Bewitching Hearts and Using Bodies, Order Fears Its Gradual Departure

"How dare you interrupt your master's lecture!"

What do you mean by that?

"This person harbors malicious intentions; seize him immediately!"

Amidst angry accusations, Senior Brother Zhang and the others drew their swords, pointing them directly at Qiu Yan!

Where the sword points, killing intent spreads!

Even those listening to the Daoist's sermon could sense the anger of the Bell Sacrifice Daoist Sect disciples, and their gazes toward Qiu Yan revealed a variety of thoughts.

Just then, a clear voice came from behind the Incense Burner--

"Zhang Bo, all of you put your swords away first." The speaker was none other than the Daoist priest sitting on the platform. After speaking, he looked at Qiu Yan with great interest.

"But Master, this person..." Upon hearing the order, Senior Brother Zhang was still furious and wanted to offer some advice, but he immediately fell silent and sheathed his sword after being met with a cold gaze from the Daoist.

Everything else is just average.

Then, the Daoist pointed at Qiu Yan and asked, "Where did you catch this person?"

"This person appeared outside the forest on his own and was brought in by the disciples. We haven't had time to question him yet. Perhaps he got lost from some merchant caravan," Senior Brother Zhang reported, bowing respectfully.

"He appeared outside the forest on his own?" The Daoist narrowed his eyes, giving Qiu Yan a deep look, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "That's strange."

After saying this, he shook his head and chuckled, "However, what this person asked just now was truly laughable."

"Funny?" Qiu Yan retorted.

"Indeed," the Daoist nodded. "Putting aside everything else, when I was giving my sermon, you suddenly interrupted me, showing no manners whatsoever. This reveals your low character. Judging from your appearance, you are someone who has studied the Sage, yet you did such a thing. Isn't it laughable? However, this is not surprising. This is not just your fault, but a deep-seated flaw in the entire Central Plains people..."

"What a clever maneuver..." Qiu Yan shook his head, ignoring the angry glares from the people beside him, and strode towards the platform. "A small matter, a fragment, immediately given a grand title, magnified to the entire Central Plains. Daoist's mouth is truly formidable. However, what I admire even more is how easily you evaded my questions. Clearly, you're a seasoned veteran..."

As he drew closer, Qiu Yan's eyelids twitched slightly. He caught a familiar fluctuation of emotion in the other person, but remained calm, simply asking, "Daoist Master, you don't need to beat around the bush. Just tell me, you instigated others to rise up in rebellion, so how come you, the instigator, are able to live peacefully here?"

"How utterly rude, everyone..." The Daoist priest didn't answer, but instead shouted to the crowd below, "You've all seen it, my age is evident. This young man is also a scholar from the Central Plains, yet he shows no respect for his elders whatsoever! Why is this? It's because he's been corrupted by the great dye vat of the Central Plains. At birth, human nature is inherently good, we are all blank slates. How come the warriors of the Grasslands are so brave and fearless, while we people of the Central Plains are so cowardly, not even daring to raise our swords to fight when facing an enemy?"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, and veins even bulged on his ruddy face!

"This is all due to the distortion of the Order advocated by the Central Plains masters! All of this is the fault of our ancestors! The only way forward is to introduce the blood of the Grasslands to nourish the Central Plains, and to rebuild the Celestial Dynasty with the martial prowess of the Grasslands. Only then can we live like human beings!"

"You've all spent some time in the Rouluo Sacred Tribe, so you should know that the people of the Grasslands are not like us. They don't need to work hard in the fields to eat meat and drink milk! Where do these grains and wealth come from? Isn't it through martial prowess? As long as you pick up a knife, what in the world can't you obtain? Gentlemen, the Central Plains must be nourished with the blood of the Grasslands so that we, the people of the Central Plains, can truly stand tall, become superior beings, and live a good life..."

But unexpectedly, Qiu Yan's voice came from the side, once again interrupting the Daoist's impassioned words—

"Using a knife to rob someone, is that such a noble thing?"

His voice wasn't loud, yet it possessed an undeniable penetrating quality, making it difficult for others to ignore him, even if they didn't want to.

The Daoist priest abruptly stopped speaking, turned his head, and smiled slightly, "What do you know, young man? I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice, and crossed more bridges than you've walked roads. Can your knowledge compare to mine? How dare you be so ignorant and rude? Do you even want to argue with me? Don't you know your place? How could I lower myself to argue with you?"

"You Daoist, you're so unreasonable. You don't answer a single question, you just dodge and gloss over them with other things," Qiu Yan stepped forward and suddenly whispered, "Could it be that the Diplomat School now only knows how to use overwhelming momentum to confuse concepts and forcefully prove themselves with experience and qualifications?"

"What did you say?" Upon hearing this, the Daoist's eyes widened suddenly, revealing murderous intent, but he quickly concealed it. "Young man, think twice before you speak, lest you bring trouble upon yourself."

"What trouble?" Qiu Yan narrowed his eyes. The familiar aura he had just sensed was similar to that of Zhang Qin, whom he had encountered in the Scholar Forest World. That was why he had asked to test him. Seeing this, he already had a good idea of what was going on, so he changed the subject. "Daoist, let me ask you one more question. If you still don't want to answer, then so be it. But I'm afraid those of you below the altar will have some doubts."

The Daoist priest paused for a moment, then asked, "What do you want to ask?" His gaze towards Qiu Yan had changed, and his Daoist air had faded somewhat. He then secretly gave a wink to several disciples, who quietly stepped forward.

Qiu Yan seemed oblivious, and simply asked, "You say the Central Plains are inferior to the Grasslands because of their military strength. Then let me ask you, does a lack of military strength mean the country is inferior?"

