Early morning, the sky was cloudless and there was no breeze.
On the parade ground of the Western Rong army camp, four thousand Western Rong soldiers formed a square. Each person held a plate in one hand, and the plate was covered with a white cloth. It was unknown what was covered under the white cloth.
Below the high platform at the very front of the reviewing stand, many Western Rong generals looked at the solemn-faced soldiers before them and whispered amongst themselves.
"What is the goddess doing? Why does she need so many people?"
"I don't know. This is the king's order. We must obey the goddess's every request unconditionally."
"What do you mean by 'unconditional'? If she tells us to kill each other, are we supposed to listen?"
"Don't be silly, everything the goddess does is to cure the king's illness. Just watch."
These soldiers were selected from the army based on their quick reflexes and sharp minds. Su Wan had instructed them that they needed to have good hearing, nimble fingers, and be able to react quickly and not be easily distracted.
As everyone whispered among themselves, Su Wan, accompanied by several maids, gracefully walked onto the high platform.
She changed into the attire of a Western Rong woman, exuding exotic charm, and immediately attracted the attention of many generals upon stepping onto the stage. Many secretly admired her, thinking, "Truly worthy of being a goddess, her beauty is unparalleled."
Su Wan stood in the center of the platform, cleared her throat, and said, "The supervising soldiers may enter now."
Everyone, not understanding what this meant, looked towards the outside of the square. Then, squads of soldiers carrying small red flags ran into the area and stood in front of the soldiers carrying trays. Each flag-bearing soldier was paired with a tray-bearing soldier.
Eight thousand people stood in the open space, making it seem somewhat crowded.
“Alright, I’ve already explained it to you all,” Su Wan said, walking on the stage with her hands behind her back. “Now I’ll explain it again. To perform surgery on His Majesty, I alone am not enough; I need assistants. This is a selection exam. At least four assistants must be selected.”
An assistant is someone who is distinct from the surgeon and is responsible for providing various necessary instruments during the operation.
"Now remove the white cloth from your trays."
Four thousand soldiers raised their hands and removed the white cloth, revealing the contents of the tray.
The Western Rong generals had never seen such a test before. They all craned their necks to look at the nearest soldier and found that there were many things on the plate: twigs and pebbles. Some twigs were forked, some were not; some had bark, some did not. The pebbles were black, white, red, and green.
Su Wan nodded in satisfaction and said to a captain in the audience, "Captain, it's your turn to speak."
The commander of the Western Rong tribes stepped forward and addressed the soldiers in the arena: “Brave warriors, this test is not about how to fight the enemy, but about selecting those who can help the goddess heal the king’s illness. To personally heal the king is the highest honor.”
The soldiers in the square shouted, "We are willing to serve the King!"
Su Wan noticed the soldiers were all watching her intently, and thought to herself that this Western Rong King held considerable prestige among them. If she could cure him and he would keep his promise, then true peace could be achieved.
“Okay, you can see what’s on your trays,” she continued. “I’ll call out the names of the items you need to take very quickly. You need to take what I need without delay and hand it to the flag bearer in front of you. Anyone who takes the wrong item will be eliminated on the spot.”
Upon hearing this, the soldiers present tensed up.
If you pick the wrong one thing, you're eliminated. This exam is incredibly strict.
Su Wan noticed the tension on everyone's faces and explained with a smile, "You don't understand the dangers of surgery. Even a tiny mistake during surgery can have extremely serious consequences. I told you to take this, but you took that instead. That's absolutely unacceptable. And throughout the entire process, nothing is allowed to fall to the ground. If even one thing falls, you're out."
She turned her back to the parade ground and said, "Get ready, I'm about to begin."
For a moment, the soldiers on the open ground held their breath, and even the Western Rong generals standing below the stage all looked at Su Wan's back.
"Green pebbles!"
Su Wan's voice was fast and sudden, but it carried very clearly throughout the entire military parade ground. Even the soldiers at the very back could hear it clearly.
Everyone quickly went to get the stones as she asked.
Next, red flags were raised in a flash, signifying elimination.
Two thousand four hundred people were eliminated on the spot in the first round. Six hundred people were too nervous and knocked their plates to the ground. Eight hundred people were too quick when grabbing green pebbles and knocked the rest of the items on the ground. The rest were people who grabbed the wrong pebbles, and a very small number grabbed the wrong twigs.
Several soldiers were still unconvinced, holding up red pebbles and insisting they had green ones. A commotion arose, but thankfully a general arrived in time to quell the unrest.
Su Wan personally went down on stage to check and discovered that these people were all red-green colorblind, so they were eliminated as well.
When she returned to the stage, only 1,600 people remained below.
The Western Rong generals were dumbfounded. Some of them, dissatisfied, secretly went to the Western Rong king, who was resting in his tent, to complain.
"Your Majesty, the Goddess's examination has just begun, and more than half of our warriors have already been eliminated. This is truly a slap in the face. These four thousand soldiers were carefully selected, and now half of them are gone in an instant."
King Danmoji of the Western Rong took an orange, peeled it, and said, "How can someone clumsy be allowed to perform surgery on me? Tell the soldiers that those chosen as the goddess's assistants will be promoted from soldiers to corps commanders, from corps commanders to centurions, and from centurions to chiliarchs."
Simply put, it means you're promoted directly to the next level.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
