Walking down the now well-trodden road to Teacher Lin's house, Su Yan was in a good mood. The path had become familiar over the past months, almost routine, and under the warm sun and cloudless sky, it was easy to feel like the day would pass as peacefully as any other.
That feeling quickly drained as he neared the house. A clamour drifted toward him from up ahead.
Turning the corner, he saw a large crowd gathered in front of Teacher Lin's gate. Many held baskets filled with produce, others carried freshly baked buns and pastries, and a few clutched bouquets of flowers.
He could just about make out Teacher Lin near the entrance, trying to speak to the crowd while the people nearest to her kept pressing gifts into her hands, leaving her looking thoroughly bewildered.
Eventually, he saw her give up on keeping them outside and guide the crowd into the courtyard. As Su Yan moved closer, he began to catch what they were saying.
"Teacher Lin, please pass these along to your relative for me."
"Please give her our thanks. She helped my daughter a while back, and we only recently found out she was staying here."
"My boy too," another voice cut in. "Those thugs had been bothering him for months before she stepped in."
"She helped my husband when those drunks started causing trouble outside the market," a woman added, clutching a basket to her chest. "Came right out of nowhere and sent them running."
"We've wanted to thank her for ages, but we never knew where to find her."
"It was only when the gate guards mentioned she was your relative that we finally knew where to come."
A farmer near the front pushed his basket forward. "It's only a few vegetables from our plot, Teacher Lin, but please take them."
Su Yan wanted to get in, but the crowd had completely blocked the entrance.
Rising slightly onto his toes, he could just barely see over the sea of heads, Teacher Lin all but besieged on every side by grateful townsfolk.
The clamour only grew louder, their overlapping voices blending into a chaotic symphony of thanks and praise.
All of it was abruptly interrupted when one particularly loud voice rose above the rest.
"Please, Teacher Lin! From the second I saw her, she stole my heart away! Please, can you introduce us?"
The courtyard fell silent.
Then, a moment later, the crowd shifted, and a young man clutching a bouquet of flowers was unceremoniously deposited back outside the gate—right next to Su Yan.
The young man, stunned, stared back at the crowd, only to be met with a wall of hard stares and muttered disapproval.
His face reddened. A moment later, he scrambled to his feet, brushed himself off, and retreated in a hurry, bouquet still clutched tightly in his hands.
Su Yan was forced to wait nearly half an hour before the crowd finally began to thin. By the time the last of them had left, the sun had climbed much higher overhead.
Stepping into the courtyard at last, Su Yan was stunned by the sheer number and variety of gifts left behind. Baskets, bundles, flowers, and wrapped food nearly filled the space, piled high enough in places to make the courtyard feel cramped. With the sheer number of gifts, it felt as though the whole market had come to offer thanks.
And in the middle of it all, Teacher Lin lay sprawled on a bench like someone whose soul had already left her body.
"So, Teacher Lin," Su Yan said, staring at the scene around her, "can you tell me what just happened?"
Teacher Lin lifted her head just enough to confirm it was him, then dropped it back down.
"Ask Nihilister. I've suffered enough for one day. Let me lie here a little longer."
She sounded weak enough that Su Yan almost felt bad for asking.
Turning away, he headed straight for Nihilister's room. He knocked once and was met with silence.
Su Yan paused, then knocked again and called out,
"It's me, Su Yan. The crowd's gone now. Can I come in?"
After a brief pause, Nihilister's voice came from inside.
"Come in."
Opening the door, Su Yan found Nihilister sitting on the bed as if none of the chaos outside had anything to do with her. Stepping inside and closing the door behind him, he looked at her for a moment before speaking.
"So," Su Yan said, "do you want to tell me what's been going on lately? Because judging by what's outside, you've been keeping very busy."
She stayed silent for a moment, just staring at Su Yan before finally speaking.
"I took walks. If I saw someone making trouble, I dealt with it." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
"I don't have any problem with that," Su Yan said, shaking his head slightly. "Though I would have appreciated it if you'd told me about this beforehand."
