A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 711 The Tragedy of Zhu Shicheng

Zhu Shicheng followed Wang Xun to the backyard and they went into Wang Xun's room together.

Wang Xun sat down in a grand chair.

Zhu Shicheng stood there with a somewhat gloomy expression, trying to figure out why Wang Xun had summoned him.

Wang Xun glanced at Zhu Shicheng and said, "Shicheng, come sit down and let's talk."

As Wang Xun spoke, he raised his hand to make way.

"Yes." Zhu Shicheng responded and walked to another armchair across the tea table from Wang Xun, sitting down with only half of his bottom on it and leaning slightly forward.

On the coffee table were tea and a plate of osmanthus cake.

Wang Xun picked up a piece, took a bite, then picked up another piece and handed it to Zhu Shicheng, saying, "This osmanthus cake is good. Try it."

Zhu Shicheng took it and took a small bite.

Wang Xun started chatting with Zhu Shicheng casually, asking him questions such as whether he was confident about tomorrow's assessment and how well he was preparing.

Zhu Shicheng said he wasn't very confident, but he would do his best. As he spoke, he ate the piece of osmanthus cake he was holding in his hand, one small bite at a time.

Although he himself was unaware of it, Wang Xun could see very clearly that Zhu Shicheng's face had begun to turn blue and his lips had turned purplish-black, which was obviously a sign of poisoning.

Wang Xun continued chatting with Zhu Shicheng without showing any emotion.

At this moment, Zhu Shicheng finally asked the question that had been weighing on his mind for the past few days: "Master, do you really think I can pass the selection test at Yongning Temple?"

Wang Xun said, "Of course. If I didn't have confidence in you, would I just throw money down the drain?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Shicheng's heart skipped a beat. He wanted to say something more, but suddenly his vision blurred and he felt dizzy. Then he felt something flow into his mouth, tasting salty and fishy.

Zhu Shicheng reached out and touched it, straining to see what it was, only to find his hand covered in filthy blood.

He was unaware that he was bleeding from all seven orifices, and that the blood from his nose had flowed into his mouth.

Zhu Shicheng felt dizzy and was about to scream when Wang Xun rushed over and grabbed his neck with a large hand like an iron hoop.

Zhu Shicheng struggled, but his throat was being squeezed shut, and he couldn't make a sound. He kicked wildly, but he was already deeply poisoned and his strength was waning. After a few breaths, he stopped moving.

Seeing that Zhu Shicheng was already dead, Wang Xun placed his body on the ground. At this moment, the back of his hand, which was gripping Zhu Shicheng's throat, was also covered with a thick layer of foul blood.

Wang Xun rubbed the back of his hand on Zhu Shicheng's collar to clean it before reaching into Zhu Shicheng's inner pocket and taking out his registration certificate.

Wang Xun opened the registration voucher, glanced at it, and after confirming that there were no problems, he put it away. Then he wiped his hands with a towel before sitting back down in the armchair.

He sat there, glanced coldly at Zhu Shicheng lying on the ground, and then picked up another piece of osmanthus cake and ate it.

Wang Xun sat in his room, finished the plate of osmanthus cake, and drank the pot of tea. By then, the room was pitch black.

The rustling footsteps of craftsmen entering the courtyard after finishing their work could be heard outside.

Wang Xun's room was dark, with no lights on, and the room where he usually ate was also dark.

Seeing this, the craftsmen couldn't help but murmur among themselves, especially since Zhu Shicheng hadn't returned after leaving the workshop with Wang Xun that afternoon. As they walked towards the canteen, the craftsmen began to discuss the matter.

One of them said, "We're supposed to go to Yongning Temple for the assessment tomorrow. I bet the boss took that Zhu Shicheng out for a nice meal?"

Upon hearing this, the other person chuckled and said, "Maybe they took him to a brothel. You know what? Zhu Shicheng is still a virgin!"

"Really? Or not? How do you know?"

"Tsk, he said it himself..."

The craftsmen discussed among themselves, then went into the canteen. After eating, they worked for a while longer before dispersing.

Once the entire courtyard had fallen silent and the craftsmen were asleep on the communal beds, Duan Rong emerged from his room. With a swift movement, he appeared like a ghost standing at Wang Xun's doorway.

Duan Rong had already explored the scene inside Wang Xun's room with his divine sense and could see everything inside clearly, so he could naturally appear directly in Wang Xun's room.

But at this moment, Wang Xun's room was pitch black, and if he appeared directly inside, he was afraid he would scare Wang Xun to death.

He would come over after the craftsmen were all asleep, as Wang Xun had arranged with him beforehand.

Duan Rong stood in front of Wang Xun's door and gently knocked.

Wang Xun sat in complete darkness, smelling the faint scent of blood in the room, when suddenly, a knocking sound came from the darkness.

