Chapter 965: Jade in the Stone and Cloud in the Sky



When Lin Zhongtian first arrived, Gongshu Mu was actually very nervous and excited.

He had already seen Yun Ye's abilities. Yun Ye could easily unlock Gongshu's Lu Ban lock, and could also increase their twelve-pillar Lu Ban lock to fifteen pillars overnight.

This kind of wisdom was naturally amazing in Gongshu Mu's eyes.

But Gongshu Jia's letter said that Senior Brother Yunhou's talent was ten times better than Yunhou's. How could Gongshu Mu not be fascinated by this?

As it happened, the gate of Yushan Academy had undergone preliminary renovation due to Gongshu Mu's insistence, the maze had been initially built, and the mechanisms had been initially completed, which was a good opportunity to test him.

Looking at Gongshu Mu who was observing Lin Zhongtian outside the courtyard wall through a periscope, the elegant old man beside him chuckled and said, "I heard that this young friend Lin is both civil and military, and has the courage of ten thousand men. Aren't you afraid that he will ignore your maze and directly climb over the wall to enter?"

Gongshu Mu glanced at him and said calmly: "This is a dispute over knowledge. Since you are Brother Yunhou, how could you act like this?"

After saying that, he no longer paid attention to everyone else and focused on observing Lin Zhongtian in the maze.

But unfortunately, Lin Zhongtian did not use various sophisticated means to solve the maze as he had imagined. He just walked a few steps on the corridor that was originally connected to the gate, and then stopped to think.

Not long after, Lin Zhongtian smiled slightly, looked straight ahead, and actually ignored his mechanical design and walked straight through the middle of the road.

Gongshu Mu was stunned for a moment, and the old man next to him said with interest: "Sir, your maze doesn't seem to be very useful!"

"Don't you know whether it works or not?" Gongshu Mu came back to his senses and said unhappily, "Since I built the maze, hundreds of students in the academy have tried, but who can reach the end?"

"Even you old guys have sneaked through, right? Did you pass?"

The old man smiled awkwardly, coughed and said, "Your ancestor has a unique skill that is famous all over the world. Everything he did was unpredictable. I have learned something different from Senior Gongshu, so naturally I can't see any clues."

As he spoke, he seemed to be thinking: "However, Yun Ye's master's inheritance is somewhat similar to Gong Shujia's..."

As he spoke, Lin Zhongtian had already passed through the front part of the maze at an extremely fast speed and stopped in front of a screen wall.

Looking at the screen wall in front of him with Confucius' maxims engraved on it, Lin Zhongtian seemed to be thinking about something. Suddenly, he raised his hand and placed it on the eight big characters.

"When three people walk together, there must be one who can teach me something!"

These are the eight big characters written on the screen wall.

Each large character is cast from fine iron, with commas in between to serve as punctuation marks.

But what Lin Zhongtian found most strange was this comma, because Confucius' original text did not have punctuation, and there was no need for Gongshu Jia to use commas to punctuate the sentences when he built the screen wall.

This would make the eight large characters on the screen wall lack some of the architectural symmetrical aesthetics.

Don't underestimate this symmetrical aesthetic. As a family of government officials as famous as the Mohists, the Gongshu family would not allow any flaws in this regard, so there must be something weird about this sentence.

Lin Zhongtian raised his hand and touched the large characters on the screen wall, and found that these characters were alive and could be pressed.

He pressed the big words on the wall one by one. When he pressed the comma, he found that he couldn't press it. So he skipped the comma, pressed the next word first, and then came back to press the middle comma.

Sure enough, this time it can be pressed.

Lin Zhongtian understood that the screen wall in front of him was actually a large combination lock.

The eight Chinese characters are an eight-digit password, and the comma is the Enter key after entering the password.

After Lin Zhongtian pressed the comma, a mechanical sound came from the screen wall, and then all eight words popped out.

Apparently, 'When three people walk together, one of them can be my teacher' is not the right password.

Seeing this scene, Lin Zhongtian couldn't help but frown.

That's meaningless!

There are millions of possible combinations of eight-digit passwords.

The exhaustive method obviously doesn't work, and we can only find patterns in the meaning of words.

OK, let's rearrange the sentence and see if we can open the door.

Lin Zhongtian rearranged the sentences according to the pattern and successfully opened the screen wall after only two attempts.

"When the three masters go, there must be one of us!"

Lin Zhongtian pondered the meaning of the code, and then looked forward in amazement.

Along with the sound of mechanisms coming from the screen wall, the wall in front of them rumbled open to both sides.

But at this moment, an embarrassing thing happened. The mechanism in the wall seemed to be used for the first time and lacked maintenance and lubrication. The secret door stopped halfway through opening, leaving only a gap of about 20 centimeters.

Lin Zhongtian twitched the corner of his mouth, reached out his hand, grabbed the gap, and easily pushed it open.

“Crack, crack—”

There was a sound of a mechanism breaking in the wall.

Lin Zhongtian paused what he was doing, then looked at the dozen or so middle-aged and elderly men outside the door with different expressions and smiled awkwardly.

“Sorry, I used too much strength…” “No problem!” An old man in a robe waved his hand, looked at Lin Zhongtian with a smile on his face and said, “Sir, you are worthy of being Brother Yun Hou. Since I built this maze, no one has ever been able to pass it. Mr. Lin, you are the first one!”

