Qin Shi: I went astray in the Heavenly Sect

Chapter 247 Destiny? The Customers of the Sanhe Shop

"Brother Situ, was that really the Grandmaster of the Taoist Heavenly Sect just now?"

Inside the carriage, Liu Ji asked a question while pulling on the reins.

With one leg dangling in the air and the other resting on the carriage shaft, Situ Wanli's expression darkened as he recalled what had happened earlier.

"Miss, should we go check on Sanhepu as well?"

Having witnessed what happened before, he is now certain that there is a problem with Sanhepu. Knowing this, it would be extremely unfair for them to ignore it.

When roaming the martial world, chivalry comes first. This principle applies not only to the Mohists but also to the peasants. The "three cuts and six holes" rule was first established by the peasants.

"No need to go."

After a while, sounds came from inside the carriage again.

Situ Wanli stroked his mustache and continued, "Young Miss, we farmers always prioritize chivalry when we travel the world. Now that we know about this, if we pretend we don't know and remain indifferent, won't the Heavenly Sect be displeased?"

“Master Situ is overthinking it. Times have changed. If we hadn’t met Master Qingxu before, returning after receiving the information would have been a timely help. But now that we know Master Qingxu is involved, going to join in now would just be for show.”

“Those senior Taoist masters, and even Manager Qingze of Sanhepu, are not ordinary people. How could any of their schemes escape their notice? So I think it's best to leave this matter here.”

Situ Wanli nodded thoughtfully. Of course, he did not refute the other party's words. After all, this was also what he thought. If Qingxu had not intervened, he would not have mentioned going back at all. Chivalry is important, but it is much less important than life and death.

On this point, he, a seasoned veteran, naturally understood perfectly well.

"Brother Liu, Master Qingxu once visited the farmhouse, and the leader of the chivalrous sect was still there then."

Speaking of Qingxu, it's inevitable to mention some past events. Fortunately, this young man from the Taoist Heavenly Sect wasn't the kind to hold grudges, otherwise their meeting wouldn't have been so harmonious.

Inside the carriage, a girl dressed in plain clothes stared blankly at the object in her hand.

Of the three of them, she had the most contact with Qingxu. Back then, she and her mother had been hostages at Mount Taiyi for a long time.

In the past few years, the peasant family has developed rapidly in secret. After losing Tian Meng, the prominent figure in Lieshan Hall, Tian Guang arranged for another member of the Tian family to take over. That person was quite talented and always put Tian Hu first, so his second uncle was quite satisfied with him.

There's also her mother, who mysteriously disappeared after meeting someone some time ago. The main reason she left Daze Mountain this time is actually this: she came to see Qingze to ask him to help her find her mother's whereabouts.

As for her title of "young lady," she earned it over the years by offering advice and strategies to the farmers and using her wisdom. Of course, Tian Hu's flattery also played a part. After the previous leader of the chivalrous sect, Tian Guang, disappeared, her second uncle had been eyeing the position of leader of the chivalrous sect.

Finally, there was the item in her hand, which belonged to her mother: a finely crafted warm jade with the character "言" (yan) on it.

"She's fine, but she was found by the Net and had no choice but to go to the cape."

Remembering what the young man had told her, she tightened her grip on her lap. The Net, this massive assassin organization, seemed to be a constant nightmare in her mind, one she could never escape.

After a long while, the girl murmured softly to herself, "In this life, many people cannot choose their own destiny. It's more like fate. She had seen many such cases in the countryside, but she never expected that this would happen to her in the end."

"I guess this is fate~~"

"Are farmers also your friends, young master?"

On the other side, Honglian asked Qingxu with some curiosity.

As the largest school of thought among the Hundred Schools of Thought, the Farmer School wields considerable power and has been developing rapidly in secret in recent years, becoming a force that cannot be ignored in the martial arts world.

"Isn't Miss Honglian the same?"

