Chapter 96 Beginning of Winter Assessment, ghosts appear in dreams, very bad luck!

"The abandoned forging workshop in Anping Town was originally the site of Tiangong Workshop twelve years ago."

"When the underground fire was being drawn to start the furnace, a major problem occurred and the underground fire went wild, causing many people to be burned to death at the time."

"My family used to have a factory here, but we had just built a new forging plant and recruited workers when something went wrong. Later, Nanyang County issued a ban, and it was closed not long after. It was a losing business."

Zhao Xing sat in Zong Shichang's carriage, looking at the wasteland and dilapidated houses outside.

They walked around the land for a quarter of an hour, but there was not a single decent tree. There were mostly very short and small trees.

There are weeds, but most of them are strange-shaped thorns. Only plants with strong vitality can survive in the scorched earth.

"It's easy to destroy but hard to rebuild. Three years ago, there wasn't even a single blade of grass here, let alone trees." Zong Shichang said, "It's much better now. Chen Shijie has done a lot."

"Indeed." Zhao Xing nodded slightly.

Chen Shijie came to Gucheng to take office three years ago.

Before him, Anping Town, a scorched earth, had been left unattended for nine years.

The former chief of the Sinong Bureau was a man who feared getting involved in trouble and had never dared to repair the land.

Because the land was directly granted by Nanyang County, the destruction was done by Tiangongfang in Gucheng, and prominent families like Zong Shichang also participated in the investment.

The issue of rights and responsibilities has not been clarified and has been shelved.

The higher-ups didn't care, and Gucheng County Magistrate Li Wenzhen didn't want to get involved either.

The former head of the Ministry of Agriculture did not dare to intervene.

Therefore, this piece of land in Anping Town and the factory building on it were left abandoned for nine years until Chen Shijie came.

When he found out, he immediately prepared to repair it.

Li Wen Zheng didn't want to care and didn't stop him, but it was impossible for him to help.

Chen Shijie planned to start working with the assistant officers of the Ministry of Agriculture.

I come down here every week to cast the Earthly Magic spell to regulate the earth veins and repair the soil.

This was a thankless task, and Xue Wenzhong was the first to express his support. Tang Wanchun, Gao Linong, Pang Yuan and others all felt that it was difficult to do and opposed it.

Old Chen is also overbearing. Is it difficult to deal with? Then don't do anything!
He stopped all government affairs of the Sinong Bureau. No matter what government affairs reported by Tang Wanchun, Gao Linong, Pang Yuan and others, he was always told two words: no approval.

Old Chen's attitude is, since you guys want to be bad, then just be bad to the end, and we will all be regarded as "mediocre officials" in the next few years.

Anyway, I was demoted because I was punished. I didn't want to be the Minister of Agriculture in the first place, and I'm not afraid of being demoted again.

There was no other way, the assistant officers of the Ministry of Agriculture could only work with their noses held.

Later, Lao Chen went to the Sino-Agricultural Bureau to find Gongsun Yang and borrowed some manpower and the workshop's magic weapons. Gongsun Yang was unwilling to do it at first, fearing that he would be blamed.

As a result, Chen Shijie kept an eye on Gongsun Yang every day, and would rain hail on people's ancestral graves for no reason. Everything Gongsun's family planted on their land died, and it was either windy or rainy.

When Gongsun Yang found out, he ran to question Chen Shijie angrily.

What? Why is the weather so bad around your family's ancestral grave and land?
Didn't I ask you to lend me tools and manpower to carry out the work? You yourself refused.

I'm sorry, this is the limited ability I have. I can't control the weather in Gucheng. If you have the guts, go to the county city and sue me!
Gongsun Yang was so angry that his beard was pulled out.

There was no choice but to agree to his request.

It took Chen Shijie a year to restore the scorched earth to the level of a wasteland.

Next, Chen Shijie reported his achievements to the county government. The higher-ups knew that this man was a stubborn person and could only give him a commendation reluctantly.

Although the abandoned factory building has not been demolished yet, this incident also allowed Chen Shijie to gain a firm foothold in Gucheng, win over the hearts of the people of the Sinongjian, and convince Gongsun Yang and Li Wenzhen.

Therefore, in the Ministry of Agriculture, Chen Shijie always had the final say and no one dared to oppose him.

"Old Chen's first political achievement is here. He is about to leave, but he set up a trap to attract the Xuantian Sect here, intending to gain military merit here... He really has a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder." Zhao Xing looked outside.

November is the last Yang month, and it is no secret that Chen Shijie will be transferred.

