Chapter 863: Childe Yu
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Meng Qi was being named Li Dan, and he owned the Tao Te Ching written by the Lord Dao De. These made him think of the very high lord who had been delivering sermons.
The very high lord has escaped from the World of Gods, so it’s inconvenient for him to reveal himself. After realizing that I’m somehow connected to the Yuan Shi and the Jade Palace, did he give me the Tao Te Ching so that I can preach sermons in this world?
Currently, Meng Qi was deeply trapped in the chess game. After going through a lot of things, Meng Qi was no longer ignorant like he used to be. He was wary of every coincidence that occured. Furthermore, the incident that happened at the moment could hardly be described as a coincidence. In fact, it was almost intentional!
The very high lord wanted Meng Qi to play the role of Li Dan and preach on behalf of him. Thus, the lord must have been aware of the body on the Earth, otherwise Meng Qi would not end up in the current situation. Apparently, the lord was in a neutral position – although he did not provide help to Meng Qi, he did not expose his background either.
If the Lord Dao De was part of the force of the Master of the Six Dao of Samsara and the mighty people who were keeping an eye on Meng Qi, there was no doubt that every secret of him had been exposed. If that was the case, Meng Qi could not see any hopes of escaping from his current status as a fish. He could only pray every day so that the other mighty people could get involved in the chess game. In other words, his life or death was no longer determined by himself.
This was the worst case scenario that Meng Qi could imagine. Since his fate would be manipulated by others, it made no difference whether he tried hard or gave up. Eventually, he would be denying himself. Under such circumstance, he might as well fight until the very end for a glimmer of hope. Even if he would lose his life, he still preferred a dignified death rather than living in self-denial!
Therefore, Meng Qi had subconsciously regarded the Lord Dao De and the Master of the Six Dao of Samsara as different forces. So far, apart from the fact that the Samsara had known about the Tao Te Ching, there was no sign that showed they were working together.
Meng Qi took a deep breath and thought of what he should do.
As things had already happened, it was not wise to avoid them. First of all, Meng Qi did not want to annoy the very high lord. Perhaps the lord was having a good intention to help him to get out of his troubles. It would be regrettable if he rejected the lord’s helping hands.
However, things could get technical to preach for the lord. Meng Qi could impress Li Rong with his talent, become a member of the Luo Yi treasure chamber, read all the books, understand the etiquette and morality, and with his high reputation, he could attract people like Confucius to visit him for advice. However, as a result, he would be found out by the Samsara at any time. By then, all the secret efforts he made would turn out to be a joke!
Therefore, it would be the best for Meng Qi to keep a low profile. He could delay for a few years to wait for the deity to step into the critical stage of cutting off the past. Until then, he would open up the World Avenue with the help of the force of the entire World of Gods.
Apparently, Meng Qi had to grasp the timing precisely. If he was too late to open up the World Avenue, the deity was prone to fail in the critical stage. However, if he was too early to do so, the Samsara would find it out in advance.
“Treasure Chamber Administrator, thank you for giving me the name,” Meng Qi cupped his hands together. He had purposely addressed Li Rong with his honorary title.
Li Rong was startled, “Have you read any books before? Are you able to read?”
He is not like an ordinary refugee!
“When I was young, I was taught by a teacher,” Meng Qi attempted to mislead Li Rong to see himself as a person coming from a family of power and influence that had fallen into unfortunate circumstances.
Initially, Li Rong was already having a sense of accomplishment when Meng Qi listened to his teachings and stopped begging. After hearing what Meng Qi said, he felt that Meng Qi’s talent should not be wasted. He stroked his beard and said, “Not bad. From now on, you don’t have to call me master. Just call me as the Treasure Chamber Administrator. But since you’ve just came to the Li Mansion, you still have to start from being a servant. You will be responsible for cleaning the front courtyard.”
“Yes, Treasure Chamber Administrator,” in fact, Meng Qi was satisfied with this job because he had always wanted to be low-key.
Watching Meng Qi being taken away by other housemaids, Li Jianjia pouted her mouth, “He doesn’t look like a scholar at all.”
