Sword from the Immortal Mountain

Chapter 123: Ghost and God Articles
The sword light was like a flash of lightning, illuminating the darkness in the room.

The old woman was shocked and immediately used her magic "Possessed by a Ghost" with all her might.

As a guardian elder, he naturally has a ferocious ghost in his body, which is of the sixth grade.

However, the opponent's sword was fast and sharp, and before the ghost could show up, a big head rolled to the ground.

It’s really quick and easy!

Chen Jin's figure appeared, and with a gentle shake, the Kuixing Wenhuo lamp in his left hand lit up and shone brightly.

At this moment, the statue of Kuixing seemed to come alive, with eyes wide open and mouth open, absorbing something.

"Ahhh!"

There seemed to be sounds of ghosts crying and wolves howling, and the gloomy atmosphere in the air disappeared like the tide.

As it devoured, the lights grew brighter.

The aura of the lamp is more rounded.

This is exactly the second power that Chen Jin gave to this lamp after it was refined to perfection:
Devouring ghosts!

Looking at the ghost statue that the old woman had been holding, it was covered with spots and had begun to decay in a short period of time. When she stepped on it, it immediately turned into powder.

Chen Jin came to help untie the two boys and girls and pulled out the rags stuffed in their mouths. They immediately burst into tears and cowered in the corner.

After opening the door and coming to the courtyard, Chen Guizhong and others outside had been controlled by Chen Shizhi and his men.

Being caught in the act, Chen Guizhong's face turned pale and he collapsed to the ground. He knew that everything was over. When he saw Chen Jin coming out, he gnashed his teeth and said, "It's you! Chen Jin, it's all your fault. You killed my father, and now you're killing me!"

Chen Shizhi's face turned pale, and he kicked Chen Guizhong to the ground, cursing angrily: "Chen Guizhong, you colluded with the Ghost Spirit Cult and committed such evil deeds. You are worse than a beast! You came to harm others first, and you dare to sue them first?"

Chen Jin said calmly: "Master Chen, I have already killed the demons of the Ghost Spirit Cult. The rest are left to you to deal with."

Chen Shizhi clasped his fists and said, "Mr. Chen, please rest assured. Chen Guizhong has violated the clan rules and regulations. The clan will not forgive him."

Chen Jin left gracefully.

Watching his back, Chen Shizhi's face became solemn.

It was Chen Jin who told him about what happened tonight and then set up this trap.

It's ridiculous that Chen Guizhong and others thought they could kill Chen Jin by hiding here and casting spells, but they didn't expect that their whereabouts had been exposed long ago.

With Chen Jin's abilities and means, he didn't need to inform Chen Shizhi at all. He could just kill the old woman and the others directly, and no one else would be able to say anything.

But he didn't handle things so simply and roughly, which shows his skill.

From this we can see that this boy is definitely not the kind of person who acts recklessly relying on his supernatural powers.

Such people are even more difficult to guess and understand.

Chen Shicheng and his son from the second house are so blind that they actually provoked such a person. Isn't this courting death?
On the contrary, Chen Shizhen, the third roommate, is not sure if he is just a fool but has good fortune...

……

Even late at night, the huge provincial capital was still brightly lit.

The doors of the examination hall were tightly shut, and no one was allowed to enter or leave. Inside, candlelight shone brightly, and a busy scene was afoot.

The relevant officials are racing against time to cross-mark the papers.

After thousands of years of the imperial examination system, all its systems, procedures, and links have actually developed to be quite mature.

When it comes to specific implementation, it can be carried out by humans.

For example, in the provincial examination, after all the examination papers were collected, they were first given to the clerks to copy, and then they began to be cross-reviewed.

Any disputes will be handed over to the chief examiner for judgment, who will also be responsible for ranking the candidates.

Today, all the examination papers have been graded. Those that failed have been put aside, while those that passed have been stacked together and placed on the main desk.

