Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 222

Today, a huge space was cleared at the top of the east platform, and a high platform with carpets and curtains was erected.

Tolerants and swordsmen sat around, with tables and chairs on the high platform, and a silk curtain hung high behind, creating a solemn atmosphere.

Starting today, the real big names in Bowang Prefecture will watch the competition again on the bright side. Since the first sixteen generals are the ones who will be awarded the talisman, the martial arts competition has entered a critical stage. Firstly, it is worth watching. Secondly, It can also eliminate hidden hands and ensure fairness.

The adults actually arrived quite early, Zhao Zhang and Fan Changshi were already sitting at the table, and then the judges also arrived one after another and sat down to chat.So far, there is still a row of empty tables and chairs in front, and those waiting are the officials from each county.

The results of the martial arts competition largely determine the quota allocation for the next session and the allocation of martial arts resources in the future. It is a serious political matter of a county. In the quiet season, the county magistrates usually come to observe the competition.

And this is also the perfect time to meet and reminisce every year - all the smell of gunpowder comes from the audience, and the result is not decided by the county magistrates. There is no need for everyone to fight over anything.

Of course, it doesn't have to be, reality is reality. In previous years, when fights broke out in the arena, it was often not quiet and peaceful.

In order to take care of the schedule of local officials, although the loser's competition was already in full swing early in the morning, today's competition was moved to the afternoon.It is now half past noon, which is the brightest time of the day. Fortunately, the autumn air has become cooler after last night's rain, and it does not feel hot under the high sun.

The first to arrive was the magistrate of Shen County.He has a dark face, short body, and a lean appearance in his forties. He speaks very little. He greeted the adults on the stage and sat down on his own.Next up is Zheng Shou, who looks much plumper, has a white face and a neat beard, wears a green ring on his hand, and his clothes look newer than the others.He came up with a bulging bag, but it contained some small wooden toys. He handed them over one by one, and everyone could exchange a few words.

Finally, he sat next to the magistrate of Shen County. He smiled and chatted for a few words, raised his eyebrows, and secretly took out a large and beautiful carving from his sleeve and stuffed it in his hand.The magistrate of Shenxian County glanced down, retracted his sleeves, and showed a faint smile on his stern black face.

"Okay! You two are giving each other private lessons again!" A new tall official came and smiled towards the stage, "Mr. Zhao, someone is bribing you here!"

Zhao Zhang looked back and pointed with a smile: "Last time Magistrate Shen said he would give me a good bead, but there was no movement after ten days. I lowered my face and asked someone to ask, and it turned out that it was Magistrate Meng who wanted to buy it. went."

Someone on the side of the judge laughed and said: "I am Zheng Buli Shen, Shen Buli Zheng, Magistrate Gao, you are alone in Shanbei County. I think you are jealous."

Magistrate Shen quickly took out a small wooden toy from a small cloth bag with a smile and handed it to the tall man.

After that, the county magistrates of Shannan, Xugu, and Guhe counties also arrived. Indeed, as the judge just said, except for Zheng Shouchen County, two neighboring counties where they had close contacts, the other few people were only barely acquainted with each other and exchanged pleasantries. They all sat down.

At this time, 32 contestants had already stood under the ring. Officials from the state and city had often come to see them in the previous two days. They just sat and watched. However, it was the first day for several county magistrates to take the stage. It was a strange time. The contestants were not I recognized it, but I didn’t know the situation, so I kept discussing and asking various questions.

"There will be two rounds today. The first round will be for the top 32, and the second round will be for the top eight. Tomorrow we will only play the finals." Bai Sibing explained with a smile, "Now these [-] people have already Those who have been eliminated in two rounds are all talents."

"Hey, I saw our county's candidacy."

"Well, you are tall, so it's easy to distinguish."

Several county magistrates looked at the faces of the warriors below one by one, looking for the contestants from their own county, and smiled and asked each other to identify them.

Only one county magistrate remained silent, as if he had no interest in the matter.

He was quickly noticed: "Hey, Mr. Xu, who is the handsome man in your county?"

Magistrate Xu said calmly: "It's gone."

"." The questioner endured it for a moment, but still laughed unkindly.Bai Sibing said with a smile and comfort: "There is still a chance for the loser."

Several county magistrates on the other side had finished counting, but there were still at least two people standing on the field. Guhe County was even lucky enough to have three left.Among the two powerful counties, Xu Gu only had two left, but Zheng Shou still had four. For a moment, everyone congratulated the already very popular Master Shen.

