Assessment (2)

To everyone's surprise, Xiao Zongting actually began praising Duan Rong, and their expressions instantly froze.

Duan Rong stood up, and Xiao Zongting walked over.

He reached out and squeezed Duan Rong's shoulders, elbows, waist, and hips, then nodded slightly before turning to Zhao Mu. "The two over there can leave."

At his words, Zhao Mu walked up to Zhang Zheng and Li Chong. "You two weren't selected. Go."

Though they had been mentally prepared, their faces still turned ugly when Zhao Mu announced it.

Kong Bin secretly let out a breath of relief.

Zhang Zheng's expression shifted. He rose to his feet and walked out of the courtyard.

Li Chong, however, stood there in a daze. Like a soulless wooden puppet, he slumped onto the ground...

But no one present paid him any more attention...

Xiao Zongting suddenly said to the standing Duan Rong and Kong Bin, "You two, go to the courtyard next door and draw two buckets of water from the well."

Neither Duan Rong nor Kong Bin understood what Xiao Zongting intended, but they did not dare ask. They picked up the wooden buckets from the woodshed and went to the well in the neighboring courtyard to fetch water.

"You too. Find two burlap sacks and soak them thoroughly in cold water," Xiao Zongting ordered Zhao Mu at his side.

Zhao Mu immediately found two burlap sacks in the woodshed and left the courtyard.

Before long, all three returned to the woodshed courtyard and stood before Xiao Zongting.

"You two, take off your clothes!" Xiao Zongting said coldly as he looked at Duan Rong and Kong Bin.

"Ah... take them..." Duan Rong and Kong Bin both thought they had misheard.

"What are you ah-ing for? Take off your clothes! Can't you understand?" Anger appeared on Xiao Zongting's face.

Duan Rong and Kong Bin promptly took the hint and stripped off their clothes.

Both wore the standard brown short outfits of Menial Disciples. After taking them off, they were left wearing only short underpants reaching the roots of their thighs. Like quails, they stood there hugging their arms.

Though it was early March, Qing Province still suffered from the lingering chill of spring. Especially in the morning, a light breeze could still cut cold straight to the bone.

Even two young men shivered as they stood there bare-chested...

Catching them off guard, Xiao Zongting picked up the two buckets they had brought back and dumped them over their heads.

Well water on a March morning was bone-piercingly cold. Doused from head to toe, both men cried out and jumped, trembling all over as they immediately hunched their shoulders and squatted down.

When the cold water poured over his head, Duan Rong felt as if the crown of his skull had been ripped off. Goosebumps erupted across his entire body, while his teeth clattered nonstop as though possessed.

"Get up! Stand straight!" Xiao Zongting roared like an enraged old lion.

While cursing Xiao Zongting's perversity in their hearts, Duan Rong and Kong Bin still got back up.

A cold breeze swept through the courtyard. Their lips had already turned purple, and snot dripped from their noses like hanging icicles.

Xiao Zongting glanced at Zhao Mu. "Drape the soaked burlap sacks over them!"

At his words, Zhao Mu slung the cold-water-soaked burlap sacks, dripping wet, over their shoulders.

Both men hunched their shoulders and tried to dodge...

"This is an assessment! If you don't want to be selected as apprentices, then get the hell out now! Don't stand here making a spectacle of yourselves!" Xiao Zongting cursed, glaring at them.

Left with no choice, Duan Rong and Kong Bin let Zhao Mu lay the dripping sacks over their shoulders. At once, they felt a dense, chilling cold seep through their backs and into their bones and flesh.

"Now start standing the Hun Yuan Stance. One hour. Whoever can dry the burlap sack counts as qualified. Whoever can't, gets the hell out!"

"Ah..." The two were stunned. They had never imagined one could stand a stance like this.

After saying that, Xiao Zongting turned around and went to sit against the wall on the Stone Steps by the courtyard entrance, stuffing shredded tobacco into his pipe bowl.

Zhao Mu immediately struck flint to light a branch and used it to light Xiao Zongting's pipe.

By the time Xiao Zongting took his first puff, Duan Rong and Kong Bin had already begun their stances.

This was an assessment, after all. If they failed, they would have to go back to being Menial Disciples.

Neither dared slack off.

Just moments ago, they had been cursing Xiao Zongting for being perverse in their hearts. Now that they knew it was part of the assessment, even those curses ceased.

Bare-bodied save for their short underpants, both began the Hun Yuan Stance, though their entire bodies still shook uncontrollably...

They stood there shivering, legs bent in a horse stance, hands held before their chests in an empty embrace. Soaked from head to toe and draped in burlap sacks, they looked less like martial artists than some sort of performance art to anyone unaware of what was happening.

Yet after only the time it took an incense stick to burn, faint white vapor had begun rising from Duan Rong's head. Kong Bin had also stopped shivering, and the pallor had faded from his face.

