Abandoned by a Disaster
Zhong Yujing also tried to find a way out of the cave, but it was like walking in a maze and she could not get out. She could only return to the starting point every time. The last time she came back, she saw Shangguan Yichen.
So Shangguan Yichen said, "Luckily I jumped down after you, otherwise who would have led you out of this cave?"
They resumed their search for a way out. Shangguan Yichen said, "There's moisture and wind blowing through the cave, which means there's a passageway inside. We can definitely get out. But the presence of a bed, a table, and a lamp here is rather odd. Who on earth would live here?" Zhong Yujing explained that when she came down, the stone chamber was incredibly clean. Except for the cold oil lamp, everything looked like someone was constantly visiting.
They left the stone chamber and headed for the narrow path on the other side, Shangguan Yichen holding a lantern. The path twisted and turned, its walls sometimes gleaming with crystal, sometimes lacquered stone requiring a lantern. At a narrow corner, the path changed direction abruptly, without a detour, but directly around it. The angle of the turn was so sharp that it looked like it was backtracking. Zhong Yujing brought Shangguan Yichen's lantern close to the wall and saw a small flower. "Look," she exclaimed, "I carved it. I always pass by here and then turn back again, like I'm walking in circles in a maze." She had learned this technique when she and Yi Shi had come to see Shangguan Yichen: marking.
Shangguan Yichen touched her head and said, "You are a young girl with great potential." Zhong Yujing smiled proudly.
Shangguan Yichen looked at the wall opposite the mark, knocked, and knocked again on the wall at the mark, curled up the corner of his lips, "Sure enough, it's empty." He held the lamp close to the wall opposite the mark and shone it back and forth, searching, and finally found a clue in one place. The color of that stone was different from the other places. He put his hand on it and pressed hard. Sure enough, the stone of a different color sank into the wall, and then a rumbling sound was heard, and the wall in front of them slowly rose.
Zhong Yujing looked at the slowly rising wall in surprise. It stopped with a click when it reached the top of the cave. She and Shangguan Yichen looked inside. There was a huge cave. Just like the entrance from Yabi, the walls were covered with crystals. They glowed without the need for lights. They blew out the lights and walked into the cave. The wall behind them slowly fell down.
In the center of the cave stood a stone statue, carved from white jade. It depicted an elderly man with kind eyes and a long white beard, seated in front of the main entrance. As Zhong Yujing and Shangguan Yichen approached, they saw a square stone niche beneath the statue, inscribed in cursive script: "For over three hundred years, I have wandered through the chaotic world, experiencing the vicissitudes of life and the passing of dynasties. I have witnessed countless phenomena, and now I understand that, like a mayfly, my existence in the universe is determined by destiny. Now, I wish to abandon this mortal body and follow the laws of heaven and earth. I will leave this life's wisdom for those destined to learn in future generations. Bow three times, and accept my tutelage. I will pass on my wisdom to you." He signed his name: Snake Spirit Son.
Zhong Yujing and Shangguan Yichen exclaimed at the same time: "It's Snake Spirit!"
She Lingzi is a legendary figure. Legend has it that he possesses a profound understanding of astronomy and geography, capable of exploring the mysteries of the heavens, and his knowledge of yin and yang, the Eight Trigrams, and the ability to discern the hearts of men. He mastered the art of strategy with ease, manipulating the world like a chessboard. He possesses a small number of disciples, each of whom serves as his banner. Upon completion of their studies, they journey to various lands, becoming either prime ministers or generals. It is said that whoever possesses She Lingzi's disciples will conquer the world. The conflicts between nations are a game of wits played by these disciples. However, extreme wisdom can only lead to failure, and every one of his disciples has met a tragic end. She Lingzi himself is rumored to possess immortality, remaining hidden from the world, and no one has ever seen his true form.
There was a small stone niche in the corner next to the statue of She Lingzi. Zhong Yujing and Shangguan Yichen walked over and looked down, both of them stunned. Above it was a lettering: "I am She Lingzi's disciple, and by chance I found my master in this cave. I have lived a life of loneliness and hardship, without any relatives to rely on. Once a teacher, always a father. My master is my only relative. Now that I have completed my studies, I wish to leave the world. When the earth is scattered across the world, I fear no one will know. Therefore, I have built this tomb to accompany my master and record my life here, as my tomb." Finally, it was signed: "Wenrenrang, disciple of She Lingzi."
Shangguan Yichen squatted down to examine the niche. He felt a circular groove on the lower right side of the niche. After pressing it, the niche slowly moved, revealing a square wooden box with intricate carvings. Shangguan Yichen opened the box. A book titled "Wenren Ran Chuan" was placed squarely in the middle. Beneath the book was a long animal hair. Zhong Yujing picked it up and examined it carefully. It was a magnificent hair. Shangguan Yichen said, "It's wolf hair."
They sat down, opened the biography and began to read.
It turned out that Wenren Rang was a native of Nansai. On the day he was born, a strange phenomenon appeared in the sky, with a blood moon in the sky. The great wizard asserted that a disaster star would come and wreak havoc on the world. The leader sent people to check. He was the only child born in the entire tribe that day, and he had a red mole on his face. The great wizard immediately concluded that he was the source of the disaster. Under the guidance of the great wizard, the chief took him to the edge of the cliff, performed a ritual for half a day, and then threw him into the city of death.