There were many people in Anping Town for this assessment, and unlike the autumn season, there were Donghu soldiers to maintain order and the county inspector was present.

The defense seems to be relatively weak.

Zhao Xing felt that if he were the leader of the Xuantian Sect, he would also take this opportunity to take action.

Chen Shijie guessed that the Xuantian Sect would most likely take advantage of this opportunity to take action.

Xuantian Sect guessed that Chen Shijie would guess that they would take action.

"These possibilities are not difficult to guess...it just depends on who dares to do it and who has done more preparation." Zhao Xing thought silently.

Judging from "historical experience", Xuantian Sect's planning during the Jingxin period learned from past failures and its actions were more successful than ever before.

Did Xuantian Sect succeed or fail in Nanyang County? Zhao Xing didn't know, but with his own reminder, Lao Chen's plan changed a lot compared to the original one.

Zhao Xing was not sure what the outcome would be.

But his attitude is very good.

"There's no danger to my life. If I'm caught by Xuantian Sect, I'll just do my best on the pirate ship. It's not impossible to survive until the revival in the sect camp." Zhao Xing is not so rigid. However, the road of Qiyun Dynasty is still safer, and he still hopes not to be caught.

The Sinongjian’s Beginning of Winter assessment began on the afternoon of November 7th.

The time for assessment of officials in other departments is also unified.

It is called a joint assessment, but in fact it is just throwing the officials into one area, and the content is completely different.

There is no competition between different professions, it is mainly competition between people in the same profession.

The assessment content of the Sinong Supervisor is to grow at least ten different types of plants on this piece of scorched earth.

The assessment content of Tiangongfang requires the officials to build a new furnace here and re-activate the earth's fire.

The assessment content of the Weaving Department is to weave robes for warriors, mechanical engineers, agricultural officials, and ceremonial masters. They are limited to weaving only four types: the Heluo robe, the fire-proof robe, the soul-protecting robe, and the true essence robe.

The theme of the military assessment is "Catching Monsters". Outside the abandoned factory area, some "sect monsters" played by officers and soldiers will appear and start sneak attacks from the outer area to destroy this place.

Rating is based on the number of 'monsters' caught.

The content of the temple's assessment is similar to that of the warriors, except that the target has become the souls of those who were burned to death in this factory.

"The five professions all have different start and end times."

"The assessment of the Weaver Girl starts the earliest, from the Mao hour on the seventh day. She will start weaving the robes. It will end at the Mao hour tomorrow, and there will only be twelve hours. The materials for the robes are ready, and after one day, no matter whether they are finished or not, she must leave."

"The duration of the Mechanical Engineer's assessment is two days, starting at noon on the seventh day and ending at noon on the ninth day."

"The temple and the warriors start the latest, starting at the evening of the seventh day at twilight hour and ending at the evening of the tenth day at twilight hour, lasting two and a half days."

"The Minister of Agriculture starts at 5 p.m. on the seventh day and ends at 5 p.m. on the eleventh day. It lasts for three days and four nights."

Zhao Xing came out of the car and looked at the entrance of the ruined factory building, thinking: "Old Chen believes my judgment, but not completely. This is good."

Starting from the hour of Wei, the Minister of Agriculture began to organize reference officials to demarcate the boundaries.

Zhao Xing walked into the abandoned factory, carrying a bamboo box that was much larger than the last time.

Not many clerks took the exam for the Sino-Agricultural Examination this time, because it was not a lucrative job. Unless one was seeking to pay taxes to an official, no matter how well he or she performed in the exam, he or she would not get much money at the end of the year.

The situation is different for the other departments, as there are still quite a lot of people taking the exam.

"Zhao Xing, let's go together." Zong Shichang came over happily, "Which one do you plan to do?"

"Do you believe in my judgment?" Zhao Xing pointed to a piece of land not far from the entrance. "You can plant here. I think this is a good piece of land."

"Is it true?" Zong Shichang took a look and saw that it was just a piece of scorched earth.

"I have learned a lot of Dili School magic, don't you believe it?"

"I believe it, but where are you going?" Zong Shichang asked.

"Are you crazy?" Zhao Xing asked, "Can such a small piece of land support two people?"

"Let's go together. I think it's boring to be alone..."

"Get lost! Don't come and affect my grades." Zhao Xing said coldly. "You don't understand what I'm saying, right? I don't want to be with you."

"You..." Zong Shichang was stunned. He didn't understand why Zhao Xing's attitude changed so much, and he stood there for a while.

Zhao Xing ignored him and walked directly towards an area of ​​the ruined factory.

