fairy family

Chapter 49: All kinds of people, county examination burning table self-alliance (4k)
The night grew darker, and the Alchemist Guild was shrouded in a layer of fog.

Yu Que rushed out of the guild and saw the carriage still parked in front of the guild, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the coachman didn't leave.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to get a ride at night, and he would have to go to the county school by himself. In order to save time, he would definitely consume a lot of energy.

With a clang, Yu Que jumped onto the carriage without hesitation.

When the driver saw him coming up, and there was no one else behind him, he waved his whip violently and shouted without Yu Que's order:

"Young Master, sit down!"

The horses neighed, the bells rang, and the wheels immediately rolled over the stone slabs and crashed into the deep fog.

When Yu Que heard the driver's call, his tense face relaxed and he said with a smile:
"Brother, you are joking. I am not a young master at all. If I were really a young master, how could such troubles happen today?"

The coachman didn't reply, but smiled innocently.

Yu Que sat in the car and took the initiative to say: "Thank you for tonight, big brother. My surname is Yu, and my given name is 'Que'. May I ask your name, big brother?"

"Ah! Your surname is not even Fu." The coachman exclaimed in surprise.

Seeing Yu Que's polite appearance, completely different from his previous brutal appearance, the man's mouth finally stopped being dry and began to spit. So after a slight hesitation, he said with a smile:
"But I can't bear the title of big brother. I just make a living on the street. People call me 'Ma Zai'."

The two men exchanged pleasantries, and Yu Que asked in detail, only to find out that this person was just like him, having lost his father at a young age and had been forced to live in someone else's home since childhood.

But the other person's luck was not as good as Yu Que's. The relatives he lived with were not good, so he had to go out to make a living when he was less than ten years old. This is also the origin of the word "er" in his nickname.

Soon, the ghost car arrived near the county school.

Although it is night time today, the county school is bustling with people, horse-drawn carriages lined up and pedestrians rubbing shoulders with each other.

There were constant shouts on the street, some selling sugar men, some selling roasted chestnuts, some selling peanuts and assorted dried fruits, some selling wontons and buns... Everyone was breathing steam from their mouths, and the scene was lively and bustling.

People and businesses in the surrounding area came here to do business as there were many people attending the county exam tonight.

The thugs drove the ghost carriage into a corner, which was only two or three hundred steps away from the gate of the county examination, but not so far as to squeeze into the crowded crowd.

He stopped the horse, shook his head, and said proudly: "Although I have never taken the county exam, I have been here six or seven times. I love to send students like you. I am familiar with the route!"

Unlike the silence at the beginning, after the two got to know each other, the other party seemed quite enthusiastic and pointed at the gate of the county school:

"Here! Go in from here along the edge. There are the most stalls on the road, selling soup, bread, dim sum, dried meat, elbows, ham, everything! Pick some of your favorites, but don't eat too much, or you'll vomit in the exam room."

"Thank you, Brother Marco!"

Yu Que stood up and greeted. Without further delay, he got off the car and walked towards the county examination.

Suddenly, the thug leaned out of the car, raised his head and shouted:

"Little brother, work harder! I will wait for you here tonight until dawn."

Hearing the voice calling from behind, Yu Que felt his body slightly warm while walking in the cold wind.

He turned sideways, bowed to the other party, and then disappeared into the bustling crowd.

Not long after.

Yu Que squeezed through a group of people who came to see him off for the exam and finally reached the gate of the county school.

After the yamen runners at the door checked the documents in his hand again and again, they waved their hands, opened the gate and let him go.

Another group of black heads appeared in Yu Que's eyes.

At first glance, the place was packed with people. It was hard to count the exact number of people, but it was at least over a thousand.

Driven by the yamen runners, the crowd gathered in groups on each street according to their hometowns.

Yu Que quickly blended into the crowd where there were several familiar faces.

As soon as he arrived here, several people looked at him, whispering and pointing.

Yu Que turned a blind eye, found a corner to stand in, closed his eyes slightly, and adjusted his state.

But he ignored the others, who came to him and said:
"Are you the outsider, Yuque?"

He saw a young man in a brocade robe and a fox fur cloak, with a pale face, red lips and slightly pointed cheeks, looking at him with pride.

