Longevity begins with slaying demons and eliminating demons

Chapter 18 Merit List

On the sixth day of October, it rained in Yishui County.

The autumn rain was pattering, washing the dust off the eaves and filling the air with a damp coolness.

As soon as it was dawn, Gu Xu had already come to the public chef of the Exorcism Si Yamen, and spent six copper coins to buy a pancake and a fried dough stick.

Today is the day he takes the examination.

As long as he is recognized by the Beijing examiner, he can take off his plain old blue cloth shirt and replace it with a gorgeous black robe embroidered with the sun, moon and stars, and officially become a respected official of the Exorcism Department.

This is a hard-won opportunity.

Although Gu Xu has been cultivating all night for several days in a row and has made full preparations, he still has a very cautious attitude towards this assessment and does not dare to slack off.

At this moment, while eating breakfast, he silently recalled the various ghost cases recorded in the books in his mind.

His experience in killing ghosts is definitely not comparable to that of Na Ma Qin.To win in the competition, he can only rely on knowledge to bridge the gap of experience.

At this moment, Shi Xiaohan suddenly appeared in front of him and snatched the fried dough sticks and biscuits from his hand.

"Gu Xu, how many times have I told you! You are not healthy, don't eat such unhealthy food!"

Gu Xu spread his hands: "Then what do you think I should eat, Lady Heroine?"

"You're going to take the assessment today, and you have to eat something good. So I asked my cook to make an extra breakfast and bring it to you."

While talking, Shi Xiaohan placed a delicate food box in front of Gu Xu.

There are three layers of the food box, which are respectively filled with yusheng porridge, sweet-scented osmanthus cake and soup dumplings, exuding a very attractive aroma.

"Thank you!" Gu Xu looked at her and said sincerely, "Your chef's craftsmanship is really good!"

"Like it?"

"like."

"Just if you like it," Shi Xiaohan raised his chin proudly, "This is what my cook did after I studied Jiangnan and Nanyue snacks - Yusheng porridge symbolizes 'Fengshengshuiqi', and sweet-scented osmanthus cake represents 'Going higher and higher', xiaolongbao is 'prospering'.

"Gu Xu, you must do your best in today's assessment!"

"Definitely!" Gu Xu nodded earnestly.

…………

at the same time.

Gu Xu's competitor Ma Qin also set off from the inn early, holding an oil-paper umbrella and walking on the wet bluestone road to the Exorcism Division.

When he set off, he deliberately wrapped his head tightly with a headscarf to avoid others seeing the top of his sparsely-haired head and the high hairline.

This assessment is also an extremely rare opportunity for Ma Qin.

He prepared meticulously for this, only hoping to stand out, get the coveted official position, and completely get rid of the status of a low-ranking official.

As early as half a month ago, Ma Qin had lived in Yishui County.

But he did not report to the Exorcism Division.

Instead, they have been secretly visiting on the spot to investigate the sentiments of the people.

After all, Ma Qin is a foreigner and is not familiar with the situation in Yishui - this is likely to be his biggest disadvantage in the competition besides age and talent.

"Gu Xu, Gu Xu, today I want to take a closer look. Are you as powerful as the rumors say?" Ma Qin thought silently.

Ma Qin had long wanted to meet the talented young man who had completed his first realm in less than a year.

He was very curious, did the geek grow up drinking elixir from a young age, otherwise how could he have such a terrifying speed of cultivation?

…………

A few minutes later, Ma Qin arrived at the Exorcism Division Yamen.

Compared with the tall lintel of the Exorcism Department of Qingzhou Prefecture, the yamen in Yishui County looked much more humble and shabby.

Ma Qin put away the oil-paper umbrella, passed between the two stone statues, and walked into the yamen.

As soon as he entered the gate, he saw Chen Jisheng, the governor of Yishui County sitting behind the koan.

Since Chen Jisheng was working hard, Ma Qin did not dare to disturb him, but just stood respectfully at the side of the desk and waited quietly.

