Not long after the carriage, two horses and seven people left, the old man who was sitting quietly spoke.
"Sir, you have read the biography of the heretics. What is your opinion of his book?"
Insights? Ji Yuan's first reaction was naturally that it was interesting and informative, but this statement is of course inappropriate, and although the book is good, some parts are still quite awkward.
When he looked down, he happened to have seen again a part of the record of water monsters that he had accidentally come across before. He must have caught a glimpse of it as well.
When thinking about some of the contents in the book, the most striking part is the deep hatred towards monsters.
Take the dragon for example. There is nothing wrong with it in itself, but the content about the big dragon and the water does seem to bring disaster to the people, not to mention doing evil.
However, the book appears to describe the benevolent actions of dragons and other creatures in controlling clouds and rain as "good". However, once a mistake occurs in their control, such as a small dragon losing its balance in the clouds and swinging its tail to create a tornado that sweeps away some houses, then a feeling of "a monster is a monster" becomes obvious between the lines.
And this is only a small part of the book. There are definitely many similarities throughout the book. To use the words of my previous life, the author lacks a certain objectivity.
Under normal circumstances, this actually doesn't affect whether a book is good or not. Didn't Ji Yuan spend so much time reading it without sleep and food? But now that someone asked about it, I feel a sense of awkwardness.
The old gentleman seemed reasonable. If it was a fairy or god, it would be easy to talk to him. Even if it was a demon or a ghost, Ji Yuan felt that it would sound better if he talked about his awkwardness, so he spoke directly after a little hesitation.
"I have only just got the book "Heterodox Biography" and I was so fascinated by it that I couldn't put it down. A good book is naturally a good book..."
Having said this, Ji Yuan looked at the old man who didn't react at all and changed the subject.
“However, the many flaws in this book are regrettable!”
"I wonder what the flaws are?"
Ji Yuan narrowed his eyes, sat up straight from his lazy state, put the book on his knees, and straightened his clothes. This series of actions showed that what he was about to say was not a joke.
"This book is wonderful, but it is also full of bias. As the saying goes, do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you. How can the author of the book not understand the truth that ordinary people understand? However, the narrative in the book involving spirits and monsters is biased, which is really a pity!"
"oh?"
The old man's eyes lit up, and he straightened his back from the relaxed position leaning against the stone wall, and sat upright facing Ji Yuan.
"Sir, could you elaborate?"
"Haha, why not? Could it be that the old gentleman is the one who wrote the book and would punch and kick me?"
Ji Yuan's humorous question also made the old man laugh.
"Of course not."
"Then I feel more relieved and will just tell you directly."
"Haha, sir, you can talk as you please!"
Seeing that the old man was in a good mood, Ji Yuan also relaxed and his face became serious.
"It is true that many plants, animals, mountain spirits and monsters do harmful things to people, so it is absolutely not advisable to generalize. In the book, Wang Lang saves a cat monster, and the cat monster transforms into a human and wants to marry Wang Lang. Later, a rich man is attracted by her beauty and harms Wang Lang, which eventually leads to the destruction of the Wang family. The cat monster then kills the rich man's family to avenge Wang Lang. The whole book has thousands of words, and although the last two hundred words briefly mention the evil of human hearts, the theory that monsters harm people is quite powerful!"
"Ji, I'm really unhappy!"
Without waiting for the old man to speak, Ji Yuan opened the book and turned to a page that read Shuize.
"It is said here that half of the territory of Qianqiu Country has experienced severe drought for many years. The author of the book said that this was destiny. The people of the country went to the Xudong River every month to sacrifice livestock and pray for rain. A dragon ate the sacrifice for a long time and wanted to make wind and rain against the will of heaven. Later, it was entangled in disaster. The author of the book only said that monsters cannot be civilized!"
“Hehehe…”
Ji Yuan sneered a few times and did not express any direct opinions, but the sarcasm expressed in that laughter was extremely clear.
"Among all these books, there are many that do not have any righteous conduct except the way of immortality? How ridiculous!"
Having said that, Ji Yuan didn’t plan to continue talking.
"Forget it, forget it. It will only make people angry."
When the old man saw Ji Yuan's casual and calm manner in scanning the contents of the heterodox teachings, and heard his previous taboo words, he felt an inexplicable admiration for Ji Yuan.
The cave briefly regained its peace, and Ji Yuan read the old man's book again while he leaned back and sat quietly.
About a cup of tea later, the silence was broken again.