There were two companions following the other party, and it was obvious that he was the leader.

Yu Que calmly opened his eyes and looked directly at the man.

The young man in brocade robe frowned immediately.

The other party pointed his finger at Yu Que and shouted, "I don't like the look in your eyes. But considering your reputation as a top candidate in the county exam, you can come over and stand next to me."

Yu Que looked around and immediately found that the faces around this person were familiar, and knew his identity.

This man is none other than the clan leader Fu Jin’s third son and You’s beloved son, Fu Ling!
Faced with this man's self-righteousness, Yu Que not only did not get angry, but instead showed a strange look on his face. His eyes swept across the faces of the Fu clan members on both sides one by one.

Nearly half of the Fu clan members had gloomy faces and flickering eyes. They looked at Yu Que, not daring to speak, and kept their heads down in silence.

"It seems that someone from the Fu clan has told these candidates not to disclose the affairs of the You family." Yu Que understood in his heart.

He thought about it for a while and didn't want to reveal the matter actively, in order to prevent Fu Ling, who was young and hot-tempered, from causing trouble for him in the examination room.

So Yu Que bowed to the other party and said, "No need."

Without waiting for the other party to react, he flashed and slid into the crowd again, avoiding being seen.

Facing Yu Que's disregard, Fu Ling's face was furious and he immediately cursed:
"You are an ungrateful house-born child!"

The man looked around and said to himself, "This man is arrogant. We don't need to pay attention to him. We can just watch him die on his own."

But this person didn't know that when he said this, the eyes of the tribesmen around him were full of sarcasm, ridicule, and pity.

Yu Que wandered around the examination room, continuing to assess the quality of the candidates taking the exam tonight.

You don’t know until you see it, and when you see it, his eyes change slightly.

Because all the candidates present had their own household gods, and they were full of ghostly spirits. In addition, several of them even looked at Yu Que as if they were aware of something.

This level of sharp inspiration is either a natural gift or the result of cultivating the inner spirit to a high level.

Yu Que suddenly became alert in his heart:

“There is indeed a talented person in this workshop.

It seems that even if my family's spirit is great and the spirit consciousness is also complete, if I want to win the title of Lusheng in the exam, I must go all out and not look down on others! "

But Yu Que didn't know that either. When he looked at the others, they were all frightened:

"The exam hasn't even started yet, and someone has already started following us!"

suddenly.

Yu Que saw two familiar faces in the crowd.

One of them was his friend in the Alchemist Guild, the rich young master - Qian Huazhen.

The other person is his partner in the fried dough stick shop, apprentice Fang Mulian.

These two people are about the same age as him, and as expected, they both came to take the county exam tonight.

It's just that the expressions of these two people are quite different. Qian Huazhen, who is dressed in fine clothes and eats delicious food, looks very similar to the clan leader's son Fu Ling, both of them look like they are sure of victory.

Fang Mulian was hunched over, her face was dull, her eyes were filled with anxiety and anticipation, and she looked extremely nervous at first glance.

Yu Que noticed the two men but did not go forward to greet them.

At present, everyone has not even passed the first level of the county examination, so there is no need to form cliques now.

After the first round of elimination, it won’t be too late to get to know each other.

time flies.

After a moment, Yu Que saw that no one had announced the start of the exam, so he decided to find a place to sit down first to avoid standing there and wasting his energy.

Then, a scream rang out in the courtyard of the county school: "Impossible... Yu Que, I'm going to kill you!"

The scream was so sudden that it startled thousands of candidates and the buzzing sound stopped.

In the silence, the voice continued to shout:
"Beast, where are you!!"

Many people looked in the direction of the sound and saw a young man with bloodshot eyes and a ferocious face, standing on a high place and shouting, looking around the whole yard. Yu Que also looked over in surprise, realizing that someone had told Fu Ling about the clan's affairs.

He muttered in his heart: "We haven't even seen the body yet, why are you so excited?"

And at this moment.

Fu Ling was holding Youshi's bloody buttons and belt in his hands, his eyes were wild and murderous.

"quiet!"

Before he could get mad again, a bailiff rushed up to him and scolded him.

Seeing this, the people of the same tribe hurriedly pulled Fu Ling down from his high place and comforted him:

"The dead cannot be brought back to life! Master, please accept my condolences."

