Being knocked down by the Heavenly Dao while ascending

Songwuyuan.
Pang Yuan knelt respectfully before the man in white and said, "Master, what do you want in exchange for going back?"

The man in white had a white veil on his face and helped Pang Yuan up from his kneeling position. "Pei Mingyan is a traitor to the Mei family. I came to the academy to execute him."

"But..." Pang Yuan hesitated, "What about your danger..."

Qianshui, oh no, Shui Changhen straightened his collar, "I heard that Yongshan Academy only accepts people with nowhere else to go, so I got a fake identity."

Perhaps because he admired Master Mei too much, Pang Yuan did not ask any more questions and only said, "Executing Pei Mingyan is definitely not an easy task."

"Why?"

"Although I don't know the reason, I heard that the dean gave Pei Mingyan the jade pendant after we left for a few days." Pang Yuan saw that he was puzzled, and explained, "Seeing the dean's token is like seeing the dean himself. Ordinary people can't do anything to him."

"Even if I'm the deputy dean, I can't touch him?"

Pang Yuan thought for a long time, "According to the rules of the academy, those who hold the token cannot disobey unless they are at the level of the academy master. The deputy academy master... is at the level of the academy master, so it should be possible."

Shui Changhen remained silent.
He has his own plans. If Pang Yuan doesn't know about it, how could he not know about it?
He is not Mr. Mei. Pang Yuan mistook him for him, which is something he can use. He does not deny it. If he is exposed in the future, he is also the deputy dean, so what can Pang Yuan do to him?

But Pei Mingyan is too much of an eyesore.
He is one of the only two people who can save the dean. There is a huge gap between the only two and the only one.

The dean was very smooth in his dealings. He gave Pei Mingyan a token of trust and appointed him as the deputy dean.
He knew his own strengths and weaknesses. If Pei Mingyan had not stabilized his soul and body, even if he could calm his soul, he would definitely not be able to save the dean.
But now that the dean's soul is stable, Pei Mingyan's existence is his biggest obstacle.

Shui Changhen pondered for a long time and said, "Tell me the details of Pei Mingyan's story."

Pang Yuan nodded and recounted in detail everything that happened after Pei Mingyan entered the academy.
.
Uncle Yu and Pei Mingyan walked one after the other on the road to the main peak.
Pei Mingyan thought to himself, "I am such a self-aware prisoner that I followed him without even putting on the shackles."
He walked slowly, and Uncle Yu didn't rush him.

Pei Mingyan stared at Uncle Yu's straight back, thinking that he should give Uncle Yu some guilt points, "Uncle Yu, we have only been apart for five hours, not five hundred years, right? How come I was your beloved junior in the morning, but I became a prisoner after waking up from a nap."

Uncle Yu quickened his pace when he heard his voice.

Pei Mingyan blinked a few times, took a few deep breaths, leaned on his knees, lowered his head and breathed heavily, "I can't do it anymore, I have to rest for a while, my mortal body can't stand the tossing and turning several times a day."

Uncle Yu stopped and stood there waiting for him.

Pei Mingyan sat on a rock to rest. He knew very well that the dean's attitude was the same as Uncle Yu's. Judging from the situation, it seemed that the dean didn't want him to die that much.
"I really don't have any bad intentions. I'm not a magic pill. If your dean breathes in, he will be cured. Don't all diseases need to be treated slowly? How can I suddenly become a bad person who wants to control the dean?"

Uncle Yu was silent for a while, then said, "If you have any questions, go and tell the deputy dean yourself." He paused, then said, "The dean will hand over all the affairs of the academy to Qian...Shui Changhen."

Pei Mingyan was stunned. Uncle Yu's words were full of warning. It was like telling him - if you can't beat the deputy dean, you're doomed!
If the enemy comes, we will fight back; if the water comes, we will block it with earth. There is really nothing to be afraid of.

He stroked his forehead, stole a glance at Uncle Yu, and muttered: "Why is Xiaokong still going to ask for help? Besides the dean, it would be useless if anyone else came. I still think that the dean wants me dead."

Uncle Yu frowned and wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything.

