A few of the teens that huddled in the shade of the courtyard's wall laughed and pointed as Jack, Shi Furui, and Kuang Bindun ran in front of them. Others looked at them with bewilderment, while most just closed their eyes and tried to relax.
Jack glanced back at his two lagging friends and decided to slow his pace down so they could catch up.
"You guys done?" he asked in a relaxed tone while he jogged.
"How can you… run for so long? Some form of using… spirit energy?" Shi Furui gasped as he tried to stay in front of Kuang Bindun by at least a step.
Jack chuckled a little and said "I built my stamina up for years. You guys either do hard physical labor or lay around all day. Even your higher cultivation grade won't help you out for long if your base stamina level gets so low that it practically doesn't exist."
Shi Furui grunted in response as a thoughtful look covered his face. His breathing remained awful, but his feet grew more stable.
Jack fell a step back and lowered his voice as he said "I'll give you all the silver that I have later. Take Bi Tuohui and buy some decent food in town. I don't care about the quality; just make sure that we have enough food for the four of us and the two additional people I told you about. If any silver remains buy some Poison Arrow Bullfrog legs for the weapons."
With slumped shoulders, Kuang Bindun stared down at his feet and seemed to push his legs forward with pure willpower as sweat ran from his forehead to make a large wet spot on both sides of his uniform. After a few seconds, he gasped "Will… Bi Tuohui… cooperate?"
Jack smirked a little as he looked at Bi Tuohui from the corner of his eye and said "Don't worry; he doesn't care as long as he gets fed and can strut around." Jack looked back towards Kuang Bindun and continued "Pick two guys that you think we could turn to our side and just tell them that they'll get the food for the favors we need done."
A couple seconds later Kuang Bindun asked as a hint of surprise colored his tired voice "You… don't want… to pick them?"
Jack jogged for a few seconds in silence before answering "Nah, you know the guys here better than I do, I trust you." Jack glanced at the now squared shoulders of Kuang Bindun and continued with a laugh "Don't forget to leave some food for us for when we get back from the graveyard shift."
When Kuang Bindun and Shi Furui finally collapsed, Jack went to the lounging Bi Tuohui and arranged the protection deal for food. He felt certain that Du Angliang wouldn't call out Bi Tuohui's name today because he did so a couple of nights ago, and for some reason, he only called the stronger three teens in a rotation.
The rest of the day proceeded normally as Du Angliang gave Jack four spirit stones as payment for last night's work. He and Shi Furui proceeded to their patrol of the Eastern part of the graveyard forest. This time Jack missed the spirit only when he got down to the last knife, but it didn't take him too long to get that one and Shi Furui looked more excited for the upcoming food than he minded the pain that the spirit caused him.
When they returned back to Jack's house they found Kuang Bindun waiting for them there, while two chunks of roasted meat and pieces of bread lay in clay plates on the table.
Kuang Bindun gave the salivating duo a wide grin as he said "Go on, it's getting cold."
Jack and Shi Furui attacked the meal like hungry wolves as Kuang Bindun stood and looked at them like a proud mother.
Jack wiped the grease from his mouth with the last piece of bread, popped it in his mouth, burped, and said "I could get used to this." as he leaned his back in his bed.
Shi Furui nodded his head vigorously as he stuffed the last pieces of his dinner into his mouth while Kuang Bindun chuckled.
After a few moments of satisfied sighing, Jack sat up, turned towards Kuang Bindun, and asked "So, Bindun, how did it go?"
Kuang Bindun straightened his shoulders from their relaxed slump and said "Pretty much as expected. Some tried to haggle with us for the extra food, but I wouldn't allow it. A few looked like they might start some trouble, but with the four of us standing together no one had the courage to oppose us."
Jack nodded his head as he said "As expected." He looked at Kuang Bindun's confident eyes and asked "Who did you pick?"
Kuang Bindun gave a self-satisfied smirk as he answered "Yin Ping, his cultivation's at the top of the second grade, but he's a smart guy who knows how to take care of himself, and more importantly, how to keep his mouth shut. He agreed to work on the Poison Arrow Bullfrog legs, or any other thing that we need instead, if we keep giving him food each night."
Jack nodded his head as he said "Nice choice. I'll tell him what to do with the Poison Arrow Bullfrog legs tomorrow." He turned to Shi Furui and said "And you can explain how to do it at night while we're on the graveyard shift."
With an acknowledging nod from Shi Furui, Jack turned to Kuang Bindun and asked "And the other one?"
