fairy family

Chapter 73: A close friend, top of the list?
Yu Que looked at Fang Mulian kneeling in front of him, and he suddenly felt happy, knowing that his cold stove had been burned.

He quickly helped Fang Mulian up, and without further ado, he held her arm and said:
"Brother Fang, let's go!"

Fang Mulian's cheeks were now sunken, and he was surrounded by ghostly auras. His throat slid, and he wanted to say a few words, but in the end he only spoke hoarsely:
"Thank you, Brother Yu."

Then he lowered his head and followed Yu Que without saying a word, heading towards the foggiest place in the county.

The place where Yu Que wanted to take Fang Mulian was the ghost gathering in the Seventh Ward.

He himself had no means to take Fang Mulian, a murderer of officials, out of the city, and he didn't want to get too involved.

It should be noted that although Huangshan County is extremely large, with tens of thousands of people entering and leaving each market every day, there are only a few passages leading to the outside of the city.

Moreover, at all major city gates and on the city walls, there are barriers and prohibitions set up by immortals to expel ghosts and isolate the inside and the outside. Ghosts and gods roam around day and night, patrolling the four directions.

Yu Que also heard that students in the county school would often take on the task of patrolling the city walls to train themselves and prevent communication between ghosts inside and outside the city.

If Fang Mulian killed everyone without leaving any trace and fled to the wilderness immediately before the government responded, no one would be able to do anything to him.

However, this guy did not leave immediately after committing murder and arson, and is now wanted again. The five bloods and birth dates that he left in the Fang family should have been taken by the government.

If we leave hastily at this moment, we will only run into the encirclement of the government office.

Fortunately, Yu Que has no way out, but there must be someone in the ghost group who has a way out.

He led Fang Mulian into the ghost market and went straight to the gambling house and black market.

In front of the paper mill where paper men were blocking the door, Yu Que led the way. Although Fang Mulian was there for the first time, she successfully blended in.

The two men stepped into the paper mill. Fang Mulian looked at the various strange and evil scenes in the paper mill, as well as the many bloody materials that were either being used or sought. His eyes suddenly widened, feeling overwhelmed.

Yu Que briefly took him around the paper mill, introduced him a few words, and then invited him into the paper sedan used for confidential talks, saying:
"Brother Fang, there must be some thieves here who have a way to get out of the city. You can go and contact them yourself.

In addition, this is also the place where some bad guys and even witches and ghosts outside the city exchange what they have with the immortals in the city. After you leave the city, you can find a way to come back in."

Listening to Yu Que's introduction, especially the four words "witches and ghosts" in Yu Que's introduction, Fang Mulian's eyes suddenly flickered.

He looked around and indeed, in the paper mill, he sensed a variety of auras that were far more sinister and inhuman than his own.

The existence of these people not only did not make Fang Mulian shrink back, but instead made him feel refreshed. He knew that he was not the only one in the world who had embarked on the path of the ghost, a half-human, half-ghost. This made him feel a little like he had met a fellow ghost!
After Yu Que finished speaking, he looked at Fang Mulian with a smile.

Fang Mulian was breathing heavily, and quickly suppressed his distracting thoughts. He bowed his hands and said in a humming voice: "I am very grateful for your kindness. I would like to ask my brother Yu to take care of Fang's mother if you have the energy in the future."

Hearing this, Yu Que said seriously:
"You and I are brothers, and your mother is my mother. When I set up my own family, I will ask my aunt if she is willing to leave the Fang family and live with my uncle's family."

Although he did not want to be suspected of having an affair with the murderer of an official, the suspicion of having an affair with the murderer's mother was a sure thing.

With Yu Que's current status as an alchemist, he is already able to protect the other party, not to mention that tomorrow he will be on the list and become a county student.

Besides, Yu Que wouldn't be stupid enough to order Fang's mother to leave the Fang family in a high-profile manner. He could just steal the person out directly.

Fang Mulian nodded immediately after hearing this.

After a little thought, he took out a thumb-sized magnolia carving from his chest and handed it to Yu Que.

"This item was carved by my father for me when I was a child. If you keep this item, my mother will trust you even more."

Yu Que wanted to refuse it, but after hesitating for a while, he accepted it as he was told.

Then, the two of them whispered about how to contact each other in the future.

Fortunately, the Guiji Paper Shop also provides this kind of service. The two people only need to agree on a code word, and then they can put some items, letters or a few words on the paper figure outside the courtyard. The other person can then ask in a code word and take it out.

The paper money spent during this period was not too much. In addition, after the remaining shortage was settled, the two of them could directly communicate through letters inside and outside the city.

After the agreement was reached, they bowed to each other and said goodbye.

