With their team meeting coming to a quick close, Lin Songmei and Yan Mingqing walked a few paces away, sitting down on a bench while Han Youhong, Wang Taigang, and Zhao Liying continued their own conversation. Clinking tea together, Songmei and Mingqing leaned back, relaxing as a couple of other groups trickled into the courtyard.
“Why do we always come so early?” Songmei yawned, sipping her tea while extending her legs out in front of her. “I feel like every morning there’s a moment of time where we sit idly, waiting for stuff to start...”
“I mean, being early is good, yeah?” Mingqing shrugged, sipping her own tea as she matched Songmei’s movements.
“Yeah, being early is good, although I ask the question I’d definitely still have the padding time to make sure we’re not late.” Songmei agreed with a long sigh. She still was mortified thinking back to the time she walked into her second class twenty minutes late, unaware there was a special schedule making the classes shorter after having the first class of the day off.
“Anyway, we don’t have to wait too long today, isn’t that Wrath and the mayor just over there?” Mingqing disrupted the silence as she held Songmei’s hand. “There aren’t too many people today either, so our turn will come around quickly too.”
Murmuring an “Oh sh... you’re right,” under her breath, Songmei sat up a little more, fixing her posture in hopes of making a good first impression to the mayor. There wasn’t much need to worry about Wrath at least. At this point, she knew their party to an... amicable level. They could hold a conversation, for sure, but banter was out of the question still.
In the distance—which meant across the courtyard—was Wrath and the mayor. At the current distance, though her eyesight had improved with her cultivation, Songmei still couldn’t get a clear view of the mayor’s face.
Wrath, as always, had her close to buzzed blond hair and a set of full plate armor on. Songmei didn’t see the trusty halberd, but she was sure it was either close by, or just in a ring.
The mayor, on the other hand... seemed to be a cultivator. One at the same level as Wrath, first level foundation establishment. However, his pudgy face and balding gray hair seemed to suggest otherwise.
Maybe he had given up his cultivation dreams, deciding to pursue politics?
Deciding to not ponder over why someone like the mayor would’ve dropped cultivation, Songmei tried her best to size him up. As a first level foundation establishment cultivator, there was a close to insurmountable gap in power between him and Songmei’s current level, nineteen opened meridians.
Close to insurmountable because of a few reasons. It was total guesswork on Songmei’s part, but if she and the rest of the party could trap one of heads of the underworld, they were pretty sure they could whittle them down eventually. Their techniques were stronger as direct disciples, and most of the people who ended up stuck at the first level of foundation establishment opened zero or one of their extraordinary meridians.
The problem, instead, lay in circumstance. In Westriver, anyone at the first level of foundation establishment always had an entourage of people around them. In fact, Songmei’s party might as well have been considered part of Wrath’s entourage—sure they were hired, but they played a similar role regardless.
Getting a tap on the shoulder, Songmei leaned over as Mingqing murmured into her ear. “Isn’t the mayor kinda... muscular? I feel like his body doesn’t match his face.”
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Replying with a quiet “hmm?” Songmei took a closer look at the mayor. Mingqing... certainly had a point. With a pair of suspenders on, Songmei had sort of dismissed him as old, but his button up shirt and khaki pants were tight.
Kinda like Taigang. In fact, similar to Taigang, Songmei felt bad for the shirt’s buttons and sleeves. The mayor for sure had a lot of muscles under his clothes, they looked fat, but every time he bent his arm, the size of his biceps couldn’t be hidden.
Wishing the mayor would turn around so she could get a better look at his face, Songmei leaned back into the bench, opening her terminal as she leaned against Mingqing. She could just wait... Wrath and the mayor would eventually have to make their way over to ask how much fighting they’d be willing to do and then give them an assignment...
----
“They’re walking over,” Youhong called out as he, Taigang, and Liying walked over, standing around the bench. “So, we’re in agreement right? We’ll take an entire neighborhood today?”
Murmuring her own agreement as everyone else did as well, Songmei looked up as Wrath and the mayor walked over. Now they were side by side and face-on, Songmei could tell there was quite a height difference. Wrath, being a little taller than Liying, was already far above average, and her height was only bolstered by the small heel on her boots.
The mayor, on the other hand, though muscular, was only a little taller than Songmei herself. He was closer to Songmei’s height than Mingqing’s...
Pushing herself up off the bench, Songmei nodded her head as the two esteemed leaders made their way over. Flinching for a moment as she noticed Wrath with her halberd, Songmei tilted her head. When had Wrath pulled it out...?
“Greetings, young ones,” Wrath began, tapping her trusty halberd against the ground. “Today’s an important day. As you know, tensions have been rising with Greed, along with the rest of the city as well. All of us seven deadly sins are on the move now. The mayor here, Yang Tianshu, has warned me today will be a day of reckoning. Therefore, I hope you five can take on a larger role today.”
“I would just like to back up Wrath here,” Yang Tianshu chuckled, his arms behind his back as he tapped his foot against the cobblestones. “Because today is so important, I, as the mayor, will be offering some of the city’s resources as a reward as well.”
“Aha, I was right!” Youhong fist pumped, drawing a laugh from the mayor—and surprisingly—a smile from the stoic Wrath.
“Why help Wrath though?” Taigang inquired, hesitant as he apologized for his direct statement. “You know, we’re fighting Avarice and stuff, not to be rude or anything, but Wrath and Avarice, as famous and high-key as they are, are still ‘underworld’ figures.”
Belting out a full-bellied laugh, a twinkle entered Yang Tianshu’s eye. “You all truly live up to your reputations. I admire it, and look forward to how you all grow in the future. Your keen minds will serve you well...”
With Yang Tianshu heaping on some more praise, Songmei, though happy the mayor seemed to be a nice guy, was still apprehensive. It was nothing against the mayor, of course, his geniality was very much appreciated, and Songmei felt at ease with him.
The twinkle though, the moment it entered Yang Tianshu’s eyes, Songmei felt she saw a whole different side to him. Standing there with his arms behind his back and a slight eyebrow furrow, he seemed like a battle hardened veteran willing to do anything to achieve his goals. “I like to have an amicable relationship with everyone, even those in the underworld. And Avarice? He... crossed a few lines. Remember when he attacked you all? He was one of my most trusted confidants, but now... no more. A stray horse needs to be tied down. A sheep led to its slaughter. A pig cannot be allowed to think it's human.”
Well... that was... gruesome. To be fair, the mayor had a point, Songmei could agree. Demons weren’t to be collaborated with, but... dang, the mayor was rough. Well, the two matching scars running down each side of his face didn’t help. They passed over his eyes like the marks of a predator, like a tiger waiting to pounce.
Leaving Taigang, Liying, and Mingqing to continue the conversation and inform Wrath and Yang Tianshu of their plans, Songmei stood there, nodding along while making eye contact with Youhong every few seconds.
How... in the world and heavens... was Youhong not dirt poor with less money than a literal random rock on the ground? Songmei watched as lychee jelly after lychee jelly disappeared into Youhong’s mouth.
The man had to have been eating a literal boat’s worth every day...