“Hahaha. Why didn’t you say so earlier, bro? Look, people are already lining up ahead of you. All we need is one more and we’ll open the path.”
The burly man looked both humiliated and enraged, but didn’t dare to say anything. He stalked over to stand next to the long-faced servant, feeling incredibly depressed. As for the long-faced servant, he already felt a little better, and couldn’t help but feel that he was smarter than this burly fellow.
“That was incredible, Eldest Brother!” Bai Xiaochun said, grinning from ear to ear. Then he looked over excitedly at the other servants who had been following the burly man, but were now standing there looking terrified.
Big Fatty Zhang smiled proudly, then walked back to his place by the entrance, where he sat down again to block the way.
The two Outer Sect disciples exchanged dismayed glances. Compared to what had just happened now, the way Bai Xiaochun and the others had extorted the long-faced servant almost seemed mild and gentle.
“They’re… they’re actually robbing people!!”
“This is robbery!” They were infuriated, but also a little bit jealous, and couldn’t help but wish they had come up with a similar idea back when they had been participating in the trial by fire.
Most conflicted of all were the seven servants who had been following close behind the burly man. As they watched Big Fatty Zhang crushing and beating the burly man, their eyes began to shine with a bright light.
Previously, becoming an Outer Sect disciple had almost seemed like an impossibility. But now… they all of a sudden had hope.
Looking around excitedly at all the people, Bai Xiaochun suddenly cried out in a high-pitched voice: “Ladies and gentlemen, there’s one spot left. How about this, we’ll give it to the highest bidder!”
Immediately, the crowd of people realized what was happening, and the sound of their panting grew even louder.
The looks in their eyes became even stranger, and their hearts filled with all sorts of wild possibilities. Almost immediately, people began crying out bids, making it seem almost like an auction.
“I’ll bid ten spirit stones!”
“Eleven!”
“That spot belongs to me. I’ll bid fifteen spirit stones!”
Bai Xiaochun, Big Fatty Zhang and Third Fatty Hei were instantly elated.
When the two Outer Sect disciples heard what was going on, it was like pouring oil onto a fire. From their perspective, extortion was one thing, and robbery could potentially be overlooked. But to see the situation turning into an auction left their minds spinning. It was so outrageous that waves of shock seemed to batter their hearts. To them, the most villainous among the three wasn’t Big Fatty Zhang, but rather, the seemingly charming and innocent Bai Xiaochun!
“Outrageous! Shameless!” One of them finally gritted his teeth and spun around, eyes bloodshot with either jealousy or fury, he wasn’t sure which, as he went to report the matter to the Honor Guard.
Bai Xiaochun wasn’t actually very pleased with the level of bids being called out. His eyes turned up in thought for a moment, and then he cried out, “Ladies and gentlemen, we need to hurry things up. Otherwise, other servants are going to show up, and then who knows what lengths they’ll go to in order to win!”
In response to his words, the voice of a young woman suddenly called out from further back down the mountain.
“I, Hou Xiaomei, bid thirty spirit stones! I come from a cultivator clan and have tons of money. Let’s see who dares to try to steal my spot!” A pretty young girl huffed and puffed her way up the mountain. She had white skin and a slim frame, and looked quite young.
When Big Fatty Zhang saw the pretty young girl, his eyes went wide. He was just about to say something, but stopped himself and looked over at Bai Xiaochun.
Almost as soon as Hou Xiaomei’s words left her mouth, the rest of the servants were thrown into a huge commotion, calling out increasingly high bids. In the end, she named a price that left the horse-faced youth and the burly man trembling in fear. In fact, they even felt like they had just gotten a huge deal.
Hou Xiaomei strode out from the crowd, her ample chest leading the way. She looked back scornfully at everyone else, then joined the long-faced young man and the burly fellow, who called himself Lord Wolf. Together, they walked up to the final step and then exited the trial by fire.
Behind them, Bai Xiaochun, Big Fatty Zhang and Third Fatty Hei clasped hands and bowed deeply.
“Congratulations, Fellow Daoists. You are the fish who leaped over the dragon gate, you are galloping divine steeds!”
The long-faced servant and the others stood there at the top of the mountain, somewhat in a daze. Although they were now Outer Sect disciples, for some reason, it wasn’t as joyous of an occasion as they had imagined. Then they heard the words uttered by Bai Xiaochun and the others, and the long-faced young man and the burly servant exchanged rueful, bitter glances.
Hou Xiaomei, on the other hand, seemed extremely excited. Her charming face was even a bit flushed.
“I never thought that I, Hou Xiaomei, would ever encounter such luck,” she thought proudly.
—–
As luck would have it, just a few hours before the posting of this chapter, Er Gen released a new official depiction of Hou Xiaomei. Here it is:
http://www.wuxiaworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/hou_xiaomei.jpg
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Chapter
12: On the Bamboo Fence
And thus, the trial by fire concluded. As Hou Xiaomei walked further up the mountain, Big Fatty Zhang looked at her and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“Ah, so fair, so young, so pure….” he said. Then he looked over at Bai Xiaochun, as if he were comparing the two of them. 1
Bai Xiaochun was also staring at Hou Xiaomei as she walked off into the distance, his heart filled with conflicting emotions. Then he heard Big Fatty Zhang, and turned to find him looking at him out of the corner of his eye.
“Hey, what are you looking at!?” he yelled.
Big Fatty Zhang laughed loudly at Bai Xiaochun’s anger, then pulled out the bag of spirit stones and quickly changed the topic.
“Come, come, why don’t we count our spirit stones? We’re rich now! Hahaha! This really was a great idea.”
“What’s the point in counting them?” replied Bai Xiaochun with a cold harrumph. “No matter how many times you do it, it won’t change how many there are.”
“Ninth Junior Brother, you don’t understand. What you’re looking at is just spirit stones, but what you’re counting is… life.” Big Fatty Zhang rarely spoke of the profundities of life. To hear him speak in such a way left Bai Xiaochun shocked. He took the bag and tried to count the spirit stones the way Big Fatty Zhang would, but quickly got bored and handed the bag back.
It was at about this time that glittering light rose up along the trial by fire path. Everyone’s vision swam, and when it became clear again, they were back at the bottom of the mountain.
When the middle-aged Honor Guard who was in charge of the trial by fire saw Bai Xiaochun and the others, a strange expression appeared on his face. After a moment, he shook his head and ignored them. As far as he was concerned, the sect would have to figure out what to do with the Ovens.
Bai Xiaochun and the others were nervous, but seeing that there were no immediate repercussions, they exchanged glances, cleared their throats, and quickly headed back to the Ovens.
Big Fatty Zhang kept counting the spirit stones over and over again, all the way until they were back at the Ovens. The other fatties soon returned, also elated. Everyone exchanged glances, and then looked extremely proud of themselves.