Kuang Bindun hesitated a bit before he squared his shoulders and said "Bai Maolong…"
As Kuang Bindun opened his mouth to continue the introduction Jack had already furrowed his brows in displeasure and Shi Furui even let out a surprised "What?!"
Jack frowned at the solemn Kuang Bindun for a few seconds before he said "Continue."
Shi Furui gave Jack a shocked look as he said "Tanda, you can't agree to this. That guy's…"
"I want to hear what Bindun has to say." Jack interrupted Shi Furui with a disapproving glance and refocused his gaze back to his large friend.
Kuang Bindun gave Jack a grateful glance as he continued his introduction "Bai Maolong, he's at the third grade and only Bi Tuohui and the other two can beat him down." He glanced at Shi Furui for a split second before looking back at Jack and continuing "You told me to get someone powerful that isn't in Du Angliang's pocket, and he agreed to train with us in the courtyard as long as we gave him food."
The frown stayed on Jack's forehead as he said "You still haven't told me why we should waste our time on him. From what I've seen he's the laziest person in this whole unit. He drags one corpse to a table and then goes to relax in the shade. Even Du Angliang avoids taking him to the graveyard shift; in my time here he only selected Bai Maolong three times."
Kuang Bindun looked Jack straight into his eyes and said "He helped me out when I came here and I never saw him harming anyone. I agree that he's lazy, but we can work on that. You told me that you trusted me this morning, so trust me on this."
Jack examined his friend's resolute face for a few seconds before he sighed and said "Fine, but you'll have to take responsibility if he refuses to listen. From my experience, people like him don't care about anything except for themselves. Make sure you keep an eye on him."
Kuang Bindun smiled with joy as he said "Sure thing, Tanda." He added "Tanks." in English.
Jack shook his head as he said "No problem." in the same language. He turned to Shi Furui and gave him a circling signal with his left hand, which he kept hidden from Kuang Bindun with his body, before giving out a tired yawn and saying "Now that that's done, let's get some rest. We have to visit a friend tomorrow, and it wouldn't do if we looked too worn out when we met him."
Kuang Bindun and Shi Furui both agreed and left Jack's house with wishes of sweet dreams.
Jack hid the Light Orb in his pillowcase and sat on his cot while he stared at the door.
Ten minutes later the door opened by a bit and Shi Furui slid through the crack.
He frowned as he stood in front of Jack and asked "Why did you ask me to circle around? I don't like hiding things from Bindun."
Jack shrugged as he said "Can't help it, I don't like this Bai Maolong guy. Do you know why Bindun stood up for him so much?"
Shi Furui hesitated for a few seconds before he opened his mouth to say "I'm not sure I should tell you this."
Jack's face turned serious as he said "We can't have secrets from each other, with all the dangers around us here we can't have some coming from the inside as well."
Shi Furui gave Jack a level gaze as he said in a deadpan voice "Can't have secrets from each other, eh?"
Without a hint of hesitation, Jack nodded his head and said "Yes."
Shi Furui looked at him for a few more seconds, before he sighed, looked at the ground, and said "Look, I'll tell you, but don't mention it to Bindun."
Jack furrowed his brows as he said "I can't promise that. If something's wrong I might have to confront him about it."
Shi Furui looked up at Jack with a sad smile as he said "Sure." He turned to look at a wall of the house for a few seconds as his eyes turned distant and he said "When Bindun got sent here he didn't arrive on his own. His younger brother came with him."
Jack's face showed a hint of realization as he struggled from slapping his forehead.
Shi Furui didn't seem to realize the changes as he continued his story "I don't remember the boy's name, he didn't live past his week so I didn't get to chance to ask for it, and Bindun never talks about him."
Jack raised his hands and rubbed his face, hard.
Shi Furui's eyes glazed over as he said "Back then nothing could make Bindun do the work, our dear Senior Brother even whipped him a couple of times. After a few days of this Bai Maolong got up from his usual relaxing spot and started to talk to him. It took him a couple of months, but he managed to cheer Bindun up enough so that Du Angliang stopped abusing him. When that ended Bai Maolong returned to his usual lazy self and ignored Bindun's clumsy attempts at friendship."
He sighed and turned towards Jack with the same sad smile still lingering on his lips as he said "I think that the reason Bindun approached you on your first day has something to do with Bai Maolong; and the fact you resemble his little brother somewhat."
Jack raised his head from his hands and said in a hoarse voice "That's enough." After a few seconds, he added "Thank you."
Shi Furui nodded his head as he silently left Jack's house.
Jack lay back in his bed as he thought 'Well, f*ck. Now I'll have to turn that deadbeat into something worthwhile.'