It looks like there is something unspeakable going on.
After the test, Pei Mingyan stopped talking and stood up from the stone. "Let's go, I've rested enough. Let's go to the confrontation."
.
On the main peak, the empty space was occupied by a huge lake. The only pavilion originally there immediately became a small decoration, standing on the edge of the lake, looking quite pitiful and aggrieved.
Tang Gu and the medicine manager stood on the left and right of the plaque of the pavilion, like the patron saints of the people in the pavilion.
The curtains of the pavilion were drawn, and the people in the courtyard could not be seen clearly.

Above the lake, there is a staircase that goes up along one side of the lake and directly to the other side of the lake. Where the staircase disappears, there is a high platform in the mist.

The water platform hangs high and the pavilion stands quietly.
It's like he is riding a roller coaster and overlooking the scenery below. The water platform is the roller coaster, and the owner's pavilion is the scenery.
Tang Gu and the others can only look up to see the situation on the platform. This is what it's like - a top boss parachuted in.
Judging from the appearance, the dean tacitly approves it.

Weird, really weird. Which dean would appoint someone as deputy dean for no apparent reason and let the other person live higher than him, so that he can only live under the other person's feet?

Thinking about it this way, he found that it was perfectly normal for him to be stamped and given a token of his love.

He felt it necessary to have a chat with the dean, at least to understand his thoughts.
Ask him if he is being held hostage, and if so, just blink.

Uncle Yu walked behind him, pushing him lightly.
It is now late in the sky, the crescent moon is high in the sky, and the stars are like a curtain.

The man in white that I saw in the morning was sitting on the jade armchair on the high platform, holding a pipa in his arms, with a white veil covering his face to hide his features, like a masked hero who could not be seen by the public.

Manager Pang stood behind him, like a knight, like his strong backing.
The "Masked Man" put down his pipa, walked towards him, stopped half a meter in front of him, looked up at him and said, "Pei Mingyan, do you admit your guilt?"

Pei Mingyan stared into the other person's eyes, and suddenly covered his own eyes with his hands, "Ah, these eyes must have corns from seeing something they shouldn't have seen. It hurts so much."

The "Masked Man" was shocked and didn't react for a moment. When he reacted, he gritted his teeth in anger. But he didn't get angry. He just exhaled a few times, with a hint of "I won't argue with you". He asked softly, "What is your purpose in entering the academy?"

Pei Mingyan rubbed his eyes for a long time, as if he had just reacted. He circled the man in white twice, looked at his face, tilted his head and asked: "Sorry, I want to ask, who are you?"
Without waiting for the other party to answer, Pei Mingyan poked his head out to look under the platform and said, "Uncle Yu, your work efficiency is really fast. You built a high platform for performing operas in just one afternoon. It's really good. Can you help me build my house tomorrow? I don't need it so high. I'm afraid of breaking my legs. A full four or five meters high will be enough."

Uncle Yu: “…”

Pei Mingyan rushed to the side of the "masked man" in white and put his arm around his shoulders. "Are you the new singer? Sing a song for me. Hmm, let's sing 'Smiling Face Hiding Dagger'."

Shui Changhen's face was full of disgust, which could not be hidden even through the white veil. He tried to push Pei Mingyan's hand away, but found that the other's fingers were tightly clasped on his shoulders, not moving at all.

Pei Mingyan pretended to be in deep thought, "Well, you can't sing Smiling Face Hidden Dagger by yourself, I'm making it difficult for you." He put down his hand and stepped back a few steps, "Tell me, what do you want from me?"

Pang Yuan was the first to speak: "How dare you! Do you know who you are talking to?"

Pei Mingyan took out the jade pendant and played with it on his fingertips. He glanced at Pang Yuan and said, "It's not like he was talking to Young Master Mei, is it?"

Shui Changhen was stunned.
Pang Yuan was speechless.

"Manager Pang, since you saved my life, I sincerely suggest that you ask Manager Yao to take a look at this." Pei Mingyan patted Pang Yuan's shoulder and pointed at his head. "You have a really bad memory. Didn't the masked man in white introduce himself this morning? He said his name was Qianshui. Since his name is Qianshui, then I am talking to Qianshui."

Pang Yuan resisted the urge to beat him up and scolded him, "Did Uncle Yu not explain it to you clearly? Don't you know that you are a sinner now?"

Pei Mingyan glanced at Uncle Yu, his face full of confusion, "What are you talking about? What criminal? I just wanted to pretend to be Young Master Mei, it's not a crime punishable by death, and you didn't agree." Pei Mingyan looked at Pang Yuan in confusion, "You are the manager, and you still take a joke seriously, aren't you childish!"

