Qin Shi: I went astray in the Heavenly Sect

Chapter 253 Gai Nie Leaves the Manor, The First Emperor's Discourse

"Uncle, where are we going?"

Inside a carriage, Tianming asked curiously.

"A very far place."

Gai Nie sat on the other side of the carriage, holding the reins in his hand, his gaze becoming extremely distant.

Doctors enter the world to help people and save lives.

This was the first time he had such a profound understanding of something: the Jinghu Medical Clinic, which embodied the hopes of so many people.

Inside the carriage, Yan Lingji lay languidly to one side, with a little girl beside her, who was staring blankly into space.

Yan Lingji seemed to have guessed what the little girl was thinking, and said softly, "Longing is both a poison and a medicine. When a person is in pain, longing is a good medicine that can help people get through the suffering. But sometimes, longing is also a poison. Whenever the night is quiet, people always think of someone uncontrollably. I can understand that kind of loneliness."

Upon hearing this, the little girl instinctively looked up.

She had only known the girl in front of her for a short time, but Duanmu Rong had told her that the girl was not a bad person.

"Does Sister Yan Ling Ji also have someone she misses?"

Yan Lingji reached out and pinched the little girl's cheek. People with similar fates can empathize with each other.

Yes~~

"Sometimes, I think Qingxu is right. The root of all suffering is not war, but a person's insatiable desires."

"Before the Qin state unified the seven states, our country was already engulfed in war and destroyed by the Chu and Han states. Most of my relatives died in that war, and only my younger brother was separated from us in the chaos. Our country was destroyed, the people were displaced, corpses littered the fields, and blood flowed like rivers. The state of our country at that time was no better than it is now."

"The people of the six states all say that the Qin Dynasty was tyrannical and immoral, but the six states also played the same role for those weaker states."

War is always a heavy topic. Upon hearing Yan Lingji's words, the little girl in the carriage, Gai Nie who was still driving, and Tianming who was outside all looked somber.

"It seems that everyone has come this way, and if we go back a few hundred or a thousand years, the dynasties of that time did the same."

Outside the carriage, Tianming blinked. He was quite curious about this matter. After all, in his impression, only Ying Zheng was a big bad guy, but judging from what the other party said, it seemed that none of the kings of the seven kingdoms were good people.

"Uncle, is what she said true?"

Gai Nie tightened his grip on the reins. As a disciple of Guigu, he had learned the art of diplomacy and strategy. Guigu had its own unique perspective on the conflicts between nations. The world would not always be in a state of peace; it was the will of Heaven.

A person's desires are endless. Once a person achieves a goal, he will soon have a new one.

Just like Ying Zheng, the current ruler of the Qin state, his path of conquest has absolutely no end.

Once the unification of the six kingdoms begins, there will be no stopping and no turning back. The young man from the Taoist Tianzong sect once told him about this. Many things, once started, have no way back.

“I once heard Master Qingxu say that the world is bound to unite after a long period of division, and to divide after a long period of unity. There are no unchanging people, nor are there unchanging worlds. Even the Qin Dynasty is the same now.”

"The empire was built by a man, an ordinary man with flesh and blood, a mortal with seven emotions and six desires. As long as a man has emotional changes, he will have likes and dislikes, so many things will change unpredictably."

"Such changes, if they happened to ordinary people, might just be some joys and sorrows, some heartfelt conversations, but when they happened to someone like Ying Zheng, the impact was enormous."

"The Yin-Yang School was able to persuade Ying Zheng largely because they were able to fulfill some of his long-cherished wishes."

At this point, Gai Nie stopped speaking abruptly and did not go any further.

The mirage above the East China Sea was a fleeting impulse of Ying Zheng, who was willing to expend enormous human and material resources and waste money for an impossible goal.

Different positions have different impacts on the country and society as a whole. Gai Nie has come to deeply understand this point by now.

"Mr. Gai, are you referring to that mirage over the East China Sea?"

Gai Nie did not continue, but there was another person present who knew a lot about the outside world, so he took the initiative to speak about the matter.

"The pursuit of immortality is utterly absurd!"

Gai Nie remained silent for a moment, then shook his head.