Master Shen frowned and sighed: "Don't congratulate me, why is Xiao Qiu missing?"

A state government official said: "The stick-wielding Zhang Zongyuan was the loser in the first round - Mr. Shen, I can't let you take all the good things."

"Zhang Zongyuan, which family does this person belong to?"

"Do the three factions have sticks?"

"The person from the company said it was Wu Sheng."

"Hmm!" Magistrate Shen sighed, "I'm convinced."

Then he tilted his head and smiled: "But we, Xiao Qiu, can definitely fight back from the losers to the top sixteen."

It is said that the allocation to each county is determined based on the results of the Wuhan Competition, but in fact the results in the first two rounds account for a very small proportion. The state government does not take into account the number of quotas among 64 people; the proportion of quotas among 32 people is only a rough reference. , the truly decisive achievement starts from the top [-]—cultivating the ability to grant talisman warriors on behalf of each county.

Naturally, the top four and the leader are more valuable, but the leader is usually a sect leader and has nothing to do with the county. Generally, only Zheng Shou and Xu Gu can compete with the top four, so what everyone pays close attention to is the number of top [-] players in the county.

"Let me calculate, the three factions will take up six or seven, right?"

"Less, I think if not ten, eight or nine."

"If firms and individuals take up two or three more places, we will only have five or six places left."

Magistrate Shen turned around and asked with a smile: "You adults in the city, can you leave six places for us in the countryside this year?"

"You have to ask Master Si Gong about this, he took care of it."

"Xu Sigong?"

Xu Sigong, who was taking a nap with his eyes squinted, opened his eyes: "According to me, among the 16 people, there are three Cuiyu, three Qijiao, and two Baizhu, and the sects account for eight. And then the business houses account for two, and this year Jianghu has come up There shouldn’t be any individual people who are not outstanding. In this way, there are just six positions left for you adults to divide."

"Why is it a point? It's obviously a robbery."

"Ha ha ha ha."

"By the way, gentlemen, who will win the championship this year?"

"Qijiao, true disciple Shang Huaitong, County Magistrate Wei is too ill-informed."

"What about the top four?"

"The top four. Mr. Xu, where are the top four?"

"Well, it's really hard to say." Xu Sigong shook his head.

So the county magistrates returned to the previous topic: "If there are six quotas, there will be exactly one for each of our six counties, haha."

"Not bad."

"Hey, wait, are we six counties?"

"."

"."

"We are seven counties!"

"That's right, that's rude."

It was at this moment that a new set of light and slow footsteps came on the stage.

When everyone looked around, they saw an old man with a tall figure and a clear face stepping onto the high platform.

He was also wearing the official uniform of the county magistrate. Although he was clean and tidy, it could not hide his old white color. His hair was half white, his eyebrows were lowered and his eyes were tired. He looked like he was tired from traveling and traveling, and there were still some unwashed The embarrassment.

Everyone was really stunned for a moment, and it wasn't until they saw Bai Sibing coming up to meet him that their memories were activated.

". Magistrate Chang!"

"Well!"

Bowang is the most remote and poorest weak county, buried deep in the mountains and often forgotten.And this county magistrate who has been in office for 12 years rarely goes out to socialize. Even if there is such a thing as Wuhan competition, for five years, he has never been seen coming to participate.

One or two who have been in office for a short time may even meet him for the first time.

"Magistrate Chang, it's been a long time seeing you."

"It's been a tiring journey."

Chang Zhiyuan smiled and greeted each of them seriously, then moved his steps, picked a corner and sat down upright - this position was the same as Fenghuai, with no sense of presence.

"Mr. Chang, why do you take the time to come here this time?"

"Ah, come and encourage the children." The old man smiled.

"Hey, how many people are running in your county this year?"

"Only one."

"Ah, are you still on the field?"

Chang Zhiyuan squinted at the faces below: "I haven't asked yet, I should be here. People are old and can't see clearly."

Bai Sibing said from the side: "It's still there." "Oh, that's good." The old man chuckled.

Everyone also said a few words of congratulations, and then the greetings were over.If Shanbei County is an independent family and is alienated from other counties, then Fenghuai is simply a recluse. The county magistrate's presence is also very weak. Sitting here now, he doesn't even seem to be among his peers.

