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 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 approved 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 Exorcism Department.
This is a hard-won opportunity.
Although Gu Xu had been practicing all night for several days and made full preparations, 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, so don't eat such unhealthy food!"
Gu Xu spread his hands: "Then what do you think I should eat, Lady Heroine?"
"You have to take the exam today and need to eat something good. So I asked my cook to make an extra breakfast and bring it to you."
As Shi Xiaohan spoke, he 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!"
"Like it?"
"like."
"As long as you like it," Shi Xiaohan raised his chin proudly, "This is what I made after studying the snacks of Jiangnan and Southern Guangdong. The fish porridge symbolizes the rise of wind and water, and the sweet-scented osmanthus cake represents 'Step by step', Xiao Long Bao is 'promoting day by day'.
"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 set off from the inn early, holding an oil-paper umbrella and walking on the wet bluestone road to the Exorcism Department Yamen.
When he set out, he deliberately wrapped his head tightly with a turban to prevent others from seeing his sparse hair on top of his head and high hairline.
This assessment is also an extremely rare opportunity for Ma Qin.
He prepared carefully for this, hoping to stand out, obtain the official position he dreamed of, and completely get rid of his status as 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, they have been secretly visiting people on the ground to examine people's sentiments.
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 to himself.
Ma Qin had long wanted to meet the talented boy who had 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 in Qingzhou Prefecture, the Yamen in 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 is a modest house.
There is a plaque on the roof that reads "Benefit the world and bring peace to the people".
On the wall on one side of the lobby, there is also a framed calligraphy work, with a sentence written on it in regular and rigorous regular script -
"Those who enjoy the benefits of the world will suffer the troubles of the world; those who enjoy the happiness of the world will suffer the same worries as the world."
Seeing this sentence, Ma Qin was stunned for two seconds, and a sense of guilt emerged in his heart.
He spent ten years in the Exorcism Department slaying demons and slaying demons, receiving a salary from the court. His purpose was just to eat, clothe, support himself, and become a decent human being.
He never worried about the world and had 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 employee, has met Mr. Chen." Ma Qin folded his hands 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. Yes." 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! 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.
…………
After a while, 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 -
"Merit List".
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, this list has a limited number of places and can only display the names of the top ten monks with meritorious deeds.
Because Qingzhou Prefecture is full of talents and powerful people, Ma Qin has never been on the list after working for ten years.
To him, every name on the list is something 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 service."
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 of each year will the merit list 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 stunned.
This means that Shi Xiaohan can earn about 120 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 second name on the list, he was stunned again with surprise——
"Two on the list, Gu Xu (official), 17,680 meritorious services."
