Chapter 106: Time leaves no trace, but the mountains and rivers make sounds

"oh?"

Gu Dan remained expressionless, but he couldn't help but feel curious.

Mr. Ji was so sure of what he said, I'm afraid it was just a rumor, there must be a reason! "Follow me!"

Mr. Ji took Gu Dan around and finally came to a locked door.

Take out the key, open the iron lock, and push the wooden door.

Everything is revealed in the eyes.

The things hidden in the house were not much different from those outside, except that they looked more complicated. In addition to books, there were also some broken ritual objects.

There is a half-rotten bronze tripod, a yellow-colored, simple but half-missing bell, a blood-red Ruyi, crude clay figures that seem to be made of mud, and stone slabs stained with water stains. Rather than a library, this place is more like a museum in some sense, with far more messy things displayed than books.

These things exist outside. On the contrary, they are much more complete and abundant than here.

But when Mr. Ji looked at these tattered and seemingly ordinary collections, there was a heart-stirring light in his eyes, as if he was looking at rare treasures, full of pride.

"I spent nearly a hundred years finding these things one by one from a vast sea of ​​ancient books and artifacts!"

Mr. Ji's tone was full of pride, as if he had accomplished something extraordinary, or like a child showing off his treasures to his playmates. Even his voice was trembling with excitement.

"Forgive my poor eyesight, but what's the difference between these things?" Gu Dan had no knowledge of antiques, so naturally he couldn't tell at a glance what was so special about these beloved things of Mr. Ji.

He focused his eyes on the object closest to him. It looked like a sculpture of a tiger, but its mouth was wide open and there was a handle on top of its body for people to lift it up.

Time has wiped away all the colors and patterns given to the tiger sculpture by skilled craftsmen. The entire surface is bare, with occasional traces of dirt seeping in.

Gu Dan believed that it was very old, but where did the beauty of this thing come from? Even a three-year-old child would not be interested in it!

Just as he was about to pick it up and examine it carefully to see if he could identify the gem, he suddenly heard Master Ji shouting.

"Don't move!"

The sudden roar caught Gu Dan completely off guard, and the internal Qi in his body almost burst out due to the stress. He looked at Master Ji with an incomprehensible look.

You brought me here to see it, and you don’t allow me to touch it?

Then what are you showing me? "This thing is a little different."

Perhaps realizing that his reaction was too intense, Ji Lao said apologetically, "And you probably don't want to touch it."

"Why?" Gu Dan was curious. Could this thing hurt a martial arts master? Ji Lao shrugged and said, "It's a chamber pot."

Gu Dan: “???”

Gu Dan looked at Mr. Ji with a look of complete incomprehension. It was hard to imagine what kind of mental state he was in to treat a chamber pot as a precious collection and openly display it in his extremely treasured collection room - and even say it out loud.

"What's important is not what it once was, but what useful information can be found through it. Besides, the person who used it has probably already become the dirt under your feet. Why bother about the mission it served in a not-so-long period of time? Now, it is a priceless treasure!"

At this time, Ji Lao seemed to have become a philosopher. In the puzzled eyes of Gu Dan, Ji Lao carefully picked up the tiger-shaped chamber pot and pointed the bottom at Gu Dan, "What do you see?"

Gu Dan's face was dark, and he said in a bad tone: "I saw someone holding up the chamber pot, and pointing it at me!"

"I want you to look at the words at the bottom!" said Mr. Ji gritting his teeth.

"oh?"

Gu Dan moved a little closer. With his excellent eyesight, it was not difficult to see the words engraved on the bottom of the tiger chamber pot. Although it was blurred, it was still vaguely recognizable, so he read it out, "Daqian 784, Yong'an Kiln made."

“That’s right, that’s right!!!”

Old Ji nodded excitedly and repeated, "Made in Yong'an Kiln in the 784th year of Daqian!"

