The young Taoist came down the mountain and first distributed the firewood to the people who had agreed to take it. Then he bought some meat and rice and flour and put them in a backpack. The two little guys squeezed in between the meals and fell asleep. The young man walked towards home, stepping on the remaining sunset light.

What I heard was the familiar local accent, and the conversation was about family matters, nothing important.

It's quite relaxing.

The young Taoist walked along the road ahead, which became increasingly dark. He lived in a remote part of the town, and the ground was muddy. People rarely had the luxury of lighting oil lamps after dark. However, the young Taoist saw a light lit up in the distance, as if it was waiting for him.

Qi Wuhuo slowed down his pace and saw a middle-aged man in a simple scholar's robe standing quietly in front of his door. He held a lamp in his hand, illuminating the surroundings. His eyes were gentle, as if he had been waiting for a long time. The door of the courtyard was just closed, but he did not push the door open. He just waited quietly outside.

Qi Wuhuo said: "Mr. Su."

This was exactly the case when, not long after he came to Zhongzhou from Jinzhou, he came to the mountain outside this town to give lectures. His lectures were so profound that he could be called a famous scholar. At that time, he was only in his early thirties and was a man of great talent. Therefore, he attracted many people to come to this mountain to study.

He also maintained a tacit attitude towards the young Taoist's secret listening to lectures in the past.

Su Shengyuan looked at the Taoist boy who had used the art of transformation to conceal his strangeness. He saw that his face no longer had the weakness caused by poverty. He also saw that he had grown taller and looked like a young man. He had a quiet temperament and his eyes were as deep as before. He smiled and said, "Yes."

"It seems that you are doing well outside, Wuhuo, which is a good thing."

The young Taoist pushed open the door and said, "Mr. Su, please come in and have a seat." He invited Su Shengyuan in, and just like before, he caught some strange insects from the mountains and used their light to illuminate the room. There was a dim light, and he brewed some tea. Su Shengyuan put the lantern pole he was holding on the table, and then used an iron object to press down the pole to fix the lantern.

Watching the young Taoist light a fire, boil water and make tea, Su Shengyuan spoke in a gentle and unhurried tone: "Where have you been in the past year or so? Have you gained anything?" The young Taoist replied: "I have met many people and seen many landscapes. I have indeed gained a lot, but I feel even more insignificant."

Su Shengyuan asked some more questions, and took out a stack of scrolls from his sleeve, all wrapped in oil paper, and gently placed them on the table. He touched the scrolls with his fingers and said in a gentle tone: "You are traveling abroad, which is the so-called study tour. You work hard every day, so you don't have much time to read books and classics. This is the paper of last year's provincial examination. Wuhuo can take a look at it when you have free time."

"I have written some notes on these files. You can use them as a reference."

"The exam will be held soon. If you are willing, I can report your name and place of origin for you."

Su Shengyuan's voice was gentle.

The young Taoist was quiet for a moment, still looking at the gentleman, and replied softly:

"I don't plan to take the entrance exam anymore."

Su Shengyuan's movements paused slightly, and then he looked at the young Taoist in front of him.

There was silence for a moment, the only sound being the crackling of the candle burning in the lantern.

After a while of silence, Su Shengyuan saw that he looked calm and composed. He didn't say much, and didn't show any anger or resentment. He just smiled a little sadly and said, "Is that so? That's good too."

"This scholar's studies are useless if they cannot save the world and benefit the people."

"It seems that you, Wuhuo, have gained some insights from your outings. But no matter what, remember that you still need to read books. Without reading, you cannot understand yourself or know others. I will take these things away first..." He stretched out his hand, picked up the books that he had written under the lamp, and put them away again.

Then he put some silver on the table, raised his hand to stop the young Taoist, and said gently: "You just came back, and winter is not over yet. Most people still have a little firewood left from the pre-New Year's firewood. You can spend this silver first, just think of it as a loan from me..."

"Have a good life."

“Don’t forget to read.”

He put down the silver, stood up, smiled gently, and said:

"It's getting late, and my wife is waiting for me at home, so I won't stay here any longer."

"Wuhuo, sir is leaving first..." Su Shengyuan walked out, holding a lantern, and walked out of the alley step by step. He seemed not to be used to the road conditions here. He stumbled while walking, the light was shaking, and his back was lonely.

The young Taoist wanted to see him off, but was stopped by him, so he had to watch him leave. The lady next door squatted on the side with a bowl of rice.

There was leftover food from the New Year in the bowl, covered with vegetables, some leftover meat that he was reluctant to throw away, and a chicken, covering the bowl completely. He said, "Mr. Su really came to see you."

"Sir, when did he come?"

"Him? He probably came here after he knew you were coming. He has been standing here for more than an hour."