Upon hearing Qingxu's words, Honglian couldn't help but glance at him. If that's the case, it's indeed true.

"Judging from the voice, the person in the carriage is a young woman. Situ Wanli calls her Miss. I'm a little curious. Aside from the Six Halls, the peasant family shouldn't have this position, right?"

"She is the daughter of Tian Meng, the former leader of Lieshan Hall, and her name is Tian Yan."

"Tian Yan, the female Guan Zhong of the Farmer's School?"

Honglian was somewhat surprised. She had never heard of the name "Young Miss" before, but she had seen Tian Yan in the files of Liusha. She was a woman known for her wisdom and was called the female Guan Zhong of the Farmer's School by people in the martial arts world.

However, the information obtained from Liusha indicates that this girl is not very old. Even now, she is no more than twenty years old. To have such cunning at this age means that she is no ordinary person.

"If I'm not mistaken, that girl named Tian Yan must be quite a beauty, right?"

Qingxu's figure moved swiftly forward, as if the wind was blowing beneath his feet. The two afterimages rushed forward at high speed.

"Why do you say that, Miss Honglian?"

"Xiu Yuan should have heard the saying that the more beautiful a girl is, the more likely she is to deceive. To be revered in the martial arts world as the female Guan Zhong of the Farmer's School, she must be an unparalleled strategist. I'm more inclined to believe that she's a beauty. Unfortunately, in this chaotic world, beauty can often be a disaster."

When she said this, Honglian's tone was a little strange. Back then, she was regarded as the apple of Han Wang An's eye and was also used as a political bargaining chip by him. In fact, to a large extent, it was because of her appearance.

If a princess of a country is treated like this, what about the young lady of a martial arts sect!

Young women may be prone to melancholy and sentimentality, but these things did not cause Qingxu much of a stir.

Everything in nature has its own laws. To define a person's life solely based on their appearance is to make a delusion.

Tragedy never stems from appearance, but from a person's perception and inner self. Just like the girl next to me, she also has a stunningly beautiful appearance, but her fate is completely different from that of ordinary girls.

One may not be able to choose their birth, but they can choose the path they choose to take. Becoming a pretty face is a choice, while becoming a strong person, a strong person that no one can ignore, is also a choice.

Submitting to the arrangements of fate and drifting along the river of destiny may seem like following the way of heaven and being without desires, but this is not the way spoken of by the Taoist Tianzong, nor is it the way he pursues.

Do your best and leave the rest to fate—this is the Tao as taught by the Taoist school. If you accept fate's arrangements without even trying, you'll never truly take that first step.

Fortunately, none of the people around him chose the former path; everyone was trying their best to live.

"Does Honglian want to hear my answer?" Qingxu's voice rang in Honglian's heart. The girl subconsciously looked up at the young man beside her, but all he showed her was his profile.

"what?"

Honglian watched for a while, then asked a question.

"Does Honglian really think that beauty is a disaster for a girl?"

Qingxu lightly touched the ground with his feet, and his body suddenly rose higher. Honglian felt the force coming from her hands suddenly increase a lot, and then she was lifted off the ground.

The wind blew over her head, scattering her long black hair. Looking at the hairpin on her head, Qingxu's mood suddenly improved.

Having lived in this world for twelve years, many things still happened, even with his intervention. Sitting on the mountain, looking at the mortal world, he had asked himself many times whether fate could be changed or made better.
Faced with the unknown, most people will experience panic and retreat; no one can remain calm from the start.

Even Qingxu felt somewhat nervous when he was personally planning this momentous change that could affect the entire Seven Kingdoms and even the next few thousand years.

It has been said that every era has a voice, just like the war-torn Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. That voice was Qin, the Great Qin, and that man, Qin Shi Huang, Ying Zheng.

Standing on the long river of time, Qingxu once thought that this man who ended the conflicts of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods was, to a large extent, a legend born of the times.

He and his dynasty added a magnificent chapter to the history of the Central Plains and to the entire nation.

