And I, too, pondered in his constant self-narration, not because of such a generous act of Confucianism, but because of the time and years I missed.
Although I already have the answer in my heart, I still feel lonely when reality hits me again and again.
Who would have thought that it was just an ordinary journey to a secret realm. Not only did I lose my closest partner, but I also lost fifteen hundred years of my life.
I once remembered that when I read the allusion in the real world that "a few days in a cave means a thousand years in the world", I just felt a little bit magical. I lamented that the woodcutter who watched people playing chess was so lucky that he could travel through time.
Thousands of years later, see the future directly.
But now when I fall into a similar situation, I just feel lonely!
Time flies by so fast, and we are like a small shuttle in it, losing ourselves at some point!
I know I must have missed a lot but I don’t know what I have missed!
There is no doubt that the clues left by his father will be even slimmer, and it will be difficult to find any trace of the whereabouts of Yaoyao, Yanjing and the others!
Has the leader of the Confucian sect been released from seclusion? Has the dream of the senior brothers and others come true? What level of cultivation have those once familiar faces achieved now? There are many, many similar questions.
However, apart from the incident in Confucianism that I just learned from the old village chief, I know nothing else!
"Since you are here to respect the orders of the Confucian sect, do you know that the Confucian sect pays most attention to the ethical principles of the king, the minister, the father, the son, and the son? Nowadays, forcing people to marry into wives has become a common thing, and the idea of leaving blood is even more absurd.
Doesn’t Confucianism even care about it?” I asked in surprise, and abruptly brought the topic to this direction.
The old village chief obviously didn't expect that I would suddenly ask this, but there was only a moment of confusion on his face, and he quickly and decisively shook his head.
"No matter, no matter!" he said: "Why would the Confucian sect care about the affairs of ordinary people like us? We are not the children of the Confucian sect!"
He said the last sentence very loudly and confidently without any ambiguity.
Seeing him like this, I felt a bit "cute" and couldn't help but laugh.
Yes! They are just ordinary people who rely on Confucian rules to survive. They are not real Confucian scholars. They do not need to implement some real Confucian ideas.
In essence, everyone is just cooperating on interests!
Confucianism sets great screening rules, and the mortal world responds to them. In the end, driven by interests, they achieve the goals of both parties and satisfy their respective interests.
This kind of cooperation is very much like the market-oriented profit distribution drive in the real world. It is much smarter than forced rules and regulations, and it is not afraid of cheating on each other. It makes me admire the Confucianism who came up with this trick more than a thousand years ago.
The interest of those in power is greatly increased!
"This is located within the Jiangzhou Qitian Academy. Is there still a Qitian Order that was circulated for a century?" I changed the topic again.
Since Confucianism has started to change from top-level design, I believe that this change will never stop at one aspect, so I asked casually.
As for such magical things as Qi Tianling, I believe that the old village chief, as an innate master, cannot have heard of it.
Back then, I took the opportunity to advise Yan Yuan on adjusting the selection rules of Qitian Order, so as to make suggestions for Qitian Academy to recruit more outstanding disciples!
"Qi Tian Ling..."
Unexpectedly, the old village chief blinked his eyes and seemed to be deeply confused.
"I remembered! According to ancient books, the last time Qi Tianling appeared was five hundred years after our ancestors moved here, which is more than a thousand years ago!" After thinking for a moment, he mused with an uncertain tone.
"Is there any record in the ancient books about why Qitian Ling disappeared from the world?" I asked quickly.
"No!" The old village chief shook his head and said, "But there are rumors among the older generation, and it seems to be related to the fact that Qitian Academy has opened a large number of lower-level academies."
"If the Qitian Order is really as described in the ancient books and is just a voucher for warriors of our generation to invest in Qitian Academy, then it really has no value in existence!"
"Because now Confucian academies are spread all over the world. They actively look for talents. Once they meet those who meet their standards, they will be accepted directly into the academy!" the old village chief said with great certainty.
However, his words caused an uproar in my mind.
Even though he had mentioned before that Confucianism’s rules for selecting talents had changed, I never expected it would evolve like this!
This is really a big deal!
Compared to the minor modifications I made to the rules of Qitian Ling and Qitian Kao back then, it was a complete overhaul, fundamentally solving the big problem of wastage of talent.
"Tsk, tsk, we are so gratified that the Confucian sect has such courage." I couldn't help but say.
This time it was the old village chief's turn to show doubts. He looked at me very puzzled, obviously having difficulty understanding what I just said.
Perhaps from this moment on, my identity as a Confucian scholar in his eyes is completely questionable!
Of course, he had never believed it. It was just that the situation was stronger than the person, so he had been holding back and not showing it.
At this moment, a sudden and loud horn sound came from outside, and the old village chief's expression changed.
"No! Another tide of beasts is coming!" He stood up abruptly, no longer caring about his reserve, and bowed to me anxiously: "The tide of beasts is so fierce, why are the people suffering? I hope fellow Taoists can help me!"
Seeing him like this, I nodded slightly.
In fact, I had been turning on the Qitian Formation to observe the surroundings, and I noticed the arrival of this wave of beasts earlier than he did.
What makes me feel amazing is that this wave of beasts appeared out of thin air. Before this, with the magic of my Qitian Formation, I was not able to notice even the slightest sign.
Therefore, I agreed to the old village chief without hesitation.
Not only for the safety of this village, but also to satisfy my curiosity to see how they escaped the detection of my Qitian Formation.
Soon, we appeared at the outermost edge of the village, where countless villagers holding steel forks, sharp axes, etc. were confronting the ferocious beasts.
Opposite them, no less than three hundred ferocious beasts could be seen, baring their teeth and roaring in a low voice. The sound was huge and quite spectacular.
The types of these ferocious beasts are not much new, they are nothing more than wild wolves, bears, leopards and other ordinary beasts that mutated after being baptized by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
But their strength is extremely strong. The five leading bears have reached the level of primary monsters, corresponding to the innate warriors among humans.
Therefore, even though most of these villagers are composed of top acquired warriors, all of them are hot-blooded good men, they are still slowly retreating with uncontrollable trembling all over their bodies.
But I know that the dangers they face this time are far more than that!