60 Tail

During the next nine days, Jack closed himself off in the Village Chief's house and kept reading the scrolls from the library. After a week of research he finally found all of the sigils that he saw in the Chaotic Hawk Assault technique, now he just had to wait for his legs to heal up to test it out.

He held a meeting with all of his grade four men and old Long every night to get reports on their daily activities.

Kuang Bindun had the duty to hold classes every night to teach the men English. He had to hold one class for more advanced students, and one for beginners. Old Long's men accepted Jacks offer and joined his new mercenary company, so they and the four new recruits had to learn from the beginning. Kuang Bindun even said that Tan Boli's two sons started to join them too.

He had little complaints about his students. The four new ones didn't quite understand why they had to learn a foreign language, but old Long's former assistants heard that Jack's cultivation method had something to do with it and they immersed themselves in their studies. Tan Boli's sons didn't know how to read too many words in their own language so they felt happy with the opportunity to learn anything.

Shi Furui had to keep an eye on the behavior of the company and serve as Jack's link to the villagers. If any of the villagers complained, or he noticed the men doing something that would make their company lose face, he would have to go and punish the men.

So far he had no problems since they just escaped and everyone kept to their best behavior, but Jack doubted that they would stay like that as time went by.

Yin Ping kept Jack and Xian Kuotian company and helped Jack sort through the library's scrolls. He still had a lot of scrolls to go through, but he made steady progress and helped Jack a lot with finding the sigils he needed.

A few times he asked Jack to test out a theory he read about in a scroll, but Jack didn't want to do any experiments on half-baked theories before he knew a lot more about sigils. Yin Ping knew that he didn't have the point of view that Jack had on these things, so he complied and waited patiently.

Bai Maolong spent his days in training. Next to the required training that he had to lead with everyone else in the morning, he spent the rest of his day in practicing martial arts and cultivation.

During his more crazed states, he would come to the Village Chief's house to beg Jack to teach him the Chaotic Hawk Assault technique, but Jack didn't want to risk it before he tested it out for himself.

Ma Ruiman liked to talk to the villagers, so he collected any additional information that he could. Most of the people didn't know much, but they knew some people from the neighboring villages so they recommended who to look for if they needed more supplies or information down the road.

He had a couple of run-ins with angry fathers, but nothing that amounted to an incident, yet.

Old Long would have bought out half of the Redwood village if Jack hadn't told him to stop when their Star Bag for supplies couldn't fit a single thing more in it. After that, he somehow managed to convince a family that didn't have an extra cart to sell the one they used every day to the Immortals' Lament, along with a couple of Kui Oxen to pull it.

Jack didn't allow him to load the cart up with anything though. He wanted to keep it empty for himself and Xian Kuotian, and any other emergencies that popped up.

When their last day in the Redwood village came up, almost the entire village came to send them off.

Jack sat up in the back of the cart and circulated spirit energy through the meridians in his lungs and vocal chords as he declared "Thank you, everyone, for your excellent hospitality. The Immortals' Lament will not forget it."

Some people cheered, but more just stood there and admired the spectacle. The most affected families were the ones whose sons decided to join the Immortals' Lament. The mothers and sisters cried, a couple of the fathers didn't look too happy, and the brothers looked excited, but they all came out to say their last goodbyes.

Jack studied them all and for the first time had a feeling of belonging to this world. In the past something always held him back, at first the newness of the world made him feel isolated, then the cruelty of the cultivators made him feel as an alien that studied a different species, only now when he saw the crying families of his new recruits did he find the thing he missed to feel a part of it all.

'I won't let them down.' he made a silent vow to himself as he looked into the eyes of the parents that begged him to keep their children safe.

"Move out!" Jack called out a few minutes later. Shi Furui lightly whipped the two Kui and they started to pull the cart with Jack, Xian Kuotian, and Tan Boli's wife in it.

They laid down a bunch of blankets around the two wounded teens to keep the bumpy cart from shaking them around too much, and Tan Boli's wife, Xu Weifa, helped them out in any way they needed.

The rest of the Immortals' Lament spread out around the cart in a guarding formation, with weaker members on the inside and stronger on the outside.

Like that, they started their journey down the winding dirt path from the Redwood village.

It would take them several days of travel to reach the next village, so Jack relaxed and continued his studies.

On the fourth day of travel, Jack just rolled a scroll up, when he saw something move into the forest next to a hill opposite the one they just climbed, and that they passed a few minutes ago. The quick way in which the thing hid would have convinced other people that it was some kind of animal, but Jack felt sure that the silhouette looked human.

"Stop!" Jack shouted as he sat up straight. The tinge of pain from his legs didn't bother him as he kept staring at the spot where he saw the person hide.

Everyone in the group froze and studied their surroundings. Even the Kui stopped moving with one pull from Shi Furui, who turned around and asked "What's wrong?"

Jack kept his eyes locked on the same spot as he pointed his finger at it and ordered "Maolong, Ruiman, Ping, someone's tailing us. Go and find out who."

The three young men's faces turned serious in an instant, and they sprinted in the direction that Jack pointed out. The rest of the group tightened the protective formation around the cart.

It only took Bai Maolong a few seconds to reach the opposite hill as he had the most practice in Moon Step. He looked to the side of the road for a couple seconds before he exclaimed "Tracks!"

