Chapter 6: watch dogs

That night, in a big tent outside Qingshan Town.

The curtain was opened with a bang, and two figures, one tall and one short,

walked in.

Shen Chun, the invigilator standing by the table, looked through the

candlelight, and saw that both of them were wearing dark high-collar robes

with half-silver masks on their faces, which was the standard dress of Privy

Council officials. Among them, the tall man's shoulders are embroidered with

three red lines, which are already a symbol of the guardian of Fuzhong, which

is equivalent to the third-rank master in the sixth department.

Obviously the one who came was his long-awaited inspector, Lord Xingtian.

It's just another person...Shen Chun quietly cast his gaze on the short man.

He hadn't heard before that there will be two inspectors to supervise the

exam. Moreover, there was only a white line on the man's black robe, which was

equivalent to an alchemist who had just started in grade, and he was not

qualified to enter the important place of the examination.

But he didn't even speak to his immediate boss, so he decided that he hadn't

seen it.

"Huh, this mask is really suffocated." The first thing the tall man did after

entering the tent was to drag the silver mask down and throw it aside, "Is

there any alcohol to drink?"

"Master Ba," Shen Chun said helplessly, "There is only tea here."

"Hey," the latter took a sip and took a seat at the table. The burly figure

made the chair squeak a little, "then let's have a pot of tea, let it be

cold!"

And the short man neither took off his mask nor spoke, but sat down next to

Tyrant Xingtian.

This means that the two people are at least equal in terms of identity.

Shen Chun couldn't help but pay more respect to the latter, even though the

other party didn't say anything, he still poured a cup of herbal tea for him.

Although the Privy Council is mainly responsible for handling evil and unusual

events, it is not the same as the six official officials, but to be an

official is to be an official, and you must have basic vision, otherwise you

don’t think you are sinning and you will be arranged to die in the service.

Know where to go to justice.

Ba Xingtian directly brought a pot of tea to his mouth and poured it upright.

After drinking, he took a long boo, wiped it with his sleeve, and finally

asked what was going on. "What's the general situation of this exam?"

"Return to your lord," Shen Chun replied immediately, "Qingshan Town assigned

427 candidates and actually arrived at 401. Everything is going well so far,

no abnormalities have occurred."

"Even there are four hundred people in Qingshan Town?" Ba Xingtian looked

satisfied, "It seems that the Privy Council will have many new faces this

autumn."

"With so many people, won't the eligibility criteria be raised?"

"It won't be easy if you don't lower it." He shook his head, "The impact of

the locust plague last year is still there. Qi State and Gao Guo are ready to

move, and people are needed everywhere. The above also put a lot of pressure."

This has already involved national politics, and Shen Chun nodded if he

couldn't speak more. The more the catastrophe, the more frequent the evil

spirits appear, and sometimes the harm they cause is even greater than the war

and fighting, and these require alchemists to deal with them. How can people

who can't even pass the assessment expect them to make a difference in the

face of these major threats? In addition, the cost of training an alchemist is

not low, and he does not think that lowering the standard can really solve the

problem.

Ba Xingtian didn't talk more about this issue either. He pointed to a spread

out list on the table, "Those crossed out names... are those who have been

eliminated?"

"Yes!" Shen Chun replied, "So far there are nine in total."

"Nine? Was it eliminated on the first day?" The short man finally opened his

mouth, his voice unexpectedly light, not too loud in terms of age.

At this age can I be on the same level as Master Ba? Shen Chun suddenly became

a little curious about the identity of the other party.

"The reason is written in the remarks. They were eager to find clues, and

spent all their money in the afternoon, and did not notice the meaning of

money until dinner. For the other person, they could not last the seventh day

hungry, so they I chose to abandon the exam."

"Guy without perseverance." Ba Xingtian commented, "I don't have one, I can

grab someone else!"

"If they have the strength of yours, of course." Shen Chun smiled, "The lower

officials feel that they can give up the exam by themselves, and they are

quite self-knowing. Those who want to hold on will only let themselves The

failure is even more ugly."

The short man picked up the list and flipped through it, "So these people with

money behind are facing elimination?"

"Master Hui is easier to be eliminated than others." Compared with answering

Ba Xingtian, Shen Chun took his questions more seriously. "When performing

tasks, the alchemist often encounters unexpected situations, only reasonable

and reasonable. Only those who make full use of the resources at hand will

have the opportunity to turn danger into a breeze."

"Really? But this person only had half a bag of silver at the beginning,

wouldn't it be unfair?"

Shen Chun looked at the position of the opponent's finger, and found that the

word "Xia Fan" was filled in that column. Compared with the twelve taels in a

row of other candidates, his less than fifty taels are indeed particularly

eye-catching.

"We can only guarantee that the rules are generally fair, not to mention

whether the preparations are adequate, it also represents the degree of

attention." He paused, "In addition, this person is not less expensive than

others, which proves that he is not aware of himself. Being in an extremely

disadvantaged position, it is normal to be eliminated."

The short man nodded, as if agreeing to his statement.

It was a pity that Shen Chunlue felt that he still had a little impression of

this examinee named Xia Fan. After all, examinees who don't have a dozen

dollars of silver are extremely rare now, and it is difficult to notice it. At

that time, when everyone sneered in a low voice, he was not affected in the

slightest, and his response was quite mature, and his temperament was

commendable.

