Chapter 64: Mental Enlightenment
Chapter 64: Mental Enlightenment
The boys in front of Xie Man seemed to know each other and were chatting animatedly.
"Lord Su Nan is the younger brother of the Lord, and if we can become his apprentices, our futures will be secured!"
"My cousin is a guard at the castle, and he says that even the knights hold Lord Su Nan in high regard. The Lord himself often seeks his advice."
"You don't know, but Lord Su Nan is a wizard!"
"A wizard? Really?"
"Of course, my father heard it from a noble at a banquet he attended."
"Amazing!"
Wizard?
Xie Man's eyes darted around.
When the kind guard mentioned wizards before, Xie Man had been a bit puzzled.
What exactly is a wizard?
From the tone of these boys, it seemed they were incredibly powerful!
Unable to contain his curiosity, Xie Man finally mustered the courage to ask, "Excuse me, what is a wizard?"
The boys turned to look at Xie Man, their eyes flickering with disdain when they saw his old, tattered clothes.
The leader of the group sneered, "You don't know? Wizards are even more powerful than knights. They can control lightning and fire and perform all sorts of magic!"
Control lightning and fire?
Xie Man's eyes widened in disbelief.
There are actually people who can do such things?
That's incredible!
So Lord Su Nan is such a powerful figure!
Seeing Xie Man's stunned expression, the boy sneered and turned away, continuing his conversation with his friends.
As time passed, the queue moved forward.
After about an hour, Xie Man finally reached the front and could clearly see inside the wooden shack.
A long wooden table stood inside, and behind it sat an elderly man with a kind and benevolent face.
Whenever a boy or girl approached, the old man would open a book and show it to them.
Most people would only look for a few seconds before grimacing and clutching their heads in pain.
At that point, the old man would close the book, offer a few words of comfort, and send the test subject away.
Clearly, most of them were not qualified.
So far, only one boy and one girl had passed the test.
They were both around twelve or thirteen years old and stood side by side behind the old man.
The boy was dressed in expensive silk, clearly a noble's son, with a faint smile on his face. Despite his efforts to hide it, a sense of superiority was evident in his gaze as he looked at the other children.
The girl, on the other hand, was dressed more modestly but with a clean, elegant appearance. She exuded a strong aura of scholarly knowledge.
Xie Man had felt a similar aura from a scholar he once knew and guessed that the girl must come from a well-educated family.
While Xie Man was observing, the few boys in front of him completed their tests and were all eliminated.
They left the queue with dejected expressions but did not go far, lingering to watch the others.
Seeing it was his turn, Xie Man stepped forward to the table.
"Name," the old man asked in a gentle voice.
"Xie Man."
The old man glanced at Xie Man's clothes and seemed a bit surprised. "You can read?"
"I've learned a bit," Xie Man said, nervously rubbing his hands.
The old man smiled and reassured him, "Don't be nervous, just relax."
He handed Xie Man a piece of paper. "Read the words on this."
"Good."
The old man nodded in satisfaction, took back the paper, and opened a book, pushing it toward Xie Man. The book had a cold, hard black cover, and the pages were filled with strange, indecipherable symbols that looked like scribbles.
"Read this book. You might experience some unusual reactions, such as headaches or chest tightness. This is normal, so don't worry. If the pain becomes unbearable, stop reading and look away."
Xie Man was already beyond hearing the old man's warning. The moment his eyes touched the book, he was plunged into a strange, dreamlike state.
The world seemed to fall silent in an instant.
Everything around him, whether it was the scenery, people, birds flying in the sky, or leaves halfway through falling from branches, appeared to be frozen in mid-air.
Xie Man looked around, startled to see that the long table and the wooden posts supporting the shack were suddenly covered in colorful tentacles.
These tentacles were covered in countless tiny eyes, swaying in the air like jellyfish.
Looking down at the ground, he saw that the cracks in the cobblestones had formed long, speaking mouths. These mouths opened and closed in unison, repeating a single word.
"Truth!"
"Truth!"
"Truth!"
What is this?
Xie Man's face turned pale, and his body trembled slightly.
In all his years, he had never seen anything so bizarre.
What is happening?
Just as he was panicking, the strange tentacles and mouths vanished as quickly as they had appeared.
Xie Man snapped back to reality, only to find that the world had returned to normal.
The people around him were staring at him with wide eyes, filled with envy and jealousy.
Xie Man looked down at the book on the table and realized he could understand the strange symbols.
"Congratulations, you've passed the test."
The old man smiled warmly, his face showing more enthusiasm than before.
"Wait over there for a moment. After the testing is over, I'll take you to meet Lord Su Nan."
"No way, this guy must have had some incredible luck to pass the test!"
"What a stroke of luck!"
"That can't be right. How could I be outdone by a commoner?"
The crowd murmured and grumbled, especially the boys who had been in line just before Xie Man. Their eyes were filled with jealousy.
The soldiers' shouts eventually quieted the crowd.
Xie Man was still lost in the strange experience, and he nodded numbly, moving to the back of the room.
"Are you okay?"
A pleasant voice reached his ears.
Xie Man looked up to see a pair of clear, bright eyes.
It was the girl with the scholarly aura he had noticed earlier.
She whispered, "You saw those phenomena, right?"
"Others saw them too?"
Knowing he wasn't the only one to experience this, Xie Man felt a strange sense of relief.
As he came to his senses, a wave of joy washed over him.
He had passed the test!
That means he would receive a gold coin as a monthly stipend from now on!
That's fantastic!
(End of Chapter)
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