Even his own master, Guiguzi, who had reached the Grandmaster level, never said that a person could live forever.

Even the great masters of Taoism and the Hundred Schools of Thought never mentioned immortality, and the legendary beings described in the surviving classics never made such a claim.

"Immortality??"

Inside the carriage, Yue'er looked over with some curiosity.

Yan Lingji shrugged. To be honest, she also found the whole thing a bit absurd.

Over the years, she followed Qingxu and met many people, some of whom were truly enlightened masters. However, even they never had any desire for immortality. On the contrary, these people took life and death lightly, believing that birth, aging, sickness, and death were just a process. Where there is life, there is death, and that's all.

"Yes! Immortality!!"

Yan Lingji nodded.

"In fact, the idea of ​​immortality was first proposed by Taoism, but Taoism did not mean that. They believed that immortality was about extending lifespan through methods of nourishing life. But for some people, it has become an obsession."

"I have met many wise people who take life and death lightly. On the contrary, those who know nothing are always agonizing over life and death, especially those in high positions of power in the court who are very afraid of death!"

When she spoke of those high-ranking officials and nobles, a hint of sarcasm appeared in Yan Lingji's eyes. From Baiyue to Han, then to Chu, and finally to Qin, the more she saw, the more she felt this way.

The reason why those people cannot take life and death lightly is that their desires are insatiable. The imperial court is a strange place. It seems that no one here is pure and without desires, or rather, those who are pure and without desires find it difficult to move an inch here.

Han Fei once said that power is a poison that can corrupt a person's mind and wear down their will, and this is no exaggeration.

The young King of Qin back then was quite different from the one we know today.

A fledgling eagle spreading its wings brings hope and the rising sun to the world, but the current Qin Shi Huang inspires fear and makes people unable to approach him. Perhaps this is the price one must pay to stand in that position. "Uncle, are there any immortals in the world?"

Tianming didn't seem interested in adult matters. When he heard Gai Nie and Yan Lingji talking about immortality, he was more interested in whether there were any immortal people in the world.

Gai Nie frowned slightly.

"As far as I know, there is no one in this world who can live forever. Even the longest-lived person in Taoist legends only lived to be eight hundred years old. Even such a divine figure would not dare to talk about immortality."

Upon hearing this number, Tianming counted on his fingers, then asked incredulously, "Eight hundred years old?"

"The oldest person I've ever seen is Old Man Ban; he looks to be in his sixties or seventies."

Hearing Tianming talking to himself, Gai Nie shook his head.

Eight hundred years old—this is just a record in ancient texts, but no one knows exactly how old the person actually lived to this day.

However, he believed that the Taoist ancestor Peng Zu could not have lived to be eight hundred years old. The only information he could obtain from ancient texts, besides this uncertain number, was that the Great Peng Clan Kingdom, founded by Peng Zu, lasted for eight hundred years. In other words, he believed that the eight hundred years was the lifespan of the Great Peng Clan Kingdom.

"Sister Yan Lingji, are there really people in the world who can live to be eight hundred years old?"

Inside the carriage, Yue'er looked on in surprise.

In the young girl's view, a person's longevity is nothing more than a hundred years or so, which she can accept, but eight hundred years is a bit outrageous.

"He is a person recorded in Taoist classics. Later generations called him Peng Zu. Zhuangzi used him as an example in the chapter 'Free and Easy Wandering'. In addition to him, there is a tree called the Great Chun, which takes eight thousand years for spring and eight thousand years for autumn. But I cannot be sure whether these things are true."

Upon hearing this, Yue'er nodded thoughtfully.

As they spent time together, she discovered that this incredibly beautiful girl beside her seemed to know far more than Duanmu Rong, especially about the various schools of thought and some secrets of the martial arts world; she was like a know-it-all.

"Peng Zu, what a strange name!"

Yan Lingji didn't deliberately avoid mentioning Gai Nie and Tianming, so Tianming also heard Peng Zu's name. However, since his birth, he had spent most of his time wandering and hadn't had time to read those books, so he had no impression of the people mentioned in them.

