“Absolutely ridiculous!” The fox demon forced herself to look away and said, “Enough, human, I don’t have time to listen to your nonsense. Keep this stuff for yourself!”

With that, she swiftly leapt out the window, her agile movements as if she feared he might call out “wait” again.

Brian Carter hurriedly climbed onto the table and called out into the pitch-black night outside, “Whether you come or not, I’ve left the beef on the windowsill. Remember to come get it when you’re done!”

A long time passed, and the quiet night brought no further response.

She really left.

Brian Carter sat back on the bed with a hint of regret, his heart still unsettled.

He had heard from his master that if you encounter a demon, it’s best to avoid them if you can—there are very few folk records about demons, mainly because they rarely interact with humans, but from another perspective, it could also mean that those who have seen demons are all dead.

To say he wasn’t at all nervous or on guard would be self-deception. In fact, Brian Carter had always been ready to pull out a medicine pouch from his pocket, so that if anything unexpected happened, he could unleash a spell at the first moment—though he had no confidence in how effective it would actually be.

But compared to nervousness, he felt more excitement and curiosity.

How do you understand the unknown? Clearly, by approaching it yourself. This was also the main reason Brian Carter took the scholar’s exam.

Given the chance to converse up close with a fox demon, how could he possibly let it slip by?

He just didn’t know if she would come back…

Chapter Six: The Inspector

That night, in a large tent outside Qingshan Town.

With a swish, the tent flap was lifted, and two figures, one tall and one short, walked in.

The proctor, Ethan Sullivan, who was stationed by the table, looked over by candlelight and saw that both were dressed in pitch-black high-collared robes, wearing half silver masks on their faces—the standard attire of the Privy Council officials. The tall man’s shoulder was embroidered with three red stripes, a mark of the local warden in the council, equivalent to a third-rank official in the Six Ministries.

Clearly, the visitor was the inspector he had been waiting for, Lord Kevin Baker.

But the other person… Ethan Sullivan quietly glanced at the short one. He hadn’t heard that there would be two inspectors overseeing the exam this time. Moreover, that person’s black robe had only a single white stripe, which was the rank of a novice Taoist, and by rights, he shouldn’t even be allowed into such an important exam site.

But since even his direct superior hadn’t said anything, he decided to pretend he hadn’t noticed.

“Phew, this mask is suffocating,” the tall man’s first act upon entering the tent was to yank off his silver mask and toss it aside. “Got any wine?”

“Mr. Baker,” Ethan Sullivan said helplessly with a cupped-fist salute, “there’s only tea here.”

“Tsk.” The other spat, sat down at the table, and his burly frame made the chair creak as if it might fall apart. “Then bring a pot of tea—cold!”

The short one neither removed his mask nor spoke, but simply sat down next to Kevin Baker.

This indicated that, at least in status, the two were equals.

Ethan Sullivan couldn’t help but feel a bit more respect for the latter. Even though the other hadn’t said a word, he still poured him a cup of cold tea.

Although the Privy Council mainly handled supernatural incidents and was different from the regular Six Ministries, an official was still an official. You had to have basic discernment, or you might offend someone without realizing it and be sent to your death without knowing where to appeal.

Kevin Baker brought the whole pot of tea to his mouth and drained it in one go.

After finishing, he let out a long breath, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and finally got to business. “How’s the general situation with this scholar’s exam?”

“Reporting to you, my lord,” Ethan Sullivan immediately replied, “Qingshan Town was assigned four hundred and twenty-seven candidates, four hundred and one actually arrived. Everything is going smoothly so far, with no unusual incidents.”

“Even Qingshan Town has four hundred people?” Kevin Baker looked pleased. “Looks like the Privy Council will have plenty of new faces this autumn.”

“With so many people, isn’t the passing standard going to be raised?”

“It’s hard enough not to lower it.” He shook his head. “Last year’s locust plague is still having an effect, and Qi and Gao are both stirring restlessly. People are needed everywhere. The higher-ups are under a lot of pressure.”

This was already touching on state affairs, so Ethan Sullivan didn’t say more and just nodded. The greater the disaster, the more frequently supernatural threats appeared, and sometimes the harm they caused was even worse than war. All of these required Taoists to handle. But if someone couldn’t even pass the exam, how could you expect them to do anything when facing such major threats? Plus, training a Taoist was expensive, so he didn’t believe that lowering the standard would really solve the problem.

Kevin Baker didn’t dwell on the issue either. He pointed to an open register on the table. “The names that are crossed out… are those the ones who’ve already been eliminated?”

“Yes!” Ethan Sullivan replied. “So far, there have been nine.”

“Nine? Eliminated on the first day?” The short one finally spoke, and his voice was unexpectedly light—he couldn’t be very old.

To be on equal footing with Mr. Baker at that age? Ethan Sullivan suddenly felt a bit curious about his identity.