Chapter 73 Crossing the Tribulation and Leaving
A black spider the size of a fingernail crawled down the wall. After its eight legs touched the ground, it stopped and its eight eyes scanned its surroundings.
Standing outside the wall, Zhu Shi'an closed his eyes, his pupils trembling, and through the spider's eyes, he could see the situation inside.
He controlled the spider to crawl into the courtyard, across the stone table in the middle of the courtyard, then up the steps, and down the corridor to a window.
The spider silently climbed up the wall, onto the windowsill, and then slipped through the crack in the window.
Zhu Shi'an sensed through the spider that this was the place where the scent of the top scholar named Shao Yanzhe was strongest, and he must be living here.
He needed to place this spider here as an informant to investigate whether the scholar had any problems.
He needs to investigate whether he was responsible for the destruction of Shen Qiongzhi and the willow tree spirit outside Jiangzhou City.
If so, what methods did he use, or were there other forces involved behind him, who was his backer, and could Tianluo Zhao afford to offend him?
Although in his heart no one could surpass Chief Minister Gu, he was still just a person, and he didn't want to cause trouble for Chief Minister Gu because of his own problems.
Zhu Shi'an believed that he was a very capable subordinate who could handle all the problems without needing the Grand Secretary Gu to intervene.
He looked confident as he guided the spider into the room and began to look around.
It was only then that he realized there were people in the room.
To be precise, there was a boy and a black cat in the room.
He glanced at it but didn't take it seriously, focusing instead on maneuvering the spider up the wall.
"Huh? Is that a spider?" The boy, who was writing with a heavy heart, put down his brush. As if he had finally gotten a chance to escape writing, he quickly ran to the wall and stared at the spider that was crawling on the wall with a curious look.
Zhu Shi'an paused slightly, unsure whether the boy would attack the spider.
"Meow!" the black cat cried out in warning.
The boy could only turn away dejectedly, and Zhu Shi'an couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Unexpectedly, the boy suddenly turned around, reached out and grabbed the spider, then quickly stuffed it into his mouth.
"Mmm, it smells so good!"
Zhu Shi'an groaned, and before his vision went dark, he heard the boy say something indistinctly.
In that instant, he sensed the aura emanating from the boy. He then realized that the boy was not an ordinary person, but a demon. However, unlike ordinary demons, the demonic aura emanating from him was very faint and almost undetectable.
It was only when the boy made his move and revealed a trace of demonic energy that he realized something was wrong with the boy.
Damn it!
Zhu Shi'an opened his eyes, his face extremely pale.
Unexpectedly, he had misjudged the situation. He looked at the scene in front of him with an uncertain expression, wondering if the destruction of the Prime Minister's arrangements was all the work of this demon.
He quickly left; he needed to investigate the origins of this demon.
Not long after Zhu Shi'an left, a black cat appeared on the wall, its heterochromatic golden-black eyes looking in the direction he had left, seemingly lost in thought.
Not long after, Shao Yanzhe and Zhou Jiming returned.
They were about to enter the courtyard when someone called out to them.
"Shao, the successful candidate in the imperial examination!"
Shao Yanzhe stopped and turned around, and saw a somewhat familiar person.
After a moment's thought, he remembered that this person was the one who followed Han Yuzhang.
"May I ask what business this gentleman has with me?" he asked, bowing slightly.
The man stepped forward, looked around, and then whispered, "Lord Han, please pass on a message to Scholar Shao: Jiangzhou City is not peaceful lately, and it is best to leave as soon as possible. If you cannot leave in a short time, be careful of strangers around you."
After a moment's thought, Shao Yanzhe realized that it was probably related to the one in the Heavenly Net Decree.
"Alright, I will leave here in fifteen days. I will not go out again before leaving Jiangzhou City."
"That's excellent!"
The visitor nodded, realizing that by the time Zhu Shi'an arrived, Shao Yanzhe would have already left.
After seeing the person off, Shao Yanzhe and Zhou Jiming opened the door and went inside.
"Brother Shao, has something troublesome happened?" Zhou Jiming asked.
He heard what that person said. Could it be that Shao Yanzhe has some enemy who has come looking for him?
