They said each autumn rain brought colder weather.
In the north, each autumn rain brought a layer of ice. Rain fell and froze where it landed.
Hooves cracked through yellowed leaves frozen into the ground's frost. Cold rain pattered on iron armor plates, making the mounted commander give an involuntary shiver.
The long column of troops and horses had just co within sight of the city walls when smoke columns rose from the distant watchtower.
"What's happening?"
The commander's brow drew together sharply. "Wasn't Yun County's city wall decommissioned thousands of years ago? How is there still soone on watch?"
"No matter. It must just be villagers gathering firewood who were startled by the troops."
The scholar beside him in the feathered headband and green sash was entirely unconcerned.
"That's absolute nonsense! Do you think I can't tell firewood smoke from signal smoke?"
The commander flared with anger. "Who in blazes told
Yun County had no garrison? If the Prefecture Garrison gets involved, how do I explain this to my superiors?"
"Yun County isn't a strategic frontier stronghold. There would be no standing troops here. It must just be the county militia..."
"Must? What exactly do you know to be saying must?"
The commander called to a subordinate officer nearby. "Go over there and find out who lit those signal fires. Tell them we're on official business and have them put it out imdiately!"
The scholar gave an amused smile. "Commander, showing this much hesitation before you even know who you're facing, already losing three points of courage, how do you expect to earn the noble consort's favor?"
"Hesitation my foot! The noble consort isn't the ruler of heaven. Do you really think every minister and official at court is blind?"
Faced with the commander's fury, the scholar only smiled calmly. "The great n in the halls of power all have their fortunes well established. Naturally they have no desire for anyone to disturb the existing order."
"But those of us at the bottom, such as you and I, if we don't strive upward and seize opportunities when they present themselves, what will a lifeti of effort ever produce?"
"Yun County is impoverished and remote even by northern frontier standards. The great mine has been exhausted for years, practically a wasteland. With eight hundred of your finest soldiers, Commander, wouldn't it be the easiest thing in the world to press down on them?"
"What looks to you like an enormous matter is, at its root, simply a consequence of our low standing. If the Commander handles this well and the noble consort promotes you to command the forces of a whole prefecture, that's just a matter of her saying a word."
"Light and heavy, how can the Commander still not distinguish between them?"
Faced with the scholar's persuasion, the commander hesitated at length, and ultimately said nothing further.
Before long the subordinate officer ca galloping back. "Report, Commander! The city guards are a unit from the Elite Vanguard Battalion, stationed here on watch. They're asking us to hold position and present our docuntation!"
"The Elite Vanguard? What are the Elite Vanguard doing here?"
The commander looked completely bewildered.
The scholar said quietly beside him, "Perhaps they're after the sa thing we are, Commander. You must act decisively, or soone will get there ahead of you!"
The commander nodded. "This isn't their patrol zone either. No need to show them any courtesy. Move in!"
...
The inner hall's rankings were posted today, and the results were as bleak as ever.
Liu Huai'an stared at the board for a long ti, then suddenly burst out laughing, drawing stares from those around him.
"Li Qiuchen is off the board again! I always said the illusory realm trials weren't so easy. Charging in that desperately was nothing but throwing money away!"
The words weren't fully out of his mouth before a loud crack rang out.
An inkstone connected solidly with the back of his skull, sending him yelping with pain, clutching his head, and jumping to his feet.
He turned to find Tang Xiaoxue staring at him with a completely blank expression.
"I threw it."
In front of every classmate present, Tang Xiaoxue stated her guilt with complete composure.
Liu Huai'an opened his mouth, then muttered quietly, "A real man doesn't argue with won..."
Among the students in his cohort, he was one of only three alongside Chen Nangsheng and Li Qiuchen whose backgrounds were modest. All the others ca from wealthy or well-connected families.
He didn't dare provoke any of them.
Tang Xiaoxue, however, had no intention of letting the matter drop. As he moved to sit back down, she said in a cool voice, "Bring my inkstone back to ."
Liu Huai'an hesitated, felt the eyes of every classmate in the room on him, and his face instantly flushed red.
He bent slowly, reached out to pick it up, and then another hand appeared beside his and collected it from the floor.
"Brother Liu, we're all classmates here. Brother Li has never done anything to you. Why be this unkind?"
Chen Nangsheng said with a serious expression, "Before you laugh at soone else, have another look at the rankings board."
"Li Qiuchen's na is no longer on this board."
What does that an? Liu Huai'an's head was so full of resentnt that it took him a mont to process it.
It wasn't until Chen Nangsheng had returned the inkstone to Tang Xiaoxue and walked back to his seat that the realization hit him all at once, draining the color from his face.
Failing a trial didn't remove you from the board.
There were only two reasons for dropping off the rankings.
Either the student had lost all confidence and been counseled to withdraw.
Or...
"Impossible!"
"Idiot!"
At precisely the sa mont Liu Huai'an blurted this out involuntarily, Zeng Mingming rendered his own succinct assessnt.
Liu Huai'an didn't dare turn around this ti.
Zeng Mingming was genuinely willing to hit him.
