With half a game of chess, I vanquish all demons!

Following behind the yamen runners, Zhao Yao arrived at the county yamen and stopped outside a side room.

"Mr. Zhao, you may stay here with the students for the night, and you can attend the literary banquet together tomorrow."

"Thank you for showing me the way."

"No, no, I wouldn't dare."

Standing at the door, Zhao Yao politely bid farewell to the yamen runner.

Only after watching the yamen runner walk away did he turn around and look at the side room.

Because they arrived early, there were only four students in the exceptionally spacious room at that moment.

Upon seeing these familiar faces, memories of his past life surfaced in his mind. Zhao Yao stepped forward, smiling and slightly teasing, to greet the four classmates who had stood up.

Hello, students.

The four of them smiled and said in unison, "Hello, classmates."

He laughed and joked for a while, then his gaze followed his four classmates as they sat down, finally settling on the large communal sleeping platform beneath them.

The communal sleeping quarters, which were reserved for the lower classes, have now been brazenly placed in the side rooms of the county government office, becoming the beds where students from the county school will squeeze together to sleep tonight.

This is somewhat strange, out of place, incongruous, and out of timing.

"No, it's very ingenious."

Zhao Yao narrowed his eyes, a faint smile appearing on his face.

In the memories of the predecessor, the county government's literary banquet began in the year the current county magistrate took office. Every year after that, when the students of the county school graduated, the current county magistrate would organize a literary banquet.

Over time, it became a kind of convention.

While it was called a literary banquet, it was actually more like a "recommendation meeting".

At the literary banquet, the current county magistrate will assign various tasks to the students.

Based on their performance in these tasks, students will be offered various destinations to choose from:

To become a retainer in a wealthy household, to be supported by them;

He was assigned to various government agencies to perform clerical work.

Even joining certain sects or certain mystical places.

Tomorrow's banquet at the county government office is truly a place where the current county magistrate provides opportunities for students from all generations to choose their own path!

This is an investment, and also a way to accumulate capital.

Today, the students gather together, sharing a room and a bed;

—The same intention is to deliberately create this unique shared experience.

"My teacher is truly a remarkable person."

The current county magistrate, named Zhou Yan, is one of the teachers of these students from generation to generation at the county school.

When he was in the county school, his predecessor saw that the county magistrate was kind and approachable in his teaching, and he was quite moved and felt close to him.

Looking back now, Zhao Yao has a different feeling.

"Sniff~ Sniff~"

Zhao Yao arrived at the large dormitory, sat down, and gently twitched his nostrils, catching a faint scent of herbs.

This is due to the incense used on the communal sleeping area.

Sure enough, even among the same dormitory-style rooms, there are fundamental differences due to different social classes.

In the side room, classmates arrived one after another.

Zhao Yao stood up again and again, rising to greet the people who had arrived earlier.

As time passed and dusk fell, the moon rose and the stars twinkled.

Inside the side room, young students, dressed in their undergarments, were making a ruckus and laughing on the large communal bed.

Someone standing on the communal bed looked around and suddenly spoke:

"Are all the classmates here?"

"No, Young Master Su obviously didn't come."

"And that guy Huanglian too."

"Su Shangtao, he's the eldest son. Tomorrow's literary banquet won't benefit him much, so it's normal that he won't come... And what's with Huang Lian? He usually brags to us about how virtuous his wife is and how cute his child is. Tomorrow is such a good opportunity, why isn't he coming?"

"Brother Zhao, do you know anything about your friendship with Huanglian?"

"And Tian Qing, he's also on good terms with Brother Zhao, but he didn't come either. He's our teacher's favorite disciple, and the most outstanding among us, he shouldn't have missed it..."

The students, who had been chatting amongst themselves, quieted down and turned their curious and inquisitive gazes toward Zhao Yao.

Under the watchful eyes of many, Zhao Yao, who had been silently practicing the "Warrior Breathing Technique," stopped his cultivation.

He glanced back at the young students, pondered for a couple of seconds, his eyes flashed, his expression turned serious, and he spoke in a low voice:

"Gentlemen, I have no evidence to accuse you of this matter, and I did not intend to tell you about it."

Now that you have asked, after much thought, and considering the cases of Tian Qing and Huang Lian, I realize that I might not be the only one to encounter such a situation. Therefore, I would like to offer you this warning… Please observe.”

As Zhao Yao finished speaking, he stood up, unbuttoned his inner robe, and bared his chest to the students.

