The northern summer mornings are often shrouded in a thin veil of mist.
Zheng Qing pressed the mobile phone in his arm bag and switched to a more relaxing piece of music.
It was still early, but there were already many runners. Along the riverbank, there were numerous tracks where you could see morning exercisers in their sportswear.
The track was located in Fenhe Park, a recent city improvement project by the municipal government, built with dedication. On one side of the rubber track lay the serene Fenhe River, and on the other side a lush willow grove. They infused the air with nature's breath. These scarce elements in the city were a huge attraction for the city folk who came for their morning exercises.
A dark figure flashed across Zheng Qing's vision and stopped on a stone platform not far away.
The black cat!
Zheng Qing sniffed the air, tightened his arm bag, and gave it a sidelong glance.
The black cat had an eyecatching thick black fur. It was an ordinary domestic cat by breed, but it was not as sensitive and suspicious as other cats, on the contrary, it was courageously bold. Since entering the track, it had been wandering not far from Zheng Qing.
Neither too slow nor too fast, nor too close nor too far.
It hasn't darted out of Zheng Qing's sight, but it always maintained a distance of about a hundred meters from Zheng Qing.
This made Zheng Qing, who was trailing behind, somewhat curious.
His running speed was not slow, and many runners had passed by with no one that seemed to be the black cat's owner.
Maybe this cat just thought it was fun.
As he approached the bend in front, the black cat suddenly disappeared. Zheng Qing slowed down his pace and easily spotted the black cat among the dense trees.
It left the main trail and ran into a quiet path nearby.
Compared with the main track, this branch path was only about three to five meters wide and was not rubber but a normal stone path. The black cat ran down the path for a few dozen meters then stopped and looked back at Zheng Qing with its pair of emerald green eyes.
Zheng Qing hesitated for a few seconds at the fork in the road before deciding to follow the black cat down the path.
Running with a cat is not much different from running with a person, anyway, I'm still running. Zheng Qing thought silently. Besides, this path seems so quiet, it's probably more comfortable to run here than outside.
The black cat briskly strolled in front, the surface under its feet changed from stone path to asphalt road, then from asphalt road to a hardened dirt road, then there was no road, just a wild path made of dried twigs and fallen leaves.
Zheng Qing decided to run the course till the end of the wild path before turning back.
He was now the happiest he'd been while running, even to the point of ignoring the black cat in front of him.
His nostrils greedily inhaled the air. The smell of decay from the grass and leaves filled his nostrils, mixed with pine scent and morning fog, cleansing the city's waste gases from his lungs and taking away the faint unease from his heart.
The sky gradually brightened, the sun had not risen yet, and the mist in the woods was getting heavier.
As he passed a sturdy ancient tree, Zheng Qing was instantly struck by a vast green bamboo forest ahead. The green was so dazzling that even the morning mist could not obscure its brilliance.
The bamboo leaves rustled and the branches clattered. The feeling of jogging in the bamboo forest was intoxicating.
Zheng Qing completely lost his sense of direction and just followed the black cat leisurely strolling ahead.
In the distance, the bamboo forest gradually began to thin, and the light outside slowly filtered in.
It's about to end, Zheng Qing reluctantly thought to himself, deciding to return here for a morning jog tomorrow.
As he ran out of the bamboo forest, his view expanded and the bright light forced him to squint.
When he opened his eyes again, swallowing some saliva, he couldn't help but squint again.
A wide lawn lay in front of him and about a few hundred meters away, a yellowish six-story building loomed, sandwiched amidst flower beds, rockery, and fountains. The silent tall bamboo forest surrounded the lawn.
Why is there such a building near the Fenhe River? Zheng Qing couldn't help but touch his arm bag.
As if sensing Zheng Qing's hesitation, the black cat nearby let out a *"meow"*.
Cats don't usually make such noise, he twitched the corner of his mouth.
The black cat did not care what he thought, it wagged its tail, turned around and ran towards the yellowish building.
Zheng Qing looked back, the bamboo forest that initially gave a refreshing and comfortable feeling now exuded an aura of profound depth. The distant feeling made him retreat.
Without this cat guiding the way, he would definitely get lost in it.
He sighed, pulled a small grey cloth bag from his arm bag and secretly clutched it in his palm.
The black cat in front occasionally met other small animals such as squirrels, rabbits, foxes, and even a small milky-white pig. The black cat would stop and greet them each time it encountered one. These small animals were strangely not afraid of Zheng Qing. Instead, they would curiously circle around him as if sizing him up.
Hazy human figures could be seen at the main entrance of the building in the distance.
The black cat stopped near a flower bed at the front of the building, wagged its tail, signaling for Zheng Qing to go in.
"You're not coming in?" Zheng Qing glanced at the cat.
The black cat snorted, leaped, and agilely squeezed into the lush flower bed, disappearing from sight.
From the outside, the building layout looked compact. However, once inside, Zheng Qing found the layout surprisingly spacious.
Directly opposite the main entrance was a large hall of about 100 square meters. To the left and right of the hall were two deep corridors. There were no lights in the corridors, which were dark and silent. Eight pillars stood at four corners of the hall, with a tightly closed black door between every two pillars.