As the saying goes, if you don't keep things secret, you will lose your life. Zhao Xing knew some of Chen Shijie's plan, but he didn't know the whole picture, and it was impossible for him to reveal it to Zong Shichang.

Besides, if there really is a demon taking action this time, it would not be a good thing for Zong Shichang to follow him.

The abandoned factory building occupies a large area; after all, it was a project approved by the county town.

Zhao Xing was walking along the road carrying a bamboo box on his back, as if he was looking for something.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, he came to a relatively intact house, which used to be the accommodation area for the workshop workers.

"This is it." Zhao Xing pushed the door open and walked in.

"Meow~" When the bobcat saw its owner coming, it jumped over quickly.

"Shh~" Zhao Xing signaled Shanmao to be quiet, "Be quiet and stay still."

The little bobcat nodded.

Zhao Xing then looked into the room.

This room was prepared for him by Chen Shijie.

In addition to the exotic mountain cat, there were many other things prepared inside. There were many dark red bamboo tubes piled up in the room, which were about as thick as calves. In the middle of the room, there was a table, an oil lamp, a piece of paper, and a pair of pens and ink.

On the long platform in the front is a wooden sculpture of Donghu Bo.

In the southeast corner, there stood a straw man wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat. He was the straw man who had followed Zhao Xing out of the city.

"Exactly the same." Zhao Xing counted them all, then took out the almanac and hung it behind the door. He also tied the Thousand Miles Token to his wrist.

Then he sat down at the table, picked up a piece of paper and a pen, and signed his name on the yellow paper.

This is a title deed.

From the moment he signed his name, Zhao Xing became the owner of this house.

Then he took out the sandalwood soul box from the bamboo box, and began to move the dark red bamboo tubes in the corner, burying them one by one around the fence outside the house.

After doing all this, Zhao Xing patted himself and took a rest on the steps.

He is now not just an ordinary candidate. As one of the people who knows about Chen Shijie's plan and an important talent that Xuantian Sect wants to capture, he certainly has extra treatment.

After resting for a while, Zhao Xing planted the crops in the fenced courtyard.

In addition to the ten kinds of seeds required for the assessment, Zhao Xing also brought three additional kinds of seeds in the bamboo box.

"The assessment task is to plant ten kinds of herbal seeds throughout this fenced courtyard."

"Plant the plants for the assessment task first."

Zhao Xing put down the bamboo box and cast a spell to make the clouds cover the entire courtyard.

Then the wind came and plowed the fields.

"Whoosh~" Small tornadoes plowed the ground into grooves.

"Whoosh~" A gentle breeze rolled up the grass seeds from the asparagus box and dropped them accurately into the ravine.

"Crash~" Raindrops began to fall from the clouds.

"growing up healthily!"

"The earth veins return to their origin!"

"The Infinite Underground Palace!"

Zhao Xing cast the spell quickly.

Explore the earth veins, utilize the earth veins in the courtyard area, and perform Dizang Guiyuan and Infinite Underground Palace.

The first few spells went very smoothly.

But when practicing the underground palace method, problems arose.

"What's going on? Why didn't it succeed?" Zhao Xing was stunned. His [Boundless Underground Palace] was already at the intermediate level eight. Although the ground veins here were weaker than other places, they still existed. Logically, there was no possibility of failure.

"Try again." Zhao Xing took off his shoes and stepped on the ground. As the boundless underground palace cast a spell, his mind seemed to go deep into the ground and began to explore the earth veins.

Soon Zhao Xing discovered the fluctuation of the earth veins. It was a dark red earth vein. Based on the sensation, Zhao Xing estimated that it had reached the strength of a third-level fire vein.

This discovery surprised Zhao Xing a little.

"Level 3 leyline? Did I sense it wrong?"

"How is that possible? This area was once burned by the fire of the earth vein. Even after being repaired by Lao Chen, it should have only reached the level of the first level of the earth vein."

"How come my perception is only level three now? No, it might even be close to level four!"

With doubts in his heart, Zhao Xing continued to cast the spell, and the golden light carried his mind downwards.

But at this moment, a faint but clear thought came from the earth veins: "Why is it you?"

"You... Old Chen?" The golden light representing Zhao Xing fluctuated beside the underground veins, and he was obviously very surprised.

Chen Shijie didn't care about Zhao Xing's address, and asked in surprise: "Didn't you say that you only mastered the third level of the underground palace technique? How could you find me?"

Zhao Xing controlled the fluctuations of the golden light and transmitted the information through the ground veins: "I have used up the number of paintings at the end of the month, and I have made some progress. You are too busy, so I don't have time to tell you in detail."

Chen Shijie asked: "What time is it now?"

