The sage was determined to die.

The group silently memorized Ji Bai's name.

Ji Bai nodded to the group and said, "Since you promised Ji Bai, I will spare your lives."

"but--"

Ji Bai changed the subject abruptly, his face turning serious. "Everything comes at a price. After you successfully escape, you must spread the good name of Ji Bai of Qi everywhere. Every time you meet a scholar who has passed the imperial examination, you must tell them about it. Do you understand?"

The group was completely bewildered. Although they didn't understand why the examiner would make such a request, since he hadn't attacked them, they nodded and agreed to the condition.

Seeing this, Ji Bai forcibly suppressed the corners of his mouth that were turning up.

The plan is finally about to take its first step.

At the same time, the old lady looked at Ji Bai suspiciously, and even sniffed him hard: "You've cultivated Wenxin? You don't have a trace of Wenxin on you."

Ji Bai turned his back, activating anti-interference mode, intentionally preventing the scholars from seeing the expression on his face. His expression became extremely gloomy, as if he had thought of some deep-seated hatred. His already bright red face turned even redder.

He gritted his teeth and said, "My literary talent was stolen by that scheming fellow."

The old lady looked at him with instant disdain.

No wonder this person came to her territory to cause trouble, acting all high and mighty. Turns out, he's just a good-for-nothing who couldn't even protect Wenxin.

Bah, what a disgrace to the Guardians.

The old lady straightened her back proudly once again.

However, she suddenly realized the contradiction in the person's words.

She narrowed her eyes, suspiciously asking, "You good-for-nothing... You've poured so much effort into Wenxin, only to have it stolen by that Ji Bai. Why are you still helping him gain fame?"

Ji Bai had already prepared a reason in his mind.

When faced with these scholars from small countries, he could claim that Ji Bai had been kind to him from the perspective of an examiner, but from the perspective of a fellow examiner, if he dared to say that, it would be no different from having lost his mind.

He pursed his lips, his tone extremely confident: "Have you read any military treatises? Do you know what 'all's fair in war' means?"

old lady:"……"

As fellow guards, why do you dare to read so many books behind everyone's back?

"My tactic is called 'killing with praise'."

Ji Bai explained his strategy, saying, "My move is called 'praise to kill.' First, let Ji Bai become famous in the Book Mountain. Then, naturally many people will pay attention to him. Who among those who enter the Book Mountain doesn't want to obtain the Literary Heart? Once they know that Ji Bai has obtained the Literary Heart, they will naturally try to kill him."

The old woman asked疑惑地问道, "Then why didn't you just tell them that the man named Ji Bai had obtained the Wenxin? Wouldn't that have made them even more determined to hunt him down and seize the Wenxin?"

"Everyone has selfish desires."

Ji Bai glanced sideways at the group of scholars from small countries, then at the old woman before him. "If your literary talent is successfully cultivated, will you choose to keep it for yourself, or let everyone know about it?"

old lady:"……"

She answered the question with silence.

Nonsense, she's not stupid. If she doesn't secretly hide it herself, does she expect someone else to come and steal it?

"Besides," Ji Bai said in a deep voice, "it's only been one day since the Book Mountain opened, and my literary talent has already been stolen. If word gets out, won't everyone think I'm a good-for-nothing?"

This is your real purpose, isn't it?

The old lady looked at Ji Bai with utter contempt.

.

Although the red-faced examiner in front of them said he would help them, the scholars from small states, led by Gongsun Yang, were still afraid of their fate.

In this mountain of books, there are traps at every turn. No one dares to gamble with their life, entrusting their fate to someone else, especially when that person is not even on their side.

Sure enough, just as they were feeling anxious about what they would be assigned to do...

The people in front of them have begun to enslave them.

Two hours later, at the edge of the Puppet Forest, by the only pool.

It's called a pond, but it's actually a large pit dug later, something the old lady did when she was bored.

Due to the unique land structure of Shushan, it contains rainwater that falls after rain, as well as large areas of bright red stones.

The water level in the pool was not high, only reaching up to the thighs of an adult man, but the smell was extremely fishy and foul, just like the smell of a rotting animal carcass.

The tasks assigned to the group were very simple, but also very physically demanding.

They need to take huge rocks out of the pool, then grind them into small pieces, and then feed the saplings with the small pieces to speed up their growth.

The address and method were provided by the old lady.

Ji Bai and the old lady acted as supervisors on the side.

Although he had some guesses in his mind, he still pretended to be ignorant and asked, "These red stones are indeed useful. Where did they come from?"

The old woman waved her hand and said casually, "I've been guarding this place for so many years. Every time the Book Mountain opens, a lot of people die here. To save trouble, I dug a pit and piled up all these corpses here."

So it's a mass grave. Ji Bai thought to himself.

"Then these corpses turned into red stones here," the old woman commented. "And when it gets cold, these stones will heat up, making it convenient to soak in a hot spring or something."

Ji Bai quietly distanced himself from the old lady, while looking at the hardworking scholars with some pity, deciding that it was better not to tell them the truth.

The group worked from daytime until evening, and then from evening until night.

They had not yet attained literary talent, and their physical abilities were merely those of ordinary scholars. The heavy physical labor had long since left them exhausted and on the verge of collapse, but their survival instinct kept them from stopping.

Midway through, Ji Bai also suggested that they could have a proper balance between work and rest.

The old woman responded with an impatient refusal: "We've already sent them to dig the soil, and they still want to rest? They can't have everything!"

Ji Bai didn't immediately refute it; he actually felt that there was a bit of truth to what the other person said.

But why does this sound so familiar...?

In the stillness of the night, they finally got some rest.

Although the scholars were isolated and helpless amidst the mountain of books and even framed, they were still the pride of their respective countries. They were exhausted and panting, but they also gained something from it: the saplings grew even taller.

but……

The scholar looked at Ji Bai and the old lady, who were far away from them. The two seemed to have entered "shutdown mode" and were resting by a big tree some distance away.

The scholar, gritting his teeth against the aches and pains, bypassed Gongsun Yang and whispered to another scholar, "Tell me, there's only one Wenxin (a type of scholarly talent). Even if it's truly nurtured, will we have a chance?"

The scholar fell silent.

Yes, Wenxin only has one heart.