Invasion Myth: Starting with the Schoolteacher

Chapter 34 The Art of Prayer
The waters in Qiantang County are calm today.

The fight that took place in the courtyard yesterday has been completely suppressed.

Although Old Song was dug out of the ground, the official message he was being released was still that he was sick at home.

The dog blood and fire marks in the yard were completely wiped away, and even the demolished house was cobbled together overnight to make do.

In addition, several neighboring households had already been asked to leave before the battle, so there were hardly any eyewitnesses to this fight.

Even when rumors circulate, no one believes them.

At this moment, Xu Xuan, Zhao Hu, and the others were sitting in Wenhui Tower, quietly waiting for the magician to arrive.

Xie Yu had the finest Longjing tea served to him, and looked down at the crowd with a somber expression.

“Master Xu, I have traveled from the north to the south and have noticed that there are more and more strange people and events these days. Now even scholars dare to harm you.”

A true scholar is not a bookworm; he sensed the less-than-ideal side of the situation from the incident in Qiantang County.

After all, although Young Master Li was not particularly famous, he was still a scholar.

Xu Xuanxin knew that the rise of demons was almost an inevitable trend.

However, ordinary people really don't know this, while the upper echelons of the imperial court probably do know, but there's nothing they can do about it.

They even dared to do it with a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations.
That's a rather harsh remark.

Xu Xuan may not have been as learned as this student, but some of his convictions were more profound than those of his time.

So he sat up straight and began to fulfill the duties of a teacher.

"A virtuous person cherishes benevolence and propriety in his heart. The benevolent love others, and the courteous respect others. Those who love others are always loved by others, and those who respect others are always respected by others."

Xie Yu was initially puzzled as to why his teacher was using Mencius's "Li Lou II" to give him guidance at this time.

"Do you love the person, or the scholar?"

"Is the respect you shown to you by scholars more important, or the respect shown to you by the millions of common people?"

"In the face of life and death, there are no scholars."

"That old Song, the people who were attacked along with the Li family's caravan were all harmed by evil spirits, but I haven't heard you mention it."

Xie Yu blushed immediately, as if he had been slapped.

Although the core of Confucianism is propriety, the benevolent people represented by the Second Sage advocated that the people are in a superior position.

He was a man of great integrity and righteousness when he was in the north; otherwise, he would not have plotted to kill the tiger.

After returning to the Xie family of Dongshan in the south, he did indeed lose some of his benevolence and virtue.

He just bowed and saluted.

"The student realized his mistake and asked to return to the academy to have a thousand 'Ren' characters carved."

Xie Yu was a true scholar with the world in his heart, and he understood Master Xu's intentions.

Lide means to establish and establish laws and regulations, and to generously benefit the masses.

If one wants to establish virtue, one must constantly exercise self-discipline.

Xu Xuan himself felt that he had gone too far after saying those words, after all, there is a gap in the thinking between modern people and ancient people.

However, the young and insightful immediately realized this.

The saying "I examine myself three times a day" has been truly put into practice by others, indicating that Xie Yu's future is limitless.

This conversation between teacher and student made Zhao Hu admire Chongqi Academy even more. He believed that scholars who saw ordinary people were all remarkable people.

An academy is an academy.

A scene unfolded upstairs at Wenhui Building: Instructor Xu was giving guidance to the talented scholar Xie.

And today's target is about to enter the encirclement.

South Gate of Qiantang County.

A middle-aged man carrying a load on a shoulder pole led a disheveled boy into the city.

They walked and walked, as if sensing something.

A boy whose face was obscured followed silently behind.

The magician was very satisfied with the bustling county town.

He cultivated a fragment of the orthodox path, so he felt no discomfort in this environment. Unfortunately, it was precisely because it was a fragment that he could not attain enlightenment, and his lifespan was limited, forcing him to prolong his life in vain.

I hope this method of entering the Tao will not disappoint me.

Upon arriving at the agreed-upon location, I took advantage of the remaining time to prepare the "supplies" for the next few months.

