On the Avenue.

Chapter 191 The Eternal Night is Coming
There is one new Jieyuan in each province every three years. It is impossible for Chen Shi to be honored by being the Jieyuan. At most, they would meet him and give him a word of encouragement. But now, the governor, the general and other high-ranking officials of Xinxiang Province actually came to the countryside in person to visit him and congratulate him.

This scene shocked and horrified the villagers, leaving them confused and bewildered.

Wasn't Mr. Chen going to become a bandit? How did he pass the imperial examination in the blink of an eye, and even ranked first in Gongzhou Province?

The key point is, how could he get first place if he didn’t take part in the autumn examination?
Li Tianqing was refining elixir in Chen Shi's courtyard. Several officials hurried into the courtyard, but seeing that he was busy, they did not disturb him.

In the past few days, Li Tianqing has already refined more than fifty furnaces of resurrection pills and has become very familiar with the process. Although the news of Chen Shi passing the imperial examination and becoming the top scorer in the imperial examination came from outside, it did not shake his heart at all. He continued to refine the furnace of resurrection pills calmly and then got up.

"Excuse me, are you Chen Shi, also known as Chen Jieyuan?" an official asked, seeing that he was young but had an extraordinary demeanor.

"My name is Li Tianqing, from Quanzhou."

Li Tianqing said, "Chen Shi has gone out and should be back soon. You gentlemen may as well take a rest in the courtyard and wait for a while."

"Don't dare."

The voice of the newly appointed governor came from outside, and he said with a smile, "I am waiting for Mr. Chen outside."

Li Tianqing was surprised, walked out of Chen's house, bowed and said: "Li Tianqing greets the governor, and greets all the gentlemen."

The new governor looked him up and down and said, "Are you Li Tianqing from the Quanzhou Li family? I heard that you are the lucky star of the Li family. All the people on the stone ship disappeared, only you survived. I also heard about the murder of Lord Li Xiaozheng. It is a pity. My surname is Xu, my given name is Jian, and my courtesy name is Zhongxiao. This is Lord Cui, who is in charge of the border troop mobilization of Xinxiang Province and is the general of Xinxiang."

He introduced them one by one, and Li Tianqing stepped forward to greet them. These newly appointed Xinxiang officials were also often from the Thirteen Aristocratic Families, but there were four who were not from the Thirteen Aristocratic Families.

Li Tianqing was well-informed and had a strong memory. Just by hearing the names of the four people, he knew that although they were not from the Thirteen Aristocratic Families, they were from smaller families and were not commoners.

An official who was the education commissioner of Xinxiang Province said with a smile, "Mr. Li, you are also on the list of Gongzhou Autumn Examination, which is a good ranking. You are ranked fourth, the champion of the imperial examination."

Li Tianqing didn't care and asked, "How are the candidates ranked?"

The education official smiled and said, "Of course it's Xijing who ranked first. The first one ahead of you is Chen Jieyuan, the second one is Yan Yayuan, and the third one is Xu Jingkui. You can be ranked fourth because of the face of the Quanzhou Li family. Congratulations, Li Jingkui!"

When Li Tianqing heard this, he knew that the list of Gongzhou candidates was arranged according to the thirteen aristocratic families.

As for why Chen Shi ranked before the thirteen families, he was not quite sure.

At this time, Chen Shi came back from stealing melons, holding two plump watermelons in his arms, which were for Li Tianqing and Hei Guo. Governor Xu Jian hurriedly led the crowd to greet him and said with a smile: "Chen Jieyuan, I am here to congratulate you. Congratulations on your success in the exam!"

Other officials also came forward to congratulate him. Chen Shi was shocked and handed the two watermelons to Li Tianqing.

After everyone explained the matter one by one, he finally understood it and said in fear, "I have not written a single word and have not achieved any achievement. How can I dare to be the champion of Gongzhou and Xinxiang? I am so scared! I am so ashamed!"

Xia Mingdong, the imperial censor of Xinxiang, said with a smile: "Ah, Chen Jieyuan is a man of both literary talent and military strategy. He is the best choice for Gongzhou and Xinxiang for the past five hundred years and the next five hundred years! You are Jieyuan because Xijing is good at judging people!"

Everyone was praising Chen Shi, praising his literary talent and martial arts. Even though Chen Shi knew that he did not take part in the Autumn Examination, he was still flattered by their praise.

Governor Xu Jian looked at Chen Shi's house and said, "Mr. Chen is poor, yet he lives in such a remote and poor place. I have a house in the provincial capital of Xinxiang, with only three acres of land, which has been abandoned and neglected. If Mr. Chen doesn't mind, I will give it to you."

Chen Shi was about to refuse, but Xu Jian held his hand and said with a smile: "Brother Chen, my house is abandoned anyway, why not make use of it? As the saying goes, a sword is given to a hero. You are a young hero. I wish I could become your friend and give you my life and property, not to mention a mere abandoned house!"

General Cui smiled and said, "That's right! Your performance in the autumn examination astounded us. It showed us what a gorgeous article is and what a sword is. It impressed us. I have never been interested in women. I have a few maids and singing girls at home who are pretty. I sent them to your house."

