Gatekeeper of Myriad Worlds Chapter 219

The surroundings gradually cleared up.

The white walls were covered in dirty black ash, the house was dilapidated, and in some places, even the tiles were missing.

It had recently rained, and stepping on the ground in the courtyard immediately covered one’s feet in mud.

In the dilapidated courtyard, a large wooden sign leaned against the wall, with two words written on it:

“Conscription.”

A fat-headed, big-eared man sat behind a desk, dressed in an official’s uniform, covered in sweat.

“Hurry up, all of you!”

He shouted impatiently, and casually threw a wooden stick to the skinny man opposite the table, waving him away.

The stick had two words written on it:

“Forced labor.”

The skinny man took the stick, cried a few times, but had no choice but to turn and leave.

The fat man adjusted his official hat, glared, and yelled:

“Come up one by one for me to see, hurry up, don’t waste my time!”

Everyone looked at each other in dismay.

However, before anyone stepped forward, the fat official’s tone changed, and he said with a smile:

“My dear young lady, how did you end up here too?”

“Come, come, let me have a good look. Perhaps I will be benevolent and spare you this duty.”

Everyone followed his gaze.

—It was Xiao Mengyu.

There was no helping it, a girl like her, at the most beautiful time of her youth, with an unparalleled beauty, stood out in the crowd like a banished immortal fallen to the mortal world, too eye-catching.

Xiao Mengyu’s lips curved slightly, and she truly walked forward, standing before the tall desk.

“Name?”

“Xiao Mengyu.”

“Do you have any other talents?”

“Yes.”

“Come, follow me into the room, I will personally test your talents.”

Clang!

A long sword flashed, and the official uniform and clothes on the man were instantly cut in two, revealing his chest.

The sword was pointed at his heart.

The man started to shout, but was interrupted by Xiao Mengyu:

“Don’t shout—if you shout, I’ll gently thrust the sword, and it will pierce your heart, and you’ll die.”

Beads of sweat dripped down the man’s face, full of terror, and he nodded repeatedly.

“Do you think I should be a forced laborer?”

Xiao Mengyu asked. The man quickly shook his head.

“Still want to test my talents?” Xiao Mengyu’s voice became even softer.

The man dared not move his body, but his head shook even more vigorously.

He picked up another bundle of wooden sticks from the table, pulled one out, and threw it to Xiao Mengyu.

Everyone looked closely, only to see two words written on the wooden stick:

“Soldier.”

There were only two types of wooden sticks on the table: one for “forced labor” and the other for “soldier.”

—In short, Xiao Mengyu had already escaped the status of a forced laborer.

She picked up the “Soldier” stick from the table and said with a playful smile, “If I see you making trouble for any woman, I will kill you, no matter what official you are, do you understand?”

The man nodded again.

Xiao Mengyu then kept the stick and turned to walk out of the courtyard.

It was only then that the man let out a cry and scrambled into the house behind him.

The students all began to discuss.

Nangong Sirui, however, glanced at Shen Ye and asked, “Are you going to pass the test the same way later?”

“I don’t know,” Shen Ye said.

“Hmph, if it were me, I’d just kill that guy. That way, becoming a notorious bandit would be a kind of fun,” Nangong Sirui said.

—Teacher Dong required them to escape the status of forced laborers, so killing an official would naturally not make them forced laborers.

“You kill him and show me,” Shen Ye pointed ahead.

Nangong Sirui looked over and saw another official coming out of the house and sitting at the desk.

“Alright, let’s continue. Next one up.”

The official said with a grim expression.

Zhang Xiaoyi stepped forward.

“Forced labor, get out.” The official directly threw a wooden stick.

“Look closely, I shouldn’t be a forced laborer, right?” Zhang Xiaoyi smiled and placed an object on the table.

Everyone looked and saw a silver ingot.

Who knew where he got this silver ingot from!

The official immediately smiled and nodded repeatedly: “You’re a promising individual, come, take this instead, go!”

He withdrew the “forced labor” stick and gently placed the “soldier” stick on the table.

“Thank you, sir!”

Zhang Xiaoyi took the wooden stick and turned to leave.

“Hey, what are you doing, bribing him?” Guo Yunye grabbed him and said angrily.

Zhang Xiaoyi whispered something in his ear, then walked out of the courtyard.

Guo Yunye was stunned, no longer angry, and a smile even appeared on his face.

When someone asked him, he quietly said:

“The official actually had these silver ingots on him. Ah Yi took his silver and then used it to bribe him back.”

The official on the other side shouted again:

“Next!”

This time it was Shen Ye’s turn.

Shen Ye walked up and stood behind the table, asking directly:

“Can I choose to be a soldier by paying money?”

“Nonsense!” The official glared at him, “That kid looked shifty-eyed, how can you compare to him?”

A wooden stick was thrown over.

A soldier’s stick.

“I see you wear a longsword at your waist, and have an imposing demeanor. You must be a good hand at fighting on the battlefield—go!” the official said.

Everyone looked at each other in dismay.

Shen Ye was a little confused too.

But since he had passed—

He picked up the soldier’s stick, bowed to the official, and turned to walk out of the courtyard.

“I see,” Nangong Sirui whispered, “you have a sword at your waist. In this era, how can ordinary people afford such a sword? And Xiao Mengyu just made a move, so the official is afraid that you have another identity and that he will suffer if there’s trouble.”

