A Way to Pass

A Way to Pass

What kind of complicated ethical mess was this? Xia Fan was utterly astonished. A Bureau of Military Affairs Azure Blade had adopted a Fox Demon, and the Fox Demon wanted revenge against the Bureau of Military Affairs in order to find her master?

Well, considering that her master had already left government service when she adopted Li, it was more appropriate to call it a personal grudge.

Xia Fan did not know whether defecting was considered a serious crime by the Bureau of Military Affairs, but since her master had been part of its upper ranks, the punishment presumably would not be the same as that for ordinary Sorcery Art practitioners. When Li said the Bureau would not endanger her master's life, that might actually be true.

That also explained why a Fox Demon was so familiar with the Bureau of Military Affairs.

Her master had once been an Azure Blade, so Li could at least be considered half an Azure Blade's disciple. If she were not a demon, her seniority might even surpass that of the Proctor in charge of the Scholar Examination!

"Why did your master flee the Bureau of Military Affairs?"

"She never told me why."

"Did she teach you everything you know about the Bureau of Military Affairs?"

Li nodded weakly. "Not just that. She taught me everything I know."

Xia Fan's heart stirred at once. "Including knowledge related to Sorcery Arts?"

"She taught me quite a lot. Those techniques supposedly only humans can master are nothing special. They are not nearly as profound or difficult as people make them out to be." She slanted him a glance. "What... do you feel offended?"

Even at a time like this, she had not forgotten to throw in a jab. Her master had certainly taught her disciple well.

"You don't think I'm so arrogant that I believe my talent for Sorcery Arts is unmatched under heaven, do you?" Xia Fan spread his hands. "There are plenty of examinees in Qingshan Town who are better than me. There's nothing strange about a Fox Demon surpassing me."

"You... don't find it repulsive?" This time, Li was the astonished one.

Xia Fan was briefly confused. "What is wrong with that?"

"Are you truly ignorant, or only pretending to be?" Li stared at him. "The Bureau of Military Affairs decrees that all Sorcery Arts under heaven belong to humans, and no other kind may lay a hand on them. Now, something you humans pride yourselves on has been learned by a demon, and she is even better at it than you are. Do you truly have no thoughts about that?"

"What the hell does that have to do with me?" Xia Fan blurted out.

"What?"

"Uh..." Realizing that this damaged his image somewhat, he hurriedly patched things up. "What I mean is, shutting oneself in and refusing to advance brings no benefit whatsoever. Besides, education should know no distinctions. Learning from one another is the best way to improve oneself."

At the same time, he grumbled inwardly. It's not like I taught you. What am I supposed to do? If you learn quickly, that's because you're capable. Just because someone is less capable than a demon, are they supposed to drag out the Bureau of Military Affairs to threaten the other party? That would be far too self-deceiving. And that bullshit rule of the Bureau's sounds nice, but the truth is that they control all knowledge of Sorcery Arts. Ordinary people have no way to access it at all. Otherwise, I would not have needed to take the Scholar Examination just to seek knowledge and answers.

Li was studying Xia Fan as well. Her brows knit slightly, partly because her wound stung, but also because of the confusion deep within her heart—she could not tell whether he was lying, yet she could sense the utter indifference in his tone. It was truly inconceivable. Even her master had revealed a trace of hesitation when teaching her Sorcery Arts; after all, that was what allowed Sorcery Art practitioners to stand above ordinary people. Yet this person seemed completely unaware of that—so much so that Li had the illusion that, in Xia Fan's eyes, she was no different from him. Not only that, he was no different from those unable to sense qi.

How could that be possible?

The chaos in her perceptions left Li unable to speak for a long while.

She discovered that the more she came into contact with him, the less she could see through what kind of person he was.

"How about this?" Xia Fan's words interrupted her thoughts. "Let's renegotiate our cooperation—the chatting part remains unchanged. I'll help you look into your master's whereabouts. That should be fine now, right?"

"You want to... help me?"

"That's right, but in return, you must tell me what you learned." He spoke bluntly. "After all, as a Fox Demon, it definitely will not be easy for you to find an Azure Blade's whereabouts. But if someone inside the Bureau of Military Affairs is looking out for you, things will become much easier. What do you say? If you miss this chance, there will not be a second one."

Li could not help opening her mouth wide. Most Sorcery Art practitioners who wanted to join the Bureau of Military Affairs sought either power or fame, so they would unconsciously uphold the Bureau's prestige and rules. Yet this person before her seemed to have no loyalty to the Bureau whatsoever. He had not even entered it, yet he was already thinking of digging at its foundations. It was simply unheard of.

"Can I ask you a question?" she could not help asking. "Why exactly are you taking the Scholar Examination?"

Xia Fan thought for a moment. "Probably to set foot in realms I have never reached and see sights I have never seen."

What an absurd answer, Li thought. Yet for some reason, there was an inexplicable sincerity in his words.

After a long silence, she finally sighed softly. "If you insist."

"You agree?"

"On the condition that you can truly pass this examination and become a member of the Bureau of Military Affairs."

She knew she should not agree. Demons and Sorcery Art practitioners growing too close had never led to a good ending. Yet he was right as well. If she alone wished to challenge the Bureau of Military Affairs and bring her master back, the possibility was minuscule. Moreover, he had saved her life, and she had nothing else to repay him with. Perhaps this was her only choice.

"About that..." Xia Fan revealed a somewhat awkward smile. "Would it work if I passed the next Scholar Examination instead?"

Li froze, then immediately snapped, "You dare boast about becoming an informant inside the Bureau of Military Affairs, yet you are not even sure you can pass the examination?"

