Chapter 15: This was Too Advanced, Too Astonishing!
Chapter 15: This was Too Advanced, Too Astonishing!
He went forward to open the door and found it was the Grand Madam, Mu Hongyu.
“Where to?” Wuque asked.
Mu Hongyu said, “Your father is upset and doesn’t want to acknowledge you anymore. But you are still a son of the Shen Gong Clan; you should strive to uphold the family’s honor. Since you decided to take the Academy Grand Examination, you must give it your all.”
“There are only a few days left before the exam, and even last-minute cramming might help. I found you the top scholars to teach you.”
“Wuque, I’m not expecting you to pass, not even if you come in last. As I said, our Shen Gong Clan, having assimilated as outsiders, have thick skin and aren’t afraid of losing face. But as your Grand Madam, I must still teach you how to conduct yourself: either don’t do something at all, but once you decide to do it, go all the way and take responsibility for yourself.”
Wuque was moved and bowed again. “Thank you, Grand Madam.”
Mu Hongyu said, “My eldest and second-born are my own flesh and blood. You are not. I can’t pretend my hand and the back of my hand are the same, and I can’t treat all three of you perfectly equally, but I will still do my utmost to be as fair to you three as possible.”
“Let’s go. The masters I found for you are the most skilled, but they also have terrible tempers and extremely high standards. I’m not sure I can convince them to take you; I can only throw my weight around as this assimilated noblewoman.”
“What a pity. If only your talents in other areas were half as good as your talent in medicine, we would not need to worry about eccentric masters refusing you. The one I found for you is a true Grandmaster, a towering figure.”
“If you truly have talent, they will be eager to take you as a disciple and treasure you like a gem. If not, then both you and I as your mother will be kicked out together in disgrace.”
After saying this, Mu Hongyu walked outside, boarded a carriage, and took Wuque away from Zhenhai City.
Outside the city, they boarded a boat and went out to sea, arriving at a small island.
The island was not large, about three or four miles across, and a tall mountain stood on it, about six or seven hundred meters high.
The sea fog was thick, giving off an ethereal, spiritual feeling.
It’s not the height of the mountain that matters, but the presence of an immortal.
The Grandmaster, the towering figure Mu Hongyu mentioned, lived on this mountain.
The mountain path was steep, with steps carved out from the rock.
After the boat docked at a simple pier, Mu Hongyu took Wuque and began climbing the mountain.
The stepped mountain path was too steep. Mu Hongyu had severe diabetes, and her legs were swollen and festering. After walking for a while, her legs began to shake.
“Grand Madam, let me carry you,” Wuque said.
Mu Hongyu’s body twitched, and she said coldly, “Not necessary. With your strength, carry me?”
Yet Wuque’s words warmed her heart, and the sharp pain in her legs lessened a little.
After walking further, Wuque saw that blood was dripping from Mu Hongyu’s legs, staining the steps red.
Without a word, he stepped forward and picked Mu Hongyu up onto his back.
“Put me down…” Mu Hongyu said sternly.
Wuque ignored her and carried Mu Hongyu as he climbed upwards.
When they reached the mountaintop, he was drenched in sweat and collapsed to the ground.
Mu Hongyu’s gaze was soft, but her face was icy as she said, “Hmph, look at your own condition. What were you doing all those years earlier? When your father tried to force you to practice Martial Arts, you refused. Serves you right!”
She was like this: the more distant the relationship, the more polite her speech. But once she started scolding, it meant the relationship had grown closer.
On this mountaintop were a few courtyards, spanning several dozen acres.
Heaven knows how much manpower and resources were used to build courtyards in a place like this.
Who lived in these courtyards on the mountaintop, requiring such a grand display?
Mu Hongyu went to the outer gate of the courtyards and knocked.
“Who is it?” came a child’s voice from inside.
“Me, Mu Hongyu, here to pay respects to the Master.”
A moment later, the door opened.
Inside the courtyard was an old man with a ruddy complexion and completely white hair and beard, holding a kitchen knife and chopping sweet potatoes.