But in just one night, he spent a lot of money on his money. Even the dinner

was the most expensive one, as if he didn't know that he had only half of

others' possessions, and he had no vigilance at all.

can only say that he looked away.

"What do these incompetent people have to discuss," Ba Xingtian waved his

hand, "Why not talk about the top three candidates this time. Who do you think

they will be?"

The short man also turned the list to the top. Shen Chun noticed that the time

he stayed on each page had obviously become longer, as if he wanted to write

down the names of these candidates.

"No accident, Fei Nian of the Fei family, Fang Xiandao of the Fang family, Luo

Qing of the Luo family, will be the top three in the Qingshan Town examination

room." Shen Chun reported in one sentence.

"One family?" Ba Xingtian gave a playful smile, "You are also a qualified

invigilator."

"The adults are rewarded." Shen Chun bowed his head and invigilated the

examination for many years. He already understood that the examination is not

only for the selection of talents, but also for the distribution of benefits.

What's more, these three people are really talented, and they are exposed to

the cultivation of Qi earlier than the other candidates, and their performance

is unlikely to be worse, and it is difficult to pick out the thorns inside and

outside. "Of course the final result has to be determined by the adults after

the exam."

"Is there no one from a family background?" The short man suddenly asked,

"Don't talk about the top three, even if it is within the top ten or the top

twenty."

"This..." Shen Chun hesitated. He seemed to hear some dissatisfaction in the

other party's tone, "The ranking of the list does not represent the actual

results. In the end, it must be based on the performance of the exam..."

"Haha, it's normal." Ba Xingtian interrupted him with a smile, "Think about

it, if you are all good seedlings, one is from a poor background, he can only

be literate at the age of ten; while the other can read and write at the age

of five. Feeling angry, which one has greater prospects? If the former is

stronger than the latter, it would be too worthy of the word genius."

The short man didn't answer any more, as if lost in thought.

The inspector cleared his throat and stood up.

This is something important to order, and Shen Chun quickly stood up, clasping

both hands.

"I don't care about the ranking of the exam, you can do it right away." Ba

Xingtian said with his back to him, "Compared to the scholar exam, the more

important thing is to eliminate hidden dangers. You should know that the Privy

Council sent us to supervise. purpose."

Shen Chun's heart beat, he licked his lips, and then tentatively said,

"Because of the "listener"? "

"Huh, you really know it." Ba Xingtian's tone suddenly sank, "Ten years ago,

the invigilator just knew the word is a felony."

"The officials have passed over..."

"It's okay, there is no secret that will never be revealed-unless everyone who

knows it is dead." Tyrant Xingtian waved his hand, and returned to the tone he

didn't care about before, "It must be tight-lipped, and always be on guard.

There is no such good thing in the world. If you find anything unusual, good

or bad, you must report it to me immediately."

"Yes, my lord!" Shen Chun bowed his head and promised. "But... I only heard

the term listener mentioned by others. I don't know what his characteristics

are and how he should be distinguished. I wonder if you can give me more

detailed clues?"

"Nothing. Because the listener is not a person, but a kind of person."

Ba Xing Tian picked up a talisman, raised it casually, and then a breeze

passed by, and the worms around disappeared without a trace.

Shen Chun realized that it was a soundproof charm.

"In fact, I don't know much about the listener. Only the four heads of the

Privy Council understand the details."

"You...can't you?"

"I only know that they can hear some...unbelievable things, such as secrets

that no one in this world should know, or spells that have never been seen

before." Tyrant Xingtian slowly said, "But more, It's completely

incomprehensible babble. This is where the listener's name comes from."

"Raving?"

"It's the kind of words that don't matter if you look at it alone. UU reading

www.uukanshu.com is connected but has no meaning. So they usually don't live

long, either being murdered or falling into madness, but before they go mad,

they are enough to cause amazing The destruction. If I had an uncontrolled

listener..."

"What will happen?"

Tyrant Xingtian glanced at him deeply, "The country is in danger of

subjugation."

Shen Chun shuddered involuntarily.

He started to regret asking about it.

"Although anyone who can perceive qi may become a listener, the possibility is

the highest between the ages of ten and twenty-after all, most alchemists can

steadily grasp the absorption and use of qi during this period, so The Privy

Council will start staring at Shikao." Ba Xingtian stared at him, "Do you

understand now?"

"Yes! The subordinates must do their best!" Shen Chun bowed.

"Don't worry so much." The inspector patted his shoulder with a fan-like palm.

"I just follow the usual practice. As far as I know, there has been no

suspected listener in the last ten years, so Only then will the ban on news be

relaxed. Marking returns to marking, and the Shikao still has to concentrate

on presiding."

After hearing this, I was afraid that it would be difficult to ignore it

anymore, Shen Chun smiled bitterly. The only thing he was grateful for was

that he had passed away and he was unlikely to go crazy one day. It's the

short guy...

He couldn't help but glanced at the other person—according to the age of the

tone, this person is likely to be within twenty years of age, clearly in a

high-risk range, from start to finish, but there is no reaction at all, as if

he does not care about the listener. Such mentality cannot even be described

as calm and self-assured.

Who is he?

After hesitating for a while, Shen Chun finally pressed this question into his

heart.