On the sixth day of October, it rained in Yishui County.
The patter of autumn rain washes away the dust on the eaves and fills the air with a moist coolness.
At dawn, Gu Xu had already arrived at the official kitchen of the Exorcist Department Yamen and spent eight copper coins on a pancake and a fried dough stick.
Today is the day for him to take the assessment.
As long as he is recognized by the capital examiner, he can take off his simple and old green cloth shirt and change into a gorgeous black robe embroidered with the sun, moon and stars, and officially become a respected Official of the Department of Exorcism.
This is a hard-won opportunity.
Although Gu Xu had been practicing all night for several days and was fully prepared, he still took an extremely cautious attitude towards this assessment and did not dare to slack off at all.
At this moment, while eating breakfast, he silently recalled various ghost cases recorded in books in his mind.
His experience in killing ghosts is definitely not as good as that of Nama Qin. To win in the competition, he can only rely on knowledge to make up for the gap in experience.
At this moment, Shi Xiaohan suddenly appeared in front of him and snatched the fried dough sticks and sesame cakes from his hand.
"Gu Xu, how many times have I told you! You are not in good health, don't eat such unhealthy food!"
Gu Xu spread his hands: "Then you "What should I eat, Lady Heroine?"
"You have to take the exam today, so I asked my cook to make an extra breakfast and bring it to you."
While talking, Shi Xiaohan placed an exquisite food box in front of Gu Xu.
The food box has three layers, containing fish porridge, osmanthus cake and soup dumplings respectively, exuding an extremely attractive aroma.
"Thank you!" Gu Xu looked at her and said sincerely, "Your chef's skills are really good!"
"Do you like it?"
"Like it ."
"Just like it," Shi Xiaohan raised his chin proudly, "This is what I made after studying the snacks of Jiangnan and southern Guangdong - the symbol of fish porridge. The prosperity is rising', the sweet-scented osmanthus cake represents 'rising higher and higher', and the steamed dumplings represent 'prosperity'.
"Gu Xu, you must work hard for today's assessment!" "
"Definitely! "Gu Xu nodded seriously.
…………
At the same time.
Gu Xu’s rival Ma Qin also left the inn early He set off, holding an oil-paper umbrella, and walked on the wet bluestone road to the Exorcism Department Office.
When setting off, he wrapped his head tightly with a turban to prevent others from seeing his sparse hair.
This assessment is also an extremely rare opportunity for Ma Qin.
He prepared carefully for this and only hoped to be able to do so. Stand out, get the coveted official position, and completely get rid of the status of a low-ranking official.
As early as half a month ago, Ma Qin had already lived in Yishui County.
But he did not report to the Exorcism Department.
Instead, we have been secretly visiting people on the spot to examine the public sentiment.
After all, Ma Qin is a foreigner and is not familiar with the situation in Yishui - this is likely to be his biggest disadvantage in the competition besides age and talent.
"Gu Xu, Gu Xu, I want to take a closer look today to see if you are as powerful as the rumors say?" Ma Qin thought silently.
Ma Qin has long wanted to meet the talented young man who achieved his first level of perfection in less than a year.
He was very curious, did the freak grow up taking elixirs? Otherwise, how could he have such a terrifying cultivation speed?
…………
A few minutes later, Ma Qin arrived at the exorcism department’s office.
Compared with the tall lintel of the Exorcism Department of Qingzhou Prefecture, the Yamen of Yishui County looks much simpler and shabby.
Ma Qin put away his oil-paper umbrella, passed between the two Suanni stone statues, and walked into the Yamen.
As soon as he entered the gate, he saw Yishui County Governor Chen Jisheng sitting behind the public case.
Since Chen Jisheng was immersed in his work, Ma Qin did not dare to come forward to disturb him. He just stood respectfully on the side of the desk and waited quietly.
At the same time, he couldn't help but quietly look around and observe the environment in the Yamen lobby -
This was a simple and unpretentious room.