"Why did you leave so soon?"

The old lady ate a scallion and then ate her meal. She said, "Come to think of it, when you left without a word, the most anxious person in the town was Mr. Su. He was so anxious that he looked for you for several months and even looked for his friends. Only then did we find out that Mr. Su seemed to have been a high-ranking official in the past, or an aide to some sort of official."

"We searched for you in Zhongzhou for several months but couldn't find any trace of you. Everyone thought you might have fallen into the mountains or been eaten by a tiger. Only Mr. Su was still waiting for you. At that time, he was completely listless and kept staring at the place where you had eavesdropped before."

"I thought he would talk to you more..."

The lady next door was very curious.

The young Taoist held the silver in his hand, but it seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. Looking at Mr. Su's dejected back as he left, the young Taoist knew Mr. Su's regret and loss. He also knew that a gentleman would not use himself to pressure others. It was a pity that he would not be able to study anymore. The young Taoist recalled the records of when he was reading the Jinzhou files in the Mingzhen Taoist League.

Su Shengyuan, former secretary of the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace.

Originally they advocated peace.

However, because of the Jinzhou incident, he strongly advocated the impeachment of the current emperor. He was also a staunch supporter of the people, believing that if one people were not protected, how could the people of the world be protected? He strongly advocated the entry of cavalry into Jinzhou, and even believed that the troops should be driven straight into the rift of the Jinzhou evil country and attacked it with force in order to protect the people in the future.

If the enemy attacks me and I do not move, the enemy will become more rampant.

He became a war advocate, believing that only by gaining power through war could he stabilize the country.

It is acceptable to seek peace through war.

Seeking peace through peace is like adding fuel to the fire.

Due to the Jinzhou incident, the crown prince changed, the owner of the Eastern Palace changed, and he was dismissed as the crown prince's direct descendant.

Because his wife's family was from the Cui family.

He was spared death.

He was given a noble position as a Hanlin.

He was disheartened and unwilling to be a Hanlin, so he resigned and went to a remote place in Zhongzhou to teach his disciples.

The young Taoist held the silver and chose to walk a different path from Mr. Su, so he could not respond to Mr. Su. He was silent for a long time, watching the light go away, then he went back into the house, gently placed the silver on the table, and had a plan in his mind.

Su Shengyuan hopes to train disciples and have enough young people with ideals and ambitions to reverse this turbid era.

The young Taoist felt that if the superiors were not upright, the inferiors would inevitably be distorted.

It's just a matter of following the example of the superiors.

I just don't know whether the woman named Zhou has arrived in the capital and delivered his letter to the King of Qin.

Qi Wuhuo pondered for a long time in his mind, the lights gradually went out, he restrained his emotions, but saw the little peacock and the little medicine spirit hugging each other, sleeping soundly, carefree and without worries. He smiled slightly, picked up the lamp made of caught insects, pushed open the door, walked outside, sat in front of the stone table under the plum tree, and opened the door.

Then the insects with little fireflies flew into the sky, and the boy opened the letter he got from the black bear.

With the help of moonlight, I looked at the letter from the Tiger Mountain God. The words were free and unrestrained, just like the style of that good friend.

"How about Wuhuo?"

"After I left the mountain, I traveled around the world and realized that the world is so vast and amazing that it cannot be compared to just sitting in one place and practicing Taoism. I thought that after hundreds of years of practicing Taoism, I had a very good understanding of my own heart. However, when I traveled outside, I found that communicating with others could inspire me to have a self that I had not yet realized. So I understood more and more about who I am."

“It is not only I who am quiet, it is I who am angry, it is I who sees all things and rejoices.”

“My identity is the aggregation of countless selves in my memory. How can I understand it by just sitting there in vain?”

“So seeing the common people, seeing the heaven and earth, you can see me”

"In fact, I met the common people and I had the joy and reaction of meeting the common people. I saw the world and I sighed when I saw the vastness of the world. All me is me, that's all. When I travel around the world, I occasionally understand something and I can't help but write it down on paper. I hope to talk to you one day."

While writing this line, the tall man in black tights was sitting in a quiet wood, his spear stuck upside down on the ground under the moonlight. Next to him was the child he had saved, wearing his battle robe, and around him lay the corpses of famous monsters. Under the moonlight, he was like a tiger after hunting, quietly writing the simple and pure words.

There were corpses everywhere.

Under the moonlight, the young Taoist read the letter from his friend with the help of flying fireflies.

This letterhead does not seem to have been completed in one go.

The following words were calm: "However, I had planned to chat with you when I see you one day in the future, but today I rescued the daughter of a tiger general, and learned a lot from her. It seems to be related to your experience. After the death of the tiger saint, the city was also massacred, just like Jinzhou."