"If you rush over now, you won't be able to see your mother for the last time. Since you are already unfilial, then just study hard for the exam."

Several people surrounded Fu Ling, crying and for a moment they seemed more filial than Fu Ling, their biological son.

But amidst the crying, Fu Ling's blood boiled and he felt even more agitated.

His face flushed red and he glared at the bailiff in front of him fiercely, almost breaking his teeth.

The bailiffs were not afraid at all. Instead, they pointed at the guy and talked and laughed.

In an instant, the news that a candidate's mother had died tonight spread throughout the examination hall like the wind.

People were talking about it, and some curious people even walked around to see who the unlucky child was.

Similarly, the words "surplus and vacancy" were also kept in mind by many candidates.

For example, right in front of Yu Que at this moment, someone was excitedly discussing in front of him:

"Good fellow, it's just an exam, but he killed someone's mother. Does this guy really think he can pass the exam?"

"Tsk tsk, we can't say too much to such a vicious person..."

Yu Que stood in front of the other party and was attracted by his dancing. The other party was very excited and said to him:

"What do you say, old sport?"

Yu Que had a strange look on his face. He bowed timidly and didn't say anything.

Dang Dang Dang!
Finally, the sound of gongs and drums rang out, and the county examination officially began.

The examinees, who were discussing among themselves, suddenly burst into the loudest noise, and immediately crowded towards the actual examination room.

Although this was Yu Que's first time here, he had interned at the county school before and knew which direction the entrance to the examination room was in. He had also strolled around the area in advance.

So he squeezed into the front row, staggering with the crowd, and walked into the examination room one after another.

Inside the examination room, what caught everyone's eyes were clusters of fire basins, but there was no fire in the basins, only a pile of incense ash.

In addition, there are no tables, chairs, stools, or pens and ink. You need to bring your own pens, ink, paper, and inkstone.

Yu Que carried his paper bag and rushed to a brazier near the eaves that was sheltered from wind and rain.

He sat down cross-legged and occupied the seat firmly.

The immortal studies examination in this life is different from the Confucian studies examination in his previous life.

Although the immortal examination also involves studying scriptures and books, there are no living examiners to review the papers. Instead, everything is written on yellow paper, and the examiners burn incense and pray in sequence. Green smoke will then rise up, and communication with ghosts and gods can be achieved.

The first stage of the county examination is called the "literary examination", and this kind of blue smoke is called "literary aura".

That night, the county school examiners will select those with tall and strong literary temperament, select the best ones, and include them in the next round of examinations.

The level and thickness of the writing style is related to the candidate's response level.

The more accurate the answer is, the more condensed the smoke will be, and the more it will satisfy the wishes of ghosts and gods, the thicker it will be.

In addition, there are occasionally people who are unlucky and can barely pass the test, but a gust of wind blows and a drizzle falls, which blows away their literary spirit and extinguishes them. They are eliminated and have bad luck.

Yu Que rushed to occupy the pit to avoid such a situation.

After all, even if this matter was reported to the examiner, he would only be laughed at.

Although the immortals will choose auspicious days to burn incense and perform rituals, they may occasionally encounter windy and rainy weather, and they still have to open the altar and perform rituals without any mistakes.

As long as there is something real in your stomach, no matter how strong the wind blows or how heavy the rain falls, you will be able to make a noise and will not be eliminated.

In the examination room, thousands of candidates were seated. Amid the chaos, lanterns appeared in the sky above the examination room and floated around the room.

There were ghost faces on the lanterns, all with long red tongues sticking out, and test questions were written on the tongues:

"Who compiled the seventh edition of "The Immortal Scripture" and how many years it took."

"There is a city in Huangshan, simply called Huangcheng. There are several cities with the same name and what is their full name?"

"What are the similarities and differences between "Xiang Er Twenty-Seven Commandments" and "Xiang Er Nine Commandments"...

All kinds of basic knowledge of Taoism came into everyone's sight.

There are also some questions that are almost free, but also seem tricky:

"The Red City and the Yellow City both have clouds over the city walls. The clouds and mists are dim and bright, which is a great sight. Which of these two is higher?"

Obviously, if you simply answer such questions, you will most likely not be able to answer what the questioner has in mind. You need to have reasons and evidence, and cite classics.

