I proved immortality through the imperial examination.

Chapter 35 Watching the Snow
As night fell and the north wind howled, Xue Xiang unleashed his Wind-Stopping Steps, his speed astonishing.

The journey of about twenty li took only the time it takes to burn half an incense stick to reach home.

As soon as they saw him, Xue's mother, Liu Mei, Xiao Wan, and Xiao Shi all came out to greet him. Fan Youyi poked his head out of the kitchen and shouted, "Get ready to serve the dishes!"

Before long, a copper hot pot was placed in the warm main room. The charcoal fire glowed red, and the copper pot steamed with heat. Freshly sliced ​​beef and mutton, along with various green vegetables, were piled up on the table.

Xue Xiang picked up a piece of beef with his chopsticks, dipped it generously in the chive blossom sesame sauce, and just as he put it in his mouth, a voice called out from outside, "Is Chief Xue home?"

Xue Xiang went out, only to find Xun Sizhou and Wu Kui standing outside the door, with Wu Kui carrying something on his shoulder.

Xue Xiang opened the door, and Wu Kui put down the bag on his shoulder, saying that it was a deer that had been hunted today, and that the chef had already prepared it, so it could be cooked as soon as it was cut up.

Xue Xiang said that he had prepared a hot pot at home and invited the two of them to join him.

Xun Sizhou waved his hand, saying he had a dinner engagement and wouldn't bother him.

Then, he had Wu Kui bring the venison into the kitchen, leaned closer, and whispered, "Chief Xue, have you heard of Shanfeng?"

Xue Xiang was taken aback. "They're bandits entrenched in Xingyun Mountain. What's wrong?"

Yu Kuan was anxious about the Red Lantern Opera Boat because Xingyun Mountain had been occupied by a group of bandits who had crossed the mountain, blocking the trade route.

Xun Sizhou said, "After the Yunmeng Guard was dispatched, they wiped out the bandits, and their leader Yao Si was executed."

All the other henchmen have been captured, but two bandits, one called "Touching the Sky" and the other "Dry Tiger," escaped from the police station prison the day before yesterday and have not yet been apprehended.

The city is probably not peaceful anymore. Your family is large, but lacks guards. I've spoken with my former team members and asked them to patrol your house more often. I've come to inform you, and I hope you'll be mindful as well.

Xue Xiang thanked him and then took his leave of Xun Sizhou and Wu Kui.

After bolting the door, Xue Xiang returned to the main room and told them about Xun Sizhou's warning. He then instructed Xue's mother and the others not to go out for the next few days.

With everyone agreeing, a sense of unease inevitably sets in.

After dinner, Xue Xiang set up a mahjong table, played two rounds, then left and let Fan Youyi take his place.

With no worries at the mahjong table, everyone seemed to have forgotten the unrest in the city.

After washing up and putting the little guy to bed, he returned to his room, took out the Nebula Box, put in the spirit stone, and began to guide the spirit into his body.

Without the blessing of the spiritual realm, the process of drawing spirits into the body became extremely painful and difficult. Even so, Xue Xiang dared not slack off in the slightest.

In the blink of an eye, more than ten days had passed. Xue Xiang never went to Jiufen Mountain again, but instead went to Zhaoyewu to study every morning.

The banditry that Xun Sizhou warned about did not occur, and the Xue family gradually got back on track.

It snowed heavily again, and the world was white. After school, Xue Xiang didn't leave immediately, but stayed at his seat to organize his lecture notes.

He asked the most questions in class every day, but fortunately, Mr. Yin Chuan was rigorous in his scholarship and answered every question.

After each class, Xue Xiang's accumulated lecture notes would be almost half a book thick.

"Brother Xue, would you like to have a drink together? Dongxing Restaurant has invited a chef who retired from the city."

Mengde shouted.

Initially, Zhou Mengyu, Xue Xiang, Li Peng, and Meng De met at Zhaoyewu.

Zhou Mengyu and Li Peng were not selected, leaving only Xue Xiang and Meng De.

The two were quite close friends, and in recent days, Mengde had attended all the classmate banquets that Xue Xiang attended.

Mengde did a lot of work to help Xue Xiang integrate into the group of Confucian scholars in Zhaoyewu.

"I need to familiarize myself with the lecture notes, so I won't go. Brother Meng, please feel free to go."

"With Xue Xiang's diligence, it would be a shame if he didn't become the top scholar in the imperial examinations someday. By the way, have you rented a boat yet? Judging from the looks of it, it's going to snow for a while."

