"Could it be that my soul refining sect will never rise again, and there will be no possibility of renewal..." The middle-aged man laughed sadly as if mad, but at this moment, his face suddenly changed and he suddenly looked back and looked away. far away.
"Huh!" His eyes condensed, and he immediately pinched his hands with both hands, frantically deducing and calculating.
"This is..." The man's expression changed rapidly. In this short instant, he consumed a lot of lifespan vitality. He counted nine times in a row, but the result of the nine times was all one!
This is a conclusion that makes him feel unbelievable and even absurd!
In the silence, he shook his body and immediately disappeared without a shadow, but with the technique of moving, he went straight to the country of Zhao.
In a county seat of Zhao State, the world was quiet, except for Wang Lin standing in front of the window on the second floor of an inn in that county seat. His muttering voice echoed faintly.
"Causality, what is... cause and effect..."
One night's time slowly passed, Wang Lin didn't know when he returned to the table, looking at the extinguished candlestick, silently in a daze, the sound that existed before in his mind continued to whirl, and gradually replaced everything.
He forgot to close the window. There was no wind and no rain at the moment. As the sky brightened, and as the first sun rose, the light enveloped the earth. People who got up early were all pleasantly surprised to find that the dark clouds that had filled the sky for more than half a month had disappeared in this early morning.
The sky was bright and cloudless, and the sunlight fell softly on the body, and the body that was almost rusty suddenly glowed with vitality.
Like this summer, it came a little earlier, like this year's rainy season, it receded a little faster.
Dafu also woke up and rubbed his eyes. When he saw the sky outside the window, he immediately opened his eyes and smiled. He pointed out the window triumphantly and shouted at Wang Lin.
"I had a dream last night, and the thunder dissipated when I fingered it, haha, I'm good. Humph, it seems that I am not an ordinary person, alas, what a pity."
Wang Lin's thoughts slowly hid in his mind when the sky was bright, and he didn't sleep all night, but he didn't feel any fatigue, but the pain in the eyebrows was faintly heard.
He rubbed his eyebrows, took a look at Dafu, and felt happy when he saw the smile on his face.
"You are great, you dreamed of going to heaven to make the thunderstorm disappear, okay..."
Dafu was quite excited and even more proud.
In the rush of time, the imperial examinations in the county seat will also be held five days later. The scholars who came here waited for five tense days. In the early morning of the sixth day, under the still sunny sky, from various residents Walked out of the inn and rushed to the examination rooms in the county town.
In the past five days, Wang Lin, apart from going to the county yamen to send the test stickers on the road, and standing side by side in the examination room, almost never left the inn. Instead, he rushed to study all the time and made the final preparations. He was also very nervous. This time, if he succeeds. , You can continue. But once it fails, everything has to start all over again, and I have to go back to the village, silently waiting for another scientific expedition a few years later.
Wang Lin didn't want to fail. He couldn't bear to see the dim gaze of his parents, and he didn't want to let his parents feel the comforting but mocking gaze in front of those relatives whose eyes were above the top because of his failure.
In five days, Dafu was suffocated. He had a restless temper. When Wang Lin was studying, he went out by himself and wandered around the county town. Gradually, he got to know some people and learned to be more stingy.
On the sixth day, Wang Lin took a bath and burned incense. After putting on a white scribe's shirt, he exhaled deeply, and walked out of the inn with the big blessing who was carrying a bamboo row of book boxes, and walked towards the examination room.
He is going to the third examination room, in the west of the county... The roads and streets are very lively, and there are many morning stalls on both sides. Those hawkers have left the stalls early, so that these students who are going to rush for the exam can buy them from them. Some food.
At a glance, there were many scholars on the street rushing to take the exam. They were all in a hurry, or worried or nervous, and even ate food, swallowed a few mouthfuls, and left quickly.
Wang Lin took a few deep breaths and slowly calmed down his mind. After eating a few buns, he and Dafu went outside the examination room. There were many people here, densely packed, but there was no noise. Most of them were closed there. Rejuvenate your mind, recall the books you read in your heart.
Two officials in brocade robe looked at the candidates indifferently. Because of their presence, a dignified atmosphere gradually filled the place. Wang Lin stood there calmly, looking at the sky in the examination room, his mood slowly The person fell silent completely.
The Dafu behind him was looking around, but he looked gloomy. He saw that almost all other bookboys were young. In contrast, he seemed a little out of place.
After muttering a few words, Dafu took out the buns and took a few bites.
Not long after the test came, I only heard the sound of the bell ringing from a distance. This sound echoed the entire county town, revealing a heaviness.
As soon as the bell rang, the closed eyes of the scholars opened their eyes one by one, their expressions solemn, and the sense of tension suddenly resurfaced.
"Enter the examination room! If there is a cheat sheet, take it out by yourself. After Mo is found, he will be disqualified." One of the Jinpao officials rolled his eyes and spoke slowly.