Everyone continued to talk among themselves, but avoided the topic just now - obviously, if there are really six quotas for each county, then which county has no quota is already ready to be announced at this time.

About half a quarter of an hour later, before the time was up, two more people boarded the stage.

One person is in his 50s, with a sword and hair, a deep-set face, and a pair of eyes hidden behind his hair, as if he has no whites; the other person looks old and looks fragile and tired, but his face is very peaceful and he carries a sword on his back. Cyan sword.

Luo Defeng and Li Weiru.

The two of them didn't look at each other, but they seemed to be held together by invisible threads - if anyone took any action, he would definitely bring about the other's action at the same time.

Zhao Zhang stood up to greet the two martial arts elders and sat down respectively. They each stood and exchanged greetings.

At this point, the seats on the high platform were basically full. All the adults in different colors were sitting here, which really added a sense of solemnity to the martial arts field.

At this moment, a cauldron roared across the field, and the idle warriors lined up.

"This is a draw to determine the match." Xu Sigong introduced.

"Oh." The county magistrates on the stage stopped talking for a moment and watched with bated breath.

This is indeed an important link. After all, in many cases, the result of the draw determines the outcome.

As the last person took away the note in the box, on the large curtain hanging opposite the high platform, someone began to write the results from top to bottom with a pen, accompanied by a loud roll call that resounded throughout the audience.

"League A, the first match, Li Mingqing and Zeng Mengjing."

The county magistrates breathed a sigh of relief, then looked around and couldn't help but laugh at each other.Without him, although he was busy with government affairs and lacked detailed knowledge of this martial arts competition, everyone always knew Li Mingqing's name. At this time, the young master was not facing a contestant from his own county. Naturally, he had "escaped a battle." "Jie".

"Which family does this Zeng Mengjing belong to?"

"I don't know, maybe from a sect."

"The second game, Shang Huaitong and Ye Shaoliang."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief again, but this time there was one less sigh of relief. Everyone looked around and saw that the dark face of the Shen County Magistrate became even darker.

"It's okay, Mr. Meng, isn't there another person in your county?"

"There is still a chance for the loser, Master Meng."

The roll-calls for the next few games were all satisfactory. The county warriors who were called were all disciples of the sect, and the faces of the county magistrates involved were half happy and half worried.

It wasn't until the roll call of "Seventh Game, Zhang Junxue and Fu Sanqing" came out that Shannan County Magistrate's eyes suddenly opened, he straightened up, looked around, and met the smiling eyes of Xugu County Magistrate: "Zhang Junxue, it's me. The facade of the Zhang family in the county.”

The Shannan County Magistrate then leaned back again and sighed, which made everyone feel relieved.

"No problem, no problem." The county magistrate sighed with a smile, "It is inevitable that there will be good and bad fortunes in fortune. There is nothing we can do about it."

Then the next roll call was heard: "Scene [-], Gu Guang, Tong Weiping."

"." The smile on the magistrate's face suddenly disappeared, and he leaned on the chair expressionlessly, his chest and abdomen rising and falling.

No need to ask this time, Magistrate Shen had already said in the chat just now that the strongest person in Zheng Shou was this five-year-old man named Gu Guang.

Everyone suppressed their laughter, and the roll call came to Yi Lei.

In this round, the only shark everyone recognized was Zhang Mozhu, but unlike the first round, this person's name did not appear for a long time in this round of roll call, and it has been hanging in everyone's hearts.Especially those county magistrates whose first contestant had already received a bad lottery, their hearts tightened when they heard the name of their county selection, for fear that it would be followed by the three words "Zhang Mozhu".

But fortunately, none of them were. There were people followed by "Shen Yao" and "Yang Yan", but the county magistrates had never heard of these two names.This uneasy feeling lasted until the end, and there were only the last two games left to register.

The expressions of other county magistrates became relieved, except for Magistrate Gu He's expression which became more and more stiff.

Among these four people was the last contestant from his county.Although Guhe County has three seats among the 32 people, the first two are just lucky. A second-year student and a third-year student who just passed the exam survived two rounds. They will definitely not be able to pass this round.

The only person he placed his hope on was this last person, and this person was really good - a solid four-year-old. If he wanted to get into the top sixteen, he would always have a [-]% to [-]% chance.

Therefore, he has been relatively relaxed throughout the whole process. Even if the first two people had bad luck, he laughed it off.

