Within Ten Days

Hearing this, Yang Zhuzi froze for a moment. He waited a little longer, but when the other party made no further mention of money or provisions, he still felt vaguely uneasy. Yet he didn’t dare ask. What if they hadn’t intended to ask for money or supplies in the first place, and he only prompted them to do so by bringing it up?

Sun Yigao had no idea what was going through Yang Zhuzi’s mind. He had simply intended not to trouble the villagers too much in such matters.

After all, it was they who had decided to establish a village school—not the people of Qingmu Township.

“In that case, may we trouble Village Head Yang to show us the houses later?” Seeing that Yang Zhuzi remained silent, Sun Yigao politely spoke up.

“Of course, of course! Shall we go now? What sort of location would the gentlemen prefer? There are plenty of empty houses in the village.” Yang Zhuzi suppressed his bewilderment and led them outside.

“Zhuzi, bring the gentlemen back here for a meal later!” Third Granduncle called after the departing Yang Zhuzi.

“Sure. I’ll have Cuihua slaughter a chicken and bring it over later!” Yang Zhuzi turned and answered.

Sun Yigao, however, smiled and stopped them. “Village Head Yang, Old Master Yang, there’s no need to slaughter a chicken. We eat vegetarian food.”

“What? Vegetarian?” Yang Zhuzi was stunned.

These gentlemen certainly didn’t look poor. Why would they refuse meat?

“That’s right. We get headaches the moment we see meat,” Wen Yuejun immediately chimed in from the side.

In the end, their lunch contained no meat at all, only melons and vegetables grown in the fields.

Country folk liked to visit one another whenever they had nothing else to do. The news that several scholars had come to Qingmu Township and were preparing to teach there spread across the surrounding area like wildfire.

Quite a few people from neighboring villages were green with envy when they heard. Unfortunately, the gentlemen had no intention of teaching in their villages.

The villagers didn’t actually dare dream that their own children might pass the prefectural examinations and become licentiates or anything of the sort. They merely hoped their children could learn to read and write, find a way to make a living in the towns or county seat, and avoid spending their entire lives bent over the same fields, just like them.

Some of the more quick-witted villagers had already begun considering whether they could come to Qingmu Township and ask if outsiders might send their children there to study as well.

Just as Village Head Yang Zhuzi had said, there were quite a few empty houses in the village. However, only a handful of them still looked remotely like houses. The rest had lost not only their roofs but even half their intact walls. Among the weeds, scattered rotten timbers and piles of mud barely revealed that human beings had once built something there.

Of the better-preserved empty houses, Sun Yigao chose two next to each other. They had no particular advantages aside from being spacious. After confirming the location with Yang Zhuzi, they prepared to begin work.

“We came out this time not only to build an academy but also to cultivate ourselves. We should therefore start from the very beginning. Once we possess cultivation and spiritual power, doing things will naturally become easier, but over time, that ease can make us float above reality and forget to keep our feet on the ground.”

Inside the overgrown, dilapidated courtyard of one of the empty houses, the members of the Lingxian Sect sat on grass mats as Sun Yigao explained the matter to them.

“As the ancients said, those who hear the Dao do so at different times. Although my cultivation is currently higher than yours, which is why I have become your teacher, the truth is that I myself have never truly walked this path. Much of what I teach you is merely drawn from the insights of those who came before and passed on through me. As for me, I still lack far too much. Reading ten thousand books is not as valuable as traveling ten thousand miles. That is why, through this journey and the construction of this academy, I hope all of us can gain our own insights from real experience.”

The other five nodded one after another.

Sun Yigao continued, “Therefore, starting today, aside from our morning lessons, which cannot be neglected, we must devote all our remaining time to constructing the academy. We must strive to complete everything within ten days. No spiritual power may be used.”

The first part of his statement elicited no reaction from the five disciples. It was only when they heard the final sentence that surprise appeared on their faces.

“Master, does that mean we can’t use any spiritual power at all? What about the lock rings?” The youngest of them, Tong Wan, raised her small, fair, slightly plump hand and asked.

Sun Yigao looked at her kindly. “I won’t forcefully restrict you. Whether you take shortcuts and how you choose to proceed is entirely up to you. But I hope that you will gain something from every step you take on this journey and that you will not make this trip in vain.”

After hearing this, the five disciples lowered their heads in thought almost simultaneously.

The next day, just as dawn was beginning to break and the village roosters had finished their first round of crowing, quite a few villagers made their way along the village road toward the site chosen for the academy.

They had heard that construction would begin that day, but after waiting at home for a long time, they still hadn’t received any word telling them to come and work.

In the villagers’ minds, being spared the burden of contributing money to a project that would benefit the entire township was already a great kindness. Lending a hand was nothing worth mentioning. Calling together the able-bodied men to do the work was simply common sense.

Yet the gentlemen who had said they were going to build an academy had shown no sign of doing so. Unable to restrain themselves, the villagers got up early and headed straight for the construction site.

When they arrived, every one of them was dumbfounded.

What were they seeing?

Those several gentlemen who were going to teach—regardless of their age—had all changed into short work clothes. They were compacting earth, making bricks, carrying timber, pulling weeds, and digging up stones!

This—this was something scholars were supposed to do?

They had never seen anything like it!

Weren’t scholars supposed to look like the shopkeepers in town or the accountants in the county seat?

For a time, the villagers felt as though their entire understanding of the world had been overturned.

One or two villagers edged over to Yang Zhuzi, who had arrived with them, and whispered, “Zhuzi, are these gentlemen really reliable?”

Another villager muttered along, “Why does this all feel so strange? We were so happy before that we didn’t pay attention, but take a look at them. They don’t seem very old, and they even brought two young women…”

The villagers meant no harm. They were simply ordinary people with limited experience. The world had always placed importance on clothing and appearance, and this top-down way of thinking had quietly influenced countless common folk. It was only natural for the villagers to feel doubtful and hesitant when faced with something beyond their understanding.

Yang Zhuzi, however, did not listen to the villagers’ doubts. He judged people not by their actions or clothing, but by his own intuition.

Although the six scholars who had come to the village were not dressed particularly well, Yang Zhuzi simply felt that they looked like highly accomplished scholars.

If capable people did something that seemed unreasonable, there had to be a reason for it.

Thus, Yang Zhuzi led the way to the courtyard gate and called inside, “Gentlemen, do you have enough work for us? We’re deeply grateful that you’ve come here to build an academy. The villagers may not have much else, but we do have plenty of strength. If there’s anything you need done, please don’t hesitate to put us to work!”

By then, Sun Yigao and the other five had already been working for an hour. They were fairly familiar with this sort of thing. After all, who among them had not gone through the process of building their own dormitory upon entering the Lingxian Sect?

Doing something familiar again after a period of time brought a different kind of enjoyment.

The six had noticed the villagers approaching them long before, but they were so engrossed in their work that they hadn’t been distracted. Only when they heard Yang Zhuzi’s voice did they look up toward the villagers at the gate.