Chapter 121: Chapter 28: To Establish Taiping for All Generations
"You whelp—"
"Hm?"
"You child..."
The Martial Artist had been about to lash out in anger, but after Su Zhou revealed his Grandmaster aura, his tone instantly dropped several notches.
But even so, he was still indignant. "So what if you’re a Grandmaster? Chaos floods the world, so who can change it? The Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army? What a joke. Back then, a million people in Liaozhou had not a single Grandmaster come to their aid, no one to protect them. How could the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army possibly protect a ’mere’ three thousand of us now?"
The state of the world was like a rampaging flood, utterly chaotic. Who could one follow to change such a situation? Certainly not the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army. He was furious about the Demon disaster in Liaozhou, that the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army hadn’t sent anyone to help defend the city, resulting in a million people becoming food for the Demon Army.
"We have crossbows, siege equipment, and Vermilion Bird Boxes. If we encounter the Demon Army, we can make sure they don’t get off easy!" said the other, taller and thinner Martial Artist. His tone wasn’t as direct, but it was just as stiff. "But rather than go with you to fight that Demon Emperor, we’d be better off just running far away. No matter how the Demon Army rampages, they won’t cross to the other side of the sea... We just need to hide well and leave this land. Then the Demon Emperor and his army will naturally self-destruct from the Divine Wood’s backlash."
This was a reference to how captured Demon Soldiers, if deprived of flesh and blood for a long time, would gradually turn to wood, becoming true members of the Divine ’Wood’ Clan. From a human perspective, this was self-destruction. But this reasoning was equally ridiculous, because if they couldn’t eat people, Demon Soldiers could still eat pigs, cattle, and sheep! While eating such flesh couldn’t increase their power or bring them extreme pleasure, it could at least maintain their forms.
But the people in these remote areas believed it. Or rather, they forced themselves to believe it, to use it as justification for their actions.
To have trained in martial arts to this level, could any of them truly be stupid? How could they not know that the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army wasn’t yet strong enough to protect all Thirty-Four States of Tianzheng Land? And how could they not understand that the Demon Dynasty could simply raise other creatures as rations?
It was nothing more than finding an excuse for their own actions.
They even went so far as to delude themselves, vocally mocking those who spoke the truth. "You of the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army insist on gathering the world’s power to crusade against the Demon Dynasty. Isn’t that just a futile waste of blood? The more people who die, the more lush and verdant the Divine Wood becomes. You’re actually helping it grow!"
Without even needing to think, relying purely on instinct, Su Zhou could pick out seven or eight points to argue against in a second. ’This argument is full of holes! The ability of these uneducated ancients from another world to find excuses for themselves is truly pathetic!’
But just as he was preparing to use his rich experience with modern debate to properly educate them on what it means to ’be reasonable,’ Zhou Buyi, who was standing to the side, glared and strode forward, speaking before Su Zhou could. "If you wish to leave, no one will stop you. We would even risk informing you of any potential Demon Army pursuit. But Huang Boduo, Cui Chengzhong, you are both on the verge of stepping into the Grandmaster Realm. Ask your own hearts: if a person’s first thought upon encountering hardship is not to ’overcome’ but to ’escape,’ what can he ever accomplish?"
He was clearly acquainted with these two Postnatal Experts and was probably often disparaged by them with similar words. If it were just his own group, he might have let it go, but with Su Zhou present, Zhou Buyi could not bear it and had to retort. "It is true for a person, and it is true for a nation. If you encounter a wicked ruler, a wicked age, and you don’t think of crusading against them, of changing things, but only think of hiding away in the deep mountains and old forests, then will you not be doomed to spend generation after generation in the wilderness, accompanied only by birds, beasts, fish, and insects?"
"Ridiculous!" The normally built Martial Artist named Huang Boduo’s face flushed crimson. "Do you think we haven’t resisted before? The one million seven hundred thousand people in Liaozhou..."
He seemed about to use the Liaozhou Demon disaster and the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army’s lack of support as his reason again, but he was cut off mid-sentence by Fang Hui.
"I Buddha, you are the one who is ridiculous, Benefactor." Leaning on his Ironwood Long Staff, the Martial Monk took a step forward. He spoke in a calm voice, "My hometown is beside the Nanjiang River. For a thousand years, it has been a land of fish and rice. When the Demon disaster came, ten thousand families fled together, but only one person made it across Daze Lake and the Three Rivers. Was this because the Hundred Schools didn’t provide support? The Hundred Schools fought a decisive, head-on battle with the Demon Dynasty’s grand army right there! They drove the Demon Army back beyond the Nanjiang River, and three Demon Generals were beheaded!"