Mr. Gao said with a smile, "With maids and singing girls, how can we not have useful servants? I have a few who are good at seeing things at home, and I will send them to your house as well."

Lord Ma also laughed and said, "I have always had a great appetite, and I happen to have a few good cooks at home. If Chen Jieyuan is used to Xinxiang cuisine, I will also send it to your house."

"How can Chen Jieyuan travel without a precious chariot? I have four fine horses, bred as dragons, and I will send them to your house!"

"Hey, I have a spare colorful chariot at home. It was given to me by a wealthy businessman from Lingnan. It's just sitting there unused anyway, so I'll give it to Chen Jieyuan!"

……

Before Chen Shi could say anything, everyone started talking to each other and bought a house for Chen Shi, which was fully equipped with beauties, servants, carriages, horses, and so on.

Bao Tixing even planned to give Chen Shi a farm, not too big, with a thousand acres of fertile land outside the city, with a hundred tenant farmers. The rent alone would be enough to support the house and his beautiful wife and concubines.

"Everyone, listen to me!"

Chen Shi was so blocked that he couldn't speak, and suddenly shouted, "I don't like this!"

Everyone fell silent and looked at him, feeling anxious.

Chen Shi suddenly smiled and said, "But since you are so kind, I cannot refuse it, so I have no choice but to accept it!"

Everyone laughed and the host and guests were having a great time.

Governor Xu reminisced about the past with Chen Shi again, as if they had known each other for many years, and everyone was very satisfied after their conversation.

"Our village is relatively poor, so we will not keep you gentlemen here." Chen Shi said with a smile.

Everyone understood and said goodbye. Chen Shi saw them off attentively and sent them to the village entrance. Governor Xu hurriedly said, "Stay, stay."

Chen Shi stayed and waved goodbye, and everyone was reluctant to leave.

After seeing them off, Chen Shi returned home. Li Tianqing cleaned the alchemy furnace and prepared to continue refining the elixir. Seeing him return, he sneered, "Chen Shi, I overestimated you. It turns out that you are no different from those noble families. Greedy, lustful, and fond of luxurious things! You will definitely be corrupted by them and become as mercenary as them!"

Chen Shi smiled and said, "Master Yu said that we should rely on this world and coexist with it. Isn't what I am doing now relying on this world?"

Li Tianqing said angrily: "Master Yu paid tribute to the officials of Gongzhou to seek a chance for Hongshan Hall to survive! What about you?"

Chen Shi probed, "The officials in Xinxiang pay tribute to me. Aren't they just clinging to this world?"

Li Tianqing said with great sorrow: "You are not dependent on this world, you are this world! You have become corrupted by this world! Do you still have perseverance in your heart? Do you still have principles? Master Yu has perseverance and principles!"

Chen Shi sat on the recliner, leaned back, fanned himself with a palm leaf fan, and said with a smile: "I took over their house, and I will kill them when I have to. How come I don't insist on my principles? Do you think I won't kill people just because I took the money? I can't beat them!"

"You!" Li Tianqing widened his eyes, speechless.

Chen Shi glanced at him and said with a smile, "You still owe me forty-six furnaces of elixirs, hurry up and make the elixirs!"

Li Tianqing responded and went to make the elixir obediently.

During this period, his alchemy skills improved greatly, and the quality of the soul-resurrection pills he refined became higher and higher. He felt that his asking price of ten taels of silver per furnace of pills was a bit too low. However, the kind-hearted Chen had already ordered a hundred furnaces of elixirs from him, so even if he wanted to raise the price, he had to finish refining the hundred furnaces of elixirs first.

Not long after, Governor Xu and others sent people to deliver the title deed to the residence in the provincial capital. Chen Shi accepted it, but did not go to live in the provincial capital. Instead, he remained in Huangpo Village.

He didn't know anyone in the city, but at home there were Zhu Xiucai, his godmother, and the lovely villagers of Huangpo Village.

There is no room in the city for the dog to run around happily every day.

When Governor Xu saw that Chen Shi had not yet moved to the city, he let the maids and singing girls live in the mansion and cleaned the house diligently without urging Chen Shi to come.

On this day, Chen Shi was practicing the Three Lights Righteousness Technique as usual. Suddenly, the elixir in his body turned from black to yellow, and from a black golden elixir to a bright yellow golden elixir. He was delighted.

"I finally broke through to the fifth stage of the Golden Core. Without a superior spirit, I am still a few days slower than Li Tianqing."

Just three days ago, Li Tianqing had already cultivated the fifth level of the Golden Elixir. Chen Shi could only catch up with the progress of the Purple Jade Divine Embryo when there were spirits in charge of the two shrines in the small temple. Now that one of the shrines was empty, his cultivation speed was not as fast as Li Tianqing's.

"Where can we catch a powerful evil spirit..."

As he was thinking, the black pot suddenly started barking. Chen Shi's heart moved slightly. He looked up at the sky and saw fire in the sky. The sun was slowly closing its eyes!

