“Nature of business?”
The attendant’s bored voice cut across Wu Ying’s contemplation of the cultivation exercise he had indulged in while waiting. The wait itself had not been as bad as he had expected—just over an hour.
“Collecting my contribution points, Senior,” Wu Ying answered as he offered his stamp.
The attendant took it without even looking up, passing the stamp over a jade plate on his table. As new words floated upward on the jade tablet, the attendant frowned and stilled.
“Problem, Senior?”
“Wait here,” the attendant said. Taking the stamp with him, the attendant walked away into the inner recesses of the building.
Wu Ying stood still as he struggled to keep his face smooth, a growing sense of anxiety gathering in his stomach.
When the attendant came back, he did so with an older man with a long, wispy beard, a headdress that indicated a middling status as an Elder in the sect, and a sneer that seemed permanently etched onto his face.
“Elder Mo, this is the student I spoke of,” the attendant said, bowing deeply.
“Long Wu Ying,” Elder Mo said as he tossed Wu Ying’s sect stamp in his hand. “You bypassed the assignment hall to take work with Elder Huang directly. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“Elder.” Wu Ying offered a low bow. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could tell that everyone’s attention had been drawn to him. After all, this kind of entertainment could not be bought. “I ask your forgiveness. Elder Huang asked me to see him directly.”
“And you did not report here immediately?” Elder Mo said with a sneer. “You think your sponsor is enough to ignore our rules?’
“No, Elder.”
“Useless. I should take back all your contribution points,” Elder Mo said, tapping the stamp.
“But I’ve used some already…” Wu Ying said softly.
“Yes. That is why I have come up with another assignment for you. Which you will complete,” Elder Mo said and tossed Wu Ying a simple wooden slip. Wu Ying caught it and looked at the words, before looking up as Elder Mo continued. “Finish the assignment successfully or do not come back.”
Elder Mo dropped the sect stamp on the table and walked away. All around, the volume of conversations increased as the audience discussed Wu Ying’s punishment. Many wondered what kind of task he had been given, a few going so far as to crane their necks to read the slip. Wu Ying quickly slid the slip into his robes, along with the newly retrieved sect stamp, before he scurried out. Even before he left, he heard the growing hubbub of conversation.
This would certainly not do his reputation any good.
After reporting on the events to Elder Huang, Wu Ying retreated to the park where he always trained before he finally found the time to look at the wooden assignment slip. Any hope of Elder Huang intervening had died at the Elder’s simple grunt of affirmation, which left Wu Ying with only the choice of completing this task.
“What did he send me to do?” Wu Ying wondered.
From overheard conversations and gossiping with Tou He, Wu Ying had expanded his understanding of the kind of assignments that the sect normally tasked their members with. A large portion involved the acquisition of necessities for the sect—gold, produce, horses, lumber, and the like. Wu Ying termed those assignments noble bait—perfect assignments for rich nobles to gain contribution points. In fact, thinking back, Wu Ying could recall more than one instance when his village had been randomly assigned to new tasks to aid their lord Wei.
The next level of collection assignments were normally assigned to inner sect members—those resources were not something a low-level cultivator could expect to get. Everything from spirit stones to spiritual herbs were common gathering tasks, but rarer manuscripts, beautiful paintings, or even exotic tea could be among those assignments. Most of those assignments were issued by the Elders of the sect directly, brokered through the assignment hall, rather than a sect requirement. In this way, the Elders could gather resources and personal objects of interest without disturbing their own cultivation.
Next were bounty quests. At the lowest level, bounty quests were sent out by the local lords and the kingdom for bandits, thieves, and other riff-raff who refused to live within the bounds of society. While the local lord would often send his men to deal with them, due to the constant war in the last few years, the number of such bandits had increased. Wu Ying knew that how dangerous the roads had become was a common refrain among the merchants. In general, most bandits were peasants—individuals with low or no cultivation levels. On occasion though, famous outlaws had—through fate or fortune—received training and raised their cultivation levels. Those types of bounty quests were given by local lords or the kingdom itself to the sect. Such difficult quests were often assigned to inner sect members.
On top of that, the sect had their own enemies. Most of them were other-sect members, enemies who had higher cultivation grades than Body Cleansing. Assignments to deal with such enemies paid significantly more, but were obviously something only those with the appropriate cultivation levels could handle. Thankfully, as the largest sect in the kingdom, the Verdant Green Waters Sect had no “marked” enemies in the kingdom itself, meaning that sect members needed to leave the kingdom for such assignments.
Lastly were the miscellaneous assignments, those which were uncommon enough that their difficulty ranged significantly. Diplomatic and teaching assignments were part of this category, where experienced sect members would journey to the outside world to spread goodwill among the populace or other sects. Occasional bodyguarding requests also made their way to the assignment hall. Guarding assignments—of merchant caravans or towns—were even more rare, as few merchants had the funds to request such work from the sect, while local lords often used their own people. If there was such work to be done, it was often done by itinerant wanderers and smaller sects.
Wu Ying sighed as he stared at the plaque in front of him. A simple request for plum blossom wine—three jars[17] of it. Somehow, Wu Ying doubted the request was as simple as it appeared. Tapping the wooden slat, Wu Ying debated who could be relied upon to provide illumination on this matter.
“Told you he would be here.” Tou He’s voice cut into Wu Ying’s contemplation.
“Tou He? And Liu Tsong? Sorry, Senior.” Wu Ying stood and bowed to the Senior when he realized his lapse in propriety.
“Wu Ying. You’re becoming increasingly famous,” Tou He said with a smile. “First, you manage to make all our peers hate you. Now, you’ve managed to even make the Elders notice you.”
“This kind of fame, I can do without,” Wu Ying said as he recalled the scene in the assignment hall.
“It’s true though. Even I heard of Junior Wu Ying and how he angered Elder Mo. Quite amazing. So what kind of quest did he give you?” Liu Tsong said, eyes twinkling with amusement.
“Senior, please, don’t trouble yourself with such a small matter,” Wu Ying said, holding the wooden slat to his body as he bowed again. “We have troubled you too much already.”
“Oh rubbish.” Liu Tsong stepped forward lightly. In the space of Wu Ying’s blink, she was in front of him and effortlessly pulling the wooden slat from his fingers. “Now, let’s see. I have to have something to tell the other Seniors…”
Wu Ying groaned, having already guessed her real objective. But since she was there and it was too late to hide the matter, he might as well make full use of Liu Tsong.
“Do you know of this wine, Senior? I have never heard of it myself,” Wu Ying said.