“Don’t judge a man by his looks,” Li Rong shook his head and sighed, “from him, we can see that the world situation has been really chaotic. The frequent wars have indeed affected a lot of people. Even a descendant of a senior official has fallen into such an unfortunate circumstance. If you don’t put in efforts in learning martial arts, when the wars spread to here, you will end up being more miserable than him.”
Given the fact that Li Rong had realized how weak the Zhou imperial family was, he no longer thought that Luo Yi was able to defend against the wars.
In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.
Due to the incident of being given the name Li Dan, Meng Qi dared not relax himself. With the help of the Fairy World, he adjusted the time by separating the day from the night. When it was daytime for the deity, the body on the Earth would be at the night, and vice versa. In this way, he could take care of both sides. His consciousness would stay with the one in the daytime so as to avoid overlooking either side.
This was one of the reasons why Meng Qi did not dare to exchange for a longer practice time. In a few years, who knew what would happen to the body on the Earth?
Sha sha sha... Meng Qi was sweeping the courtyard meticulously with full attention. It was as though he was not performing a servant’s job, but the most sacred thing in the world that worth devoting all his attention.
Through the window of the study room, Li Rong and Li Jianjia were watching at how Meng Qi cleaned the courtyard. Influenced by him, they too felt a sense of peace and relaxation.
“Performing a job of a servant without slacking, being in a difficult situation but not giving up on himself. Jianjia, his mentality, willpower and concentration are a hundred times better than you. You should learn these things from him,” sighed Li Rong.
Li Jianjia rolled her eyes and snorted, “So what? He is still cleaning the courtyard.”
Actually, Li Jianjia did admire Meng Qi’s dedication and meticulousness because she felt that she certainly could not do it. Yet, she could not help talking back to her father when he compared her with a servant.
Li Rong laughed, “I’m just testing him. Now that he has passed the test. Soon, he will be promoted to be my servant. He will be responsible to clean and tidy up the study room and the treasure chamber. If he has free time, he can read some books and practice martial arts.”
“Unfortunately, he has missed the best time of learning martial arts, so I can foresee that he can hardly achieve anything in martial arts. Even if he read books, he won’t be able to become a teacher in the future,” Li Jianjia talked back once again, but she believed what she said was right.
Li Rong did not comment further on the words of Li Jianjia as he actually agreed with her judgment. Furthermore, he was only training a family servant, not a general or a sage.
He turned around and walked to the table. Then, he knelt down and looked at the information collected by the servants and the news released by the imperial court.
All of a sudden, Li Rong hit the table and broke it into two pieces. As he was breathing fast, his beard was flying up and down. Obviously, he was very angry.
“Father, what’s wrong?” Li Jianjia opened her beautiful eyes widely and asked in a confused way.
“In the name of futility and uselessness, the Mohist School of the Qi Kingdom has abolished many etiquettes. Not only they suggested a frugal funeral, but also they criticized us for putting too much emphasis on the relationship between superiority and inferiority,” Li Rong said in anger. “What a moral degeneration of society! Su Mo is definitely the most crafty and evil person I’ve ever seen!”
“Human hearts are not what they were in the old days. I hate that I’m not powerful enough to kill this evil person!”
Ah Choo... Meng Qi sneezed and felt as though he was criticized by someone. Then, he continued sweeping the floor in silence.
Li Rong, with his hands clasped behind his back, walked back and forth in the study room, and his anger got intensified. But when he saw Meng Qi concentrating on his job without being disturbed by the external world, he had finally calmed down. He shook his head and went back to the table again with a depressed look on his face. Then he started looking at other papers.
Toward the end, he saw a name card that requested for a visit to the Li Mansion. He opened it curiously.
“Jiyu from the Middle-Mountain Kingdom?” Li Rong muttered to himself.
Li Jianjia was the one who helped her father to sort out the papers and name cards. When she heard her father’s mutter, she said, “Childe Yu? The name card is sent in this morning. Father, would you like to see him?”
“What’s his background?” Li Rong asked.
Li Jianjia recalled the words of the servant who was in charge of this matter and said, “He is a childe of the Middle-Mountain Kingdom. He is said to be knowledgeable and has a good grasp of the general situation of the world. After the fall of the Middle-Mountain Kingdom, he is forced to leave his native land and go to other countries. It turns out that he has came to Luo Yi.”