"It's getting dark early again!"

Chen Shi was startled and stood up from under the old willow tree. He saw villagers working outside the village carrying forks, hoes and other farm tools and jogging towards the village.

It was dark, and it got dark a quarter of an hour earlier again!

Chen Shi looked up and saw that the crescent moons above the two suns had become slightly larger than before.

His heart was pounding and he had a bad idea.

"What if, what if one day, the sun closes its eyes forever, and there is only the moon, day or night? What will happen?"

Since the first time the night fell early, there have been three similar astronomical phenomena, with the night falling a total of three quarters of an hour earlier.

Although it got dark three quarters of an hour earlier, the day did not arrive earlier.

In other words, the night lasted three quarters of an hour longer.

If one thing grows stronger while the other shrinks, Xiniu Xinzhou may indeed enter eternal night!

Everyone can only appear at night, where evil spirits are rampant!
"At that time, was the disaster a calamity or a disaster? Or was it... the end of the world?"

Chen Shi shook his head to drive the ominous thought out of his mind.

But a sense of urgency arose spontaneously. He felt that the eternal night might become a reality at some point in the future. If he could not improve his cultivation as soon as possible, he was afraid that the eternal night would come and he would have no chance of survival!
"The true God from outer space is the greatest disaster! His changes are often at the level of world destruction!" he said in his heart.

Although the night fell a quarter of an hour earlier this time, which seemed short, the impact it brought was huge. The days became shorter, the nights became longer, the evil spirits became more active, and even the invasion of monsters from the dark sea was more ferocious than before.

When Chen Shi took the refined resurrection pill to the county town to sell the medicine, he heard news that monsters had landed and attacked the border guard post of Xinxiang Province. There was also news that the monsters broke through the guard post and entered the villages and towns, killing many people.

Moreover, the intensity of the moonlight is also increasing. The moon is brighter than before. The evil energy in the moon greatly increases the strength of the evil spirits, and the corpses are transforming into evil faster!

Qianyang Mountain is okay because Chen Shi is in charge, but occasionally there are still evil spirits passing by and doing evil.

Outside Qianyang Mountain, there are even more evil incidents.

For a time, people in the city and the countryside were in panic.

Li Tianqing was making elixirs at home, while Chen Shi carried the black pot and went from street to street, selling talismans in villages and towns, and also exorcising evil spirits.

Every time he exorcised evil spirits, he only charged five taels of silver, which was a very low price.

He has sold a lot of resurrection pills now and is not short of these few taels of silver. His main purpose is to prevent the folks from being killed by evil spirits before he exploits them.

That day, Chen Shi walked in front, Hei Guo sat in the wooden cart, and the wooden cart followed Chen Shi into Xianghe Town.

This town is located in the southeast of Qianyang Mountain. There is a Xiang River that originates from Qianyang Mountain, flows gently and flows eastward into the sea.

Xianghe Town is named after the river. There is a kind of sweetfish in the town, which is said to be the cub of a sea monster in the form of a fish. Every year at the autumnal equinox, the monster cub will swim upstream along the Xianghe River into the Bingquan Bay of Qianyang Mountain to spend the winter and grow up there.

The following spring, it will float downstream and return to the sea, transforming into a man-eating fish monster in the dark sea.

The taste of sweetfish is excellent, with a unique fragrance, smooth and tender without fish bones. The fish meat is firm and chewy and very refreshing, making it a favorite of gourmets.

When Chen Shi arrived in the town, it was the time when sweetfish was on the market. The air was filled with the aroma of fish, which made people's mouths water.

At this time, he saw a young monk holding a copper bowl, begging for alms from the shops along the street.

A young monk came over, followed by a young girl wearing a veil that covered her face.

The monk only asked for vegetarian food and did not eat meat.

"Uncle Master, it's time for dinner again!"

Monk Wuchen was overjoyed. He walked out of a restaurant holding a copper bowl and said with a smile, "The store owner was kind enough to give us steamed buns and flower rolls. They were fresh out of the pot and soft... Donor Chen!"

When he looked up and saw Chen Shi, he was stunned and quickly winked at Chen Shi, signaling him to slip away quickly.

The voice of a young girl came, smiling, "Donor Chen? Since you are here, why don't you have a meal together? Wu Chen, go ask the store for another portion."

Chen Shi watched Monk Wuchen walk into the restaurant with his head held high, and said with emotion: "A master of the great Baoguo Temple has fallen to the point of begging for food. What's your name, young lady?"

"It should be like a dream."

The young girl looked at him and said with a smile, "For the monks of Dabaoguo Temple, begging for alms is also a form of spiritual practice. Wuchen lacked this kind of spiritual practice before, so following me is a good opportunity for him to cultivate his mind."

Chen Shi turned around, faced her, and said in a deep voice: "Do demons also cultivate their minds?"

——I didn't sleep well the whole night. The building was shaking as if it was going to fall apart. Trees fell down in rows below. The typhoon was terrible. Fortunately, everyone was safe, but the water supply was cut off.

(End of this chapter)