"Of course," the Daoist nodded.

Qiu Yan nodded and said, "If there is a country whose people are peaceful and whose culture is prosperous, but which is not as militaristic as its neighbor, does that mean that this country is too inferior and should be trampled by the neighbor's horses and its blood drenched?"

"Hmm?" The Daoist was taken aback, then sneered, "Don't try to take shortcuts. I didn't say that martial prowess is everything, but rather that the Central Plains court is acting perversely, which is why its military is in disarray and it cannot win battles. If we establish a Great Khan and Four Horns like Rouluo, that would be the true path!"

Qiu Yan then asked, "Daoist Master, you are so hostile to the Central Plains, yet you yourself are from the Central Plains. You want to use the Four Horns Method of the Grasslands to govern the Central Plains. Is it because you are angry at their lack of resistance, or do you have some other purpose?"

The so-called "Four Horns of the Great Khan" refers to the tribal structure of the Rouluo. The customs, geography, environment, and culture of the Grasslands and the Central Plains are different. In order to adapt to their respective development, the Central Plains established a centralized government, while the Grasslands, due to the large number of tribes, harsh conditions, no fixed abode, and poor communication, had Left Wise King, a Left Guli King, a Right Wise King, and a Right Guli King residing in the four directions to lead the various tribes, and were called the Four Horns.

The Daoist priest glanced at the crowd below the stage and declared righteously, "It is for the sake of hundreds of millions of ordinary people!"

Qiu Yan pressed further. "If a Great Khan and the Four Horns are established, but the country is in turmoil, what then? Is it worthwhile to disrupt the world and stain the land with blood just to establish the Four Horns?"

"What are a few sacrifices for the sake of future generations?" The Daoist priest had a bead of sweat on his forehead and kept giving his disciples meaningful glances.

But Qiu Yan persisted, asking, "How do you know that implementing this method will bring peace to your descendants, while overthrowing Anning will only benefit a minority, and those who sacrifice will not be you schemers. You use the blood of others to irrigate your own throne, yet you keep saying it's for the sake of your descendants. Isn't that hypocritical and bordering on demonic?"

The Daoist priest's forehead veins bulged. "You're just sticking to the old ways! Yes, you've been misled by scriptures and classics, lost your clarity, and lost your own judgment! Look at the Rouluo Sacred Tribe, they set up their courtyards at Four Horns, they don't need to farm, yet they can eat meat every day..."

"Shut up! Stop trying to mislead people with your words! If no one works, even if you try to steal, you won't get anything! Which country is strong and which is weak isn't determined by words, but your words are just taking advantage of people's limited knowledge, trying to confuse them and manipulate them—your intentions are despicable!"

Qiu Yan suddenly raised his voice!

"You only see the Rouluo eating meat, but you don't see their frenzy of burning, killing, and looting, the hardships of herding and hunting, the suffering of lacking food and clothing, the helplessness of migrating between winter and summer, or the misery of becoming slaves during tribal wars! You only emphasize eating meat! What are your true intentions? In my opinion, you are not unaware of these things, but rather unwilling to speak out!"

The relative strengths of Great Rui and Rouluo are clear to those who have a comprehensive view of the situation. However, ordinary people, limited by information, are unaware of the overall comparison between the two countries and are inevitably misled by one-sided accounts, or even generalize from limited information, mistaking a strong country for a weak one and a scattered state for a regional hegemon. This is not surprising.

It's not uncommon for people to use just their words and a few deeds to spread rumors and distort the truth, cause and Karma.

In this world, there's no internet or television to compare national strength daily. Ordinary people even have to copy books themselves to read, so how can they comprehensively compare two nations? Once someone stirs them up and their emotions run high, they immediately believe it to be true.

Even in Qiu Yan's previous life, countless ordinary people still needed tools and channels to understand everything, but as long as there were intermediaries, information could be manipulated.

As Qiu Yan spoke, he drew closer and closer, his aura growing stronger, causing the Daoist priest to instinctively step back. The crowd listening to his sermon also displayed various expressions of surprise and uncertainty.

"Whether it's martial prowess or the Four Horns, they are inherently worthless; they are all Human Path means. As long as they benefit the people, they are good," Qiu Yan pressed on, striding forward. "But in your mouth, they're even Spiritual Light than Human Path Order, as if using them can cure all diseases! I ask you again, why does the Rouluo, with their Great Khan, rely on plundering and raiding to survive the winter? Why do they need to conquer and enslave other tribes to grow stronger? Who is inferior to whom?"

As he spoke, Qiu Yan's thoughts gradually became clearer, and the problem that had troubled him for so long suddenly became clear. A phrase emerged in his mind—

"Indeed! Whether it's an emperor, a great khan, or even a court or Royal Court, they have no value in themselves, Human Path Order existing in isolation has no value either! Only when applied to Human Path and bringing about changes in the lives of all people does it have value! The essence of Human Path still lies in people!"

"To regard titles, systems, and Order as valuable things, to worship them and regard them as golden rules, is like a farmer treating the hoe and sickle as the ultimate truth. Does a farmer, by pursuing the hoe and obtaining the sickle, no longer need to work and can sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor? It would be much easier to buy an ox!"

The slight reverence for Order slowly dissipated. Qiu Yan arrived in front of the stone platform, and Senior Brother Zhang and the others finally made their move. They should have stepped forward long ago after the Daoist gave them a few glances, but they were intimidated by Qiu Yan's aura!

ps:

Thank you to "Little Sailor" and "Dark Watcher" for the monthly votes!