Chapter 7 The Fairy in the Painting Falls Victim
Shao Yanzhe walked out of the study, came to the courtyard gate, reached out and opened the door. He saw an old man with gray hair standing at the door.
The old man's skin was dark, and the wrinkles on his face were as deep and crisscrossed as the bark of an old tree, etched with the marks of time.
He had seen the person who came before in the original owner's memories; it was Shao Yuan, the village head of Yushan Village.
"Aze, it's good that you're home. This is something your cousin brought back for you from Wenyuan Academy. Take a look quickly, don't delay!"
As Shao Yuan spoke, he didn't say anything about Shao Yanzhe's disheveled appearance. He carefully took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Shao Yanzhe.
"Okay, thank you, village head!"
After thanking him, Shao Yanzhe reached out and took the letter. He glanced at the envelope and noticed that it only said "To Shao Yanzhe" and did not include the sender's name.
"Village head, do you know who wrote me this letter?"
Village head Shao Yuan shook his head with a troubled expression: "I don't know. After A Ran gave me the letter, she left in a hurry without telling me any other information."
The "Aran" he mentioned was his eldest grandson, Shaoran, who was also studying at Wenyuan Academy.
Shao Yanzhe nodded and said, "Okay, thank you for making the trip, village head!"
"It's alright! I'm an old man, it's good for me to walk around more." The village head waved his hand with a smile. "Alright, you go read the letter first, no need to see me off, I'm leaving."
"Alright, village head, take care!"
Shao Yanzhe watched the village head leave, closed the courtyard gate again, walked back to his study, sat down at his desk, and carefully opened the envelope.
Xuan Yao, who was lazily sunbathing by the window, suddenly stood up and stared warily in Shao Yanzhe's direction with his cat-like eyes. A faint golden light seemed to emanate from his golden cat eyes.
"Ha!"
It let out a fierce hiss, trying to remind Shao Yanzhe.
Yun Weiyue, who had appeared in the scroll at some unknown time, also spoke up to remind her, "Don't open it!"
Upon hearing the warning from the cat and the ghost, Shao Yanzhe's hand holding the paper knife trembled, and the seal on the envelope was slashed open by the paper knife.
The moment the envelope was opened, a wisp of black mist emerged from it.
The fog churned violently, seemingly forming a hideous ghost face.
The next moment, the black mist surged and shot into Shao Yanzhe's chest.
"hiss!"
He gasped in pain, feeling as if a giant hand was squeezing his heart, making it hard to breathe, and his vision blurred.
He reached out and clutched his heart, trying to ease the pain.
Xuan Yao jumped down from the windowsill in a hurry. Its eyes were full of concern, but because of its injury, it could not speak and could only anxiously circle around Shao Yanzhe.
After a while, the pain in Shao Yanzhe's heart gradually subsided, and he released his hand from his chest.
Because of the pain he had just experienced, he was drenched in sweat, with a few strands of hair clinging to his pale, bloodless face, making him look quite disheveled.
He noticed the movement at his feet, looked down, and saw Xuan Yao pacing anxiously in circles.
He chuckled, reached out and patted its head, then quickly withdrew his hand.
Xuan Yao stretched out his claws, wanting to punish the two-legged beast that dared to provoke the cat demon, but seeing his pale and ugly face, he gave up the idea.
Forget it, forget it, the two-legged creature is about to die, let's just let him have his way!
Yun Weiyue frowned and stared at Shao Yanzhe. They had just reached an agreement. If he died because of this, wouldn't she be at a loss?
"What do you think?" she asked.
Shao Yanzhe took a deep breath, leaned back in his chair, and replied weakly, "I'm alright, I won't die."
Once he regained some strength, he reached out and tore open his clothes to look at his chest.
His fair chest appeared to be stained with a layer of blood. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that this layer of blood was composed of countless tiny red blood vessels.
These red blood vessels converge toward the heart, becoming increasingly bright red, eventually forming a strikingly red mole on the skin at the heart location.
Yun Weiyue couldn't see Shao Yanzhe's current situation, so she asked, "What's the situation now?"
Shao Yanzhe closed his clothes and gave a brief description of what his chest area looked like now.
Yun Weiyue frowned: "If I remember correctly, this is a Soul-Severing Curse unique to vengeful ghosts. If it cannot be made to retract on its own or be resolved, the person who has been cursed with the Soul-Severing Curse will die within seven days."
She glanced at the black cat and said, "Actually, if you hadn't shared some of the nation's fortune with that stinky cat yesterday, you wouldn't have had your soul energy interrupted."
Shao Yanzhe shook his head, not annoyed by the situation. He then asked, "Do you know where the owner of this Soul-Severing Fiend is?"
Yun Weiyue shook her head; she didn't know.
At this moment, Xuan Yao, who was squatting to the side, suddenly spoke up: "Wen Yuan Academy."
After it finished speaking, red blood slowly trickled from the corner of its mouth, and when no one was watching, it quickly stuck out its tongue and licked it clean.
Shao Yanzhe glanced down at Xuan Yao, but didn't notice anything unusual.
He suddenly realized that the deaths of the scholars at Wenyuan Academy were probably the work of this vengeful ghost.
He frowned and began to think, his gaze falling on the envelope in front of him. He reached out and took out the letter inside, glancing at it before finishing reading its contents.
The letter was written by the original owner's teacher at Wenyuan Academy. In addition to urging him to study hard, the teacher also instructed him not to return to Wenyuan Academy during this period and wished him success in the imperial examination.
