Eastsea City's academy courtyard was always noisy after class — children shouting, vendors calling from the street outside, the occasional seagull stealing someone's snack. Chaos was the default state of the world.
But today was louder than usual.
Because Tang Wulin was sprinting across the courtyard like a panicked chicken with its feathers on fire.
"STOP RUNNING, YOU LITTLE SEAWEED RAT!" a boy behind him roared.
Three older kids thundered after him, red-faced and furious. Wulin clutched his schoolbag to his chest like it contained national secrets.
"It wasn't my fault!" he yelled over his shoulder. "I really thought it was sugar!"
"You dumped salt into the communal porridge pot! We all had to drink vinegar water for an hour!"
As Wulin sprinted left, then right, he suddenly skidded to a stop — dead end.
'Who creates dead ends at schools?!' wulin cried internally.
"Finally caught you... you sea weed mutt"
The boy growled, twisting his face into a menacing smile. Behind him 3 other guys also nearing.
"I'm not scared!' Wulin said. Looking at them with determination.
His legs wobbling like gelatin.
"Good… then you won't scream much when we beat you into paste."
"That was an accident!!"
"ACCIDENT MY—"
Someone hurled a shoe at his head.
It missed. Mainly because Wulin tripped over his own foot and face-planted into the dirt.
He rolled over just in time to see three shadows loom above him.
Before they could pounce—
Crack!
A wooden practice sword slammed into the ground between them, splitting the ground with shocking force.
Silence. Then all three bullies went pale.
Ye Xinglan stood at Wulin's side, wooden sword resting on her shoulder, eyes cold and sharp.
"If you want to fight," she said calmly, "try me."
The bullies hesitated.
One tried to speak."W-We were just—"
Xinglan took a single step forward.
All three fled like terrified rabbits.
Wulin lay on the ground, panting.
The wooden sword tapped his forehead.
"Zou again?" she asked dryly. (zou = running away)
Wulin groaned and covered his face. "It wasn't running. It was tactical retreat."
"Tactically into the dirt?"
"…Gravity is stronger than me."
Xinglan sighed and held out her hand. Wulin took it and stood up, wiping dust off his face.
"You need to stop letting people chase you around," she said. "It's sad to watch."
"I wasn't letting them!"
"You scream louder than the lunch bell."
"That's a survival tactic!"
Xinglan stared. Expressionless.
"It's loud. And pathetic."
Wulin deflated like a dropped balloon.
Then she poked his forehead again.
"Smile," she said. "You look better when you're not crying internally."
"I wasn't crying!"
"You were absolutely crying."
Wulin muttered something unintelligible and stared at his shoes.
Xinglan paused. Her voice softened by half a degree.
"You're not weak, Wulin. You just think you are."Xinglan said it simply, like stating the weather.
Wulin blinked up at her, surprised.Before he could respond, she tapped his chest lightly with the wooden sword.
"So stop running. Next time, fight back."
Wulin opened his mouth, horrified."Fight back?! Against them?! They're like—like walking mountains! Angry mountains!"
"Then hit the mountain first," she said calmly.
"That's terrible advice!"
"It works," she replied without hesitation.
Wulin stared at her, completely lost."We're talking about violence right now! How is this supposed to make me feel better?!"
Xinglan didn't even blink.Instead, she poked his forehead again.
"Smile."
Wulin gaped at her."But—we're talking about violence right now?!"
"Doesn't matter," she said. "Smile more."
"How does that help?!"
"It just does."
Wulin threw his hands up."Your logic is terrifying."
"Thank you."
Wulin groaned and tried to smile.
It was not good.
Xinglan stared at him like he'd just presented her with a crime.
"That's worse."
"I'm smiling!"
"You look like you're dying."
"I feel like I'm dying!"
"Fix your face."
"How?!"
"…Stop moving your eyebrows."
"They move when I'm alive!"
"Then be less alive."
Wulin whimpered.
Xinglan turned away with a huff.
As she walked, Wulin rubbed his forehead where she'd poked him.