He ignored Mu Hongyu’s arrival and kept chopping the sweet potatoes.
Mu Hongyu stepped forward and said, “Master, what are you doing?”
The old man said, “No eyes? Chopping pig feed!”
This was the legendary Grandmaster.
Mu Hongyu said, “You still feed the pigs yourself?”
The old man said, “If I don’t feed the pigs, what do they eat? Meat-eaters are despicable. I wouldn’t dare take any handouts from you nobles.”
Mu Hongyu paid no attention and stepped forward to hug the old man’s arm. “Tut-tut-tut, Master, who are you being so sarcastic to? I don’t deserve this unwarranted trouble!”
Before this old man, Mu Hongyu, already in her fifties, acted like a little girl.
“Men and women should not have physical contact,” the old man frowned, then looked at Mu Hongyu’s legs, his eyes filled with heartache. “Your legs are in bad shape; why are you running around? Xiao Chong, go get the new ointment I prepared.”
The page went and brought back a jade bottle, handing it to Mu Hongyu. “Senior sister, Master spent a long time and asked many people to get this ointment.”
“Shut up, nonsense!” the old man quickly scolded. “One more word and I’ll slap your mouth!”
Then he shook off Mu Hongyu’s hand in annoyance. “If you have something to say, say it. If not, get lost! I don’t have enough food here; don’t think about mooching a meal.”
Mu Hongyu turned to Wuque. “Wuque, come here and bow to your Master Grandfather!”
Wuque stepped forward and bowed. “Greetings, Master Grandfather!”
Mu Hongyu pulled Wuque over. “Master, this is Wuque, the most well-behaved child in our family, very considerate.”
The old man sneered. “You think I’m blind? This is clearly the most mischievous kid in your family. Back at Tianshui Academy, weren’t the jokes he made enough? He even embarrassed me. He came in last place in every academy exam and set the record for the lowest score. Every time I went to the Scholarium for meetings, I was mocked until I couldn’t hold my head up.”
This old man before them was named Wen Daozi!
One of the giants of the Great Xia Empire’s Scholarium. Full of passion, he left a prestigious position at Sky Scholar City and went south to Tianshui Province to educate the Southern Barbarians there.
Therefore, he was once the Mountain Master of Tianshui Academy.
A true Grandmaster-level figure!
Sadly… this man was upright and couldn’t tolerate injustice. A few years earlier, during a huge political storm, he was framed and, in a rage, resigned from his position as Mountain Master of Tianshui Academy. He took several other equally principled masters from various disciplines and came to this island to live in seclusion, ignoring worldly affairs, focusing on scholarship and Martial Arts.
The Scholarium was completely independent of the great Empires, the most transcendent and powerful force in the world.
Others climbed step by step, but Wen Daozi, driven by passion, voluntarily left his position as a giant in Sky Scholar City to teach in remote areas, not clinging to power at all.
If not for that passion back then, he would have already been promoted to the council of elders in Sky Scholar City. His background was excellent; his father was once one of the four giants of Skyhaven Library City. Moreover, his own qualifications were more than sufficient.
But now, due to power struggles, he had ended up on this desolate island.
Mu Hongyu pushed Wuque forward. “Master, Wuque will take the Academy Grand Examination in a month and wants to pass. So I’m entrusting him to you and the other masters. Please don’t be polite; hit him or scold him as you wish. With you, I’m at ease. Goodbye!”
With that, Mu Hongyu scurried off.
Despite her severely injured legs, she even used light-footed technique.
“Get lost, come back here!” Wen Daozi shouted angrily.
But Mu Hongyu was already gone. “Master, there’s no need to be so polite, no need to see me off!”
Page Xiao Chong pushed open the mountain gate and looked down. “Master, she’s vanished.”
“Damn it…” Wen Daozi said, “I knew it. This little brat has no other skills, but she’s number one at getting her way!”
Mu Hongyu was in her fifties, yet in Wen Daozi’s mouth, she was a “little brat.”