And the world has been governed by this system ever since, a system that has been in use for nearly two thousand years. Can I really change it?

Looking at the girl beside him, not the Chi Lian who had lost her original name in his memory, not the girl in the bright red dress, but the girl in the light green dress now, it was as if the threshold in his heart had been crossed silently.

Fate has changed, hasn't it?
Before long, Honglian returned to the ground, but this time it was a cliff, a very high cliff, where she could see a great river rushing eastward.

“A person’s appearance is the answer given by fate, but not the answer given by us. Honglian has already given another answer before, and I think this answer is enough to explain everything.”

Honglian moved lightly to Qingxu's side. Looking at the young man who was already a head taller than her, Honglian naturally clasped her hands together and placed them in front of her lower abdomen.

"Does Xiu Yuan think this answer is correct?"

After a moment of silence, Qingxu looked up at the river in the distance.

He spoke again, saying, "That river is called the Jade Liquid River. Its source is unknown, but after flowing through this place, it rushes into the sea. The river is turbulent, sometimes swift and sometimes calm. As it passes through different sections, the flow changes due to the terrain."

"Water also presents different forms: calm, violent, irritable, gentle, and magnificent, but water is still water. It will not turn into oil or other things because of these different states."

"If you were to ask people to judge what the right or wrong posture of these waters is, I think no one could give that answer. The end of a river is the sea, just as the end of a person's life is death. Can the right or wrong choice really affect the river's eastward flow to the sea? Can it change a person's fate of not dying?"

Upon hearing this, Honglian understood something.

“Every choice may lead to a result, and different people will have different opinions on these results, but are those opinions important to oneself?”

The red lotus remained silent.

"When a person chooses a way of life, he or she must bear the consequences of that way of life. This is the cycle of cause and effect, regardless of right or wrong."

"Just like the path that Honglian chose, you will inevitably encounter many difficulties and troubles along the way, but you may not find it too difficult."

After a while, the sky gradually darkened, and Honglian moved closer to Qingxu's side. No matter what season it was, it was never very warm on the cliff.

Autumn has arrived again, and it gets quite cold on the cliffs during this season.

Qingxu sat cross-legged, but a divine thought drifted far away.

At the foot of Mount Taiyi, in the Sanhepu shop, the shopkeeper Qingze was fast asleep in a recliner. Meanwhile, several figures had appeared in the main hall, and the three of them looked at each other in bewilderment as they stared at the sleeping shopkeeper.

Confucius said, “Is it not delightful to have friends coming from afar?”

Suddenly, a loud voice reached the ears of the three, causing their faces to darken. The intelligence report did not mention that the shopkeeper, Qingze, was a master. After all, based on the current intelligence, he was not a master that could be ignored.

"Does the shopkeeper also like the Confucian way of sages?"

"No, I don't really like it. As human beings, we are fundamentally human beings, living, breathing human beings with emotions and desires. So, to judge an ordinary person by the standards of a sage would be too unfair to the sage."

"fair?"

Of the three, the one standing at the front stepped forward, smiled, and shook his head.

"In this dog-eat-dog world, there is no such thing as fairness. It's a joke for those in power and authority. For us ordinary people, we can only take it one step at a time!"

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper slowly walked over.

"That's why I prefer Legalism. Everyone is equal before the law. If no one abuses their power, then the law is the best standard in the world."

“You three have come without prior notice, which violates the laws of Qin. I advise you that whatever your purpose may be, please come back tomorrow, as the shop is closed.”

The other two of the three men suddenly gave a cold laugh upon hearing the shopkeeper's words.

Legalism?

"I'm sorry, but here, we are the law. If you're willing to cooperate honestly, we might spare your life. If not, swords have no eyes, and you'd better pray for yourself."

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper remained silent for a long time before suddenly bursting into loud laughter.

"Haha~~"

"I think I know the reason now!!"

(End of this chapter)