On the Path to the Great Dao

"Though this Mr. Fu has performed righteous deeds and possesses both skill and resolve, his scholarship is somewhat mediocre."

Chen Shi stayed overnight at Wencai Academy. Hu Feifei hailed from the countryside as well, so she stayed too. It was still too early to sleep, and since the two had earned a bit of money, they agreed to go wander the night market.

Xinxiang County's night market was even livelier than during the day. The streets teemed with people, and stalls lined both sides, offering all sorts of sizzling, frying, boiling, and grilling street foods. Chen Shi, Hu Feifei, and Blackie Pot strolled along, eating as they went, their hands clutching various snacks. When they could stuff no more inside, Blackie Pot stood up on his hind legs to carry the extras.

"Brother Chen, don't you think your dog is a bit strange?"

Hu Feifei glanced back. The dog was walking on his two hind legs, taller than a normal person and just as steady. The way he held the items didn't look like a dog at all.

Chen Shi turned to look but saw nothing unusual.

"You're walking on two legs too, aren't you? What's so strange about that?"

Hu Feifei was left speechless, her eyes wide.

After circling the market, bellies round and steps wobbly, they made their way back to the academy.

The questions weighing on Chen Shi's mind grew heavier. "Feifei, where are the godmothers in the city?"

Ever since entering the city, he'd been searching for Xinxiang County's godmothers, but after all this wandering, he still hadn't found any.

Hu Feifei, looking nine months pregnant, supported her waist with one hand and clutched food with the other as she trudged forward.

She shook her head.

"There are no godmothers in the county seat or the provincial capital."

Chen Shi was baffled.

"Without godmothers, how do they ward off evils and spirits? Don't those things just enter the city whenever they please?"

Hu Feifei explained.

"Though there are no godmothers, there are treasures guarding the county seat. The Myriad Souls Banner is one such treasure. This artifact protects the county. Any evil or spirit that approaches triggers its power automatically, slaying them on the spot. The Myriad Souls Banner is extremely ancient—the one in Xinxiang County has over a thousand years of history, and the ghosts within it have been refined to immense strength. No evil or spirit can stand against it. Over time, with so many slain, none dare approach the county anymore."

"I see."

Chen Shi suddenly understood.

"But then why did County Magistrate Geng and his wife—those two evils and spirits—enter the city without dying to the Myriad Souls Banner?"

Hu Feifei was stumped and shook her head.

"I don't know about that either. Our fox clan's chieftain is also an evil or spirit, yet she enters the city multiple times with no reaction from the banner. The chieftain's cultivation is profound enough to conceal her aura, but Magistrate Geng didn't have that kind of ability. So why could he enter too?"

Chen Shi asked.

"Do you think Magistrate Geng was eaten by an evil or spirit that then impersonated him, or was Geng himself an evil or spirit from the start?"

Hu Feifei pondered.

"I think Geng was an evil or spirit himself. I'm stuffed—can't walk anymore. Let's find a spot to sit and digest."

Chen Shi looked around and spotted the railing by the river, so they sat there together.

Hu Feifei leaned lazily against his shoulder.

Something stirred in Chen Shi's heart.

"Feifei, it's dark now—where's your hairpin? Does it really glow?"

Hu Feifei perked up instantly. She pulled the hairpin from her hair, cupped it in both hands, and grinned.

"Take a look."

Chen Shi leaned in close, astonished.

"It really glows."

Hu Feifei beamed with pride. She bit down on the hairpin, twisted up her hair with both hands, held it in place with one, and inserted the pin with the other.

She laughed.

"My hairpin is engraved with talisman scripts. It absorbs sunlight during the day and releases it at night, all sparkly. Brother Chen, got any fun stories? Tell me one."

Chen Shi regaled her with tales from his mountain days, making the vixen giggle nonstop.

"Stop, I can't listen anymore—my stomach hurts from laughing. Rub it for me."

Chen Shi rubbed her belly. Sure enough, she'd laughed so hard her side cramped. Warming it eased the pain, and the hiccups went away.

They rested for a good while before getting up and heading back to the academy.

Fu Leisheng was waiting for them. When he saw them return, he said.

"I'm heading home to rest. You two stay in the academy and make do for the night. Chen Shi, for the true god descent, you need to remain a pure youth—don't lose your primal yang. Remember that."

