On the Avenue

"Although this Mr. Fu has righteous deeds and is capable and responsible, his knowledge is somewhat so-so."

Chen Shi stayed at Wencai Academy for the night, and Hu Feifei, who was also from the countryside, also stayed. It was still early to go to bed now, and the two of them made some money, so they met to go to the night market.

The night market in Xinxiang County is more lively than during the day. The streets are full of people, and there are various stalls on both sides, frying and cooking all kinds of delicacies. Chen Shi, Hu Feifei and Hei Guo were eating all the way, carrying all kinds of food in their hands. If they couldn't fit it all in, Hei Guo stood up and helped to get the food.

"Brother Chen, don't you think your dog is a little strange?"

Hu Feifei glanced back and saw that the dog was walking on two hind legs. He was taller than a normal person, walked more steadily than a normal person, and didn't look like a dog when carrying things.

Chen Shi looked back and didn't feel anything was abnormal. He said, "Don't you also walk on two legs? What's so strange?"

Hu Feifei was stunned and speechless.

After walking around for a while, they stumbled towards the academy.

Chen Shi became more and more confused and asked, "Feifei, where is the godmother in the city?"

After he entered the city, he had been looking for his godmother in Xinxiang County, but he still couldn't find his godmother after wandering around for so long.

Hu Feifei seemed to be pregnant for ten months, holding her waist with one hand and carrying food in the other, walking hard, shaking her head and saying: "There is no godmother in the county or provincial capital."

Chen Shi was puzzled: "How can we get rid of evil spirits without a godmother? Can't evil spirits enter the city if they want to?"

Hu Feifei said: "Although there is no godmother, there is a magic weapon to guard the county. The Ten Thousand Souls Flag is such a magic weapon. This treasure protects the county. Whenever an evil spirit approaches, the Ten Thousand Soul Flag will automatically burst out with power and kill the evil spirit. . Ten Thousand Soul Banners The Ten Thousand Soul Banners in Xinxiang County have a history of thousands of years, and no evil spirit can compete with them. Over time, as many evil spirits died, no evil spirit dared to approach the county. "

"I see."

Chen Shi suddenly understood and said, "But why did the two evil spirits, the county magistrate and the county magistrate's wife, enter the county town and not die under the Ten Thousand Soul Banner?"

Hu Feifei was stumped by him, shook her head and said: "I don't know about this anymore. The leader of my fox clan is also evil, but he has entered the city many times, and the Ten Thousand Soul Banner has no reaction. The leader is too high in cultivation and can conceal his aura. , but Magistrate Geng doesn’t have the skills of the clan leader, so why can he enter the city?”

Chen Shi asked: "Do you think Magistrate Geng was eaten by the evil spirit, and the evil spirit turned into Magistrate Geng, or is Magistrate Geng the evil spirit?"

Hu Feifei thought for a while and said: "I think Magistrate Geng is evil. I can't walk anymore, I can't walk anymore! Find a place to sit and eat!"

Chen Shi looked around and saw a guardrail by the river, so he sat on the guardrail with her.

Hu Feifei was very depressed and leaned on his shoulder.

Chen Shi's heart moved slightly and he said, "Feifei, it's dark at this time. Where is your hairpin? Does it really shine?"

Hu Feifei was full of energy, took out the hairpin from her head, covered it with both hands, and said with a smile: "Look!"

Chen Shi came closer and said in surprise: "It really shines!"

Hu Feifei was very proud, biting the hairpin, tying her hair with both hands, protecting her hair with one hand, inserting the hairpin with the other, and said with a smile: "My hairpin has talismans engraved in it. It absorbs sunlight during the day and releases it at night, making it sparkle." Yes! Brother Chen, do you have any interesting stories?”

Chen Shi told her interesting stories about his time in the mountains, which made the foxy girl giggle non-stop and shout, "I don't want to listen to you anymore, my stomach hurts from laughing! You rub it for me!"

Chen Shi helped her rub her belly, and as expected, her laughter relieved her anger. It warmed her belly, the anger ran away, and the pain stopped.

The two rested for a long time before getting up and returning to the academy.

Fu Leisheng was waiting for them. When he saw them returning, he said: "I want to go home and rest, so you two will stay in the college for one night. Chen Shi, the true god needs a boy's body to submerge, and the yang will not leak, you Remember, remember.”

He was profound and awe-inspiring, carefully trying to figure out the meaning of his words.

Fu Leisheng left.

The two rested for a while, then went to clean up and clear out the sleeping area. After all, this is a college, where students attend classes and lectures. There are no beds and they can only make beds on the floor.