As these scholars entered the examination room one by one, almost everyone would be searched, and after confirming that there was no cheat sheet, they were put in.
The same was true when it was Wang Lin's turn. He checked the bamboo row of book boxes and other things, and then let him in.
Dafu waved at Wang Lin from the outside and shouted loudly. Even if there were people around frowning in disgust, he didn't care.
With a smile on Wang Lin's face, he waved to Dafu outside and turned to enter.
After finding the seat with his name written on it, Wang Lin sat down calmly. In the eyes of the supervisor of the examination room, all the candidates who sat down opened the rice paper on the table, concentrating. Not long after the supervisor took out the question papers for the expedition that was sealed by the fire, the sound of rustling writing echoed.
Wang Lin calmly rubbed his ink and looked at the rice paper in front of him, but he didn't write for a long time. The time for scientific research was a whole day and it was very relaxed, leaving people with enough time to think.
Slowly, those scholars who were as contemplative as Wang Lin also had their thoughts and started writing one by one. In the end, only Wang Lin was left sitting there in the entire examination room, still thinking.
At this moment, the subject of the scientific expedition is a picture. The picture is very simple. There is only one mountain. There is a big straight tree on the mountain. The sky seems to be windy, and the tree is shaking when it blows.
A few strokes below the mountain, it seems that there is a house guarding the mountain.
The intention of this painting is very clear. Almost all examinees can see that most of the articles written are based on these four words.
It's just that when Wang Lin saw the painting, the sound that echoed five days ago appeared in his mind again.
"Causality... what is... cause and effect..."
Time passed slowly, and it was noon in a blink of an eye. Someone had finished writing the article, blowing the remaining wet ink on the rice paper, with a look of joy, and he shook his head slightly to meditate inwardly.
Only Wang Lin sat there silently, with confusion in his eyes, and never wrote. Such things are rare, and the supervisors couldn't help but look at Wang Lin a few more times.
Gradually, someone left the examination room one after another, either proud or disappointed. After leaving here, accompanied by a book boy or alone, they left far away.
The setting sun gradually fell, and the entire examination room became slightly dark. There was not much time until the end, and only less than half an hour was left. Except for Wang Lin, the last scholar also got up with a long sigh and looked at Wang before leaving. Lin glanced, shook his head and left.
"If you can't do it, leave quickly, don't waste time." A supervisor frowned, walked to Wang Lin, and tapped his right hand on the table.
Wang Lin did not raise his head, but closed his eyes. After a few breaths, he opened his eyes suddenly. He raised his right hand and licked some water stains like ink. After holding the pen and dipping it, his eyes showed bright light, and he quickly moved on the rice paper. Write it up.
"What is cause and effect? If there is no tree in the mountain, there is no wood in this mountain. I plant a tree alone. I take branches at the beginning of the day, take the wood during the day, and take the roots at sunset..." Wang Lin seemed to forget everything around him, and his mind echoed that. The vicissitudes of life, the painting that I saw in the morning emerges, and I continue to write down my thoughts and puzzles.
"Huh?" The supervisor who was standing next to Wang Lin glanced briefly, then was taken aback and looked carefully. Even the other supervisors not far away were attracted by the humorous sound, and they all walked to look at them. From this look, some of them sneered and threw the pomelo away. Not long after, the others shook their heads and walked away.
"... What is cause and effect, planting wood as a cause, and taking wood as an effect... However, the day when the wood of the house becomes beautiful, it also becomes a cause and effect... ”
Wang Lin put down the pen and took a deep look. The brightness in his eyes dissipated. Instead, he was confused. In a light sigh, he clasped his fist towards the old man who was the only supervisor standing behind him, packed the bamboo rafts, and walked out of the examination room.
Until he left, the old supervisor picked up Wang Lin's pen and ink on the rice paper and looked at it again carefully. His eyes appeared in a trance, as if he had a sense of understanding, he remembered Wang Lin's name on the examination paper.
"This kind of thinking about cause and effect will actually appear in a young man. This person may not be able to become a pillar of the court, but he can become a generation of great scholars!" The old prison officer pondered for a long time, picked up a pen, and wrote on Wang Lin's name. Draw a circle.
Wang Lin walked out of the examination room and saw at a glance the Dafu who was leaning against a tree outside. He waited for a day and fell asleep. With a smile on his face, he walked to Dafu. He was about to push him to wake up. At this moment, suddenly the sky and the earth went dark, but there was a violent gust of wind, and under the screams of ghosts crying, a black wind fell from the sky, directly engulfing Wang Lin and Dafu, as if dividing their place from the county town. Open.
In the black wind, a middle-aged man in a black robe walked out, a cold breath filled his body, and he stared at Wang Lin.
"The old man will not hurt you, you only need to answer one question."
He is the Senior Brother Duntian from Soul Refining Zong! Almost all the scientific examination students in this county have been in these few days. He found them one by one. Everyone asked the same question. He eventually erased the memory of the incident. Under disappointment, he looked for it again. one person.