"But speaking of which, those big trees really do seem to live for a very long time, don't you think, Yue'er?"

After saying this, the little guy stuck his head into the carriage and greeted Yue'er with a smile.

After hearing Tianming's words, Yue'er remained silent for a moment, then nodded gently.

This time, Tianming seemed to be right. Whether it was the trees planted at the medical village or other places, if no one cut them down, they could really survive for a long time.

Seeing the two little ones start to quarrel, Gai Nie didn't stop them, but instead started talking to Yan Ling Ji.

"I remember the last time I met the girl was in Xinzheng, South Korea. Seven years have passed, it feels like a lifetime. But now it seems that the girl made the right choice back then."

Yan Lingji sat up, a hint of reminiscence in her eyes.

"What Mr. Gai is saying?"

Gai Nie did not hesitate and continued, "Tianze is not a qualified master. The seeds of revenge have already taken root in his heart. Hatred may be the best motivation for a person, but it can also devour them."

"On the other hand, the Taoists are detached from worldly affairs, neither elated by external gains nor saddened by personal losses. Although such a mindset may seem somewhat indifferent, it is not the worst outcome for a person. Especially for Master Qingxu, he was not the kind of person who was arrogant because of his talent. He traveled all over the seven kingdoms and saw not only peace but also human suffering. Every step of his path was very solid."

“I once heard Xiao Zhuang say that Princess Honglian stayed by his side for three months. In those short three months, that innocent princess accomplished a transformation that many people might not be able to achieve in their entire lives.”

"Such a person, countless people in the world would want to be by his side."

Yan Lingji raised the corner of her mouth and replied with a smile, "Is that what Mr. Gai is talking about? Of course, I am also glad that I made this choice."

"Looking back at what happened back then, I have new feelings now. We can't be too demanding about things. Even the states of Chu and Han eventually fell under the iron hooves of Qin."

"The young master once said that some things are predetermined by fate, and forcing them too much will only bring trouble."

Upon hearing the other party's words, Gai Nie's eyes flickered slightly.

"Is fate already predetermined?"

Meanwhile, at Jinghu Medical Manor, Duanmu Rong stood in front of the door, looking into the distance with a very complicated expression.

She did not leave with Gai Nie and the others during this operation because she did not want to get involved in the battles between the various factions in the martial arts world.

Regarding the news circulating in the martial arts world, Gai Nie and his companions had actually guessed quite a bit of the inside story. Most of the information about the Xiang clan was leaked by Liu Sha. Luo Wang regarded the Xiang clan as a thorn in their side and wished they could get rid of them as soon as possible. Now that they had obtained traces of the Xiang clan, they would certainly not let them go easily.

Then there was the information about Yue'er's family, which caught her somewhat off guard. That sensible little girl had come to the medical manor at such a young age, enduring the pain of separation from her family. Naturally, she had her own unspeakable hardships, which Yue'er knew very well. However, she couldn't ask. The fact that the medical manor was a relatively safe place was largely not because of her, but because of the large blue stone beside her. So even if she knew the inside story, she probably couldn't help. Therefore, in the end, she could only temporarily keep Yue'er by her side.

Now that information has arrived from the Mo family, she knows it's time to let the little girl leave.

"The martial arts world is probably about to descend into chaos again!"

After a while, Duanmu Rong sighed slowly, then turned and returned to the medical manor.

On the other side, Wei Zhuang looked at the intelligence in his hand, his eyes flickering with uncertainty.

There was indeed some commotion on Mount Taiyi, but nothing serious happened in the end. Based on this result, he was almost certain that the person who kidnapped Honglian was Qingxu.

"That person wasn't among those who left Jinghu Medical Manor, and she's not among the remaining people in the manor either. It seems we were right; the person who took her away was indeed that old friend!"

Bai Feng, standing on a tree branch nearby, nodded upon hearing Wei Zhuang's words.

"They've left the area of ​​the medical estate. What should we do next?"

Wei Zhuang released a burst of internal energy from his palm, shattering the intelligence report into dust. Looking into the distance, he gave a cold smile.

"The martial world has its own rules. Now that we've left this place, we have to continue this game!"

(End of this chapter)