Chapter 009 Deterrence

Taoist temple in deep mountains and old forests.

Several Taoists in blood-stained clothes slipped through the forest path, holding a round object in their hands. The slender branches in the forest trembled slightly, and their feet in straw sandals stepped through the mud puddles. Under the colorful light and shadow, their bloody necks were illuminated, and they had no heads!

One of them opened his mouth and said angrily: "It was obviously not us who lost the soul-calling bell, but in the end, Kuixing was spared nothing and we lost our heads!"

When the other side was bumping, the wind filled his mouth and he quickly spat twice: "That's it!"

One of them replied speechlessly: "It's good enough that he survived! Although Kuixing didn't turn around, he was punished by the God!"

Several heads shuddered involuntarily, but still grumbled stubbornly: "How can it be as difficult as our life now? Isn't he still the high and mighty Taoist master!"

For two years, the Taoist treasure has been lost and is in the hands of a great evildoer! This is a shame for a righteous sect whose mission is to exorcise evil spirits and seek refuge!

There were complaints from all walks of life in the Taoist community, but unfortunately the old Heavenly Master remained as unmoved as a mountain, and all he said was "wait and see how things develop, the God will have his own will." Until recently, there were rumors that the old Heavenly Master was getting old and confused, and it was time for him to abdicate and let a fresh face appear in front of the God's eyes.

But their fellow disciples did not think so. After all, they had experienced the profound power of the Great Ghost and his methods that were hard to guard against. Old Taoist priests, as experienced old fellows, naturally knew the impact of any rash action. If they really failed to force him with great fanfare and were instead given a big slap in the face, not only would people know that the Taoist treasure, the Soul Summoning Bell, was taken away, but there would also be a lot of noise everywhere. The image of Taoism would really become a joke.

"Do you know? That person, that person is going to open a school, and is inviting people who are interested in learning from all over the world. It is said that 'there is no distinction between people', and both human and monster are willing to be his disciples!" One of them spoke slowly, and there was a hint of praise in his words.

"Education for all?" One of them muttered to himself, "Isn't this what those Confucian scholars advocate?"

"Hehehe, that's what I'm saying," said a man who was only afraid of chaos in the world, "The high and mighty Confucianists might be cursing loudly right now! Shouting that it's insulting to society! I wonder if they dare to disturb their mood!"

One of them sneered, "Shit Confucian scholars, worms who do nothing, high-sounding liars, money-stinking merchants, weak-headed and spineless trash, they only dare to curse at the things that even kill evil spirits and monsters need the blessing of the dynasty's luck, when will they really dare to take action? Maybe one day they will dig out the genealogy and announce to the world who is the incarnation of their ancestor?"

"Your insights are profound and incisive. I really like this about you, brother!" He bumped into his brother with a smile.

They ran all the way back to the sect. The Taoist headquarters covered a huge area, with about a dozen hills connected in a row. They were exiled because of the failure of their mission, so naturally they were unaware of the hustle and bustle in front of the mountain gate.

Ever since the old Taoist priest heard that Dagui was recruiting many disciples, he realized that the opportunity had come.

On the surface, two years ago, the soul-calling bell was lost, and the task assigned by the God was not completed. The God was furious. If the Taoism had not been required to serve as dogs in this world, the Taoism would no longer exist. The old Taoist priest rested for two years before he barely recovered.

The old Taoist sighed.

Now that the gods have gone far away, this great monster has been born. The old Taoist priest cannot figure out the reason and is unwilling to confront it head-on.

In fact, few people in the Taoist sect know that the God has rarely spoken the truth in recent decades, and the so-called mission of the God is just speculation by the old Taoist priest.

The clay doll was once an instrument of a great god in ancient times, with the ability to communicate between heaven and earth. Among the sixty-four prefectures, five sects and six schools in Zhongzhou, only a few possessed such magical objects, and the rest were scattered in the four provinces of southeast, northwest, northeast and southwest. At that time, rumors spread that the clay doll said, "The instrument is in the southeast." Most cultivators in Zhongzhou believed that the ancient divine instrument had appeared in the world, and they all flocked to it.

It happened that the God had not appeared in the world for a long time, and people were in panic, so the old Taoist priest often fabricated the illusion that the God had sent them a mission.

Over the past hundred years, the inner workings of most of the gods' orders have been like this. When the rumor spread, the old Taoist priest took the opportunity to delegate the task.

But the old Taoist priest could not have imagined that this time, it seemed that Li Gui had run into Li Kui!

The God King was rarely furious. Although the old Heavenly Master was relieved, when he got the news and set up a sacrifice to try to communicate with the God King, he still failed to communicate with the God King. Instead...

The old Taoist priest felt his eyes open and spin around under his robe. He pressed them expressionlessly, and a pool of black blood stained them.

Kuixing said worriedly: "Master, you are going alone this time."

The old Taoist priest snorted and laughed: "Little Kuixing, you underestimate me. Moyou, Moyou, go back."

Kuixing had to remain silent and watched the old Taoist leave with the other disciples. The old Taoist rode on a donkey upside down, humming a Taoist tune, and left with his head shaking. His figure disappeared in the shadows of the forest. Kingfishers chirped three or two, as if trying to keep him.