Now, I'm afraid he can't do as the Master wishes.
He had to go to Wenyuan Academy, otherwise, his death would be in seven days.
Yun Weiyue glanced at Xuan Yao, hesitated, then looked away and ignored him.
"Don't worry, we're here, you won't lose your life," she reassured her.
Shao Yanzhe paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, thank you!"
After he had fully recovered, he got up and tidied up his study.
Carefully keep those policy essays that he revised, and take another look at them when you have time later.
After a night of study, with the guidance of the renowned teacher Yun Weiyue, his essay writing skills improved dramatically, approaching the level of a Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations). With a little more time to study, he is almost certain to pass the upcoming provincial examination.
Of course, this is on the premise that you survive seven days later.
Taking advantage of the early hour, Shao Yanzhe spread out Xuan paper and began to recite. The books he needed to copy this time were all basic primers, such as the Three Character Classic, the Hundred Family Surnames, and the Thousand Character Classic.
These books don't have many words, and he plans to finish copying them before leaving home so he can earn some money. Otherwise, he'll really be starving after going to the academy.
He copied the book very quickly, finishing in just three hours.
After that, he wrote two more articles. With Yun Weiyue's guidance, his articles this time were more literary and could be considered excellent works.
He burned the two articles and gave one to Xuan Yao and the other to Yun Weiyue.
Both the cat and the ghost who benefited looked at Shao Yanzhe.
Yun Weiyue said with a complicated expression, "You don't need to do that. Now is the time when you need the protection of the nation's fortune."
Xuan Yao nodded and softly meowed, "Meow!"
Shao Yanzhe clapped his hands to make sure all the papers were burned completely before standing up: "You need them too."
The emotions of the cat and the ghost suddenly became complicated.
Seeing that it was getting late, Shao Yanzhe hurriedly put the books he needed to take and the copied books into his book box, and hurriedly carried the book box on his back, heading to Wenyuan Academy.
He walked up to the scroll, smiled apologetically, then reached out and took it down from the wall, carefully rolled it up, placed it on top of the book box, and tied it securely.
Then, carrying a small bundle containing several sets of clothes in one hand and holding Xuan Yao in the other, he locked the door and left.
Behind Shao Yanzhe, on top of the locked door, a spider with brightly colored patterns on its back had appeared out of nowhere, its eight eyes staring straight in the direction he had left.
If Shao Yanzhe saw this spider, he would probably recognize it at a glance. This spider was the first creature he saw when he opened his eyes at the beginning of his transmigration.
Xuan Yao, being held by Shao Yanzhe, seemed to sense something. It turned its head to look behind it, scanned the area, but found nothing amiss. After a moment of confusion, it looked away and ignored it, its tail swaying back and forth, clearly in a good mood.
Of course, it would be even better if we could throw away that tattered scroll.
Xuan Yao thought so.
Shao Yanzhe had no money left, so he had no choice but to walk to the county town. He hadn't gone far when he met Uncle Li.
When Uncle Li saw that he was carrying so many things, he immediately took the book box off his back and put it on the oxcart.
"Young man, you've just recovered from your illness, don't overwork yourself. Let me give you a ride."
Shao Yanzhe said somewhat embarrassedly, "Uncle Li, I'm short of money and I'm afraid I can't afford the fare."
Uncle Li waved his hand dismissively: "It's alright, I'll pay you back next time!"
"Alright then, thank you, Uncle Li!"
Shao Yanzhe arrived in the county town earlier than expected. He first went to the bookstore and gave the book he had copied to the bookstore owner.
The shopkeeper took a money bag from under the counter and handed it to him.
"Young Master Shao, this is your fee for writing. Please count it and see if it's correct."
Shao Yanzhe reached out and took the money without counting it. He smiled and said to the shopkeeper, "No need to count, I trust you, shopkeeper."
The shopkeeper's mood improved considerably upon hearing this, and he said with a smile, "Young Master Shao, would you like to copy more books?"
As he spoke, his gaze inadvertently swept over the book box on Shao Yanzhe's back, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
Shao Yanzhe put the money bag away, hesitated for a moment, and then replied, "I won't copy it for now."
The shopkeeper nodded: "Very well, the provincial examination is just around the corner. Young Master Shao should focus his energy on it. I wish you all the best in achieving your goal!"
Upon hearing this, Shao Yanzhe cupped his hands in thanks to the shopkeeper, saying, "Thank you for your kind words, shopkeeper!"
The shopkeeper shook his head and stroked his beard, saying, "If Young Master Shao has time, you might as well copy more books. No matter how many, just send them over and I will accept them all. It will be of some help to Young Master Shao in his future success in the imperial examinations, and it will not be in vain that we have known each other."
Shao Yanzhe looked at the shopkeeper in surprise, and after hesitating for a moment, he still told the truth: "Thank you for your kindness, shopkeeper, but I have no intention of continuing to take the imperial examinations. Passing the county-level examination is enough for me."
The shopkeeper did not show any surprise after hearing this; he just smiled mysteriously and remained silent.
No matter how Ren Shaoyan asked, he wouldn't say anything. He was furious and thought he would kill all of you mysterious people sooner or later!
Since he couldn't get any information out of him, he bid farewell to the shopkeeper and headed to Wenyuan Academy according to the original owner's memories. On the way, he didn't forget to buy a few large steamed buns as provisions.
Soon, Wenyuan Academy appeared before him.
A note from the author:
Let's change the village chief's title. [heart emoji]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
