Bearing the blue sky

Chapter 314 A man can be destroyed but not defeated.

"So many things happened this year, and I, Zhang Huai'an, actually missed such a momentous era of great strife—"

In a pavilion, Zhang Huai'an, with a dignified expression, sighed and then said, "Mr. Qingyun, what's wrong with the canteen? Although the world is in turmoil, we should still adhere to our principles."

The man in front of him, Mr. Qingyun, looked like a five or six-year-old child, wearing a bib and appearing just like a normal five or six-year-old.

Hearing Zhang Huai'an's words, Master Qingyun shook his head: "Huai'an, do not lose sight of the essence of propriety. Propriety is a set of rules created to ensure the peace and stability of the court and the country, and to allow the people to live and work in peace and contentment."

"But now, what is needed for peace and tranquility is not these rules, but the power to sweep away the forces of the universe."

"If we follow the old customs and rules all day long without seeing what we really need now, then new customs will never emerge."

Upon hearing Mr. Qingyun's words, Zhang Huai'an frowned, looking somewhat unconvinced, but he did not argue.

He then took out the newspaper in his hand: "This thing—"

"Take a look and see before you speak," Mr. Qingyun said with a smile.

Zhang Huai'an nodded slightly and then began to read.

As a great Confucian scholar, he finished reading the newspaper in just a few breaths.

"The words in this passage are too—too—" Zhang Huai'an couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Is calling it vulgar too much, but calling it refined isn't refined at all?" Mr. Qingyun laughed. "The founder of this newspaper called his language 'vernacular Chinese.'"

"It is indeed quite white." Zhang Huai'an agreed wholeheartedly, then frowned, "But this paper is precious; isn't it too wasteful to use it to print such text?"

"Not so," Master Qingyun shook his head. "Things are different now. The cost of producing this paper is not high, and it doesn't require much manpower. According to that astrologer Zhu Ge, this is called 'technological innovation.'"

"Wait, what's the connection between the newspaper founder you just mentioned and this Master Tianji Zhuge?" Zhang Huai'an keenly noticed the key point.

"The same person," Mr. Qingyun said with a smile. "He was the pioneer of my new Confucian path, the founder of the newspaper, and also wrote many short stories that really caught my eye—"

"Such a prodigy?" Zhang Huai'an's eyes lit up. "Does he have a master? If so—"

"Don't even think about it." Master Qingyun waved his hand and laughed, "The Gentleman of Rock and the Gentleman of Pacifying the People have also considered taking on disciples, but Master Tianji's blessing song is not limited to one path, so some True Lords are also interested. Moreover, the situation is quite complicated, you'll see—"

As he spoke, Mr. Qingyun took out a pale gold calligraphy brush and handed it to Zhang Huai'an.

"True Lord and Gentleman?" Zhang Huai'an's expression changed drastically.

A True Lord is on the same level as a Gentleman.

Whether it is a True Lord or a Gentleman, both represent a realm beyond fusion.

Such a figure taking on disciples could easily cause a stir throughout the court and the country.

It should be noted that a Fusion Realm cultivator is already fully capable of ruling a region.

He quickly took the pale gold calligraphy brush and gently touched his forehead and brow with the soft tip.

The next moment, a flood of information arrived.

Cloud Frontier — Six Paths Palace — Name Recorded in History — The Annihilation True Lord — The New Way of Confucianism — New Year's Eve Official —

Each and every item is included.

After a long while, Zhang Huai'an let out a long sigh of relief.

"This boy—" Zhang Huai'an didn't know how to evaluate him, he only felt extremely shocked.

"This child is not someone we can comment on." Mr. Qingyun expressed his understanding, and then said, "Now that you have eliminated your original prejudice against newspapers, well, after eliminating your prejudice, take another look at the story this child wrote."

Zhang Huai'an nodded slightly upon hearing this and read it again.

In fact, for them, a book the size of a newspaper can be memorized after reading it once.

However, in order to understand it more thoroughly, Zhang Huai'an read it again carefully.

After reading it, Zhang Huai'an was deeply moved: "This 'The Old Man and the Sea' is truly a work of genius!"

"Indeed." Master Qingyun nodded and sighed, "Our academy, in principle, should stand above schools and academies, gathering the most outstanding talents in the world."

"But among the top ten of the current 'Society Ranking,' Yuan Shentong came from the academy, while the academy has not produced a single one. Tianji Xiansheng may also be among them."

"Huai'an, you're saying we're clinging to old customs, right? We're not getting rid of the old and welcoming the new, right?"

"I feel—that's not right!"

