A Merit Bestowed, Yet All for Nothing

"The Marshfolk really know how to pick their timing; they actually plan to launch their attack during the Imperial Examinations!"

In the main hall of the Pan Household, Pan Xiang looked at the letter in his hand and sneered.

Standing before him, Steel Wu, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, frowned and said, "The Imperial Examinations examination is a major event for the nation. Some elite troops will be stationed at the examination site to prevent any accidents. The attention of the entire Jiannan Circuit will be focused on it. It is indeed the best time to launch an uprising."

"Indeed, we shouldn't underestimate the Marshfolk; they have capable individuals among them," Pan Xiang remarked with a sigh, then chuckled, "Unfortunately, they lack strategic maturity and are too presumptuous, believing they can exploit the situation during the Imperial Examinations. Little do they know that our Great Rui has a separation of military and political affairs, and has long been prepared for this. The Yongping Army is strong and well-equipped; with just one move, we can utterly defeat them!"

"I'm afraid the Yongping Army has other plans," Steel Wu said with a worried expression. "Zhang Jieshuai agreed so readily; I'm afraid he has ulterior motives."

"I know exactly what Zhang Duling is thinking," Pan Xiang said with a faint smile, looking confident. "The Yongping Army is as famous as the Wuxin Commandery, but in recent years Song Yuan's prestige has soared, and his several great victories have overshadowed Zhang Duling's. Moreover, since Song Yuan married a woman from the Shi Family, he has shown signs of moving into the Central Pivot government. How can Zhang Duling tolerate this?"

"What do you mean, sir?" Steel Wu's heart skipped a beat.

"A win-win situation!" Pan Xiang said, taking a sip of tea. "This cooperation is based on mutual benefit. Why would anyone risk their life for me if there's no benefit to be gained? This is also my opinion on the New Law. The Prime Minister is being misled by those few people and always wants to achieve everything at once, which is too hasty. Everything should be done step by step. If I were to offer advice..."

He was speaking when he suddenly stopped, his hand trembled, and the cup fell to the ground with a "crash," shattering into pieces, with tea spilling all over the floor.

"Hmm? Sir? What's wrong?" Steel Wu hurriedly stepped forward. He raised his finger, circulated his True Qi, and his fingertip Earthfire as he touched several spots on Pan Xiang's body.

Pan Xiang's expression was blank at the moment. After being tapped a few times by Steel Wu, he recovered slightly, but his face was tired and he said in a slightly flustered manner, "I suddenly feel weak!"

Upon hearing this, Steel Wu didn't say much. He circulated his True Qi, sending a surge of heat through his palms to Pan Xiang's body to replenish his Qi and Blood, but the effect was minimal.

Frowning, Steel Wu withdrew his hand and said, "I don't know anything about medicine. Let's go and ask Master Lin to take a look."

"Go quickly, go quickly." Pan Xiang was suddenly caught off guard and was somewhat flustered, no longer as calm as before. Steel Wu dared not delay and hurriedly left. Not long after, he returned with a Daoist priest.

The Daoist priest was not tall, but had a well-proportioned build. He had a long, flowing beard and walked with a measured pace, giving him an air of otherworldly refinement.

Upon entering the house, the Daoist priest let out a soft exclamation and then bowed respectfully to Pan Xiang.

"Master Lin, come quickly! I feel unwell; I suddenly feel weak," Pan Xiang, slumped in his chair, barely managing to raise his hand to greet him.

The Daoist priest surnamed Lin stepped forward and said, "Don't rush, don't rush, let me observe your aura."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man took out a talisman from his robes, pinched it between two fingers, and the talisman spontaneously combusted, emitting a wisp of smoke that lingered and enveloped Pan Xiang. Then, he formed hand seals, chanted incantations, and finally opened his mouth and shouted, uttering a single word. "Hurry!"

The words transformed into a wave of sound, engulfing Pan Xiang. The surrounding smoke immediately rolled and rose, drifting to Pan Xiang's shoulders and head, where it faintly condensed into three flowers, fluttering like fire.

Fortune! Prosperity! Longevity!