"It's been leased, Brother Meng, don't worry."

Mengde agreed and left.

After organizing the lecture notes and reciting them from memory, Xue Xiang slung his schoolbag over his shoulder and went home.

As soon as he stepped out of the wooden hall, Xue Xiang stopped on a patch of earth that was stained with five different colors. He looked down, picked up a handful of soil, but couldn't see anything unusual.

I thought someone's jewelry had broken and these colored mortar pieces had spilled out.

Xue Xiang tossed away the clay and strode away. Twenty breaths later, a figure appeared from behind the artificial hill on the left side of the wooden hall; it was Su Ziming.

He stared at the slightly rising earth, his eyes shining.

After a short while, Xue Xiang arrived at the ferry. It was only dusk, but the sky was still bright enough to keep his vision clear.

The surface of Suiyang Lake is vast and expansive.

In the distance, the mountains are like snow-covered hills, and the sky is as blue as a smear.

He boarded the small boat, rowed it himself, and was quite content.

He had done the math: hiring a boatman to ferry him was too expensive. Buying a small boat would allow him to travel by himself, and once he had completed his training, he could resell the boat for 80% of the original price, which was extremely cost-effective.

As the boat reached the center of the lake, a north wind began to rise, and the stilted buildings, docks, and artificial hills on the distant shore all disappeared into the twilight.

On the vast lake, amidst the boundless天地 (heaven and earth), only one person and one boat remain.

After traveling several more miles, a black dot appeared in the center of the lake. Xue Xiang knew that it was the Lake Pavilion, as he had encountered it on both his previous and subsequent journeys.

But today, after the heavy snow, amidst the shimmering lake and mountains, this small pavilion, resembling an ink dot, inexplicably stirred his desire to explore.

He rowed the boat toward the pavilion in the middle of the lake, and suddenly remembered Zhang Dai's famous poem, which he began to recite aloud.

The lake is vast and the mountains are distant, the echoes linger, as if responding.

When they were still more than ten feet away from the pavilion in the middle of the lake, Xue Xiang suddenly stopped talking. Wisps of smoke came from the pavilion, indicating that a guest had already boarded.

His enthusiasm for the trip waned, and he was about to row back when a figure in blue robes peered out from the pavilion entrance. "Is that Young Master Xue?"

"So it's Miss Xuejian."

Xue Xiang recognized the person as the woman in green standing beside the female Taoist priest.

“My beloved is here. Now that you have come, why not spend some time with her?”

Xue Jian shouted loudly.

Xue Xiang could not refuse, so he moved his boat closer and calmly ascended the pavilion.

Inside the pavilion, the female Taoist priest was still dressed in a yellow dress with a white veil covering her face. Perhaps she had put on the veil in a hurry, as it was not quite right.

The female Taoist priest sat on a fox fur-lined prayer mat, with another prayer mat opposite her. Between the two mats was a red clay stove, with a blazing fire inside, brewing hot tea, and wisps of smoke carrying a delicate tea aroma.

"Greetings, Yuanjun."

Xue Xiang bowed respectfully.

The female Taoist priest waved her hand, saying, "We are all tourists, there is no need for formalities."

I caught two sentences from the article you just read; they were quite witty and the words were exquisite.

Everyone says that a well-written draft can be written in any style, from poetry to prose, but to truly produce a masterpiece, what's most lacking is personal talent.

“The Lord Yuan’s argument is correct.”

"laugh."

Xue Jian chuckled, "Young Master Xue, we're already here, not in a school, why are you still being so reserved?"

Xue Xiang cupped his hands and said, "The Primordial Lord is a highly skilled teacher; how could I not respect her?"

But in his heart he thought, Mengde was right, indeed the more elusive it is, the more exquisite it is.

After Mr. Yin Chuan returned, the woman in the yellow dress still occasionally substituted for him, but the frequency decreased.

The woman in the yellow dress waved her hand, "How's your revision going?"

"There has been considerable progress, but it remains difficult."

"Finishing essays require the most accumulation of knowledge. Your grades are not bad, but the competition is fierce this year. In my judgment, you are somewhere between passing and failing."

The woman in the yellow dress poured Xue Xiang a cup of tea, and Xue Jian picked it up and handed it to Xue Xiang.

I'll release the next two chapters together, otherwise the reading experience will be terrible. Just wondering, can we still vote?

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(End of this chapter)