"Sir, do you know the name of this stone wall?"
Ji Yuan put down the book and subconsciously glanced at the cave before answering.
"It seems to be called... Crouching Dragon Wall."
"Yes!"
The old man did not stand up. He raised his hand and measured the height of the cave vaguely, with an indescribable look in his eyes.
"Sir, do you know the origin of this Crouching Dragon Wall?"
How could Ji Yuan know? Looking at the pea-like shape, it was hard to tell what it looked like. Could it have any meaning? Ji Yuan's thoughts began to diverge.
However, the old man next to him continued speaking before Ji Yuan could think of anything.
"About three hundred years ago, there was a deep pool buried 1,600 feet underground, with a Chi Jiao lying in wait."
Ji Yuan's heart moved and he looked at the cave again.
"That year was also the Grain in Ear Festival. Chi Jiao felt that his practice was complete and wanted to walk through the water and transform into a dragon!"
The old man's eyes met Ji Yuan's calm and peaceful eyes, and he paused for a moment before continuing his narration.
“When the Jiaolong family spreads water, it can easily flood the earth. However, Chijiao has been practicing for many years, and has been waiting for hundreds of years for that moment… Before the Grain in Ear that year, heavy rains lasted for half a month, and floods occurred in Desheng Prefecture. Chijiao led the water out of the ground, and Yuze dived underwater, flooding the three prefectures!”
The old man paused here, leaned against the stone wall behind him, stroked his beard slowly, and remained silent for a long time.
"Alas... wherever it passes, lives are destroyed!"
Ji Yuan seemed to be able to feel the heavy weight of these words as he imagined the devastating flood three hundred years ago.
Even in the era of advanced technology in the previous life, with powerful ships and airplanes and quick-response soldiers, floods were still terrible beasts, let alone here three hundred years ago.
The old man patted the stone wall behind him and said to Ji Yuan:
"This stone wall was dug out from the ground because of the might of the Chi Jiao when it broke out of the ground. It was originally the place where the Chi Jiao lay beside the deep pool. After the incident, there were many rumors about the Chi Jiao running away in Desheng Prefecture. After several decades, the cave in the underground cave was flattened, and the world was in chaos and war broke out. This stone wall and its name have been passed down."
Ji Yuan frowned and was silent for a while. After hesitating for a long time, he finally asked a question.
"I have heard that there is an immortal palace in Jizhou, named Yuhuai Mountain. When the dragon is gone, are there any immortal cultivators coming here?"
As for what they came for, they could naturally come to rescue people or stop the dragon, or if they had the ability, they could use some magic to control the flood, or wake up the dragon soberly, or even just kill it directly, but these plans were not explained.
I don’t know if the old man understood the implication of Ji Yuan’s words, he just sighed and continued.
"After lying dormant for hundreds of years, Chi Jiao is now free. One can imagine how excited he is. He will naturally attract the immortal masters when he stirs up trouble... snort..."
When the old man said this he actually sneered, which made Ji Yuan even more confused about the situation. Where did you come from, old man? Or are you related to the Chi Jiao
"Let's not talk about those former immortal masters. If we talk about the one who made the deepest impression on Chi Jiao at that time, it must be the City God of Du Mingfu. His golden body shattered and he struck angrily, waking up Chi Jiao and leading him to see the evil of Hong Feng..."
The old man paused for a moment, then continued.
"The difficulty of practicing the Dao is so great, and the courage to risk one's life for the sake of success is so sad, and yet so admirable!"
After hearing this, Ji Yuan had already formed a certain guess about the old man's identity, but he didn't know whether he was the real person.
"Then may I ask, old sir, whether this Chi Jiao successfully transformed into a dragon, and how it behaved in the next three hundred years?"
"Of course it will work. The water will flow into the river and swim in the sea. After a hundred years, it will finally turn into a dragon!"
When the old man said the last sentence, his voice was a little louder, and then he calmed down.
"Since he succeeded in becoming a dragon, he has been bringing rain to Jizhou for the past two hundred years. There has been abundant rain for two hundred years without any drought, and he has also helped control many tribes in the rivers and lakes..."
Having said that, the old man turned and looked at Ji Yuan.
"Sir, what do you think of what this dragon did? Is it as described in this heretic's legend?"
Even with Ji Yuan's current state of mind, he still couldn't help trembling in his heart. He really encountered an extraordinary existence. Combined with the preface, he was almost certain that the person sitting in front of him was either a dragon or a dragon!