Shao Ran, immersed in ecstasy, met Fuzi’s stern gaze tinged with disappointment and instinctively shrank back, guiltily averting his eyes to avoid direct contact.
“Speak!” Fuzi, usually gentle in the eyes of his students, rebuked sharply for the first time.
Not daring to look at Fuzi, Shao Ran’s wandering gaze fell upon his former classmates. Their unfamiliar stares made him deeply uncomfortable.
In that moment, he felt like an irredeemable villain.
But—but he had only wanted to survive.
Why were they looking at him like that?
Was it because of Shao Yanzhe?
Yes!
It was all Shao Yanzhe’s fault!
If he had taken the bookmark back then, no one would have noticed anything amiss. Later, when he was trapped in the Illusion, his classmates and Fuzi would have merely thought he had underperformed, never suspecting him!
Seeing Shao Ran lower his head in prolonged silence, Fuzi’s eyes filled with disappointment. “Shao Ran, leave.”
This time, his voice was eerily calm.
Yet it was this very calmness that sent a jolt of dread through Shao Ran, stirring a sudden, ominous premonition.
He snapped his head up, staring at Fuzi in disbelief. “Fuzi! You’re actually expelling me!”
All emotion drained from Fuzi’s eyes, leaving only stillness. “Yes. This old teacher is unworthy, unfit to guide the youth. Seek another master.”
Shao Ran’s face instantly paled. “Fuzi!”
He opened his mouth to plead his case, but admitting his mistakes felt even more humiliating than being cast out.
“Fuzi clearly favors Shao Yanzhe! Fine, I’ll go!”
With those words, he turned and strode away.
He wasn’t wrong!
He had only wanted to live!
Watching Shao Ran depart, Fuzi staggered slightly as the accusation struck his heart. Defeat washed over his face. He had always treated every student impartially, without bias—how could he be so unjustly judged now?
He had failed, producing such an ungrateful student.
Tilting his head upward, regret surged within him: he had wronged Shao Yanzhe!
Meanwhile, Shao Yanzhe—presumed dead in the Illusion—was still very much alive and kicking. He never expected the Red-Clothed Woman to secretly manipulate his results, placing him last in the rankings!
Fuming inwardly but not daring to protest, he could only stew in silent frustration.
Just then, the Red-Clothed Woman materialized. Shao Yanzhe flinched, barely suppressing a yelp as he fought the urge to flee.
He mentally chanted “prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony…” over and over, grasping for courage.
“You have ten hours to finish these exam papers. Fail, and you die!”
Dropping three baskets of test scrolls, the Red-Clothed Woman vanished.
Shao Yanzhe: “…”
Ever since transmigrating into this world, it seemed he was either answering questions or on his way to do so—he was truly locked in a battle with exams.
Finding bleak humor in his plight, he chuckled dryly to himself before shifting his gaze past the baskets on the floor to the invigilator’s desk at the front of the examination hall.
There, stacked neatly on the desk, lay the exam papers of the Wenyuan Academy students.
A flicker of curiosity stirred in Shao Yanzhe. Scanning his surroundings cautiously, he took a tentative step toward the desk.
When the Red-Clothed Woman did not reappear, he continued advancing toward his target.
He sat down in the chair behind the desk and looked down at the examination papers, momentarily stunned.
The topmost paper was filled with vermilion comments in the margins—the same Guange Style script, yet these annotations appeared even more pleasing to the eye.
The critiques were sharp, tinged with frustration at the writer’s unrealized potential, guiding the examinee on how to improve their essays.
Shao Yanzhe’s eyes instantly lit up. Ignoring the three baskets of papers, he focused all his attention on this stack before him.
He carefully studied the content, absorbing the essence of the examinee’s writing while refining his own techniques through the annotated feedback.
After finishing one paper, he immediately moved to the next, saving his own eleven examination papers for last.
His papers were similarly covered in vermilion comments, with every essay—from eight-legged essays to policy essays—thoroughly annotated.
“So this is how it should be done here!”
“I’ve learned so much!”
“Truly brilliant!”
The more he read, the more restless he became, itching to immediately practice writing an essay to soothe his stirred emotions.
But he restrained himself, determined to finish reviewing all the papers first. After placing the stack back on the desk, he returned to the three baskets of exam questions, randomly selecting one to begin answering.
As Shao Yanzhe concentrated on composing his response, the Red-Clothed Woman watched silently from an oblique angle he couldn’t see, observing him produce essays far more fluid and imbued with Literary Qi than before.
A rare flicker of appreciation passed through her crimson eyes. Had she still been alive, she would have wanted to take him as her disciple.
What a pity.
Then, surging black resentment erupted from her being, tearing at her soul and splitting her head with pain. The faint appreciation she’d felt was instantly shredded by indignation and bitterness.
Her crimson eyes turned sinister as she stared at Shao Yanzhe, a vicious smirk twisting her lips.
