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The next morning, Jack left his old Star Bag with Yin Ping and left the Immortals' Lament camp.
Yin Ping had to remove most of the scrolls from his Bag and store them in a few special houses they build just for the occasion. After that, he had to store the company's remaining supplies in the light blue Star Bag.
While he did that, Jack visited Tong Huakun and convinced her to lead his group back to the Tribal Assembly after the midday meal.
To his surprise, she already had her things packed and ready to go. She assumed that they would want to move fast in order to finish the trade deals that old Long arranged.
With that done, Jack walked to the north side of town and asked the Chief to send helping hands for building Wu Angrui's accommodations. They agreed to the usual amount of food in payment for the work and parted on good terms.
On the way back from town, Jack's brows furrowed when he neared the Immortals' Lament camp. Once he focused on the cause of his distress, a smile replaced the cautious expression.
In the middle of the camp's small square, Bai Maolong stood surrounded by the former Gravediggers while the rookies exercised on their own in the distance.
Jack approached them and exclaimed "Congratulations, Maolong! When did it happen?"
The crowd parted when they heard their leader's voice, but Bai Maolong didn't answer. Instead, he rushed straight at Jack while roaring.
Jack answered the roar with one of his own and met the charge with open arms.
They collided like two Haechi beasts and stayed locked with each grabbing the other's shoulders and pushing.
Bai Maolong had a slight advantage in build and reach, but Jack's long stay in the fifth grade of the Spirit Accumulation realm allowed him greater spirit energy wastage.
After a minute of exerting force against each other, Bai Maolong growled "Enough." and they separated.
He looked at Jack with confusion in his eyes and asked "Why didn't you use the Chaotic Hawk Assault to strengthen your legs?"
Jack shrugged his shoulders and said "I didn't feel like it. Think of not having to tap out as my gift for breaking through to grade five." He looked Bai Maolong up and down before he asked "How did it happen? I couldn't sense anything this morning."
Bai Maolong spread his arms and allowed some of the delight he felt to show on his face when he said "I don't know. I felt fired up ever since last night when you told us that the White River family members will come here soon. This morning, I woke up and my dantian felt ready to burst so I started absorbing spirit energy and broke through."
Jack slapped his friend on the back and said "It's great news either way. Now we have more strength to show in the Tribal Assembly."
He decided to take Bai Maolong, Ma Ruiman, and old Long with him and leave the rest in the Haechi Tribe because they had too many responsibilities. Any of the older members could take over for Bai Maolong in training the rookies so he had more leeway, while Ma Ruiman didn't have many responsibilities and was good with gathering information.
The rest of the morning passed in a blur and Tong Huakun joined them at midday.
Jack left instructions with Shi Furui and Tan Boli on how he wanted Wu Angrui's home and workshop to look and said goodbye to the Immortals' Lament after spending over a month with them.
Old Long felt happy at the beginning of their trip because he had Jack's old Star Bag back on his hip, but he soon turned miserable when he had to suffer under the set pace.
They let Tong Huakun set the fastest pace that she could handle and followed after her. The three mercenaries could keep up with constant usage of the Moon Step, but old Long only had a movement technique suitable for short distance sprints, not for marathons.
When old Long and Tong Huakun did the trip on their own, they reached the Tribal Assembly in six days. Now that Jack ordered the fastest pace possible, they reached it in four.
They spotted a few isolated groups of travelers and a caravan on the last day of their journey, but everyone kept their distance out of caution.
In front of them, the Sun baked the familiar mud huts and houses of the Tribal Assembly which hugged the shore of the enormous White River.
Tong Huakun changed into her neutral leathers and black-wood mask and led them into town.
After they rented a house from the White River family, Jack allowed old Long and Ma Ruiman to split away and act as a master and servant. They had to meet with the traders with whom old Long arranged deals.
While they did that, Tong Huakun took Jack and Bai Maolong to the house of the Haechi representative for their first formal meeting after their failed first one.
When Ran Huankuo saw Jack standing in front of his house, he just grunted and invited them inside.
This time, instead of going to the back office, they stayed in the front living quarters and sat down on leathers.
"Grandfather says that you and your mercenaries will protect the Haechi Tribe caravans in the future. I can't say that I'm convinced by either your appearance or your cultivation." Ran Huankuo said while he studied Jack with narrowed eyes.
Tong Huakun opened her mouth to object, but Jack raised a hand to stop her and spoke for himself "Elder Ran is a wise man, I am sure that he has better vision than young and hotheaded men like the two of us."