Smile more…
Why did she care about that?
Why did the scariest girl in school want him of all people to smile?
His chest felt warm. Uncomfortably warm.
He shook himself quickly.
No. Just another weird Xinglan lecture.…Right?
Wulin blinked.
"…Will you help?"
She didn't answer.
But she didn't say no.
Ye Xinglan walked ahead without looking back. Wulin scrambled after her, still rubbing dirt off his face.
"Hey! Wait! You can't just say something cool and then leave me behind like a wounded duck!"
"You run fast enough. Catch up."
"That's cruel."
"Truthful."
They walked in silence for a moment down the worn stone path leading away from the academy.
Wulin peeked at her cautiously."…Thanks. For saving me. Again."
Xinglan shrugged. "Someone has to keep you alive until graduation."
"That sounds like you're expecting me to die."
"I'm statistically predicting it," she said flatly.
Wulin clutched his chest dramatically."My heart…! Destroyed!"
"Please don't collapse. I'm not dragging you."
"…You're cold."
"No. You're just dramatic."
Wulin kicked a pebble. It bounced once and hit a metal trash can with a loud CLANG that made both of them jump.
"…That was tactical," he muttered.
Xinglan actually snorted — the smallest laugh, but real.
'Pretty…' Wulin thought, then immediately panicked at himself.
.
.
.
Later — At Home
The Tang family apartment was small, worn, and always smelled faintly of drying fish and old wood — but to Wulin, it was warm and safe.
Lang Yue looked up from the stove when they walked in.
"Welcome home- oh heavens, Wulin, what happened to your face?!"
Wulin froze. Xinglan pointed at him immediately.
"He fell. Again."
"Traitor," Wulin whispered.
Tang Ziran poked his head out from behind a stack of repair tools.
"Did you lose another fight?"
"It wasn't a fight! It was a tactical—"
"Tactical retreat," the entire room said in unison.
Wulin threw his hands up."This family has no loyalty."
Lang Yue sighed and wiped dirt from his cheek with a damp cloth.
"You're impossible sometimes. Why were they chasing you?"
Wulin hesitated. "Because of the porridge thing…"
Tang Ziran's eyes narrowed. "What porridge thing."
"He mixed salt into the communal breakfast pot at school," Xinglan said mercilessly.
"It was one time!!"
Tang Ziran groaned into his hands.
Lang Yue stared at him with the cold disappointment of a mother who has lost the ability to be shocked.
"We raised a menace."
Xinglan nodded in agreement.
"well... I should be going now. Till next time." She said waving her hand.
.
.
.
After dinner — steamed buns and fried radish, nothing fancy — Wulin sat near the window with his father, watching the orange glow fade over the sea.
"Dad…?" Wulin asked quietly.
"Yes?"
"Do you think…" He swallowed."Do you think we'll ever be able to afford a spirit ring?"
Tang Ziran was silent for a moment, gaze fixed on the horizon.
"Spirit rings aren't what they used to be," Tang Ziran said finally."Ever since the Age of Gods ended, spirit beasts started dying out or mutating.
Nobody really knows what happened with the gods. Some people say the Divine Realm vanished, others say the gods just… left. Whatever the truth is, spirit beasts got strange after that. Natural rings stopped forming.
Now the Spirit Pagoda makes synthetic ones and charges everyone for them."
He sighed."And since they control the only safe way to get a spirit ring, they call it progress. Some people call it salvation.
But for most of us… it's just expensive."
"How expensive?" Wulin whispered.
"More than we have," Ziran admitted. "We'll save. Slowly. But it might take years."
Wulin's heart sank like a stone.
"…Oh."
Ziran ruffled his hair gently.
"Hey. A spirit ring doesn't decide who you become. Hard work does."
Wulin forced a smile. "Right. Hard work."
Wulin looked down at his small hands.
He wished he could believe that.
Lang Yue joined them, placing warm hands on Wulin's shoulders.
"We'll get there together," she said softly. "Don't carry everything alone."
Wulin nodded, fighting the sting in his eyes.
"Okay."