"But the fleeing refugees starved themselves. A third of them even killed each other. Another third were wiped out when they encountered scattered Demon Soldiers. Only a third managed to escape successfully... In less than half a year, a vast, fertile land was turned into a desolate wasteland. Millions of people were drained of their flesh and blood and used as living fertilizer without the slightest bit of resistance."
"Wasn’t it the same in Liaozhou? The Hundred Schools sent reinforcements at the fastest possible speed, but the leadership of Liaozhou surrendered. A third of the common people hoped for the best, a third wanted to resist, and a third wanted to run. Those who wanted to resist were swept along by the chaos and couldn’t even form a proper defensive array... In less than three days, all of Liaozhou fell. You two experienced it firsthand. Don’t you know what really happened then? The counterexample is Xiang State! Because they had my hometown as an example and knew that surrender meant certain death, everyone united as one to resist the Demon Army. Even a small border town held out for twenty-seven days and nights until the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army reinforcements arrived."
Holding his ironwood staff, Monk Fang Hui spoke fluently. He was probably skilled at chanting scriptures, as his clear and logical speech left the two refugee Martial Artists speechless.
But mere words obviously couldn’t persuade them. The tall, thin Martial Artist, Cui, immediately waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away a fly. "A fine speech, but it’s just a trick to get us to throw our lives away. The Demon Emperor got the Immortal Tree and turned into that monstrous thing. If you of the Hundred Schools get your hands on the Immortal Tree, how would you be any different? We’d rather leave this chaotic world and live in the mountains with the birds and insects than mix with lunatics like you!"
"Pardon my bluntness, but this era has changed you."
Liuu Xizhao, who was following behind Zhou Buyi with a saber cradled in her arms, poked her head out from behind her captain. She said coolly, "But we have sworn an oath to change this era."
"Enough, enough. But you two, if you still consider yourselves children of the Divine Land, then hear me out."
At this, Zhou Buyi waved his hand. He seemed to have said the same things many times before and had grown weary of arguing with those who could not understand their aspirations. The young man with temples of frost simply sighed. "Our civilization of the Divine Land, our countless people, the tombs of our ancestors, the blood of loyal martyrs through the ages—it has all settled upon this land... Our glorious and heroic history, our myths and legends, are all told upon this land."
"The land, the people, and the heritage are one. To abandon any part is to be doomed to scatter! When this land faces peril, for us, the descendants of the Divine Land, to think only of escape when faced with hardship—that is simply not the Righteous Dao, not the true Law!"
"A Confucian Saint once said: ’One cannot flock with birds and beasts. If I am not to be a fellow of these people, then who am I to be a fellow of?’"
"If the Dao prevailed in the world, we would not be trying to change it!"
—We resist the Anx Dynasty to revolutionize the world. We do not leave this place to hide from the world and flock with birds and beasts because we will only stand with the living beings of this world to fight against everything in this unjust age!
—If the Dao prevailed in this world, we would not have thrown ourselves into this revolution! But, if it is without the Dao...
"Unlike you, who have forsaken your homeland."
At first, it was just Zhou Buyi giving a concluding statement. His expression showed neither anger nor sorrow, just a calm detachment as he cupped his fist to the Martial Artists among the refugees. "The more chaotic the world becomes, the less we will choose to hide from it. When the world is in peril, every person has a duty. As people of the Divine Land, and as the army that has raised the banner of righteousness, the Hundred Schools have a responsibility to change this chaotic situation."
But then, the three members of the small team turned in unison, their backs to the refugees, and recited the oath the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army had sworn when they first raised their banner.
[Since the Emperor is without virtue, and tyrannizes the common people.]
[Then we, the Hundred Schools, shall act in Heaven’s stead, and walk the Dao; we shall crusade against the Demons, and eliminate the traitors!]
As the oath was spoken, both sides fell silent. The two Postnatal Experts on the refugees’ side sighed. They seemed to want to say something, but in the end, they kept their mouths shut. They merely clasped their hands in a salute toward the backs of the ’Rebel Army’ members, then turned and returned to their group to continue leading the refugees away.
However, Su Zhou could hear Zhou Buyi softly murmuring the second half of the oath.
[And thereafter, pacify the world, and bring peace to this chaotic age—]
This man, who didn’t even know how to persuade others with words—or rather, all the members of the Rebel Army who had been fighting against this unjust, chaotic world—had engraved this single phrase upon their hearts.
[—For the countless people of this world, we shall restore the age of Great Peace!]
