102: Chapter 102 The Second Round of Interviews

Nalan Ruo withdrew the Mental Energy she had intended to release for investigation, a playful smile curling at the corners of her mouth as she played along with Wang Dachui's act.

"Since you've vouched for her, she can stay. However... having skills isn't enough; we need to see if she can handle hardship."

"Our Cloud Top Palace doesn't support pampered people."

"Right, right, right! She must be able to endure hardship!" Wang Dachui slapped his thigh and turned to Face the ten applicants, a landlord-like grin appearing on his Face that made Nightingale grit her teeth in hatred.

"Everyone, congratulations on meeting the mistress and hearing about our high-pay benefits. But while the money is good, the work isn't easy. The final interview has just begun."

"To test your professional abilities and obedience, I will now assign each of you a small task."

"Zhang Dapao!"

"Present!" The one-legged veteran stood tall with his chest out.

"Go to the kitchen! Our whole family is having an all-beef feast tonight. There's a hunted Rank 4 Wild Bull in the backyard—it just died, so it's still fresh. Go butcher it! Requirement: separate the meat from the bone, and don't waste a single scrap of meat!"

"Yes! I guarantee the mission will be completed!" Hearing it was his old trade, Zhang Dapao excitedly hobbled toward the backyard on his one leg.

"Li Tiezhu!"

"Here!"

"A corner of the southern wall has collapsed; go fix it! Requirement: it must not only be sturdy but also aesthetic, matching the original style!"

"Got it!"

Wang Dachui assigned tasks one by one. Soon, nine people had departed with their orders, leaving only Nightingale standing there alone.

Nightingale kept her head down, but she was sneering inwardly.

"Hmph, trying to test me? This Saintess is proficient in assassination, disguise, poison arts, demolition, infiltration... I even know eight different foreign languages. Can mere housework stump me?"

"Want me to plant flowers? Or sweep the floor? Bring it on!"

Just as she finished her mental preparation, ready to win their trust with a perfect performance...

Wang Dachui walked up to her with a beaming smile, a massive iron shovel—still caked with dirt—appearing in his hand at some point.

"Xiao Cao."

Wang Dachui shoved the shovel into her arms and pointed toward a row of rather luxurious-looking buildings in the corner of the courtyard.

"See those houses over there?"

Nightingale looked up. It was a row of exquisitely built wooden houses surrounded by flowers and plants, looking much like guest rooms.

"Living there are several 'meritorious officials' of our family."

Wang Dachui introduced them with a solemn Face:

"There's Wangcai, the Mutated Boar King who guards our home; Xiaohua, the Five-Colored Brocade Rooster responsible for the morning wake-up call; and Xi Yangyang, the Mutated Two-Headed Goat responsible for milk production..."

Nightingale's mouth twitched. What kind of ridiculous names were these?

"They are the treasures of our family and important strategic assets. But... everyone's been busy lately, and no one has been looking after them, which has made the living environment for these 'lords' a bit... well, harsh."

Wang Dachui covered his nose and pointed at the row of animal pens.

"Your task is very simple."

"Go and clean up all the... excrement in these pens!"

"Then, transport that waste to the composting pit on the back mountain for fermentation. Remember, it must be stirred evenly; that's high-quality spiritual fertilizer, and not a single bit can be wasted!"

"Go on, this is a test of your patience. Do it well, and there's meat to eat tonight; do it poorly... hehe, then you can head back down the mountain."

Nightingale felt as if she'd been struck by a bolt from the blue; she was completely stunned.

Scooping... scooping poop?!

And she had to stir it evenly?!

She looked at Wang Dachui in disbelief, then at the filthy shovel in her arms.

Who was she?

She was an S-rank powerhouse! A noble female assassin!

Her hands were meant for mixing lethal poisons and harvesting lives!

Now, this bastard actually wanted her to scoop poop for a bunch of animals?!

This was a blatant trampling of her dignity! An insult to the Abyss Sect!

"Aba aba!!!" (I won't do it! I'm going to kill you!)

Nightingale roared frantically in her mind, the Killing Intent in her eyes almost overflowing uncontrollably.

Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the shovel; she desperately wanted to smack the man in front of her—who still wore an "I'm doing this for your own good" Face—to death with it.

"What? Unwilling?"

Wang Dachui seemed not to notice the fury in her eyes. Instead, he leaned in closer and whispered in a low voice that only the two of them could hear:

"Xiao Cao, this is a lucrative job."

"Do you know how much undigested Spiritual Qi is contained in the droppings of those mutated beasts? A single whiff is enough to refresh a normal person's mind."

"Besides... aren't your 'Holy Hands of Rejuvenation' specialized in dealing with soil?"

"Or... was that talk about being able to handle hardship all just an act?"

Wang Dachui's eyes were full of mockery and provocation.

He was forcing her: either endure it or get lost.

If she turned hostile now, all her previous efforts would be wasted. Not only would she fail to kill Wang Dachui, but she would also be surrounded by the army and S-rank powerhouses.

If she endured...

Nightingale took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging Killing Intent and humiliation in her heart.

"Endure! I will endure!"

"Han Xin could endure the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs. As a grand female assassin, what's scooping a bit of poop for the sake of the great cause!"

"Wang Dachui, remember this! I will make you pay back the grudge of this shovel of poop a hundredfold! When the time comes, I'll refine you into manure!"

Nightingale suddenly looked up, forcing a look of "immense gratitude and tireless dedication" onto her Face as she gave Wang Dachui a deep bow.

