Chapter 9 The Fairyland in the Painting
Shao Yanzhe reacted quickly, retreating to the left while simultaneously kicking Shao Ran in the chest.
Shao Ran paused, and then he fell backward with the force of the impact.
At that moment, the temperature in the entire school suddenly dropped, and a blood-red figure slowly appeared in the school.
Upon seeing who it was, Shao Ran's face instantly contorted with terror.
Just before he was about to fall to the ground, he suddenly disappeared.
As Shaoran disappeared, more and more students vanished from their seats.
Shao Yanzhe knew that the blood-red figure must be the beautiful woman the teacher had mentioned. He looked up and his pupils shrank when he saw the woman's face clearly.
Clouds and a faint moon?!
The beautiful woman in red had the exact same face as Yun Weiyue!
Perhaps Shao Yanzhe's gaze was too intense, attracting the attention of the beautiful woman. She gently raised her eyes to look at him, her red pupils filled with pain and resentment.
That one glance filled Shao Yanzhe with boundless fear.
The next moment, Shao Yanzhe's vision went black. When he was able to see again, he found himself in a somewhat unfamiliar place.
Before he could even look around, he reached out and covered his chest. His heart was pounding rapidly under his skin, and he felt a slight stinging pain.
His face turned pale instantly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
He guessed that the stabbing pain in his heart was probably caused by his eye contact with that beautiful woman, after all, she was the master of the Soul-Severing Demon.
Fortunately, the stabbing pain in his heart gradually subsided, and he finally had time to look around.
He was in a narrow space that was 1.3 meters deep, 1 meter wide, and 2 meters high. There were three brick walls, and a table was placed in front of him with several rolls of white Xuan paper on it.
After looking around, he realized that this place must be the place where scholars took the imperial examinations in ancient times, and it seemed to be called a "examination room".
I heard that if scholars wanted to pass the imperial examinations and enter officialdom, they had to take the exams in such a cramped place for three days and three nights, and could not leave except to use the toilet.
When he first saw it, he complained that such a place would be so cramped that you couldn't even stretch your legs to sleep, and people with claustrophobia probably wouldn't be able to take the imperial examinations.
He wondered who designed such a building, and even suspected that the designer harbored deep malice towards those who could participate in the imperial examinations, which was why they designed such a torturous place.
Of course, some people might consider it an honor to be able to enter this cell.
Shao Yanzhe never expected that he would enjoy this honor ahead of time.
He looked up and saw the students opposite him reaching out to unroll a scroll of Xuan paper and carefully reading its contents.
He quickly realized that this must be the illusion the teacher had mentioned, where the beautiful woman had made them take the imperial examination, and their fate would be determined by their ranking.
Thinking of that beautiful woman, Shao Yanzhe's thoughts wandered again.
She has the same face as Yun Weiyue. Were they originally one person, or twins?
He was certain that Yun Weiyue had remained inside the scroll the whole time, and even when she hid behind the bookshelf, he could still vaguely see the hem of her clothes.
While Yun Weiyue was in the painting, the illusion of Wenyuan Academy never stopped, so they really were just two people with similar faces.
Suddenly, a red figure appeared in the cell, staring intently at Shao Yanzhe, who was clearly distracted.
Shao Yanzhe was instantly startled, and quickly looked down and reached out to pick up the top roll of Xuan paper.
After opening it, I carefully read through the questions. The questions weren't too difficult; they were probably similar to the questions for the Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations).
He had already memorized all the books the original owner possessed, and later he had been subjected to the grueling test-taking tactics of Yun Weiyue. Although he couldn't compare to that batch of top-notch candidates for the imperial examination, he was definitely capable of passing the examination.
Coincidentally, he had done similar questions before, and after just reading the questions, the answers gradually took shape in his mind.
Shao Yanzhe picked up his pen directly and began answering the questions in the blank space on the exam paper. His pen moved steadily, and the smooth ink lines combined to form characters of uniform size, which in turn formed an article.
Sometime later, the red figure disappeared.
The scholar opposite Shao Yanzhe was the first to notice her departure. He looked up slightly and saw that the person opposite him was writing something on the test paper, and he seemed to be writing quite quickly.
He couldn't help but shake his head slightly. He was still too timid. He was frightened by that person and wrote down the answers on the test paper in a panic. If he found any mistakes in the answers, he wouldn't be able to correct them.
However, he couldn't offer any advice; he could only bury his head in the straw in front of him and write down the answers to the questions he had come up with.
On the other side, Shao Yanzhe wrote very quickly.
The exam paper consisted of four parts: texts from the Four Books, texts from the Five Classics, a test poem, and an essay. The first two were not difficult for Shao Yanzhe, and he finished them in just half an hour.
While writing poetry may seem difficult for a modern person, it is actually the simplest task as long as one understands tonal patterns, rhymes, and the content of the poem does not violate any taboos.
After a moment's thought, Shao Yanzhe wrote down a five-character regulated poem on it.
After solving the test poem, the next question is the final one: policy essay.
The essay topic was "On Strategies for Combating Theft and Ensuring Peace for the People." He had written similar essays before, and only needed to change a few of the allusions.