His heart tightened, and he leaped like a cat behind the door, asking softly, "Who is it?"

Duan Rong said, "It's me."

Wang Xun recognized Duan Rong's voice before opening the door.

Duan Rong slipped inside, and Wang Xun closed the door. He took out a tinderbox from his pocket, blew out a flame, and lit a lamp on the table by the door.

The dim light illuminated the small room.

Wang Xun said, "My lord, it has been taken care of."

Duan Rong glanced at Zhu Shicheng's corpse lying on the ground. His face was black, and blood was flowing from his seven orifices. His death was very tragic.

Wang Xun had already presented the registration certificate to Duan Rong, who took it, glanced at it, and then put it away.

Duan Rong said, "Won't there be any trouble if this person dies like this?"

Wang Xun said, "Don't worry, sir. His parents died early, and his relatives have long since stopped contacting him. He's all alone. No one will care if he dies."

Duan Rong sighed inwardly. He recalled a saying from his previous life on Earth: in nursing homes, elderly people without children were often bullied by caregivers.

Wang Xun chose Zhu Shicheng precisely because of this.

Duan Rong asked, "What do you plan to do with the corpse?"

Wang Xun said, "There is a box. Tomorrow I will put him in that box under the pretense of shipping, and bury him in the suburbs."

Duan Rong said, "It's too troublesome. And it's not clean."

Wang Xun's heart skipped a beat, and he clasped his hands in a fist and asked, "This subordinate has not thought things through, please enlighten me, sir." Wang Xun felt that since Duan Rong had said so, he must have a better solution.

Upon hearing this, Duan Rong remained silent, but suddenly waved his hand. A force of law struck Zhu Shicheng's corpse on the ground.

In an instant, a cold wind gently swirled up.

In the blink of an eye, Zhu Shicheng's body vanished like a ghost.

Wang Xun stood there, stunned, his eyes wide open, a chill running through him. Duan Rong glanced at him and said, "I'm leaving."

As soon as he finished speaking, Duan Rong's figure vanished on its own.

Wang Xun's legs trembled slightly, and his eyes scanned the empty room with fear, especially lingering on the floor where Zhu Shicheng had been lying for a long time.

Duan Rong's sudden disappearance truly frightened Wang Xun.

Two months ago, at the mountain god temple on the outskirts of the city, he struck down with his palm, and Duan Rong's figure vanished into thin air. But at that time, although Duan Rong disappeared, he was still inside the mountain god temple.

Wang Xun simply assumed that his martial arts skills were too high and his movements too fast.

But this time was different; the room's doors and windows were tightly shut, and Duan Rong simply vanished from the spot. This was no longer a matter of martial arts.

Wang Xun's face was somewhat pale. He stood there for a long time without moving. It wasn't that he didn't want to move, but his legs were a little weak.

The next morning, after breakfast, the craftsmen went to work in the workshop.

Zhu Shicheng's seat was empty. To the other craftsmen, he had obviously gone to participate in the biennial selection and assessment at Yongning Temple.

Strangely, Master Jiang didn't come today either. For the past two months, Master Jiang has come every day, completing a task each day without fail, rain or shine. But he didn't come today.

The craftsmen didn't care much, after all, the owner had said before that Master Jiang was not a member of Cunmu Hall and wouldn't stay here for long.

Early that morning, the entrance to Yongning Temple was bustling with activity, with a large, dark mass of people queuing up.

Duan Rong squeezed into the queue as well. Nothing else mattered to him except his registration certificate.

Duan Rong glanced around the group; most were middle-aged, with very few young people. After all, this line of work required genuine craftsmanship, honed over time.

Today is the day of the great examination. Outside Yongning Temple, a circle of officers and soldiers from the Protectorate stood, and at the entrance, there were monks holding wooden sticks.

At this moment, monks were already checking registration certificates at the entrance and letting people through one by one, but it was very slow.

This year, nearly a hundred people applied for the selection and assessment, but only nine will be able to enter the Zongfaxiang Sect and become artisans within the sect. It is truly a case of sifting through the sands of time.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Duan Rong finally arrived at the main gate of Yongning Temple.

Two monks used their staffs to block the candidates, and only after the person in front ran up the steps did they let Duan Rong pass.

Duan Rong walked to the steps, where a middle-aged monk stood, with a thin face and gloomy eyes.

Duan Rong handed over his registration certificate, which the monk took, glanced at it, looked at Duan Rong's appearance, and then handed it back to him, saying, "Go on up."

Duan Rong accepted the order and went up the steps. He saw two soldiers from the Protectorate standing on either side of the main gate, holding swords.

The Protectorate General assists Yongning Temple in the selection and assessment of artisans for each year. The process begins at the Protectorate General's office, where they verify the candidates' household registration and identity.