Shao Yanzhe shook his head: "I'm fine for now, but I'm probably about to be targeted by the Tianluo Zhao people."
"What!" Zhou Jiming was greatly shocked.
Shao Yanzhe gave him a brief explanation and concluded, "Don't worry, nothing will happen in the short term. We'll leave here in fifteen days."
"Then why don't we leave earlier?" Zhou Jiming said worriedly. "The people from Tianluozhao are not easy to deal with."
Shao Yanzhe nodded and said, "You're right. Let's leave Jiangzhou City first and hide outside for a while. Let's find someone to inform Brother Wen and the others first, and then we'll gather together and leave after they leave."
"Alright! Leave this to me. How about we leave today?"
"good!"
When Shao Yanzhe returned to his room, he saw Xiao Bai sitting quietly at his desk writing. He went over and picked up the Xuan paper that Xiao Bai had written on, and began to examine it carefully.
There were no mistakes or omissions during the visit, and he nodded in approval.
"Not bad, you've made great progress," he praised.
"That's right, I write very carefully."
Xiao Bai was very pleased with himself.
"Xiao Bai, come help me pack my things. We're leaving here today," Shao Yanzhe said.
Xiao Bai asked in confusion, "Why?"
Shao Yanzhe said, "I'm being watched and I need to leave Jiangzhou City as soon as possible. Once I'm out of Jiangzhou City, I'll find a place to rest nearby."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Bai's eyes lit up, and an idea came to her: "So, you haven't decided on a place yet, right? Why don't we go to my house?"
Shao Yanzhe paused in his packing, then shook his head and refused, saying, "Let's forget it. That person has considerable power behind him, and it wouldn't be good if it implicated you."
"Alright then," Xiaobai said, somewhat dejected.
The things were packed quickly. Shao Yanzhe and his companion had only checked in because of the imperial examination, so they didn't have much luggage.
The two put their luggage into the rented carriage and headed straight for the city gate of Jiangzhou.
"Brother Shao, where shall we stay?" Zhou Jiming asked.
Shao Yanzhe glanced outside and carefully recalled the map he had seen before.
"Let's just choose any village at the foot of Baiyue Peak!"
Sitting to the side, Xiao Bai suddenly had an idea.
It was at this moment that Xuan Yao couldn't stay in the carriage any longer, and with a whoosh, he jumped out of the window.
Upon seeing this, Xiaobai declared, "I'm going out to play with him!"
Once it returned to its original form, it darted out the window.
Shao Yanzhe glanced at the cat and fox that quickly disappeared from sight, but he wasn't worried that they would encounter any danger.
The carriage traveled along the road and soon arrived at the foot of Baiyue Peak. Then, it randomly chose a path and continued forward.
Suddenly, the carriage stopped.
Shao Yanzhe lifted the carriage curtain and looked outside, asking the driver, "What happened?"
The coachman pointed ahead and said, "There seems to be someone lying down in the middle of the road, and the carriage can't pass."
Shao Yanzhe looked up slightly and saw a person lying on the road, his life hanging in the balance.
He got off the carriage and slowly walked over. As he got closer, he realized that the person lying on the road was an old man with gray hair and a pale face.
It was at this moment that the old man opened his eyes, looked around blankly for a moment, and then sat up shakily, looking at Shao Yanzhe and the carriage behind him, and looked at him apologetically.
"Sorry, I'm blocking your way. I'll move aside right away."
As he spoke, he laboriously moved to the side of the road, looked up at Shao Yanzhe, and waited for them to leave.
Shao Yanzhe hesitated for a moment, looking at the old man with concern. He was afraid that he might faint again after they left. There hadn't been a soul around for a long time, and if he really fainted, he might die.
He thought for a moment, then walked up to the old man, squatted down, and asked, "Grandpa, what are you doing here?"
The old man was taken aback, clearly not expecting him to speak to him. He hesitated for a moment before replying, "I went to visit my daughter in the next village, but I didn't expect to be so old and useless. I fainted on the way home."
"Young man, you don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine after a rest."