Pity? What pity?
Surely this man felt no regret. Upon learning a woman dared consider taking him as a disciple, he’d probably rejoice in her death while hypocritically citing moral excuses to reject her.
All men were ungrateful scum!
The ferocity in the Red-Clothed Woman’s eyes intensified as she reached toward Shao Yanzhe.
The Literary Qi attached to his essay instantly converged into her palm, completely absorbed by her. Her aura grew noticeably stronger.
After absorbing the Literary Qi from his writing, the Red-Clothed Woman turned and departed.
Shao Yanzhe paused mid-writing, secretly wiping cold sweat from his forehead before continuing to transcribe the composition he’d conceived.
Simultaneously, he began pondering: how could he proactively persuade the Red-Clothed Woman to lift the Soul Severing Curse?
As for attempting to eliminate her—he’d abandoned that idea the moment he first saw her.
He stood no chance, absolutely none.
A frail scholar with only a wisp of National Luck for protection, he couldn’t even defend himself against Yun Weiyue, let alone the Red-Clothed Woman.
He could distinctly sense she was significantly stronger than Yun Weiyue.
Shao Yanzhe’s writing hand suddenly stilled as he felt something brush against his trouser leg. Glancing down instinctively, he met Xuan Yao’s round heterochromatic eyes—one gold, one black—and immediately brightened.
Returning his gaze to the desk, he whispered in a hushed tone, “How did you get in here?”
Afterward, small lines of text began appearing on the straw scroll before him, clearly written by Yun Weiyue.
【Just now, some cracks appeared in this ghost domain, and Xuan Yao seized the opportunity to slip in. We previously checked the situation inside the ghost domain and discovered that besides you, several other humans are trapped in different locations.
Also, it’s difficult to get you out while the ghost domain remains stable. For now, stay put and remain calm.】
Shao Yanzhe nodded slightly in response. He set aside the scroll that had turned blank again and continued working on the next question.
“What do you think—if I help her eliminate her enemies, might she consider sparing my life?”
This was the only thing he could do.
【You can give it a try.】
“Alright.”
【We’re leaving now. Stay safe. If you truly encounter danger, try to control your Literary Qi to protect yourself.
By the way, time flows differently between the ghost domain and the outside world—two days inside equal one day outside.】
Shao Yanzhe stared blankly at the slowly fading text. Could he control Literary Qi?
Just as he wanted to ask how to control it, he looked down and found Xuan Yao had already disappeared.
He felt helpless. Why hadn’t they told him such important information earlier? It would have allowed him to prepare in advance.
As for the time flow difference, he wasn’t concerned about it now.
Shao Yanzhe stared blankly at the essay before him when suddenly a chill ran through his body. Knowing the Red-Clothed Woman had returned, he set aside his tangled thoughts and focused on writing the exam paper.
He didn’t know if it was his imagination, but the longer he stayed in this ghost domain, the more he could vaguely sense the Red-Clothed Woman’s location and whether she was near him.
He didn’t know whether this was good or bad for him.
It took exactly ten hours to complete the three baskets of exam papers. Just as Shao Yanzhe put down his brush, the Red-Clothed Woman appeared before him.
She collected the three baskets of completed exam papers and with a wave of her hand, refilled the empty baskets with new papers.
“Continue!”
After saying this, she took the papers and sat in the invigilator’s seat, lowering her head to review them.
Shao Yanzhe turned to look at the Red-Clothed Woman, nervously swallowing before speaking softly: “Teacher, could you tell me how much longer I need to stay here?”
The Red-Clothed Woman, who had been reviewing the papers, paused. Her cold eyes turned to him, making it impossible to discern her thoughts.
“Be quiet. Answer the questions.”
“Yes!” Shao Yanzhe immediately shrank his neck and chose to comply, closing his mouth and picking up his brush to write.
It wasn’t that he was cowardly—anyone facing this supernatural being beyond scientific understanding would likely react no better than him.
He was just trying to survive!
In the following time, Shao Yanzhe immersed himself in the sea of exam questions.
After the Red-Clothed Woman graded the papers he had completed, he would carefully review them, allowing his writing to improve. His compositions began carrying traces of both Yun Weiyue’s and the Red-Clothed Woman’s styles.
During this process, the relationship between Shao Yanzhe and the Red-Clothed Woman gradually eased. Each time he submitted exam papers, they could briefly exchange a few words.
Sitting in his seat, Shao Yanzhe slightly raised his head to look at the Red-Clothed Woman who had appeared before him: “Teacher, I wonder how much time has passed outside? Will I still be able to leave?”
The Red-Clothed Woman glanced at him, but this time she did not leave immediately. Instead, she answered his previous question: “Three days.”
Seeing that she was about to leave again, Shao Yanzhe did not hesitate or beat around the bush. He straightforwardly asked, “What must this student do for you to remove the Soul Severing Curse from me?”