“A knowledgeable person? I don’t mind meeting him,” said Li Rong with a nod.
...
A carriage was driving slowly toward the Li Mansion at a speed that was neither too fast nor too slow. It was as though the person in the carriage was going for an outing.
In the carriage, there was a man with black hair and wide sleeves who wore a hat. His facial features were good-looking and classy. Despite his graceful and noble aura, there was a look of frivolity and impetuosity in his eyes.
The man closed his eyes and relaxed his mood. Just then, an agile servant got in through the window and handed over several sheets of paper. “Childe, these are the things you want.”
The man was Childe Yu. He took over the papers and asked his servant to leave the carriage before he slowly flipped through them.
“...In the treasure chamber, there’s no Li Dan... no Li Dan... No Li Er... No Boyang... It seems that the very high lord hasn’t manifested in this world yet to preach about Da Dao...”
There was a smile on the face of Childe Yu. In this world, no one could possibly know that the incarnation of the Lord Dao De would occur in the treasure chamber of Luo Yi. Once he occured, he would become an exemplary teacher for all ages. The five thousand words in the Tao Te Ching written by him contained the true meaning of Da Dao. It also showed the way to open up the World Avenue!
If I were not an earthling that travelled to this world by chance, I would not have known this.
Since the very high lord hasn’t manifested yet, the merits and glory that are supposed to brought by the lord will belong to me!
His soul had travelled through time and space and went into the body of the original Childe Yu for several years. Relying on what he had learned in the past, he gradually gained the reputation of being a knowledgeable scholar. When he occasionally preached a few words of the famous philosophers that had not yet appeared in the current world, he had gained some forces of morality and virtue. These forces were able to complement his magical arts that he acquired through a lucky encounter, so he had been making a spurt of progress in martial arts.
After drawing benefit from it, he had targeted Luo Yi and the treasure chamber. If the very high lord really had not appeared yet, it would be a good chance for him!
At present, many schools of philosophy had already emerged, and the rudiments of Confucianism was beginning to appear. If the very high lord had not manifested in this world yet to preach about Da Dao, it was very likely that he would never appear.
By then, he would be the sage that opened up the avenue of this world!
While Childe Yu fantasized about the future, the carriage had arrived at the Li Mansion. Being led by a servant, Childe Yu entered the study room. He saw two men and one woman in it. Li Rong was the man with a pale face and long beard. The woman seemed to be his daughter. The other man had a sophisticated look and seemed to be senile – he looked like a family servant.
After making an obeisance to each other, Childe Yu told his purpose of visiting the Li Mansion. He said that he was disappointed by the moral degeneration of society nowadays. However, his knowledge was rather shallow. Hearing that the administrator of treasure chamber in Luo Yi had a thorough understanding about etiquettes, he had came here to ask for advice, and to request for a permission to read the books in the treasure chamber.
The words of Childe Yu happened to go along with Li Rong’s opinion. He praised Childe Yu highly and granted permission to him immediately.
Childe Yu sighed in an insincere manner, “The current world is lacking morality. As human hearts are not what they were in the old days, wars and chaos occur frequently. I’m a person who has a shallow knowledge, so I hope to read through all the books in the treasure chamber to have a better understanding about Dao.”
These words served as a foreshadowing so that he would not appear suspicious when he created big news in the future. Moreover, he actually could not remember every word of the Tao Te Ching, and thus he would need Li Rong’s help to make it complete.
“How virtuous are you!” said Li Rong while clapping his hands. Meng Qi twitched his mouth as he thought, This fellow is so pretentious. Can he stop acting as a moral saint?
Childe Yu was secretly complacent but he pretended to be humble. “Treasure Chamber Administrator, you’ve overpraised me.”
Haha, the World Avenue will be opened up by me!
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Li Rong giving an order to the servant, “Li Dan, bring Childe Yu to the treasure chamber.”
Li Dan? Childe Yu was stunned.
Li Dan!
His facial expression was frozen immediately. His face turned from pale to red, from red to black, and from black to pale again. It was as though he had opened a fabric dyeing shop.