After all, Yongning Temple does not manage the secular world, so it is difficult to verify this information.

Although the examination was held at Yongning Temple, the Protectorate General would participate in the entire process of invigilation and maintaining order.

As the largest temple, Yongning Temple actually held a position far above that of the government. Therefore, the protectors of the Protectorate bowed and scraped before these monks, as if they were servants before their masters.

As Duan Rong stepped through the gate, he saw a small table placed to the side inside. A monk dressed in a moon-white robe sat there, and next to him sat a supervisor from the Protectorate. The supervisor was smiling and talking to the monk. When he saw Duan Rong enter, he waved to him.

Duan Rong walked over. The guardian asked, "Where's the registration certificate?"

Duan Rong handed over the registration certificate in his hand. The guardian took it, glanced at it, and then smiled at the monk beside him, saying, "Master, this is Zhu Shicheng from Cunmu Hall."

Upon hearing this, the monk examined the booklet in his hand. After a while, he put the booklet down, took out a worn-out wooden plaque from the drawer, and handed it to the guardian beside him.

The supervisor handed Duan Rong the wooden plaque and registration certificate together, saying, "Go inside. Enter the examination room according to the number on the plaque."

Duan Rong took the wooden plaque and looked at it. He saw that it read: Bing Sixteen.

Holding the wooden sign and registration certificate, he walked inside, passing by soldiers from the Protectorate and monks carrying staffs.

Following the flow of people and the signs, Duan Rong soon arrived at a courtyard. There was a sign at the entrance of the courtyard that read "Examination Room A and B".

Some candidates turned into this courtyard, while others continued walking forward.

Duan Rong knew he was Bing-16, so he continued walking forward. When he arrived at the courtyard, he saw a sign that read: Bing-Ding.

Duan Rong then turned into the courtyard, where he saw rows of low, individual rooms, each with a wooden sign next to it bearing a number. Next to each room were sheets of paper listing the examinee's name and the recommending workshop.

Duan Rong walked through each room, searching for the number Bing-16.

Before he entered, there were already quite a few examinees in the courtyard, scattered around looking for their respective examination rooms.

Among them was a chubby, short guy who looked to be no more than twenty years old. He was carrying a wooden sign and registration slip, scanning the examination rooms one by one. He was Ding Jiu.

Now that this area is all C, and D is still behind C, he walked a little faster.

Seeing that he had just passed Bing Shiliu and the next one was Ding Yi, he suddenly turned back the moment he saw Ding Yi, stood in front of Bing Shiliu's examination room, and let out a soft "Eh".

Next to the sign for Bing Shiliu, there was a piece of paper that read: Zhu Shicheng, Cunmu Hall.

The guy's eyes darted around, and he thought to himself, "That Zhu Shicheng guy, he's such a dullard, how could he even participate in the assessment?"

This man, named Wang Cheng, was Zhu Shicheng's childhood friend.

Before Zhu Shicheng's parents died, they were neighbors. After Zhu Shicheng's parents passed away and the house was bought to pay off debts, the two families rarely had contact.

However, since they were in the same profession, they occasionally ran into each other on the street, but Zhu Shicheng was aloof and didn't pay much attention to Wang Cheng.

After being rejected a few times, Wang Cheng stopped contacting him.

But Wang Cheng didn't expect to see Zhu Shicheng's name here. He knew that Zhu Shicheng worked at Cunmutang. Because they were childhood friends, he had paid special attention to the work Zhu Shicheng did. Although it was not bad and he could make a living, he was afraid that he was not qualified enough to participate in the assessment.

"Could it be that this kid's skills have improved by leaps and bounds in the past two years?!" Wang Cheng couldn't help but wonder. After all, if Zhu Shicheng's skill level wasn't up to par, why would the owner of Cunmu Hall recommend him to participate in the selection assessment? The registration fee was a lot of money!

Wang Cheng stood there, looking around, but couldn't see Zhu Shicheng. He thought for a moment and decided not to wait there any longer. After all, the assessment was more important, and he could come back to find Zhu Shicheng after the first exam.

Entering Yongning Temple requires passing an exam over two days, one exam per day.

The first examination was on the gilded statues of deities. The second examination was on the painted ritual implements.

The process is the same every year, except that the deities and ritual implements used are determined by drawing lots at the examination site by the proctors.

Wang Cheng continued walking forward and soon found Ding Jiu's examination room. He stood there, turned his head and looked back. He vaguely saw a figure slip into the examination room of Bing Shiliu. The figure swayed among the sparse candidates, but he couldn't see it clearly.

Wang Cheng's eyes flickered slightly, and he bent down to enter Ding Jiu's examination room. Compared to catching up with a childhood friend he hadn't seen in a long time, the examination in front of him was naturally more important.

(End of this chapter)