Xu Fei patted him on the back, urging him to keep walking, and said as they went, “No, but we cannot just give up without even trying, right? What if we get lucky again?”
This fellow might actually be someone blessed with great luck! Yu Qing grumbled inwardly, but spoke clearly word by word, “How about I help Brother Xu secure this first place?”
“Uh…” Xu Fei stopped in his tracks, stunned for a moment, then gave a mocking laugh and continued walking, “Stop joking. Hurry back and get your writing tools.”
The meaning was obvious. If you could take first place yourself, why would you need to help me? Just take it for yourself.
Yu Qing kept pace and would not let it go, “Brother Xu, I am not joking. I genuinely want to help you succeed.” Seeing the other man continue walking with a shake of his head in disbelief, he not only refused to give up but pressed on even harder, “How about this? Let us make a bet. If I can help you win first place, the reputation of first place goes to you, and all the rewards come to me. What do you say?”
Xu Fei stopped again, frowning as he stared at him, “Brother Shiheng, what exactly do you mean by this?”
What else could Yu Qing mean? It was all for the silver, for the rewards. But his words told a different story, “To be honest with you, I am very good at guessing riddles. But the benefits of this first place you mentioned are useless to me. I have no intention of seeking an official post in Lie Prefecture. If I cannot make the metropolitan list, I will keep taking the examinations, even if it means examining until the day I die.”
“…” Xu Fei was speechless. There were indeed people who, in order to become a Presented Scholar, kept retaking the exams year after year until their hair turned white. He had heard of such cases, but he never expected to meet one today who was so stubbornly determined. Yet some things truly depended on talent. No amount of persistence could guarantee success. For example, if someone could never become the top scholar, even taking the exam ten thousand times would not make him one.
He wanted to offer some advice, but remembering this was the man’s first trip to the capital for the examinations, saying anything about failing felt inauspicious. Scholars were always superstitious about such things, so he held back. He decided to save those words for after the palace examination. “Brother Shiheng, whether you make the metropolitan list or not has nothing to do with this matter. If you can truly win first place in front of the Lord Prefect, that is not a bad thing either. There is no need to consider my benefit.”
Yu Qing refused to back down, “That is not quite right. It is not only for your sake, but also for mine. If I manage to make the metropolitan list this time in the capital and become one of the Presented Scholars on the list, does it really matter whether I am first here or not? Since it is useful to Brother Xu, why not let you have it? If securing first place here can truly help Brother Xu in the future, if it can smoothly lead to Brother Xu becoming an official, and since that official post will surely still be within Lie Prefecture, then in the days to come I may also rely on Brother Xu for support.”
That actually made some sense. Xu Fei began to understand. He hesitated, about to speak.
Yu Qing seized his wrist and gave it a shake, increasing the force of his persuasion, “I come from a poor family, with no wealth, no influence, and no powerful backers. Seeking the rewards right in front of us is part of a long-term plan. If I fail the examinations, at least I will have money on hand to focus on my studies without having to beg for scraps, so I can make a strong comeback next time. If the path to becoming a Presented Scholar keeps ending in defeat, and one day I grow disheartened and want to secure some official post just to settle down, then Brother Xu would become my fallback option as someone without connections. Once Brother Xu is established and familiar with the ways, you can naturally introduce me to opportunities. I would not dare speak so openly to anyone else, but after these few days of contact, I see that Brother Xu is a true man of honour. That is why I dare to open my heart and seek your friendship. I beg Brother Xu to help me!”
So that was it! Xu Fei suddenly saw everything clearly. His eyes lit up. The way he looked at Yu Qing changed in an instant. To think so far ahead at such a young age. Even if this man never made the metropolitan list, he was certainly not destined to live an ordinary life.
Just from these words, Xu Fei was already willing to form a bond with him. After a moment of emotion, he said with some hesitation, “If Brother Shiheng can truly help me, I will certainly not let you down. But… are you really so confident about winning first place?”
Yu Qing lightly patted the back of his hand, “You worry too much. Just give it a try. Trying costs nothing.”
Xu Fei thought about it and agreed. There was nothing to lose. He immediately smiled and said, “Fine. It is settled then.”
With the matter decided, the two laughed heartily and walked on.
Hearing the laughter, the bookboy Chong’er poked his head out from the doorway to look. Seeing the two men returning with arms around each other’s shoulders, he was quite surprised. He never expected that this ‘A Shiheng’ would suddenly seem like a different person, now so close to his young master.
When the two arrived, Chong’er greeted politely, “Young master, Young Master A.”
Xu Fei said, “Bring my brush and ink.”
Yu Qing, who had followed along, chimed in, “Um, if there are extra brushes and ink, could you lend me a set?”
Chong’er blinked his big eyes, not understanding. He instinctively looked toward his young master for guidance.
Xu Fei replied, “We have plenty of brushes and ink, but no extra inkstones. Chong’er has one he uses for practice, though I fear you might not be used to it. Better to use your own. It is just upstairs. Brother Shiheng, why not go back and fetch yours? Tools you are familiar with will feel more comfortable.”
At this, Yu Qing looked a little embarrassed, “Well, I came in a hurry and did not bring any brushes, ink, paper or inkstone.”
Both Xu Fei and Chong’er showed suspicion on their faces. A scholar coming to the capital for the examinations without bringing writing tools? Was this a joke?
Yu Qing quickly added, “It is all the fault of the people escorting me. For some reason they threw away all my reading and writing things. Along the way they even made me disguise myself, basically forcing me to look like I was not here for the examinations.” In truth he had thrown them away himself, but now he pushed all the blame onto the Sinan Prefecture. “It is fine. I only need to write a few characters. Just let me borrow Chong’er’s for now.”
