Chapter 18: The Merit List

On the sixth day of October, it rained in Yishui County.

The autumn rain fell gently, washing away the dust on the eaves and filling the air with a damp chill.

Just as the day began to break, Gu Xu had already arrived at the kitchen of the Exorcism Bureau, where he spent six copper coins to buy a pancake and a youtiao (fried dough stick).

Today was the day he would participate in the assessment.

As long as he gained the approval of the examiner from the capital, he could remove the plain and outdated blue robe he wore and exchange it for a magnificent black robe embroidered with the sun, moon, and stars. He would officially become a respected official of the Exorcism Bureau.

This was a hard-won opportunity.

Although Gu Xu had spent several consecutive nights practicing and making thorough preparations, he still approached the assessment with great caution, not daring to have the slightest hint of negligence.

At this moment, he was having breakfast while silently recalling various cases of ghosts and monsters recorded in books.

His experience in slaying ghosts was definitely no match for Ma Qin. To win this competition, he could only rely on knowledge to compensate for his lack of experience.

Just then, Shi Xiaohan suddenly appeared in front of him and snatched the youtiao and pancake from his hands.

"Gu Xu, how many times have I told you! Your health is not good, don't eat unhealthy food like this!"

Gu Xu shrugged his hands, "Then what should I eat, Lady Xiaohan?"

"You are participating in the assessment today, so you need to eat something good. That's why I had my chef prepare an extra breakfast for you."

While speaking, Shi Xiaohan placed an exquisite food box in front of Gu Xu.

The food box had three layers, each containing fish congee, osmanthus cake, and soup dumplings, emitting an extremely tempting aroma.

"Thank you!" Gu Xu looked at her sincerely and said, "Your family's chef is really talented!"

"Do you like it?"

"I do."

"Good," Shi Xiaohan raised her chin proudly, "I had my chef make them based on my research on snacks from Jiangnan and Southern Guangdong. The fish congee symbolizes 'prosperity,' the osmanthus cake represents 'steady progress,' and the soup dumplings signify 'rising step by step.'"

"Gu Xu, you must do your best in today's assessment!"

"Definitely!" Gu Xu nodded earnestly.

......

At the same time.

Gu Xu's competitor, Ma Qin, had also set off early from the inn. He held an oiled paper umbrella and walked on the wet cobblestone road toward the Exorcism Bureau.

When he left, he intentionally wrapped his head tightly with a headscarf to avoid revealing his sparse hair and high hairline.

For Ma Qin, this assessment was also an extremely rare opportunity.

He had prepared meticulously for this, hoping to stand out and obtain the coveted official position, completely freeing himself from the identity of an insignificant low-ranking official.

Half a month ago, Ma Qin had already arrived in Yishui County.

However, he didn't report to the Exorcism Bureau right away.

Instead, he secretly visited and investigated the local situation, studying the sentiments of the people.

After all, Ma Qin was an outsider and not familiar with Yishui County. This could very likely be his biggest disadvantage in the competition, apart from his age and talent.

"Gu Xu, Gu Xu, today I want to see for myself if you are as amazing as the rumors say." Ma Qin silently thought to himself.

He had long wanted to meet the prodigious young man who had reached the first realm of cultivation in less than a year.

He was curious if that weirdo had grown up on some kind of magical pill since childhood, or how else could he have such terrifying progress in cultivation?

......

A few minutes later, Ma Qin arrived at the Exorcism Bureau.

Compared to the majestic gate of the Exorcism Bureau in Qingzhou Prefecture, the county office in Yishui County looked much simpler and humble.

Ma Qin put away his oiled paper umbrella and walked through the two stone lion statues, entering the office.

As soon as he entered, he saw County Governor Chen Jisheng sitting behind the desk.

Since Chen Jisheng was engrossed in his work, Ma Qin didn't dare to disturb him. He respectfully stood on the side of the desk and waited quietly.

At the same time, he couldn't help but discreetly look around and observe the environment in the office hall.

It was a plain and unadorned room.

A plaque hanging on the roof read "Benefiting the World and Pacifying the People."

On one side of the hall's wall, there was a well-framed calligraphy artwork with a sentence written in the upright and rigorous regular script--

"Those who enjoy the benefits of the world must bear the world's troubles; those who revel in the pleasures of the world must share the world's worries."

Seeing this sentence, Ma Qin froze for two seconds, unexpectedly feeling a sense of guilt in his heart.

In his ten years of slaying demons and ghosts in the Exorcism Bureau, he only aimed to have enough to eat, wear warm clothes, and support himself, to be a respectable person among the lower-ranking officials.

He never worried about the world or had the time to care about the people's livelihoods.

If this sentence was written by the current County Governor Chen, then his thoughts were truly elevated, and his mind was broad enough to make many officials, including Ma Qin, feel ashamed.

After a few minutes, Chen Jisheng put away the documents on his desk and finally looked up, seeing Ma Qin waiting beside him.

"You must be Ma Qin from Qingzhou Prefecture?"

"Your humble servant, Ma Qin, pays respects to County Governor Chen." Ma Qin clasped his fists and bowed respectfully.

"The examiner from Luojing is still half an hour away. Ma Qin, feel free to wander around the office for now. I have official business to attend to. If you don't have any other questions, I won't keep you company." Chen Jisheng's tone sounded a bit cold.

As soon as he finished speaking, he took out another document from the drawer and began to read it attentively.

County Governor Chen is truly busy with numerous affairs and is dutiful in his work! He deserves to be a model official who wrote the sentences "bear the world's troubles" and "share the world's worries"!

Ma Qin silently admired in his heart.

With that in mind, he bowed and took his leave, respectfully leaving the office hall without disturbing Chen Jisheng, who was fully focused on his work.

......

A moment later, Ma Qin arrived at the courtyard of the office.

In the center of the courtyard stood a pavilion with a tall stone stele inside.

At the top of the stele were three shining golden characters--

"The Merit List."

Ma Qin knew that the "Merit List" in the Exorcism Bureau's office was a magical treasure. It not only displayed the rankings of all cultivators' merits in the office but also updated in real-time.

However, the list had limited slots and could only show the names of the top ten cultivators in terms of merits.

Due to the abundance of talents and numerous experts in Qingzhou Prefecture, Ma Qin had never made it onto the list in his ten years of work.

For him, every name on the list was someone he needed to look up to.

"Yishui County is a remote place, so there shouldn't be too many exceptional talents. Perhaps in the future, I will have a chance to be on the list here." Ma Qin silently thought.

His gaze soon fell on the top of the list, and he saw the following:

"Rank One, Shi Xiaohan (Inspector), 6,140 merits."

The merits on the list were the accumulated rewards from tasks within a year. Exchanging merits for pills or treasures would not affect the number and ranking on the list.

In other words, even if someone gained a thousand merits in a year and exchanged them all for pills, their merit count on the list would still be "a thousand."

However, the fact that Shi Xiaohan had gained over six thousand merits in less than a year was enough to leave Ma Qin dumbfounded.

This meant that Shi Xiaohan earned an average of about seven hundred merits per month.

Even in the talent-rich Qingzhou Prefecture, this number could be described as "terrifying."

"Is this Shi Xiaohan the one they call 'the Nightmare of Yishui County'? Is that her?" Ma Qin couldn't help but inhale sharply.

Finally regaining his composure, Ma Qin continued to look further down the list.

But when he saw the name at Rank Two, he was once again astonished--

"Rank Two, Gu Xu (Clerk), 3,580 merits."