Chapter 44 – Sword Servant Pagoda (1/2)
In the stone house, Yang Ye, his younger sister, and his mother sat before a dining table made of rock. There were three dishes and a bowl of soup on the table. All three dishes were meat dishes, and they were all dishes that Yang Ye really lowed to eat. Especially that plate of sweet and sour pork at the center, and it wasn’t just his favorite, it was Little Yao’s favorite as well.
Even though both of them really loved to eat sweet and sour pork, unless it was an important occasion, they would utterly not have the chance to eat it. Because eating meat was an extremely extravagant thing for their family.
“Big Brother, have some!” Little Yao clamped a piece of sweet and sour pork before placing it on Yang Ye’s bowl, and then she clamped one onto the woman’s bowl. In the end, she clamped a piece for herself. However, she didn’t eat it, and she stretched out her little tongue to lightly lick the sweet and sour pork, and then she revealed an intoxicated expression.
“Child, quickly eat, there’s still a lot on the plate!” The woman stretched out her hand to rub Little Yao’s head while she spoke in a gentle voice.
On the other hand, Yang Ye felt like there was a lump in his throat, and a strand of self-blame and guilt surged into his heart. If I was capable, then Little Yao and mother wouldn’t have to suffer such hards.h.i.+ps. If I was capable, then Little Yao and mother wouldn’t be bullied by the Liu Clan. As the only man in this family, I made my younger sister and mother suffer such injustice. I’m so useless!
“Big Brother, quickly have some. You look so thin, so eat a few pieces of sweet and sour pork to replenish your strength!” Meanwhile, Little Yao clamped another piece of pork and placed it on Yang Ye’s bowl as she spoke.
“Exactly!” The woman gazed at Yang Ye with a loving expression and said, “You’ve probably suffered a lot of hards.h.i.+ps in the Sword Sect, so eat a bit more.” As she spoke, she clamped a piece of pork and placed it in Yang Ye’s bowl.
Yang Ye’s tears couldn’t help but slowly seep out when he heard this. He picked up the chopstick and forced out a smile before he clamped up a piece of pork and started to eat.
The woman smiled when she saw Yang Ye eating. However, she didn’t eat herself. She just gazed at Yang Ye before gazing at Little Yao for a while, and then she revealed a gratified expression in her eyes.
In next to no time, Yang Ye finished the sweet and sour pork in his bowl. After that, he raised his head to look at the woman and Little Yao with an extremely calm expression, and there were no more fluctuations of emotion on his face any longer.
“Big Brother, don’t look at Yao’er like that, Yao’er is slightly nervous!” Little Yao seemed to be slightly afraid when she was stared at by Yang Ye’s emotionless eyes, and she spoke timidly.
“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?” When she noticed that there seemed to be something wrong with Yang Ye, the woman hurriedly stood up and spoke with concern.
Yang Ye didn’t speak, and he just glanced deeply at the woman and Little Yao, and then he closed his eyes slightly. In the next moment, sword qi flashed through the surroundings, and then two strands of blood sprayed onto the ground. At the same time, Yang Ye felt the scene before him shatter while his mind felt slightly dizzy.
After a few breaths of time, Yang Ye opened his eyes. The people in the surroundings, Exam Peak, the blue ring, and everything else that was familiar to him appeared within his field of vision. He took a deep breath and paid no attention to the few thousands of gazes towards him as he walked directly to Elder Qian, and then he cupped his fists towards Elder Qian before walking to the side and remaining silent.
Elder Qian heaved a sigh of relief in his heart. Even though he didn’t know what Yang Ye had encountered in the illusion, based on Yang Ye’s display, Yang Ye had stayed true to his heart and hadn’t gotten lost within it.
But why didn’t he choose to awaken right away? After thinking for a moment, Elder Qian stopped thinking about it because no matter what, it was fine so long as Yang Ye pa.s.sed.
“Rest on the spot for an hour. The next stage will be a test of strength!” said Elder Qian.
When they heard him, all of them didn’t dare object nor did they dare cry about asking for Yang Ye’s elimination. All of them sat cross-legged on the ground, and they held the Energy Stones distributed by the Sword Sect as they recovered the Profound Energy within their bodies.
Jiang Yuan who was not too far away from Yang Ye glanced at the incense stick that had just finished burning, and then he glanced at Yang Ye who remained silent. After that, he grunted coldly while deep disdain floated up into his eyes. Earlier, he’d thought Yang Ye was an extraordinary figure, yet never had he imagined that Yang Ye was an outer court disciple that had been reduced to a Labor Disciple. When he thought about how he’d offended an outer court elder because of this Labor Disciple, Jiang Yuan felt extremely unhappy in his heart!
“I hope you’ll be able to persist until the top 10!” Jiang Yuan spoke in a low voice, and then he withdrew his gaze.
The reason he hoped that Yang Ye would be able to enter the top 10 was the top 10 disciples would partic.i.p.ate in a compet.i.tion. This compet.i.tion didn’t just provide rewards from the Sword Sect, there was also another meaning behind it. The higher one was ranked during the compet.i.tion, the easier it would be for one to be selected by an elder for fostering. Moreover, one could even quickly establish a network of relations.h.i.+ps through the compet.i.tion.