[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-heavenly-official-bestows-evil":3,"chapter-heavenly-official-bestows-evil-heavenly-official-bestows-evil-chapter-542":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Heavenly Official Bestows Evil",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2317161,4530,"Chapter 542: When Peach Blossoms Bloom","heavenly-official-bestows-evil-chapter-542",542,"\u003Cp>The boy and girl each spoke a line, their tones strange, giving an unsettling feeling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Those who do not respond after being called three times will be considered as abandoning the exam, and one red line will be deducted.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Students who have completed the exam must not communicate with those who have not taken it; otherwise, both parties will be penalized with one red line deducted for cheating.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Next, students whose names are called shall enter the principal’s office in order.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shi Qilin!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The student called rushed forward in a sprint, his face tense as he lifted the straw curtain and stepped inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him, nine more entered, until ten people filled the thatched hut and stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After some time, the first to enter, Shi Qilin, stumbled out, his steps unsteady.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He showed no visible injuries, but his pale face revealed this minor exam was far from easy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not everyone behind Shi Qilin emerged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One man remained forever inside the thatched hut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The order of names called was random, so Wu Xian could only wait patiently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Other dependents and newcomers were called in turn to take the exam, and all survived, but after completing it, they were ordered to leave, so Wu Xian gained no useful information.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Xian stood in the rain until afternoon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when few remained on the playground was it finally his turn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing his name, Wu Xian hurried to the thatched hut, mimicking others by lifting the straw curtain and stepping inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoosh! As soon as he entered the thatched hut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Xian’s vision blurred; when he regained clarity, he found himself not in the hut, but standing in a dark room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The room was crude, windowless, lit only by dim candlelight, smelling strongly of damp earth, the air humid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Xian’s first impression was that this room lay underground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On a table at the room’s center stood an unnamed stone statue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before entering, his enhanced dynamic vision from the cat’s eye had let him glimpse the scene inside the thatched hut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside that hut, there was no “principal”—only a stone statue of an old man draped in a black robe; the two statues were nearly identical except for their clothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the wall behind the statue hung a painting and a couplet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The painting depicted a pastoral scene: an ancient village blanketed in peach blossoms, men, women, and children at ease, children laughing and playing with cats and dogs, clearly a paradise beyond the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The couplet read:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When false becomes true, truth becomes false; when nothing becomes something, something becomes nothing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Xian turned around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him were two doors: one marked “True,” the other “False.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Below each word was an explanation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>True Door Exam:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everything encountered in this exam is real; death here means death, injury here means injury, and items picked up during the exam may be taken out. Passing the True Door exam grants six academic credits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>False Door Exam:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The content of this exam matches the True Door exam, but everything encountered is illusory. Passing grants three academic credits; each death deducts one credit; when credits reach zero, the exam ends.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Xian finished reading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without hesitation, he stepped through the True Door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the False Door exam was safer, it might cause him to miss something vital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rule “mistake equals death” was not harsh for dependents—it was merely standard difficulty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once there was a mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside it stood a temple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the temple lived a Land God.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That year, peach blossoms bloomed in full splendor. A man in a gray-blue tunic led a child with topknot hair to offer incense to the Land God.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The child looked up and asked: “Father, why do we come to offer incense every year?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man smiled and asked: “Have you learned the story of Peach Blossom Spring?” The child nodded, swaying his head as he recited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, our teacher made us memorize it: ‘In the late Taiyuan era of the Jin Dynasty, a man from Wuling made his living fishing. He followed a stream, losing track of distance…’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man smiled and patted the child’s head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well done.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In fact, our ancestors were residents of Peach Blossom Spring.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When that man in the story left, our ancestor specifically warned him: ‘What happens here must not be told to outsiders.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The man promised wholeheartedly, but our ancestor remained uneasy—he feared the man might break his word, so our ancestor periodically ventured out to check.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Soon, our ancestor discovered the man had returned with the governor’s soldiers to Peach Blossom Spring.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Our ancestor dared not show himself. After the group left, he found the path back to Peach Blossom Spring had vanished; where the trail once was stood a Land God temple.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Returning to Peach Blossom Spring was our ancestor’s lifelong wish. Thus, every heir of our family, when peach blossoms bloom, comes here to see if the entrance has reappeared.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Remember this story, and pass it on to your descendants.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Original text in view!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finished speaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man turned, gazing at the Land God temple, speaking mundane matters to the statue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he left, he smiled and asked:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Land God, can you let us return to our homeland?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The temple held only a stone statue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And stone statues cannot answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the years that followed, the man brought the child here every peach-blossom season to offer incense, asking the same question each year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Land God, can you let us return to our homeland?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the seventh year, the man died.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The now-grown youth came alone to offer incense, recounting the family’s hardships at his father’s death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before leaving, he spoke his father’s question in his stead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boy grew into a man, then had his own child, and like his ancestors, brought his child to offer incense at the Land God temple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many more years passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The child had become an old man, his clothes now modern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few days before the peach blossoms bloomed, the old man climbed the mountain with a bottle of wine, battered by the wind, his face haggard, eyes bloodshot, sitting before the temple to recount recent events.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, times have been hard these years.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“War rages everywhere; every faction claims to fight for us, yet all they do is kill…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Rumors say rebels have reached the neighboring county; our village won’t remain peaceful much longer.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In ten days, peach blossoms will bloom.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I will bring my family for one final offering to you, then we must flee. Whether we’ll ever return in this life, I do not know. So today I came to speak with you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man drank half the bottle, then poured the rest onto the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Land God, can you let us return to our homeland?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The statue remained only a statue, unable to respond to the hope in the old man’s eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ten days later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sun shone brightly, peach blossoms in full bloom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mountains and fields were awash in pink, the sweet scent of peach blossoms intoxicating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Land God’s statue had vanished; in its place, a downward-opening hole appeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had answered the old man’s plea, opening the entrance to Peach Blossom Spring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But He waited until nightfall, and no one came up the mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As night deepened,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The village at the mountain’s foot burned, the sky half-orange with flames; the stench of blood seemed to reach the mountaintop…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1239,"2026-06-20T14:31:07.793Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","887b22e349dd59287842d87e09c4b07fa812dcc339b50b5e63e2d54b202af610","heavenly-official-bestows-evil-chapter-543","heavenly-official-bestows-evil-chapter-541",556,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fheavenly-official-bestows-evil-cover.jpg"]