Chapter 7

"Feeling melancholy, I return alone with my staff, traversing the rugged and overgrown path. The mountain stream is clear and shallow, where I can wash my feet. I strain my newly brewed wine, and with a chicken, I invite my neighbors. As the sun sets, the room grows dark, and I use brushwood to replace the bright candle. Joy comes, but the night is too short, and soon it is dawn again."

The clear and resonant reading voice echoed within the Daoist temple, where incense smoke curled gracefully. In the snow-covered courtyard, under an old plum tree, a young scholar with rosy lips and white teeth, a handsome face, and sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, stood with his hands behind his back, holding a book in his right hand, and recited the poem "Returning to the Garden and Fields" by the great poet Tao Yuanming.

Beside the plum tree was a square stone table, surrounded by four stone stools. Fallen plum blossoms adorned the table, adding a touch of beauty.

The young scholar's face still bore a hint of childishness, but his eyes revealed a rare maturity and composure for his age. He was about 1.7 meters tall, wearing a long, clean white robe with many patches. His thick black hair was tied back with a cloth strip, and he wore a pair of cotton shoes that made a crunching sound as he stepped on the snow.

"Master, it's time to take your medicine..."

Two Daoist boys, about the same age as the young scholar, approached. They had clear features, wore green Daoist robes, and had their hair tied in Daoist buns. They smiled and greeted the young scholar.

"Qingfeng, Mingyue, you're here. I'm already feeling much better, why do I still need to take medicine?"

Ning Wuxie put down his book and looked at the bowl of medicine on Qingfeng's tray. His face showed a hint of distress, but he still picked up the bowl, drank it in one gulp, and spat three times before he felt better.

"Great, Master's skill in taking medicine has improved. But this is the last bowl. From now on, you won't have to drink it anymore."

Mingyue laughed, took the empty bowl from Ning Wuxie, and said.

Hearing this, Ning Wuxie felt a bit regretful. The medicine was bitter, but it was very effective. In just a month, he had transformed, growing from 1.6 meters to 1.7 meters, with a rosy complexion and a handsome appearance. His physical condition was so good that he was not afraid of the cold in such a snowy day. In ancient terms, he was a tall and handsome man.

Such medicine, if it existed in his previous life, would be considered a divine elixir, worth a fortune!

One bowl of medicine was worth a city, and he had drunk the equivalent of thirty cities. Thinking about it this way, he should be content to have taken it for a month.

After putting away the medicine bowl, Qingfeng glanced at the poetry collection on the stone table and asked Ning Wuxie, "How is your preparation going? The Spring Examination is in half a month, and the county examination is also around that time."

"The top ten should be no problem."

Ning Wuxie smiled confidently. This was not an empty boast. His body had always been intelligent and well-grounded, with poetry and classics memorized to perfection. With his modern perspective, passing the county examination in the top ten was not too difficult.

The Sui Dynasty, which ruled for three hundred years, had a brilliant culture, not inferior to the Tang and Song dynasties. The imperial examination system was already well-established during the Sui Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty continued the political, cultural, and ritual systems of the Sui Dynasty, fully adopting the examination system.

According to official regulations, a child who passed the child examination before the age of twelve could take the county examination at sixteen. If they placed in the top ten, they would gain the qualification for the provincial examination, which was called the xiucai. If they placed first, they would become a lingsheng and receive official recommendations to study for free at the prefectural or provincial academies for three years, with free board and lodging, and an annual salary of one guan. This was equivalent to the treatment of modern civil servants!

Ning Wuxie did not aspire to become a lingsheng; he just wanted to pass the xiucai examination, which would ensure his family's basic needs.

Mingyue patted Ning Wuxie's shoulder and winked, "I heard that the examiner from the prefecture will come to the temple to burn incense and stay for a while. We can ask our master to introduce you."

"Right, right. Master did mention that. He also asked the temple brothers to clear the snow on the path. When the time comes, we'll put in a good word for you, and the examiner will definitely place you in the top ten."

Qingfeng slapped his forehead and laughed.

"Then I'll have to rely on the two of you, Daoist brothers." Ning Wuxie clasped his hands and joked.

The imperial examination was not as simple as the two Daoist boys thought, but Ning Wuxie did not say this. After so many days of interaction, Ning Wuxie knew that the two had pure hearts, simple thoughts, and were willing to help others. They were the most beloved by the White Cloud Daoist among the more than ten Daoists in the temple and were respected by the other Daoists, making them rare friends.

"No problem, no problem. We still need to clear the snow, so we won't disturb your studies."

Qingfeng and Mingyue picked up the tray and walked out of the courtyard, their laughter fading away. Ning Wuxie lost his desire to study, put away his book, and walked into the side room, sitting by the table.

"Ever since I woke up this morning, my eyelids have been twitching. Could something be about to happen?"

Ning Wuxie frowned, rubbed his eyes, and felt inexplicably restless. A sense of danger lingered in his heart, and it had not dissipated.

This sense of danger had been present since he met the White Cloud Daoist a month ago. Ning Wuxie guessed that the danger came from the White Cloud Daoist.

After a month of deep reflection, Ning Wuxie felt that something must have happened to this body on the 15th of the first month. The village chief had often mentioned "monsters," and if he did not think logically, it was likely that he had turned into a monster that night, causing a disturbance in the village, and the White Cloud Daoist had arrived just in time to subdue him.

Thinking this way, the injuries on his body could be explained, and the behavior and attitude of the village chief and the White Cloud Daoist also made sense. Most importantly, his bloody and疯狂的记忆 had a reason.

Having witnessed Qingfeng's Daoist magic and experienced the rebirth, Ning Wuxie had to believe in the existence of monsters. Perhaps the gods and deities in Chinese legends, like the Jade Emperor, were still alive.

It was the early Tang period, and he might even witness a real-life "Journey to the West." He wondered if Master Xuanzang had already set out.

After a series of random thoughts, Ning Wuxie returned to the sense of danger in his heart.

Why had the danger not dissipated? Clearly, the White Cloud Daoist was not at ease with him. Bringing him back to the temple was a form of surveillance and house arrest. The White Cloud Daoist might be watching him from somewhere.

"Right, I've been at the White Cloud Temple for a month. I arrived on the 16th of the first month. If that's the case, today must be the 15th of the second month, the full moon. If I am really a monster, I will transform again tonight like last month."

Speaking to himself, Ning Wuxie's face changed.

"Bad, this is the White Cloud Temple. The White Cloud Daoist is clearly a righteous Daoist dedicated to eliminating evil and monsters. If I am really a monster, staying here means certain death."

His expression was uncertain. In his previous life, he was alone, and after the girl's death, he had lost all hope and had no attachments, willing to die to avenge her.

Now, it was different. He had an old mother and a foolish brother. Although he had not met them yet, the night he was locked in the shed, when Uncle Ning Bo Wu brought him a cake, he felt a sense of family he had never experienced before.

An invisible bond had already connected him to these two relatives. He did not want to die; he had not even called his mother "Mother" yet. How could he die?

"No, I must leave the White Cloud Temple tonight!" Ning Wuxie clenched his fist and thought about how to leave.