His words carried deep meaning, filling Chen Shi with awe.

Chen Shi pondered the implication carefully.

Fu Leisheng departed.

The two rested a bit, then tidied up, clearing a spot to sleep. After all, this was the academy, a place for scholars to study—no beds, so they had to make do with bedding on the floor.

Chen Shi fetched bedding from the wooden cart, splitting it half with Hu Feifei.

They bid each other goodnight and slipped into their covers.

Blackie Pot stood guard outside. Crickets chirped, but otherwise, all was quiet.

The clamor of the county's night market seemed to fade farther away.

Hu Feifei poked her head out from her bedding and smiled.

"Can't sleep, Brother Chen. Tell me more about the mountains. I trained with my fox clan sisters and rarely went deep into them."

Chen Shi sat up and shared stories from Qianyang Mountain—the odd mountain rules, the guardian spirits, the great serpent of Xuanshan, six-thousand-year-old Granny Zhuang, and all the mischievous porcelain dolls.

Hu Feifei scooted her bedding closer, slipped inside, and lay on her side, listening.

Her eyes gleamed in the darkness.

"Brother Chen, what do you want to do after passing the imperial exams?"

The vixen asked.

"Do?"

Chen Shi was a bit lost. He thought it over. His original goal in studying was to become a juren, return home as a local lord, lord over the villagers, and let Grandpa live out his days in peace.

But now Grandpa was in the underworld, and who knew when he'd return.

These days, taking the exams felt like fulfilling a lingering vow.

"After passing, I want to go back home and become a local lord, so I can officially bully the villagers."

Chen Shi said.

"And you?"

Hu Feifei clasped the edge of her quilt at her chest, eyes sparkling.

She smiled.

"My goal in studying is to find a scholar who catches my eye and have an epic, tear-jerking romance between human and fox."

Chen Shi asked.

"Found one yet?"

"Not yet!"

Hu Feifei sounded a touch downcast.

"All the boys in our academy are little kids, still wet behind the ears. None worthy of a girl's eye. Once I pass the xiucai and juren exams, better scholars will come along for sure."

They chatted about the future, and before they knew it, Hu Feifei's voice grew softer and softer until she fell asleep.

Seeing this, Chen Shi burrowed into his bedding too, drifting off to dreamland in moments.

The day of the county exam finally arrived.

The exam venue was the Confucian Temple in the county seat, the place enshrining the Master.

Partitions divided the wall areas into individual cubicles. Scholars from private schools in every town and village of Xinxiang County converged on the temple.

Over a hundred from the county seat alone, more from the towns—hundreds in total. Even white-haired old men came to sit the county exam.

The first round was the literary exam.

Chen Shi and the Wencai Academy scholars were separated into different cubicles. Once everyone was seated, brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were distributed to prevent cheating.

The chief examiner was the Tian Huaiyi that Fu Leisheng had mentioned—a stern young official with no smile. He first paid respects to Confucius, then to the God of Literature, before announcing the exam officially open.

"Today's topic is a discussion essay: Zengzi once said, 'The cry of a dying bird is mournful; the words of a dying man are kind.'"

Tian Huaiyi read the topic, his voice booming.

"Silence in the exam hall. No discussion, no conversation, no cheat sheets. Invoke the bright mirror to detect the finest hair."

Two examiners hoisted a massive bright mirror, taller than a man. An incense stick burned before it as it passed each cubicle.

The incense smoke wafted to the mirror, which seemed alive, absorbing the fragrant smoke and emitting a soft orange glow.

Suddenly, the two examiners paused, signaling nearby yamen runners with a glance.

Two runners advanced immediately to that cubicle.

The scholar inside panicked, letting out a shriek, but still wrote furiously, brush flying.

The runners sneered and yanked off the scholar's black hat.

There, atop his head, sat a three-to-four-inch white-furred rat, wielding a fine brush before a propped-up drawing board with paper on it.

The white-furred rat was focused intently, scribbling away fluently on an exegesis of the exam topic.

Whatever it wrote, the scholar copied.

Spotted, the rat dropped its brush to flee—but too late.

One runner grabbed it.

The other dragged the scholar before chief examiner Tian Huaiyi.

