Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Although a lot of vicious snakes were placed on the training field, they were all non-poisonous snakes such as Beauty Rat Snakes, lndian Wolf Snakes, Red Banded Snakes, Mandarin Rat Snakes, Mock Vipers, King Rat Snakes, Sawtooth Neck Bronzeback Snakes, Brahminy Blind Snakes, and etc. In order to create confusion, some venomous snakes such as Cobras and Stejnegeri Pit Vipers with their fangs removed were placed together with those non-venomous ones. Under such circumstances, even if someone was able to identify a few non-venomous snake species, they would be startled and panic from the sight of those venomous snakes that were placed intentionally.
Yan Liqiang bought those snakes from the medicinal merchants in Pingxi City. Getting the rats was even easier since the people of Pingxi City only needed to send the rats caught by the traps.
A few hundred roaming snakes and rats instantly caused chaos on the training field. Those young people who came to participate in the archery academy entrance examination never thought that Yan Liqiang would set such a trick as a test. But even if they had foreseen this, it was still difficult to control one’s body reflexes toward these animals.
For those who jumped, screamed, and fled, as long as they moved their bodies, they were immediately asked to leave the training field. In just less than ten minutes, when the last snake and rat disappeared from the training field, there were only 2,600 people left. The rest who were disqualified left the training field and the archery academy.
Yan Liqiang once again went up to the stage and looked at those who were still standing on the training field with satisfaction. The test today wasn’t too hard, but to those who were primarily fifteen or sixteen years old, it was difficult to stand still with an empty stomach for a whole morning. Not to mention, strictly maintaining their discipline even after experiencing such chaos just now was very hard to come by. They had fulfilled Yan Liqiang’s requirements. Had it been the university students from Yan Liqiang’s previous life, Yan Liqiang was uncertain as to how many could fulfill such requirements out of a hundred grown-ups.
With that, the test ended. Although the number of people that remained on the training field was slightly more than he had expected, the archery academy had planned for the extra capacity during the initial construction plan. For example, Yan Liqiang had requested for the hostel to accommodate two thousand people, but in reality, the hostel construction, which was similar to an army camp, had no issue accommodating three thousand people.
“Congratulations, the test is over. Those who are still on this training field are qualified to enroll into the archery academy. You will now be dismissed and you may take a short break. Soups to cool your body and buns have already been prepared in the dining hall over there. Everyone can have a bowl of soup and three buns. After eating, proceed to the corridor beside the dining hall to register your name, birthplace, and collect your student identity pass. You may go home today and officially report back to the archery academy at sunrise on the 30th day of the seventh lunar month. You are all dismissed!”
As soon as Yan Liqiang finished his speech, a lot of people immediately slumped to the ground. There were also a lot of people who made a beeline to the toilet as soon as they heard Yan Liqiang’s dismissal. Due to the prolonged standing, their legs became numb, and as a result, they couldn’t even run two steps before falling onto the ground. The entire training field was immediately left with a few who remained standing…
However, accidents did happen. Just when many of the people slumped to the ground, a young man bellowed on the training field. He punched the crotch of his trousers underneath his lower abdomen at full strength as if he was going mad. After furiously hitting his lower abdomen about ten times, he screamed then suddenly fell to the ground and remained motionless.
The condition of the young man induced chaos in the surroundings. When Yan Liqiang saw what happened, he ran toward the young man who collapsed on the ground.
“Make way, everyone make way!” Yan Liqiang speedily pushed through the crowds and went beside the young man. He squatted beside the young man and started to carefully examine him.
The young man who fell on the ground was around fifteen to sixteen years old. His face was quite young and tender, but he had a lofty build. He wore a rustic short-sleeve shirt made of coarse fabric, and he had a square face, dark brows, tanned skin, and dusty hair. Gritting his teeth with eyes closed, he passed out and collapsed onto the floor.
“Ah, he’s bleeding! Blood is soaking through the crotch of his trousers…!” A young man on the side cried out in surprise.
Yan Liqiang also saw it when he was checking this young man. A bloodstain was spreading out from the young man’s crotch.
“Let’s go to the infirmary!” Yan Liqiang held the young man by the waist, carried him, and ran toward the archery academy’s infirmary in the distance.
Before the opening of the archery academy, Shi Changfeng had already invited an experienced physician and a few of his apprentices in Qinghe County to take charge of the archery academy’s infirmary. Those body-cooling soups today were prepared by the physician and his apprentices.
The young men on the training field were astonished when they saw Yan Liqiang speeding toward the infirmary with the young man who had collapsed. At this moment, the image of him rushing impatiently to the infirmary with a person in his arms was very different from the image of him feasting as he liked in front of others with rumbling stomachs.