Chen Shi took the bedding from the wooden cart, gave half to Hu Feifei, and kept half for himself.

The two said good night to each other and got into bed. The dog stood outside and heard the crickets barking, but other than that, there was no other sound.

The noisy night market in the county town seemed to be getting further and further away from them.

Hu Feifei climbed out of the bed and said with a smile: "I can't sleep. Brother Chen, can you tell me more about what's going on in the mountains? I practice with the sisters of the Fox clan and rarely go into the mountains."

Chen Shi sat up and told her various stories about Qianyang Mountain, the strange rules in the mountain, the spirits guarding the mountain, the big snake Xuanshan, the 6,000-year-old Granny Zhuang, and many naughty ginseng dolls.

Hu Feifei moved the quilt closer to him, got into the quilt, leaned sidely and listened to him, her eyes shining in the dark night.

"Brother Chen, what do you want to do after taking the exam?" the fox asked.

"do what?"

Chen Shi was a little confused. He thought about it carefully. His purpose in taking the exam at the beginning was to become a civil servant, return to his hometown to be a master, and live among the villagers, so that his grandfather could rest in peace in his old age.

But now my grandpa has gone to the underworld and I don’t know when he will come back.

Nowadays, his exams have become a long-cherished wish that he wants to fulfill.

"After I pass the exam, I want to go back to my hometown and become a master, so that I can oppress the villagers with a legitimate reason."

Chen Shi said, "What about you?"

Hu Feifei put her hands on her chest, grabbed the edge of the quilt, and smiled with sparkling eyes: "The purpose of my exam is to find a pleasing scholar and develop a touching love story between a man and a fox with him!"

Chen Shi asked: "Have you found one?"

"Not yet."

Hu Feifei was a little lonely and said, "There are only a few brats in our academy, and none of them can catch the girl's eye. When I pass the exam to become a scholar, there will definitely be better scholars."

As they talked about the future, Hu Feifei's voice became lower and lower, and she slowly fell asleep.

Seeing this, Chen Shi also huddled in the quilt, and fell asleep in just a moment.

The day of the county exam finally arrived.

The location of this county exam was the Confucian Temple in the county town, where Confucius was worshipped. The area near the wall was divided into compartments one after another. All the private school students in the towns and villages of Xinxiang County rushed to the Confucian Temple. There were hundreds of people in the county town alone, and even more in the towns, hundreds of people, and even white-haired old men, who went to the Confucian Temple to participate in the county exam.

The first round was the literary exam.

The students of Chen Shi and Wencai Academy were separated and entered different compartments. After everyone sat down, they were distributed with pens, ink, paper and inkstone to prevent them from cheating.

The chief examiner was Tian Huaiyi mentioned by Fu Leisheng, a serious young official. He first offered sacrifices to Confucius, then to Wenchang, and then announced the official start of the exam.

"Today's exam question is, "Zengzi said: When a bird is about to die, its cry is sad; when a person is about to die, his words are kind."

Tian Huaiyi read out the exam question, his voice rumbling and shaking, and said, "In the examination room, no discussion, no chatting, no cheating. Offer it to the mirror and check every detail!"

Two examiners worked together to lift a huge mirror, more than one person tall, with a stick of incense in front of the mirror, and passed in front of each compartment.

The incense burned, and the fragrance drifted to the mirror. The mirror seemed to have a spirit, absorbing the incense and emitting an orange light, which was very soft.

Suddenly, the two examiners stopped and winked at the yamen runners on the side.

The two yamen runners immediately stepped forward and came to the compartment. The student in the compartment was terrified and screamed, but he still couldn't help but write like the wind and kept writing.

The two yamen runners sneered and pulled off the student's black hat.

I saw a three or four-inch tall white-haired mouse sitting on the student's head, holding a slender brush, with a drawing board in front of it and paper on it.

The white-haired mouse was concentrating and writing furiously, writing the interpretation of the test questions.

Whatever it wrote, the student wrote.

When the white-haired mouse saw that he was discovered, he hurriedly dropped the brush and ran away, but it was too late. He was caught by the yamen runner on the left.

Another yamen runner took the student to the chief examiner Tian Huaiyi. Tian Huaiyi glanced at the white-haired mouse and sneered: "It turned out to be Zhishu. Dare to cheat here, what a courage! Drag him away and give him ten big boards!"

The yamen runners dragged the student away.

The two examiners still held up the mirror and continued to shine.

