"Brother Tao, the people from the City Lord's Mansion know you?" Zhou Qing asked.
"I'm a Grand Soul Master. There aren't many Grand Soul Masters in Notting City. Aside from Matthew Nuo, me, the City Lord and Deputy City Lord, it's just the teachers and the dean at Notting Junior Academy. The rest might be one or two hidden Grand Soul Masters in the Notting Guild. I've visited here before, so naturally they recognize me." As he spoke, Su Yuntao's voice dropped slightly. "But not many people know about my relationship with Sisi."
Zhou Qing could understand that.
Back when they saw Sisi at the Spirit Hall sub-branch, she had denied having any relationship with Su Yuntao.
Anyone with a bit of experience could see that Sisi was stringing Su Yuntao along, keeping him as a backup. Zhou Qing even suspected that if Su Yuntao ended up becoming the fall guy, he might not even realize the child wasn't his—because the City Lord Xiao's martial soul was also a wolf, just like Xiao Chenyu!
Although it was unclear whether it was a lone wolf like Su Yuntao's, Zhou Qing noticed that Xiao Chenyu's spirit-possessed form looked very similar to Su Yuntao's.
"Honored Battle Soul Master, sir!"
A guard stepped out, followed by a plump, round-faced middle-aged man wearing a round hat and a dark purple robe.
The middle-aged man beamed as he spoke to Su Yuntao. "You accepted the young master's mission slip—what an honor."
"It wasn't me. It was them." Su Yuntao pointed at Zhou Qing and the others. "I know them, so I came along to keep an eye on things in case something happened. This is their first time accepting a mission from the Notting Guild."
"Oh, I see."
The man didn't mind. He continued smiling brightly. In his eyes, Su Yuntao had just brought along some family juniors to let them gain experience at the City Lord's Mansion. Ultimately, Su Yuntao would still be the one to spar with the young master.
"I'm the steward of the Xiao family. You can call me Steward Xiao."
After introducing himself, Steward Xiao led Zhou Qing and the others through the main gates of the City Lord's Mansion.
Inside was a spacious courtyard about the size of a small football field. At its center was a fountain, and further ahead stood a tall, square building. From a balcony on the second floor, a staircase wound down to the ground.
Steward Xiao guided Zhou Qing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Su Yuntao up the steps, took out a key, and opened the second-floor door to reveal a large reception hall.
"Please wait here for a moment."
He walked to the stairs facing the second-floor balcony, turned to the right, knocked on a door, and said, "Young Master, a Battle Soul Master has taken your mission from the Notting Guild."
"I know, don't bother me. I still have to go to the academy this aftern—wait, Battle Soul Master?!"
The voice inside the room started annoyed but quickly shifted when it heard the words "Battle Soul Master."
"Have that Battle Soul Master wait a moment! I'll be right out!"
"Brother Tao, you're quite famous, huh?" Xiao Wu teased.
"In the soul master world, the title 'Battle Soul Master' refers to a Grand Soul Master. Since there are very few Grand Soul Masters in Notting, it's only natural he shows respect." Su Yuntao replied, a bit exasperated, suspecting Xiao Wu hadn't paid much attention in class.
Back when he was a working student, he hadn't enjoyed the dry lessons either, but he still memorized them word for word.
"And also, please call me Battle Soul Master—we're not that close."
"…"
Xiao Wu pouted. "It's not like you know Zhou Qing and Tang San that well either. You've barely met them."
"Zhou Qing and I hit it off right away. Right, Little San?" Zhou Qing nudged Tang San, who was currently studying the round, glowing soul tool lamp on the ceiling—this really wasn't the time for that.
"Yes."
Tang San quickly nodded. "Brother Tao is a good person."
Zhou Qing: "…"
Su Yuntao also fell silent. Though Tang San's tone was sincere, for some reason, Su Yuntao felt like the words "good person" carried other implications.
"Honored Battle Soul Master, greetings. I am—"
Perfect timing.
Xiao Chenyu entered, breaking the awkward atmosphere. Just as he was about to introduce himself, he saw Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu—and his voice abruptly stopped. The smile on his face visibly froze and then fell.
"Why the long face?"
Zhou Qing hopped over and slung an arm around Xiao Chenyu's shoulders, then said to Steward Xiao, "We know Xiao Chenyu really well—we're super close!"
"Oh, so you're all students at Notting Academy." Steward Xiao nodded in realization, though he couldn't help but notice the strange, half-crying, half-smiling look on Xiao Chenyu's face.
"Um… Steward Xiao, you can go. I'll train with them…"
Though he said that, the pleading look in Xiao Chenyu's eyes was practically begging Steward Xiao not to leave.
But Steward Xiao simply thought the young master had made good friends at school—commoner students at that—and since they had a connection to Su Yuntao, he felt reassured. He assumed they were there to help train, and maybe Su Yuntao's methods were a bit too intense, so the young master wanted moral support.
"Young Master, then I won't disturb your reunion. If you're training, just take Battle Soul Master Su and the others to the back training grounds. The City Lord will surely be proud of you." With a few encouraging words, Steward Xiao left in a hurry, not wanting to interfere with Su Yuntao's training plan.
Only after the steward's figure disappeared around the corner of the stairs did Xiao Chenyu's head slowly turn back to face the group, like a rusted cog turning. With a slightly awkward smile, he said, "H-hello, welcome to my home…"
"You don't look very welcoming," Xiao Wu snorted, plopping down on the sofa. She picked up an orange from the tea table, peeled it, and started eating without hesitation. "Rich people are so lucky, they can eat oranges every day."
Though it was orange season, no village near Notting City grew oranges. They had to be transported from other cities, making them quite expensive.
Xiao Chenyu forced a smile. "If Sister Xiao Wu likes them, I'll send you a whole bag. Same goes for Brother Qing and Brother San—help yourselves."
"Well, if you insist." Xiao Wu giggled and stuffed the remaining oranges from the fruit tray into her pocket. Her actions were far more honest than her words.
"We're not here just for oranges, right?" Tang San twitched his eyelids and asked Xiao Chenyu, "Where's the training ground? We'll train with you."
"T-that's not really necessary…" Xiao Chenyu stammered, until he saw Su Yuntao and clung to him like a lifeline. "Battle Soul Master, you're the one who accepted the sparring mission, right?"
"No, I'm just here to confirm something." Su Yuntao looked Xiao Chenyu up and down—the more he looked, the more he felt this kid resembled that fat pig of a City Lord. Just… slimmer.
"Young Master, you're awake? Why didn't you tell me?"
A soft, gentle voice drifted from Xiao Chenyu's room.
Then, a girl walked directly into the living room—and at that moment, Su Yuntao, Zhou Qing, and Tang San all widened their eyes.
It wasn't Sisi.