The next day, Maque returned from a fiend hunt with a large haul. They’d managed to snare pack of 2-star chaosfiends. It was a few days yet until he would take Ziyou Yung and Youjin Chao to the forest to train.

He noticed something strange as he walked to his dojo, which was also his home.

A large group of madlanders and even a few outcasts from the lower city surrounded the dojo yard.

“What’s going on?” Maque said out loud. He took his team and pushed through the crowd. Any incident happening now would ruin his plans. And if the incident originated from his backyard, then all the more reason to worry.

“Pass here, you oaf! No, handball! I call handball!” He heard a kid yell. It was from the Green sparrow cohort—a talented madlander boy who would probably awaken his navel palace dantian in a few months. This kid had a snotty cold though. Why was he out shouting?

“Na-ah. No handball, continue.” Ziyou Ling yelled over the clambering child. The kid mopped, then went back to…

“Are they chasing the dummy head?”

A girl from the Brown sparrow cohort had kicked the aforementioned dummy head towards an area marked by three bamboo poles—two stuck vertically to the ground and the third tied like a horizontal bar at the top—and a fishing net fastened to the backside of the structure. It was guarded by one of the beefier kids from the Green sparrow cohort. The larger kid dived to the side, punching the dummy’s head away.

Half the onlookers cried in despair, and the other half hollered in ecstasy.

“Go, Fatty Green! Don’t bring shame to the Green sparrows. Don’t let them score another goal.” A man yelled. He was a body refining 4th stage cultivator from the Green sparrow fiendhunting team.

“That’s my son! That’s my son who did that, hahaha!” A boisterous woman, probably the beefy kid’s mother, proclaimed loudly.

“Darn it. Little girlie, you almost had it. Don’t worry and try again. The hat trick is going to be yours!”

“Keep dreaming. It’ll be no time until the Green sparrows equalise.”

“Shod off! Brown sparrows will show you the real meaning of footwork!”

“Goal? Hatrick? Equalize?” Maque had never been so confused.

To say the crowd was heated would be an understatement. They were in a rage, manic and zealous. Parents, teachers, brothers and neighbours screamed ‘Green sparrow’ or ‘Brown sparrow’ like they were at war.

Even after decades of ruling the slums with an iron fist, gaining the respect of all his allies and enemies, Maque had only seen such a sight a few times.

The first winter when less than a thousand died.

The first summer where no madlander had to beg the uptowners for scraps.

That one time Maque and his entire fiendhunting guild tracked down an injured peak tier houtian 2nd order voidfiend. And slayed it with no deaths.

A massive cheer suddenly broke out like a tsunami. It hit the onlookers like a wave of warcries.

“Goooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Noooo, how could this happen! That was offside, offside, I tell you!”

“Equalized! Hahahahah! Green sparrows huzzah!”

Every minute, more and more slum dwellers gathered. They asked their fellows what was going on and what this strange game was. They would learn the rules, get interested, stay and cheer.

Maque had guessed the nature of the game by now. The ‘goal’ of the game was to kick the dummy head into the opposite team’s net. And other than the two kids defending each side’s net, everyone else was only allowed to use their feet. Some other terms were thrown about, like boxes, offsides, and fouls, but that was the gist.

“Leader!” A subordinate he left to watch over the dojo ran over.

“What in the mad heaven’s name is going on here?” Maque asked, perplexed.

“It’s that Ziyou Yung boy, leader. He calls this game a ‘Football.’ Said it’s for building team spirit. Ziyou Ling got into it pretty fast, and before I knew it, all the cohorts had been going at it after the daily training ended. This is the second match today between Green sparrows and Brown sparrows. The other cohorts have theirs’s in the few dojos down Dirt stream.”

“Team spirit? The other cohorts are also playing this?” I’d eat my feet if that were the only reason. But, “Does it work?”

