Chapter 521: Examination and Evaluation

In the empty dormitory corridor, the door panel shook violently, and a dull crash echoed through the passageway.

De Ten Prefectures stood quietly before the door, a black-clad man carrying an iron hammer beside him.

From behind the tightly shut door came the faint sound of a woman's ragged panting, followed by the noise of a chair collapsing after a scuffle; De Ten Prefectures listened intently, as if assessing the situation inside.

A muffled thud of a fall came from the dormitory room, low growls mixed with the fierce scraping of shoe soles against the floor, and the bed frame shifted from being kicked, emitting a harsh grating sound.

Suddenly a scream rang out from within; De Ten Prefectures's hand shot up, and the black-clad man immediately raised the iron hammer high, about to smash it against the door, but De Ten Prefectures waved his hand again.

The black-clad man froze in place, not daring to lower the iron hammer, and could only stare blankly at De Ten Prefectures.

Several frantic screams followed in succession, sounding like curses and also like weeping, yet De Ten Prefectures remained utterly motionless.

After a stretch of indistinct speech came continuous sobbing; the dormitory room gradually fell silent. De Ten Prefectures pressed himself almost against the crack of the door, listening with complete concentration to the faint sounds within.

Just as the burly black-clad man's arm was about to go numb, De Ten Prefectures finally waved his hand, signaling him to lower it.

The sobbing inside the dormitory room gradually ceased, and De Ten Prefectures and the other man stared straight at the door.

With a creak, the door leaf opened, and light spilled along its edge into the corridor, illuminating De Ten Prefectures's face.

Mo Qiyun's figure appeared behind the door leaf; she was covered in blood, clutching a golden hairpin in her hand. Her gaze was vacant as she walked all the way to De Ye before stopping, the blood on the pin still dripping down drop by drop.

De Ten Prefectures tilted his head to glance inside. Qiu Cuizhu lay on her back in a pool of blood, her thigh and neck area a vivid red; blood was still gushing from the wounds, and her body was still twitching slightly.

De Ten Prefectures looked at the hairpin in Mo Qiyun's hand. "Why didn't the Pacification Commissioner confiscate this..."

"This was a gift from Jiang Jiejie, kept in the clothes chest in the training room." Mo Qiyun raised the golden hairpin before her eyes and looked at De Ten Prefectures with an expressionless face. "I couldn't beat her barehanded, so I could only kill her this way."

De Ten Prefectures silently regarded Mo Qiyun for a long moment, then said slowly, "You have passed the examination and evaluation."

As night first fell, the sky outside the window dimmed. Several black-clad men in the courtyard carried lanterns; their dim, faint light fell through the window onto the bloodstained floor.

"Tonight the Academy is on combat alert; no open flames are permitted in the rooms..."

The Pacification Squad soldier in the room spoke to Mo Qiyun, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. Mo Qiyun stared blankly at the floor, showing no reaction to his words.

The Pacification Squad soldier said no more and withdrew. Several squad soldiers lifted the corpse and vanished beyond the doorway.

De Ten Prefectures, carrying a lantern, arrived at the door. "Would you like to change to a different dormitory room tonight?"

Mo Qiyun said indifferently, "No need."

De Ten Prefectures looked at her for a moment and said, "Tonight the Roving Bandits will launch a night raid. The Academy has comprehensive countermeasures; if you hear any commotion, pay it no mind. The trainees have all gone to their combat posts. Pacification Squad sentries are posted outside; call them if anything comes up."

Mo Qiyun nodded slightly. De Ten Prefectures turned and left, the lantern light swaying down the corridor as he departed. The black-clad men in the courtyard paused a moment before also leaving the compound, and the dormitory room sank into complete darkness.

A faint scent of blood still drifted in the silent dormitory room. Mo Qiyun sat motionless on the edge of Qiu Mingcui's bed, as if she had become a part of the room itself.

The sound of soft footsteps arose in the hallway, but no light accompanied them. Mo Qiyun slowly turned her head, her right hand reaching for the golden hairpin placed on the bed, her eyes coldly fixed on the door in the darkness.

The footsteps stopped. After a moment, a voice said, "It's me. I came to see you."

Mo Qiyun abruptly dropped the golden hairpin, rose, and ran to the door, pulling the door panel open and throwing herself onto the tall figure outside.

The figure wrapped an arm around Mo Qiyun's shoulder. "The one you killed was a Roving Bandit. Your conscience is clear. The Pacification Squad outside are all praising you."

Mo Qiyun clung tightly to that figure, suppressed sobs escaping her lips. The figure lowered his face to press against the top of her head. "Don't worry. I'll stay outside with you, and I'll stay with you from now on too."

Mo Qiyun lifted her head, her eyes still shining with a fervent and expectant light in the darkness.

