Chapter 78: Servitude
Everything seemed like a blur to Han Yu after the results.
The elder dismissed him and had the disciples throw him in with the rest of the Red Ranked recruits—like expired produce being chucked into the discount bin.
He then gave a short speech about the code of conduct, what was expected of disciples, and all the usual sermon-like fluff that made people start blinking slower. It was the kind of speech that only parents and administrators pretend to listen to. Most people tuned it out completely. Han Yu didn’t even pretend.
Once the formalities were over, the elder announced the conclusion of the appraisal and handed everything off to the outer court disciples to handle.
He was too mentally drained to bother anymore and longed for some calming tea to ease his nerves. As for Han Yu’s punishment? That could wait. First: tea. Then: ruining someone’s life.
Xu Qing, meanwhile, was having her own personal crisis.
"UGH! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!" she screamed, practically pulling at her hair. "The bracelet showed his talent! It couldn’t have been wrong!" she thought in frustration, still refusing to believe reality.
She briefly wondered if something had gone wrong with the Talent Seeking Tablet. But alas, she wasn’t in any position to question it.
’I’ll just have to ask Master to look into this mess,’ she decided grimly.
For now, her fate was sealed, her reward thrown overboard like unwanted cargo. Regret hit her like a spiritual shovel. She should have stayed out longer. Maybe if she returned with more recruits, she could salvage something.
Technically, she had three weeks left in the recruitment period. If she ran, begged, and bribed hard enough, maybe she could scrape together a decent haul. But she’d need to check with the sect authorities first—and that required facing people. Ugh.