When Ran Huankuo snorted at his words, Jack continued "We need around a hundred days to get everything ready before we can start providing security escorts to the caravans. Can you tell me if someone tried to ambush the last caravan or if you heard anything about the raid we stopped?"
He estimated that he needed the time to get the older members of the company equipped and somewhat trained in the usage of the cylinders. By then, he would start teaching his cultivation technique to the more advanced rookies and would have a stable routine in place for the rest.
Ran Huankuo leaned his large frame back in his leathers and said "We will see how wise my grandfather was once you start earning your keep. As for the raid, I saw some of the Lolin dogs nursing their wounds around the Assembly, but none of them dared to say anything. It would be in poor taste."
Jack strangled the laugh that threatened to burst out at the strange ethical considerations of the Tribes, and asked "How do you think we could let the other Tribes know that…"
Before he could finish his question, Ran Huankuo stood up and walked towards the outside while he instructed "Wait here."
The other three people in the room stared at his disappearing back for a few seconds, before Tong Huakun stood up and declared "We have company."
Jack and Bai Maolong exchanged glances and followed after the Haechi representative together with Tong Huakun.
Outside of the house, Ran Huankuo just said "What do you want?" to a pair of muscular men that stood in the street.
The shorter one crossed his hands across his chest and replied with "This has nothing to do with you, Haechi. We're here for…" The man stopped talking and looked over Ran Huankuo's shoulder before he added "Ah, there he is. Come here, boy!"
Ran Huankuo followed the man's gaze and stopped on Jack's face. His brows furrowed as he turned back towards the pair and said "He is a guest of the Haechi Tribe, you Lolin dogs have no say on where he goes in the Assembly."
Jack walked up to stand next to Ran Huankuo and asked "They're from the Lolin Tribe?"
Ran Huankuo nodded his head and answered "Yes, the short one's their representative, and the big one's his second in command."
The Lolin representative gave his introduction a toothy smile and said "We want our dead back, boy."
Jack's brows rose in surprise and he asked "Why would I have them?"
The Lolin representative snorted and said "Don't screw with me, boy. My men saw your people storing their bodies in a Star Bag."
'Damn, I need to learn that spell.' Jack thought, but he responded with "Even if I did have them, why would I give them back to you? Your men attacked my people without cause. I owe you nothing."
He could feel the gazes of Ran Huankuo and Tong Huakun focusing on him, but he ignored it and kept his eyes locked on the Lolin pair.
The second in command finally opened his mouth and boomed out "I want my brother back!"
Jack didn't even blink at the large man's outburst and asked "Is he the one who I kicked in the balls? I'm sorry to inform you that he wasn't your brother after that."
The second in command growled and took a step forward, but even before Bai Maolong could reach Jack's side, the Lolin representative stopped him with a hand across his chest and hissed "Not here."
He focused his gaze back on Jack and asked "Are you sure that you don't want to return our dead to us? Becoming an enemy of the Lolin is not a good idea if one wants to live to old age."
Jack nodded his head and started saying "Old age is overrated. I would rather…" His eyes turned round for an instant and he stopped himself from cursing the Lolin out. After a second, he switched his sentence to "I would rather have a duel for the ownership of the corpses with the big idiot over there than just give them over to you."
The Lolin representative narrowed his eyes and asked "You would have a duel to the death with my second in command? What do you want in the slim possibility that you win?"
Jack shrugged and said "Nothing really. I just want to postpone it until tomorrow at midday." He turned towards Ran Huankuo and asked "I suppose you have a place around here for settling grudges?"
When he got a nod in confirmation, he looked back at the Lolin representative and continued "We can meet up there tomorrow at midday to settle this."
The Lolin representative seemed hesitant so he looked at his second in command and asked "What do you think?"
The big man glared at Jack with hate-filled eyes and declared "No weapons."
Jack almost laughed at the sight of the big man fearing his weapon skills, but when he thought about the sight that the Lolin raiders must have seen, he understood. Even he would balk at facing someone with a strange projectile weapon and a sigil etched sword.
He pretended to hesitate for a few seconds before he gave a curt nod and said "Very well."
The two men exchanged glances, threatened dire consequences if he didn't show up, and left.
Once the two Lolin tribesmen walked far enough away so they wouldn't hear, Ran Huankuo looked at the crazy boy at his side and asked "Why would you do that? They can't do anything to you inside the Assembly."
A smirk appeared on Jack's face as he said "I need to advertise my services somehow." He turned to Tong Huakun and asked "Can you please spread word about the duel across town? The more audience we get the better."
