In the west wing, Su Yun lit a bonfire, took off his clothes, washed his body with snow to wash away the blood, and treated the wound on his back before putting on his clothes.
"The clothes are stained with blood again."
The boy frowned and looked at the blood on his clothes in the firelight: "I have to buy new clothes again. If I go into the city wearing bloody clothes, the people in the city will think I'm a monster, right?"
He has been trying hard to make himself look like a normal boy, not like a boy from the uninhabited area of Tianshiyuan.
Su Yun dressed neatly and went to clear the ape demon's corpse out of the temple hall. Then he returned to the campfire and thought, "I can't find Brother Hua and the others at night. I can only wait until dawn."
He was so sleepy that he fell asleep beside the campfire without realizing it.
After an unknown amount of time, Su Yun woke up and saw that the bonfire was about to go out. He was about to add some firewood when he heard a conversation outside: "… As a scholar of Tiandao Academy, you actually want to leave and study abroad in such a dangerous time! What's so good about Western knowledge? The Westerners came to us, ceded our Yuanshuo territory, kidnapped our people, and demanded compensation from the court, and you still want to go to the West! You are a scholar of Tiandao Academy—"
Another voice sounded: "Brother, can't you see? The era of the old saints is over! On the other side of the ocean, those barbarians we think of are now more powerful than our Yuan Shuo! I must go abroad to learn their skills!"
Su Yun was slightly startled: "This voice..."
"Study abroad and learn from them, learn Western knowledge? You are a Confucianist, do you want to betray Confucianism and your ancestors?"
"I learn from the West and apply it to Chinese practice. I am still a Confucianist in essence. My fellow student, come with me to study abroad. With Chinese knowledge as the basis and Western knowledge as the application, we can save this country and save the country from collapse!"
"Only by staying here can we save this country. Only by preserving the old sage's unique skills can we save the nation. Only by preserving Yuan Shuo's spirit can we save this country! Otherwise, the backbone of the nation will be gone! Qiu Shuijing! Stop right there!"
Su Yun stood up and looked out the window. There were two heroic young men standing in the temple courtyard under the moonlight. Their bodies were formed by the gathering of moonlight spots.
One of them looked vaguely like Qiu Shuijing when he was young, while the other had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and appeared taller and stronger than Qiu Shuijing.
Both of them are of noble bearing.
Su Yun was slightly startled: "Spiritual obsession?"
This scene, sound, and the two heroic young men in the yard should all be the obsession of the spiritual being enshrined in this temple.
Under the moonlight tonight, this soul's obsession exploded and transformed into his younger self.
The other person he was talking to was Qiu Shuijing in his youth.
"Mr. Shui Jing was a scholar of Tiandao Academy when he was young?"
Su Yun looked at the two young men in the courtyard. They were still arguing about whether to study abroad. He thought, "The owner of this temple is also from Tiandao Academy. Mr. Shui Jing wants to study abroad to learn knowledge from other countries, but the temple owner thinks that the old saints' unique skills should be preserved. Is this the reason for their conflict?"
The obsession of the soul is slowly disintegrating.
"Senior brother, I will go to study on the other side of the ocean. After a few decades, I will see who is right and who is wrong between you and me." Mr. Shui Jing's voice came.
The obsession of the soul dissipated, and the figures of the two young men in the yard disappeared along with the spots of moonlight.
Su Yun pushed open the door and walked into the yard, lost in thought: "Is this conversation that the temple owner still remembers even after his death really so important?"
Although he was familiar with the old holy scriptures, at this moment he could not tell who was right and who was wrong between Mr. Shuijing and the temple owner.
"The temple owner should also be a respectable person, right? He, like Mr. Shuijing, wants to save this country."
Su Yun stretched his body, brought some snow, and cleaned the floor of the hall to wash away the bloodstains.
He had fought a bloody battle with a group of ape monsters from Yuanjialing here last night, making the ground dirty. He felt that leaving stains was disrespectful to the temple owner.
After Su Yun finished all this, he was sweating and sat outside the temple gate to rest.
"Little blind man, do you know the ghosts and gods in the temple?" a voice came.
Su Yun looked in the direction of the sound and saw a large mansion next to the temple. In front of the mansion there was a pair of stone lions. A thin old man was sitting on the stone steps, waving at Su Yun with a smile.
Su Yun was extremely surprised. When he came to this temple, he did not see such a big house near the temple!
"Senior, do you recognize me?" Su Yun asked curiously.
The thin old man smiled and said, "We set up a stall together in Tianshi. I'm at No. 97 on the right side of the street, and you're at No. 92 on the left side. Of course I recognize you. We've been stall owners and neighbors for many years!"
The alley he was talking about was the alley in the Ghost Market. Su Yun’s stall was at the 92nd alley entrance from the entrance to Tianmen.
Su Yun became excited and ran over quickly.
"This neighbor just moved in two months ago."
The thin old man chuckled and said, "A friend of mine built this house for him. That friend is Qiu Shuijing. He has been to Tianshi and has followed you before. He chatted with me for a while when he came here the other day. He said that the person living in this house is a big shot in Dongdu and also his old friend. He came back this time to pay tribute to this big shot."
Su Yun was surprised and asked, "This temple was built by Mr. Shui Jing?"
Louban nodded: "I found some monsters to build it, and he paid for it. Your teacher is amazing, a man of great talent, and his abilities are unfathomable. You haven't been to Tianshi for a few months, what happened?"
