Inspector

Outside Qing Shan Town, the door curtain of a tent was pulled open and two men walked inside. One of them was tall, and the other one was of a shorter build.

Waiting beside the table, Invigilator Shen Chun looked over in the candlelight. The two visitors were dressed in a high-collar cloak, and half of their faces were hidden behind silver masks. That was the typical attire for officials from the Privy Council. The tall man had three red lines sewn onto his shoulder, which signified his status as a superior in the Council, equivalent to a third-rank official in the Six Ministries.

Apparently, he was the inspector Shen Chun had been waiting for — Lord Ba Xingtian.

But the other person… Shen Chun stole a glimpse at the shorter man. No one had told him that there would be two inspectors at the exam this year. Besides, the man only had one line on his black cloak, meaning he was of the same status as a newly-qualified mystic. He shouldn't even be allowed to enter the exam hall.

However, since his boss knew about this and permitted it, Shen Chun decided that he shouldn't voice any objection, either.

"Phew, this mask is suffocating me," the tall man complained. He pulled off his mask and threw it aside as soon as he stepped inside the tent. "Do you have wine?"

"My apologies, Lord Ba," Shen Chun said as he cupped his hands together apologetically. "We only have some tea, if you would like."

"Tch." Ba Xingtian clicked his tongue and sat before the table. The chair creaked beneath his heavy body as if it was going to fall apart. "A pot of tea, then. Serve it cold!"

The short man remained quiet. He sat down beside Ba Xingtian with his mask on.

At the very least, that meant that the two of them were of the same status.

A sense of respect toward the short man welled up in Shen Chun's heart. He poured him a cup of tea too, despite him not asking for any.

Although the Privy Council was in charge of supernatural incidents, they were different from government officials from the Six Ministries. The officials had to be smart and observant. Otherwise, they might be sentenced to die at their post without even knowing whom they had offended.

Ba Xingtian pulled over the teapot and finished the whole pot in one gulp.

After that, he heaved a heavy sigh and casually wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Then, he finally started to talk about work. "How are things going for this year's mystic examination?"

"My lord," Shen Chun replied at once, "There were 427 candidates assigned to Qing Shan Town, and 401 of them have arrived. Everything is going well, and no issue has occurred so far."

"Even Qing Shan Town has over 400 candidates?" Ba Xingtian asked, looking pleased. "It seems that there will be many new faces at Privy Council by fall this year."

"With so many candidates, are we not going to increase the cut-off point?"

"We might even lower it, actually," said Ba Xingtian, shaking his head. "Our nation hasn't recovered from the locust plague last year, yet Countries Qi and Gao are already eying our resources. We need more manpower. My superiors have given me quite some pressure too."

That was in the realm of government policies, on which Shen Chun shouldn't make too many comments. He simply nodded in acknowledgment. Usually, demons and monsters tended to appear more frequently whenever there was a serious natural disaster. Sometimes, they might even cause more harm than human wars and suppressing them required mystics. However, if one couldn't even pass the aptitude test, how could they be expected to face grave national threats? Moreover, it cost a great fortune to train them. Therefore, Shen Chun wasn't convinced that lowering the cut-off point would actually solve the problem.

Ba Xingtian had no intention to discuss the topic further. He pointed at a name list on the table and asked, "Those names that are crossed out… Have they already been disqualified?"

"Yes!" Shen Chun answered, "There are nine so far."

"Nine? Eliminated on the first day of the exam?" the short man finally spoke. His voice was soft and gentle, which revealed his young age.

He was young, yet he was of the same social standing as Lord Ba? Shen Chun was suddenly curious about his identity.

"I've noted down the reason in the comments section. They were eager to dig out the clues and ended up spending all their silver this afternoon. They only realized the importance of money at dinner time. Mystics won't be able to last seven days without food, so they decided to withdraw from the exam."

"Cowards," Ba Xingtian commented. "They've run out of money, but they could have robbed others!"

"They would have done so if they were as capable as you," Shen Chun said with a smile. "In fact, I commend them for their understanding of the situation. If they were to force themselves to stay on, it would only look worse on them when they failed."

The short man picked up the name list and flipped through the pages. "So, all those with less money will be eliminated first?"

"My lord, they're more likely to be eliminated as compared to others. That's absolutely right." Shen Chun was more serious when answering his questions than answering Ba Xingtian's. "Mystics often run into unforeseen circumstances during missions, and only the resourceful ones can escape from danger unharmed."

"Is that so? But this person only had half a bag of silver at the start. Isn't it unfair to him?"

Shen Chun looked over and saw him pointing at "Xia Fan". All the other candidates had started with ten taels of silver, but he had less than five. The difference clearly stood out.

"We can only ensure that most people have received fair treatment. Moreover, the level of preparation is also an indication of how much one values the exam," he said. After a brief pause, he continued, "Besides, this person is spending the same amount of money as others. This means that he has failed to realize that he's at a disadvantage. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets eliminated soon."

The short man nodded, seemingly in agreement.

However, Shen Chun felt sorry for Xia Fan. He remembered this candidate. After all, it was very rare that a candidate was unable to amass ten taels of silver. When people laughed at him, Xia Fan wasn't upset at all. He handled the situation with remarkable maturity.

