Chapter 179 Competition (1)"Wealth and honor are achieved through risk." Shi Xuanying settled the matter with just one sentence.
Local rice is harvested twice a year, the first harvest is around July, and the second harvest is in November. Now is the time to harvest the first crop of rice.
The monks' competition will be held in two days, and the venue will be on an open space in front of the mountain between Tao County and Linxi County.
This time and place directly screened out most people. It was the busy farming season, and apart from government officials, the only people who could go and join in the fun were either wealthy people or idlers, or some storytellers who made a living by telling stories.
It’s not that Master Xuanying did it on purpose, but it’s more cost-effective to set it up in this place.
It is difficult to stop the competition between monks in a short time. There is only a small space in the city. If they want to avoid affecting ordinary people, they must spend spiritual energy to build a barrier, which is a completely unnecessary expense in her eyes.
Outside the mountain, there were wars, droughts, and torrential rains. Inside the mountain, many wealthy families in the two counties sent servants to reserve seats at the competition site.
Shi Xuanying only ordered people to draw a circle there, and those people quickly chose suitable locations on the mountains on both sides to build stands. Some used bamboo locally, and some transported wood from the city, making each one more exquisite than the other.
The gentry and merchants were also very good at dealing with people. They took the initiative to help the officials build a grandstand, occupying a central location with the best view. They even built a resting place for the monks at the foot of the mountain.
On the day of the competition, countless people brought their families and marched in a mighty convoy to the foot of the mountain as if they were having fun.
This was the first time in the history of the world that I had seen monks compete with my own eyes! To be honest, even the emperors of other countries didn't get this treatment!
The atmosphere among the monks was completely different.
A few days ago, they were so inspired by Master Xuanying's words that they threw their blood into cultivation. It was not until today, when they faced so many people, that they suddenly realized that they actually needed to "perform" in public?
The status of monks has always been higher than that of ordinary people. Although no one has broken this window paper, it is a rule that everyone must follow.
The ability that they were proud of seemed to have become something to please mortals, which undoubtedly made them feel humiliated, and therefore most of them looked unhappy.
Liu Zhubu noticed the expressions of the crowd and cleared his throat: "My Lord said that if you are dissatisfied, you can leave on your own."
go?
Of course they were reluctant to part with it! Not to mention how many good things Master Xuanying had, even the guidance from Dongfang Zhentian and Jiang Chuixing was something they couldn't even ask for even if they kowtowed and became his disciples!
Everyone finally experienced firsthand what it meant to "earn money but eat shit".
"Since it is what Your Excellency wishes, we have no complaints."
It was not a difficult decision. After all, the treatment the county magistrate could offer was so attractive.
The audience went up the mountain one after another.
Those stands were built like attics, and after everyone went in, only a very few people actually stood around to watch.
In the central stand, Tao County Magistrate Cao, Linxi County Magistrate Huang, and Liu Zhubu sat on both sides. Behind them, thirteen masked women in black clothes stood in a row, looking quite murderous.
County Magistrate Cao and Chief Secretary Liu surrendered early, and at this moment they were only feeling excited and curious. County Magistrate Huang felt uncomfortable. He was not friendly to Shi Xuanying at the beginning, and later he went against her with a choked breath, making one mistake after another. When he finally realized the disparity in strength, he couldn't even see Shi Xuanying when he wanted to surrender!
His men all turned to Liu Zhubu.
After all, he was one level higher than Liu Zhubu and had been the boss in Linxi County for so long, but he just couldn't bring himself to flatter Liu Zhubu!
The consequence of being unable to lose face is being sidelined. Now he feels very uncomfortable carrying an empty title.
When he saw Shi Xuanying today, County Magistrate Huang had intended to swallow his pride and ask for her forgiveness no matter what, and then surrender to her. However, when he saw County Magistrate Cao and Chief Secretary Liu standing on both sides like law protectors, he could not do such a servile thing. Shi Xuanying saw his uneasiness, but she seemed not to notice.
County Magistrate Huang is a man who fears the strong and bullies the weak. He has too many rules and regulations in his mind. It's not that he doesn't know how to adapt to the times, but that his understanding of the times is limited by too many conditions.
He looked down on women and those with lower official positions than himself, so he could not make a choice at the first opportunity.
However, this person has his own uses. Shi Xuanying is short of people now. If the other party voluntarily surrenders, it is not impossible to use him after some training.
Among the three people, Cao, the county magistrate of Tao County, Huang, the county magistrate of Linxi County, and Liu Zhubu, the one who is the most resourceful and the most flexible is actually Liu Zhubu.
Shi Xuanying knew very well that Liu Zhubu showed his goodwill at the beginning because he wanted to use her, or even control her as a puppet, because he didn't think from the bottom of his heart that a woman could stir up any trouble. However, he soon realized that this was not the case, and immediately changed his attitude.
County Magistrate Huang has absolute power in Linxi County. As a latecomer with no foundation, he was able to take root firmly and build up his own power under the other party's nose. He is definitely not an easy person to deal with.
It can only be said that the reason why County Magistrate Huang was able to suppress him for all these years was probably because there was really nothing he could do in his situation at that time.
Shi Xuanying glanced at the three people, calculated in her mind, and suddenly felt that her hand of cards was not particularly bad.
She didn't know when a piece of yellow talisman paper with words written on it appeared in her hand, and she folded a paper crane with her slender fingers.
Just when everyone was confused, she flicked her fingertips and the paper crane was endowed with spiritual light, flapping its wings like a living thing and flew out of the window.
"Let's start!" Her voice was infused with spiritual power, as if it was in everyone's ears.
It was the first time that everyone saw such miraculous skills. They were amazed and became more respectful in their hearts. Only County Magistrate Huang had a blank mind at that moment and sweat all over his forehead.
Everyone around saw a beam of light flying out from the viewing platform halfway up the mountain, and a paper crane with a long tail of light flew in front of Jiang Chuixing and Dongfang Zhentian.
"The paper crane sends a message!"
A group of monks were watching this scene, and their hearts were shocked beyond words, because they knew very well how difficult it was to do this nowadays. On the contrary, ordinary people who were watching from afar were only excited about witnessing the miracle with their own eyes.
There are many legendary stories about cultivating immortals circulating among the people. Ordinary people have heard them since childhood. Since they rarely come into contact with masters of profound arts with high cultivation levels, they think that these things have always existed, but they have just not seen them.
Jiang Chuixing unfolded the paper crane and began to read out the rules.
This competition is not a one-on-one fight, but three-on-three!
The two sides were divided into groups on the spot, and then each group sent one person to draw a number. The team that drew the same number would compete on the field.
No one had any objection to this, but when the box for drawing lots was brought up, they were shocked to find that everyone was drawing lots from one box!
This means that a team of mystics may be drawn into a team of other mystics, and the same goes for martial artists.
"Isn't this a battle between the mystics and the martial artists?" someone couldn't help but ask.
The officer struck the gong and said, "Please divide into groups and come forward to draw lots."
