Chapter 352: 361 Horse Racing

"That city of clouds is in the sky, drifting with the wind, no one knows where it drifts to. It is ethereal like mist and rosy clouds, yet magnificent and resplendent, surpassing the palaces of the mortal world. It is the Jade Pool of the Queen Mother, the dwelling of the flying immortals."

"As the saying goes, 'The thousand crags and ten thousand turns make the road uncertain, lost among flowers and leaning on rocks, dusk has suddenly fallen. Bears roar and dragons moan, shaking the rocky springs; the deep forest shivers, startling the layered peaks. The clouds are dark and blue, about to rain; the water is calm and vast, giving rise to mist...'"

Under the cucumber trellis in the narrow small courtyard, Tang Zhao sat on a high-backed chair, narrating with vivid description. A book lay spread open before his knees; its pages were yellowed, and the ink of the characters had faded.

"Is this what is written in that book... it is written so well." Wei Se sat on a small stool opposite him, leaning against the well curb, listening with a sense of rapt fascination. "If there are immortal dwellings, they can only be like this."

"Not at all, this was written by Li Bai."

Tang Zhao closed the book and said, "In fact, the writing in this book is terrible. It is full of clichés and sudden exclamations. To put it crudely, between the lines, the author gives off the feeling of, 'Holy crap, how is this so awesome? Look quickly, look quickly, how is this so awesome?' The story is also quite formulaic; it is just a dog-blooded romance story about a poor boy climbing up to an immortal palace and falling in love with an immortal maiden inside."

"The story is not only vulgar, but it is also written poorly, with broken logic, a dragging pace, and nothing worth reading."

Wei Se nodded and asked again, "But aren't you quite fond of reading it? You read until the fourth watch last night."

Tang Zhao glared and said, "That is because I finish today's work today. There was only that little bit left, so I didn't want to drag it into the next day."

Wei Se could not ask why he read until night if he didn't like it, so he turned to ask, "Then there must be some merits to it? Otherwise, why would Black Widow recommend it?"

Tang Zhao said, "Perhaps it is... the setting. That immortal city above the clouds is written very strangely. He says that the city is woven from clouds and rosy mist. The walls of the palace are as hard as steel, the lake in the city ripples, and the immortal maiden's clothes float as she flies. Yet, no matter the texture, everything is woven from threads like Cloud Silk. When held in the hand, it is drawn into individual threads and slips away. And the entire immortal city should only have one single Cloud Silk, connected from beginning to end, stretching out for over a thousand miles, with no known start or finish."

Wei Se was thoughtful and said, "This setting is interesting. The author has a very rich imagination."

Tang Zhao pondered and said, "No, I think he might have truly seen it. All his writing is very rough. Later, when the poor boy learns magic and fights others for three hundred rounds, it is also described in a very formulaic way, as if copied directly from another book. Also, he is proficient in both literature and martial arts, and can write poetry, but it is either copied poetry or complete nonsense. Only the parts about the immortal city are written in great detail, and very naturally."

"You don't understand authors. If he hadn't truly seen it, he would be long-winded when writing about the setting, insisting on laying it all out, but he would often forget what he wrote and end up with contradictions. Only things one has truly seen are fully in one's heart, and when writing about them, it is very light and effortless, as if picking them up at will. That feeling is very subtle."

Wei Se suddenly realized and said, "You think he really happened to visit such an immortal city?"

Tang Zhao said, "Yes. I think this poor boy's journey to the immortal realm is his own experience. He probably went to an immortal city, but just didn't meet an immortal maiden, nor did any story happen. After coming out, he felt unsatisfied, so he wrote a novel about going to the heavens and living happily and carefree with an immortal maiden in the clouds forever."

Wei Se nodded and said, "Then Black Widow recommending you read this book is..."

Tang Zhao laughed, "She probably took a fancy to the immortal city, right?"

Wei Se found it amusing, then immediately became thoughtful and said, "She thinks that city is... a sword?"