Chen Shi sat in the compartment, inexplicably excited: "A dying man's words are good! Zhu Xiucai has talked about this exam question more than once, and it is exactly the exam question I am familiar with!"

He wrote with a divine hand, and soon finished the 200-word essay, then wrote his name, the academy he came from, blew the ink dry, and stood up to hand in the paper.

At this time, other students were still writing, while others were struggling to figure out how to start writing, and had not yet handed in their papers.

When Tian Huaiyi saw that he was the first to hand in his paper, he was inexplicably surprised. He took the test paper, glanced at the academy, and smiled: "It is the Wencai Academy of my mentor. My mentor has studied hard, and it seems that he has another talented student."

Other examiners complimented: "A famous teacher produces a talented student, otherwise how could he have taught such a talented person like Mr. Tian?"

As Tian Huaiyi read on, the smile on his face became more and more stiff. He suddenly closed the test paper, took a long breath, and calmed down.

"Have you found a traitor among my teacher's disciples?"

He thought to himself, "No, I have to see my teacher! This is a serious matter. If I behead him, it might implicate my teacher and me!"

Chen Shi walked out of the Confucian Temple. Fu Leisheng was waiting outside. Seeing Chen Shi coming out, he was very surprised and hurried to meet him.

"Chen Shi, you came out so soon? How did you do in the exam?"

Chen Shi was not without pride and smiled, "I am familiar with the classics of Confucius. This county exam is just a breeze."

Fu Leisheng was about to ask what he wrote, when suddenly a bright red glow fell straight from the sky and fell directly into the Confucian Temple. A strange fragrance filled the air.

"God descended... God descended!"

Fu Leisheng stared at the glow blankly, and suddenly exclaimed. There were also several exclamations in the Confucian Temple. Many examiners were also startled by the glow and said, "The true god descended! Which student was the one who got the true god descended?"

From this voice, it was obvious that the god descended this time was extremely extraordinary.

Chen Shi's heart was also pounding as he stared at the straight rays of light.

The fragrance in the air was getting stronger and stronger, and it made people feel like they were floating in the air.

The full name of the term "God descending" is "the descent of the true god".

After the young cultivators in the shrine realm have completed the shrine, they will hold a ceremony to offer sacrifices to the heavens. The true gods from the sky will receive the incense and send down rays of light to grant the divine fetus.

When the divine fetus enters the shrine, the cultivator will officially enter the divine fetus realm and have the possibility of impacting the next realm and refining the golden elixir.

However, divine descendants only appear after the sacrifices of county examinations. It is extremely rare for divine descendants to appear out of thin air during major examinations.

"There is no need for a big sacrifice, if a god comes out of thin air, it is usually a person who is extremely talented and has a prosperous literary career!"

Fu Leisheng murmured, "Who is this person?"

As soon as he said this, someone suddenly came over in a hurry, leaned down and said, "Mr. Fu, Mr. Tian invites you."

When Fu Leisheng heard this, he quickly followed the man and entered the temple from the back door of the Confucian Temple. Tian Huaiyi was already waiting at the back door. He ignored the greetings when they met and said quickly: "Teacher, something big happened at Wencai Academy! Rebels and geniuses all come from Wencai Academy." Academy!"

Fu Leisheng was surprised and happy, and asked quickly.

Tian Huaiyi said: "The True God is also a student from Wencai Academy, named Shen Yusheng. This boy was favored by the True God in the literary examination and was given the divine fetus. I still don't know what grade he is in. But he will definitely not be lower than the second grade! This child He is a genius, congratulations to my mentor! As for being a rebel..."

He took out Chen Shi's paper and handed it to Fu Leisheng.

"Teacher, please take a look."

Fu Leisheng glanced at it with a pale expression on his face: "You are going to send me to the Ten Thousand Souls Flag!"

Tian Huaiyi said quickly: "Teacher, what should I do?"

Fu Leisheng gritted his teeth and said: "I'll write one for him! No matter what, we can't bring trouble to the academy!"

Tian Huaiyi hesitated and said: "My mentor wrote it for him. He will definitely be a scholar. If he is a scholar, he will take the exam in the autumn. If he takes the exam in the provincial capital, won't it cause even more trouble?"

Fu Leisheng quickly took out his pen, ink, paper and inkstone and said: "After he is selected as a scholar, I will kick him out of the Wencai Academy. When the exam comes, no matter how much trouble he causes, it will have nothing to do with our Wencai Academy!"

Tian Huaiyi lowered his voice and shouted: "Teacher, this is fraud!"

"Cheating is better than tens of thousands of soul flags! If he turns in his paper, he might even implicate you!"