"Eight turns."

"..."

Seeing that Chen Shijie hadn't spoken for a long time, Zhao Xing couldn't help but ask, "What's going on with this earth vein? Isn't it said that this place was once burned by the fire of the earth vein, so the earth vein is not obvious and is only level one?"

"It was once upon a time. Half a month ago, I cast a spell to strengthen the ley lines here. After a month, it will return to its original strength."

"Then why can't I perform the Underground Palace Technique?"

"Look carefully down."

Zhao Xing increased his energy output and replenished it with energy, and finally he could see clearly what was below.

I saw a dark red palace looming under the earth vein. The color of this palace was very similar to that of the fire vein, and it was obscured by a vague force like clouds. If you didn't look carefully, you couldn't see it at all.

When the vague feeling dissipated a little, Zhao Xing suddenly caught a glimpse of one corner of it.

"Sigh~"

A huge fiery red palace, the tile alone was three or four meters long and wide.

Based on the size of the top floor of the palace, Zhao Xing immediately determined that this fiery red underground palace could cover the entire abandoned factory area.

"This is the Fire Hell Underground Palace Technique!" Zhao Xing was surprised. "Old Chen, did you do this?"

He even recognized this? Chen Shijie was also stunned, and then said lightly: "Yes, you don't have to waste extra energy to perform the underground palace method."

"Awesome." Zhao Xing exclaimed in his heart.

But it is true that when Bai Lu was taking the theoretical test, he knew that Chen Shijie was a member of the Dili faction's Si Nong.

It's normal to know the underground palace method.

Zhao Xing's boundless underground palace is characterized by its size, but at this moment, he knows that his boundless underground palace cannot compare to Chen Shijie's Hellfire Underground Palace in terms of size.

"I'll go up first."

"Be careful." Chen Shijie reminded again, "If anything happens, Long Xiao and I may not be able to pay attention to you."

"I understand." Zhao Xing would naturally keep a low profile and not cause any trouble for Chen Shijie.

In the evening, the small fenced yard was covered with grass and vines, and bamboo seedlings were gradually emerging.

At night, Zhao Xing lit a candle on the table, which stayed lit all night long.

On November 7th, nothing happened.

At 11:00 a.m. on November 8, the officials of the Weaving Department completed the assessment.

After the rankings are announced, the Weaver Girl can give the robes she made to the other four professions.

Zhao Xing also encountered a weaver girl knocking on the gate.

"Hello……"

"No, thank you." Zhao Xing waved his hand without even raising his head.

Lin Baiwei, who had just obtained the A-level, looked at Zhao Xing who was working on the land, and the words she wanted to say were immediately swallowed back into her stomach. She silently hung her robes on the fence and turned away.

After a long while, Zhao Xing looked up and found something on the fence. He was immediately confused: "Are you crazy? Why did you insist on giving it to me when I told you not to?"

He beckoned and ordered the straw man to take it, and found that the quality was actually quite good. The third-grade top-grade Zhen Yuan robe, after wearing it, can increase the speed of vitality recovery.

At least he could get an A in the Weaving Department's assessment, but in Zhao Xing's eyes, it was useless.

"It's incomprehensible. I don't know any Weaver Girl... Do you think I'm handsome?"

Zhao Xing threw his robes aside and continued farming.

On November 8th, there were bursts of shouting and killing during the day. Zhao Xing stood on the courtyard wall and looked into the distance. It was the military personnel fighting with the soldiers who were playing the role of monsters.

On November 9th, the eternal lamps began to shake at night, and the temple staff began to hold the lanterns to catch souls.

Zhao Xing scanned the surroundings with his bright eyes and found that these ghosts all had a fiery red color, representing the way they died before they died.

On November 10th, at the hour of Chen, the assessments of the Military Department and the Temple of God were finished, and the surroundings became quiet. Only the assessment of the Agriculture Department was still going on.

November 10th, evening, midnight.

Zhao Xing, who had already confirmed that he would get an A in the test, was taking a nap with his eyes closed at the table. The bobcat was also lying in front of his owner, yawning, bored.

Suddenly, the mountain cat shuddered, and suddenly bent his body, his eyes glowed green, and he stared at the door.

"Whoo~"

The eternal lamp shook violently, and then suddenly went out, and the surroundings fell into silence.

It pawed at Zhao Xing with its hands, but the latter did not wake up, as if he was in a deep sleep.

"Wow~"

The bobcat heard the noise and turned to look over.

The almanac automatically turned to a page and soon froze:

[Ghosts appearing in dreams, very bad luck! ]

(End of this chapter)