"Aba!" (I'll do it!)

She shouldered the shovel and walked toward the row of pens emitting a suffocating stench with tragic, solemn steps.

"Tsk tsk tsk, what a good child."

Looking at Nightingale's small but Killing Intent-filled back, Wang Dachui couldn't help but sigh in admiration.

"Ruoruo, Xiao Ji, look at how sensible this child is. She's so enthusiastic even when told to scoop poop."

Ji Taimei watched the scene with great interest, her eyes flickering slightly. "Hubby, have you taken a liking to this girl? Are you bullying her on purpose to get her attention?"

"How could I!" Wang Dachui said with a righteous Face. "I'm helping her integrate into the group! This is called reform through labor!"

Nalan Ruo shook her head with a slight smile. "You really are full of bad ideas. But this girl... she is indeed a bit strange. Be careful."

"Don't worry."

Wang Dachui sneered, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"This is only the first hurdle."

"Since she wants to play a sob story, I'll set the stage for her and let her perform to her heart's content."

"If she can't even handle this bit of hardship, how can she be a qualified... undercover agent?"

"Besides..."

Wang Dachui pointed toward the animal pens with a wicked grin:

"That Boar King has been in a bad mood lately, and its quills contain a paralyzing toxin. If this girl truly has no cultivation, she'll probably be turned into a pincushion in there."

"We'll just sit here and enjoy the show, seeing how this frail little mute handles that violent pig."

Inside the animal pens.

The massive Mutated Boar King saw someone intruding into its territory and immediately bristled the sharp quills on its back, letting out a threatening low growl.

Though it had been beaten into submission by Wang Dachui's family, that didn't mean it had no temper. Toward strangers, it was still a ferocious C-rank mutated beast!

As soon as Nightingale entered, she was nearly knocked unconscious by a nauseating stench of ammonia.

Before she could adjust to the smell, the boar had already charged at her like a tank!

"Damn it!" Nightingale's pupils shrank as she cursed inwardly.

If she used her S-rank power, she could crush this pig with a single finger.

But she couldn't!

There were three experts watching outside. The moment she showed even a sliver of spiritual energy fluctuation or an extraordinary reaction speed, she would be exposed!

"What should I do? Tank it?"

"No! The impact of a C-rank beast is enough to break a normal person's bones. If I'm unharmed, that's also a flaw!"

"I can only... run!"

Nightingale made an instant decision. She had to act like a real, inexperienced ordinary girl—scared out of her wits!

"Ah—!!"

Nightingale let out a distorted, mute cry of terror. The shovel in her hand fell to the ground with a clang, and looking as if she were paralyzed by fear, she turned and ran in a blind panic.

“Bang!”

She accidentally tripped over the threshold and fell Face-first in a pathetic heap, rolling into a nearby mud pit. She was covered from head to toe in sludge and... unidentified substances.

Seeing this, the Boar King became even more savage. It lowered its head, aiming its two sharp tusks at Nightingale on the ground, and charged, its four hooves thudding against the earth!

"It's over! I'm really going to be gored by a pig!"

Nightingale watched the approaching pig head, feeling so aggrieved she wanted to die.

She was a grand S-rank powerhouse, yet today she was being chased and gored by a pig? If word of this got back to the Sect, where would she put her Face?!

But she could only endure!

She curled into a ball, clutching her head and shivering, putting on an act of waiting for death.

"Aba aba! (Help me!)"

Just as the tusks were about to pierce her body...

"Vile beast! Stand down!"

A gentle but unquestionable shout suddenly rang out.

Nalan Ruo sat in her rattan chair, not even standing up, only lightly lifting a finger.

A thick green vine in the courtyard seemed to hear the command. It instantly shot out like a spiritual snake, arriving first. A split second before the boar's tusks could touch Nightingale, it precisely entangled the boar's hind leg.

"Snap!"

The vine pulled taut, and the Boar King's charging momentum came to a sudden halt. Its massive body was forcibly jerked back, and it fell hard on its back with its legs in the air.

"Oink oink..."

The Boar King struggled to get back up, but a faint green light shimmered on the vine, emitting the pressure of an S-rank powerhouse. It was so frightened that it instantly tucked its tail and lay on the ground, not daring to move.

"It's alright now, get up."

Nalan Ruo withdrew her hand, her tone calm as if she had just swatted away a fly.

"This pig is indeed a bit wild. It seems I'll have to have Old Jin find someone to train it."

Nightingale lay in the mud pit, gasping for breath, her heart still pounding wildly.

This time it wasn't an act; she was fuming with rage!

She looked up at Nalan Ruo in the distance—who sat high and mighty like a goddess and had saved her life with a casual wave of a finger—and a complex light flashed in her eyes.

"S-rank Wood Element... the Divine Wood Body truly lives up to its reputation."

"Just you wait. One day, I will refine you into my poison puppet too!"

Back in the courtyard.

Wang Dachui, who had been using his Vision of God to peek, laughed so hard tears almost came out as he watched Nightingale’s mud-covered, nearly-gored-by-a-pig state.

"Hahahaha! Classic!"

"Ruoruo, Xiao Ji, look at how pathetic she looks! That fall was so realistic!"

While laughing, Wang Dachui gave Nightingale's acting a perfect score in his heart:

"To be able to endure being chased by a pig without fighting back... this composure, this 'Ninja Turtle' attribute, she really is a talent."