Volume 4: Sword Traces Away Chapter 4: Living (Part 1)

Wang Yushan personally led Zhuang Yi into the door. While walking, he enthusiastically introduced the surrounding buildings to him.

Zhuang Yi knew that this small building in Xiyuan was just a stronghold of the sect. The base camp of the sect would never be in a big city.

There are many such strongholds in Xiping Prefecture. Most of these strongholds will be named like a certain guild hall. I believe that the small building in Xiyuan is no exception.

The base camp of Xiyuan Xiaozhu is on Xiyuan Mountain a hundred miles west of Xiping Prefecture. This is what he has found out these days.

"Brother Wang, this place is so big. Will I practice here in the future?" Zhuang Yi sighed, like a local bun who has never seen the world.

"Of course not." Wang Yushan patted his shoulder to show his intimacy. "Brother, you must be a disciple in blue. As long as you practice hard, you may become a disciple in yellow or even a disciple in red in a few years."

Zhuang Yi blinked his eyes and said in confusion, "What are disciples in blue, disciples in yellow, and disciples in red?"

Wang Yushan was very patient and explained, "The disciples in the sect are divided into two types: one is formal disciple and the other is prepared disciple. Formal disciples can practice in the mountain gate, and preparation disciples can only stay in the villa."

After pausing, "Formal disciples are divided into five levels, wearing white clothes, blue clothes, yellow clothes, red clothes, and purple clothes. White clothes are introductory disciples, and their strength is below the martial arts disciples. Low-grade warriors wear blue clothes, middle-grade warriors wear yellow clothes, and top-grade warriors wear red clothes. As for purple-wear disciples, they are all the most outstanding disciples in the sect. They have to go through numerous assessments, and they must be recommended by two elders to become purple-wear disciples."

As they were talking, the two of them had already arrived at a yard. The yard was quiet. When they pushed it open, they saw that there were people standing inside.

After a quick glance, more than a dozen gazes were concentrated on Zhuang Yi, who was half a step behind, with his eyes full of scrutiny and alert. After seeing his image clearly, most of his gazes became a little disdainful.

"A country bumpkin." This is their voice.

Zhuang Yi was wearing a hunter's outfit today, which looked very simple. As soon as he entered the door, his expression seemed a little cramped. No wonder these people thought so. This was also his purpose specially created.

"Hello, Deacon Wang." More than a dozen people shouted in unison.

Wang Yushan smiled on his face, "Hello, junior brothers." Although he is a deacon, he is only a deacon in the outer garden, and his status is very different from that in the inner deacon. Those who can stay in this yard are at least the disciples in the blue clothes inside the door, and he dare not be entrusted.

"Brother Yi, come with me." Wang Yushan walked through the crowd, walked to the door, and bowed respectfully, "Wang Yushan, the deacon in the outer garden, asks to see his uncle."

"Come in." A calm voice came from inside.

Wang Yushan then opened the door and walked in.

Inside the house, an old man in his sixties looked in black clothes and had a clear appearance. He was sitting in the center with his eyes half-closed.

"Meet Uncle Master." Wang Yushan gave a big gift.

The old man flicked his sleeves and said, "Get up." His eyes suddenly opened. The cold light suddenly shot out.

Zhuang Yi's hair stood up all over his body, and an extremely dangerous feeling rose in his heart. Those eyes seemed to be able to see through everything.

"Uncle Master, his name is Yizhuang, he has passed the test. He is nineteen years old this year and is a low-grade warrior who has just been promoted." Wang Yushan said respectfully on the side.

The gaze withdrew. Zhuang Yi felt a heavy sigh of relief in his heart. As soon as he relaxed, he felt a chill behind him, and he was already wet with sweat.

"Yu Shan, you did a good job. This year, you recruited 17 people with the level of Blue-clothed disciples, and six of them were brought by you. You have made a lot of contributions. Tomorrow, I will come here to receive your rewards. I hope you will continue to help you. You can go ahead." The old man said slowly.

Yu Shan was overjoyed and hurriedly retreated.

In the room, only Zhuang Yi and the old man were left.

"Your name is Yizhuang?" After a while, the old man spoke.

"Yes, uncle." Zhuang Yi said at a loss.

"Uncle Master?" the old man smiled, "It's not too late to call me Uncle Master Master again when you join the sect. I ask you, are you willing to join this sect?"

"Disciple is willing." Zhuang Yi said excitedly. His performance is very consistent with the image of a simple boy.

"Very good." The old man nodded, "Tomorrow, I will take you back to the mountain. Now, you will stand in the yard first. Those people outside will become your fellow brothers. You can get to know them first."

"Yes, the disciple takes his leave." Zhuang Yi slowly retreated and gently covered the door.

In the room, the old man closed his eyes again.

Zhuang Yi turned around, met more than a dozen different gazes, and showed a honest smile.

There were more than a dozen people in the yard, standing in two rows. He walked to the end, imitating their appearance, and stood there.

"My name is Li Xuebin." Standing next to Zhuang Yi was a young man in his early twenties, with a slightly round face and a pair of eyes that were very vivid. When he smiled, he had a dimples on his mouth.

