Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

"Brother, you're mistaken about that."

Su Qing slammed the folding fan on the table, ignoring the years of grease buildup on it, and leaned forward, smiling as she stared at the scholar in front of her, whose face was red with anger.

"If that fox demon is really that kind, why did she abandon that stupid tiger? If I were that tiger, I would definitely dig up her grave and whip her corpse."

"You...you're being unreasonable!"

Gu Xiang was so angry that his hands were shaking, and he almost broke the worn-out pen in his hand.

He suddenly stood up, and because of the sudden movement, his knee hit the table leg, making him wince in pain, but he still looked like he was going to fight Su Qing to the death.

"Miss Su was acting out of a sense of righteousness! She was doing it to save lives! Do you, a mere mortal, understand what deep affection and loyalty mean? Do you understand what it means to sacrifice one's life for righteousness?"

As he spoke, he waved his ink-stained hands wildly in the air, spitting almost onto Su Qing's face.

Su Qing wasn't annoyed at all; in fact, she leaned back rather comfortably to avoid the suspicious drops of liquid.

She casually picked up the bowl of cold boiled water that Gu Xiang had left on the table and shook it.

"Alright, alright, you understand, you're a saint." Su Qing put down the bowl and waved to the waiter not far away. "Waiter, bring me a pot of your most expensive tea, two pounds of braised beef, and a plate of peanuts. This... uh, this brother's bill."

Gu Xiang was stunned for a moment, then his face turned a deep purplish-red.

"I...I...I have no money!"

After holding it in for a long time, he finally blurted out this profound truth.

After saying that, his previous fighting spirit vanished instantly, and he looked like a wilted eggplant.

"No money?" Su Qing raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise, and looked him up and down. "You dare to listen to storytelling here if you have no money? If that old man came down to collect his reward, what were you planning to give him? Your pen?"

Gu Xiang subconsciously hid the worn-out pen in his pocket, and said with a stiff neck, "How can you listen to a scholar's affairs for free? Besides, I didn't reserve a seat, I stood... I squatted in the corner to listen!"

"Come on," Su Qing scoffed, pulling a silver ingot from his sleeve and tossing it to the waiter who had run over. "Put it on my tab. Also, get this gentleman a cleaner bowl; the rim is chipped and chipped, he's worried about cutting his mouth."

The waiter took the silver, and his previously somewhat impatient face instantly blossomed into a wide smile as he bowed and scraped as he left.

Gu Xiang looked at the silver ingot, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

He glanced at Su Qing again, seemingly torn between whether to stand firm and refuse this "food offered with contempt," or to succumb to the temptation of the soon-to-be-arrived braised beef.

Finally, his stomach let out a whine, making the decision for him.

Gu Xiang blushed and sat back down on the long bench, placing her hands neatly on her knees, looking like a wronged young wife.

"Thank you so much, brother." The voice was so soft it was like a mosquito's hum.

Su Qing toyed with the folding fan in her hand, looking at him with interest: "No need for thanks. I just heard you say you were going to write an article criticizing Xuanjizi? What, do you have a grudge against the Supreme Forgetfulness Sect?"

Mentioning this brings out Gu Xiang's old energy again.

"No enmity!" He straightened his back. "But when you see injustice, you should naturally lend a helping hand! That Xuanjizi, as a senior of the righteous path, has done such despicable things, not only scheming against a junior of the demon race, but also... even forcing a lovelorn woman to her death! How is such behavior any different from that of the demonic path? Although I am powerless, this pen and this mouth can still speak a few words of justice!"

Su Qing wanted to laugh when she heard this.

This scholar is truly adorably naive.

In this cultivation world where might makes right, what about fairness?

Justice is the staff in the Great Sage's hand, and the bones beneath the feet of the Immortal Emperor.

Do you think you can kill a half-step Great Sage with just your words?

Before he could even open his mouth, he'd be blown to ash in a single breath.

However, looking into Gu Xiang's clear, almost dazed eyes, Su Qing swallowed back the sarcasm that was on the tip of her tongue.

"That's interesting." Su Qing peeled a peanut and popped it into his mouth. "So, how do you plan to curse? Write it up as a big-character poster and stick it on the gate of the Supreme Forgetfulness Sect?"

"No." Gu Xiang shook his head, his face serious. "My purpose in going to the capital is to participate in the imperial examinations of the Great Zhou Dynasty. If I succeed and gain an audience with the Emperor, I will certainly impeach the Supreme Forgetfulness Sect in the Golden Palace! I beg His Majesty the Holy Emperor to uphold justice for Miss Su!"

Su Qing almost choked to death on the peanuts.

She coughed violently a few times and stared at Gu Xiang with wide eyes.

Is this guy genuinely stupid or just pretending?

Why should the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty be in charge of the affairs of the Supreme Forgetfulness Sect?

Is it because they think the Great Zhou Dynasty wasn't destroyed fast enough?

