Volume 4, Chapter 1 – Ticket Slip

In early June, the summer cicadas were just beginning to sing.

In Maozhou, on Zhen’nan Road, Liu Yong got up very early today.

He first went out to the crossroads to draw water from the new well, carrying back a few loads of fresh water on his shoulder pole. On the way he passed the early-morning market and bought some flatbreads at Second Uncle Liu’s stall, an old acquaintance.

Second Uncle Liu, like Liu Yong, had also fled from Chilong Road. He had been luckier, though; he still had a son and a daughter left in his family. After the three of them moved into Zhen’nan, they re-registered their household, decided they could not just sit there living off their savings, and bought equipment to open a baked flatbread stall.

Since they all lived nearby, Second Uncle Liu knew Liu Yong. As he handed the flatbreads over, he smiled and said, “I heard people say the other day that the folks up on the mountain chose you, and you’re planning to go take the assessment?”

Liu Yong forced a smile onto his face. “Where would they get that from, Second Uncle, don’t flatter me. This matter… I haven’t even got the first stroke written yet…”

”Goodness, just missing that one last stroke, huh!” Second Uncle Liu heard another layer of meaning and his smile grew even brighter as he added two thick meat-filled flatbreads into the paper bag.

”Take it!” He shoved the flatbreads into Liu Yong’s hands. “We’re at least neighbors on the same street. If you really make it, this whole street will be hanging red lanterns!”

Liu Yong could not resist his enthusiasm and had no choice but to accept the flatbreads. On the way back with the water, he kept thinking about the scene Second Uncle had described, and his heart felt sweet and hot. A smile appeared on his face without him realizing.

”Hey, Brother Yong!” Someone suddenly darted out from the side. “Which girl have you got your eye on? You’re grinning so sleazily!”

”Get lost!” Liu Yong kicked at him, watching as the other boy dodged nimbly. He cursed, “You laze in bed every day, and when you see me hauling water you don’t even think to lend a hand!”

The newcomer was Dongzi. The two of them only bickered like this every day. In truth, Liu Yong knew very well in his heart that the reason Dongzi could not get up in the mornings was because he stayed up all night working jobs, trying to earn money for him.

As for why he wanted to help him earn money, that was a long story.

Even now, when Liu Yong thought back on those days, he still felt a bit dazed in his mind. He still did not quite dare to believe that such an opportunity had fallen straight onto his head.

”Brother Yong.” Dongzi took the buckets from Liu Yong and, as they walked, asked, “Today’s the day, right? Give it to me straight. Do you have any confidence at all in passing?”

”It is one thing if outsiders do not believe me, but you too.” Liu Yong’s face darkened a little. “Have you not seen me here practicing sword day and night?”

”Aren’t those all fake moves?” Dongzi looked both confused and shocked. “I’ve seen the disciples on the mountain drill their sword forms. Compared with theirs, yours are just for playing around!”

With him saying that, Liu Yong’s face grew even darker. Yet he could not really argue back, because Dongzi was right.

He really had to admit that the few sword moves he practiced were fake forms, all ones he had figured out by himself.

And those two iron-strip swords that had been left to him had lost their miracle after that night. No matter how he held them against his chest to “nurture” them, no mysterious airflow ever poured into his body again.

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He had originally thought they might have seen some kind of potential in him in that aspect, so these past few days Liu Yong had kept studying and practicing, trying to figure out how to squeeze more airflow out of the iron-strip swords.

But to this day there had been no progress at all, and with the day of examination almost upon him, he could not help feeling uneasy.

”There is a lot to handle on the mountain. The plaza needs repairs, new pavilions need to be built. We really do not have the extra time and energy to keep looking after you.”

The scene from that time flashed unconsciously before his eyes. It had been a lively young girl in a light blue old-style dress who came to inform him.

”Do not blame us for being heartless. Considering you really did help us, we have taken you in for quite a while, let you hide here and recover, and fed you plenty of precious medicinal dishes.”

”And we still have this for you…”

”Here, this is a ticket for the next time the dao field opens the mountain.”

”When the time comes, bring the ticket up here and properly go through all the procedures. Only then can we truly keep you here to cultivate.”

A ticket, huh…

Thinking of the letter tucked into the crack in his bed board, Liu Yong felt a heat rise in his chest.

The Shenming Sword Dao’s opening invitation, also called a ticket or an apprenticeship post. He figured there was nothing in all of Maozhou more precious than this.

Among the common folk in Maozhou, only rumors of the “March Tribulation Lotus” were circulating. Even so, rich people from other regions had come running, offering sky-high prices in the tens of millions to buy a ticket.

In this matter, Liu Yong had personally seen, at close range, the person who had faced the Tribulation Lotus. He had a direct and vivid experience of that sea of lightning in the sky, of that terrifying power that could make heaven and earth tremble and submit. Because of that, he had always looked down on those offers and had never considered selling the ticket.

Money?

What was that bit of money compared to the temptation of stepping into the extraordinary.

Liu Yong truly did not know much of the world, but he believed in the judgment of the rich.

If even rich people were willing to spend huge sums to buy something, its value had to be beyond the money itself.

It was just that these months of practice had shown almost no results, and it had indeed shaken his confidence.

The Shenming Sword Dao said he had helped them, so they gave him this thing. Essentially, they were giving him a chance to compete fairly with everyone else.

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Most likely it only meant he had the right to go up to that mountain gate plaza again. “Going through the procedures” probably meant taking all those tests together with the others.

But he did not seem to have any special skills he could show off…

This was why, even after the news leaked out, Liu Yong still felt both happy and anxious. He held onto a sliver of hope that he might be allowed to cultivate there without taking the tests, yet he feared this was only his own wishful thinking, so he felt restless and uneasy.