Lin Zhongtian smiled and said, "Sir, you are Gongshu Jia's father, right?"

Gongshu Mu stroked his beard and said, "That's right!"

Lin Zhongtian bowed politely and said, "Gongshujia's mechanical skills are indeed well-deserved!"

Hearing Lin Zhongtian's praise, Gongshu Mu's face showed satisfaction, but soon, he sighed and said: "Sir, you are too kind. The maze that I built with the strength of the academy could not stop you even for an incense stick of time..."

The old man next to him smiled and said comfortingly: "Brother Gongshu, don't underestimate yourself. Mr. Lin is Brother Yunhou, and he learned from a great master. This is Mr. Lin's ability, not Brother Gongshu's fault!"

Gongshu Mu nodded and said excitedly: "That's right, anyway, you old guys didn't pass, that's enough!"

The old man's smile froze, and then he couldn't help but look helpless.

Lin Zhongtian cupped his hands and asked with a smile, "Haven't you asked for my advice yet?"

The old man straightened his face, straightened his clothes, and said, "My last name is Li Gang, and I am the principal of Yushan Academy."

Lin Zhongtian smiled and said, "So it's Mr. Li Gang. Before, when I was around you, I had heard your name many times. Whenever he mentioned you, he would call you Master Li. This shows how much respect my junior has for you."

Li Gang was extremely pleased to hear Lin Zhongtian's words and couldn't help but smile.

Gongshu Mu, who was standing beside him, was a little unhappy, but he asked curiously, "Sir, I admire your talent, but I have one thing I don't understand. If Yun Hou steps into my maze, how long do you think you can stop him?"

Lin Zhongtian thought for a moment and said hesitantly, "Probably about the same as me..."

Gongshu Mu was shocked, and said with a sense of loss, "Is it really so?"

Lin Zhongtian smiled and said, "Before entering, I observed the direction of the Yushan Mountain and found that the Yushan Academy was located at a lower elevation, so after entering the maze, I chose to walk downhill."

"Although Mr. Gongshu designed it in a sophisticated way, using inclined roads to confuse the height, the overall altitude will not change no matter how he designed it."

"Lin was able to discover this through meticulous observation and perception, but my junior brother is from Yushan Academy. He knows the terrain of the academy much better than I do, so he can naturally grasp the key faster..."

After hearing Lin Zhongtian's words, Gongshu Mu, Li Gang and others all nodded thoughtfully, as if they agreed with him deeply.

Gongshu Mu hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Sir, may I ask...what is altitude?"

Lin Zhongtian smiled and said, "Altitude is the vertical distance above or below sea level. As for why sea level is used as the starting point, it has to do with the difference between altitude and relative altitude..."

Gongshu Mu's expression became solemn, and he bowed and said, "Please, sir, please try to explain it!"

In this way, Lin Zhongtian's first meeting with the teachers of the academy quickly turned into a discussion of academic matters.

Gongshu Mu took the lead and asked Lin Zhongtian for advice on the art of machinery and architecture.

Lin Zhongtian answered questions fluently, showing a knowledge reserve far beyond Yun Ye, which amazed Gongshu Mu and benefited him greatly.

Afterwards, many teachers including Dean Li Gang, Mr. Yushan, and Mr. Li Shi changed the topic seamlessly and asked for advice in many fields such as classics, history, literature, and the study of things in which Yun Ye was best.

But no matter what field they are involved in, Lin Zhongtian can quote classics and deal with it easily.

After this conversation, it was already midnight.

Li Gang and others had a very pleasant conversation with Lin Zhongtian and wanted to keep him to talk in detail all night.

Lin Zhongtian smiled and declined, saying that Wangcai was still waiting outside the gate, so he would not stay overnight in the academy.

Gongshu Mu showed disappointment, and reluctantly sent Lin Zhongtian out of the academy with Li Gang and others.

When Lin Zhongtian drove Wangcai away, Mr. Li Gang couldn't help but sigh.

"…What do you think?"

Mr. Yushan had a complicated expression on his face, and slowly said four words: "Stunning!"

"Yes!" Li Gang looked up at the night sky and sighed, "Yun Ye once said that he was the least capable person under my master. At that time, I thought Yun Ye was being modest, but now I see..."

Mr. Yushan nodded and said, "This man is a man of astonishing talent and knowledge. He knows everything from ancient times to the present. Whether it is classics, history, or the study of things, he is extremely proficient in it."

"It can be said that he knows everything Yun Ye can do, and he also knows everything Yun Ye can't do. What's more rare is that this man is both civil and military, and his martial arts are like a peerless warrior. Even Cheng Chumo could only last three rounds under his command..."

At this point, Mr. Yushan sighed and said with great emotion: "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed that there are such amazing people in the world!"

Mr. Li Shi chuckled and said, "Why, do you regret marrying your granddaughter to Yun Ye?"

Mr. Yushan glanced at him, shook his head and said, "Of course not. To tell you the truth, although this man's talent and learning really make me admire him, I don't feel the slightest bit of closeness towards him."

"If Yun Ye's pride is like jade in a stone wrapped in layers."

"Then this person's pride is like the ethereal clouds in the sky!"


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