novelraw Chapter 60: Scamming the Newbie Junior Apprentice Brother
Chapter 60: Scamming the Newbie Junior Apprentice Brother
Northern snow fell when it wanted to fall.
Li Qiuchen worked overtime for several days straight, rearranging the plot inside the illusory realm.
Just walking out of the illusory realm, he saw goose-feather snow filling the sky.
In one night, Blue Stone Platform was submerged in heavy snow, with accumulation reaching one chi and three cun.
This was still just the appetizer. For northerners, this could only be considered a sign of winter's arrival.
In the north, there were two idioms related to snow. One was called "heavy snow seals the door," meaning getting up in the morning, the snow directly buried to the rooftop so you couldn't even get out the door.
The other was called "heavy snow seals the mountains."
During this period when it just snowed but hadn't frozen solid yet, mountain roads were most dangerous.
One careless wrong step and the person would be gone, trapped in a snow pit with no way to climb out.
On this day when the first winter snow arrived, a small carriage went tut-tut-tut along the official road.Wang Su and Du Qian brought back the sucker... ptui! Brought back the junior apprentice brother from the outer court.
Honestly, this carriage's design quite challenged Li Qiuchen's worldview.
He knew what carriages looked like, and he knew what coal-burning, steam-spouting wheeled vehicles looked like but a small black horse that chewed coal raw with smoke coming out its ears, pulling a four-wheeled box car... this design he truly couldn't understand.
This world's technology tree could always bring him transcendent surprises in unexpected places.
Or perhaps shocks.
Of course, what the carriage looked like wasn't the point. The point was the person who stepped down from the carriage.
"Junior Apprentice Brother Chen, this is Blue Stone Platform."
Wang Su in a white robe, hands behind his back standing on the snow, the beautiful image of a graceful young master.
He seemed to quite care about his personal image in front of his junior apprentice brother.
...Then you'd better not let your junior apprentice brother know how laughable you and Du Qian squatting in the corner, unable to squeeze out one line in a day, looked.
"Among the one hundred fifty-four students the outer court recruited this year, your academic performance is most excellent. The teacher has high hopes for you. According to the county academy's past rules, those who can overwhelm everyone and stand alone at the top do indeed have a chance to be specially recruited into the inner court while having most tuition waived."
"But you should also be clear that tuition has never been the inner court's roadblock, only a threshold for screening people. Relying only on academic grades to enter the inner court is far from enough. Your personal courage, intelligence, willpower, and virtue are all indispensable."
The young person standing behind him looked about the same age as Li Qiuchen, full of youthful naivety, expression serious. Hearing this, he cupped his hands, "Many thanks for Senior Apprentice Brother's reminder. Nansheng will remember."
Du Qian smiled, "This isn't at the county academy. No need to be so serious. The things we should tell you, we've already said on the road. This illusory realm trial is a place for inner court disciples to temper their mental state. For outer court disciples like you, there will be some risk. Once excessively frightened with damaged mental state, it would be counterproductive."
"However, this illusory realm is where Brother Wang and I do our studies. It doesn't have that high of risk, so you can be at ease. Bringing you here today is just to let you experience this feeling in advance. It might help you when you later advance to the inner court."
"Many thanks, Senior Apprentice Brother."
Chen Nansheng gave repeated thanks, very moved.
He completely didn't notice the two senior apprentice brothers silently exchanging glances, coincidentally both letting out sighs of relief.
This foolish boy finally took the bait.
"Alright, now take this token and prepare a spirit stone... not for us, but to activate the illusory realm. After you enter, don't move around carelessly first. Stand in place and carefully read the relevant rules..."
Li Qiuchen had just gotten home and laid down on the kang to rest when he felt heat from his chest.
Taking out the token Du Qian had given him, his vision blurred and he was pulled back into the illusory realm.
Really treating me like a workhorse, huh? Coming back without even giving advance notice?
Li Qiuchen yawned, rallied his spirits, and looking up saw Wang Su and Du Qian flash into appearance before him.
The space he currently occupied was equivalent to the illusory realm's backend.
And at this moment at the illusory realm's entrance, a slender, thin figure appeared.
Place of Origin: Blackwater Garrison, Linyuan Province, Yun County
Name: Chen Nansheng
Cultivation: None
Status: Good
Mental State: 60
...
Huh?
Li Qiuchen glanced at the information displayed on him and turned to ask Wang Su, "Mr. Wang, his mental state isn't defaulted to 100?"
"Who told you everyone defaults to 100? This kid, although he studies well, has some family background issues. His personality is somewhat extreme. Having an unstable mental state is very normal. He himself knows his own problem, which is why he needs to temper his mental state even more."
Wang Su found this unremarkable, "Get ready. Go receive him."
"I'm not going to receive him."
"Why not?"
Li Qiuchen chuckled dryly, "I made a minor adjustment to the plot we designed before."
Chen Nansheng stood alone at the town entrance. After waiting a long time, frozen until his face turned green and he shivered.
What am I supposed to do?
Entering an illusory realm for the first time, the inexperienced him was completely confused.
Without a beginner's guide, he stood there dazed for a long time before reacting. Should I go into the town?
Then what?
Don't know.
Outside was an icy world, vast white snow. Inside the town was blue sky and white clouds, green grass like a mat, with no chill felt whatsoever.
Although he felt no chill, the hairs on Chen Nansheng's back involuntarily stood up.
On the street, many townspeople came and went. It looked no different from an ordinary rural town but the instant he walked into the town, everyone around stopped their steps, turned their heads and silently looked at him.
The scene was terrifyingly quiet.
[Chen Nansheng Mental State -5]
"Right, right, right! This is exactly that feeling!"
Over on Chen Nansheng's side, nothing had happened yet, but Wang Su and Du Qian hiding in the backend observing got excited.
"Xiaohe, you've got something! That's right, this is the feeling. We spent so much effort and couldn't create it. This flavor is right!"
Li Qiuchen thought to himself, as expected.
Back when watching them mess around, he was thinking, how exactly was this illusory realm supposed to temper mental state?
Later he figured it out. Wasn't it just scaring people?
Wasn't it just filming horror movies?
The kind of stimulating life you usually couldn't experience at the county academy, experiencing it immersively, with no life-threatening danger while also exercising courage and increasing knowledge.
If proceeding with this line of thinking, everything became simple.
Why look for Lord Chang the Eighth to play the final stage big BOSS?
[Chen Nansheng Mental State -5]
The atmosphere in town was really too eerie. No matter where he went, those townspeople would immediately stop their work in hand and just stare directly at him like that but when he mustered courage to step forward and inquire, those townspeople ignored him, expressions cold, not saying a word, turning and walking away.
Walking all the way to the town's largest, liveliest tavern, Chen Nansheng was still hesitating whether to go in and find someone to gather intelligence when a bloody human head rolled out from inside.
???
[Chen Nansheng Mental State -20]
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