Chapter 57: Kicking Trash
“Have you ever studied martial arts before?” the elder asked, looking at the young girl following closely behind him with a touch of curiosity.
Lu Yunxi nodded. “My father was a hunter and knew a little about archery, so I learned what I could from him.” She smoothly changed the subject, asking, “Senior, what happened back there? One moment we were in the valley, and the next we seemed to be in an entirely different world. Was that some kind of magic?”
The elder offered a mysterious smile. “That is not something you are permitted to know yet. Once you become an inner disciple, all will be revealed.”
She nodded, suppressing her curiosity. It wasn’t unexpected; such a profound technique was clearly far more powerful than anything she had encountered so far. She would have been more surprised if they shared the secret with just anyone.
The pair moved with incredible speed, arriving at a bustling market in about fifteen minutes. It was the same city where the old man had just enjoyed his roujiamo.
Lu Yunxi surveyed the busy streets, then turned to the elder with a questioning gaze.
The elder nodded in confirmation. “Yes, you guessed correctly. The second stage takes place right here in this city! You must work here for a full month. Of course, you cannot simply go through the motions; your performance must be exemplary to pass.”
His expression turned solemn. “If you have no objections, I will take you to your post now. If you wish to regret this, now is your last chance.”
Lu Yunxi only cared about becoming stronger; why would she regret anything? Besides, it was only a month of labor, hardly a monumental task. She straightened her posture and said seriously, “Examiner, I will go with you immediately.”
The two made their way to the local yamen. The elder scanned the posted job listings and finally selected one for her. “I will choose the occupation. Is that acceptable?”
Lu Yunxi nodded. Though the job was merely sweeping the streets, she viewed it as a unique form of cultivation.
Seeing her calm acceptance, the elder was secretly pleased. The second trial was designed to test patience and one’s attitude toward ordinary people. Those who study martial arts are most dangerous when they harbor malicious intent. If a ruthless person gains great power and commits evil, it is the common folk who suffer most. Therefore, the sect ensured that no one with a crooked heart could pass their gates.
Once Lu Yunxi had registered and received her assignment, the elder departed. She stood alone for a moment before the reality set in: she was now responsible for her own food, clothing, and shelter. The street-sweeping position did not provide room or board.
After a quick search, she found a clean, affordable inn to stay in and began her new life.
The work of a street sweeper was repetitive and dull, yet strangely peaceful—at least, that was what Lu Yunxi thought at first.
Not long after starting, she found herself retracting those words. She stood in the middle of the road, staring at the garbage scattered across the cobblestones, her smile becoming increasingly forced.
She had established a rhythm: sweep the entire street clean, sort the refuse into piles, and then use a cart to haul it away. But today, she discovered that the pile she had just meticulously gathered had been kicked apart.
She was certain it was intentional. The debris consisted of heavy fruit pits and rinds—things that wouldn’t simply be scattered by a breeze.
Lu Yunxi rubbed her chin, and by the next day, she had identified the culprits: a pack of local naughty children. Whenever they saw her neat piles of trash, they couldn’t resist the urge to kick them, sending the garbage flying and turning her hard work into a chaotic mess once again.
Since they were just children, she decided her best course of action was to speak with their parents. After all, she couldn’t very well strike them. It was too risky for a Level 50 like herself to bicker with a group of Level 1s; if she accidentally used even a fraction too much strength, they wouldn’t survive the encounter.
However, the following morning, before she could make her rounds to their houses, she caught an adult behaving exactly like the children.
Lu Yunxi watched him, her expression stony. The young man, who looked to be in his late twenties, let out a loud, wet hock of phlegm and spat on the ground. With a look of petty annoyance, he wound up and kicked her pile of trash across the street. The group of children behind him cheered, their smiles widening at the display.
As the kids prepared to join in the “game,” Lu Yunxi felt a surge of genuine fury. She lunged forward, brandishing her broom, and began to soundly beat the man with the handle.
“You’re kicking trash everywhere!” she scolded with every strike. “Do you have any idea how hard I have to work to sweep this up? You force me to redo my job every single day. You truly deserve this!”
The “thwack” of the broom was exceptionally loud.
“Let me go! You crazy woman!” the man yelped, struggling to escape, but he was pinned firmly in her grasp.
The nearby children froze in shock. They scrambled back several paces, watching from a distance, not daring to come any closer.
“I spent days wondering who was ruining my work,” Lu Yunxi said, planting her hands on her hips. “So it was you, you brat! If I catch you doing this again, I won’t be nearly as merciful.”
She shoved the broom into the young man’s startled hands. “Sweep the entire street clean. Right now. If you don’t finish, you aren’t going home today.”
The man stood there holding the broom. Seeing that Lu Yunxi was now “unarmed,” he thought he saw an opening to retaliate. But just as he swung the broom toward her, Lu Yunxi casually raised a hand and caught it mid-air.
The man strained with all his might, but her hand didn’t budge an inch. His heart sank as a cold realization hit him: he had accidentally provoked a martial master.
Lu Yunxi sneered, decisively snatched the broom back, and delivered a sharp crack to his backside. This time, the man didn’t dare resist. He began to howl for mercy, tears stinging his eyes.
Once he was honestly sweeping the floor, Lu Yunxi turned her gaze toward the children. “What about you? Are you his accomplices? Do you enjoy scattering trash too?” She offered them a “gentle” smile.
The children shook their heads frantically, their faces pale, and fled as fast as their legs could carry them. Lu Yunxi let out a cold snort. She would let them go this time, but if they ever played with her piles again, she would be paying their parents a very serious visit.
The outburst worked; the children were terrified, and the street remained clean for the days that followed.
Life settled into a quiet routine of sweeping and resting. One afternoon, she received a letter from her apprentice.
Shen San was clearly worried. He asked where she was, if she was safe, and how many men he needed to bring to “rescue” her. Because they were in a game world, the correspondence system was perfectly secure—unlike the unreliable postal systems of the actual ancient world.
She thought about it but decided not to give him her exact location. Instead, she simply told him she was safe and working in a certain city. She instructed him to focus on his cooking and not waste time. As a final touch, she prepared a few specialty dishes and sent them back with the reply.
Shen San’s follow-up was much more relieved. He mentioned he was busy with something but would come to visit her as soon as he was free.
Lu Yunxi put the matter out of her mind and continued her month of labor.
One day, as she reached the end of her usual route, she spotted a beggar huddled in an alley. She was a bit surprised; in the two weeks she had been there, she hadn’t seen a single person begging. It seemed even this prosperous city had its downtrodden.
She watched for a moment, then went back to her sweeping. As she finished her shift and turned to leave, she saw two children approach the beggar, carefully handing him a few small cakes they had been carrying.