At the same time, he couldn't help but look around quietly, observing the environment in the Yamen lobby——

This is an unpretentious house.

On the roof hangs a plaque with the words "Ease the world and bring peace to the people".

On the wall on one side of the lobby, there is also a framed calligraphy work, on which is written a sentence in a straight and rigorous script——

"Those who enjoy the benefits of the world are in charge of the world's troubles; those who live in the world's pleasures share the world's worries."

Seeing this sentence, Ma Qin was stunned for two seconds, and there was a sense of guilt in his heart.

He spent ten years in the Exorcism Division, Slaying Demons and Exorcising Demons, and led the court's salaried salary. The purpose was only to eat and clothe himself, to support himself, and to be a decent human being.

Never worry about the world, and have no time to take care of people's livelihood.

If this sentence was written by the Lord Chen in front of him, then his ideological realm and open-mindedness are enough to make many officials including Ma Qin feel ashamed.

A few minutes later, Chen Jisheng put away the official documents on the table, and finally looked up to see Ma Qin who was waiting beside him.

"You are Ma Qin from Qingzhou Prefecture?"

"The humble Ma Qin has seen Lord Chen." Ma Qin folded his fists and bowed in salute.

"It will take half an hour for the examiner from Luojing to arrive here. Ma Qin, you can wander around the yamen as you like! I still have official business to do. If you have no other problems, I will not accompany you. It's gone." Chen Jisheng's tone sounded a little cold.

As soon as he finished speaking, he took out another official document from the drawer and began to read it attentively.

Mr. Chen really manages every day and fulfills his duties!As expected of a model official who can write such sentences as "the troubles of the world" and "the troubles of the same world"!

Ma Qin sighed silently in his heart.

Thinking of this, he bowed and resigned, and left the yamen lobby with respect, without disturbing Chen Jisheng who was concentrating on his work.

…………

After a while, Ma Qin came to the inner courtyard of the Yamen.

There is a pavilion in the center of the inner courtyard, and a high stone tablet is erected in the pavilion.

On the top of this stele, three large golden characters are engraved—

"The Merit List".

Ma Qin knew that the "Meritorious List" in the exorcism yamen was a magical magic weapon.It can not only display the meritorious rankings of all practitioners in the yamen, but also dynamically update in real time.

It's just that the number of places on this list is limited, and only the names of the top ten cultivators can be displayed.

Due to the abundance of talents and strong people in Qingzhou Prefecture, Ma Qin has worked for ten years and has never been on the list.

For him, every name on the list is an existence that needs to be looked up.

"Yishui County is a small and remote place, and there shouldn't be too many perverts. Maybe in the future, I can have a chance to be on the list here." Ma Qin thought silently.

His eyes quickly landed on the top of the list, and he saw the words on it:

"No. 140 on the list, Shi Xiaohan (inspection), six thousand and one hundred and forty meritorious deeds."

The number of merits on the list is the total number of task rewards accumulated during a year.Exchanging meritorious medicine for medicinal pills or magic weapons will not affect the numbers and rankings on the list.

That is to say, if a person obtains [-] meritorious deeds in one year, even if he uses all of these merits in exchange for medicinal pills, the number of meritorious deeds on the list will be "[-]".

Only on the first day of the first lunar month every year, will the merit list be cleared and counted again.

But even so, Shi Xiaohan was able to obtain more than 6000 meritorious service in less than a year, which was enough to make Ma Qin dumbfounded.

This means that Shi Xiaohan can earn about [-] merits every month on average.

Even in Qingzhou Mansion, where geniuses are gathered, this number is enough to describe it as "terrifying".

"At this time, Xiaohan, how many ghosts did she hack to death?" Ma Qin couldn't help taking a breath, "Is it her that the rumored 'Ghosts in Yishui County' is talking about her?"

Ma Qin finally regained his composure, and continued to look down the list.

It's just that when he saw the name of the second list, he was stunned again -

"Second on the list, Gu Xu (plain official), 580 meritorious service."

　Thanks to the helm master book friend 20210602124635962 for the 3100 reward!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)