Nevertheless, he had spent most of his money on the first night. He had even ordered the most expensive dinner set, as though he wasn't aware that he had lost to others at the starting line. How ignorant.

Shen Chun felt that he had overestimated him.

"Waste no more time on these useless people," Ba Xingtian said and waved his hand. "Let's talk about the top three candidates. Who do you think they are?"

The short man flipped the name list to the first page. Shen Chun noticed that he had spent a much longer time on each page as if he was trying to memorize all the names.

"If nothing goes wrong, Fei Nian from the Fei family, Fang Xiandao from the Fang family, and Luo Qingqing from the Luo family will be the top three scorers at Qing Shan Town examination venue," Shen Chun said after careful thought.

"One from each family?" Ba Xingtian looked amused. "You surely are a competent invigilator."

"Thank you, my lord," Shen Chun said as cupped his hands and lowered his head humbly. After years of invigilation, he had come to realize that the mystic exam wasn't only a selection test, but also a means to distribute interest. In fact, those three candidates were exceptionally talented and their training of Qi had started way earlier than others. Therefore, no one could find fault with their performance. "Certainly, though, the final decision lies in your hands, after the end of the exams."

"Is there no one who's not from an established family?" the short man asked. "I'm not talking about the top three. What about the top ten, or top twenty?"

"Well…" Shen Chun hesitated. He had sensed a tint of displeasure from the man's tone. "The order of the name list is not a reflection of their actual performance. We can't say anything for sure before the exam results are concluded…"

"Haha, isn't it expected that everyone on the top list is from an established family?" Ba Xingtian laughed and interrupted him. "Think about it. We have two equally talented kids. One is from a poor family, and he only learns to read at ten years old; the other one learns to read at three and starts to practice Qi at five. Who do you think has greater potential? If the former is even stronger than the latter, you're being overly optimistic about 'prodigies'."

The short man didn't answer him. He seemed to be in deep thought.

The inspector cleared his throat and stood up.

That meant that he was going to give orders. Shen Chun stood up at once and cupped his hands together before him while bowing slightly.

"Who gets on the list is none of my concern. I shall entrust it to you," Ba Xingtian said while facing away. "The more important thing is removing threats, not the exam. I'm sure you know very well why the Privy Council has sent us here."

Shen Chun's heart skipped a beat. He licked his lips nervously before asking tentatively, "Is it because of 'the Listener'?"

"Hmph, you know it too." Ba Xingtian's tone grew stern. "Ten years ago, it would be a serious offense for an invigilator to even know this word."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have known…"

"Forget it. There's no secret never exposed unless everyone involved has carried it to their graves." Ba Xingtian waved his hand and returned to his casual tone. "You must keep your mouth shut and be cautious. How can there be such a wonderful thing? If you notice anything unusual, be it good news or bad, you must report to me immediately."

"Yes, my lord!" Shen Chun replied and lowered his head. "However… I've only heard of 'the Listener'. I have no idea about his personality or appearance or how to identify him. My lord, could you please tell me more details?"

"I don't have any details. The Listener is not a single person. They're a type of people."

Ba Xingtian picked up a talisman and lifted his hand. A breeze blew past inside the tent, and all the chirps of birds and bugs outside suddenly disappeared.

Shen Chun realized that it was a soundproofing seal.

"In fact, I don't know much about the Listeners, either. Only the four managers of Privy Council know the details."

"Even you… aren't allowed to know?"

"All I know is that they can hear some… incredible sounds, such as secrets that no one should know, or magic tricks that have never been seen before," Ba Xingtian said slowly. "But most of the time, what they hear is gibberish that no one else understands. That's how they got their name as the Listeners."

"Gibberish?"

"It means words that appear to be nonsense when linked together, even though you may understand the meaning of each word. Therefore, most of them can't live long. They will either be killed or go crazy. Before the onset of their madness, they will pose a significant disruption to society. If Listeners who've gone out of control appear in our country…"

"What will happen, then?"

Ba Xingtian looked at him with mixed emotions in his eyes. "It will be the end of us."

Shen Chun couldn't help but shudder.

He started to regret asking about the matter.

"In fact, anyone who's able to sense Qi can potentially become a Listener, though the chances are the highest when one is in their teens. After all, most of the mystics only start to master the absorption of usage of Qi when they are over ten years old. That's why the Privy Council wants to solve the issue by inspecting the candidates at the mystic exams," Ba Xingtian explained. He looked at Shen Chun in the eye and asked, "Do you understand now?"

"Yes! I will do my best!" Shen Chun said and took a deep bow.

"You don't have to worry too much." Inspector Ba Xingtian patted his shoulder with his giant palm. "I'm only following orders. As far as I know, it has been ten years since the last latent Listener appeared. That's why we've lowered the confidentiality level of this information. The risks aside, you've got to ensure that the exam runs smoothly."

However, with that knowledge in mind, it might be difficult to overlook it. Shen Chun thought to himself as he forced a laugh. Nevertheless, he felt lucky that he probably wouldn't go crazy now that he was already in his 30s. Speaking of which, the short man might be too young…

He couldn't help but look at the short man again. Based on his voice, he was likely not even 20 yet. Although he belonged to the high-risk group, he seemed unconcerned about the matter of Listeners. His state of mind was beyond composure.

Who on earth is he?

After a brief moment of hesitation, Shen Chun decided to suppress the urge to ask more questions.