Chapter 150: Fengming Falls Ill

Just as Ge Long had said, only a few hours after Song Mu arrived at the village, someone came looking for him.

"Greetings, fellow scholar. I have come to look for Song Mu of the Jizhou Prefectural Academy. I heard he has also arrived here."

"I wonder who he is, and where he might be?"

Song Mu was finishing a meal under the eaves of a house when he heard a conversation nearby. He put down his bowl and chopsticks, stood up, and turned around to see several scholars talking with Fu Zefeng on the village path.

Fu Zefeng was puzzled by their inquiries. Catching sight of Song Mu out of the corner of his eye, he pointed right at him and said to the group,

"The person you are looking for is right there."

With that, the group turned to look. Song Mu was momentarily startled as the men began walking toward him.

At the head of the group was a young man in hemp robes. He had a broad, honest face and an expression of quiet confidence. Walking right up to Song Mu, he cupped his hands in greeting and said,

"I am Xing Zhengyang, a scholar of the twenty-seventh year of Chongwen. I heard that you are Song Mu, the top scorer of Jizhou Prefecture in this examination?"

Song Mu looked at the young man. Ge Long had already introduced him earlier, so Song Mu had some understanding of who he was. He pressed his lips together, raised his hands in return, and said,

"I have long admired your reputation, Brother Xing. I am indeed Song Mu."

"Oh? I wonder how Brother Xing has long admired my reputation?"

The two men exchanged bows, but the other looked at Song Mu with a smiling expression, amusement playing across his features.

Song Mu could only smile back and bow once more. After all, it was just a polite pleasantry spoken on the spur of the moment.

The other man had only used it to break the ice, and the two of them shared a knowing smile.

Xing Zhengyang then introduced the two men beside him: Wen Zidong, this year's top scorer from Jianzhou, and Yan Chaoyun, who placed second in Fuzhou.

Song Mu exchanged greetings with both of them. Then, Xing Zhengyang looked at Song Mu and smiled.

"To be honest, we have truly admired Brother Song for a long time. For the past four months, your poems and essays have appeared in the imperial literary journals everywhere. Every single one is a masterpiece, truly worthy of boundless praise."

Hearing this, Song Mu smiled calmly and replied with characteristic modesty,

"It was merely good fortune on my part."

Xing Zhengyang waved a hand, speaking quite eagerly to Song Mu,

"Brother Song need not be modest. This is undoubtedly due to your boundless literary talent. We have been most eager to witness for ourselves what manner of prodigy could write such poetry."

"When we heard a few days ago that your Jizhou Prefectural Academy had come here for field training, we were absolutely thrilled, though we felt deeply regretful to hear you were not among them."

"Now that you have arrived, please do not refuse us, Brother Song. We must have a thorough discussion of our grand ambitions."

"Indeed. Brother Song is a man of exceptional talent, possessed of both literary and martial prowess. Interacting with you more often will allow us to bask in your brilliance and perhaps reach even greater heights ourselves."

Wen Zidong chimed in as well. Finding it difficult to decline, Song Mu could only smile and agree.

Thus, the group found a spot within the village to sit knee-to-knee and converse at length, their tone remarkably harmonious and full of sentiment.

"Speaking of which, I recently received some news. I wonder if you gentlemen might find it interesting?"

Yan Chaoyun spoke up at this moment, addressing the group.

"Right up in Shaozhou Prefecture city to our north, a fallen scholar has unexpectedly appeared. Not only did he nearly harm a full eight imperial scholars within the city, but he also unleashed the evil scripture, the *Hundred Flowers Slaughter Scroll*, nearly slaughtering the entire city's population."

"What? Is this true?" Wen Zidong asked in alarm, his expression filled with extreme astonishment.

Yan Chaoyun nodded with conviction and continued,

"Fortunately, it is said that an imperial scholar happened to pass by and lent a hand. The *Hundred Flowers Slaughter Scroll* was thoroughly shattered. I heard he even composed three consecutive poems on chrysanthemums on the spot, utterly eclipsing Huang Chao's poem on the chrysanthemum, and thus the citizens of the city were saved."