This is a Daoist Sect method of observing qi, which can reveal Three Shoulder Flames through the smoke of talismanic fire. Although not clear, one can still sense some patterns. However, if a Daoist cultivator has condensed their celestial soul, they naturally do not need such trouble. They can roughly sense the Fortune simply by covering it.

Pan Xiang's Three Fires of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity are exceptionally strong, especially the Fortune Flame, which shoots straight up to the roof, like a pillar of smoke and clouds!

But upon closer inspection, a look of alarm flashed in Lin Daoshi's eyes. "Not good! Although the Three Fires of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity, Prosperity, and Longevity haven't dimmed, they're flickering violently. My lord, someone is casting a spell on you, trying to bypass the Official Qi and invade your mind!"

"What!" Pan Xiang exclaimed in shock. "Someone is performing magic? What kind of evil person is this? To move an official of the imperial court? Aren't people supposed to be reclusive and dare not offend the Dragon Court? How can someone be so bold?" At this point, his expression changed again. "Could it be Marshfolk?"

Daoist Lin then said, "Those who are outside the secular world naturally dare not offend the Dragon Court. With the Official Qi protecting you, external evils cannot get close to you. However, the person who is currently casting the Divine Ability is extremely powerful. I don't know what method he used, but he actually bypassed the Dragon Court's Fortune and the protective Official Qi and went straight into your soul."

The more he spoke, the paler Pan Xiang's face became, and eventually he even started trembling.

Seeing Pan Xiang's expression, Lin Daoshi finally came to his senses and hurriedly said, "My lord, there's no need to panic. You're feeling weak all over right now, and you'll feel sleepy in a little while. Once you enter a dream, that person will use their ghost to enter your dream, interfere with your dream, and disrupt your memory and will. But I have a way to deceive them."

"Daoist Master, save me!" Pan Xiang cried out in panic, but Steel Wu was standing next to him, couldn't help but frown.

Lin, the Daoist priest, stroked his beard, smiled faintly, and then whispered a few words into Pan Xiang.

"Brilliant plan! Brilliant plan! Daoist Master is truly a master!" Pan Xiang praised repeatedly after hearing this, and then called for people to come over.

"Stand still and listen to the Daoist priest's instructions." Pan Xiang's spirits were becoming increasingly weak, as if he would fall asleep at any moment. If Steel Wu hadn't used his True Qi to sustain his Qi and Blood, he would have already lost consciousness.

The two servants were hastily summoned, and before they knew what was going on, they stood at attention upon hearing this.

Then, Daoist Lin took out cinnabar and yellow paper from his pocket, concentrated his mind and breath, and mobilized his spiritual power before solemnly writing several talismans.

As the brush moved, Curse Arts and Spiritual Qi energy were drawn into the paper, preserved with cinnabar. However, the Spiritual Qi surged, and several talismans burst into flames, turning to ashes.

Shaking his head, the Daoist priest Lin felt a pang of regret, but he picked up his pen again and, after a quarter of an hour, spent a great deal of effort to write three pages.

"It's done!"

Once the talismans were formed, his aura weakened considerably, and his face turned pale. He flipped his wrist and affixed two of the talismans to the backs of the School of Names, then made hand seals and cast Curse Arts.

"Even!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the servant fell to the ground, unconscious. His thoughts were transferred to the talisman in the Daoist Lin's hand.

"Although I cannot match that person's Divine Ability, the methods of the Daoist Sect reside in the mind, not in strength. With skillful application, even Heart Ape can leap out of its five fingers and see the vast world!" As Lin the Daoist said this, he walked over and stuck a talisman on Pan Xiang's forehead.

Instantly, his thoughts rippled from his forehead, entered the talisman, and then, through the connection, entered the minds of the two servants.

The next moment, the servants were seen trembling all over. Pan Xiang, on the other hand, was full of energy, and his fatigue and exhaustion were swept away.

Before long, the three talismans burned simultaneously, and ashes scattered everywhere.

After a few breaths, the drowsy servants awoke, only to be greeted by Pan Xiang's questions.

"Reporting to the Second Master, I just had a dream. I dreamt of the Marshfolk attacking, killing countless people, and plunging Jiannan Circuit into chaos."

