Dusk fell before anyone knew it.
Outside Orchid Pavilion Tower, the students who had failed to get inside still had not dispersed.
Yes, they were all waiting, waiting for a result.
Orchid Pavilion Tower had reopened today, the Brush Holder of the Azure Robe Society had come in person, and the Capital City's Literati Circle had gathered.
With such a grand spectacle, even if they could not get inside, they had to wait outside to learn the outcome.
At the very least, they had to know who had claimed the Top Rank today.
More than that, they wanted to know whether any writing destined to endure through the ages had emerged inside Orchid Pavilion Tower.
If it had, they wanted to hear about it at the earliest opportunity.
But the problem was... by their reckoning, everything should have been about finished during the early afternoon.
Yet now?
It was nearly late afternoon, and still no one had come out.
That was more than a little strange.
"What's going on? Why hasn't anyone come out yet?"
"Exactly! How long has it been?"
"Hey, could they still be competing in there?"
"Surely not. No matter how complicated Orchid Pavilion Tower's examination is, it shouldn't drag on this long!"
Several students stood by the entrance, craning their necks to peer inside.
But Orchid Pavilion Tower's doors were tightly shut. Aside from the occasional sliver of light through the gap, they could not make out what was happening inside at all.
Stranger still, it was far too quiet in there, so quiet that it felt as though no one was inside.
That made it even more unnerving.
"What's happening in there right now?"
Someone could not resist asking, "It's been quiet ever since noon. Could they all have left through the back door?"
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