Chapter 671

XIII. Entrance Examination

In the morning, the sun was bright.

Outside the bamboo forest.

A group of young girls and boys walked out of various bamboo courtyards and gathered on the beach.

When Magistrate Ouyang Rong and Sha Ergou walked out, Song Song Zhian and the young lady Yu were already in the crowd.

Only to see Lu Mu Jinghong sticking to the two girls like a plaster, talking to Song Song Zhian.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked around. There were about thirty girls on the beach. Besides Magistrate Ouyang Rong, Sha Ergou, and Lu Mu Jinghong, there were four other boys who looked simple and honest. They should be like Sha Ergou, children of fishermen and farmers, and should also have come here due to their own encounters.

The ages of the group ranged from ten to sixteen. For example, Song Song Zhian and the young lady Yu were just at the age of coming of age. According to the experience Magistrate Ouyang Rong learned from his Junior Sister and Rong Zhen, this age group was the most suitable for Qi Refining.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was considered the oldest among them. Not to mention that he was already over twenty, just this fake body of A-Shan was nineteen years old in bone structure and appearance.

Most of these girls were delicate and young, with a spiritual aura in their faces, but there was no lack of sallow and thin little girls with timid eyes, looking like children from poor families.

Or rather, the Yue women selected by Xie Xiao Niangzi Yunmeng Yunmeng Yunmeng Jian Ze were mostly from poor families.

One reason was the "three no-recruitment" rule, and the second was that there were many poor people in the Wu-Yue region, so it was naturally easier to produce girls with talent and aptitude.

If it weren't for these Yue women having a keen eye for talent, most of these girls would have been buried in the secular world.

From this perspective, entering Xie Xiao Niangzi Yunmeng Yunmeng Yunmeng Jian Ze to become a Yue woman was indeed a channel for advancement.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked around again and found that Song Song Zhian, who was frequently talked to by Lu Mu Jinghong, was graceful, with lively apricot eyes and lips like cinnabar, indeed one of the most eye-catching among this batch of girls.

At this moment, it was very close to the time the Yue women had notified them to gather.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong and Sha Ergou arrived just in time.

Song Song Zhian said softly, "Brother Liu, why are you so late?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked at Sha Ergou, who scratched his head with some guilt.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong had actually gotten up early, but Sha Ergou had almost overslept, snoring like thunder. Every time Magistrate Ouyang Rong went to call him, he would mumble, "I'm awake."

When Magistrate Ouyang Rong passed by while washing up and pushed the door open to check, he had tried hard to straighten his body, nodding his head like pounding garlic to gain trust... As a result, as soon as Magistrate Ouyang Rong turned and left, Sha Ergou fell back down, sleeping against time. When Magistrate Ouyang Rong came back a while later, it was the same, delaying until now.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was a bit speechless. This ability to fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and not be woken up by anything made people not know what to say, but being able to sleep was also a blessing.

Usually, Sha Ergou went to bed early and got up early, and was quite diligent, but last night, to welcome Magistrate Ouyang Rong and earn the silver from Xie Xiao Niangzi Li, he went to bed very late, which was understandable.

It was just that today was the selection day Song Song Zhian had mentioned, which was quite important.

Song Song Zhian also noticed this, her eyebrows like dark paint, her eyes turning slightly:

"Sha Ergou, didn't you sleep well?"

Sha Ergou waved his hand: "I'm fine."

After saying that, he yawned.

Lu Mu Jinghong saw this and shook his head, as if he felt that mud couldn't be plastered onto a wall.

Although Song Song Zhian's background wasn't good, she had the politeness of a young lady from a great family and didn't show disdain, taking something from her sleeve and handing it over:

"This is cooling ointment, originally for repelling mosquitoes. If you apply a little under your nose, it can wake you up."

Lu Mu Jinghong, who hadn't cared originally, immediately turned his head and said:

"Speaking of which, I'm also quite sleepy. Let me try it too."

