The county school is located due west of Yishui County.
Adjacent to the West City Gate, facing Xuanwu Mound; white walls and gray tiles, solemn and clean.
On the lintel of this school, there is a plaque with four shining, vigorous and powerful characters written on it: "Qi Jia Gong Guo".
If the records in the book are correct, these words were inscribed by the Grand Master of Qi during the post-disaster reconstruction of Yishui County seven years ago - they can be regarded as the most valuable thing in this institution.
Gu Xu met Zhou Siqi, a middle-aged man with a slightly stout figure and a dazed look outside the county school gate.
Jiaoyu is the instructor of the county school, with an official rank of ninth rank. There is one person in each county, who is in charge of worship in the Confucian temple and instructs all students. Non-judicial candidates are not allowed to serve.
It can be understood as the principal of the county school.
Gu Xu is an official, and Zhou Siqi is an official. According to the rules of the Qi Dynasty, under normal circumstances, subordinate officials need to kneel down and salute when they see officials.
But this set of rules only applies to mortals.
The practitioners of Da Qi have a transcendent status and can stand and speak even when meeting the emperor; ordinary officials must also behave politely in front of the practitioners.
"Master Zhou, I am Gu Xu from the Exorcism Department, responsible for solving this case." Gu Xu stepped forward and nodded slightly, "You should have an impression of me."
"Of course," Zhou Jiaoyu's round face was filled with a complimenting smile, "I have seen Gu Shaoxia's name on the merit list of the Exorcism Department more than once. Today I finally have the honor to meet him. He is indeed a heroic figure. A brave young hero with extraordinary bearing. "
As he spoke, Zhou Jiaoyu's legs were still shaking involuntarily.
The fear in his heart has obviously not dissipated.
He knew that Gu Xu in front of him was his only life-saving straw.
Although this young man looks weak, he represents the Daqi Exorcism Department after all.
If you want to get rid of the ghosts in the county school and prevent yourself and the students from falling prey to the ghosts, you must rely on this young man.
"Take me to a haunted place!" Gu Xu said calmly, "I want to see what kind of ghost dares to cause trouble in our Daqi Official School."
p>Zhou Jiaoyu hesitated.
He stood in front of the threshold, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally gritted his teeth, raised his legs and walked in.
Gu Xu followed him expressionlessly.
But as soon as they entered the door, a black shadow made a "swish" sound and passed quickly in front of the two people like lightning.
“Ah ah ah ghost——” Zhou Jiaoyu screamed in fright.
He staggered back a few steps, almost tripping over the threshold.
"Calm down, Mr. Zhou," Gu Xu narrowed his eyes slightly and said calmly, "That's just a cat."
"Yes...it was me who made the fuss." Zhou Jiaoyu forced a smile on his pale face.
At this moment, Zhou Jiaoyu wished he could immediatelyFind a crack in the ground and crawl into it.
A dignified Qi official was so frightened by a cat that he screamed... If this kind of thing were told, he would become a laughing stock in the eyes of everyone.
…………
Go through the hanging flower door and walk along the veranda.
There was silence in the school.
Only the slight sound of wind and the breathing of the two people could be heard.
In this dead atmosphere, Zhou Jiaoyu felt increasingly flustered, and the silk shirt on his body was already soaked with cold sweat.
He even wanted to turn around and run away immediately, away from this gloomy place.
However, thinking of his responsibilities as an evangelist and the safety of the students, he still bit the bullet and continued to lead Gu Xu, hoping to provide some help within his ability.
At this moment, the sound of reading suddenly sounded in the empty county school, gradually becoming clearer from far to near.
"Gu...Gu Shaoxia, that's...that's the voice!" Zhou Jiaoyu pointed forward and said stumblingly, his teeth chattering in his mouth.
But Gu Xu remained calm.
He stood still, listened carefully for a few seconds, and then commented: "Master Zhou, listen carefully, these ghosts are reciting the "Annotations to the Four Books"... Well, they are reciting them wrong. ""
Zhou Jiaoyu glanced at him as if he were looking at a monster, and silently sighed in his heart: As expected of a monk from the Exorcism Department, when encountering such a strange scene, he should focus on it. They are all different from ordinary people.
…………
The source of the sound of reading is a lecture hall in the northwest corner.
Gu Xu opened the door and walked straight in.
The room was dark.
The pale moonlight slanted into the room through the carved window lattice, barely able to outline the outlines of tables and chairs.
"Let me go to the concierge to get a lantern..." Zhou Jiaoyu suggested in a low voice.
"No need to bother." Gu Xu responded calmly.
As he spoke, he took out the pamphlet from his pocket, tore off a page, and then quickly drew several complex runes on the paper with charcoal.
If you don’t know how to draw the talisman, you will make the ghosts and gods laugh; if you know how to draw the talisman, you will make the ghosts and gods scream in surprise.
Zhou Jiaoyu stood aside and watched him draw the talisman, and in a trance he heard a faint exclamation coming from the distant horizon; if he looked carefully, he felt that the voice sounded like his own The hallucination cannot be found at all.
In the blink of an eye, the seal was completed.
Gu Xu put away the charcoal and folded the talisman paper in his hand twice. The talisman paper instantly turned into a red lantern, exuding a blood-red halo.
Zhou Jiaoyu was stunned.
As a senior official, he has seen other practitioners eliminate ghosts before.
But this was the first time he witnessed such a strange and mysterious spell.
"Gu Shaoxia is indeed not an ordinary monk!" Zhou Jiaoyu couldn't help but murmured with emotion., "This kind of method is really extraordinary!"
"Basic operations are not worth boasting about." Gu Xu smiled slightly and said modestly.
…………
Under the light of the lantern, several figures sitting in the corner of the lecture hall came into view.
Those were a few men dressed as scholars.
They were dressed in t-shirts and Confucian scarves, with haggard faces and haggard expressions; they held the "Collected Commentary on the Four Books" in their hands, shaking their heads and reading non-stop.
At first glance, one might think that he was a scholar who had forgotten all about food and sleep, stayed up all night and studied hard for the imperial examination.
After seeing the faces of these scholars clearly, Zhou Jiaoyu was frightened again and screamed "Ah——".
His legs also became limp and weak, and he could barely stand still by holding on to the wall beside him.
"My lord seems to like to scream a lot this week!" Gu Xu glanced at him and silently labeled him in his heart.
At the same time, these scholars also heard Zhou Jiaoyu’s voice.
They put down the books in their hands, walked up to Zhou Jiaoyu one by one, and bowed to him as disciples.
“I’ve met Mr. Zhou.”
“Sir Zhou is really hardworking. He is still worried about our studies in the middle of the night.”
“Sir Zhou, student I'm stupid, I failed the exam again this year, I really can't live up to your teachings."
"Master Zhou, please believe me, I will definitely pass the exam in three years and make you famous!"< /p>
"..."
Looking at the familiar faces, Zhou Jiaoyu took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and said:
"Wei Ming, Jiang Wenyuan, He Xiaoliang, Chu Chunhua... didn't you guys die eight years ago? I was the one who built your tombs and monuments myself."
My name was called The few scholars looked at each other in confusion, not understanding what he was talking about.