Qiu Shuijing and the Big Shot

Chapter 42: Qiu Shuijing and a Big Figure

In the west wing, Su Yun lit a bonfire, stripped off his clothes, and washed himself with snow, cleaning away the bloodstains and tending to the wound on his back before dressing again.

"My clothes are stained with blood again."

The young man frowned, examining the bloodstains on his clothes in the firelight. "I'll have to buy new clothes. If I enter the city wearing bloody clothes, they'll think I'm a monster, won't they?"

He had been trying hard to appear like a normal young man, not one from the no-man's-land of Tianshiyuan.

Su Yun dressed neatly and went to clear the ape demon corpses from the main hall of the temple before returning to the bonfire. He thought, I can't search for Hua Erge and the others at night. I'll have to wait until morning.

He was truly exhausted and fell asleep by the bonfire without realizing it.

After an unknown amount of time, Su Yun woke up. The bonfire was almost extinguished. Just as he was about to add more firewood, he heard voices outside: "...As a scholar of Tiandao Academy, you want to leave at this critical time, to go abroad to study! What's so good about Western learning? The Westerners are attacking us, carving up Yuanshuo's territory, abducting our people, and demanding reparations from the court, yet you still want to go to the West! You're a scholar of Tiandao Academy—"

Another voice replied, "Brother, can't you see? The era of the Old Saints is over! Across the ocean, the countries we considered barbarians now have stronger national power than Yuanshuo! I must go abroad to study and learn their skills!"

Su Yun was slightly startled. "This voice..."

"To go abroad and learn from them, to learn Western knowledge? You study Confucianism, are you going to betray Confucianism and your ancestors?"

"I use Western learning for practical purposes; fundamentally, I am still a Confucian. Brother, come with me to study abroad. Let us use Chinese learning as the essence and Western learning as the application to save this country and prevent its collapse!"

"Only by staying can we save this country! Only by preserving the esoteric knowledge of the Old Saints can we survive and save Yuanshuo's spirit! That is how we save this country! Otherwise, the nation will lose its backbone! Qiu Shuijing! Stop right there!"

Su Yun got up and looked out the window. In the temple courtyard under the moonlight, two dashing young men stood. Their bodies were formed from the gathered moonlight.

One of them should be a young Qiu Shuijing, and the other had thick eyebrows and large eyes, appearing taller and stronger than Qiu Shuijing.

Both were imposing and dignified.

Su Yun was slightly taken aback. "Obsession of the spirit?"

This scene, the voices, and the two dashing young men in the courtyard should all be the obsession of the spirit enshrined in this temple.

Under the moonlight tonight, this spiritual obsession had erupted, transforming into his younger self. And the other person he was conversing with was the young Qiu Shuijing.

"Mister Shuijing was a scholar of Tiandao Academy in his youth?"

Su Yun watched the two youths in the courtyard, still arguing about whether to go abroad to study. He thought, The owner of this temple also belonged to Tiandao Academy. Mister Shuijing wanted to go abroad to learn from other countries, while the temple owner felt that the Old Saints' esoteric knowledge should be preserved. Did they have a conflict because of this?

The spiritual obsession was slowly dissolving.

"Brother, I will go across the ocean to study. In a few decades, we'll see who was right and who was wrong," Mister Shuijing's voice carried over.

The spiritual obsession dissipated, and the figures of the two youths in the courtyard vanished along with the scattered moonlight.

Su Yun pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard, lost in thought. "Was this conversation, which the temple owner remembers to this day even after his death, truly so important?"

Although he had read the Old Sage Classics extensively, at this moment, he couldn't tell whether Mister Shuijing or the temple owner was right.

"The temple owner must also have been a respectable person, right? Like Mister Shuijing, he wanted to save this country."

Su Yun stretched his body and brought some snow to clean the floor of the main hall, washing away the bloodstains. He had fought a bloody battle with the ape demons from Yuanjia Ridge here last night, and dirtying the floor felt disrespectful to the temple owner.

After finishing, Su Yun, sweating, sat outside the temple gate to rest.

"Little blind one, do you know the ghosts and gods in the temple?" a voice called out.

Su Yun followed the sound and saw a large mansion next to the temple. There were stone lions in front of the mansion, and a lean old man sat on the steps, beckoning to Su Yun with a smile.

Su Yun was astonished. When he arrived at the temple, he hadn't seen such a large mansion nearby!

"Do you recognize me, senior?" Su Yun asked curiously.

The lean old man chuckled. "We set up stalls together in Tianshi. I was at stall number ninety-seven on the right side of the street, and you were at number ninety-two on the left. Of course, I recognize you. We're stall neighbors, we've been neighbors for years!"

The "street" he referred to was an alley in the Ghost Market. Su Yun's stall was in the ninety-second alleyway from the entrance of the Heavenly Gate.

Su Yun's spirits lifted, and he quickly ran over.

"This neighbor only moved in two months ago."

The lean old man chuckled. "A friend of mine built this mansion for him. That friend is Qiu Shuijing, who has been to Tianshi and once followed you. He chatted with me for a while when he came here that day. He said the person living in this mansion is a big figure from the Eastern Capital, and also his old friend. He's back this time to pay respects to this important figure. By the way, my name is Lou Ban."

Su Yun exclaimed, "Did Mister Shuijing build this temple?"

Lou Ban nodded. "He hired some monsters to build it. He paid for it. Your teacher is remarkable, a man of great talent with unfathomable abilities. You haven't been to Tianshi for months, what happened?"