"People coming from all directions, come and take a look~~~"

A loud shout reached everyone's ears, the straightforward hawking sounding unusually abrupt.

The magician was indeed skilled, captivating passersby of all ages with his professional-level techniques, such as the Nine Linked Rings and the Bean-Picking trick.

Not only are their techniques professional, but their linguistic skills in connecting auspicious phrases are also effortless.

This kind of trick of taking root on the spot is truly impressive, and it quickly attracted a crowd.

Xu Xuan and the others sitting upstairs were also watching with great interest.

It's really not easy being a rogue cultivator in the heretical path. Without a sect to offer sacrifices to you, and without any inherited cultivation techniques, everyone has to have a skill to make a living.

As the crowd grew larger, the magician's mood brightened.

His magical rituals require a large population, and such prosperous counties are the natural training grounds.

Moreover, looking at the scholars on the opposite Wenhui Building, he was overjoyed.

Those with great fortune can achieve even better results by participating.

Feeling the abundance of popularity, I knew the time had come.

He glanced sideways at the silent child beside him, a greedy glint in his eyes.

"Your birth date is the seventh day of the first lunar month, which aligns with the Big Dipper in your destiny, and your spirituality is still intact. This is your destiny."

He then put away the prop in his hand, cleared his throat twice, and bowed to the four directions.

This is not for ordinary people, but for worshipping heaven and earth and the four directions.

"Having just arrived in this wonderful place, what I just did was merely a small introduction. Now, I'll show you something truly impressive."

People in the crowd chimed in, keeping the show going.

"To be honest, I can reverse the seasons of living things and make all sorts of things grow."

This is not surprising. Qiantang is a large county, and the art of "lao huo" (a type of fish dish) is performed every year during the "Yan Chun" festival.

So some people started joking that he should conjure something new, like a peach.

Upon hearing this, the magician's expression turned somewhat unpleasant, but the crowd began to jeer.

Setting up a street stall is all about skill. If you make promises you can't keep, you'll only have yourself to blame. If you lose your stall, you can't blame anyone else.

Finally, under pressure from the crowd, the magician had no choice but to sigh.

"In this kind of weather, the only place to find peaches is in the Queen Mother's Peach Garden in Heaven. Today, I have no other choice but to give it my all and show you my best skills."

So he opened one end of the carrying pole and took out an inconspicuous hemp rope.

Silently recite in your heart: Body and spirit are one; if the spirit departs, one dies; if the spirit remains, one lives.

His eyes were tightly closed, his face flushed red and then turned pale, then he stomped his feet three times and shouted "Hurry!"
The hemp rope in his hand shot into the sky, faintly rising to the clouds, just as he finished using up the rope.

This drew gasps of surprise.

This move was truly extraordinary, unlike any ordinary illusion.

Xu Xuan sensed that the area downstairs was enveloped by an inexplicable aura, with a turbid celestial power appearing, and the faint Big Dipper could be seen floating within it.

This is the Immortal's Rope.

It sounds interesting, but it is actually a flawed and evil technique used to force people to accept their fate, and can also be called a deity taking one's life.

People will really come up with all sorts of methods to survive.

The "Seven Chapters of the Cloudy Bookcase" section on those born under a special command is a secret transmission.

This method, also known as the ritual of prayer and exorcism, was first practiced during the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
The most famous instance of this was during the late Han Dynasty, when Zhuge Liang, unwilling to accept his impending death and inability to continue the Han Dynasty, attempted to defy fate by using the Seven Star Lamp to extend his life.

Forty-nine armored warriors, each carrying a black flag and dressed in black robes, surrounded the tent; he then prayed to the Big Dipper from inside the tent. If the main lamp did not go out within seven days, one's lifespan would be extended by twelve years.
A cycle is twelve years, which is quite mysterious.

Unfortunately, fate did not favor the Han dynasty, and he perished at Wuzhangyuan.

(End of this chapter)