So that was what happened. Xu Fei roughly understood. He immediately told Chong’er to fetch the items.
Soon after, the two each carried a set of writing tools and left. Chong’er, seeing them off from the doorway, scratched his head in confusion. With Yu Qing right there, he did not dare ask too much.
By the time the two reached the gathering place, most people had already arrived. More kept coming in ones and twos. It did not take long for everyone to assemble, and then the group set off together.
They were led all the way to the scenic Yuxiu Garden and brought into a large hall. Inside, tables paired with meditation cushions were still being arranged at even intervals.
The original desks were clearly not enough, so some had been brought in temporarily from other buildings.
More than three hundred desks placed together in this hall made it feel rather cramped. Normally this hall never seated so many people during lessons. Yuxiu Garden had several separate schoolrooms because the academy’s students were divided by year. The truly spacious place was Fenghua Hall, which could hold the entire academy’s students, but there was obviously no need to use such a large space now. Moving hundreds of desks back and forth would have been troublesome.
After the examinees arrived they waited a short while. Once the arrangements were complete, an official announced loudly, “Everyone, find your own seat and sit down.”
The crowd immediately became noisy as people scrambled to find places.
Yu Qing first observed the direction of airflow and inwardly muttered that things looked bad. Perhaps because the hall had been closed earlier, now all the doors and windows were open for ventilation. Combined with today’s slightly strong wind, the air currents inside the hall were somewhat chaotic.
The reason he was determined to take first place, besides the generous rewards, was that Yu Qi’s mention of “the time it takes one stick of incense to burn” had made him decide to seize the chance.
Since they specified the time of one stick of incense, presumably they would burn incense to measure it.
The fusion of the “Observing Character Technique” and the “Sound Character Technique” formed Linglong View’s supreme art, “Guanyin”.
To ordinary people, ears hear sounds. To the Sound Character Technique, they hear “momentum of sound”.
To ordinary people, eyes see objects. To the Observing Character Technique, they see “atmospheric phenomena”.
The rising of dust as people pass, smoke scattering in the wind, clouds steaming and glow spreading, mist and dust rising and falling between heaven and earth, the withering and flourishing of plants across spring and autumn, favourable winds and timely rains through the four seasons, all these are observable and verifiable “atmospheric phenomena”.
The Observing Character Technique has three successive realms: Small Image, Great Image, No Image.
In the Small Image realm, observing the small with the small allows one to deduce movements within a certain nearby range by relying on observable atmospheric phenomena close at hand.
In the Great Image realm, observing the small with the small, observing the great with the small, observing the small with the great, one can fuse near and far, large and small atmospheric changes into the heart, and deduce movements great and small across a much wider area.
As for the No Image realm, it is already close to the realm of myth.
According to the technique’s records, a person who cultivates the Observing Character Technique to the No Image realm finds that sensing movements within the range of their vision is merely a minor skill.
By looking up at the celestial phenomena, one knows where it will be clear and where it will rain, where great winds will blow and where great waves will rise, and can easily predict when rain will fall and when it will stop. With a pinch of the fingers, one can know fortune and misfortune, danger and safety, know where mountains will collapse and block roads making travel unwise, and even know what someone far away across thousands of li is doing.
Yu Qing once asked his master whether any of the successive patriarchs of Linglong View had ever cultivated to the third realm. Unfortunately his master himself did not know. He only said that the founder who created this technique must have reached the third realm, otherwise how could he have known about it?
Even his master, after many years of cultivation, had not truly stepped into the second realm. He had only laid a solid foundation for entering the second realm and touched its threshold.
In his master’s Small Image realm, to know the movements around him no longer required careful observation of nearby atmospheric changes. The Observing Character Technique at Small Image had already reached the level of conditioned reflex, or rather the accumulation of experience had reached a certain point. A single glance was enough to grasp all movements within a certain range.
Having reached this level, handling the Small Image realm naturally became effortless and relaxed, with no strain in using it.
Unlike Yu Qing, whose cultivation was still shallow. He had to rack his brains over subtle changes in the atmosphere to make deductions, which consumed a great deal of mental energy.
With Yu Qing’s current realm in the Observing Character Technique, without relying on the directly observable changes in the rising smoke from burning incense, it would be very hard for him to take shortcuts.
If external wind interfered and made the drifting patterns of the smoke even more chaotic, it would greatly increase the difficulty of his calculations using the Observing Character Technique.
If he were only watching the movements of one examinee, a bit of wind interference would not matter much. The problem was that now he needed to keep track of every examinee’s movements at the same time.
After observing the environment inside the hall, Yu Qing gave Xu Fei a meaningful look. Xu Fei immediately followed him. The two sat side by side in the very back corner.
Choosing this position, Yu Qing naturally wanted a clear view of the entire hall. Xu Fei found it a little hard to understand, but he still followed the plan they had secretly agreed on during the journey.
As for whether they would actually burn incense to time it, and whether suitable atmospheric phenomena for observation would appear, Yu Qing could not be sure. But preparing in advance with Xu Fei would cost him nothing even if it came to nothing.
The six top provincial examinees naturally sat at the very front. No one tried to take their places.
Everyone gradually settled down. Xu Fei noticed that Yu Qing seemed somewhat distracted, frequently staring out at the windows beside him. His gaze kept shifting back and forth from outside the windows to inside the hall. Whenever a slight breeze came in, he would quietly extend a finger he had moistened with saliva to feel it, not knowing what he was up to.