Su Yun replied, "My eye condition has been cured, so I haven't been back."

Lou Ban sized him up. "Are you planning to enter the city?"

Su Yun nodded. "I'm going to Shuofang to study. Mister Shuijing said that the Old Saints' learning is outdated, and I must go to the city to pursue new learning."

Lou Ban said leisurely, "Some of the Old Saints' learning is outdated, while some is timeless and irrefutable. Do you know why?"

Su Yun shook his head.

He had learned a bellyful of Old Sage Classics from Mister Wild Fox. So far, he had only found that his comprehension of cultivation methods like the Great Furnace Transformation: Qi Cultivation Chapter and the Immortal Ape Qi Cultivation Chapter was faster, with no other special benefits.

"I've also studied abroad."

Lou Ban smiled. "The Westerners are indeed more adept than us in their methods of learning and applying knowledge. However, they have one area where they are inferior to us, and this is precisely where the Old Saints excelled."

Su Yun's heart stirred slightly, and he bowed, saying, "Please guide me, senior."

Lou Ban stood up, stretched, and said, "Westerners ask the gods, while Old Saints ask people."

Su Yun immediately understood his meaning.

Asking the gods meant seeking answers to matters from the gods. When undecided about anything, one would consult the divine and ask the gods to guide worldly affairs.

Asking people meant seeking answers to matters from people, with people guiding worldly affairs, and no so-called gods interfering in human matters.

This point was precisely what the Old Saints advocated: to care for the common people and not the ghosts and gods, to respect ghosts and gods but keep them at a distance.

"The scholarship of the Old Saints lacks practical application; it primarily guides you in cultivating and tempering your mind. The Westerners have filled this gap in practicality, which is why they have become powerful."

Lou Ban said, "Yuanshuo is currently weak, but as long as we learn the Westerners' methods, apply them, reform the shortcomings of the Old Saints, and transform the Old Saints' scholarship into New Learning, I believe it is feasible to defeat the Westerners. Like Qiu Shuijing, I am a proponent of New Learning."

Su Yun became excited, "Senior, are you a Sage of New Learning?"

"New Learning has not yet produced a Sage."

Lou Ban shook his head. "At the very least, there wasn't one when I died. Little blind one, if you go to the city to study, I have something to entrust to you."

He turned and walked into his residence, retrieving a small wooden box, square and neat, and placed it in Su Yun's hand. He said, "When I died, my disciples were confused and buried this key with me. Take this key and complete something for me."

Su Yun weighed the wooden box, finding it heavy and substantial, as if it were solid. He asked, "Senior, what do you want me to complete?"

Lou Ban smiled. "This matter is simple. Go to Shuofang City. If you have time, take the key and go to the foot of the city to see if what I hid there is still there. Once this is done, my key will be yours."

Su Yun understood. This was a rule of the Tianmen Ghost Market. Of course, in his heart, it wasn't a ghost market, but the Tianmen Night Market, also known as Tianshi.

The rules of Tianshi were simple: take something from someone and fulfill their wish!

If the wish could not be completed within the deadline, the "treasure owner" would reclaim the treasure!

Su Yun himself had once been a treasure seller in Tianshi. Of course, his treasures were not true treasures, merely his burial objects. Lou Ban and the other ghosts and gods, however, offered genuine spiritual divine weapons, and absolutely the best spiritual divine weapons!

Su Yun accepted the wooden box and bowed, "Senior, rest assured, Yun will not fail your trust!"

Lou Ban chuckled. "It's not much of a trust. I merely saw Qiu Shuijing's admiration for you, so I followed his admiration and believed you could accomplish it. Alright, alright, dawn is breaking, and your task is coming soon. You should go."

"My task is coming soon?" Su Yun was confused.

Lou Ban pursed his lips. Su Yun looked back and saw the trees in the forest shaking, snow swirling, and trees cracking and falling.

"Ancestor Yuan San!"

Su Yun's heart leaped in alarm. He quickly retrieved his baggage, bowed to Lou Ban, and then flicked the end of the Immortal Rope. The Immortal Rope shot straight up into the sky!

Just as he grabbed the Immortal Rope and was lifted into the air, he heard Lou Ban's voice: "Little blind one, you are also a Spirit Scholar. You may not be weaker than him. Why fear him?"

"I am a Spirit Scholar?"

Su Yun was taken aback. He had only just cultivated to the sixth level of Foundation Establishment. When did he become a Spirit Scholar?

He had no time to ponder further. Below, in the forest, Ancestor Yuan San, covered in blood, his back carrying a thick iron cudgel as thick as an arm, roared and charged out of the forest, reaching for the Immortal Rope!

Su Yun climbed upwards rapidly. With a sharp tug of the rope, Ancestor Yuan San leaped up, his hand grasping at empty air, forced to land!

The white-furred savage ape stood up in the snow, its body covered in shocking wounds. Clearly, he had also suffered heavy injuries in his battle with that giant ghost.

Ancestor Yuan San's expression was grim. He looked up, only to see Su Yun climbing the rope, using both hands and feet, disappearing into the night sky.

"You killed so many disciples of my Yuan family ridge, you will absolutely not be able to leave Tianshiyuan alive!"

Ancestor Yuan San beat his chest with his fists and roared at the sky. On the snowy ground beside him, in front of the newly built temple, lay more than a dozen ape demon corpses – the Yuan family ridge experts Su Yun had killed in the temple!