In the end, he simply lacked any real abilities to rely on.

He let out a sigh.

If I had been born with talent, how would I have spent these days enduring such torment.

When they got back to the courtyard gate, they saw a new notice pasted on the wall saying that the water would probably come on around three in the afternoon. Liu Yong shook his head and simply had Dongzi boil the water thoroughly. The two of them used the hot water to give themselves a good wash.

It was still a kind of interview, after all. They had to clean themselves up a bit so they would not put people off the moment they got close.

In the meantime, Aunt Wang from next door and Uncle Chen from across the way came knocking, asking over and over if it was “really true he did not have a ticket.” After they got his confirmation, they still kept staring at him with suspicious eyes until Liu Yong’s scalp tingled under their gaze.

These gossiping busybodies. Who knew if they would go outside and spread rumors.

Still, the mountain gate would open at nine, and even if they wanted to stir up trouble, there would not be time. Liu Yong could not be bothered to bother with them.

So after eating and washing up, Liu Yong and Dongzi changed into newly bought shirts and loose jeans. A little after seven, they slipped out the door, hailed a taxi, and headed toward the foot of the mountain.

The driver was very chatty. While the road was packed with traffic, he kept sharing with the two of them the little bits of inside news he had heard. That was probably because he saw the long bag on Liu Yong’s back and guessed he was also a sword disciple candidate going to the exam.

There was no need to hesitate about that. In early June, Shenming Peak was throwing open its mountain gate to recruit new disciples. This was big news known in every household throughout Maozhou and the surrounding areas. Most of the people stuck in this traffic were families rushing their children to the exams.

”I am telling you, a conservative estimate is that there will be more than ten thousand people trying to get here for the test today!”

”Yeah! That is right! It would already be pretty good if a fifth of them even have tickets. But people still come! Everyone wants to try their luck!”

”After all, what if? Who can say with things like this? What if an immortal checks your spiritual roots on the spot? That would be a blessing you could not find in several lifetimes…!”

”My kid at home, if he were not such a good-for-nothing, I would drag him over to get checked too…”

This level of excitement seemed even greater than they had imagined.

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The two young men in the back seat looked at each other, and each could see the nervousness and unease on the other’s face.

”Sir.” Dongzi, always quick with his tongue, was the first to ask the driver, “Do you know which way people with tickets are supposed to go?”

”Got a ticket?” The driver froze, then finally turned his head to give the two of them a proper look.

They were dressed head to toe in cheap clothes.

Deciding there was no way these two could have a ticket, the driver let out a snort. “There will be guards posted at the foot of the mountain. Only people with tickets get let through. If you do not have one, you can cry yourself to death and you still will not get up there!”

Liu Yong hurried to ask, “What about after you get up the mountain?”

”Ha! You really asked the right person. There are not that many old hands around here like me. I just happened to drive someone up before. Supposedly there is a whole series of exam tasks.”

”Oh, right!” The driver suddenly remembered. “There is even a written culture test among them!”

A culture test too?

The two of them felt their hearts go weak.

It was bad enough having a martial test. There was a written one on top of that.

After the disaster, neither of them had gone back to school. What they had learned before had long been forgotten.

Dongzi especially leaned over and whispered to Liu Yong, “I am saying, Brother Yong… are you really confident? If you are not, then do not take the exam. Why do we not just sell the ticket instead?”

With those shifty little eyes of his, it was obvious he did not believe Liu Yong could pass.

The driver must have caught a few words, because he raised his voice again and boasted to them, “Listen. It is only that my kid has no talent, but if I ever managed to get my hands on a ticket, I probably could not resist it either. I would sell it right at the gate!”

Liu Yong frowned. “Sell tickets at the gate?”

”Do not believe me?” The driver raised his brows. “There will be plenty of people at the gate who cannot get up the mountain, and quite a few wealthy families among them. You think no one will be begging for tickets on the spot?”

Liu Yong’s brows furrowed even deeper. “And there really are people who sell?”

”Of course. Why not? Some tickets are brought home by the kids, but it is still the family that takes them there. A bit of talking and persuasion on the spot and the kid decides not to study. Trading the ticket for cash is not such a bad deal.”

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The driver really did see things clearly.

Liu Yong did the math in his head and could understand those families’ choices.

To put it bluntly, the ticket was only a chance to take the exam. Whether it worked out still depended on the child’s performance, so the returns were really unstable.

By comparison, the rich people begging for tickets were offering solid cash, something that counted the moment it landed in your hands. After carefully weighing that account, he knew there would not be just a few families choosing to sell.

It was just that, in that kind of situation…

He went on to ask, “The people on the mountain do not interfere?”

The driver shook his head. “They do not.”

”Why not?”

”Who would dare interfere?” The driver looked back at them in surprise. “Getting between people and their money could get someone killed if it blows up!”

The way he put it…

Yet was this chance to make money, the ticket itself, not granted by the Shenming Sword Dao?

They had the right to take it back. Would those people really dare to have opinions?

On some level, Liu Yong did not want this kind of thing to happen. It was as if someone had deliberately pointed out an escape route for him, and his heart grew a bit restless as he started to hesitate over whether he should sell the ticket for money.

For the Shenming Sword Dao not to interfere was giving everyone full freedom of choice, but if you thought about it carefully, was it not also a kind of arrogance.

Liu Yong knew this was not something he could blame them for. Leaving aside that a Mountain-and-River level dao field was entitled to that level of arrogance, just thinking of the favors Lord Shenming had already bestowed upon everyone meant there was certainly no reason to resent anything.

The driver was still chattering away in front, but Liu Yong’s thoughts had floated off, as if he could see two different futures unfolding before him.

After being stuck in traffic for nearly two hours, they finally arrived at Shenming Mountain.