Pang Yuan began to understand why Pei Mingyan was not well-liked in the academy. He was very ruthless and had a lot of twisted ideas. "What crime is it to pretend to be Young Master Mei? What do you think the Mei family is for?"

Pei Mingyan muttered in a perfect voice: "What else can I do? It's just fortune telling."
He cleared his throat and apologized solemnly, "I really didn't know you were a supporter of Mr. Mei and the Mei family. If I knew, I would never say anything nonsense."

We don’t know whether the speaker did it intentionally or not, but the listener takes it seriously.
Tang Gu, who was standing under the high platform, couldn't help but look towards Pang Yuan, as if she was thinking about something.

Shui Changhen finally realized that the topic had gone off track, coughed twice, and whispered, "How are you going to explain the matter of treating the hospital master?"

Just ask questions. Are you speaking so quietly because you're afraid that others may hear you?
Pei Mingyan complained inwardly.

"What's the matter? It's just that the dean is ill and medical skills can't cure him. I happen to be a member of the Mei family and I learned the orthodox Mei family fortune-telling skills, which are just useful for the dean's situation. What else do you need to explain?"
Pei Mingyan asked him back, "What about you? Who are you? I remember you were still shouting that you were an orphan this morning... How come you suddenly..." He pointed around, "suddenly live higher than the head of the courtyard? Looking at you, I thought you were the head of the courtyard. And everyone knows you, why are you wearing a veil? Can't you see people?"

Shui Changhen, who meant "can't be seen by others", winked at Pang Yuan.
Pang Yuan said in agreement, "Shui Changhen is now the vice-dean of the academy." He glanced at the jade pendant that Pei Mingyan was playing with on his index finger, "Even if you have the dean's token, you still have to listen to the vice-dean at this time."

Pei Mingyan sighed with deep emotion and said, "It seems like I got a treasure and it's gone before I even had a chance to use it."

Shui Changhen not only did not look angry, but seemed to be amused by him. He said with a smile, "I am new here and don't know anything. If I have offended you, please forgive me. However, since you have the abbot's token, I think you have been favored by the abbot in the past. If that is the case, why do you repay kindness with enmity and harm the abbot?"

Pei Mingyan really wanted to reach out and touch this person's head. Why were so many people so confused and so eager to cause trouble for him?
"You're not sick, are you? Why would I harm the abbot? If I hadn't made a spell to stabilize the abbot's condition before you came, would you have had the chance to treat the abbot?"

Shui Changhen sighed, "It seems like you won't admit it. I originally thought that if you admit it, we can make a big deal out of it, and you can just see the dean less often in the future."

"..." Wait a minute, did you tell me? If you had told me earlier that this was the outcome, I would have taken the responsibility!

"Since you don't admit it, it seems that what you want is not small." Shui Changhen looked calm, "Manager Pang, please invite Protector Murong up." "Uh..." Pei Mingyan looked embarrassed.
It seems that the other party is determined to kill him.

He had not been in the academy for long and had been wandering in the bamboo grove, so he had not yet met the guardian.

The guardian looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old, and was timid. There were strange lines on his face, like some kind of spell, and his expression was a little dull. Something poked out from his sleeves, a small green snake, which would spit out its red tongue from time to time.

Shui Changhen nodded to the little girl and asked, "Guardian Murong, do you know him?"

Pang Yuan's face suddenly changed.

Pei Mingyan looked relaxed and not panicked. He fixed his eyes on the little girl, blinked a few times, and then turned to look at the little green snake.

The guardian paused for a long moment, shook his head slowly, and said, "I don't know him."

Perhaps it was because she had not spoken for a long time, so her accent was a little obscure, her voice was unpleasant, and it was a little difficult to understand what she was saying.
The people who listened to her were quite patient and not in a hurry.

Shui Changhen asked again: "Did he ask you to make a human.skin.mask?"

The guardian turned his head and looked at Pei Mingyan for a long time, then walked over step by step and reached out to touch Pei Mingyan's face. However, he was not tall enough, so his hand only reached up to Pei Mingyan's chin.

Pei Mingyan looked at her for a while, then half-knelt down in cooperation.

The girl's hand did not touch his face, but just hovered over his face. The little green snake also poked its head out to join in the fun.

