Volume One The Youngest Among Three Hundred Chapter Seventy Star Value

At this moment, Ye Lin was still holding the long robe that Chen Chang'an had lent him yesterday in front of Store No. 64 to save him from embarrassment. Because of his loud outburst, it inevitably gave the impression that something ambiguous had occurred between the two the night before. In fact, it even seemed as if one of them was trying to deny responsibility after pulling up his trousers.

Chen Chang'an forced a strained smile, baring his teeth. "What’s going on here?"

Ye Lin tossed aside the robe, looking as aggrieved as a child whose candy had been snatched away. He complained loudly, "You’ve already been promised a spot by Cao Wu, so why did you even take part in the assessment?"

"Why? Are you just mocking me on purpose?"

Hearing this, Chen Chang'an stood there dumbfounded, as if struck silly, wondering how Ye Lin had found out. No wonder he was angry—this was like two kids about to take the college entrance exam, but Kid A, who has already secured a spot at Peking University, pats his chest and says to Kid B, ‘It’s just college, who cares if you get in or not?’ Kid B, who had been working hard, believes him and gives up. Later, Kid B ends up delivering food to Peking University graduates, only to find Kid A, who claimed he didn’t care about college, strolling the campus in a brand-new uniform, flirting with girls by the Weiming Lake. The contrast would be unbearable for anyone.

What’s more, Detective Ye had previously boasted he’d pull Chen into the Embroidered Uniform Guard once he’d established himself there. In hindsight, it was a grand display of social embarrassment.

"Sigh!"

Chen Chang'an shook his head helplessly. "Brother Ye, let me explain..."

"Explain my ass. Just don’t speak to me again." Ye Lin cut him off with a classic curse, turned, and walked away without looking back, as if the original spouse had caught the mistress and magnanimously decided to leave the marriage.

"Hey... I really didn’t mean to deceive you. It was Cao Wu who insisted on keeping it secret. Blame it all on Cao Wu." Chen Chang'an muttered to himself as he began to analyze rationally who might have leaked the news. After some thought, it could only have been Li Shu or Wu Yuanheng.

Immediately changing his route, he headed not to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but to the Office of Penalties. After a round of questioning, his suspicions were confirmed—the news had indeed come from those two.

The sequence of events was this: yesterday, Ye Lin, having left Embroidered Uniform Alley stark naked, went to the Office of Penalties to fetch his belongings and change into fresh clothes, since he’d once recuperated there. In passing, he’d remarked with some amazement that Chen Chang'an had managed to take first place in both assessments of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Li Shu and Wu Yuanheng’s reaction had been: "What the hell, he was already preselected by Cao Wu and still took the assessment?"

Apparently, upon learning the truth, Ye Lin first stood there in a daze, then burst into tears, and finally shut himself in a dark room for three or four hours, refusing even to eat. When he finally emerged, he was in a stupor, muttering to himself like a madman: "Once I’ve established myself, I’ll recommend you for the Guard."

"Once I’ve established myself, I’ll pull you into the Embroidered Uniform Guard, ha."

His tone was full of self-mockery.

"Ah, truly, if people withhold things from each other, friendship’s little boat can capsize at any moment."

Muttering curses about Li Shu and Wu Yuanheng, Chen Chang'an stole a snow-white colt from the Office of Penalties’ stables and made for the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The martial training ground was located at the innermost end of Embroidered Uniform Alley, with the Armory Building on the left and the official members’ apartments on the right. Roughly estimated, it covered about two thousand square meters—spacious and bright, used for daily drills and major internal events.

By the time Chen Chang'an arrived, more than four hundred people had already gathered, with very few yet to arrive. He first spotted Lan Yingxue and greeted her, "Good morning!"

Lan Yingxue’s face was cold and she didn’t respond.

Chen Chang'an: "..."

A few steps further, he ran into Ye Lin, rushed over with a fawning grin, and called, "Brother Ye, good morning!"

"Hmph!" Ye Lin turned his head away.

Chen Chang'an: "..."

"Who did I offend this early in the morning? If my body wasn’t ruined and I didn’t need restoration from Cao Wu and Cheng Mulong, you couldn’t drag me to this wretched place even with eight sedan chairs!"

His mood soured instantly.

"Good morning to you, Young Master Chen!"

"Oh, isn’t this the top scorer in both the first and second assessments? You’re so outstanding, I really admire you!"

While he was cursing inwardly, a few women ran over to greet him.

"Great! Great! Great!"

"That’s right, I am Chen Chang'an."

"Oh my, the Embroidered Uniform Guard really is a wonderful place." His mood lifted at once.

"Everyone, quiet down. I am Tan Shutong, of the Xuan division. During your initial period here, I will be responsible for your instruction and training in all aspects. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

A strikingly handsome young man appeared at the front of the martial ground, his hair bound with a silver crown, features clean and elegant, body perfectly proportioned. Using internal force, he projected his voice several times louder so all could hear.

Naturally, all eyes shifted to him.

Chen Chang'an had done his homework with Li Shu and was fairly familiar with the internal hierarchy of the Guard. Apart from Wang You, the universally acknowledged powerhouse in seclusion at the Armory Building, and the two deputy commanders Cao Wu and Cheng Mulong, there were three main levels of leadership—Di, Tian, and Xuan divisions, in ascending order.