He put down the chamber pot and asked repeatedly: "Before this, have you heard of Daqian? Have you heard of the 784-year dynasty? Have you heard of anything produced by the Yong'an kiln?"

Gu Dan shook his head.

"That's right! You see, the history of our world is very long! Very long! Those ancient books outside are only left by the great men of hundreds of years. But what about the history further back? A history so far back that even books cannot be found, is it possible that it is completely blank? Could it be that we suddenly came to this world?"

Mr. Ji kept talking, and it was obvious that he had wanted to say these words for a long time. His tone was extremely excited, with unconcealable excitement and pride that was about to burst out.

Gu Dan looked at him quietly.

There are definitely not many people in this world who have the leisure, ability, and willingness to study these things. It can even be said that there are very few.

For most of the people of Dayue, it is not easy to have enough food to eat, so how can they have time to let their thoughts travel through hundreds or thousands of years to think about the traces of history? After thinking about it, can they make more of the dry steamed bread in their hands?

Richer families cannot afford antiques, and those who can afford them will set their sights on officialdom. He must have been lonely for a long time and couldn't find anyone to talk to, so he had such a strong desire to talk. It was like an old child who had revealed a shocking secret and finally found someone to share his collection with, so he was not stingy with words and was eager to be recognized.

"So, what did you track down?"

Gu Dan did not spoil his interest, and chose an appropriate time to ask.

“Isn’t that enough?!”

Mr. Ji pointed at the chamber pot and said, "Do you know the words on it!!!"

Gu Dan was stunned.

All of a sudden, there was an indescribable trembling feeling spreading throughout the body. The consciousness that transcended the physical body seemed to be suddenly awakened by a big stick, bringing about a throbbing of the soul.

"Ha—you noticed it? Right! You felt it too!"

Old Ji stared at Gu Dan without blinking. When he saw his reaction, he clapped his hands excitedly. "Relics from a dynasty I've never heard of, buried in the ground for hundreds and thousands of years, we actually use the same language!"

Words are different from other things and must be properly passed on.

The same characters may have completely different meanings in different periods, but no matter how they change, people who use these characters must experience the same inheritance.

"Looking at all the countries, no matter where you go, the food and etiquette may be different, but the writing is at least 80% similar. Occasionally, there are a few words you don't recognize, and you can find out that they are written wrong by asking a few more questions! Even the Daqing, which is called the Southern Barbarian, has almost the same writing as Dayue!"

Old Ji spoke at a very fast speed, "But don't forget. Even in Yuzhou, which is called the Central Plains, it takes more than ten days for news to reach the imperial capital. The farthest Yuzhou even takes more than a month! And whether it is Daqing, Dayue, Dayong, Daqi... or any other country you can find, they all use the same writing! I dare to ask, in this world, who has ever occupied such a large territory, occupied the real world, and stored things like writing in various places in the world, so that no matter how far you go, you can see familiar things?"

At this time, he was like a historian, researching a giant that he had never met but had a profound influence on the real world.

Even though the behemoth has disappeared, the legacy it left behind is still influencing the world at all times and has become a tool for them to record everything.

Time has erased the traces of the past, but it cannot erase the heritage passed down from generation to generation.

Time leaves no trace, but mountains and rivers make sounds! "A country that can control such a large territory and have such a far-reaching influence must have some way that we don't know to maintain communication and rule! Otherwise, it will inevitably fall apart, and how can the same language be kept circulating until now?"

Old Ji raised his head and looked towards the roof. It was as if he had traveled through the long river of time and was overlooking the entire vast world in a small room. "What a pity, I can't find it. It is clearly hidden in every aspect, making people vaguely aware of it, but it is completely unshakable. I can only sigh in vain!"

At this moment he seemed to have turned into a poet, sighing and groaning, his eyes full of sadness.

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After listening for a long time, Gu Dan finally couldn't help asking, "What do these things have to do with the realm above Grandmaster that you want to talk about?"

