Chapter 27: This Trial is Simple
Chapter 27: Chapter 27: This Trial is Simple
Qian Fugui grimaced, speechless, at the arm draped familiarly over his shoulder.
This old codger might talk a big game, demanding skilled opponents for his Direct Disciple to practice with his saber...
...but it was his Direct Disciple who died in the last trial! And then the old bastard shamelessly extorted two hundred silver from him!
The loss had stung him for quite a while.
Granted, it wasn’t that Qian Fugui couldn’t afford two hundred silver. With the sect’s supply of pills and medicinal herbs passing through his hands, it was easy to skim a little off the top.
But he needed that money to grease the right palms. Otherwise, how could he procure nearly two hundred "great medicines" a year without the authorities getting suspicious?
Even luring people to the Zhuangzi wasn’t free; you couldn’t do it with just empty promises. It took cold, hard cash!
"We got lucky this year," Qian Fugui began, giving the old man a brief overview of the Zhuangzi’s situation. "The ’great medicines’ are all refugees fleeing the famine in Qingzhou. We started with twenty or thirty at the Seventh or Eighth Layer of Quenching Body, and we fed them waste pills to raise seven of them to the Initial Realm of Flesh Refining."
"They have some strength, but not much."
"No need, no need! Absolutely not necessary this time."
Qin He pounded his chest, which resounded with a THUMP-THUMP. "I told you," he said, full of confidence, "my Direct Disciple has nearly reached Great Success with his Ghost Howl Saber. It doesn’t matter if they have strength; he’s not afraid!"
"In the end, they’ll all be nothing but souls reaped by my disciple’s blade!"
Qian Fugui’s beady eyes rolled. He had no idea how to respond to such an arrogant boast.
"Boss Qin, don’t make things so difficult for Fatty Qian."
"That’s right. The trial is inherently unpredictable. Besides, there’s always conflict between disciples. Casualties are inevitable."
Just then, two voices drifted in from outside, followed by the figures of a man and a woman.
The man was handsome and the woman was alluring. Like the old man, both were dressed in dark red robes.
Upon entering the room, they both clasped their fists in salute to Qian Fugui.
"Brother Qian, it’s been a while."
Then they turned to the old man. "Old Qin."
Qian Fugui returned the salute. "Younger Brother Zhao, Miss Liu."
Hearing their previous words, Qin He didn’t bother with a greeting. Looking quite displeased, he faced the newcomers.
"What’s that? Zhao Rui, are you implying my disciple is inferior to yours?"
"Not at all!"
Zhao Rui said with a faint smile,
"Even a rabbit uses its full strength when fighting a lion, let alone a person fighting another. Even one of the ’great medicines,’ on the brink of death, will give their all. I am merely reminding Old Qin not to be too arrogant."
"Do I need a reminder from you?" Qin He’s face flushed with anger.
The two had never seen eye to eye. Although they were at the same cultivation realm, one was old and the other was young.
The sect’s resources tended to favor the young, so an old man like Qin He naturally harbored some resentment.
How could he possibly tolerate being called arrogant by a junior!
He was about to slam his hand on the table and shoot to his feet.
But how could Qian Fugui let him?
’His hand is still on my shoulder! If he slams down now, my shoulder will probably break.’
He quickly pressed down on the hand Qin He had on his shoulder, preventing him from putting any force into it.
Then, he said in a placating tone, "Since everyone’s here, why don’t we eat first?"
"We can discuss the trial later."
"I managed to lure a few new cooks here this time, and their skills are quite impressive. It would be a real shame not to try their food."
"Besides, the disciples must have had a long, hard journey to get to this mountain backwater."
"Let them have a good meal and a proper night’s rest. They have to go to Broken Blade Mountain for the trial tomorrow morning, after all."
"Come on, come on, don’t just stand there..."
With his pushing, shoving, and gentle persuasion, the group managed to avoid a major confrontation.
After a tense meal where everyone glared at each other, the leaders summoned their disciples to assemble on the training grounds.
As was customary, they announced the rules of the trial.
On the vast training grounds, three groups of disciples stood in black, close-fitting uniforms. The lines between the groups were clearly drawn, each belonging to a different master’s faction.
Each group contained two hundred people, for a total of six hundred disciples.
The ones standing at the very front of each group were the leaders’ most prized students, their Direct Disciples.
As the steward of the Zhuangzi, Qian Fugui took his place on the high platform in the center of the training grounds.
"Disciples," he began, "I imagine some of you have participated in the herb-gathering trial before?"
"This trial is the same as the previous ones. It’s not particularly difficult."
Qian Fugui smiled down at the hundreds of young men and women below. Without any further preamble, he launched into the details of the trial:
"This time, the Zhuangzi has released two hundred ’great medicines’ on Broken Blade Mountain. That’s a full fifty more than last time, so you could say the difficulty has been drastically reduced."