The archery academy’s infirmary was a brand-new two-story small tower, and everything was new inside out. One could see all the different herbs being dried under the sun on the bamboo winnowing basket outside of the infirmary.
Yan Liqiang was the first to arrive at the infirmary, “Physician Yang, hurry, someone fainted and is bleeding too…”
An elderly man in front of the medicine cabinet was arranging the medicinal herbs inside the medicine cabinet with his back facing the entrance of the infirmary. When he heard Yan Liqiang’s voice, he turned around and quickly walked away from the medicine cabinet, “Ah, lie him down on that bed first and let me check him!”
Yan Liqiang placed the young man on the bed. Physician Yang came over quickly and grasped the young man’s hand. He checked for his pulse, then slightly raised his brows, “It’s not heatstroke. He was in a fit of rage, causing him to suddenly suffocate…”
Physician Yang looked at the bloodstain on the young man’s trousers and immediately removed them. Since they were all men, there was no need for Yan Liqiang to avert his gaze, so he stayed and watched.
When the trousers were removed, it was a bloody mess inside and there was a dead rat. Yan Liqiang was shocked at the sight, but at the same time, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the situation.
“There’s no big issue, the blood is not from the young man but from the rat. There are some wounds on the young man’s thigh from the rat bites, but they are not serious. I’ll apply some ointment for disinfection and healing, as for the other places… there are no issues!” Physician Yang skillfully conducted a round of checkups.
“Alright Physician Yang, I’ll pass him to you. I’ll come back when he wakes up!”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry, nothing’s wrong!” Physician Yang nodded.
Yan Liqiang cast another glance at the young man on the bed to remember his face before exiting the infirmary.
Shi Changfeng also hurried over, “What happened?”
Yan Liqiang explained the situation.
“Ah, that means when the young man was still standing, there was already a rat inside his trousers?” Shi Changfeng had a weird expression on his face — he wanted to laugh but he managed to stifle it with two coughs, “This young man was able to resist moving and only broke out at the very end. He’s an individual with a firm and persistent nature which are rare to come by!”
“I also feel that people like him are rare to come by — ordinary people wouldn’t be able to endure this!”
“In that case, that young man has quite an unusual side!”
“Hopefully he is of great potential. Let’s go, we’ll visit him again when he wakes up…”
…
By the time the student registration was done, it was already evening and silence had once again returned to the archery academy. Yan Liqiang, Shi Changfeng, Shi Dafeng, and Shen Teng went to the infirmary together. The young man had regained his consciousness. When he saw Yan Liqiang and the rest come in, his tanned face immediately reddened as the expression on his face showed slight embarrassment and also his cuteness.
Yan Liqiang smiled and asked kindly, “What’s your name?”
“My… My name is Xiong Gungun…”
“What?” Yan Liqiang thought he had not heard clearly.
“My surname is Xiong, first name is Gungun…Gun as in rolling around [1]. It was a name given by my father!” The young man said with his head lowered in embarrassment as his voice suddenly became softer.
“Where are you from?”
“I’m from Yingwei County!”
“Mm, your performance today was good. You passed the test and you are qualified to join the archery academy. This is your identity pass. I heard from Physician Yang that the injury on your thigh is not serious and that he has already treated it. You may go home to your family to explain today’s events and report back to the archery academy the morning after tomorrow…” Yan Liqiang said and passed the metal plate with ‘archery academy’ engraved on the front and four numerical digits ‘1396’ engraved on the back.
Xiong Gungun took the metal plate and held it tightly in his hands. He remained silent for a while, then lifted his head to look at Yan Liqiang and asked, “May I…may I stay in the archery academy?”
“You already passed the archery academy test, so you’ll be staying in the archery academy for a long period of time. Don’t you want to go home to inform your family about it first?” Shi Changfeng reminded the young man.
“I have no family…” Xiong Gungun suddenly smiled. The smile was a bit mournful, “My father and I had been relying on each other since I was very young. My father passed away from sickness half a month ago, and his dying wish was for me to leave Yingwei County, to walk out from that village and join the archery academy in Qinghe County. He wanted me to eat well, practice martial skills, make friends, and never be bullied again…” When Xiong Gungun saw Yan Liqiang, Shi Changfeng, and the rest suddenly became silent, he quickly added, “I’ll just stay an extra day in the archery academy. Don’t worry, I won’t freeload here. I can do other work such as splitting logs, carrying water, cleaning, and feeding horses for the archery academy…”
Looking at Xiong Gungun’s hopeful eyes, Yan Liqiang took a deep breath. “Alright, you may stay at the archery academy…”