Yu Que leaned over, spread out the yellow paper on his knees, put the brush on his tongue, dissolved it with saliva, applied cinnabar, and wrote one by one.

Every now and then, after writing for a while, he would spit out a few times to avoid taking in too much cinnabar and hurting his body.

Human saliva can communicate with ghosts. Using saliva to write a form is one of the little tricks for taking exams.

Suddenly, there were continuous sounds of "Puh" in the examination room.

There were some candidates who were grinding ink with water instead of using their own saliva.

It’s just that they are either from wealthy families and the ink they use is mixed with zombie tooth powder, or the clean water they use is actually the tears of the dead.

Or they came from far away places outside the city, and they knew nothing and didn’t know how to learn.

Half an hour passed.

Yu Que wrote in great detail and copied five sheets of yellow paper in a row, each of which was written in a flamboyant and majestic manner.

At this time, someone in the examination room had already burned incense, creating smoke that made the night sky full of flickering ghost lights.

However, Yu Que had not yet burned the watch. His performance in the study of immortality had always been good, and he had his own confidence. He planned to wait until he had collected a basket full of them and then burn them all together.

The "literary energy" produced in this way is extremely coarse and may not be extinguished even by pouring water on it.

Finally, Yu Que encountered a big question:
"Drinking the elixir to establish an alliance, granting the degree and blessing, the gods are effective! Now the "Elixir Text" is as follows, please write the "Self-Alliance Text" in accordance with the etiquette and rules."

He was refreshed, and immediately he clenched his teeth and beat the drum, bent over and wrote:
"Incense is burning in the morning. In the seventh market district of Huangshan County, I, the disciple of the immortal boy, bow my head and kowtow again. I present this:

Daomi Tianzun, Taishang Daojun, Wufang Zun Shen, Shifang Zun Shen have already attained the true Dao. Taishang Lingbao thirty-six sacred scriptures and precious talismans, all high-level and profound great masters, due to karma and predestined blessings, the nine-day calamity, the wheel of immortality, the celebration of the fortune, the wheel of transformation, the door of life. In the past, I made a vow, admired and looked up to the Dharma, the Dharma is related to the Mahayana, the mind is excited, and I am afraid of decaying. Now that the destiny of heaven has moved, the imperial way has been carried out, and the Huangqi County School has seen and selected the writing, enlightened the ignorant, and gave me the spiritual text to present to the holy king. The flesh corpse is terrified, washed clean of oil and dirt, and can serve the altar, bow down and be promoted, the honor is beyond measure. "

He finished one page in one breath without stopping.

"The remaining immortal children should encourage themselves to be strict in body, worship and respect etiquette, abandon emotions and retreat, place their aspirations in secluded places, stay away from the worldly ways, and only set their sights on the hills and rocks. They should worship day and night, exhaust their thoughts, and hope to rely on the holy texts to save their decaying bodies. They should control their suspicions with all their heart and have no second thoughts. They should not dare to violate their alliances, betray their teachers, or be disrespectful to the way. They should not have a good face but not a sincere heart, and they cannot guarantee their fate."

Yu Que calmed himself down and wrote again with trepidation:

"I now accept my sins and speak my mind. I cite my seven generations of parents and nine great-great-grandfathers as witnesses. I see all the living people in this world and my nine clans as my covenant. I enjoy the immortal path and dare not restrain you. If I disobey you for a day, I will be condemned to the five paths of hell in both life and death. I dare not ask for forgiveness."

Having written this, he checked three times and pricked his finger until it bled, but he did not use the blood to mix with the ink. He just dotted it and finally wrote:

"I have reported the secrets of the Dao to the Five Emperors, and I have made a pledge in front of my master. I am truly grateful for your kindness. I, the immortal child, am deeply awed and respectful, and I bow my head again."

After finishing the alliance, he picked up the test papers in front of him, piled them into the brazier, and lit them.

Poof!

The bright light from the brazier made his face turn red.

Under Yu Que's expectant gaze, a puff of green smoke suddenly rose up.

The smoke rose slowly to a height of more than 13 feet, which was a spectacular sight. It immediately attracted the attention of many candidates and ghosts.

(End of this chapter)