Today, the story of "The Old Man and the Sea" is being told all over the world.

Zhu Ge himself is also fishing on Dongting Lake.

That's right, he eventually left Qin territory and came to Chu territory.

Then, they were enjoying the crisp and starchy lotus roots from Dongting Lake.

-

There used to be a great demon here, but the great demon was on good terms with the city lord of Dongting City next door and they had frequent exchanges, so the demons in Dongting were all very obedient.

So much so that Zhu Ge and his companions were able to find boatmen here, who could let them sit on the boat, enjoy the scenery, and eat at the same time.

The surface of Dongting Lake shimmered with a fine, shimmering light under the afternoon sun, like crumpled silver sprinkled on dark green silk.

The lake is wide, and the horizon where the water meets the sky is almost indistinguishable in the distance, with only a few thin ripples spreading slowly, like a painting repeatedly smoothed by the wind.

The boat was small, the kind of covered boat that was pointed at both ends and wide in the middle. Its hull had been soaked in tung oil many times, giving it a dull luster.

The boatman sat at the bow, his oars resting on his lap, occasionally stroking the boat gently to keep it moving slowly.

Zhu Ge sat on a low stool at the stern of the boat, with a rough porcelain bowl in front of her containing freshly peeled lotus root slices.

The lotus root is a specialty of Dongting Lake, which is thicker and whiter than ordinary lotus roots. When sliced, the cross-section has a thin layer of juice, and it tastes smooth and slightly sweet.

He picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly, watching a waterbird occasionally skim across the lake in the distance, and only looked away after it flew away.

Inside the cabin, the True Lord of Annihilation lay half-reclined, with an old cotton robe beneath him.

He was also holding a bowl of lotus root slices, but he didn't touch it much. He would only occasionally stir the contents of the bowl with his chopsticks, as if waiting for it to cool down, or as if waiting for the right moment to speak.

"How did you write 'The Old Man and the Sea'?" The True Lord of Oblivion finally spoke, his tone flat, as if it were just a casual question.

Zhu Ge put down his chopsticks and thought for a moment: "The first person that came to mind was someone who had been at sea for many years, fishing for many years, but had never caught a real big fish."

"Later he encountered it and it took him a lot of effort to catch it, but on the way back it was eaten by sharks, leaving only the fish bones."

"Only a fish skeleton returned in the end?" The Annihilation True Monarch stroked his chin. "Interesting. Does that mean he won?"

"He didn't win," Zhu Ge laughed. "But he didn't lose either. He encountered that big fish, fought it for a long time, and finally returned to shore with the fish bones."

"But the fish are gone." The True Lord of Annihilation said with a smile in his eyes.

"The fish are gone, but when he went out to sea, he didn't think he would definitely come back with fish. He went out to sea just to confirm that he could still go out to sea," Zhu Ge said with a smile.

The True Lord of Annihilation was silent for a while, then picked up a piece of lotus root, put it in his mouth, chewed it twice and swallowed it. Then he said, "I used to spend some time at sea, not Dongting Lake, but the sea to the east."

"It's much bigger there than here. You can't see the other side. The water is deep blue, and the waves are high. Just sitting on the side of the boat, you can feel the heavy water pressure pressing down on your chest. I encountered a very large fish there."

His voice was tinged with melancholy: "It didn't come to me on its own; I discovered it first."

"You caught it?" Zhu Ge asked curiously.

"No. I watched it for a while, then let it go." The Annihilation True Monarch shook his head.

"Why?" Zhu Ge raised an eyebrow.

He thought they had been captured.

"Because I just wasn't in the mood for fishing at that time," said the True Lord of Annihilation with a smile. "If it had happened a few years earlier, I might have taken action, like now."

Zhu Ge didn't press for the specific timeframe of that period; she simply listened quietly.

Another waterbird skimmed across the lake, its wings leaving a shallow ripple on the surface.

Zhu Ge watched as the ripple slowly spread and then disappeared, returning the water to a smooth surface.

"Some people in the story you wrote are not quite what I imagined," sighed the True Lord of Oblivion. "I originally thought you would write a more decisive ending, such as him meeting someone who could understand him after returning to the shore, or someone seeing him return with the fish bones and beginning to respect him, but you didn't write those things."

"Because those are the parts the readers came up with themselves. I only wrote about his voyage; what happened afterward should be left for them to imagine." Zhu Ge paused for a moment. "If he did well after returning to shore, then the story would become about an old man who finally caught a big fish, and although he was eaten, it was still quite remarkable."

"If he's laughed at, then it'll be like an old man who's wasted his efforts."