Several people in black robes shuttled back and forth through the hall. Most of them looked serious and hurried, seemingly not noticing the stranger who had just walked in through the main entrance.
After observing for a while, Zheng Qing selected a seemingly gentle-looking girl with a ponytail, hurried after her, and asked somewhat awkwardly, "Excuse me, do you know where this is...?"
"Are you new here?" The girl seemed somewhat anxious, hastily interrupting him.
Zheng Qing nodded repeatedly.
"Are you here for the exam, the talent test, the faith appraisal, or the simulated combat?"
Zheng Qing looked puzzled: "Exam?"
That was the only word he caught.
"The exams are over here." The girl grabbed Zheng Qing's arm, walked him to a black door between two pillars in the northeast corner, opened the door, and pushed Zheng Qing in.
The girl had surprisingly strong strength. Before Zheng Qing could understand what was happening, he was already inside the ominous-looking black door.
It was a large step-up classroom with nearly a hundred rows. The light pouring in from eight large glass windows around the room made the place particularly bright. At this moment, the classroom was densely packed with hundreds of people, quietly working on their test papers, making the classroom exceptionally quiet.
Zheng Qing turned around; the door behind him, unbeknownst to him, had already silently closed.
He lightly tugged on the doorknob; it was locked.
"You're late!" A stern voice came from the distant podium. From this distance, Zheng Qing could only make out a tall figure also wearing the black robes worn by the people outside.
Several of the surrounding test-takers darted furtive glances in Zheng Qing's direction, causing him to swallow any words he had intended to speak.
Noise was taboo during exams.
"Your test paper is in front of you. You're about fifteen minutes behind the other candidates. Stop loitering about and answer your questions!"
Zheng Qing saw an available seat nearby with a set of test papers and writing materials on its desk.
He was sure he had not signed up for this exam. Zheng Qing was absolutely certain.
Perhaps someone else was indeed late? When they arrive, I'll give up the spot.
He silently sat down, gently picked up the test paper out of curiosity to see what type of exam this was.
The large, bold text on the front page of the test paper was astonishingly clear:
2008 Global Unified Entrance Exam for Advanced Wizarding Schools (Jiuyou Edition)
Zheng Qing shook his head, blinked his eyes, convinced that he was hallucinating.
He tried to open his grey cloth bag, only to find that the bag that he could easily open on a regular basis was tightly sealed, and he couldn't untie it no matter how hard he tried.
"Tap! Tap! Tap!" A slender hand tapped lightly on the desk in front of Zheng Qing.
Zheng raised his head, only to see a pair of dark red eyes.
It was an invigilator.
"You should only use the official paper and pen provided at the exam site to answer your questions. If you have any other special requirements, you can make them known."
Zheng Qing gave a dry laugh, stuffed the soft grey bag into his pocket, and turned to the first page of the test.
Instructions for taking the test: This test paper is divided into two parts (Part I and Part II), with 20 pages in total. Part I contains compulsory questions, whereas Part II contains optional questions. The full score is 500 points and the time limit is 300 minutes. Please use the uniformly provided 0.57 millimeter signature pen for answering the questions. It is forbidden to bring your own brushes, quill-pens, or any other type of pen. Before you start answering, please sign your real name on the cover page. After you finish the exam, the supervising teaching assistant will collect all test papers.
Please follow the invigilator's exam rules.
Cheating is strictly prohibited!
Turning to the second page of the test paper, Zheng Qing scratched his head.
The content of the test paper was surprisingly ordinary. Zheng Qing found that much of it were contents from the calligraphy copybook he practices daily.
Perhaps I can leave once I finish the test paper. He looked up at the students hunched over their papers around him, sighed, and picked up the signature pen next to the test paper.
Zheng Qing, who was finished with his test paper, did not know how much time had passed, drowsily waiting for the invigilator to collect the papers.
I'll have to find that black cat once I get out of here and tie a bow on its tail with its own fur. He thought, somewhat deliriously.
"Get up! Get up! It's time for you to go home!" A violent shaking woke Zheng Qing.
"Hand in your test paper!" He groped forward with his eyes still blurry, grabbing at thin air.
A roar of laughter exploded in his ear.
He opened his eyes, looking around him; the spacious, silent classroom from before he slept was completely gone. A small and noisy KTV private room had taken its place.
"Already done with the college entrance exam! You're free! No exams anymore!" A dark-skinned chubby guy yelled into his ear, making it ring.
Zheng Qing looked around in confusion, his mind in a semi-comatose state. Vaguely, he saw about a dozen figures hugging each other in the small room, singing at the top of their lungs.
"Friends that accompany each other for a lifetime, those days are long gone..."
As if an explosion marking the end was in order, the atmosphere in the room instantly hit its peak. A large mug of beer was also thrust into Zheng Qing's hand.
After downing the beer, the odd exam he took not long ago was put at the back of his mind. Zheng Qing's memories returned to his normal life: he was at a party with his classmates after the high school college entrance examination.
As for the run and the exam?
Just a dream.