Pei Mingyan looked at the snake's tongue which was only half a finger joint away from his eyeball, and his pupils couldn't help but shrink.

Shui Changhen watched their every move intently.

The female guardian shook her head slowly and heavily, and said in her voice that sounded like iron pieces rubbing against each other: "He has no mask on his face."

Shui Changhen breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Do you have anything else to say?"

"I have a lot to say." Pei Mingyan rolled his eyes at him. "I guess everyone here is too young to have heard of the Mei family's tacit rule."

Uncle Yu continued, "What rules?"

Pei Mingyan winked at Uncle Yu.
Thank you for your cooperation, Uncle Yu!
"The Mei family has been practicing fortune-telling since ancient times. Who would have known that prying into destiny is not only against heaven, but also against people. To put it nicely, the Mei family is called masters, to put it bluntly, they are called fortune-tellers, and to put it bluntly, they are liars. However, there are indeed people in the world who have no cultivation and pretend to be fortune-tellers to squeeze money and fame, which ruins their reputation." Pei Mingyan said with emotion, and there was a hint of irony in his words, "The ancestor of the Mei family said that people in the world are stupid and foolish, and it is difficult to distinguish between the true and the false, and they are especially good at taking anger out on others. This is extreme, but fortune-telling for people is not a good job. If the good fortune comes true, everything will be fine. If the bad luck is predicted, it is okay if you meet a rational person, but if you meet a paranoid and unreasonable person, it is all thanks to the fortune-teller for predicting his bad luck."

Uncle Yu continued, "So in order to protect themselves, the Mei family tampered with their appearance?"

Pei Mingyan applauded, "Uncle Yu is really smart! Indeed, as the leader in fortune-telling, the Mei family should protect those with real talent and knowledge. Besides, with so many fortune-tellings, everyone will meet one or two crazy people. The Mei family was once in trouble because of protecting them. Later, an ancestor came up with an idea. When entering the Mei family, you must learn three types of formations. One type is used for escape, one type is used for face-changing, and the other type is the Mei family's protection and coercion of its disciples. The same type of formations have similar effects but different names. The first two types can be divided into thirty-six types each. Mei family disciples can choose one to learn. Except for the person himself, even your parents will not know which one you are learning."

Uncle Yu nodded, "So, if there is a dispute after fortune-telling, as long as you can escape from the scene, you can change your appearance and survive."

"Indeed, since then, most of the Mei family disciples have not shown their true faces to prevent others from seeking revenge." Pei Mingyan said with a smile: "So no one knows whether the Mei family disciples that everyone has seen are their true faces, or they are just illusions left by the formation. Over time, the Mei family has grown stronger and fewer people have the courage to cause trouble. Although this rule is still in use, it has gradually been forgotten by outsiders."

Pei Mingyan touched his face and said, "My face is the result of this kind of formation. My appearance caused me a lot of trouble when I was young, so I often used it to change my face. When I came to the academy, my original intention was to change my face and start over. Who would have thought that the first person I met was Xiaokong, so I got the original face. Later, many people hated me, and I privately thought it was because of my appearance, so I found an excuse to change my face when I was injured."

Pei Mingyan finished speaking and looked at Shui Changhen expectantly, "So, do you have any questions?"

Shui Changhen looked at Pang Yuan, only to see that he remained silent but had no other reaction.
He breathed a sigh of relief, and took two steps closer to Uncle Yu, smiling, "It's good that you can explain it clearly, so that other people in the academy will feel more at ease with you."

"Hmph." Pei Mingyan sneered. This was like someone doing something bad and trying to say it was for his own good.
"What other evidence do you have? Bring it all out so we can solve this problem once and for all. I don't want to be called in to make a scene every other day."

Shui Changhen touched the tip of his hair and took off a piece. "I don't need to tell you how fragile hair is."

You think you look like a weed?
Pei Mingyan was so angry this time that he gritted his teeth. He was already able to fly up to heaven, and his body even walked back and forth several times under the thunder. If he was rolled into a ball and thrown out, he could flatten several mountains.
What's the point of having a face thicker than a city wall? The city wall is nothing.

That strand of hair was more durable than steel wire, but... he couldn't say it.

