They've all become top scholars in the imperial examinations, and you're telling me this i

Chapter 29 Demons and Evil
As Chen Guangrui left the Yongzhou government office, the afternoon sun was dazzling, but his heart felt icy cold.

The chaos on the street still seems vivid in my mind; reporting to the authorities is just a formality.

The officials of Yongzhou Prefecture were exceptionally respectful to Li Jing, the Minister of War, and handled the matter flawlessly. However, their indifferent, businesslike manner chilled Chen Guangrui even more.

Especially at the end, when the prefectural officer in charge of receiving them learned that Chen Guangrui was the newly appointed top scholar, he was clearly stunned for a moment, and then his gaze toward Li Jing became more complicated, with a knowing look that "noble people have many affairs".

Li Jing simply cupped his hands in greeting and sighed. Chen Guangrui understood the meaning behind that sigh: surprise at Li Jing's status as the top scholar, and a sense of shared misfortune in being caught in the same vortex.

The storm at Xuanwu Gate came too suddenly and too fiercely! This veteran general, who had been wavering between the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qin, had probably just gotten a bit of a tip-off and weighed the pros and cons. Before he could completely side with one side or make any substantial "impulse," the coup was over.

And the result? He was disliked by both sides. The Qin King's faction thought he wasn't loyal enough and had joined them late, while the Crown Prince's faction might resent his inaction. He was caught in the middle, in an awkward and precarious situation.

That's why he felt today's assassination attempt was aimed at him.

Chen Guangrui walked with his head down, appearing calm, but his gaze was like an invisible needle, sweeping over every street vendor and every hurried passerby.

Zhang Changling had just been tricked into going to the Yin family to propose marriage, and things might not even have started yet.
To be on the safe side, I went straight to Daxingshan Temple, only to be assassinated halfway there...

The timing was absolutely perfect!

How did this person know my intentions?

The only people who could leak the secret were Yuan Shoucheng and the Dragon King of the Jing River, but Chen Guangrui knew that neither of them could possibly leak the secret.

The only explanation: I've been being watched the whole time! Like an insect stuck in a spider web, every move I make is under the watchful eye of some hidden spectator. If I do anything wrong, something unexpected will happen, or it will be the first sign that something is about to happen.

Thinking of this, fear, like cold vines, quietly tightened around his heart.

Who is spying on me? To what extent? They know everything about my impromptu trip to Daxingshan Temple?
He tried to appear calm, but his palms were damp with cold sweat.

The yamen runners, the street vendors, the innkeepers—everyone seemed to have a strange look in their eyes.

He even suspected that everyone who passed by might be part of that surveillance eye. The noisy crowd around him now seemed shrouded in a suspicious shadow.

“…Scholar Chen?” Li Jing’s voice interrupted Chen Guangrui’s thoughts.

"Hmm?" Chen Guangrui looked up.

Li Jing looked at him, his tone carrying a hint of inquiry.
"Just now in the government office, I overheard you saying you were going to Daxingshan Temple. What's the purpose of that?"

He paused, then said, "I see you are young and have already achieved the highest rank in the imperial examinations. It is the time for you to serve the court. Why do you want to enter that pure Buddhist monastery?"

Chen Guangrui tried to make his tone sound more relaxed.
"I don't really intend to become a monk. I just want to temporarily register as a 'disciple of pure faith' at Daxingshan Temple, practice with my hair intact for a while, and temper my mind." He spoke vaguely, but what he was thinking about was that romantic entanglement.

"Qingxin disciple?"

Li Jing raised his thick eyebrows slightly, clearly somewhat surprised, then shook his head with a hint of disapproval.
"His Majesty now reveres Taoism, honoring Laozi as his ancestor, making Taoism a prominent school of thought. If you truly wish to find a quiet place to cultivate your mind and body, why not go to a Taoist temple? The Xuandu Temple and Qingxu Temple of our dynasty are both excellent choices. As for Buddhism..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear: in the Li Tang dynasty, where the emperor claimed to be a descendant of Laozi, it was somewhat inappropriate for officials to go and worship Buddha.

Chen Guangrui gave a wry smile, skillfully avoiding the deeper meaning in Li Jing's gaze.
"Whether it's Buddhism or Taoism, it's just a name. They might change their minds in a few days and come back out. It's just a temporary measure."