"Now, everyone assemble in the center," Tan Shutong called out.

The sound of footsteps immediately filled the air as five hundred new recruits clustered together like a swarm of colorful ants.

Tan Shutong coughed twice and announced in a loud voice, "Your cohort is somewhat special, as the third assessment has been combined with your field trial. Let me explain how this works."

"On the right side of the training ground is the Star Board, freshly prepared this morning. You may choose any of the posted tasks to complete."

"Each task corresponds to a different star value. Upon completion, your points will be recorded. In half a month, those with the highest accumulated star values stay, the rest leave."

"Be warned: the higher the star value, the greater the danger. If you die in the process, I’m afraid the Guard will not be held responsible."

"So, choose tasks suited to your abilities. Don’t be reckless. If you find something too difficult, you may form teams freely, but in that case, the star points are divided among the group."

"Is that clear?" He shouted.

"Understood!" The recruits replied with vigor.

"Very well, go ahead and select your tasks."

The crowd surged toward the right side of the training ground.

Chen Chang'an, however, remained calm and unhurried. Tan Shutong had been clear that the higher the star value, the greater the risk—so this wasn’t a matter of simply grabbing the fastest, but of true strength.

He was not alone; Ruan Jingchu, Song Jiu, and Ye Lin shared the same idea. Thus, while the other new recruits scrambled to choose, they waited until the end, giving off an air of confidence and composure.

The Star Board was posted on a long white wall, line after line of tasks neatly written in small, upright script. Beneath it sat a small, delicate basin filled with round iron tokens resembling coins, each engraved with a number corresponding to a task.

Whichever number token you took, that was your assigned task.

Scanning the remaining options, Chen Chang'an found only a few unchosen: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 15, and so on.

According to the board:

Task 1: The Ghost Bride Case at Zhangjia Slope, outside Chang’an. High risk. Completion yields 300 star points.

Task 2: The Serial Murder Case at Shiqiao Town. High risk. Completion yields 280 star points.

Task 5: Man-eating beast haunting the dense forest of Dongshan Village, defying repeated government extermination attempts. Medium risk. Completion yields 180 star points.

Task 6: ...

Task 8: ...

Task 15: ...

The rule of the Guard was that they were responsible only for the stability of Chang’an and the safety of the royal family, not minor matters of the common folk—but for new recruits in training, there were no such restrictions.

"Seems most people are afraid of dying," Chen Chang'an joked, reaching into the basin to pull out the token marked with a 1. He waved it in front of Ye Lin. "Brother Ye, want to join me to see what this Ghost Bride is all about?"

"Not interested. Go by yourself!" Ye Lin rolled his eyes.

"Er..."

Chen Chang'an pursed his lips, about to turn away, when Song Jiu suddenly appeared before him, a sly hook at the corner of his sharp eyes. "Hand me the No. 1 task."

Though he hadn’t ranked first in the previous two assessments, he still considered himself the strongest among the newcomers. The strongest should take the highest-risk, highest-value task. Besides, this wasn’t just a trial, but part of the third assessment. In Song Jiu’s mind, the earlier rounds could be gamed, but this one would be a true test of strength.

He was determined to outdo Chen Chang'an and stop this mere body-training novice from getting cocky.

Faced with this demand, Chen Chang'an straightened his back and clenched his fists, ready for a fight—but obediently tossed him the No. 1 token. "Take it!"

Ruan Jingchu: "..."

Ye Lin: "..."

Everyone else: "..."

"Hmph!"

Song Jiu smirked as he took the token. "At least you know your place."

Chen Chang'an ignored him, showing no trace of emotion. He simply turned and picked up token No. 2. After all, the tasks would be updated daily; he was confident he could solve one within three days and then take on more—no need to get bogged down in trivialities.

"Brother Ye, want to join me for the serial murder case?" Chen Chang'an shamelessly attempted to curry favor.

Ye Lin’s refusal was firm. He picked out token No. 5. "Even if I go hunting man-eating beasts, I won’t investigate cases with certain people."

With that, he turned and left.

Ruan Jingchu pocketed all the remaining tokens. Those tasks were low-risk, but she could finish them quickly—individually worth few points, but the sum would add up.

"Lord Ye seems to be in a bad mood," Ruan Jingchu observed curiously.

Chen Chang'an replied perfunctorily, "Maybe he wants to join the Guard, but the Ministry of Justice won’t let him go, so he’s sulking."

With that brief exchange, Chen Chang'an went to Tan Shutong to collect the case file on the serial murders in Shiqiao Town. After reading through, he had a preliminary understanding.

Three people had been killed over the past five days—two men and one woman.

"Murder always has a motive. What’s the killer’s motive?"

"There are two possibilities: first, pure psychopathy; second, there's some special reason, in which case the victims should be connected somehow."

"Never mind, I’ll figure it out at the scene."

Speculation alone would yield few clues, so Chen Chang'an decided to conduct a field investigation. Before leaving, he plucked three poplar leaves from beside the training ground and, using the Peach Blossom Divination, cast a lot for himself.

"Damn—a dire omen!"