Chapter Seventy-Eight: Selection

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"I have a question!"

Ran Tinglan shifted her weary gaze to Dantengzi beside her. The envoy crossed his arms impatiently. "What is it?"

"I request that the Shadow Linglong recording be retrieved and copied so we may take a copy with us," Dantengzi said.

The envoy arched a brow. "You don't trust the judgment of the Celestial Alliance's investigator?"

Dantengzi replied, "My grandmaster gave me strict instructions before I left. I'm merely fulfilling my sect's mission."

The envoy turned to leave. "But my mission is already complete."

Dantengzi blocked his path. "The sect has the right to request that the Celestial Alliance provide our disciples with the Shadow Linglong recording."

The envoy hesitated for a moment, then said, "The Celestial Alliance also has the right to ask for a handwritten letter from an elder of your sect or higher. Do you have one?"

Dantengzi rubbed his head; he truly did not.

Ran Tinglan, unable to hold back, finally spoke. "The Celestial Alliance has always acted justly. Junior brother, don’t cause unnecessary trouble."

Dantengzi ignored her and said to the envoy, "Then, as the aggrieved party, I request the Shadow Linglong recording from the Celestial Alliance."

The envoy asked, "Are you a relative of the deceased?"

"I’m his friend."

"Then you’ll have to provide proof."

Dantengzi slapped his forehead, then rummaged through his storage pouch, pulling out a pile of oddities—a half-eaten piece of candy, a bowl of congealed porridge, scraps of paper and cuttings—until finally he produced a slip of paper. "This is a letter I once exchanged with Junior Brother Lü Wuji."

Ran Tinglan glanced over. The 'letter' contained only two lines of text, apparently a sword message about a sect task. She couldn't help but sweat. Who exactly was this Dantengzi, to carry even this sort of thing with him? Had he foreseen its usefulness?

The envoy took the letter and glanced at it. "Very well, I’ll take it to the Temple of Appraisal for verification. Wait here for the proof."

Dantengzi stepped forward. "How long will it take?"

But the envoy was already gone, leaving behind a parting remark: "You ask me, whom do I ask?"

Ran Tinglan let out a heavy sigh.

This Dantengzi seemed born to make trouble, and she had wasted several days of cultivation for nothing.

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If she had known it would be like this, she would have come to the Celestial Alliance alone.

...

The recruitment for the guard squad was in full swing in Deer Crane Ravine, but Xu Wenshan had left everything to Afa and Xiaocui to handle while he brought Lu Ze into the mountains.

Before leaving the mountain, he had captured an earth-dragon, leaving it in the mountains to dig irrigation channels. Afterwards, he’d paid it little mind, only occasionally sensing its emotional fluctuations through the unique senses of a demon cultivator.

He and Lu Ze found the earth-dragon halfway up a small mountain amid the range.

The big oaf had proven unexpectedly capable. In the half month since Xu Wenshan went to the county seat, the creature had tunneled through over a dozen mountains and leveled more than twenty peaks. The stretch from the volcanic crater lake to Deer Crane Ravine was now unimpeded.

However, given the steep and rugged terrain, opening the mouth of the lake directly would make it impossible to predict where the water might flow. To channel this precious resource, they would need to build an aqueduct.

Aqueducts, used to transport water at high elevations, have existed since antiquity. The most famous is the Roman Pont du Gard, still depicted on the five-euro note.

Speaking of Rome, Xu Wenshan suddenly remembered that the Romans built their aqueducts for bathhouses, air-conditioned rooms, and banquets, while he was building his simply to have enough to eat—a world of difference.

Since this was a hydraulic engineering project, someone with expertise was needed to oversee it.

Yet, what Xu Wenshan lacked most was talent.

"Has the initial selection for the Deer Crane Guard Squad ended yet? There should still be time to find some worthwhile candidates."

Forming a waterworks team would require labor, too. He wanted to take advantage of the current recruitment wave for the guard squad to recruit some craftsmen. So, Xu Wenshan and Lu Ze hurried to the village in Deer Crane Ravine.

...

More people than expected came to sign up for Xu Wenshan’s guard squad.

Wu Yi stared at the throng of people before him in astonishment—he had never seen so many in one place.

If life weren't so hard, few would willingly become soldiers. Enlisting was like putting one foot in the coffin. Even if you survived, you’d spent years risking your life for others, with little to show for it—giving the authorities your youth for free.

Moreover, the Deer Crane Village Guard wasn't even serving the authorities, but the Xu family. Wu Yi overheard an old woman muttering by the roadside, urging everyone to enlist so they could bleed for the Xus, as if that would bring prosperity to their families. The thought made Wu Yi tremble with rage.

Wu Yi’s own enlistment was partly at the urging of Li Dazhuang.

He admired anyone who could shoot better than himself.

To enlist, one first had to register. This time, there was no registration fee, but the standards were stricter than for joining a competition. The disabled, those with obvious defects, poor eyesight, or bad hearing were all rejected in the first round.

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Though Wu Yi’s circumstances were modest, his body was robust. He quickly completed registration, took the slip handed to him by the Xu family’s maid, and entered the archery range.

Today, the range was closed to the public, used solely for selecting soldiers. Wu Yi had expected tests of strength or archery, but instead someone simply sat before him with a slip of paper and asked questions.

To his surprise, his interviewer was a woman, which made him slightly nervous.

The woman was Xu Jing. Since few people could read, Xu Wenshan had conscripted her to help with the selection and tricked her into assisting.

"I’ll ask you some questions. Just answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as quickly as possible. There are many people after you, so don’t waste their time or mine," she said rapidly.

Before Wu Yi could respond, she asked, "First question: Are you willing to obey orders?"

"Well, that depends on… uh… yes."

Wu Yi broke the rules at first and got a sharp glare, which made him uneasy.

"Second question: Are you loyal to your comrades?"

"Yes."

"Third question: Do you care about your honor?"

...

There were many questions, mostly about discipline, honor, and rules, or indirectly probing his respect for regulations. Not a single one concerned his archery skills.

This left Wu Yi deeply frustrated.

When the questioning ended, the woman wrote a number on his slip and placed it in a box beside her. "Alright, next."

"Can I leave now?"

"Quickly."

"..."

Wu Yi left the archery range, muttering to himself, "That’s it?"

What kind of selection is this, Young Master Xu? Weren’t we supposed to be tested on our strength and skill?