The other two just arrived when Bai Maolong darted out into the forest.

Half a minute later, Jack heard laughter from Yin Ping and Ma Ruiman, and the voice of Bai Maolong warning "Try to bite me again and I will knock out a few of your teeth."

Jack's entire body got ready for combat from the instant that he saw the shadow on their tail; he even considered the best way to fight without using his legs.

When Bai Maolong returned from the forest with a little girl on his shoulder Jack felt his entire body groan from the enormous dose of adrenaline that coursed through it.

The three young men and the girl could hear Jack cursing even before they reached the hill on which the company waited.

When he regained a bit of his composure, Jack looked down at the dirty little girl with hair over her eyes. She had embarrassment, fear, and anger fighting on her face for dominance. Once she saw the look in Jack's eyes fear won out and she started shaking.

Jack remained silent for a few more seconds, just enough for the urge to twist the girl's neck to disappear, before he asked "Do you have a death wish, girl?"

"What the…" Bai Maolong exclaimed before the little girl even opened her mouth, and dropped her down to the ground while he took a couple of steps away from her.

Jack blinked in surprise and looked at his best fighter in confusion. A second later he saw a wet spot on the right shoulder of his robe, just where he held the girl.

Shock ran through Jack's entire body as he looked down at the shivering girl on the ground, and the widening wet spot under her.

'I can't forget how these people see me.' Jack reminded himself with chagrin as all of his rage abandoned him. He looked to his side at Xu Weifa and said "Please go help her."

As the older woman nodded her head in understanding and went to help the young girl, Jack declared "We're having our midday meal a little earlier today."

No one had any objections and they camped out on the side of the road. Kuang Bindun took over Xu Weifa's cooking duties, while Jack waited for word from her in the cart.

Just as the meal started to smell nice, Xu Weifa returned with the girl from the bushes. She held a couple of empty water skins in her hands, while the girl carried her old dirty clothes.

Xu Weifa had dressed the girl in the smallest uniform they had, but she still had to roll up the sleeves while her pants sagged every dozen steps.

Jack took one look at the dirty clothes in the girl's hands and said "Burn them." as he pointed at the cooking fire.

The girl looked a little hesitant, but she complied and followed Jack's order.

Xu Weifa climbed up into the cart and whispered into Jack's ear "Her name's Zhu Lielei, she didn't want to tell me anything else. I told her you weren't as scary as you seemed so please don't frighten her like that again."

Jack gave her a nod and a thankful look before he moved his gaze over to Zhu Lielei. He studied the little girl as she returned from burning her old clothes, and saw the exhaustion that the nights in the wilderness left on her young body.

Zhu Lielei returned to stand in front of the cart and looked at the ground while her hair covered her face.

A few seconds passed before Jack asked "Why did you follow us?"

Zhu Lielei glanced up at him, then back at her feet, and said "I want to join your mercenary company."

Jack's brows furrowed as he said "You will either tell me the truth, or I will leave you in the next village and pay someone to take you back home."

Zhu Lielei looked up at Jack in shock, she didn't consider this possibility in her plan, and tears started to gather in her eyes.

Jack kept staring down at her with a cold gaze as he added "Tears will not help you here."

Zhu Lielei wiped her eyes furiously, but she kept looking up at Jack as she told the truth "My parents promised me over to a man twice my age for a few Xiezhi goats when I turn fourteen." She took a deep breath to steady herself and continued "I would rather die than get married to that man."

Before Jack could say anything, Xu Weifa interjected with "Marriage isn't that bad, once you get to know your husband. My parents arranged my marriage and I'm happy with their choice. Maybe you should trust your parents more."

Both Jack and Zhu Lielei looked at Xu Weifa like they saw a strange creature for the first time. Jack because he saw what arranged marriages could turn into in this world, and Zhu Lielei because her mother used to say a similar thing to what this strange woman from far away now said.

Xu Weifa looked at the both of them in confusion as she asked "What?"

Jack just shook his head and turned back to Zhu Lielei. He looked at her frail frame and determined eyes for a few seconds, before he sighed, and said "If you plan to stay with us you will have to pull your own weight."

A smile bloomed on Zhu Lielei's face in an instant, and just as she wanted to fall to her knees to thank Jack, she froze at his following words.

"You will shadow Xu Weifa to learn from her and help her in her daily duties. If I see you slacking off in your assignment I will leave you to fend for yourself." Jack declared and looked at the anger in the little girl's eyes.

It took her longer than he expected to ask "Why can't I join the mercenary company like the rest of the boys from Redwood did?"

Jack's eyes narrowed as he said "You are too young, too weak, and too disobedient. I will use the period you spend with Xu Weifa to judge if you're worthy to join the fighting force once you turn fifteen. Until then, you can join in with the training and the language lessons, but if your duties to Xu Weifa start to suffer for it I will forbid you from attending."

Zhu Lielei looked angry for a few extra seconds before she blew out a long breath and acknowledged Jack's ruling with a "Fine, but you better keep your word."

A lopsided smirk appeared on Jack's face as he said "I always do. Now, go bring Kuotian and me our meals."

Zhu Lielei stood shocked for a second, and just as she wanted to open her mouth to complain, a short hiss and a glare from Xu Weifa stopped her in her tracks. She remembered the deal that she just made with Jack, and a second later stomped off to bring them some food.