Zhuang Yi didn't expect that he would talk to him on his own initiative. He was stunned for a moment before saying, "My name is Yizhuang."

Li Xuebin looked him up and down a few times, and said with a smile, "Brother Yi is less than 20 years old."

"This year's nineteenth." Zhuang Yi once again showed a honest smile. He practiced this smile in front of the mirror for a long time to reduce others' vigilance.

Li Xuebin's eyes lit up and his eyes narrowed even thinner. "Brothers are less than twenty years old, and they have the strength of warriors, and their future is limitless."

"Brother Li is over the award." Zhuang Yi touched his head embarrassedly.

"From the future, we will be fellow disciples, so we should take more photos of each other." Li Xuebin said, patting his shoulder hard.

Zhuang Yi nodded vigorously.

"I'll introduce it to you." Li Xuebin whispered, "The one next to me is called..." The name and age of everyone present are hard to remember clearly.

Zhuang Yi listened carefully. In the courtyard, including himself, there were eleven men and six women, all around twenty years old. The oldest was twenty-five, a man. The youngest was eighteen, a very thin girl.

The people present were dressed very well and must have a good family background. Zhuang Yi, dressed in a hunter outfit, looked very alternative among the crowd. Except for Li Xuebin, everyone ignored him.

Li Xuebin is a very talkative person and keeps talking to Zhuang Yi in a low voice.

"Li Xuebin, in front of the inspector's house, what are you shouting there?" A fair young man suddenly shouted and shouted.

Zhuang Yi remembered that Li Xuebin told him just now that the person was named Zhou Yugang. From the disgusting expression flashed on Li Xuebin's face, it can be seen that the relationship between the two was not good. Sure enough, Zhou Yugang really spoke up and started to make trouble.

Li Xuebin rolled his eyes and said without any hesitation, "Zhou Yugang, the inspector's elder personally told us to know each other. Didn't you hear that? Brother Yi just arrived, and I was following the elder's instructions. What's wrong with you? What's your intention to obstruct us? Is it because you deliberately destroy the friendship between our brothers?"

"You--" Zhou Yugang was snatched by Li Xuebin, and his face turned red and white. A person next to him quickly grabbed him, fearing that he would lose his mind and started fighting with Li Xuebin in the yard.

Zhou Yugang is not a fool either, so he naturally would not be here. He had a conflict with Li Xuebin and endured it. Finally, he glared at Li Xuebin and Zhuang Yi fiercely - he hated Zhuang Yi too.

This was just a small episode, and Zhuang Yi was watching coldly. He saw the reaction of everyone in the yard. He saw a lot of things.

One afternoon passed quickly, and until evening, no one came to this yard again.

For some reason, the elder in the room did not speak out. Without his instructions, the seventeen young men could only stand there and dared not leave.

Those present can have good talents. Except for Zhuang Yi, almost all of the other sixteen people are from around Pingzhou Prefecture. They have a good family background. However, the martial arts that can be provided by the family are already at the limit of the level of a warrior. If they are at a higher level, they will be powerless.

Only when they had no choice but to join the sect in order to go further in martial arts.

In fact, such people are the most popular targets for sects. Compared with ordinary people who are all empty and white, they have a good foundation. Compared with the people of the big family, their family strength is weak and they have concerns, and they can also guarantee loyalty.

Zhuang Yi saw these information from the information that Mei Zhifang sent him every year, which corresponds to the situation in front of him.

It was not until midnight that the old man's voice came from the room, "You can go back. Come again tomorrow at dawn."

Seventeen people bowed one by one, and slowly retreated out. There were servants waiting there and leading them to the residence. It was a large courtyard, and everyone had their own small room. The hot food was already on the table.

After Zhuang Yi finished eating, he meditated on the bed all night.

Before dawn the next day, Zhuang Yi opened his eyes and finished washing up. Just as he was about to knock on Li Xuebin's door next door, he saw him push the door out of the room.

"It's early, Xiaoyi." Li Xuebin smiled, "I was about to call you, but I didn't expect you to be earlier than me."

"Brother Li is early." Zhuang Yi also smiled.

Just as the two of them were talking, the other doors were pushed open one by one. Then they walked towards the small courtyard yesterday.

I just arrived at the courtyard and there were three people standing there, and I don’t know how long it took to stand there.

Zhuang Yixin said, "These three are really interested."

After a while, it was dawn, and with a "squeak", the door was pushed open and the old man walked out of it.

"Hello elder." The seventeen people gave a mess.

The man led them outwards.

At the entrance of the small building in Xiyuan, a large group of people were waiting there. Zhuang Yi estimated that at least nearly a hundred people, most of them were very young. The leader was a middle-aged man in black.

"Elder Jade." The middle-aged man saluted the old man.

"Deacon He, everyone is here?" the old man said lightly.

"Yes."

"Then, let's go."

ps: The first day of subscription was one-fifth of the previous book. I felt a little discouraged. Alas.
Chapter completed!