But now something is wrong, because there are only four people left, and the names of Zhang Mozhu and Zhang Zongyuan have not been revealed yet.

Everyone also knew this, and they all looked at him with relief.

It was obvious that no one of the four students would win against the five students. If they were injured again, they would not even be able to compete in the loser group.In front of the county magistrate's high-spirited heart, the roll call finally came down: "Seventh game, Zhang Mozhu and Zhang Zongyuan!"

County Magistrate Gu He slammed the table hard, and the joy suddenly broke through his tense face. Amidst the laughter and joy of everyone, it was the last announcement of 32 into [-], and it turned out to be a strange name: "Eighth Field, Fu Xue Shu, Pei Ye!"

The county magistrate still knew that he was ignorant and did not forget to ask Xu Sigong behind him calmly: "Master Xu, where does this person named Pei Ye come from?"

"Fenghuai County Selection."

"Oh!"

Magistrate Gu He pursed his lips and turned around to hand over his hand, and the old man in the corner returned the gesture with humility.
-
The cauldron rings again, the time has come.

The red silk flew down, and the competition from 32 to [-] officially began.

In the first round of the first round, in the seventh move, Li Mingqing easily and freely opened the long sword in front of him and put it on the opponent's neck.

Shang Huai Tong is still unsheathed his sword.

However, although the impression left by the two of them was amazing enough, what really affected the minds of the county magistrates was the more anxious and fierce competition later. Although they were still smiling calmly on their faces, their hands had already squeezed the tea cups tightly.

However, after the Jialui competition ended, Zhang Jun, Xue and Guguang both won, but the Shannan County Magistrate's face was completely frozen.But no other county magistrate showed a happy smile.

Among the eight rounds of the A-League, only Zhengshou and Xugu counties were among the top sixteen winners. Shen County clearly occupied two in this round, but the entire army was wiped out. Magistrate Meng's face looked... It is impossible to be slightly whiter again.

When they arrived at Arena B, the faces of the other county magistrates became darker one after another.

Obviously, the so-called six quotas are purely wishful thinking.

I thought that the reason for the high number of defeats in League A was because the team there was too strong and would be weaker than League B. The county magistrates who won League B were secretly happy.

However, the ruthless reality destroyed this illusion.

Yang Yan, a boy who appeared from nowhere, was not a sect or a county candidate, dressed like an opera singer, smashed the smile on the Shanbei County Magistrate's face with a knife.

Shen Yao, who turned out to be Cuiyu's fifth-generation boss, completely pinned Zheng Shou's young man to death.

Finally, there was a match where we could fight, three students versus three students, but they lost by just one sword.

At the end of the second round, only one person from one county in Shanbei entered. Adding the two counties from the first round, there were only three people from the seven counties who entered!
Fortunately, there is still one in Guhe County.

Magistrate Gu He was also half happy and half worried at this time - on the one hand, the fewer counties he entered, the more valuable the quota would be, and the allocation of martial arts would naturally be more generous; but on the other hand, he, the fourth After all, Sheng is not as tough as Zhang Junxue and Gu Guang. Even if he passes this round, he will probably fail in the next round, and he will still have to go back and beat the opponent.

While thinking about it, the stage was already buzzing.

32 Everyone stared at the last scene of the [-]th entry.

Fu Xue Shu is not very old, and the player named Pei Ye is especially young.

But it didn't look like the brown shirt with straw sandals they imagined at all. Instead, he was dressed in a green suit that fit him well, and his handsome appearance was even better than that of Fu Xue Shu.

The two people on the field were seen saluting each other, then straightening up. Pei Ye stepped forward and drew a straight green shadow with his sword.

The county magistrates' eyes suddenly opened.Even if they are not familiar with martial arts, after watching the fifteen competitions just now, everyone has formed a strong balance in their minds - such a figure is definitely only for strong players.

It was far from the crude warrior they expected from their second or third life.

Then the next moment, the eyes didn't need to be closed at all, but opened wider.

A round bright light popped up under the green shadow, like a flash of wet light on a green plum in the rain. Fu Xue Shu raised his sword, stepped back, and lost his sword.

It's all over.

There were cheers on the field. Qingying picked up the fallen sword and handed it back to Fu Xue Shu. Then he took two steps back with the sword and bowed with his arms folded.

The last person to be ranked among the sixteen winners was Feng Huai Pei Ye.

(End of this chapter)