Then, Grandmaster Wen Daozi and Wuque looked at each other.
“Greetings, former Mountain Master!” Wuque bowed once more.
Grandmaster Wen Daozi said, “Don’t. I was pushed out, thoroughly embarrassed. I’m no longer the Mountain Master of Tianshui Academy. I can’t teach you; I can’t bear the shame. You leave!”
Wuque said, “I dare not go back. If I go back, Grand Madam will beat me to death.”
He said this honestly, with a sincere face.
Grandmaster Wen Daozi said, “Truly, like father, like son. Both are shameless. Let me ask you, what do you plan to do?”
Wuque said, “Take the Academy Grand Examination and pass.”
Wen Daozi said, “How have your studies in all subjects been over the years?”
Wuque said, “After leaving the Tian Shui Academy, they were completely neglected. I’ll probably have to start over from scratch.”
“Pfft…” Grandmaster Wen Daozi, who had just taken a sip of water, spat it out.
Wen Daozi said, “The Academy Grand Examination selects five subjects. You need to start learning each subject from the beginning?”
Wuque nodded and said, “Yes.”
Wen Daozi said, “Eight years ago, in the Academy’s exams, you came last every time. In four subjects, you even set the lowest scores in history? Now your performance in all subjects has declined even more, worse than eight years ago.”
Wuque said, “Yes.”
Wen Daozi said, “The Academy Grand Examination is in one month.”
Wuque said, “Yes!”
Wen Daozi said, “Then what is your goal? What result do you want to achieve?”
Wuque said calmly and plainly, “The goal isn’t high; top five will do.”
“Get out!”
“Too ambitious, utterly shameless, so disgraceful.”
“Such absurd words make me feel as if I have a fishbone stuck in my throat, thorns in my back, and needles under my seat.”
“A student like you, I cannot teach. Please leave!”
Instead, Wuque sat down cross-legged, looking earnest and innocent. He said, “I can’t leave. If I go back, my grandmother will beat me to death.”
Then, he closed his eyes directly, like an old monk in deep meditation.
His expression was sincere, but his heart was shameless.
Wen Daozi couldn’t really throw Wuque out; that would be too undignified, after all, he was a grandmaster.
So they just stayed like that.
One day passed.
Two days passed.
Three days passed.
Finally, Wen Daozi stepped forward and asked, “What will it take for you to leave?”
Wuque said, “What will it take for me to stay and learn under the grandmasters?”
Wen Daozi said, “My name is Wen Daozi, which, as the name suggests, means ‘hearing the Way in the morning, one can die content in the evening.’ Your father and stepmother were once my students.”
Not only that, Wen Daozi was also a benefactor to Shen Gong’ao and Mu Hongyu. If not for Wen Daozi’s discovery and recommendation, the Shen Gong Family would still be part of the savage tribes, living a precarious life. How could they have the current power and wealth?
Wen Daozi’s lifelong goal was to civilize the savages and bring them back to civilization.
Wen Daozi said, “I will test you with one question, just one.”
“This question will not only test your literary level, philosophical level, political level, but also your understanding of human nature and inner wisdom.”
“If your answer to this question is of high enough quality, then I will accept you and give my all to help you in the Academy Grand Examination. Otherwise, you will obediently leave this place.”
Wuque said, “Please.”
Wen Daozi said, “In a very short sentence, summarize your father’s life, using no more than twenty words.”
In Wen Daozi’s view, this question was the key to testing whether a person could achieve great things, and it was the result of his wisdom.
To answer this question, one must have high attainments in human nature philosophy, historical rise and fall, social laws, and literary cultivation.
This question was indeed difficult, extremely harsh.
First, the answer must be precise; second, it must be profound; and it must also be full of literary and philosophical meaning.
The key was to be stunning!
Wuque thought for a moment and said softly, “Hidden dragon lies in the depths; visible dragon appears in the fields; flying dragon soars in the sky; arrogant dragon will have regrets!”
…