"Li instructor just reported that Cui Yongda chose an opportune moment and judged that he could have taken Mo Qiyun's body tonight. He recommends an 'Excellent' rating for this lesson's examination and evaluation."

Light shone from the Director's Office; this was the only room within the Academy where lamps were lit.

The tall Pacification Squad soldier stood in the center of the room. Before him were Yuan Zheng and De Ten Prefectures. Yuan Zheng asked calmly, "He didn't actually take her?"

"No. This humble one knows the rules and acted solely according to the examination." Cui Yongda replied neither servilely nor arrogantly. "Li instructor heard clearly from the corridor entrance."

Yuan Zheng looked at him for a moment. "You have passed all your course examinations and evaluations. Go back and prepare for your external assignment."

Cui Yongda said evenly, "I thank you, my lord, for your many teachings. Tonight the Pacification Squad will engage the Roving Bandits in battle. This humble one has never seen Roving Bandits and wishes to go along to broaden his experience."

Yuan Zheng raised his eyelids and looked at Cui Yongda. After a moment, he said, "It wouldn't hurt to go and gain some experience."

Cui Yongda bowed to both men and withdrew. Only then did Yuan Zheng shift his gaze to De Ten Prefectures. "De Ten Prefectures, Lord Jiang once said that a scout must sever all attachments. Should we expose Cui Yongda's matter before her external assignment, to make her sever this attachment between man and woman?"

De Ten Prefectures gently rubbed his two hands together. After a while, he said, "If a blade's edge is honed too much, it snaps."

"She's probably still a bit short of a blade's edge."

"In our line of work, hand skills are secondary. What matters most is being able to face life and death in one's heart. Her odds of winning a life-or-death struggle against Qiu Cuizhu were very slim. My opinion is that the moment she walked into that dormitory room, she became a blade's edge." De Ten Prefectures paused, then continued, "What Lord Jiang said was a generalization. Most of the people in the Academy are locals from Anqing, all with ties and connections that can be used as leverage. Severing attachments doesn't sever their concerns. But this Mo Qiyun was bought from Yangzhou. Jiang Shou has lost contact, so she is utterly alone. Before she is sent out on assignment and has children, she has no ties whatsoever..."

At this point, he raised his head to look at Yuan Zheng. "Therefore, this old man suggests we do not expose it. She's about to be sent out; it's always good to have something to hope for. This Cui Yongda is the thread holding her for now."

"Then keep it from her." Yuan Zheng did not press further. "Is Cui Yongda truly ready for immediate external assignment?"

"In this Academy, he is both a trainee and must play the role of a Pacification Squad soldier. Over all this time, he has never revealed a flaw and even won a woman's true heart. His hand skills are excellent, and he is indisputably among the top three in the examinations. He should be ready to leave the school."

Yuan Zheng nodded. "These are the first batch of trainees our Academy has produced. The Dark Sentinel Division will rely on them to fight for its future. I hope none of them fail to live up to what they've learned."

De Ten Prefectures's right hand rubbed the square piece of sugar pastry inside his sleeve, and he sighed softly.

At that moment, a sudden clang of gongs rang out from outside the Compound, piercingly loud in the quiet night.

De Ten Prefectures slowly stood up and said, "They're here."

A chaotic din of fighting erupted around the Academy. Yuan Zheng also rose and walked to the door. A boom of cannon fire sounded outside — the military's Signal Cannon — and immediately after, a burst of red flame exploded in the sky over the direction of Dongfengkou.

Inside Zongyangcang at Dongfengkou, the flame light in the sky gradually faded, and Second Locust's fierce gaze once again vanished into the darkness.

Before him was the blurry figure of Xiao Wazi. The task the two had received was to set the granary ablaze if the attack on the Dark Whistle Division Academy went poorly. The cannon fire now sounding indicated that the Government Troops had already discovered them and were mobilizing forces.

The sound of orders came from that military encampment, and the dense sound of footsteps before the camp gate showed that the troops there had not all been transferred away, as they had assumed during the daytime.

Xiao Wazi turned his head. "Second Chief, the dog officials' Signal Cannon. Master Liu has probably fallen into an ambush. Let's get in there and start the fire."

Second Locust looked at the perimeter wall. They had already scouted the ignition points during the day and had brought ladders and kerosene from the Hongshazhou market; they could get the fire going quickly.

"Let's listen for more activity first..."

Xiao Wazi said somewhat urgently, "Those fireworks were definitely set off by the Government Troops, to notify the Water Troops on the river. We need to hurry."

In the pitch-black alley, Second Locust glanced left and right, then said, "Set up the ladder."

Xiao Wazi immediately put down the Sword and went to fetch the ladder from the side.

In the darkness, Second Locust slowly rose, and by the faint light, watched Xiao Wazi's hands grip both sides of the ladder.