Tian Huaiyi glanced at the white-furred rat and sneered.

"So it's a scholar rat. Daring to cheat here? Bold indeed. Drag him out—give him ten strokes of the big plank."

The yamen runners hauled the scholar away.

The two examiners resumed passing the mirror along.

Chen Shi sat in his cubicle, thrilled.

"The words of a dying man are kind—this topic, Scholar Zhu drilled into us more than once. Perfect for me."

Inspired, he wrote swiftly, finishing the 200-character essay, adding his name and academy, drying the ink, and handing in his paper.

Other scholars were still heads-down writing or puzzling over how to start—no one else had submitted yet.

Tian Huaiyi, surprised at the first submission, took the paper, glanced at the academy, and smiled.

"Wencai Academy, my mentor's school. Mentor delves deep into scholarship—another stellar pupil."

Other examiners flattered.

"A great teacher produces great students. How else could he have taught a talent like Lord Tian back in the day?"

Tian Huaiyi read on. His smile stiffened, then froze. He snapped the paper shut, took a deep breath, and composed himself.

"A rebel from my mentor's school?"

He thought to himself.

"No good—I must see my mentor. This is grave. If it's a capital offense, it might implicate him and me."

Chen Shi exited the temple. Fu Leisheng waited outside and was stunned to see him so soon, hurrying over.

"Chen Shi, out already? How'd it go?"

Chen Shi couldn't hide his pride and grinned.

"I've read the classics thoroughly. This county exam was a breeze."

Fu Leisheng was about to ask what he'd written when a beam of crimson glow shot straight down from the sky into the temple, filling the air with an alluring fragrance.

"Divine descent—a divine descent!"

Fu Leisheng stared dumbly at the glow, then cried out. Shouts echoed from the temple too. Officials stirred by the glow exclaimed.

"True god descent! Which scholar received the true god descent?"

The tone suggested this descent was extraordinary.

Chen Shi's heart pounded as he watched the straight beam.

The fragrance thickened, intoxicating, making one feel light as if ascending to immortality.

Divine descent—full name, true god latent descent.

Minor cultivators at the Divine Shrine Realm, after forming their shrine, hold a grand heavenly sacrifice. Drawn by the incense smoke, a true god from beyond the heavens descends in glow, granting a Divine Embryo.

The Divine Embryo enters the shrine, allowing the cultivator to formally step into the Divine Embryo Realm, with a chance to assault the next stage and condense a golden core.

Yet divine descents usually came after the post-exam rites. One appearing mid-exam, unbidden, was exceedingly rare.

Unsacrificed, spontaneous divine descent often marked those of exceptional talent and flourishing literary fortune.

Fu Leisheng murmured.

"Who could this person be?"

Just then, someone hurried up and bowed.

"Mr. Fu, Lord Tian requests you."

Fu Leisheng followed at once, entering the temple through the back door.

Tian Huaiyi waited there. Skipping greetings, he said urgently.

"Mentor, disaster at Wencai Academy. A rebel and a genius—both from your school."

Fu Leisheng, shocked and elated, pressed for details.

Tian Huaiyi said.

"The true god descent went to a Wencai Academy scholar named Shen Yusheng. This youth received the true god's favor in the literary exam, granted a Divine Embryo. We don't yet know its grade, but no lower than second. A genius—congratulations, Mentor. As for the rebel..."

He handed Chen Shi's paper to Fu Leisheng.

"Please review it, Mentor."

Fu Leisheng scanned it, face ashen.

"This will send me up on the Myriad Souls Banner."

Tian Huaiyi asked quickly.

"Mentor, what now?"

Fu Leisheng gritted his teeth.

"I'll rewrite it for him. No matter what, we can't drag the academy down."

Tian Huaiyi hesitated.

"If you write it, he'll pass xiucai for sure. Then come autumn provincial exams. In the capital, won't it blow up bigger?"

Fu Leisheng swiftly set out brushes, ink, paper, and stone.

"Once he passes xiucai, I'll kick him out of Wencai Academy. By exam time, whatever trouble he causes has nothing to do with us."

Tian Huaiyi hissed lowly.

"Mentor, that's cheating."

"Better cheating than the banner. Submit his paper as is, and it might implicate you too."

End of chapter.