A plaque with the words "Benefit the world and bring peace to the people" hangs on the roof.
On the wall on one side of the lobby, there is also a framed calligraphy work, with a sentence written in upright and rigorous regular script -
"Enjoy the benefits of the world." Those who live in the world will suffer the world's troubles; those who live in the world's happiness will share the world's worries."
Seeing this sentence, Ma Qin was stunned for two seconds, and a sense of guilt emerged in his heart.
He spent ten years slaying demons in the Exorcism Department and receiving a salary from the court. His purpose was just to eat, clothe, support himself, and become a decent human being.
I have never worried about the world and have no time to care about people's livelihood.
If this sentence was written by Mr. Chen in front of me, then his high level of thought and broad mind would be enough to make many officials, including Ma Qin, feel ashamed.
A few minutes later, Chen Jisheng put away the official documents on the table, finally looked up and saw Ma Qin waiting aside.
"Are you Ma Qin from Qingzhou Prefecture?"
"Ma Qin, a humble official, has met Mr. Chen." Ma Qin clasped his fists and bowed in salute.
"It will take half an hour for the examiner from Luo Jing to arrive here. Ma Qin, feel free to wander around the yamen first! I still have official business to do. If you don’t have any other questions, , I won't chat with you anymore." Chen Jisheng's tone sounded a little cold.
As soon as he finished speaking, he took out another official document from the drawer and began to read it attentively.
Mr. Chen really takes care of everything and fulfills his duties.ah! He is worthy of being a model official who can write sentences such as "Let the world suffer" and "Share the world's worries"!
Ma Qin sighed silently in his heart.
Thinking of this, he bowed and left the Yamen lobby with respect, without disturbing Chen Jisheng who was concentrating on his work.
…………
A moment later, Ma Qin came to the inner courtyard of the Yamen.
There is a pavilion in the center of the inner courtyard, and a tall stone tablet is erected in the pavilion.
On the top of this stone tablet, there are three large golden characters engraved -
"List of Merit".
Ma Qin knew that the "merit list" in the exorcism department's yamen was a magical weapon. It can not only display the merit ranking of all practitioners in the yamen, but also dynamically update it in real time.
However, the number of places on this list is limited, and only the names of the top ten monks with meritorious deeds can be displayed.
Because Qingzhou Prefecture is full of talented people and strong people, Ma Qin has never been on the list after working for ten years.
For him, every name on the list is an existence that needs to be looked up to.
"Yishui County is a remote and small place, and there shouldn't be too many perverts. Maybe I will have a chance to be on the list here in the future." Ma Qin silently thought to himself.
His eyes quickly fell on the top of the list, and he saw it read:
"First on the list, Shi Xiaohan (inspection), thirty-two thousand six hundred and forty meritorious deeds" .”
The number of meritorious deeds on the list is the total number of cumulative mission rewards during the year. Exchanging merit for elixirs or magic weapons will not affect the numbers and rankings on the list.
In other words, if a person obtains 10,000 merits in a year, even if he exchanges all these merits for elixirs, his number of merits on the list will still be "10,000."
Only on the first day of the first lunar month every year, the merit list will be cleared and counted again.
But even so, Shi Xiaohan was able to obtain more than 30,000 meritorious services in less than a year, which was enough to make Ma Qin dumbfounded.
This means that Shi Xiaohan can earn about one hundred and twenty meritorious deeds every day on average - without deducting rest days.
Even in Qingzhou Prefecture, where geniuses gather, this number is enough to be described as "terrifying".
"Shi Xiaohan, how many ghosts has she killed?" Ma Qin couldn't help but take a breath of cold air, "Is the rumored 'Yishui County ghosts seeing sorrow' referring to her? ”
Ma Qin finally regained his composure and continued to look down the list.
But when he saw the name on the second list, he was stunned again -
"The second list, Gu Xu (Pian Li), 17,680 Merit."