"But after he returned to shore, he lay down, fell asleep, and dreamed of lions. When readers see this ending, they will decide for themselves whether he won or lost."

There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes.

That's the meaning of this sentence.

"That means—" The Annihilation True Monarch did not respond immediately.

He looked down at the remaining lotus root slices in the bowl for a while, picked up a piece, put it in his mouth, chewed slowly, and swallowed before saying, "So, do you think he won?"

Zhu Ge thought for a moment: "He went out to sea, encountered that fish, fought with it for a long time, and finally brought it back to shore, although only a skeleton remained."

"He did what he wanted to do before he set off. If that doesn't count as a win, then I don't know what counts as a win."

The boat drifted slowly on the lake, and the boatman put the oars back on his lap.

A flock of ducks was swimming near the reeds in the distance, with one or two occasionally dipping their heads into the water.

After a while, it popped up from another spot, shook the water droplets off its head, and continued swimming forward with the group.

Zhu Ge watched them drift away slowly, and only looked away when their silhouettes completely disappeared into the shadows of the reeds.

The True Lord of Annihilation placed the bowl of lotus root slices on the gunwale and said, "In that story, the old man said, 'A man can be destroyed but not defeated.' I've thought about that sentence for a long time. What were you thinking when you wrote it?"

"I wrote this for you to see," Zhu Ge thought to herself, though she certainly couldn't say it like that.

You have to go along with the way you approach the True Lord of Oblivion.

"I'm wondering how far a person can go."

Zhu Ge laughed and said, "He didn't feel like a failure just because one fish was eaten. He accepted the result, but he didn't deny what he had done."

"That was something he said to himself, not something he wanted to tell others. He just wanted to make sure he could still stand up."

"Then do you think he can still stand up now?" The True Lord of Annihilation asked with a strange expression.

Zhu Ge looked directly into the eyes of the True Lord of Oblivion: "He lay down and dreamed of lions. When he wakes up, he will still go out to sea."

The True Lord of Annihilation leaned against the cabin wall, his gaze not on Zhu Ge, but on the distant water surface ruffled by the wind, and slowly blinked.

After a moment, he laughed and said, "I wrote some things when I was young, but I never finished them."

"I put it down halfway through writing because I felt it could be better. When I went back to revise it, I no longer had the same feeling as when I first wrote it."

He paused for a moment: "When you wrote those stories, did you revise them many times?"

"indomitable."

Zhu Ge nodded, then looked into the distance and smiled, "Do you like bamboo?"

The Annihilation True Monarch was taken aback: "Bamboo? It's alright, what's wrong?"

Zhu Ge smiled, composed himself, and then said, "Clinging firmly to the green hills, its roots firmly planted in the broken rocks."

"Though battered and bruised a thousand times, it remains firm and strong, letting the winds from east, west, north, and south blow as they may."

"This poem is for you, my second brother."

As soon as he finished speaking, strange phenomena occurred within a radius of a thousand miles.

A bamboo phantom suddenly appeared in the sky.

The bamboo stalk was so green and vibrant, it seemed to be real, swaying gently.

A moment later, the bamboo dispersed.

Zhu Ge also discovered that she had gained a new kind of "meaning".

"Green bamboo meaning—" Zhu Ge silently explored the meaning and usage of this poem.

Just like martial arts, the essence of Confucianism and Taoism can also be applied.

The difference is that martial arts emphasize techniques, while Confucianism and Taoism allow one to use poetry.

For example, when Zhu Ge recites the poem "Ode to Bamboo" with literary flair, it forms a "green bamboo screen".

This bamboo barrier can protect Zhuge from one attack.

Of course, someone like the official on New Year's Eve couldn't withstand all of them.

Even if it were someone like Linzhi at the same level, it would be difficult.

But I estimate that someone like Liu Jianjian could.

"Speaking of which, Jianjian hasn't come back yet—"

Zhu Ge looked towards the lake.

"Don't be afraid, it's just about subduing a demon. It's unlikely to alarm a powerful demon, is it?" The True Lord of Annihilation waved his hand with a smile.

Won't it alert the great demon?

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ge felt an even stronger sense of foreboding.

Since becoming the founder of the Yijing (易道), his own tendency to act on impulse has become increasingly apparent.

Even the decision to come to Chu Jiang was made on a whim.

Having arrived in Chu Jiang, the next step is to go to major cities such as Chang'an, Chaoge, and Jinling, and then Shengjing.

Just then, a storm suddenly arose on the lake, and a voice rang out: "You audacious hedgehog demon, how dare you take in my million demons!!!"

"Go to hell!"

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