The young Taoist's eyes narrowed slightly.

The handwriting of the Tiger Mountain God is sharp.

"In fact, I have always wondered why some demons would eat humans to cultivate."

"As for wild beasts, they walk in the mountains. There are rumors among humans that wild beasts hurt and eat people. But for wild beasts, humans have too many and too hard bones and not much meat. They also have weapons, come and go in groups, have great endurance, and can hunt. In fact, they are extremely advanced predators."

"Just as wolves won't attack lions, tigers or leopards unless they are desperate, even tigers will avoid bears."

"Most wild beasts will not attack humans unless they are starving to death. Therefore, normal monsters are not aggressive towards humans from beginning to end. Some are even afraid of humans, just like they are afraid of lions and tigers, and avoid them. If wild beasts are spiritual, they will tend to prefer spiritual fruits and spiritual medicines, absorbing the essence of heaven and earth to transform themselves."

"Instead of indulging in killing."

"Moreover, sentient beings died violent deaths, and their resentment spread. I guess that devouring such flesh and blood would harm one's practice."

"So when they were in Jinzhou, the demons actually started to kill humans in large numbers, which went against the character of the demons."

"I have always had this doubt. I once went to the city of the demon tribe and read the classics, but found that there were few such records. Later, I joined the tiger tribe and saw the secret volumes. Only then did I discover that there was a forbidden practice school in ancient times. Their theory believed that emotions are the sound of the heart, and the heart is nature, which is the power of the soul. Strong emotional changes and grief are the excitement of the soul."

"So there is a state of mind to stimulate the common people, and to devour the despair of the common people and generate the power of the soul to break through."

"This method seemed to be common ten thousand years ago. According to legend, it was related to the Blood River. It was the path that the first spirits found enlightenment after watching the blood-colored river in the sky in the distant past. This group of people who practiced evil ways were purged and suppressed by the first Demon King. A large number of cultivation methods based on this concept were burned to ashes."

"Later, the Blood River Sword Sect of the human race that followed this ruthless sword art was destroyed. This method gradually became a taboo and gradually disappeared from this world. However, eight thousand years ago, the emperor of the demon clan suddenly died. Without the demon emperor to suppress them, the great saints of the demon clan became tit-for-tat. Even if someone used this forbidden technique, no one would care as long as they did not use the descendants of the demon saint as a blood sacrifice."

"So, the demon tribes and the human race that lost the protection of the Great Sage became their targets."

"There are countless records of people being killed in these forbidden techniques, and of fathers killing their children for the sake of bone demons. This seems to be consistent with the "vegetable market" you once told me about - if someone wants to get out, they have to send another person's life into the vegetable market, so there are many people who fight and exploit each other to survive, and even kill each other. The despair and madness among them are unimaginable."

"They incited the people to kill each other in order to create chaos, and even sealed off an entire state as a furnace."

"I think one possibility is to use this despair and anger to forge some kind of weapon."

"A blood sacrifice is required to sharpen the spearhead."

"Or maybe it's a demon who is practicing."

"Only sentient beings in the world experience sorrow, joy, separation and reunion, and the human race is at the head of them."

"Nothing is more desolate than cannibalism."

"And the third possibility, which is also the most likely possibility, I found it in the forbidden book of the tiger tribe."

"Based on this practice concept, the demon race has a supreme secret method that is feared by all demons. It is called [Nurturing the Holy Fetus]. It contains the sadness of desperate situations, the mad killing of all living beings, and the courage and determination of sentient beings that bloom in desperate situations. Sacrifice, leaving the rear, and fighting to the death are all part of this."

"What this method really cares about is not the madness caused by despair."

"It is the brilliance of humanity that bursts out from the desolate despair of cannibalism."

"It is the path of [turning from evil to good] and [changing yin and yang]."

"Then, guided by the blood of the common people, the sorrow of all things, and the sigh of heaven and earth, and based on the most brilliant bravery and valor among the natures of those living beings, he devoured external objects to achieve his own foundation of Taoism, and forcibly stepped into the legendary realm of the Great Sage. He used ferocious killing as weapons, and the path to becoming a saint by fearlessly wearing armor. It was exactly the same as what you, Wuhuo, had experienced before."

"I'm worried that you've broken through and left Helian Mountain."

"That's why I thought of a way to have that bear quickly deliver the letter to you."

“I hope it’s not too late.”

The young Taoist looked at the letter quietly, his hands clenched subconsciously, and he even felt empty in his heart for a moment.

The pain and sorrow of so many people is deliberate...

It was not a matter of nature, nor was it an open and aboveboard fight based on hatred between the two races.

It was deliberate torture and killing.

And all the struggles and efforts of countless people to survive, the courage and determination of humanity.

It is just a part of a vast ritual.

That's all.