"Are you sure you didn't catch the wrong person?"
"No mistake! Everyone in Lingqiu City calls him Scholar Song!"
Song Chengan groggily opened his eyes.
But he immediately wanted to close them again.
Because standing before him was a monster. It wore tattered clothes no different from those of an ordinary person, but atop its shoulders sat an enormous dog's head.
Its mouth was full of fangs.
A Dog Demon!
There was another demon beside it.
Skinny and shriveled, it too wore human clothing, though it had a giant goose's head.
Anyone who did not know better might have thought it was Abao's father.
"Boss, Boss, he's awake!"
"I thought he'd been scared to death!" the Dog Demon said upon seeing Song Chengan awaken.
"Scholar Song, that makes things easier."
Song Chengan felt as though his head were splitting apart, two sets of memories tangling together in his mind.
In his previous life, he had grown up in an orphanage. After leaving it, he had become a rider to make a living... not a princess's knight, but a delivery rider.
Then, on a rainy night, he had crashed into an oncoming Maybach and gone flying.
In this life, he was Song Chengan of Lingqiu City.
His father had vanished, his mother had died, and he had an older sister who had married a wealthy merchant in the city as a concubine.
Thirty years old, without even the lowest academic degree, he was mockingly called Scholar Song.
While relieving himself at night, a gust of demonic wind had swept him out of Lingqiu City.
Seeing a Monster upon opening his eyes had terrified him so badly that he awakened his Past Life Wisdom.
The two sets of memories intertwined, leaving Song Chengan looking muddled and dazed.
The two demons before Song Chengan were in no hurry. Assuming he had merely been frightened, they quietly waited.
At last, Song Chengan came back to his senses.
He opened his mouth, his voice somewhat hoarse. "What... are you?"
"This old fellow's surname is Bai. I attained the Dao thirty years ago, and now I hold the top seat in trade here on Mount Luo."
"Young Master Song may simply call me the Boss!"
"This is Second Boss Huang. He attained the Dao twenty years ago."
What First Boss Bai?
What top seat in trade?
Attained the Dao?
More like you became demons.
And talking about the top seat—do you have one hundred and seven brothers too?
Song Chengan's mind began to turn.
He knew that Monsters existed in this world.
People from the villages outside Lingqiu City were often swept away by Monsters.
Bounty notices for demons and devils could frequently be seen by the city gates.
But being carried off by Monsters from within Lingqiu City was a scorpion's tail—the one and only of its kind.
After all, the Imperial Court's Demon Suppression Division had officials stationed in Lingqiu City.
Song Chengan racked his brains.
Then he asked, "May I ask why First Boss Bai invited me here?"
These Monsters did not seem utterly vicious, at least not as though they had suddenly wanted to change flavors and sample what city folk tasted like.
That put Song Chengan slightly at ease.
"I had Second Boss Huang invite Scholar Song here because we wish to ask Scholar Song to teach us learning."
"To speak without fear of Scholar Song's laughter, though we were fortunate enough to attain the Dao, we have never had a master or anyone to teach us the learning of the sages."
"Though we are Monsters, we too admire the teachings of the sages."
"Everyone, come in. Come pay your respects to Teacher."
First Boss Bai called out as he spoke.
At once, the battered door was pushed open.
A motley assortment of things poured in.
They truly were a chaotic jumble.
Foxes, weasels, rats, a Black Cat, and finally, an enormous bear's head poked in through the doorframe.
Black Bear rumbled, "Boss, This Old Bear listened outside for quite a while. This fellow looks dull and stupid. Can he really be a teacher?"
"Don't tell me you caught the wrong person. Why not let This Old Bear eat him? This Old Bear still doesn't know what city folk taste like!"
"Th-this... could we really have caught the wrong person?" First Boss Bai was uncertain upon hearing that.
Second Boss Huang shook his head. "How could we have caught the wrong person? I asked around. They all said the most learned people are scholars, and everyone calls this man Scholar Song."