Although the Great Zhou Dynasty ruled the secular world of the Central Continent and had a profound foundation, the Supreme Forgetfulness Sect was a top-tier immortal sect. The two kept to themselves and did not interfere with each other. Who would be so foolish as to start a war over a dead fox demon?

"Ahem... Well, brother, your ambitions are truly admirable." Su Qing gave a perfunctory bow. "May I ask your esteemed name and place of residence? A learned man of such insight must come from a distinguished family?"

Gu Xiang scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly: "My name is Gu Xiang, and I live in... Gu Family Village, about thirty miles west of Qingniu Town. I'm not from any prominent family, and I'm the only scholar in the village."

His voice trailed off again at the end.

Su Qing raised an eyebrow.

The only educated person in the whole village?

This premise sounds so familiar...

"Then what about your travel expenses..." Su Qing pointed to his faded blue robe.

"Grandpa Village Chief sold his old hen and gave me two taels of silver." Gu Xiang took out a tightly sewn cloth bag from his pocket, carefully opened it, revealing a few pieces of silver and copper coins inside. "With the money collected by the villagers, if we spend it sparingly, it should be enough to get to the capital."

Su Qing fell silent.

Looking at the few pieces of silver, she felt inexplicably choked up.

Two taels of silver.

In a world where cultivators can casually spend hundreds or thousands of spirit stones, two taels of mortal silver can't even buy a cultivator's cup of tea.

But this is the hope of the entire village of Gu.

"Are you so sure you'll pass the exam?" Su Qing couldn't help but ask. "What if you don't?"

"I must pass the exam!" Gu Xiang suddenly raised his head, his eyes shining brightly. "Grandpa Village Chief said I'm a reincarnation of the God of Literature, destined to be a high-ranking official! If I don't pass, how can I face that old hen? How can I face the shoes Er Ya gave me?"

He pointed to the pair of cloth shoes covered in mud at his feet, with two crooked ducks embroidered on the surface... or perhaps mandarin ducks?

Su Qing: "..."

That's putting a lot of pressure on you.

Just then, the waiter came over with a tray.

"Sir, your braised beef and the finest pre-Qingming Longjing tea are served!"

The aroma is tangy.

Gu Xiang's Adam's apple bobbed again, but he still tried his best to restrain himself and did not pick up his chopsticks. Instead, he looked at Su Qing first.

"Please go first, brother."

They're quite particular.

Su Qing didn't stand on ceremony, picked up her chopsticks, took a slice of beef, and put it in her mouth.

"Eat it, it won't taste good when it gets cold."

Gu Xiang then picked up his chopsticks, took a slice of beef, and carefully put it into his mouth.

In that instant, his face was filled with a complex mix of emotions, as if he had tasted some unparalleled delicacy, or as if he was so moved that he was about to cry.

Su Qing sighed inwardly as she watched him wolf down his food.

This potential Confucian saint looks more like a reincarnated starving ghost.

Could the system have made a mistake?

If this guy can become a saint, then wouldn't Su Chang'an be able to become an emperor on the spot?

"Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you." Su Qing poured him a cup of tea. "By the way, you said you're from Gujia Village? That place isn't far from Luofeng Slope, is it?"

With his mouth full of beef, Gu Xiang nodded indistinctly, "Um... it's right next to Luofeng Slope. But Grandpa Village Chief won't let us get close there, saying there's a man-eating monster there."

"A monster?" Su Qing's interest was piqued. "What kind of monster?"

"I don't know." Gu Xiang swallowed the meat in his mouth, took a sip of tea to catch his breath, "Anyway, it's terrifying. I heard that a hermit went in once and never came out again. Every night, you can hear a woman crying inside, it's really scary."

The sound of a woman crying?

Su Qing touched her chin.

This does fit the description of an inauspicious place.

Just as she was about to ask a few more questions about Luofengpo, the teahouse door was suddenly kicked open.

"Bang!"

The two thick wooden doors flew in as if they were made of paper, crashing to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

The once bustling teahouse instantly fell silent.

The old storyteller was so frightened that he dropped the gavel on the table.

There were seven or eight burly men standing at the entrance.

The leader was shirtless, with a tiger tattooed on his chest, a face full of fierce features, and a large, still-dripping, ghost-headed knife in his hand.

"Who's the manager? Get out here!"

The burly man roared, causing dust to fall from the roof beams.

The teahouse owner, a chubby middle-aged man, was trembling behind the counter.

Hearing the shouts, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and crawl out, his face plastered with a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Um... esteemed sir, what brings you here? If our humble establishment has failed in its service..."

"Stop talking nonsense!"

The tattooed man kicked over a nearby table, shattering the teacups on it onto the floor.

"I'm from Black Wind Stronghold! Heard you've got a fat sheep here? Hand it over right now, or I'll tear this lousy shop down today!"

Black Wind Stronghold?

Upon hearing the name, the tea drinkers turned deathly pale.

This is the most ruthless band of bandits within a hundred miles. It is said that their leader is a cultivator who kills without blinking an eye, and even the government can't do anything about them.

Many timid tea drinkers have already started secretly crawling under the table.