Everyone suddenly understood.

Only Shen Ye lowered his head and walked silently forward.

A faint light appeared, gathering into small characters:

83中文网最新地址

“Today’s ‘heist’ has been consumed.”

“—Without any cost, you have officially become a soldier.”

Okay.

… That works too.

Outside the courtyard.

Xiao Mengyu and Zhang Xiaoyi were waiting.

“Huh? According to Teacher Dong’s requirements, you’ve already escaped the status of forced labor, so you should be able to leave class now,” Shen Ye asked.

Hearing this, the two of them pointed at the ground.

Shen Ye looked down and saw a line of words written on the ground:

“Escaping forced labor is only the minimum requirement, barely reaching 60 points for the class. You need to continue to find ways to obtain a higher status.”

…Well, let’s wait a bit longer then.

“When did you steal that official’s silver?” Shen Ye asked curiously.

“When you guys were queuing up there, I slipped out of the courtyard, circled around, and just happened to see someone bribing that official at the back door. While he went in to drink tea, I casually pocketed an ingot.” Zhang Xiaoyi said.

“Gathering intelligence as soon as you arrive, impressive!” Shen Ye gave him a thumbs up.

A while later.

The students passed the test one after another.

Only a very few students didn’t succeed, and Guo Yunye was one of them.

Zhang Xiaoyi grew anxious, stepped forward, grabbed Guo Yunye’s collar, and shouted:

“Hey, what’s wrong with you? If it doesn’t work, just beat him up.”

Guo Yunye was somewhat ashamed and said with his head down:

“I didn’t perform well.”

Shen Ye also found it strange, and then saw Zhou Heng coming out of the courtyard—

He seemed to be behind Guo Yunye in line.

“Zhou Heng, I’m just asking, why didn’t Yunye pass?” Shen Ye asked.

Zhou Heng shook his head and said, “He heard that forced laborers get unlimited food every day, can eat as much as they want, so he hesitated and didn’t perform well.”

Everyone looked at Guo Yunye.

“No, that’s not it, I really didn’t perform well,” Guo Yunye quickly waved his hands.

Nangong Sirui fanned himself and leisurely said:

“Forced laborers don’t get meat, soldiers do.”

Guo Yunye let out an “ah” and looked up, his face full of regret.

—You just want to eat!

Everyone thought to themselves.

Soon, the forced laborers were left behind, and the others were told to ascend the mountain.

Everyone set off.

After about a quarter of an hour’s walk.

“Hey, are you the new recruits for this batch?”

Someone shouted loudly.

Following the sound—

Beside the hillside, several soldiers surrounded a man dressed as an officer, looking over this way.

Everyone looked at each other.

“Ow! Who kicked me!”

Zhang Xiaoyi cried out, stumbling and jumping out of the line.

Those people immediately looked at Zhang Xiaoyi.

Zhang Xiaoyi had no choice but to step forward and say:

“Yes, we are the new recruits for this batch.”

The officer gazed at him, then nodded and said, “You’re a hardworking fellow, so you’ll be a sapper—here, take your tools directly and report to the excavation site on the mountain.”

Zhang Xiaoyi looked bitter.

If only he had known—

Why did he have to stick his neck out and be a squad leader?

“Hurry up, or you’ll face military law!”

The soldier beside the officer shouted.

Zhang Xiaoyi had no choice but to go.

“Come up one by one, I’ll assign your duties according to your abilities,” the officer said again.

Nangong Sirui stepped forward, being the first to volunteer.

He threw a jade pendant to the other party.

The officer looked at it and nodded, “A disciple of the Nangong family? If I asked you to mine tomorrow, I wouldn’t have a job either—you go wait in the pavilion over there.”

Everyone gasped in unison.

This was thousands of years ago!

In other words, thousands of years ago, the Nangong family was already a prominent family of that era!

Nangong Sirui said nothing, simply bowed his hands to the official, and gracefully walked to the pavilion opposite, fanning himself while sipping a cup of tea.

“Next!”

The officer shouted.

All the students looked at Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu.

These were the top three in the exam!

Xiao Mengyu was the first to step forward, bowing her hands in greeting and saying:

“Reporting, sir, I am skilled in swordsmanship.”

“Oh?” The officer became interested, “Have a spar with my personal guard and see.”

A soldier holding a long spear stepped out.

Xiao Mengyu met him with her sword.

“Begin!”

The long spear thrust forward.

Xiao Mengyu parried with a swing of her sword, stepped forward, and lightly extended her sword, placing it against her opponent’s neck.

Effortless.

“Thank you for the match,” Xiao Mengyu retracted her sword.

The officer clapped his hands in admiration and said, “Simplifying the complex? Your swordsmanship has already reached a high level. Take this waist token and wait in the pavilion over there!”

“Yes!” Xiao Mengyu took the waist token and lingered as she walked.

She stole a glance at Shen Ye.

Shen Ye had no choice but to step forward, bowing and saying:

“Sir—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the officer interrupted him:

“Mmm, I observe that you are handsome, exceptional, remarkably talented, dignified, and of unparalleled elegance. You may go,” the officer waved his hand.

Dead silence.

The students looked at each other in dismay, all momentarily stunned.

This—

This was actually possible???