Sha Ergou was originally embarrassed to wave his hand, but Magistrate Ouyang Rong took it directly and handed it to him:

"Wake yourself up."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong didn't use the cooling ointment. While Sha Ergou and Lu Mu Jinghong were sharing the ointment, he stood silently behind the crowd, looking at the small island next to them.

Only to see that there was also a bamboo forest on that small island, and figures were gathering on the beach there too.

It seemed that this batch of people participating in the selection was dispersed and placed on two islands.

While Magistrate Ouyang Rong was thinking, a cold-faced Yue woman rode a bamboo raft and was the first to reach the shore.

Only to see that behind her, there were more than a dozen bamboo rafts, each with a Yue woman in Wu clothing, with a peach wood plaque hanging from her waist. They were also looking at the newcomers on the beach with curious eyes, most of them looking gentle and kind.

The leading cold-faced Yue woman looked around at the crowd and said coldly:

"Girls come first, follow the boat to Peach Valley. Boys stay and wait."

Song Song Zhian, the young lady Yu, and other girls left first.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong and the other boys waited for about two hours. Near noon, a bamboo raft returned, also led by that cold-faced Yue woman. There weren't as many bamboo rafts coming, because the number of people was also small.

They boarded the bamboo rafts one after another and, together with the batch of boys who had also stayed behind on the neighboring island, sailed toward the island with Peach Valley that the cold-faced Yue woman had mentioned.

Sha Ergou couldn't help but yawn:

"Why do we have to wait so long?"

He was already sleepy. In the morning, he could have the cooling ointment to wake up, but after waiting on the beach all morning and being exposed to the sun, he became increasingly drowsy.

The key was that Song Song Zhian wasn't there, so there was no cooling ointment to wake him up.

Lu Mu Jinghong, who was on the same bamboo raft, curled his lips:

"Nonsense, they are undergoing the Yue woman selection. We can't be Yue women; we only have the qualification to enter the Bamboo Hall. The process isn't as cumbersome as theirs, so naturally, we can't be together."

Sha Ergou muttered:

"Bamboo Hall? What kind of place is this? You have to be selected to come in and work? Is the pay high? Can it be an iron rice bowl?"

Lu Mu Jinghong was speechless and turned his head away, not wanting to answer this stupid question.

Soon, the bamboo raft arrived at a small island in the depths, where there was a secluded valley full of peach forests.

The cold-faced Yue woman turned back and said to the dozen or so boys, including Magistrate Ouyang Rong and Sha Ergou:

"Yue women are the foundation of this sect and are mainly recruited. But the Bamboo Hall is a slight exception. Recently, the Bamboo Hall has been deserted and short of people. The Great Xie Xiao Niangzi has made an exception to allow a batch of boys to be selected to supplement the Bamboo Hall. The threshold for the Bamboo Hall in the past was a Grade 8 Qi Refining sword cultivator, but you haven't refined Qi yet, so we'll make an exception and refer to the Yue woman selection, and you must pass three barriers."

"The three barriers are: sword technique aptitude, Qi Refining bone structure, and mental toughness... In addition, according to the old rules, after entering the Bamboo Hall, there will be another barrier, just like the successfully selected Yue women, to test another very rare aptitude... But that's just going through the motions; no one has entered in decades. Alright, no more talk. Let's wait until you can pass the three barriers and enter the Bamboo Hall before saying anything else."

Except for Lu Mu Jinghong, who was holding his sword confidently and seemed to have expected it all, Sha Ergou and the group of boys looked at each other, clearly hearing this for the first time.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong also pretended to be ignorant.

Looking at the cold-faced Yue woman's demeanor and tone, their batch of boys was clearly not highly valued, and even today's test was ranked behind the Yue woman candidates like Song Song Zhian.

It was conceivable that in Xie Xiao Niangzi Yunmeng Yunmeng Yunmeng Jian Ze, the status of the Bamboo Hall was just like that—not to mention being looked down upon, but it belonged to the "extra-budgetary" category.

It was just that Magistrate Ouyang Rong didn't understand why the young lady Little Zhi Shuang wanted to bring him in to participate in this Bamboo Hall test.

