Two Realms: Starting with transmitting the Taiping Jing to Zhang Jiao

They were rioters evading military service, and even if they were killed, it would be in accordance with the laws of the Han Dynasty, and no one could say anything about it.

In the darkness of night, Zhang Jiao stood to one side with disheveled hair, watching the constables, ordinary people, piles of corpses, and clots of blood pass before his eyes, his blood almost freezing cold.

He was a scholar who had studied the laws of the Han Dynasty for the past twenty years. He was racking his brains to find a way to save the child.

After a very long time, he finally raised his head in despair, tears streaming down his face.

"Is there really no other way...?"

"No! There is another law in this world, even if that law may not be true!"

"There are some things that Scholar Zhang Jiao cannot do! But... Taoist Zhang Jiao can!"

He gritted his teeth, wiped away his tears, and his eyes gleamed with a sharp light, as if he had completely shed something. Without looking back, he hurried towards the county government office.

As I walked toward the county government office, I saw an old Taoist priest in straw sandals lying beside the stone lions in the moonlight. He was unkempt, his beard was tangled, and his left hand was inside his robe, as if he was wiping away dirt from his body.

Zhang Jiao saw it, frowned, and ignored it.

As Zhang Jiao was about to ascend the steps, the old Taoist priest suddenly stood up and blocked his way.

The two stared at each other, neither willing to give way. Then the old Taoist looked at the nine-section staff in Zhang Jiao's hand, his eyes filled with astonishment.

"The Yangping Mountain formation has been activated. I didn't expect that old man to imprison the wrong person. Heh, I wonder which unlucky soul took your place in this calamity." The old Taoist chuckled strangely, making Zhang Jiao frown.

"This humble Taoist priest is Yu Ji."

Seeing Zhang Jiao's wary expression, the disheveled old Taoist bowed and looked at Zhang Jiao with a smile.

"Yu Ji?" Zhang Jiao repeated, remembering that he was the owner of the cave and stone chamber in Nanhua Mountain.

Thinking Yu Ji had come to ask for the nine-section staff, Zhang Jiao frowned and handed it over.

"It was wrong of me to offend the cave dwelling and take the magical artifacts this morning. I am now returning them to their original owners. Please step aside, Daoist."

Yu Ji didn't take it, but continued to look at Zhang Jiao with a smile, his eyes fixed on Zhang Jiao as if he were looking at a rare treasure, making Zhang Jiao feel uneasy.

"This item was originally found for you by me, who traveled all over the Han Dynasty. How can you say it's being returned to its rightful owner?"

"The Twenty-Four Clinics are not the only ones who know the true meaning of destiny. I painstakingly searched for this item and set up Nanhua Mountain at the entrance of Yangping Mountain, intending to intercept it. Originally, someone interfered and I thought my efforts would be in vain, but who would have thought that you and I are destined to be together."

"You mortal, would you be willing to learn the Way from me?"

Yu Ji looked at Zhang Jiao, his expression changed, and he shouted loudly:

"The scorched earth of Xianyang buries Qin Shi Huang, the setting sun of Luoyang shines on Dong Yuan's beard; seeking wealth and power in the mortal world and officialdom is not as valuable as half a horn of elixir from a green ox!"

"I possess a scroll of the *Taiping Qingling Shu*, which can invoke the spirits of immortals, summon the divine, achieve harmony between water and fire, and grant longevity and immortality. Would you be willing to learn it?"

Yu Ji stroked his beard, looking every bit the otherworldly being. He believed that no mortal in the world could refuse him.

Zhang Jiao squinted at the Taoist priests blocking the entrance to the county government office.

After a long silence, Zhang Jiao suddenly looked up and asked, "Can you save Hong'er?"

"Hong'er, who is Hong'er?"

"A migrant child, about four or five years old."

Yu Jizhi, smug and self-satisfied, stroked his greasy, matted beard: "Hahaha, let alone one Hong'er, even ten or a hundred could be saved!"

"With your talent, under my tutelage, you will be another Zhang Daoling in twenty years!"