“Like no other!” The man beamed. He was the head instructor of the dojo, so he knew the kids best. “That Yung boy said a full game would last one and a half hours. And I’d say one game of this football taught these kids more about teamwork, their fellow cohort members’ weaknesses and strengths, and how to cope with unexpected defeats better than three weeks of classes. And…”

“And?”

“Well,” The man gestured at the crowd. “It’s fun for everyone. Ling’s going crazy because all her friends are out hunting. Or I fear she’d join the kids in kicking the ball.”

Maque rolled his eyes. That lass has been unruly ever since she was in her mother’s belly. More so since his wife passed.

But Football, huh?

The audience, they weren’t unhappy. In the last few years, the mood in the slums had been gradually worsening, affected by the changes in the lower town. Gossip about the Free sparrow gang’s incompetence was rampant, stoked by competitors. Fear, uncertainty, and weakness. That would be the most common emotion among adults, and the kids could feel it too.

But today, all he saw in this field was merriment, enthusiasm, and joy.

Maybe this game can calm the people, at least briefly.

Maque had to wonder though. How much xinqi is Young Yung getting from this, that scheming fox. Teamwork my scarred wooden ass!

One of his subordinates came running from the direction of the lower town, breaking his thoughts.

“Leader! A letter from Ziyou Yung.”

Huh?

Maque took the letter.

“That audacious brat.” He burnt the paper with his yuanqi after reading it, then guffawed. “Gather the men, and tell the bunch to clean up! We’re going to the Dim gold citadel.”

“Hell yeah! We finally takin’ the place over are we?”

“No ya idiot. Wanna die? We are going to meet the good patriarch, so you lot better behave!”

Maque knew that the Youjin clan had been running around like flies the last few days, calling on favours and gathering capital. A Youjin elder had even visited him last night, asking if there was room for a ‘ubiquitous welfare cooperation,’ whatever that was, and details on his talks with Youjin Chao and Ziyou Yung.

Ziyou Yung had brought the day of the meeting forward. Talk about being caught with their pant’s down. Hahahah!

***

“I had assumed we had a week,” Liu sighed, serving his guest mulberry green tea. It was a product of their own orchards, grown by the hands of their best brewer, and only reserved for the most honoured guests.

Ziyou Yung took a sip and winced. Perhaps it was too bitter for madlander tongue.

“How could we wait!” The boy said, “When the fate of thousands of innocent lives depend on this.”

Liu eyed the Free sparrow gang leader who sat behind Ziyou Yung. The scarred man was dressed up in respectable ren clothes today, not their usual madlander leather cloaks and garbs.

Then there was that fox yao called Su Xiya on Ziyou Yung’s lap. The creature had traded him a very expensive spirit stone for a fiend skull he had on display in their Dim gold citadel main hall.

Six houtian 2nd realm elders were present, seated on a platform beneath him. They were the bulk of the clan’s immediate strength, all in the foundation or meridian building realm. Among these, Youjin Ze eyed the madlander group with vitriol.

Beside Ziyou Maque sat Ziyou Ling, the Free sparrow’s daughter. And Chao’er’s current woman, if rumours are to be believed.

His daughter hated this Ziyou Ling.

Youjin Chun sat a step ahead of the elders and the other important clan figures, to the left of Liu, and stared as though she was boring a whole through the madlander girl.

There were talks about how Youjin Chao publicly dismissed his feelings for Youjin Chun at the Dim gold hotel. He had heard muffled sobs when he walked passed Youjin Chun’s door the previous night. Liu had a headache. He found today’s tea bitter too.

Ziyou Yung came to make his stance clear. He stood on the side of the damned.

“I assume Leader Free Sparrow has filled you in on the lower town situation.” Liu said.

“That he has,” Ziyou Yung shot an annoyed glance at Youjin Chun, “How could Youjin Chun not tell me something so important when we last talked. I thought your most urgent priority was to save the innocent. How could I wait a whole week to do that, not when people suffer.”

Quite the thoughtful excuse, Liu mused. The boy acted more like a self-righteous shen cultivator by the day.