Wasn't it to find him a bell-ringing job to accompany A-Qing, the personal disciple she had selected?

Thinking it over, it was very likely that the young lady Little Zhi Shuang had forgotten again, or rather, the cold-faced Yue woman and others in charge had made a mistake, thinking that Magistrate Ouyang Rong was also brought into the Yunmeng Yunmeng Jian Ze to participate in the selection.

Even little companions like Song Song Zhian and Lu Mu Jinghong took it for granted, thinking he was the same as Sha Ergou and the other boys...

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked at the Peach Valley behind him. Thin mist was slowly permeating the forest, and the peach-red flowers were looming in the fog.

From time to time, the long howl of some kind of animal came from the forest.

"Today is the first barrier, to test sword technique aptitude. This is the foundation for entering our sect's Bamboo Hall. Without sword technique talent, even if your cultivation talent is good, entering the hall is useless."

The cold-faced Yue woman raised her chin. Three Yue women stepped forward and distributed small blue-covered booklets to everyone, and at the same time, distributed an identity wooden plaque to everyone with their respective names written on it.

"Take it. This is a basic explanation of sword techniques. You don't need to deliberately memorize it; just look at it for the time of one incense stick. Rely purely on comprehension, then enter the valley. There are agile monkeys in the valley. You just need to pass through the forest... the faster, the better..."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong took the secret manual and looked at it with Sha Ergou.

There was a set of simple sword moves in the secret manual, mostly pictures to prevent illiteracy.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was not a novice, so he looked at it once and remembered it firmly in his heart.

He looked left and right.

Lu Mu Jinghong and the others were all memorizing it against time.

However, Sha Ergou next to him was squinting his eyes while looking... as if he was about to fall asleep.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was speechless and pushed him.

"Oh, oh."

Sha Ergou woke up in a fright and hurriedly buried his head to memorize the sword technique secret manual. However, this flustered appearance made Magistrate Ouyang Rong worry for him a little.

But Magistrate Ouyang Rong couldn't help him. Soon, everyone received a wooden sword and entered Peach Valley together.

In Peach Valley, there was mist permeating. There weren't many of them to begin with, and the dozen or so people entered Peach Valley from different positions. Peach Valley was very large, but there was only one exit, so the crowd soon scattered.

Originally wanting to team up with Sha Ergou, Magistrate Ouyang Rong also gave up the idea.

Not long after walking, he heard the pained sounds of some youths not far away, as well as the giggling of monkeys.

"Clang—!"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong turned his head to look. As if lost in thought, his back seemed to have eyes, and he blocked a black stick with a "chamois horn" move.

The owner of the black stick seemed to be stunned for a moment.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked back and saw a long-armed monkey. It looked two sizes larger than the monkeys on Mount Emei in his previous life, with exceptionally long arms and black hair all over its body, but there was a tuft of yellow hair on its forehead, a bit of a "non-mainstream" style.

"Yi yi ya ya..."

The non-mainstream monkey was holding a peach wood sword. It was clearly a sword, but it dragged it as if it were dragging a stick. It circled around the rather wooden-looking youth, as if observing.

At a certain moment, the non-mainstream monkey lunged forward in a surprise attack. Magistrate Ouyang Rong countered with a sword thrust, knocking it flying three meters away.

"Yi—!"

It let out a miserable cry.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong casually performed a sword flourish.

The non-mainstream monkey climbed up from the ground and jumped on the spot. The surrounding forest was filled with the sounds of its companions bullying these newcomers, only it had been beaten.

Could this be tolerated? The non-mainstream monkey was furious, but it only lasted for a moment.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong didn't think much, held the peach sword upside down, and began to chase and beat the non-mainstream monkey, putting on full pressure.

Anyway, this thin mist provided cover, and no one was peeking.

He was a dignified Grade 7 Qi Refining cultivator; how could he be afraid of this small fry?

He didn't know if he had sword technique aptitude, but his Grade 7 cultivation of the Alchemist Dao lineage allowed him to control his muscles with ease.