Fang Mulian stood in the paper mill and remained silent for a long time after watching Yu Que leave the paper mill.

After being in a daze for a while, the boy suppressed the emotion in his eyes, tightened his black robe, lowered his head and blended into the crowd, looking for the thieves on his own.

Yu Que had just asked him if he needed some money, and he had a token in his hand that he had obtained by killing Youshi. But since Fang Mulian had already implicated his sworn brothers, how could he still ask for their money and property!

If he had not left the city yet, he would have wanted to give all his property to Yu Que.

In a secluded place, Fang Mulian suddenly said coldly to the back of his head: "Old dog, the only two uses of you in this life are that you have a lot of wealth and that you made me and my brother meet."

Only inside his cloak.

There is a hideous ghost face behind its head, and it is wailing in pain all the time, but it can't make a sound. It is weird and creepy.

………………

When Yu Que was making private contact with Fang Mulian, almost all the county schools and institutions in Huangshan County were brightly lit that night.

Figures were walking back and forth behind the blurry glass or window paper, talking non-stop, busy as a whirlwind.

Tomorrow is the day when the results will be announced. Naturally, tonight is the time for all county schools to work overtime to come up with the names of the candidates on the list.

Apart from the busy clerks, clerks, account book keepers and all kinds of other yamen runners, the instructors in the county school, together with the principal who is in charge of the local immortal veins, are already sitting in the various ordination academies, waiting for the various lists to be presented so that they can make the final decision.

During this time, the teachers would occasionally speak:
"I know this boy. He has taken the test more than ten times. Although he is over thirty-five, he has not been able to obtain a result in the third level. However, his perseverance is commendable and cannot be dismissed."

"Not right, not right. This boy didn't achieve any results in the ghost exam, he's not young anymore, and his scores in the first two subjects are mediocre. Why bother choosing him?"

"Killing people to steal treasures is not a good thing. Don't take it."...

Sometimes, whether or not candidates can make it to the list depends solely on a casual remark made by a teacher in the academy, and other people usually will not refute it, so the result is decided.

Of course, in the Seventh County School of Huangshan, nine people such as Yu Que performed brilliantly in the ghost test and solved the problem directly. Such hard results are truly amazing and no one can knock them off the list.

However, when the list of 120 candidates is selected, how to rank them and who will be the top ten candidates to become ordained students will not necessarily be determined solely by their grades.

Especially the top name that has attracted much attention!

Fortunately, there are only two people who can compete for the top spot in the Seventh Block this year, and the rest are far inferior to them.

These two people are Yu Que, who won the first place in two subjects, and Xie Qingjie, the female candidate who scored full marks in the basic liberal arts exam.

The names of the two were presented on the table, and the name of the remaining candidate was listed at the front by the clerks. Their various performances in the examination were also recorded and circulated among the teachers, causing them to discuss the matter a lot.

In fact, judging from grades alone, there is a considerable gap between Yu Que and Xie Qingjie.

So immediately the teacher chuckled: "It seems that this year's top choice is not difficult to identify."

But soon someone responded:

"Is it really not difficult? On one side is a noble son from a poor family, and on the other side is a noble daughter of the Xie family. How can it not be difficult? You have to know that once the Xie family bloodline opens a temple, it will definitely be a sacred temple."

These two words immediately attracted attention in the courtyard.

Many teachers' eyes moved slightly, and then their gazes left Yu Que's name and fell on the name of "Xie Qingjie".

Just as everyone was hesitating, a female voice suddenly said with a seemingly fair smile:

“My fellow Taoists, this matter is simple.

"It would be appropriate to give the top spot to the girl, and the top spots in the three subjects to the remaining candidates. This way, we won't offend the Xie family, and we won't bury the talent."

These words immediately made many teachers' eyes light up, and they whispered about it, and then nodded in agreement.

For the first subject, literary examination, logically speaking, Xie's daughter has a better chance of winning, so the place should be given to her. However, for the total score of the three subjects, Yu Que has a better chance of winning, so the top spot should be given to Yu Que.

But the family backgrounds of the two were as different as heaven and earth. Yu Que failed miserably in following the others. And with this handling of the matter, the results of the Seventh Square this year would be too mediocre and there would be nothing to boast about.

And if the top spot was given to Xie's daughter, and the first place in the literary examination was given to Yu Que, so that he could have the first place in three subjects, this move would take care of both the wealthy and powerful families and the children of poor families. No one would be able to say that it was a bad thing, and it would be worth writing about!

However, if Yu Que was present, he would recognize at a glance that the person who had just made the fair judge was none other than Madam Red Snake, who was in charge of supervising the ghost test.

(End of this chapter)