"What’s the time, Mr. Wolf?"
No one answered.
The child’s voice asked a third time, "What’s the time, Mr. Wolf?"
"It’s the hour of the Dragon." A deep, wild voice answered, its words faintly tinged with the tail end of a wolf’s howl.
Li Qingxian glanced at the sun’s position. It was about seven in the morning.
He then twitched his nose slightly, his brow furrowed.
The feeling was familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had encountered it before.
"Something’s not right..." Han Anbo looked around, suspicious.
Suddenly, a sound like tearing silk filled the air.
RIP! The spatial rift in the center of the altar suddenly tore open, like a great door opening in the middle of the Grand Arena.
It was a black void, sparkling with starlight.
Then, countless children rushed out, cheering.
Some wore red, some green, some were dressed in white, and others in black. The youngest were three or four, while the oldest seemed to be only seven or eight.
"Time to play... hahaha... hehehe..."
Hundreds of thousands of children poured out like a flood tide.
It was like the gates of a school letting out.
A thick, bizarre aura washed over them.
Li Qingxian and Han Anbo exchanged a look.
At the same time, some of the High Grade examiners actually rolled up their sleeves or even tore open their clothes in public to look at their own bodies.
Li Qingxian hastily checked his sleeves.
The persistent Yellow Springs cloud and the five-petaled red flower were still there in the crook of his left elbow. Nothing new had been added, but the two marks were slowly fading, as if they were receding into his flesh.
Li Qingxian then checked his chest. Nothing.
Then he rolled up his pant leg and saw a new blue pattern on the surface of his left calf, shaped like a four-petaled origami pinwheel.
Li Qingxian then lifted Yu Ping’s left pant leg. There was nothing there.
Li Qingxian cursed inwardly and looked at Han Anbo.
Han Anbo lifted his left pant leg. Aside from a few scars, there was nothing there either.
"What’s wrong?" Zheng Gaojue asked, looking at his own empty left leg.
Li Qingxian’s expression flickered.
"I’ve been hit by the Deceit..." Within the examination grounds, an examinee suddenly let out a trembling scream, revealing a pale calf.
The other examinees frantically rolled up their left pant legs.
A blue pinwheel pattern had appeared on the left leg of every single examinee participating in the Seventh-Grade Cyan Cloud Examination.
The faces of the Celestial Fate Sect’s Fate Masters in the arena turned pale. They hastily checked their own left legs, breathed a sigh of relief when they saw nothing, and then hurried to leave.
The people outside the examination grounds also checked their left legs, but there was nothing.
Except for Li Qingxian.
Li Qingxian was dumbfounded.
’I’m not an examinee! Why are you messing with me? I haven’t done anything to offend you! What the hell...’
Li Qingxian really wanted to let loose a string of curses.
People nearby quickly moved away. Soon, everyone had backed away from Li Qingxian, except for a few people like Han Anbo, Yu Ping, Zheng Gaojue, and Duan Heng.
A clear space opened up around him.
"Qingxian, you..." Han Anbo clearly wanted to comfort Li Qingxian, but he couldn’t help but reveal a wry, conflicted expression.
"Out of hundreds of thousands of people, besides the examinees, why were you the only one who got marked?" Yu Ping was also bewildered.
"How should I know! I..." Li Qingxian wanted to curse but didn’t dare. "Brother Han, give me some advice."
Han Anbo held it in for a long moment before saying, "Play it by ear."
"Can’t you say something useful?" Li Qingxian was getting truly anxious. ’Good things never happen to me, but I’m a magnet for trouble? Are other people’s talents being a Child of Qi Fortune, while mine is a 100% chance of getting hit by Deceit?’
"They’re all children, and it started with a game question. This time, it’s likely related to a children’s game, different from the last time," Han Anbo said.
"What’s the most important thing?"
"Think of yourself as a child playing a game," Han Anbo said.