"But This Old Bear thinks he looks dull and stupid, like he can't be a teacher. Why not let This Old Bear eat him, then go catch someone smarter?"
Song Chengan panicked at once. "Who says I can't teach?"
"My Song family has passed down classical learning for three generations, with disciples spread throughout the realm. Why wouldn't I be able to teach?"
"Then good. Everyone, take your seats."
Old Master Bai waved a hand.
The foxes, rats, Black Cat, Black Bear, and even Old Master Bai all sat cross-legged in a proper fashion.
Pair after pair of eyes stared at Song Chengan.
Damn it, it was a provocation.
"Teacher, hurry and teach us!"
Sweat immediately beaded on Song Chengan's brow.
The awakening of his Past Life Wisdom had tangled the two sets of memories together, turning his already dull mind into mush.
Everything he had once learned in the schoolhouse seemed to have vanished without a trace.
Facing the gathered Monsters, he was so anxious that he sweated all over.
"Scholar Song, don't tell me you can't teach after all?" Black Bear, seated outside the door, spoke with ill intent, seeming eager to taste what city folk were like.
Song Chengan drew a deep breath.
"What do you mean, can't teach? I was merely considering what learning would be best to impart to you."
"I'll teach you a scripture called the Dao De Jing."
"This is true learning from a sage."
"Listen carefully."
"The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao."
"The name that can be named is not the eternal..."
"The Dao—if it can be spoken aloud, then it is not the eternal Dao. A name—if it can be called aloud, then it is not..."
Song Chengan no longer cared.
A ramshackle troupe—who was afraid of whom?
These Monsters were clearly country bumpkins.
What did they know about learning? He would just babble a heap of nonsense and stabilize them first.
Master Kong, please do not blame this youngster. I'm only trying to stay alive!
"Did you understand?"
After wracking his brains and talking for a long while, Song Chengan looked up and asked.
All right, there was no need to ask.
Among the Monsters, some were nodding off, some stared blankly, and the rest could only stare wide-eyed at one another.
Clearly, none of them belonged among clever students.
"This Old Bear understood. What you meant was: the Dao, if it can be spoken aloud, is not the eternal Dao; the name, if it can be called aloud, is not the eternal name..."
Song Chengan's face darkened.
What did you understand?
Are you a parrot or something?
You bastard, may you steal a cassock someday.
"Scholar, it seems like he understood."
A weasel raised its paw and pointed to the person beside it.
"What do you mean, he? That's the Boss!"
The larger weasel beside it smacked its head and angrily rebuked it.
Song Chengan focused his gaze.
He saw Old Master Bai's head shifting and changing. Then, it transformed into a human face.
In the blink of an eye, the Goose Demon with the goose head vanished, replaced by a kind-faced old man.
Though his body was somewhat hunched.
He stood two heads shorter than Song Chengan.
"The learning Teacher imparted truly is the learning of a sage!"
"If not for Teacher, I fear I would have remained stuck at the Shapeshift threshold until death."
Song Chengan's scalp tingled.
He had merely made up a few lines of nonsense. How had this demon actually comprehended something?
Song Chengan felt like cursing his mother.
"Teacher is truly a sage! From this day forth, Bai shall observe the rites of a disciple before Teacher."
Song Chengan wanted to say something.
But at that moment, his stomach rumbled.
"I had forgotten that Teacher still possesses a mortal body of flesh and blood."
"Everyone, go find some wild fruit in the mountains!"
"Yeah! Time to play!"
The little Monsters immediately cheered and scattered in a swarm.
First Boss Bai shook his head at their words. "They are all foolish creatures. They do not know that being able to hear the learning Teacher imparts is a blessing earned over ten lifetimes."
Song Chengan gave a dry laugh.
I'm the one who should be impressed after being kidnapped by you lot.
Still, since these Monsters could cultivate, perhaps they possessed methods that allowed humans to cultivate as well.
If they did... that would be an immortal opportunity.
Before you continue