Zhang Jiao, however, still frowned:

"What if there were a thousand, ten thousand, or a hundred thousand?"

Yu Ji suddenly felt a lump in his throat.

"You can't save him." Seeing Yu Ji's frozen expression, Zhang Jiao shook his head, then walked past Yu Ji and headed towards the county government office without looking back.

Yu Ji's expression immediately turned cold. He turned to Zhang Jiao's retreating figure and shouted, seemingly exasperated, "To the best of my knowledge, there is no magic in the world that can save ten thousand people!"

"Even if Zhang Daoling were alive, it wouldn't work!"

No, there are.

Zhang Jiao suddenly stopped, his tone unusually calm.

"Your Taoist methods may be profound, but... someone has already taught me something better."

"That method is called 'thought'."

After saying this, Zhang Jiao walked into the county government office without looking back, leaving Yu Ji standing silently on the stone steps.

When Zhang Jiao reappeared, the moonlight was bright, and the stone steps were covered in white light, so the figure of the disheveled Taoist priest could no longer be seen.

Holding a nine-section staff, he strode towards the prison, fawned upon by the officials and dignitaries of Pengzhou County.

When Zhang Jiao woke the dying child, who was already hoarse from crying, he was stunned at first. After recognizing Zhang Jiao as the older brother from the ancient temple that night, he hugged Zhang Jiao's leg and wailed.

"Daddy got caught, he's holding me, trying to run away..."

"Then, Father... Father died, he was... he was... beaten to death."

The tiny creature was crying so hard it could barely breathe, almost choking back sobs.

The officials outside the prison, including the county magistrate, looked somewhat embarrassed. Zhang Jiao waved his hand, and they all left the prison with a sigh of relief.

Finally, exhausted from crying, or perhaps with no more tears left, Zhang Jiao bent down, smiled at the five-year-old child, and wiped away his tears.

"What's your name?"

"Zhao... Zhao Hong?" the child sobbed, his voice hoarse.

So, from the child's perspective, in the dark, terrifying, and stench-filled prison, a guy who called himself the Heavenly General smiled and reached out his hand to him.

"I am Zhang Jiao, a Taoist priest, and a Heavenly General who has entered the mortal world. Would you like to follow me?"

"Um!"

After thinking for a long time, the child reached out his hand.

At this moment, the Taoist Zhang Jiao raised his chest, and something seemed to be constantly flowing into his body from the nine-section staff in his right hand.

He now understood why Yi Chuan was looking for this nine-section staff.

After leading Zhao Hong out of the prison, Zhang Jiao looked at the portly county magistrate, his family, and the wealthy gentry who were waiting for him. Suddenly, he remembered the words of the blue-robed Taoist priest from Lutang County.

……

"What if... the burden of a dynasty is about to come to an end?"

"Destroying ancestral temples and clans, leading to the change of dynasties."

……

Someone has to start this, right? Zhang Jiao smiled.

The word "bear responsibility" doesn't sound good; it's too profound, and Hong'er wouldn't understand it either. We need to think of a more specific word.

Zhang Jiao tapped his nine-section staff with his knuckles.

The Taoist priest said that Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, started his rebellion by slaying a white snake at Mount Mangdang, claiming to be the son of the Red Emperor and belonging to the Fire element of the Azure Heaven.

The element that can restrain the element of fire is naturally the element of earth.

"The virtue of fire has exhausted its burdens, and the virtue of earth is about to be born!"

"The Blue Heaven is dead; the Yellow Heaven shall rise!"

Under the moonlight, Zhang Jiao's smile grew increasingly smug. A blood-stained wooden plaque hung from his waist, which he had just pried from the dark, thin man's hand; two characters were engraved on it.

Peace.

Zhang Jiao strode towards the Pengzhou official. Zhao Hong's right hand was being held, while his left hand timidly clutched the hem of his clothes. He looked up and spoke softly.

……

"General Heaven, where are we going?"

"To become the aspiration of this world."

……