The Nansai people have their own beliefs. They believe that this mountain stands above the clouds, and that they were born on this mountain, making them children blessed by the gods. The cliffs and valleys below the clouds are Hell, which they see as the City of Death. Upon death, all people and animals in the tribe are thrown into the City of Death. There, the souls of the virtuous are purified and journey to paradise, while the souls of the wicked are led by demons into purgatory, unable to be reborn. Therefore, the sinners are also thrown into the City of Death to face God's judgment.
Wen Renrang was neither purified nor taken to paradise, nor to purgatory. Miraculously, he survived. How he avoided being shattered remains unknown. At night, he wept at the bottom of the cliff, attracting wolves from the surrounding mountains and forests. The wolves often foraged there, searching for fresh meat. Surprised by the sight of a living creature crying and struggling, they surrounded Wen Renrang, observing and playing with it. At the time, the wolf king's wife had just given birth and was nursing the cubs. Seeing Wen Renrang, she thought he was her own cub, sharing many similarities, despite the difference in appearance. So, she brought him back to her den and raised him with the cubs.
Wenren Rang had no name at first. He drank wolf milk and ate raw meat, living with the wolf pack and gradually becoming a member of the wolf clan. He regarded the wolf king as his father and the she-wolf as his mother. After he grew up, he followed the wolf pack out hunting. Except for his different appearance, his description and behavior were no different from wolves. He could not speak human language, only wolf language. Then one day, the wolf king's life came to an end. Before he died, he passed the throne of wolf king to Wenren Rang's brother, one of the wolf king's sons. The wolf king also told Wenren Rang his origins, and he realized that he was not a wolf, but actually a human.
After learning his origins, Wen Renrang developed an obsession with the mountain. The Wolf King told him he was thrown from there, and he longed to climb back up to take a look. Years later, the mother wolf died, and he felt the wolf clan had nothing left for him to cherish. So, he bid farewell to his brother, the new Wolf King, and embarked on a journey back to the human world.
He was originally a human, and learned animal nature from the wolf clan, so climbing was not difficult for him. He just wanted to take a rest on the rattan cushion, but he accidentally stumbled into this cave. The scene inside shocked him greatly. He was also extremely smart. He discovered the mechanism and entered the stone chamber. He saw the statue of Snake Lingzi. At that time, he was illiterate. It was the first time in his life that he saw a statue of the same shape as himself. He thought he had finally seen a human, so he lay in front of the stone niche and jumped and fluttered back and forth like a wolf. However, his body shape was different from that of a wolf. The wolf's head was upward, but when he was on all fours, his head was forward. Therefore, every time he jumped excitedly, he would hit his head on the ground, like kowtowing.
Wen Renrang kowtowed several more times by accident, and on the third time, he unlocked the mechanism on She Lingzi's stone niche and received all the wisdom he had passed down through his life. It was clear that everything in this world really depended on chance.
At first, Wen Renrang held She Lingzi's book, unsure of its meaning. He found the scribblings within fascinating, and he often copied them with stones. After a few days in the cave, he felt hungry and wanted to leave for food. Wen Renrang thought, "Now that I've climbed from the cliff to the human world, I can never return to the bottom." He continued to climb, and indeed, he reached the cliff's summit, the human world, and the tribe. Covered in hair and behaving strangely, he was initially treated as a monster and even chased and beaten. Undeterred, he remained human, persevering and becoming close to the people. Over time, the tribe members came to believe he had no ill intentions, believing he was simply insane. They stopped bullying him, gave him clothes, and provided him with daily necessities. Wen Renrang, gifted with extraordinary talent, quickly learned human language. He often eavesdropped on the teacher's lessons at the private school, mastering the art of reading. He shuttled between the cave and the tribe, ultimately cultivating She Lingzi's extraordinary talent within the cave and transforming into a human.
Just when Wen Renrang was proud of his transformation, he heard about the disaster star that was born and brought disaster to the world. Only then did he realize that he was the abandoned baby who was thrown into the city of death.
The wolf king told him that he was the one who fell from this mountain, but he didn't know that he was actually abandoned by people. The people he tried hard to climb back to regarded him as a disaster, hated him, abandoned him and even put him to death.
Wenren Rang spent months in seclusion in the cave, reflecting on his life, fatherless and motherless, his origins unknown. The Wolf King and Mother, once considered his closest relatives, were gone. Only Snake Lingzi remained. His mentor, his teacher, had never despised him. As the saying goes, once a teacher, always a father. He considered Snake Lingzi his only relative, proving his connection to the human world. Snake Lingzi had no name, only a single number; he couldn't take his master's surname. While in the human world, he'd heard someone with the double surname Wenren. Wenren, Wenren, the deep obsession with hearing human voices—wasn't that a reflection of his own journey? As for his given name, he chose Rang. Born in the clouds above Nansai, he'd been cast aside in the land of the dead. The earth beneath the clouds was his origin. As for his final destination, he chose to remain in this cave between heaven and earth, beside his mentor. He was born in heaven, but abandoned by heaven; he fell to earth, but did not belong to earth. Only his mentor did not abandon him and took him in. So he will coexist with his mentor and companions.
All of She Lingzi's disciples have to join the country to seek strategic advice. Wen Renrang, with his skills, enters the world.
Zhong Yujing and Shangguan Yichen already understood that Wang Qiang, the man with the red mole at the corner of his eye, was Wenren Rang.
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