Their stance practice was producing results. The chill around their bodies gradually dispersed, and they slowly began to warm up.

Only the cold, yin chill on their backs was too heavy for the heat to reach...

As Duan Rong stood with his eyes closed, his mind kept turning as well.

He realized that he could actually understand Xiao Zongting's intentions.

It was like in his previous life: if one had mastered a subject well enough, one could even grasp the examiner's intent in the examination hall.

First, they had been made to perform a set of forms, and he had tested their moves personally.

That had assessed their ability to comprehend Martial Arts moves, as well as whether they could properly combine methods of exerting force with the routines of those moves. It tested their understanding of the art of combat.

And now, making him and Kong Bin stand bare-bodied in a stance was to see whether their bones and blood qi could nurture strength.

If they could dry the wet burlap sacks, it proved that their stance practice was effective.

If it was effective, it meant the expenditure was great. And with great expenditure, they could nurture strength.

One was innate physique and blood qi; the other was comprehension.

Only by passing both could one become an apprentice. Neither could be lacking.

As the saying went, strength and skill were like a bird's two wings, a cart's two wheels—neither could be absent, and neither could be neglected.

The two stood like that for a full hour. Once the well water on their bodies had dried, it turned into sweat instead...

An hour later, heat steamed from their entire bodies. Xiao Zongting took a deep final drag from his pipe, and the bowl glowed bright for a moment before going dark.

Leaning against the wall, Xiao Zongting narrowed his eyes in enjoyment as smoke slowly drifted from his nostrils. Only after a long while did he open his eyes and sweep a bright gaze over the two men.

Xiao Zongting sat up, knocked the leftover ash from his pipe bowl onto the steps, then rose and walked behind Duan Rong and Kong Bin.

Stopping behind Kong Bin, Xiao Zongting reached out and felt the burlap sack on him. Although it had dried, a faint trace of dampness could still clearly be felt.

Xiao Zongting wrinkled his nose and snorted coldly. "Barely passes."

Hearing those words, Kong Bin felt as though he had been granted amnesty. He had passed the assessment.

Xiao Zongting moved behind Duan Rong and felt the burlap sack on him. Smiling, he said, "Not bad. This one is completely dry."

With his hands behind his back, Xiao Zongting walked over to Zhao Mu and instructed, "These two will do. Arrange lodgings for them later, then bring them to my courtyard."

"Yes, Old Xiao," Zhao Mu replied respectfully.

"You taught them fairly well," Xiao Zongting said blandly. Then he walked out, his gaze brushing over Duan Rong as if by chance.

Zhao Mu froze for a moment, then immediately beamed with delight.

With Xiao Zongting saying he had taught them fairly well, his probationary appointment becoming permanent this year was practically guaranteed.

Zhao Mu looked happily at Duan Rong and thought, This kid really seems to have talent. Even Old Xiao likes him.

When I was promoted to apprentice back then, Old Xiao wore nothing but a sour face. People really can't be compared.

"You have half an incense stick's time! Go back and pack your things. Let your respective supervisors know as well, then return here. I'll take you to the Middle Courtyard."

Duan Rong and Kong Bin were both overjoyed and turned to leave the courtyard.

"Put your clothes on first! Go out like that, and the guards will spear you!"

Only after Zhao Mu's reminder did they remember they were still bare-chested.

The two, who had once been rather at odds, exchanged smiles. Only then did they pick up their clothes and put them on as they walked.

Half an incense stick's time was rather tight, especially for Duan Rong. The Horse Stable was still some distance from this woodshed.

He still had to pack up his dormitory and notify Old Sun at the Horse Stable. Time was pressing!

The moment Duan Rong left the courtyard, he broke into a mad sprint.

Kong Bin's usually cold, stern face was filled with a joyful smile. Just as he stepped out of the courtyard, Zhang Zheng hurried over and asked, "Bin-ge, you got selected, right?"

Kong Bin nodded.

"Bin-ge, I knew you could do it." Zhang Zheng cried out, clenching his fists.

Kong Bin patted Zhang Zheng's shoulder. "Don't worry, Zhang Zheng. We're brothers for life. What's mine is yours."

Zhang Zheng nodded with a hum, then asked, "Did Duan Rong get selected too?"

A trace of gravity passed over Kong Bin's joyful face. Not only had Duan Rong been selected, but Old Xiao's evaluation of him had clearly been far higher than his own.

"Yes, he got selected too."

"That kid is someone worth reckoning with. At first he was inconspicuous, but right before the assessment, he suddenly rose to prominence. And even when we drugged him, he saw through it and turned our own scheme against us." Zhang Zheng paused, then said, "Bin-ge, I think with someone like him, rather than making an enemy, we'd be better off making friends."

Kong Bin sighed. A thoughtful look flashed through his eyes. "We'll talk about him later."