"Any disciple who participates tomorrow and brings back one ’great medicine’ will receive a top-grade Body Nourishing Pill."
"Bring back three, and you’ll be allowed to choose any Martial Art from the Blood Martial Tower."
"Bring back ten, and you will receive a Blood Blade personally forged by one of the sect’s Elders!"
Bringing back ten was generally the limit for even the most promising new disciples in the sect.
But with six hundred disciples present and only two hundred "great medicines," the numbers didn’t add up. It was a classic case of too many wolves and not enough sheep.
This was why, in past trials, many disciples would fight, plunder, and even kill their fellow sect members, harvesting their heart orifices to count toward their total of "great medicines" and claim the sect’s rewards.
There had even been bizarre instances where, at the end of a trial, the number of heart orifices collected was greater than the number of "great medicines" released.
And such occurrences were not rare!
For this reason, Qian Fugui’s expression turned serious as he finished. He looked at the six hundred young men and women and said gravely,
"There is one thing you must remember after you enter the mountains."
"Fighting to the death amongst fellow disciples is forbidden. You are absolutely prohibited from using the heart orifices of your sect-mates to count as ’great medicines.’"
"If any one of you dares to feign compliance while acting otherwise, the penalty is death!"
"We shall obey the Steward’s command!" the six hundred disciples shouted in unison, bowing their heads and clasping their fists.
Despite their words, some disciples within the ranks struggled to hide the disdainful twitch of their lips as they bowed.
’They all had blood on their hands. Their very entry-level assessment had been an exercise in killing. Why would they care about the lives of their fellow disciples?’
’Once they were in the mountains, true skill would be the only thing that mattered. Whoever wasn’t good enough would just become another ’great medicine’.’
On the platform, Qian Fugui shook his head slightly. ’My words probably went in one ear and out the other for most of them.’
’A single top-grade Body Nourishing Pill, refined from one ’great medicine,’ is worth months of bitter cultivation for a Martial Artist in the Flesh Refining Realm.’
’Not to mention the immense help that new Martial Arts or a fine weapon would provide.’
’They might be all agreeable now, but once they’re in the mountains, how could they not fight to the death?’
Still, his words were also meant for the leaders who had brought their teams to the Zhuangzi. It was a disclaimer, of sorts.
It was to prevent the leaders from starting a brawl at the Zhuangzi and dragging him into it if their Direct Disciples ended up killing each other in the mountains.
Now that he had said all that needed to be said, Qian Fugui waved his hand, dismissing the disciples to prepare for their entry into the mountains the next day.
The six hundred disciples scattered. Some went to rest, while others remained on the training grounds to hone their techniques, making their final preparations for the trial.
Seeing the disciples busy, Qian Fugui waved to the three leaders in the distance. He pointed to a small building next to the training grounds and made an inviting gesture.
He was inviting them to the building to continue drinking. Tomorrow, Guards would lead the disciples into the mountains for the trial.
All the leaders had to do was wait a few days for the trial to conclude and their disciples to return.
But the three leaders acted as if they hadn’t seen Qian Fugui’s gesture at all. They each walked over to their own Direct Disciples, draped an arm around them, and led them to a deserted corner of the training grounds.
As they walked, they spoke in hushed tones.
Qin He lowered his voice, speaking in a gruff murmur.
"That ’no killing fellow disciples’ rule is bullshit. You kill whoever you need to. Especially you, Tao E. Your ’Ghost Howl Saber Technique’ is at a critical juncture; you cannot afford to hesitate!"
Zhao Rui was also muttering to his Direct Disciple:
"As your master, I have some pull within the sect. During the trial tomorrow, just kill as you see fit. Don’t worry about anything else; you don’t need to concern yourselves with the consequences."
Liu Lanxiang’s robes accentuated her graceful curves. She pressed her voluptuous body against her two male disciples, a touch that was both intimate and distant.
Her slender fingers traced patterns on her disciple’s chest, much to the envy of the other disciples watching.
"There’s no real difference between one person and another. Some just have a little more, and some have a little less."
She tapped her disciple’s chest, her breath as fragrant as an orchid. "But everyone’s heart orifice is the same. Once you bring one back, who’s to say whose it was?"
"Do you understand?"
"Understood!" The Direct Disciples in their respective corners all nodded lightly. They understood tacitly what they had to do once they entered the mountains.
Qian Fugui watched from afar as the three of them huddled secretively with their Direct Disciples, whispering in their ears.
He didn’t know what they were saying, but he could guess. They were surely using their status as elders to tell their disciples to break the trial’s rules.
His face turned ashen with rage.
"Sons of bitches!"
"Sons of bitches!"
"Sons of... a complete waste of my breath!"