Shao Yanzhe smiled at him and said, "It's alright. Which village do you live in, sir? If it's on my way, I'll take you back with me."
The old man hesitated for a moment and said, "I live in a village at the foot of the mountain southeast of Baiyue Peak."
Shao Yanzhe immediately exclaimed with delight, "Really? We're going there too! Let's take the old man with us!"
"Then, I'll have to trouble you, young man," the old man said.
"No trouble at all, it's on my way."
Shao Yanzhe helped the old man up and put him into the carriage. He then instructed the driver to go to the village the old man had mentioned.
"Judging from the two of you, you must be scholars. What are you going to do?" the old man asked.
Shao Yanzhe said, "We plan to find a quiet place to study hard, so that we can pass the exams in the future."
"I see. Then you've made the right choice in selecting our village. Our village is beautiful with clear waters and lush mountains, a perfect place to study."
"Really? Then we're pretty lucky."
Soon, the carriage arrived at the village entrance, and following the old man's directions, they came to a house.
As Shao Yanzhe walked along, he would occasionally look outside and see villagers walking by from time to time, which seemed perfectly normal.
He breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that he hadn't encountered any honey trap or ghosts this time, and was just an ordinary old man.
They got off the carriage, and Xiao Bai carried Xuan Yao and trotted over, standing obediently behind Shao Yanzhe, looking like a good baby.
The old man glanced at him casually, then looked away.
"Have you found a place to stay yet?" He looked at Shao Yanzhe with a kind expression.
"Not yet," Shao Yanzhe replied.
“That’s perfect. I have a few empty rooms in my house. If you don’t mind, you can stay here for now, so I can repay your life-saving kindness.”
Shao Yanzhe glanced at the house in front of him; the door was locked.
“We are staying in your home, which may disturb your family.”
"Don't worry, the old man is all alone at home now. I'm actually quite happy that you've moved in."
Xiao Bai immediately spoke up, "Brother, since we haven't found a place to stay yet, I think this place is perfect. Why don't we stay here?"
Zhou Jiming nodded in agreement. Along the way, this was the only place where the houses looked relatively new. He really didn't want to live in those dilapidated houses.
Shao Yanzhe hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed: "Okay, then I'll trouble you!"
"It's alright, it's alright."
The old man waved his hand, took out his keys, opened the door, and welcomed them inside.
Just as the old man said, there was no sign of anyone living in those empty rooms. They chose one room to stay in, and by the time they had settled in, the old man had already prepared a meal.
"No, we can't accept that. We'll do it for you."
Shao Yanzhe felt a little guilty.
"It's nothing, just something I did casually. It's just everyday stuff, so please don't mind."
"How could that be? It looks delicious."
"That's good."
The old man smiled and even prepared a plate of dried fish for Xuan Yao.
He reached out and touched Xuan Yao's back, his eyes full of kindness.
Shao Yanzhe couldn't help but smile.
After dinner, Shao Yanzhe and Zhou Jiming began reading, and they didn't forget about Xiaobai, making him continue copying the Three Character Classic to practice his calligraphy.
An old man passed by the door and saw Xiaobai frowning as he wrote with a calligraphy brush. A look of surprise flashed in his eyes, and then he smiled.
In the dead of night, a white figure flashed past and entered a house.
"Chieftain!" Little White approached the old man and nuzzled him affectionately.
The old man, who was also the chief of the fox clan, reached out and touched Little White.
"Clan chief, do you think it counts as repaying a debt of gratitude that I provided that scholar with lodging?"
"Of course not, this is what I provided, it has nothing to do with you."
"Oh, okay then."
The clan chief patted the somewhat dejected Xiaobai and smiled. Originally, she was very worried about Xiaobai, but after spending time together, she could see that the scholar was patient in teaching Xiaobai to read and was a good person.
She looked at Xiaobai and thought it was such a lucky little guy. Although this meant she owed people even more, she was quite happy to accept it.
Even so, she couldn't let them eat simple meals every day; she had to find a way to prepare some good food for them.
At this moment, outside the residence where Shao Yanzhe and Zhou Jiming originally lived, Zhu Shi'an looked rather unpleasant. Why was there no one inside?
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