"It is only a pity, they say, that the demon cultist managed to escape in the end."

After listening, the men all sighed with regret, before resuming their discussion.

"Nowadays, the Southern Frontier is fraught with turmoil. Danger lurks everywhere, turning the world upside down and leaving the common people with no way to live. Those fiends and demons truly deserve to die!"

"Who can say otherwise? Yet given the present situation, it is no easy task for us to accomplish anything. The demons and monsters around these parts are easily at the demon-general level."

Listening from the side, Song Mu felt a quiet astonishment rise in his heart.

The events in Shaozhou Prefecture had caused a great sensation across the Southern Frontier. Although he did not yet know the subsequent developments, he figured that with more imperial scholars guarding the rear now, such a situation would likely not happen again.

However, upon hearing them discuss hunting down demons and monsters in the vicinity, Song Mu grew rather interested and asked,

"Gentlemen, Song has only just arrived here and does not yet know what the situation is like around these parts."

Hearing Song Mu's question, Xing Zhengyang stepped forward to explain.

"Brother Song may not know this, but our various prefectural academies have all been assigned tasks. However, these mostly involve transporting supplies and clearing out the mountain forests, and we generally operate alongside the military encampments. It is not overly difficult."

As he spoke, Xing Zhengyang stood up and gestured toward the surroundings.

"As far as the eye can see, at the edge of the plains and deep within those mountain ranges, a vast number of savage beasts are lurking. They come out to harass us almost daily. Though they are often scattered beasts, they still run us ragged."

"Therefore, we usually send out small squads to patrol the mountain forests or burn the carcasses of the beasts slain by the army's scouts."

"If we are fortunate enough to encounter any beasts that slip past the scouts, we get to use them to practice our skills."

With that, Xing Zhengyang turned his head to look at the distant military camp, his face tinged with a hint of envy.

"Speaking of which, the people in the military are truly extraordinary. Even their regular scholars can single-handedly take on a demon general, and their martial arts are exceptionally refined."

"By contrast, we bookworms who hold books all day long certainly have quite a gap between us and them."

"Brother Xing is mistaken. We are merely temporarily unaccustomed to it. I believe that after this campaign, we too will be able to slay demons and vanquish fiends as skillfully as they do. Brother Xing need not worry excessively."

Song Mu offered words of consolation. Xing Zhengyang smiled and changed the subject.

Just as the group was chatting merrily, someone suddenly ran over in a panic. It was none other than Xue Kaiwen.

Song Mu and the others were perplexed. Song Mu even stood up to introduce Xue Kaiwen to the group, but Xue Kaiwen hurried forward, grabbed Song Mu by the hand, and tried to pull him away.

Astonished, Song Mu hurriedly asked,

"Brother Ziyan, what are you doing? Has something happened?"

Xing Kaiwen nodded, panting as he said to Song Mu,

"Lord Fengming has fainted! He is currently completely unresponsive. Brother Jingzhao, go take a look quickly!"

"What? Master has fainted?"

Upon hearing this news, Song Mu's expression hardened instantly. Caring about nothing else, he shook out his sleeves and ran toward the front. Xue Kaiwen hurriedly chased after him, leaving Xing Zhengyang and the others looking at one another in dismay.

Song Mu ran all the way to the campsite of the Jizhou Prefectural Academy and entered one of the wooden buildings. A large number of academy students had already gathered there, watching the upper floor with tense expressions.

Seeing Song Mu arrive, several people cleared a path. Song Mu hastily climbed the stairs and cried out,

"Master!"

Tao Fengming was already lying on the bed inside the room. Shang Zuliang was beside him, taking his pulse with a solemn expression on his face.

Song Mu immediately quieted down and stepped forward. Seeing Tao Fengming's eyes tightly shut and an expression of pain on his face, Song Mu's expression turned one of shock.

Cultivating literary power in this world could strengthen the physical body, and scholars were generally free from illness and disaster. An imperial scholar, unless his natural lifespan had run out, was immune to ordinary sickness and pain.

Yet now, Tao Fengming was lying here like this. This deeply astonished Song Mu and suddenly made him realize something.

*Could his teacher be harboring some hidden affliction?*