Li Qingxian nodded slowly. He vaguely felt that Brother Han was right, but for the moment, he had no idea how to actually do that.
Just then, the tide of children surged toward the examinees.
As they ran, the children clapped their hands and sang loudly, "Searching, searching, searching for a friend! Found myself a good, good friend! Let’s bow and shake our hands, you’re a good friend of mine!"
Almost at the same instant, the bodies of all the examinees, and Li Qingxian, moved uncontrollably, clapping their hands and singing the same nursery rhyme.
"Searching, searching, searching for a friend! Found myself a good, good friend! Let’s bow and shake our hands, you’re a good friend of mine..."
The children’s crisp, cheerful voices mingled with the stiff, hoarse, and off-key singing of the examinees, creating a uniquely bizarre atmosphere.
The children at the very front rushed to grab the examinees’ hands, tilting their faces up to gaze gleefully at the person they had caught.
Some examinees had vacant expressions, others tried to flee frantically, and some were paralyzed with fear, but most of them didn’t move at all.
"This matter is of grave importance! Examinees are not to run! Observe the situation calmly!" the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Zhang Shoucheng, shouted hurriedly.
Some examinees had already panicked. They paid no attention to the examiner’s words and charged straight for the fence.
However, the moment they neared the fence, they suddenly froze in place.
The fence was so close, yet as far as the ends of the earth.
The children beside them all laughed in unison. "If you try to run without playing the game, you’ll get a spanking."
Li Qingxian turned and ran.
At the same time, a tender voice sounded beside him.
"Brother Ye Han, come play a game with Fangfang."
Li Qingxian felt something warm and soft suddenly grasp his left hand. The hair on his body stood on end, and he instinctively looked down.
He saw a plump, chubby little girl holding his hand. She looked to be about three or four years old, wearing a red dudou embroidered with a Fu character and a carp, her hair in two pigtails tied with red string that pointed to the sky. Her entire being radiated cheerfulness.
On the girl’s chubby, fair, round face were two eyes like black gemstones. Her smile was sweet and exceptionally pure.
Li Qingxian froze for a second. He felt as though he had seen this little girl somewhere before, but he just couldn’t remember where.
’Ye Han? Oh, right, that’s my formal name. My nickname is Li Qingxian.’ Li Qingxian felt his mind go into a temporary state of confusion before clearing up a moment later.
Suddenly, Li Qingxian stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes wide.
He was inside the fence, standing in the middle of the Grand Arena.
Outside were Han Anbo and the others.
The two sides stared at each other, wide-eyed.
Han Anbo sighed. "There’s no escaping it. Be careful. Remember what we just talked about, remember your past experiences, and be sure to play the game with all your heart and mind."
Zheng Gaojue’s face was deathly pale. He sighed and said, "How could this happen... It’s over."
Yu Ping, however, said, "Li Ke, enjoy the good food and drink in there. I’ll be waiting for the good news of you winning Champion Scholar."
"Is that something a human would say?" Li Qingxian shot Yu Ping a glare, then looked back at Han Anbo. "Brother Han, help me analyze this. How did I get in here?"
Li Qingxian glanced at the little girl beside him. He didn’t dare shake her off, letting her hold his hand with a beaming smile.
"Big brother is so handsome." Fangfang, pushing her luck, leaned in and rubbed her little face against the back of Li Qingxian’s hand.
’You know,’ Li Qingxian suddenly thought, ’no matter what this Deceit is, it sure has good taste.’
Han Anbo cleared his throat. "Have you forgotten that Lord Zhou signed you up?"
Li Qingxian paused, recalling Zhou Chunfeng’s words, and gave a wry laugh. "That uncle of mine really specializes in screwing over his nephew! If it weren’t for him, I’d definitely be outside watching the show with some snacks and tea. Instead, I’ve become the show."
Suddenly, screams erupted both inside and outside the arena.
Li Qingxian looked back and saw a Martial Cultivator examinee draw a blade and sever his own left arm.