Tang Zhao laughed, "That is also possible, isn't it? She might think that the city is woven from Cloud Silk, and she plays with spider silk; both have the character 'silk' in them, so there should be a connection? She dreams of becoming a 'Cloud Silk Sword' Sword Guest?"

Wei Se said, "She wants to ask you to help find this place? Help her seize the sword? Where would one even go to find it?"

Tang Zhao said, "Exactly. Not to mention whether this sword even has a Sword Guest, this book was written in the previous dynasty, nearly two hundred years ago. Who knows where the immortal city is drifting with the wind today?"

He felt that this Yunxian City—if it existed—was a bit like Jianzhou. Jianzhou seemed to have no master, but in reality, the Sword Saint was still there; how could Yunxian City be an exception? If one exhausted their efforts or had incredible luck and found it, only to have a Sword Immortal or Sword Saint take the sword away with one hand and crush the person with the other, where would one go to reason?

Black Widow probably didn't hold much hope either, so she only asked Tang Zhao to take a look. What she could truly fight for was the Jingzhe Sword of Jingzhe Villa.

Closing the book, Tang Zhao placed it on the small wooden table in the courtyard and said, "Let's stop worrying about this book for now. Manor Master Yin will tell me her plans when the time comes. We have stolen half a day of leisure; we have already stolen two days before the students arrived, and if we stay idle any longer, others won't agree."

Just as he was speaking, a grey, dusty owl descended from the sky and landed on Tang Zhao's shoulder.

"Look—didn't it come just as we were talking about it?"

The signal had arrived; this was the Central Military Prefecture urging everyone to assemble, as it was time to head to the examination grounds.

The designated assembly point was at a horse farm outside Mu City.

To the east of Mu City lay a vast plain. Apart from the fields and paths, the largest open space was a horse farm, which kept over a hundred fine horses; it was a military horse farm that was also open to the common people. Every autumn, a mule and horse fair would be held, and merchants from all over would bring their livestock to trade here.

Yunzhou was considered a horse-producing region for the Central Plains, but the truly fine horses were still in Liangzhou. Tang Zhao remembered that when he was young, there were often merchants with Liangzhou accents driving cattle and horses here to sell.

However, today, there were not many people racing horses on the farm, and only a few fine horses were tied in the row of horse troughs.

As soon as Tang Zhao entered the grounds, he saw an acquaintance.

Li Yijian was standing in the horse shed of the farm, wearing short, coarse cloth clothes, and was brushing a black steed.

Tang Zhao approached the horse shed, and Li Yijian did not even look up, saying, "You've arrived? You are the latest one to arrive. Do you want to choose one?"

Tang Zhao scanned the horse shed and praised, "These are all fine horses."

Li Yijian said, "Of course. These are all military horses raised by the Central Army; every single one is a thousand-mile steed chosen from thousands. Since you have time today, feel free to ride any of them here."

Tang Zhao's horsemanship was only average. He had no chance to ride horses on the mountain, as any space was used for his Six Dragon Carriage. When he traveled down the mountain, he did ride horses, but only as a mount; he would just buy one at the horse market and use it, never specifically choosing a fine steed. At this moment, however, seeing that every fine horse in front of the trough was tall and long-legged, as spirited as a dragon, and truly a rare steed he had never seen before, he could not help but feel a sense of affection. He chose a white horse and gently stroked its back.

Li Yijian did not warn him about which horse was too fierce to touch; they were all Sword Guests, so what could a mortal horse do or not do?

Tang Zhao led the horse, but did not mount it. Instead, he used his Internal Energy to stroke the horse's body. He practiced fire-natured Internal Energy, which made the horse feel warm and very comfortable, so it naturally lowered its head in closeness.

While familiarizing himself with the horse's temperament, he asked, "I remember the final hurdle for rushing to the examination grounds is to find a horse?"

Li Yijian said casually, "Exactly. One hundred horses are scattered within a radius of several dozen miles in the horse farm. Only by finding one and bringing it back to the farm can one be considered successful and be allowed to participate in the subsequent examinations."