Nihilister's eyes narrowed as she rose from the bed and slowly stalked toward him.
Raising one finger, she said,
"I didn't kill anyone."
A second finger followed.
"I didn't permanently maim anyone."
Then a third.
"And I didn't let anyone see my weapons or armour."
By then she was looming over him, a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"I kept to your damn rules. So why exactly do I need to report every little thing to you?" Her lip curled. "I'm not some leashed dog waiting for its master's permission."
"It's not like that."
"Oh?" Nihilister's voice dropped. "Then tell me what it is like."
"I'm not trying to leash you, Nihilister. I never have." He met her eyes. "We're partners. I trusted you to keep to the rules, and you did. I just need to know, because if something started spiralling, I'd need to be there to cut it off before it became worse."
He hesitated, then added more quietly,
"I don't have a problem with what you did. But… if living like this has been stifling you, then that's on me too. That part is my fault, and I'm sorry."
Nihilister stayed silent, staring down at Su Yan as if weighing his words. Little by little, the tension in the room began to ease.
"You won't stop me, then?"
Looking up, Su Yan saw that much of the heat had drained from her eyes.
"I won't, so long as you don't show your weapons or armour. Beyond that, I don't mind." He paused. "Just be mindful for Teacher Lin's sake. Gratitude is one thing. It's exhausting, but manageable. Complaints reaching her door would be a different matter."
Nihilister huffed.
"Fine. But I want to know why it matters so much that I hide my weapons and armour."
Su Yan grimaced.
"I should have explained this sooner. In this world, there are things called Soul Bones. They grant Spirit Masters abilities beyond what they gain from Soul Rings, so people covet them."
"Get to the point."
Su Yan exhaled through his nose.
"There's a rarer kind called an External Soul Bone. Unlike the six standard types, it exists outside the usual arm, leg, torso, and skull bones." His eyes lifted to hers. "And your weapons could very easily be mistaken for one."
Nihilister's expression barely changed.
"And why, exactly, is that supposed to worry me?"
"Because while I don't think most Spirit Masters here could beat you, that isn't the problem." Su Yan held her gaze. "The problem is the kind of attention it would draw. You're underestimating how tempting an External Soul Bone would look to people in this world."
His expression tightened.
"For an ordinary Soul Bone, some would kill if they thought they could get away with it. For an External Soul Bone, they would stop thinking like people and start thinking like vultures. Unless we had the strength or backing to make them hesitate, they would come for it."
Nihilister grew quiet, slowly considering Su Yan's words.
"You know more than you're saying," Nihilister said at once. "You said most Spirit Masters here couldn't beat me. Which means you think there's someone who can. Who?"
Su Yan let out a slow breath.
"There is one." He met her eyes. "A Titled Douluo. An existence near the top of this world's power ceiling."
He hesitated for only a moment before saying the name, his voice dropping lower without meaning to.
"Tang Hao."
For a heartbeat, Nihilister said nothing.
Then her lips curved, and the look in her eyes turned sharp and hungry.
Su Yan felt his stomach sink.
"Nihilister." Su Yan's voice hardened. "This is the one point I will not bend on. Do not seek him out. I haven't experienced the upper end of this world's strength for myself, but I refuse to underestimate it." His eyes stayed on hers. "We only have one life here."
Nihilister held his gaze for a moment longer before giving a small, irritated huff.
"Hmph. Fine. But when we've reached that level, you will not deny me again."
Some of the tension eased out of Su Yan at last. He turned, walked back to the door, and opened it.
"I'm glad we've settled that. Now, would you please help me deal with your gifts? I think Teacher Lin has suffered enough from the social consequences of this morning already."
Reluctantly, Nihilister followed Su Yan out.
While Teacher Lin remained sprawled on the bench, Su Yan and Nihilister slowly cleared and sorted the gifts, putting them away one by one. Teacher Lin watched from where she lay, too exhausted to comment, but visibly relieved to no longer be handling it alone.