Gaozhou County was a large cultural county, and the number of candidates admitted to the provincial examinations in each session was quite large, nearly a hundred.

The rankings of this year's candidates have been basically determined, with only the top spot remaining to be determined.

The chief examiner Li Hanlin is making the final decision.

He was looking over an article in his hand. It was the first question in the first round, "Confucius said: Sacrifice to the gods as if they were present. How should we sacrifice to them?"

This is a difficult question. The style of the subject matter is very different from previous ones, which stumped many candidates and not many were able to write well.

There were three examinations in the provincial examination, and each one required writing an essay. But the focus was undoubtedly on the first one, which accounted for almost 70% of the score. As long as you wrote this essay well, you would have half a step on the list of top candidates.

The article that Li Hanlin was reading would, if nothing unexpected happened, be selected as the top scholar.

The article is beautifully written. It takes "ancestor gods" as the starting point and tells the story in a leisurely and logical manner.

At first glance, you can tell that the author must have come from a wealthy and powerful family.

In the entire Gaozhou County, the only family that can be considered as a powerful one is the Chen family of Bojiji Lane.

The imperial examination was rigorous and serious.

However, when it comes to writing, the quality of the writing cannot be separated from personal relationships and face.

No matter from which perspective, it was a very appropriate decision to select this scholar from the Chen family of Changletang as the first in the provincial examination.

If we have to find fault with him, it is that he became famous at a young age and is known as a "child prodigy", and he is only sixteen years old this year.

Being pushed to the top position too early at such a young age may cause controversy.

However, these are all minor problems. What really made Li Hanlin hesitate was the intention of this article, which never broke out of the rut.

The ancestor gods correspond to the noble families and the wealthy.

Their power continued to expand and grow, and obviously posed a certain threat to the dynasty's rule.

This is not a good thing.

You must know that this question was ordered by the emperor.

The Daqian Dynasty was founded on humanity and prospered for three hundred years. But now, it has shown signs of failure everywhere. In particular, the prosperity of Shintoism and the proliferation of many religious cults have led to many chaos...

Although the emperor has favored his new concubine and been lazy about government affairs in recent years, he suddenly came up with such a question this year, and the meaning behind it is thought-provoking.

Or it may mean to pick yourself up and regain control of the country.

After all, His Majesty is in the prime of his life and still has great ambitions.

As the appointed chief examiner, Li Hanlin's primary consideration was to please the emperor, and everything else had to take a back seat.

The holy will is like the sea, it has no fixed shape.

He dared not say that he had understood it, but at least he had to get close to it in order to help the emperor survive. Otherwise, if he messed up the job, he would have no future in the government.

The fact that a Hanlin scholar was the one presiding over the provincial examination was a sign that he would be given an important position.

Of course, this is based on the premise that everything goes smoothly.

"My lord, it is getting late."

At this time, an adjutant stepped forward and whispered something.

The implication is that he hopes Li Hanlin can determine the rankings as soon as possible, so that the people below can write the list of winners overnight and prepare a series of matters to announce the good news.

Time is running out and we can’t get stuck at this step.

Li Hanlin stroked his beard and said thoughtfully: "Let me take another look..."

Put down the article in your hand and read other ones, one by one.

Seeing this, the officials standing nearby felt sleepy, but there was nothing they could do but continue waiting.

After looking through twenty or thirty case files, Li Hanlin became more and more dissatisfied.

Not to mention the intention, the writing quality of the following articles is obviously inferior, and it is even more impossible for them to be circled as the first.

He was disappointed and was about to give up.

"what?"

His eyes fixed on the article below, and he took it out, glanced at it briefly, and then asked, "Why is this article ranked so low?"

The adjutant stepped forward and took a quick look. He was impressed and quickly replied, "The viewpoints in this article are too radical, and the writing is exaggerated and the arguments are unrealistic. It was only because it was somewhat innovative that he was not rejected."

"is it?"

Li Hanlin did not comment and began to read it carefully.

(End of this chapter)