In just half an hour, the last policy question was solved.
Shao Yanzhe put down his pen and glanced at the answers on the test paper.
In fact, he was very confident in his writing and was certain that there would be no mistakes or omissions.
Watching it again is just to remember the teacher's instructions.
Shao Yanzhe put his hands in his sleeves; about half an hour had passed since he arrived here.
The examination for scholars usually lasted three to five hours, so did he spend the rest of the time daydreaming?
The moment he had this thought, that familiar red figure appeared before him again.
The test paper that was on her desk suddenly appeared in her hand. The woman in red, who had the same face as Yun Weiyue, looked at the test paper in her dark red eyes.
Everywhere she looked was a square, official building, until her gaze fell on a certain spot, her pupils suddenly contracted, and the fingers holding the Xuan paper tightened slightly.
Due to the sudden emotional fluctuation, the illusion under her control wavered for a moment, but she quickly regained control and took it back.
These ordinary people didn't realize anything was wrong.
The woman in red, preoccupied with her emotions, focused all her attention on Shao Yanzhe and failed to notice that, in the instant the illusion rippled, a black cat had stealthily slipped in and hidden itself in a secluded corner before she noticed it.
After the woman in red finished reading Shao Yanzhe's exam paper, her dark red eyes looked him up and down with great interest, making Shao Yanzhe's heart pound.
The next moment, a mountain of rolled-up Xuan paper appeared on Shao Yanzhe's empty table. He estimated that it was ten times the size of the previous test papers.
"Finish this before the exam ends, or I'll kill you!"
The woman in red left those words behind and then disappeared.
Shao Yanzhe: ...
The scholar opposite him, who had heard and seen this, cast a sympathetic glance at him. He then lowered his head and began to write his exam paper diligently, even slowing down his writing speed, for fear that the woman in red might give them a few more exam papers if she saw that they were writing too fast.
Shao Yanzhe had no way to resist, so he could only roll up his sleeves and pick up his pen to start working on the problems.
His mind was racing, and he wrote much faster.
At that moment, he suddenly felt like he was back in high school. Back then, in order to get into his dream university, he would go to bed at 1 a.m. and get up at 5 a.m., doing so many practice problems every day that he felt like vomiting.
Compared to the mere ten exam papers I have now, I'm starting to feel like this is all I have to offer.
Shao Yanzhe chuckled and wrote his answers on the blank test paper.
From sunrise to sunset, nearly five hours seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.
Just before the gong was struck, Shao Yanzhe put down his pen.
He looked up, trying to ease his sore eyes, but unexpectedly met three pairs of eyes staring at him like he was a monster.
He nodded slightly to the three of them, and gently massaged his right wrist with his left hand to relieve the soreness.
At the moment the gong was struck, all the exam papers on the candidates' desks disappeared and appeared on the table in front of the woman in red.
It was only then that the candidates realized that the woman in red had somehow taken the seat that belonged to the imperial examination proctor.
They dared not stare at the woman in red for long. They had already known her identity when she pulled them into this illusion, and they were filled with fear of her.
They only dared to glance at him out of the corner of their eye from time to time, watching him flip through their exam papers one by one, their hearts pounding, more nervous than if they were actually facing the imperial examination.
Soon, all the exam papers were graded, and a white sheet of Xuan paper appeared above the exam room, covered with red characters.
Everyone instinctively looked over. Strangely, the sheet of paper was far away from the examinees, making it almost impossible to see the contents, but when they looked over, the contents were clearly visible to them.
"The exam is over. The last candidate remains!"
The woman in red's voice echoed throughout the examination hall.
Those candidates who saw that they were not ranked last breathed a sigh of relief, their faces full of joy.
The woman in red glanced at the expressions on everyone's faces and gave a wicked smile: "I look forward to your arrival tomorrow!"
As soon as she said that, the expressions on the faces of the relieved candidates froze, and then they were teleported back to the real school.
"Whew! Another hurdle cleared!"
"When will this end?!"
"Waaaaah! What am I going to do tomorrow?"
The students of Wenyuan Academy looked gloomy and worried about their fate in the next exam.
"Huh? Where's Shao Yanzhe?"
A student sitting in front of Shao Yanzhe wanted to confide in someone about his troubles, but when he turned around, he saw an empty seat and exclaimed in surprise.
The student's exclamation pulled the teacher back from his equally troubled thoughts. Upon hearing the student's words, his heart tightened, and he immediately stood up to search for Shao Yanzhe.
"Hahaha! I did it!" Shao Ran's excited, almost frantic voice rang out.
Instantly, everyone's attention was drawn to him.
"What did you do?!" the teacher asked, his face grim.
It was only then that they remembered that before entering the illusion, Shao Yanzhe and Shao Ran seemed to have had a physical altercation.
As Shao Yanzhe's teacher, he knew Shao Yanzhe's knowledge best. Even if it couldn't compare to the best students, it would never leave Shao Yanzhe in the illusion just because he was ranked at the bottom.
Based on Shao Ran's words and expression at this moment, he guessed that Shao Yanzhe was left in the illusion because he had done something to it.
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