Tang Zhao said, "Four departments, thirty people each; out of one hundred and twenty people, at least twenty are destined to be eliminated."

In previous years, many people were eliminated, but there were no hard quotas. If the students were all capable, they could all reach the examination grounds. The first hurdle was not originally intended to eliminate people. But this year, with the quotas tightened, it became cruel starting from the first hurdle.

Li Yijian said, "Actually, it is one hundred and forty people. My Governor's Middle Army also has ten thousand men, several times more than you all; isn't it normal to have more quotas?"

That meant nearly one-third would be eliminated first.

No, it was impossible for every horse to be found, so one hundred people could not be filled. Therefore, even more would be eliminated.

"What if some horses are snatched by horse traders, resold, or even killed and eaten by poor men; what then?"

Li Yijian sneered, "Who would dare? Do you see the mark on this horse's rump? This is my Central Army brand. In Yunzhou, who dares to mess with it? By then, even if not every single one is there, there won't be many missing."

Then someone said, "Not only will there not be fewer, there might even be more."

A beautiful woman was seen riding a yellow-maned horse as she galloped over, saying, "Your military horse brand is so crude that it can be easily forged. Why couldn't one find a horse themselves and pass it off as one of yours? How could the students not think of this idea?"

Li Yijian said, "Is this the way of thinking of you people from the Jing'an Division? It is worthy of you."

Tang Zhao turned to look at the woman; she was the Instructor from the Jing'an Division sent to oversee the event, Lan Xiuzhu. This Instructor's temperament reminded him of Black Widow; that pure yet soft and charming, pitiful temperament was truly similar, though she was slightly less seductive, she was even more delicate and soft.

Because the Jing'an Division was engaged in intelligence activities outside all year round, there were many handsome men and beautiful women, which was the exact opposite of the Spirit Officials.

"I can distinguish between the real and the fake. If one simply engages in fraud, it will naturally be treated as cheating and they will be expelled on the spot. If they truly manage to pass off the fake as real to the point where even I am fooled... then that is their own ability, so why not allow them to pass?"

Just then, the Instructor from the Prison-Suppressing Division also arrived. He was a young man in his thirties. In terms of age, he was not old, but among this group, he was already considered senior.

When he arrived, he curled his lips and made a face, looking very unhappy. He was about to speak, but after glancing at Tang Zhao, he stopped.

Tang Zhao said politely, "Instructor An has also arrived early."

Instructor An snorted, "Hmph, not like you people from the Land-Surveying Division who... forget it. You are just a child."

Tang Zhao was baffled. Lan Xiuzhu smiled and said, "You arrived late. Instructor An originally had quite a bit to say about the Land-Surveying Division, saying he was determined to make the Land-Surveying Division lose face in the first hurdle, but he didn't say anything when face-to-face. I thought you two would at least make a bet and compete for victory. But seeing that Instructor Tang is young, is it inconvenient to bully the small with the big?"

Tang Zhao glanced at Instructor An, An Chihai, and then at Lan Xiuzhu, feeling puzzled—it was one thing for the Prison Suppression Division and the Land Inspection Division to be at odds, but why was this Jing'an Division trying to stir up trouble from the middle?

Could this truly be the fundamental mindset of the Jing'an Division?

Instructor An said, "Well said. I didn't expect the Instructor sent by the Land Inspection Division to be such a greenhorn. I am a generation older than him, so naturally, I won't hold it against him. However, I have already instructed my boys today to compete with their full effort and not be outdone by others. If they choose to take it personally, no one can be blamed."

Tang Zhao's expression darkened; Instructor An's words carried a hidden meaning—had the Prison Suppression Division ordered an attack on the Land Inspection Division along the way?

If that were truly the case...

He said indifferently, "My students fear no one. If you want to make a wager, I will take it. Let's see whose students all arrive safely, and whose students are completely wiped out."