"Yes, I dreamt about it too. In the end, Barbarians came, attacking from the west..."

The two servants only recognized a few characters. Pan Xiang them to describe their dream, but although they spoke in a fragmented and incoherent manner, their descriptions were clearly ineffective.

"Marshfolk?" Pan Xiang, no longer exhibiting any unusual behavior, regained his composed demeanor and calmly began to analyze the situation. "Since Marshfolk appeared in my dream, it's entirely possible Marshfolk 're plotting against me. But why are there Barbarians among them?"

A sense of unease began to stir within him.

Just then, a servant said somewhat uneasily, "Second Master, I just dreamt of you. First, you were leading troops into battle with great might, but in the end, you fell into the enemy's trap and were caught in a bloody battle..."

Pan Xiang's expression changed. "What nonsense! I have already laid a trap and planned everything. How could I have fallen for someone else's scheme? It seems that someone is trying to disturb my mind..." At the same time, in the Book Repository, Qiu Yan's soul withdrew from the hidden compartment. In the Masters Section Bookshelf, the complete bamboo slips of "Exhortation to Learning" had already been formed.

Like a swimming fish, it darted through the wall, passed by the Person in the Painting, and returned to the empty, quiet study without any sign of anything amiss.

"Did the Mango Live Network Pan Household know there was a hidden compartment behind this painting? The guards were somewhat negligent. But then again, the Pan Household family is a family of scholars and poets, not many Divine Abilities. They can guard against refined thieves, but when they encounter cultivators, they still have to rely on the murals; everything else is superfluous. The Person in the Painting are all experts. If I hadn't condensed the fragments of <Exhortation to Learning> in my mind, it would have been difficult to appease them. This was only because I didn't intend to steal it; otherwise, as soon as I had the thought of stealing, the murals would have known immediately, and things would have been difficult to resolve peacefully."

Qiu Yan made some preparations for this operation, but what he actually used were only illusions and divine power barriers.

"Just now, I constructed a dream in Pan Xiang's mind, and deduced the information I gathered from the Marshfolk and the Barbarians. Although Pan Xiang is arrogant, he is not stupid. He should be able to see the problem in it, and thus use the plan against him, calmly arrange things, and achieve a great victory! It can be said that I gave him a merit for nothing, repaid the Karma of the <Exhortation to Learning>, and also strengthened his kinship with his aunt and cousin."

Qiu Yan's life, just now, used "Exhortation to Learning" as a starting point to enter other people's minds, deducing dreams, hoping to make Pan Xiang wake up in advance, but he did not know that there were other changes.

With this thought in mind, Qiu Yan immediately put down his brush and wrote the first paragraph of the "Exhortation to Learning" on the paper. Then he put down his brush and blew on the characters.

The servant was deceived; in his eyes, Qiu Yan was writing slowly and deliberately. Upon seeing Qiu Yan put down his pen, he quickly took the pen and carefully held it.

Afterwards, Qiu Yan stayed in the Book Repository for quite a while before taking his leave, but he did not get to see Pan Xiang during that time.

In the following days, Qiu Yan used his Divine Sense to secretly probe the Pan Household with the help of the kitchen deity statue, but he never heard any movement. When Pan Xiang talked about military affairs with others, he showed no sign of being wary of the Barbarians, as if he had never experienced that dream, and everything was as usual.

Qiu Yan, though puzzled, could only sigh.

"Do your best and leave the rest to fate."

Human Path has its limits, and he has done all he could.

"For safety's sake, it's best to ask the Zhang Residence to bring my uncle's family to Jiannan Circuit first, just in case."

A few days later, the provincial Provincial Examination arrived. Qiu Yan packed his things and put them into his examination basket. No matter what, he still had to participate in the Imperial Examinations. But before leaving, he suddenly had a whim and used his personal Li Trigram, Li, as a guide to cast a divination.

Ding ding ding!

Several copper coins rotated and stopped, arranging themselves into several patterns.

"The Stagnation Hexagram)?"

Qiu Yan was taken aback when he saw the divination.

"From adversity to prosperity? Is this a sign of a turning point? I wonder if it refers to passing the Provincial Examination or competing on the frontier?"

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