“Then we are at your debt. Let us discuss the conditions now.” Liu looked down and read the blood-red scroll containing the terms again.

It was a blood spirit contract.

It gave the illusion of a powerful and ancient document, crafted from deep red paper and adorned with intricate designs in black and gold. Its surface glimmered in the light, as if it were alive with golden ink worms. The paper body was smooth to the touch, yet firm like parchment, and felt almost silken in texture. When brushed with his fingers, it sent a strange tingle through the tips. This contract contained several critical parameters, including soul-dependent repayment, structured heavenly vow, and enforced duties and rewards, written in jadeite-ink letters that seemed to pulse with haze.

But despite all the glamour and gold, Liu could tell it was only a houtian 1st grade item with a weak binding effect. Perhaps not even uncommon class. Intricate designs, yet no real substance. Bought from a random vendor no doubt, or maybe the smug boy had been duped by the glittering gold threads. Youjin Liu really hoped the terms set upon the contract would prove Ziyou Yung’s intellect rather than the opposite.

***

“What do you think Yung wants?” Ziyou Ling asked Maque. “Why’d he even bring us here?”

Maque had no answer to his daughter’s question. “Show of force? He has the fox clan behind him, so I doubt that’s it. That only leaves his plans for the madlander slums.”

“He wants to gather faith qi, right?”

Maque nodded, “It won’t be that easy. The football game is one thing—”

“It’s the best thing! He’s a guy that can have fun! I don’t mind warming his bed.”

“Ling’er, you need to stop getting into trouble with boys, and sort out your shit with Young Chao!”

The teenage rebel paid him no heed.

Maque looked at Youjin Liu, who had a teenage headache in the form of a daughter too. “Look, for xinqi, Young Yung needs his name to be out there. If people forget that he’s the one who created the football game, they’ll stop feeling ‘thankful’ to him. And he won’t be getting any xinqi. His image, his totem needs to be all over the place for the memory of his deeds to stick.”

“Totem? What’s that?”

“In the past, xinqi cultivators gathered raw xinqi for power—”

“Aw no! Please! I didn’t want a lecture, pa. Actually, you don’t need to answer—”

“But!” Maque over-powered the girl’s protests with a stern glare, “Xinqi is the worship of the masses. It’s what others feel about the cultivator. The emotion, here, is important. The cultivator would be bound by the emotions his worshippers felt. If these emotions suddenly change ‘flavour’, like from gratitude to hatred, then the cultivator would be in trouble.

“Ancient shenmo cultivators eventually figured out a way to neutralize the effect of emotions with totems. Symbols or objects for the people to worship instead of the cultivator himself. The xinqi acquired this way would be less potent in terms of numinous effects, but it would free up the obligations the cultivator had towards his followers by a lot. The emotions would affect him, but to a far lesser extent.”

Ziyou Ling looked confused. She flexed her wrist, “Sounds way too complicated. Body cultivation is easier.”

“Other than kings and emperors or religious leaders of well-established theocratic sects and cults, few try to gather faith qi with the worship of the masses nowadays. Even the Zheng clan patriarch, who is in the stigmata building realm, refines his own faith and willpower. The lad walks a treacherous path.”

“You won’t mind if people home respect him more than you? Won’t that kinda ruin yer authority?”

“Silly lass. I’ll be here while Young Yung leaves with the foxes. Besides, if he can make the next winter a bit cosier for the children, I have no reason to mind that.”

“Sounds complicated. Hey, look at her.” Ziyou Ling eyed Youjin Chun from a distance and stuck out her tongue. “What a bitch.”

“Ling’er, quit it. As I was saying, even if Young Yung can get the madlanders to worship him, if it remains in the realm of gratitude and not politics, then I’ll be the first to respect ‘im. He hugged the Revival fox princess’s thigh, so I’m hugging the same thigh by proxy.”

“Shameless! I like it.” His daughter laughed. “Let’s see what Yung’s got planned.”

“Shush now,” Maque said, “They’re gonna read out how much Yung will fleece them.”