Chapter 125: Rewriting Another's Fate

Li Qing nodded. "After all, something this major has happened."

"Although Zuo Yan failed to survive his tribulation, the Owl God Seizes Food Tribulation still claimed nearly ten thousand lives. His actions were simply lawless!"

"To die beneath heavenly tribulation like that was letting him off too easily!" Li Qing gritted his teeth, his face filled with indignation.

"And the imperial court's response is enough to chill one's heart. They merely replied, 'We have been informed,' then hastily appointed a new official to take his place. Senior Duan risked his own life to slay the traitor and rendered such a tremendous service, yet the court didn't even spare a single word of acknowledgment." The more Li Qing spoke, the more resentful he became.

None of this surprised Li Shun.

The court had always acted this way.

When someone underwent tribulation, the court would not interfere.

Likewise, if someone chose to uphold justice and intervene, the court would not involve itself either.

He was just about to offer a few words of comfort when a heart-wrenching wail erupted from outside the door.

"Cripple!"

The one who had come was Feng Guan.

He staggered into the room and threw himself into Li Shun's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Cripple, I've wronged you! I shouldn't have ignored your advice. I was so easily deceived by those villains, and I even wrote asking you to come save me..."

"I nearly dragged you into the gates of hell with me!"

"Why did I ever think about getting married in the first place?!"

Feng Guan cried until his voice was hoarse, tears streaming down his face along with overwhelming guilt.

His emotions reached such a peak that he suddenly raised his hand and viciously slapped himself across the face.

Li Shun quietly looked at Feng Guan, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

The moment he borrowed the Sage's body, he had already seen Feng Guan's original fate.

He had been trapped inside the prison with no possibility of escape.

Later, when the vicious criminals imprisoned there fell under the influence of the Owl God Seizes Food Tribulation and broke out of prison, Feng Guan refused to flee.

Having already experienced one failed escape attempt, he stubbornly remained hidden in the deepest part of the prison.

Yet it was precisely this unusual behavior that amused Zuo Yan.

After cruelly tormenting him for sport, Zuo Yan ultimately transformed him into nothing more than a puddle of blood within the granary.

Li Shun had altered his fate ever so slightly.

This time, Feng Guan had simply gone with the flow, escaping alongside the other prisoners.

He then returned home and hid himself away.

In the end, he safely survived until the calamity had passed.

Li Shun raised a hand and patted Feng Guan on the shoulder.

Looking at the man whose fate he had personally rewritten, an indescribably strange feeling arose within him.

Only after much gentle reassurance did Feng Guan gradually stop crying.

"I'll never think about carrying on the family line again. I'll just live out the rest of my life honestly," Feng Guan muttered dejectedly.

Li Shun's expression turned solemn as he warned him in a deep voice, "Whether you marry or not isn't the important part. The important thing is..."

"Yunguan County is far too remote. It's not a place to spend your entire life. If you ever get the opportunity, you should find a way to reach the Central Four Commanderies, or even the Sacred Capital. Only there might you find a lifetime of peace."

Li Shun did not reveal the hidden truth behind the Twelvefold Longevity Methods and their tribulations. He merely offered the warning as subtly as possible.

Feng Guan scratched his head.

"The Sacred Capital? I wouldn't even dare dream of a place like that."

The moment he finished speaking, Duan Jiuzhang's steady, powerful voice came from outside.

"I've heard about your circumstances from Li Shun. I understand you once studied a few minor techniques of that school?"

Duan Jiuzhang strode into the room with a gentle smile, his sharp gaze carefully examining Feng Guan.

Feng Guan immediately shuddered and hurriedly rose to bow.

"Greetings, Lord Duan. Reporting to my lord... I have indeed learned a thing or two."

"I can write you a letter of recommendation and introduce you to Cheng Yuzhao of Lingtai Commandery. He is one of the foremost masters of the age. If you can master even thirty percent of his abilities, it will be enough for you to establish yourself within the Central Four Commanderies."

Duan Jiuzhang spoke casually.

Yet to Feng Guan, those words were no different from a thunderclap exploding beside his ears.

He stood frozen.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that someone as exalted as Great Qian's Director of Imperial Agriculture would personally recommend him to a master.

Instinctively, Feng Guan turned toward Li Shun.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry and thank Senior Duan," Li Shun reminded him.

Only then did Feng Guan recover from his daze. He hurriedly knelt on the ground and respectfully kowtowed before Duan Jiuzhang.

He was far from ignorant of worldly affairs.

On the contrary, after struggling at the very bottom of society for most of his life, he understood better than anyone just how valuable this letter truly was.

He also knew perfectly well that the only reason Duan Jiuzhang was willing to write it was because of Li Shun.

