Around the open ground, dozens of boys and girls about fourteen or fifteen years old stood, their expressions cold and proud. They were all dressed in splendid, identical clothing and held wooden swords, maintaining order at the scene. Anyone who tried to run around would inevitably get a few strikes from them.

The children, feeling the pain, immediately learned to behave and dared not wander. Whatever those older youths told them to do, they obediently followed.

The children all speculated about the identities of these older boys and girls, guessing that they were likely herb-picking apprentices recruited in earlier batches, or perhaps inner hall disciples. They couldn’t help but feel envious. It seemed that this Herb-Picking Hall was indeed a good place—after a few years, they too could wear such fine clothes and learn some impressive martial skills to show off.

After order on the open ground was more or less established, one of the cold and proud youths leapt onto a platform several meters high. He cupped his hands toward a middle-aged man in silk, who looked wealthy, and said, “Mr. Bolton the Steward, everything is ready. The trial can begin!”

Although he addressed him as Mr. Bolton the Steward, there was a hint of disdain in the youth’s tone. He was a core disciple of the inner hall, apprenticed to a deputy hall master. As for this the Steward, he was merely the chief steward in charge of chores, without any martial skills, and not worth mentioning in his eyes. It was only out of respect for status that he called him chief steward.

Mr. Bolton the Steward didn’t mind at all. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it, nodding with satisfaction, standing on the platform with his belly sticking out, and grandly shouting to the children in the large courtyard.

“Line up, line up, don’t push! Listen to me—everyone, split into ten groups and enter the wooden huts one by one for the trial. Whether you can become a herb-picking apprentice in my Herb-Picking Hall and live a life of comfort depends on whether you can pass this trial.

The rules for the trial are as follows:

Each wooden hut contains one hundred different herbs.

Fifty of them are poisonous, with varying degrees of toxicity. The mildest will only make your whole body itch, while the most poisonous can kill you within half a quarter of an hour.

Another thirty are non-toxic herbs, which cause no pain or harm when eaten.

The remaining twenty are antidote herbs, which can heal the effects of the poisonous ones.

If you get poisoned after eating fewer than nine herbs, you’ll be expelled from the Herb-Picking Hall and not accepted.

If you manage to eat ten, you can become a registered outer hall herb-picking apprentice and will be observed for half a year.

If you manage to eat more than twenty, you can become a formal outer hall herb-picking apprentice.

If you manage to eat more than thirty, you can become an inner hall apothecary apprentice. The more you eat, the better your treatment in the sect.

If anyone manages to eat between fifty and seventy, you can directly become a core disciple of the outer hall under the deputy hall master.

However, before the trial, everyone must sign a life-and-death contract with me. It must state that this trial is entirely voluntary, with no coercion, and that in case of any accident, you alone will bear the consequences, unrelated to anyone else. Only after pressing your handprint can you enter for the trial. Who wants to go first?”

Chapter 7: The Terrifying Trial

Henry Clark stood among the children, silently watching Mr. Bolton the Steward on the platform. He found him somewhat familiar. Looking closely, wasn’t this the same Mr. Bolton the Steward he saw yesterday at the side gate of the Herb-Picking Hall’s residence, the one who took the country squire’s money pouch?!

Henry Clark glanced from afar at the chubby boy and thought to himself, I wonder how Mr. Bolton the Steward will take care of this chubby kid.

Henry Clark also very much hoped to become a herb-picking apprentice and live a life free from want, but he was not foolish enough to be the first to sign that life-and-death contract. He wanted to see what this trial was really about.

The other children were also a bit suspicious and didn’t dare to step forward easily.

The chubby boy was quite bold and actually ran up first. “I’ll go, I’ll be the first to try!” Relying on the fact that his father had given Mr. Bolton the Steward money before, he wasn’t afraid of the trial at all.

Soon, a few other children of country squires also came forward, wanting to be the first batch to take the trial.

Seeing that only a few had responded and more than half were still missing, Mr. Bolton the Steward was in no hurry. He smiled and loudly announced that anyone who went into the wooden hut for the trial first would be rewarded with a fragrant, juicy chicken leg afterward.

This temptation immediately drew over a dozen children to scramble for the trial. For these poor kids, a chicken leg was enough to lure them into taking the risk.

Mr. Bolton the Steward picked five or six of them and had them, along with the squire’s children, press their handprints on the life-and-death contract before letting them into the small wooden huts for the trial.

The wooden huts were half open, half closed, and each had a middle-aged man inside supervising the trial.

Ten children entered the huts and, under the supervision of those middle-aged men, put something into their mouths.

The hundreds of children outside watched from a distance and could see a little of what was happening inside, though not very clearly. They all craned their necks and held their breath, waiting.

The trial process was rather long.

For the first half a quarter of an hour, there was no reaction from any of the ten huts, making everyone increasingly anxious.

Until, after half a quarter of an hour, a shrill scream suddenly came from one of the huts. A child inside ran out frantically, foaming at the mouth, his whole body flushed red, shouting loudly, “Help! Help me—!”

However, the boys and girls outside remained cold and indifferent, not one of them making a move to help.