There were plenty of cutting remarks piling up inside him right now, but none of them were coming out.
The face that had just gone pale now went red in an instant.
Why?
At this particular mont, Li Qiuchen had no idea what Liu Huai'an was thinking. He had already been thoroughly worn down by the two young misses when he sent them off to school that morning.
Every sour and barbed remark Liu Huai'an couldn't bring himself to say, the two young misses had delivered from both flanks directly into his ears.
"Steward Li is a cultivator now."
"Then who's going to walk us to school?"
"We walk ourselves, obviously. Could you really bother Cultivator Li with sothing this trivial?"
"Maybe we should hire soone else."
"We definitely should not. What if they get struck down by Cultivator Li by accident..."
In truth, the two of them should have a fairly straightforward ti in their next illusory realm attempt.
The trials were fundantally about mindset.
Good mindset, and even a first failure accumulated enough experience to make the next attempt progressively easier.
Bad mindset, and you could stay stuck there indefinitely.
Both of them had sound dispositions. Their weakness was on the academic side.
Li Qiuchen stood at the entrance of the Hongwen Hall and let out a quiet sigh.
His own path forward was settled. But he still had to find suitable cultivation thods for those two young misses.
He had arrived at Daoist Zhang's small courtyard early, but this master who bore none of the hallmarks of a proper teacher had slept past late morning, then ambled unhurriedly to the dining hall for a al.
No wonder nobody usually saw this head of the academy. With those hours, it would be strange if they did.
"Co on then. I'll take you to choose a cultivation thod."
Daoist Zhang led Li Qiuchen into the Hongwen Hall.
The mont he stepped through the door, Li Qiuchen felt a faint scanning sensation pass over him.
It felt exactly the sa as entering the great mine pit's lift.
Security here too? Also under the City God Office's jurisdiction?
Li Qiuchen was quietly taken aback.
Around him, neat rows of bookshelves extended in every direction.
The floor was immaculate. In one corner, two brooms were moving about in complete silence.
A young woman in yellow robes was in the middle of organizing books. When she saw Daoist Zhang, she ca over imdiately and quietly greeted him as head of the academy.
"She's the Hongwen Hall's record keeper, Lin Zhan. If you want to find anything in here, just ask her. Let her explain the rules of this place to you first. I'll go and find a few books for you."
Li Qiuchen quickly stepped forward and bowed. "Greetings, Senior Sister Lin. My na is..."
"Li Qiuchen. I know."
Lin Zhan said with a composed expression. "I'll explain the rules of this place to you now."
This senior sister didn't seem easy to get along with.
Li Qiuchen nodded awkwardly.
"Everyone who enters the Hongwen Hall must maintain a neat appearance, may not bring food or drink, may not make noise, and may not engage in any disruptive behavior."
"The books held here may not be removed without authorization, and may not be damaged or soiled. The second floor provides dedicated reading rooms for students. Other students must not be disturbed."
"The Hongwen Hall is open for six two-hour periods each day. Overnight stays are not permitted."
"For any questions about the collection, you may ask the duty record keeper. The record keeper is not responsible for explaining book content, and will not answer questions unrelated to the collection."
Lin Zhan delivered all of this in one breath, paused briefly, and added, "Your identity token has been registered with this hall. The books you borrow and the ti you spend here will be recorded. If any book is found to be damaged after the fact, you will be held responsible."
"All books must be returned to their original location after reading, or handed to a record keeper. Do not place them arbitrarily, as this creates additional work for the record keepers."
"The hall provides jade slips for recording information, available for purchase. A single jade slip costs one hundred and twenty-eight taels. If you purchase ten slips at once, they can be discounted to one thousand taels in total."
Wait. That last sentence felt like a different genre.
Was that a new player ten-pull special discount that just appeared?
So the microtransaction window only opens after you clear the tutorial?
Li Qiuchen suppressed a powerful urge to comnt out loud.
This senior sister Lin's manner was borderline inhuman in its coldness.
What did she an by no answering unrelated questions? A greeting couldn't even get through?
He had no intention of breaking any rules, but for a mont he couldn't think of what to say.
The two of them stood facing each other in the doorway in silence.
Why wasn't she saying anything? Wasn't this awkward?
Li Qiuchen felt puzzled, and ventured carefully, "Senior Sister Lin, the position of record keeper here in the Hongwen Hall... is it held by inner hall students? Or is it only available after graduation?"
"Record keepers are assigned by the City God Office. Inner hall students may apply to beco administrators, but cannot serve as record keepers."
The City God Office! I knew it!
Li Qiuchen's understanding clicked into place, and the look he turned on Senior Sister Lin beca quietly aningful.
That's why sothing seed off about you. You don't look like a living person.
The Senior Sister Lin Zhan standing before him might very well not be a living person at all.
"Senior Sister Lin, what is the difference between an administrator and a record keeper?"
"Administrators mainly handle the rough work. There's also no pay involved."
"Pardon?"
He had just been privately questioning whether she was among the living, and then that sentence arrived with a completely human edge to it.
Had she been toying with him this whole ti?
[NEXT CHAPTER]
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