Chapter 126: A Task That Chills the Scalp

Su Jin thought for a moment and realized the cruel truth: “What if a menial disciple never gets a Foundation Establishment elixir, and misses the optimal age for cultivation?”

“Then they’ll lose even the chance to queue,” Su Wuji continued. “The sect doesn’t feed idlers or waste. If a menial disciple never gets a Foundation Establishment elixir, it means they have no value to the sect.”

“They can either find their own way to buy a Foundation Establishment elixir, or give up on Foundation Establishment entirely and focus on cultivating their descendants instead.”

“Many sect-affiliated minor clans rose this way.”

Su Jin: “...”

At that moment, Liu Shi walked in.

She stepped onto the podium and announced: “Students, the magistrate of Xiancheng, Xu, has issued a city-wide summons.”

“Our Su family has been a sect-affiliated clan since its founding.”

“Without the sect, there is no Su family.”

“Therefore, every member of the Su family will answer the summons.”

“Even our clan school is not exempt.”

“I’ll divide you into groups now—roughly three per group—based on your recent exam results.”

“Once grouped, I’ll take you to your destination, and then you’ll learn what task the family has assigned you.”

“I hope you all take your assigned task seriously and complete it with utmost care.”

“Can you do that?”

Hearing this, everyone immediately realized this task was probably terrible.

Otherwise, Liu Shi wouldn’t have warned them like this.

Soon, the groups were formed. Then Liu Shi led their eight teams to the clan school’s treasure vault to collect a full set of alert arrays.

Su Jin carried a pouch of array plates, feeling helpless. The plates issued were purely for alerting—zero defensive capability.

Unbelievable!

But she was grouped again with Su Wuji and Su Cheng; the three exchanged glances and smiled faintly.

Soon they were taken to a large courtyard.

Then everyone painfully understood their task.

They were to babysit the children of the clan’s cultivator members.

Yes, Liu Shi sent each group one by one into room after room, where crawling and running toddlers filled every corner.

Su Jin’s group got the worst room.

All the children were under three years old.

They were a riot. One cried, and the whole bunch wailed together—howling so loudly it felt like they’d tear the roof off.

And one group was responsible for sixty toddlers.

Sixty.

Su Jin and the others were chilled to the bone.

Liu Shi laughed uncontrollably.

“Don’t worry—you’re only responsible for the children’s and the caregivers’ personal safety.”

“Each room has four adult caregivers, all experienced in childcare.”

Su Jin and the others stared dumbly as the caregivers swiftly calmed the crying toddlers.

The children finally stopped crying, and Su Jin and the others breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

“You must stay here for three days—day and night. You’re responsible for patrols and guarding everyone’s safety inside the rooms.”

“Only after completing the task can you leave.”

“Of course, I’ll be here too.”

“Remember the big gate we came through?”

“I’m in the gatehouse over there.”

“If you face something you can’t handle, call me for help.”

After speaking, she left to brief the next group.

Su Jin and the others had no choice but to grit their teeth and speak with the caregivers.

As soon as they approached, the caregivers smiled.

The eldest, Auntie Gu, stepped forward.

“I’m the head of the Fifty-First Caregiving Group. I’m Gu—you can call me Mama. This is Xiao Qing, this is Xiao Yuan, this is Xiao Nan. You can call them Sister.” Auntie Gu introduced her team to Su Jin and the others.

“We’re all students from the clan school, assigned here for three days to handle security.”

“We’ll handle patrols and support.”

“If you sense danger anywhere, summon us immediately.”

“We’ll leave one person inside to guard, one patrolling outside, and one on standby,” Su Wuji arranged.

Su Jin and Su Cheng saw his plan was sound and silently accepted him as group leader again.

Su Wuji glanced at Su Jin and Su Cheng, gave them a nod, and they both nodded back.

Su Wuji immediately introduced himself to Auntie Gu: “I’m Su Wuji, group leader. This is Su Jin, and this is Su Cheng.”

“Nice to meet you,” Auntie Gu smiled immediately.

Su Wuji was a social butterfly—he’d barely spoken to Auntie Gu before she treated him like family.

Auntie Gu even found them a small rest area separated by a screen.

They could sleep there at night and cultivate during the day.

“Did you all bring water flasks? Let’s go fill some water,” Su Wuji asked.

Su Jin immediately pulled out a two-jin empty flask and placed three small bowls on the table.

Alright, now they had flasks and bowls covered.

“Su Cheng, go fill the water.”

“Preferably warm or hot water,” Su Jin reminded.

“Got it,” Su Cheng said.

“Su Jin, you cultivate. I’ll handle daytime patrols; Su Cheng will guard inside.”

“At night, we’ll rotate duties so everyone gets some sleep,” Su Wuji said.

“Fine, I’ll cultivate first—I’m fast. Then I’ll switch with you two,” Su Jin agreed.

Su Cheng and Su Wuji nodded and stepped out.

Su Jin set up the array plates and released the Xue Chi Luo from her basket.

“Be careful—the underground arrays here are extremely dense,” Su Jin warned as Xue Chi Luo prepared to burrow.

Xue Chi Luo shook its head. “Grandma, don’t worry—I know these underground arrays well.”

While Su Jin was at school, it had been bored and wandered beneath Xiancheng, learning every underground array and spiritual vein route.

It had even started a half-finished project under Su Jin’s home.

It had diverted a thick branch of an underground spiritual vein into the basements of Su Jin’s two residences.

To further upgrade the backyard spirit fields.

But it worked slowly—it would take more time to finish.

Su Jin suddenly added: “Xue Chi Luo, if you encounter strange insects underground, don’t attack them directly—be cautious. If one’s huge or looks terrifying, come back and tell me immediately, understood?”

“We can’t handle it alone, but we can call others to take it down together.”