"Of course!"

Glancing at Gu Dan with dissatisfaction, Ji Lao pointed at the various things placed in the room and said seriously: "These things prove that in a certain period of time that cannot be found, there must be something beyond our imagination. As a martial arts master, there are few things in the world that can shake you. Don't you want to explore the secrets of the world?"

Gu Dan understood a little.

Master Ji himself is a martial arts master, and he has lived for nearly a hundred years.

If he wanted, it would be easy for him to obtain wealth and glory in the worldly sense.

But those things have lost their appeal to him. To put it simply, everything in the so-called mundane world has little meaning to the martial arts master.

Even if the country is destroyed and the world is falling, the martial arts master can still live well, and no one would be so stupid as to take the initiative to provoke him.

Naturally, higher-level pursuits will be before your eyes.

But here comes the problem, being a martial arts master is the limit, what could be higher?

After reaching this state, just wait for death peacefully! Your life is over!

Maybe one or two years, or even ten years may not be a big deal, but after going through all the trivialities of the world, a martial arts master must find something to do instead of waiting for death quietly.

Living out your life in peace and contentment? That is something that ordinary people only wish for.

For a martial arts master who has always been pursuing the limit and has experienced great suffering and torture, waiting for death quietly is simply impossible!

"You are still too young. You have not experienced the vicissitudes of life. You have not experienced the helplessness of having no way forward and no way out. You have only experienced the day-by-day decline of your energy and blood, which has tortured you to the point of madness. In your view, I seem to be daydreaming, but when you live a few more decades and reach my age, you will understand."

Old Ji looked at Gu Dan with envy in his eyes. He envied his youth, but more of it was pity. He felt pity for the fact that he would have to go through everything that he had gone through.

Old friends grow old, loved ones die, qi and blood decline, everything is moving away from you, even yourself!

At that time, if you don’t have something to support yourself, what’s the point?

I chose to explore the way forward.

Moqiu chose the right path to help those in need.

The Huang Dynasty chose to reshape the mountains and rivers.

The leader of the White Lotus Sect made a choice. Oh, he had no choice. The White Lotus Sect has always been rebelling, which is an old tradition.

In short, every martial arts master has already stood at the pinnacle of the world, and he has to find something to do in the remaining time.

And now he met such a young martial arts master, so young that he had not even had the time to choose the direction of his future efforts.

That's why he wanted to take Gu Dan as his apprentice and inherit his philosophy.

Although it may sound strange for a martial arts master to accept another martial arts master as his apprentice, why not? The torch of the predecessors must be passed on to the descendants, and it does not have to be material, spiritual can also be used!

Just like the huge monster hidden in this small house, which has left enough traces but is no longer touchable, its past history has become the nourishment of countless countries today and is still being passed down from generation to generation.

Mr. Ji wanted to pass on everything he had explored to this young man whom he met for the first time today.

This seems a bit reckless, but it is also honest enough.

He showed his discoveries and inner expectations with a proud attitude, and hoped that Gu Dan would understand.

When a person's vision extends beyond the small world around him, ambition will grow unstoppably.

He brought Gu Dan to read the priceless treasure that had traveled through time, hoping that Gu Dan could feel the secrets hidden in the vast universe that were more precious than any rare treasures.

It is something that a martial arts master can devote his entire life to exploring!

“Although I am quite interested in what you said.”

Gu Dan considered his words carefully, not wanting to dampen the excitement of the old man who was as excited as a child, but was clearly an old man who was about to die. "But why can it be the martial arts, and not an immortal? Spirit stones are falling from the sky, why are you still pursuing the illusory innate path? And not thinking about taking a further step to become an immortal?"

Old Ji tilted his head and laughed, "You want to cultivate immortality? Sure, there's no conflict! But while you're trying to cultivate immortality, can you also try to reach a level above Grandmaster? I really want to know, even if you want to burn it for me after you die!"

(End of this chapter)