***

[21 years old: You are so busy that you wish you could split yourself into four petals. One petal helps you give large-scale sermons, one petal helps you give small-scale intensive lectures, one petal helps you screen the qualifications of your disciples and persuade those who have already become successful to quit, and one petal allows you to have a good rest and spend time with your family and friends.

Wangguilin is located in the southeast of Zhongzhou. The six prefectures surrounding it have poor academic atmosphere and sparse population.

Although you have been teaching for many years, no one has ever been interested in taking the imperial examination and becoming the top scholar. You don't want to force those disciples who just want to spend their time in nature, so you just want to post a notice to recruit some people to take the imperial examination and make a name for yourself, so that you won't encounter too many obstacles in establishing your academy.

Who would have thought that as soon as you posted the notice, adults and children would crowd the forest that day, and even many small animals came to see you. But the weather that day was not good, it was as cold as an ice cellar in the middle of summer. So many years of adding points made you not feel cold, and so many disciples made your heart hot.

You immediately accepted them all, created the prototype of a college, and expanded your private stall.

The next step was to recruit an engineering team to set up the academy, send messages to passing disciples to ask if they had any ideas about teaching, and mediate disputes between human and animal disciples.

Confirm course content and daily and monthly class schedules.

Of course, the most important thing is that we cannot miss the exams and physical education classes.

As for the teaching qualification certificate, you asked your disciples to get it. The disciples went and came back the same day, saying that the governors of six prefectures were all impressed by your reputation and presented the certificates with both hands, and also presented 30 million taels of silver in the hope that everything would go smoothly for the academy.

You are a little bit surprised, but also a little bit happy. You are naturally happy that you don't have to argue with these administrative departments. It is said that high-ranking officials are more ferocious than tigers. Why are they so friendly to you? It's a bit like paying protection money. Could it be that you have really become a top teacher known far and wide, and they are afraid that you will run away?

You are puzzled and just give up.

If you can’t think of it, don’t think about it. This is your life motto.

After the initial busy period, you, who was in charge of the academy, gradually delegated power and even set up a student union to let students govern themselves and mediate conflicts among students. Finally, you had time to go out and go fishing with Xiaohong.

I don’t know why a fox with shiny fur would like fishing?

There is a crescent-shaped lake in the woods, where lives a lake monster unique to the New World. You often feel that the Loch Ness Monster in the previous world is a relative of this creature. Xiaohong and the lake monster are good friends, and the lake monster will hook fish on Xiaohong's fishing hook underwater.

You haven't seen him for a long time and you miss him a lot.

While you are walking on the road, Xiaohong suddenly gets angry and surrounds your feet vigilantly.

You can't help but look in the direction of the sound. In this emerald and blurry world, it seems that there is an old man in a gray and white Taoist robe leaning against a tree. His breathing seems to blend with the breath of the forest. Xiaohong didn't notice the existence of this man until he got closer.

The Taoist priest had an old face, and his sagging skin was full of wrinkles like the roots of an old tree. He said in a daze, "Huh? Fell asleep? Ha—oh, I am really getting old and confused."

He yawned slowly and stood up unsteadily, supporting himself with the tree.

"The old Taoist priest came here slowly, along the hills and by the water."

You frowned. This old man came from nowhere and was still several miles away from the academy. If you just pointed the way, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't have an accident along the way.

The old Taoist muttered, "Sir, what do you think of immortals and gods?"

You are helpless. You have finally freed up some time to send this old man to the academy, but there may not be much time left after the round trip.

The old Taoist ripped open his shirt, revealing his skinny chest, and whispered anxiously, "Superior? Superior?"

I don't know what he was carrying, but there were several clanging sounds.

You narrowed your eyes slightly, and the person opposite you paused for a moment, his body frozen in place.

This Taoist robe looks a bit familiar, as if I have seen it somewhere.

Hmm...hmm...I forgot about it. Never mind. It’s not important.

The old man opposite had a pair of sharp eyes under his white eyebrows: "What do you think of immortals? Why do you want to open an academy?"

You decided to ask Tayue to come and send everyone to the academy to rest, while you take Xiaohong fishing.

While you were thinking, you heard the old Taoist priest on the other side repeat the question again, and you answered nonchalantly: "Whether it's a fairy or a god, can something above the nine heavens come down to earth? This is the world of humans now."

You stretched out your foot to push Xiao Hong, asking him to go find Ta Yue. Xiao Hong's figure went away, but the old Taoist priest was stunned on the spot. He seemed to be really confused. The thing in his hand fell into the forest, but he only muttered: "Be it a god or an immortal, they are above the nine heavens and will not come down to the mortal world."

"The world of man? The world of man! God? Disappeared?"

You don't understand why the old people, even though they are so old and have such gray hair, still have to cross this vast forest. There are many birds and beasts in the forest, and cliffs and dangerous places are not uncommon. You often saw corpses when you were young and playing, but it was when you grew up and built roads and bridges to restrain the beasts in the forest that all this ended.

You shook your head and said, "Never mind, if he wants to come, let him come."

These days, many students have asked you why you want to open a college. You have countless answers. Let’s have some fun together today.

"As for why you want to open a college," you tilted your head and smiled: "It's probably out of interest!"]

Wu You nodded, with some emotion: "There are so many Taoists here, and there was also a monk a few days ago. Why do they all like to ask this question? I haven't said anything about feudal superstition yet. Please don't let me use the dog-beating stick technique! The points added to so many disciples are not a joke."