Compared to agility, these non-mainstream monkeys were not even half as good as him.

So he didn't use any sword technique skills, and he didn't use the sword moves in the basic explanation much; it was just a one-sided beating.

It was just that after Magistrate Ouyang Rong chased and hammered the non-mainstream monkey for a dozen steps, he found that he seemed to be a bit out of place.

Everywhere around him were the sounds of youths being beaten, and even Lu Mu Jinghong's pained and angry voice.

No, why are you all so weak...

Pausing, Magistrate Ouyang Rong quietly restrained himself a bit, pretending to be evenly matched with the non-mainstream monkey.

At the same time, he gradually groped toward the exit of Peach Valley.

Sensing that he was actually "fighting more bravely as the battle went on," as if his potential had been stimulated, the non-mainstream monkey was energized and began to counterattack.

It was just that it found that it was always a step behind the wooden-looking youth and gradually became irritable.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong fed moves to the non-mainstream monkey. Walking halfway, his foot kicked something, and he looked down.

It was a small bag, somewhat familiar.

When he saw the pastry crumbs scattered at the mouth of the bag, he realized that this thing seemed familiar from the young lady Yu—it seemed to be the snack bag she hid, which the Great Xie Xiao Niangzi Yu had stuffed for her.

But looking at the messy scene on the ground... Magistrate Ouyang Rong couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

He didn't know if the young lady Yu had been "looted" by the non-mainstream monkey at that time.

No, you secretly brought snacks to the Peach Valley trial, right? How is this different from bringing snacks into the college entrance examination room in the previous life?

What a silly daughter of a landlord.

In the peach forest, the screams of the boys came one after another. However, as time passed, they seemed to have learned their lesson; the sounds of pain decreased, and the sounds of sticks and swords clashing increased. Some boys had already begun to be evenly matched with the monkeys.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was the closest to the exit.

There seemed to be something at the exit of Peach Valley. The closer they got to it, the more the monkeys in the forest gathered and besieged Magistrate Ouyang Rong, but it didn't hinder his pace at all.

He continued to move forward at the original speed. However, when he was about to reach the exit, not knowing what he thought of, Magistrate Ouyang Rong paused and deliberately took two steps back, making the non-mainstream monkey, which had been feeling aggrieved all the way, very excited, thinking it had gained the upper hand.

Just like that, he slacked off near the finish line and waited for about twenty breaths. Magistrate Ouyang Rong noticed a youth's figure appearing not far away, obscured by fog, unable to see the person clearly.

After Magistrate Ouyang Rong let him pass, he began to exert force and rushed toward the exit of Peach Valley in one go.

"Not bad, it took 109 breaths. It's still a bit short of 100 breaths. You are the second one to come out of Peach Valley. Your sword technique talent is superior."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong rushed out of Peach Valley. What caught his eye was a huge peach tree, with many mother monkeys holding little monkeys resting on it, seemingly a stronghold of the monkey troop.

The cold-faced Yue woman was standing behind the peach tree with several Yue women with peach plaques hanging from their waists, nodding gently.

Not far from them stood a simple-looking youth with a dark face, panting.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong also feigned panting, walked up, and handed over the wooden plaque.

"Liu A-Liang."

The cold-faced Yue woman took the wooden plaque, looked at Magistrate Ouyang Rong, and picked up a pen to record it in the booklet.

Just then, a figure in brocade clothes rushed out from the entrance behind.

"Pah, really bad luck! This beast can even bite... hiss, it wasted ten breaths for this young master! This definitely won't make it under 100 breaths..."

It was Lu Mu Jinghong's voice.

The cold-faced Yue woman said coldly:

"Third place, took 113 breaths."

Lu Mu Jinghong staggered out, got rid of the monkey, and was about to tidy up his appearance and walk toward the peach tree when he suddenly saw the figure of Magistrate Ouyang Rong next to the cold-faced Yue woman under the tree. His pupils shrank, and his face changed...