Just as it had been Li Shun's suggestion that allowed him to leave Lengshan County.

His nose suddenly turned sour.

He felt both overwhelming gratitude and profound guilt toward Li Shun.

'Cripple has helped me so many times, yet I've never managed to help him even once.'

'Next time, even if it costs me my life, I absolutely can't drag him into danger again.'

Feng Guan silently made up his mind.

"Enough. You two may leave for now. I have something I wish to discuss with Li Shun alone."

Duan Jiuzhang suddenly spoke.

Li Qing and Feng Guan immediately took their leave.

The atmosphere inside the room changed at once.

Duan Jiuzhang and Li Shun looked directly into one another's eyes.

The air itself seemed to grow heavy.

"I originally believed it was I who prevented Zuo Yan from advancing."

"The memories in my mind also tell me exactly that."

"But..."

After setting down a barrier, Duan Jiuzhang's very first sentence caused Li Shun's heart to tremble violently.

The weathered, dark-skinned middle-aged man pointed at his own head and slowly shook it.

"For the past few days, I've had the constant feeling that something isn't quite right."

"But I can't put my finger on exactly what."

"So I sought advice from a friend of mine."

A sharp light flashed through Duan Jiuzhang's eyes as he stared fixedly at Li Shun.

"He told me eight words."

"Do you know which eight words they were?"

Li Shun's expression remained as still as an ancient well.

He respectfully cupped his fists.

"This junior would be honored to hear them."

"'When a Heavenly Being authors a codex, what has been ordained can still be rewritten.'"

Li Shun's heart shook violently.

Those eight words exploded within his sea of consciousness like thunder.

Yet his face remained perfectly composed, revealing only the appropriate amount of puzzled curiosity.

"May I ask, Senior, what exactly do those eight words mean?"

The atmosphere seemed to freeze.

Duan Jiuzhang stared at Li Shun for a long time, as though trying to discern something from his calm expression.

In the end, however, he found nothing.

After a while, he suddenly burst into hearty laughter, breaking the oppressive silence.

He no longer pursued the topic.

Instead, he asked, "Is there anything else you wish to ask me?"

Li Shun did not hesitate.

"There is indeed one matter that has puzzled this junior for some time."

"When someone attempts to advance through the Celestial Phenomena tribulation, neither other cultivators nor even the imperial court is willing to interfere."

"Why, then, were you willing to step forward?"

"You were even prepared to risk your own life."

Duan Jiuzhang smiled.

"Then let me ask you something."

"Between the ruler and the people, which is more important?"

Li Shun had not expected such a question.

He was momentarily stunned.

Just as he was about to answer, the words caught in his throat.

It was a question that was anything but easy to answer.

Among the Confucian scholars, there had once been the belief that the people are the most important, the state comes second, and the ruler is the least important.

However, after the Qian Emperor conquered the Seven Nations and unified the world through overwhelming might, the Confucian school had gradually stopped mentioning that doctrine.

Instead, it increasingly embraced the Legalist view:

"Affairs lie in the four directions, yet their essence rests in the center. When the Sage grasps the essential point, all under heaven naturally follows."

Duan Jiuzhang did not wait for Li Shun's answer.

With a carefree smile, he spoke his true thoughts openly.

"The world belongs to all who live beneath heaven."

"It does not belong to a single man or a single surname."

"So between ruler and people, what is there to debate?"

"Yunguan suffered calamity, and its people were plunged into misery."

"Naturally, I had to save them."

"There was no other reason."

"That alone was enough."

Looking at Duan Jiuzhang's incomparably earnest expression, Li Shun could not help but feel puzzled.

Duan Jiuzhang belonged to the School of Agriculture.

That much was true.

Yet the ideals he now expressed...

Seemed to have long since surpassed the boundaries of that school.

Duan Jiuzhang gave Li Shun a meaningful glance.

"If one day you arrive at your own answer to that question..."

"Come find me again."

With those words, he drifted away.

Only then did Li Shun suddenly notice that a yellowed slip of paper had somehow appeared upon the previously empty table.

On it was written only a single vigorous character.

"People."

"People?"

Li Shun picked up the slip and examined it carefully.

The paper appeared quite old, carrying an ancient, weathered aura.

The character People had been written with bold, powerful strokes.

Yet it was not written in Great Qian's official script.

Recalling his earlier discovery that Duan Jiuzhang had deliberately concealed his true cultivation, Li Shun fell into thought.

'Among the Hundred Schools of Thought... is there truly a School of the People?'

'The people are precious, the ruler is light. Such a doctrine was destined to be unacceptable to the imperial court.'

'Especially in a world where supreme power rests within the individual.'

Li Shun quietly shook his head.

The slip of paper remained no different from an ordinary sheet, showing no response whatsoever.