"My cultivation is not good enough. I need to use my own body as a medium to draw talismans. I can't just detach my arm to draw talismans." Pei Mingyan looked at himself. "I need my arm to draw talismans. If I detach my leg, I will faint. How can I recover?"
He touched his face and said, "I don't think I need to dig out my eyes and cut off my nose to be a medium, do I?"

Shui Changhen laughed, "Why bother with so much trouble? A piece of finger joint will do. I heard that you were not in a good situation in the academy before, so the dean gave you the water harp pattern and the token. The dean treated you so well, you are not willing to give up a piece of finger joint?"

Pei Mingyan shook his head. "If you are willing to do so, then use it. I am not willing to do so. There is a saying in the Mei family's life-cultivation technique that if you use body parts in improper ways, they will not come back in the next life. I don't want to be a four-fingered hero forever."

Tang Gu took a step forward and seemed to react, but suddenly stopped, bowed towards the pavilion, and retreated.

Pei Mingyan immediately understood that the dean was just watching the show. It seemed that he could only test it out.

"The dean's life is not worth one of your fingers, and you still say that you are not repaying kindness with enmity? And you still say that you have not done anything bad to the dean?" Shui Changhen raised his voice and questioned.

"Although I don't understand the logic of your question, there is nothing to compare." Pei Mingyan said as a matter of course: "The dean is the dean, and I am me. If I am willing to sacrifice for the dean, then I will sacrifice. If I am not willing, then I will not sacrifice. It can't be that if you are all willing to sacrifice, then I should be willing to sacrifice for the dean, right? His life is precious, so my fingers are not precious?"

"It's treason!" Pang Yuan scolded.

"How is that treason? In the academy, living and dying for the dean is the morality and justice? How old are you?" Pei Mingyan pointed at his head. "The road of cultivation is long, and you should walk for yourself. You turned a corner halfway and blamed me for walking straight? The dean made the academy not to distinguish between superiors and subordinates, regardless of status, so that everyone can live for themselves. After all this, you don't listen to me, but you blame me for being obedient?"

Most of these people have been brainwashed and are used to being obedient. They have never heard of this kind of argument and for a moment they didn't know whether to feel ashamed or angry.

"Ha. This kid is interesting." A weathered old man's voice suddenly came from the air.

Uncle Yu lowered his eyes.
Tang Gu and the medicine manager were startled and lowered their heads. The guardian tilted his head, put down his arms, and stood still.

Pang Yuan was stunned for a long time, his face full of confusion, but he lowered his head.

The curtains in the pavilion moved without wind, and the sound of a piano suddenly rang out.

"Shui Changhen, right? I heard that you are the new deputy dean appointed by Xue. Please give me some face. This book room in the back mountain is almost moldy. I just need someone to dry the books and clean it. This boy is quite interesting. Send him here to entertain me."

Shui Changhen opened his mouth to ask "Who are you?", but Pang Yuan grabbed his wrist fiercely.
So he could only reluctantly say: "Since the senior has asked, we, as the younger generation, of course have to agree."

"Ah."
The voice responded vaguely and disappeared.

Pei Mingyan felt that the matter was even more complicated.
How come there is someone even more awesome in the academy? ? Author, how did you write the book?
You didn't even know there was someone hiding in the academy? !
The scene was very quiet for a while, and Shui Changhen's eyes, filled with hatred, were so red that they seemed to be dripping with blood.
Pang Yuan stood quietly aside, as if thinking about something.

Uncle Yu usually remained silent when there was nothing to do, but now he just looked at him without saying a word.

It was Xiaokong who broke the silence.
He rushed up to the platform panting, grabbed Pei Mingyan's sleeve and asked, "How...how is it? Has Grandpa Wu been here? What did he say?"

Shui Changhen's gaze instantly focused on Xiaokong.

The sound of the zither gradually stopped, and the voice of the academy master came from the pavilion: "Let's do as Elder Wu said. It's getting late, please go back."
.
In the middle of the night, deep in the forest in the back mountain where no one was paying attention, Pang Yuan knelt on the ground and shouted, "Master..."
There was no one in the empty forest.
Pang Yuan looked up and asked: "Didn't you ask me to kill someone with a borrowed knife? Why..."
The smoke and dust rolled around, as if conveying some message.
Pang Yuan lowered his head and said, "Yes."

On Pang Yuan's shoulder, a thin silk thread, only an inch long, flashed with silver light.

(End of this chapter)