The dry, bony ribs, the jagged bones, the strong tendons—this skeletal body strongly impacted the students' senses.

"What, what happened?"

"Brother Zhao, why are you so thin?"

"Yeah, it's only been two days since I left the county school, how could that be..."

The students were in an uproar upon seeing Zhao Yao's unusual physical condition.

"You are all right. Under normal circumstances, two days would not turn a person into what I am."

But what if it's poisoning?

"Poisoning? This..."

"Who dares to poison the students of the county school?!"

The students were speechless, unable to believe it.

Zhao Yao scanned the crowd, noticing no one showing any unusual expression, and then continued:

"Not only me, but Huanglian was also plotted against, which is why she didn't come here."

As for Tian Qing, although I do not know what happened to him, my experience with Brother Huang is not far off, and you can imagine what it was like... I don't know if these schemes only apply to the three of us.

Now I tell you all this, and I hope you will all be vigilant.

As he spoke, Zhao Yao put on his undergarments and sat down silently again.

After hearing his words, the students looked at each other thoughtfully and remained silent for a moment.

After a moment of silence, the students started clamoring again, wanting to immediately seek help from the current magistrate and complain to their teacher.

It wasn't until an older student spoke up, explaining that the literary banquet was tomorrow and they could discuss it then, that the students finally gave up.

After this experience, the students either reflected on their own situation and became more vigilant, or they tossed and turned on the communal bed, filled with both anticipation and trepidation for tomorrow, before finally falling asleep.

The night passed in the blink of an eye.

Day two.

"Everyone, get up and wash up!"

The first student to get up loudly woke up the other students who were still asleep.

The young students, some sitting up straight on the communal bed, some yawning helplessly with their eyes closed, and some stretching lazily, began to get up and dress one after another.

"Brother Zhao, wake up! Brother Zhao... Oh no!"

The student named Wang Deng finished dressing and nudged Zhao Yao, who hadn't gotten up yet. After nudging him twice, he finally noticed something was wrong.

He stared wide-eyed at Zhao Yao, who lay there motionless with his eyes closed, and shouted:

"Quick, someone come quick! Something's happened to Brother Zhao!"

The students quickly gathered around Zhao Yao, eager to do something, but were flustered and unsure of what to do.

A slightly older student stepped forward to check Zhao Yao's breath, and immediately gave his classmate a serious instruction:

"He's not dead. Stop crowding around here. Someone go find the teacher."

"suck--"

As the students waited anxiously, Zhao Yao suddenly gasped and came back to life.

He opened his eyes and saw the concerned looks from his classmates. He silently apologized in his heart, but on his face, as if he understood something, he gave a bitter smile and said weakly:

"I apologize for making this a laughing stock."

This poison works like this; it seems to deplete my vital energy, making me increasingly thin and weak.

I have already bought a Great Rejuvenation Pill and taken it. I thought I was cured, but I didn't expect there to be residual symptoms. It almost killed me... Gentlemen, do you have any pills that can increase one's vital energy?

I survived only because of a Great Rejuvenation Pill.

If any of you gentlemen have an elixir that can increase one's vital energy, I should be able to recover after taking it.

After speaking, Zhao Yao looked at everyone with eager anticipation.

Under Zhao Yao's gaze, the students looked at each other, most of them shaking their heads, only Wang Deng looked hesitant.

Finally, under Zhao Yao's fixed gaze, Wang Deng gritted his teeth, reached into his sleeve, and pulled out a pill that emitted a strange fragrance:

"Brother Zhao, I'm going to risk my reputation to save you!"

"When you're all better, you have to treat me to a big meal!"

Upon seeing the appearance of the pill and smelling its unique fragrance, the students all seemed to have thought of something, and their expressions turned strange.

Some even blushed, and Chong Wang Deng angrily rebuked them as "absurd."

"This is……"

Zhao Yao lay there, took the pill and looked at it, his eyelids twitched.

He looked up at his classmates, remained silent for a moment, opened his mouth, and was about to say something.

Seeing him open his mouth to eat, the students instantly scattered like startled rabbits, panicking and fleeing far away.

"run!"

"Sigh~~"

"Hurry, hurry, hurry~"

"..."

Zhao Yao held the pill in his hand, looked at the fleeing students, and was speechless for a moment.

Well, I was trying to trick people out of one or two pills that could increase their vital energy. It's a bit unethical to trick people out of pills, but you don't have to play tricks on me like this, do you?