"The situation is a little special right now." Helplessly, he gave her a rough account of the Scholar Examination. "No one knows what the Great Desolation Evil Night in the Qingshan Array is like. I would be fine alone, but if I bring you along, I cannot guarantee your safety."

"I see." Li looked thoughtful. "No wonder there are so many well passages beneath the town."

"Well passages?" Xia Fan asked curiously. "What does that have to do with this?"

"Don't tell me you know nothing at all about the Great Desolation Evil Night?" The Fox Demon raised a brow. She was beginning to suspect that cooperating with him had been a mistake.

"Ahem, my circumstances are rather special... Did your master ever tell you about it?"

"Of course. It does not merely affect the local people; it also brings many secondary problems. If mishandled, it can leave a thousand miles of land barren and red. It is one of the Evil Spirit phenomena most closely monitored by the Bureau of Military Affairs."

As expected, the Fox Demon's knowledge in this area far surpassed his own, Xia Fan thought. She had once been an Azure Blade's disciple. Even if she could not compare to the Luo Family's All-Things Heavenly Knowledge, she was surely far more knowledgeable than the other examinees. He had originally only wanted to learn about demons through her, but he had not expected her to possess such accumulated knowledge of Sorcery Arts as well. It was truly an unexpected delight.

"Tell me in detail—about the Great Desolation Evil Night."

Li drew a deep breath. "Fine. Consider it the cost of the medicine you used to save me."

Two hours later, Xia Fan finally had a comprehensive understanding of the Great Desolation Evil Night.

According to Li, it was not a rare phenomenon. During the final years before Yong State's fall, Evil Nights had appeared in many places. Whether war, famine, floods, or changes in the heavens, as long as unnatural deaths suddenly surged, a Great Desolation Evil Night could be triggered during a period of yin abundance.

Since each place had a different period of yin abundance, the Bureau of Military Affairs had to monitor them separately. Depending on its scale, a Great Desolation Evil Night could last from several years to several decades, only ending once all the accumulated resentful souls had dissipated. These "resentful souls" were not quite what he had imagined either. They were not the lingering consciousness of the dead, but phenomena caused by intensely concentrated qi.

When this special qi spread and expanded, it produced an effect similar to Wei Wushuang's words: "The living die, the dead are born." When qi recombined with dead matter—that was, Ji—it created Chaos. This substance from the dawn of the universe was incompatible with every order in the world, and its true nature was not something humans could understand. In practice, corpses crawled from the earth, the dead broke open their coffins, and they attacked those still alive. Everywhere they went, cries of grief filled the land. That was the meaning of "Great Desolation."

This made Xia Fan think of a term: zombies besieging a city.

He had even specifically confirmed with Li whether something reduced to bones alone could move. In return, he received an eye roll. The answer was that not only could bones not move, damaged and decayed corpses could not move either. They merely provided a frame. What truly made them move was qi and the Ji that attached itself to them, the latter of which could be surrounding matter such as soil, sand, stones, dead branches, and so on. Once a resentful soul became powerful enough, it could form itself even without a skeleton. These things were driven by qi, and once it was exhausted, they would collapse on their own. Thus, the qi of the living was their best source of replenishment.

That meant his zombie perpetual-motion experiment had been declared dead before it even began.

The Bureau of Military Affairs called the smaller evil creatures within an Evil Night "Mei," while the larger ones were called "Demons." Yet whether Mei or Demon, neither possessed intelligence. Their reactions were slow, so large cities with sturdy walls or narrow strategic passes had strong defenses against these Evil Spirits. What truly made them hard to guard against was that no one knew how many bones lay buried beneath a town, or where new enemies might crawl out.

This was also why, after the Bureau of Military Affairs became independent, it required the Ministry of Works to redraw construction standards. The most important rule was that graveyards could not be located within a city and had to be at least one li from the outer walls. Criminals, those who died unjustly, and people of unknown origins could not be buried there either. Animal remains had to be gathered and burned. Anyone who discarded them carelessly would be treated as a criminal—fines for minor offenses, imprisonment for serious ones.

Li's explanation was an eye-opener for Xia Fan, and he now understood why she had mentioned the well passages—the town had not only no walls, but not even a wooden fence in sight. Therefore, the tunnels beneath the Dry Well became relatively easy places to defend. Once they could not exploit their numerical advantage, Mei were not much of a threat to Sorcery Art practitioners. Holding dangerous ground, there was still a good chance of lasting through one night.

"If it truly does not work... you do not need to force yourself." Li spoke softly. "I have been beneath the town too. The areas where one can hide are limited; at most, they can hold fifty or sixty people. Any more, and there is a risk of suffocation. Since you did not seize first place, if you go now, the larger spaces have probably already been taken by the great families... If you compete with Sanmen, you may not necessarily beat them. And some well passages are too deep... no one knows what lies hidden inside... If you only seek somewhere concealed and narrow, you might instead... trap yourself in danger. If you wait another three years..."

Her voice grew softer and softer, and even her breathing weakened.

Only then did Xia Fan notice that the strands of hair before the Fox Demon's forehead were soaked through with sweat. When he touched her, she even felt somewhat hot to the hand.

This girl had actually endured her discomfort just to finish speaking, without uttering a single complaint...

He gently covered her mouth, interrupting her murmurs. Then he rose and pulled down the window shutter, returning the room to darkness. "This information is already enough for me. Get some proper rest first. I'll come back later to change your medicine. And do not worry about the examination—you will not need to wait another three years. I have already found a way to pass."