He was indeed practicing Tai Chi, but it also revealed that he was not entirely devoted to Buddhism.

Just then, a minor official from Yongzhou Prefecture hurried out of the yamen, his face filled with undisguised surprise and panic. He ran up to Li Jing and Chen Guangrui, lowering his voice as if afraid of disturbing something.
"Minister Li! Scholar Chen! Something's... a bit strange!" Li Jing and Chen Guangrui stopped at the same time and looked at the clerk.

The clerk swallowed hard and said hastily,
"I was ordered to verify the identities and backgrounds of those two assassins... I just found out! Those two... those two thugs are not from the martial arts world at all! They are just ordinary farmers from the village outside the city, honest and simple, who have never even learned martial arts! They were working in the fields this morning, and the neighbors all saw them! They simply... simply could not possibly be skilled killers!"

"what?!"

Li Jing's eyes widened in shock as he exclaimed, "How is this possible?!"

His blood-drinking sword was still vivid in his mind, and the fierce and ruthless moves of the two assassins seemed to be right before his eyes! They were truly top-notch fighters who fought to the death! How could they possibly be farmers who knew no martial arts at all?

Chen Guangrui was also stunned, a chill running from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head. He remembered a certain possibility.

The clerk wiped his sweat, his voice even lower.
"What's even stranger is that just as I was investigating their identities and sending someone to the village to question their family, the messenger reported that the two men had been working in the fields that morning and had just come to the city with their family to sell vegetables. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared. Their family thought they had gone to relieve themselves, but they never expected this to happen."

Vanished into thin air?!
The shock on Li Jing's face instantly turned into horror!
Both he and Chen Guangrui had personally experienced that brief but dangerous battle. Those two were fearless and ruthless, undoubtedly masters who had honed their skills over decades!
But the government's investigation revealed that they were two farmers who didn't know martial arts? And they suddenly disappeared while they were working?

This completely defies common sense!

Who could transform two defenseless ordinary people into top-tier assassins capable of killing renowned generals and top scholars in an instant? What a bizarre and terrifying method!
An overwhelming sense of absurdity and incomprehensible fear gripped them like a cold, giant hand, choking them.

The bustling street seemed to fall silent instantly, leaving only their heavy breathing.

Chen Guangrui was the first to break the suffocating silence. He suddenly laughed, a dry laugh with a hint of deliberate ease, even a touch of absurdity.

"Hehe... General Li,"

He spoke softly, his gaze sweeping over Li Jing's ashen face before turning to the bustling yet chilling city of Chang'an.

"You say this is strange... could it be... that a monster possessed those two farmers, giving them abilities?"

His words, though seemingly a joke, were like a needle, precisely piercing through a thin layer of paper.

Li Jing's eyes suddenly sharpened, and his earlier shock, anger, and confusion quickly settled into a deep solemnity. He didn't immediately refute, but instead nodded emphatically, clearly having also considered this possibility.

"monster……"

Li Jing's voice became rough, carrying a distant memory of the battlefield.

"...Ordinary demons indeed dare not wreak havoc in this land under the emperor's nose, where the emperor's fortune is at its peak. In the Southern Continent, with the Human King presiding, all evil is warded off! But..."

He abruptly changed the subject, his gaze sharp as a knife, as if piercing through the prosperity of Chang'an to see some forgotten corners.

"...This doesn't mean such evil spirits don't exist in the world! They just hide deeper and move more mysteriously! Back when I was with the army on our northward campaign against the Turks, I passed by that eerie Two Realms Mountain..."

Li Jing lowered his voice, a hint of lingering fear in his voice, "...I saw it with my own eyes! At the bottom of that mountain, there was a giant demon! It was a monkey with a hairy face and a thunder god's mouth! Half of its body was buried under a pile of rocks, with only its head sticking out! After years of wind and sun exposure, its eyes... were still ferocious and terrifying!"

He took a deep breath, his tone resolute: "If a demonic monkey can be suppressed at the foot of the mountain, then what's so strange about Chang'an City... hiding one or two demonic creatures that can control mortals and whose whereabouts are elusive?!"

Chen Guangrui listened quietly, his heart pounding, and the forced smile on his face vanished completely.

Two Realms Mountain... A monkey with a hairy face and a thunderous mouth!
A name, crystal clear, flashed through his mind once again.

(End of this chapter)