silver, catching Tang Wulin’s attention.
A little girl was squatted down near the roadside. She was slightly shorter than him with a head of short silver hair. The sunlight had reflected off it, creating a silver flash and attracting Tang Wulin’s attention.
It was as if there was some sort of profound attraction between the two of them. The young girl raised her head and returned his gaze. She wore shabby clothes in addition to a dirt stained face, clearly resembling a little beggar. However, aside from her silver hair, she also had two eyes that stood out from the crowd.
She had big eyes, with two crystal clear amethyst pupils. Even though they were separated by a distance, Tang Wulin could see his image reflected in her eyes, naturally long eyelashes framing them.
Tang Wulin’s eyes were very pretty, so when he encountered a fellow large-eyed person, he automatically had a favorable impression of her. He had unconsciously stopped walking. Two pairs of eyes peered into each other as the little girl directly met his gaze with her pretty eyes, somewhat bewildered.
“Little girl, where are your parents?” Right at that moment, several young delinquents surrounded her after being attracted by her silver hair.
The little girl avoided their eyes, once again lowering her head.
The delinquents shot looks to one another before one of them called out, “Silver hair is really rare! Could you be from one of the other two continents? I reckon the black market dealers will really like her silver hair and purple eyes.”
Greed colored their eyes as they nodded towards each other.
The youngster who had previously spoken squatted down. “Hey, little girl. Where’s your family?”
Without speaking, she shook her lowered head.
Beaming with smiles, the youngster said, “Are you hungry? Big brother will bring you to eat some good things, how about it?”
The little girl shook her head once again, but this time, she shook it much more forcefully.
The youngster shot a meaningful look to his companions before reaching out his hand to pull the little girl’s arm, lifting her up against her will. His companions encircled them, obstructing others from seeing this.
Even as the little girl let out a frightened scream, the youngster already had her over his shoulders.
“What are you doing?” Right at that moment, a childish voice full of fury called out, giving the youngster and his companions a fright.They couldn’t help but reveal resentful faces when they turned around to look. The person who had come to aid the one suffering an injustice was unexpectedly a tiny pretty boy who didn’t even reach their waists.
The youngster in the back revealed a trace of cruelty. He raised one of his legs and kicked Tang Wulin away. “Brat, you dare to meddle with us.”
Tang Wulin tumbled away and landed a little more than two meters away, completely covered in dirt.
“You guys are villains!” He had rolled on the ground but immediately got up. He charged towards the youngsters in order to bar their way.
The youngster who was carrying the little girl exposed a vicious face. The ruckus they had made had already attracted the attention of some pedestrians. After all, this had all occurred on a main street.
A cold light flickered from his wrist and a dagger appeared in the youngster’s hand. He gestured towards Tang Wulin, “Fuck off if you don’t want to die!”
Tang Wulin stubborning glared and furiously replied, “Villains won’t have a good end. I’m a Soul Master; I’m not afraid of you. Release her!”
As he spoke, Tang Wulin lifted his right hand, and a light blue ring of light twinkled. The Bluesilver Grass appeared in his palm in its waving fashion. A faint energy undulated outwards from it.
What could rank 3 soul power do? It only made him a bit more powerful than his peers. He didn’t have a soul ring to support his soul. His soul was far from being battle capable. This was also the reason why cultivation was essential to being promoted from the lowest Soul Scholar rank to the Soul Master rank.
The youngster blanked out for a moment as his companions tugged on his arm.
If it was only a regular boy, then they wouldn’t have to do anything in particular. They would only have to cover for each other, and there wouldn’t be any trouble. But a child that possessed soul power was different, the government maintained special records on these children. Even the Spirit Pagoda had records on these children. If anything happened to these special children, the federal government would definitely put in expend a lot of resources to search for the cause. What’s more, many bystanders have already witnessed their deeds.
“Such bad luck!” The head of the youngsters was unresigned, but he set down little girl with an angry growl and quickly left with his companions.
The little girl stumbled and fell onto her butt. Seeing this, Tang Wulin hurriedly ran over and crouched beside her. “Don’t be scared. I’m a man. I’ll protect you!”
The little girl raised her head and looked at him. Up close, those large purple eyes of hers were even prettier. Within her pupils, a layer of mist seemed to have appeared.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry. I’ve already driven away the villains. My name is Tang Wulin. What’s your name?”
The little girl foolishly stared at him for a moment before finally opening her mouth. “My name is Na’er.”