Su Yun said: "My eye disease has been cured, so I didn't go there again."
Louban looked him over and asked, "Are you planning to go into the city?"
Su Yun nodded: "Go to Shuofang to study. Mr. Shuijing said that the knowledge of the old saints is outdated, and we must go to the city to seek new knowledge."
Lou Ban said leisurely: "Some of the knowledge of the old saints is outdated, while some is timeless and irrefutable. Do you know why?"
Su Yun shook his head.
He has learned a lot of old sacred classics from Mr. Yehu. So far, it seems that he is only able to comprehend the "Honglu Transformation and Nourishing Qi" and "Xianyuan Nourishing Qi" techniques at a relatively fast pace, and there is nothing special about them.
"I've studied abroad, too."
Lou Ban smiled and said, "Westerners are indeed better than us in terms of learning methods and applying what they have learned. But there is one area where they are inferior to us, and this area happens to be the strength of the old saints."
Su Yun's heart was slightly moved, and he bowed and said, "Please give me some advice, senior."
Lou Ban stood up, stretched his back, and said, "Westerners ask the gods, while the ancient saints ask people."
Su Yun immediately understood what he meant.
Asking God means asking God about everything. When you are unsure about anything, you can consult the gods and ask them to guide the affairs of the world.
Asking people means asking people about all matters. People should guide human affairs. There is no so-called god intervening in the human world.
This is exactly what the ancient sages advocated: ask about the common people instead of ghosts and gods, respect ghosts and gods but keep them at a distance.
"The old saints' knowledge lacked usefulness. It was more about guiding you to practice and sharpen your mind. Westerners made up for this, so they became powerful."
Lou Ban said: "Yuan Shuo is already weak at present, but as long as we learn the methods of the Westerners, apply what we have learned, reform the shortcomings of the old sages, and turn the old sages' knowledge into new learning, we can defeat the Westerners. I think it is feasible. Qiu Shuijing and I are both new learners."
Su Yun suddenly became excited: "Senior, are you a new saint?"
"Since the beginning of learning, there has been no saint."
Lou Ban shook his head and said, "At the very least, it wasn't there when I died. Little blind man, if you go to the city to study, I want to entrust you with something."
He turned and walked into his own house, took out a small wooden box, which was neat and square, and placed it in Su Yun's hand. He said, "When I died, my disciples were confused and buried this key with me. You take this key and do something for me."
Su Yun weighed the wooden box and felt it was heavy, as if it was solid. He asked, "What do you want me to do, Senior?"
Lou Ban smiled and said, "This is a simple matter. Go to Shuofang City. If you have time, take the key to the city and help me check if the things I hid there are still there. Once you have done this, my key will be yours."
Su Yun understood that this was the rule of the Tianmen Ghost Market. Of course, in his mind it was not a ghost market, but the Tianmen Night Market, also known as the Tian Market.
The rules of Tianshi are very simple, that is, take things from others and help them fulfill their wishes!
If the wish cannot be fulfilled within the deadline, the "treasure owner" will take the treasure back!
At the beginning, Su Yun was also one of the treasure sellers in Tianshi. Of course, his treasures were not real treasures, but just his own burial objects. However, Lou Ban and other ghosts and gods took out real spiritual weapons, and they were definitely the best spiritual weapons!
Su Yun took the wooden box and bowed, saying, "Don't worry, senior. Yun will live up to your trust!"
Lou Ban smiled and said, "It's not a big deal. I just saw Qiu Shuijing admire you, so I followed his lead and admired you. I think you can do it. Well, it's almost dawn, and your work is coming soon. You should leave."
"My work is coming soon?" Su Yun was puzzled.
Lou Ban pursed his lips, and Su Yun looked back, only to see the trees in the forest shaking, snow flying everywhere, and trees falling down with a crackling sound.
"Grandmaster Ape III!"
Su Yun was shocked and hurriedly took the bag, bowed to Lou Ban, and then twisted the rope of the magic rope, and the magic rope went straight up into the sky!
He had just grabbed the immortal rope and was taken into the air when he heard Lou Ban's voice: "Little blind man, you are also a spiritualist, you are not necessarily weaker than him, why are you afraid of him?"
"I am a spiritualist?"
Su Yun was stunned. He had just cultivated to the sixth level of foundation building. When did he become a spiritualist
He didn't have time to think too much. In the forest below, the Third Ape Patriarch was covered in blood, with a thick iron stick as thick as his arm slung on his side. He roared and rushed out of the forest, grabbing the immortal rope!
Su Yun climbed up quickly and pulled the rope suddenly. The Third Ape Patriarch jumped up, but he reached out to grab nothing and had to fall to the ground!
The white-haired ape stood up in the snow, with shocking wounds all over his body. It was obvious that he had suffered heavy injuries in the battle with the giant monster.
Patriarch Yuan San had a gloomy expression on his face. He looked up and saw Su Yun climbing the rope, using his hands and feet to dive into the night sky.
"After killing so many of my disciples from Yuanjialing, you will never be able to walk out of Tianshiyuan alive!"
The Third Ape Patriarch pounded his chest with his hands and roared towards the sky. On the snow beside him, in front of the newly built temple, there were more than a dozen ape monster corpses. They were the Yuanjialing masters who were killed by Su Yun in the temple!