Martial Cultivator-Chapter 900.1: Master Dong Stone Statue - Part 1

While Chen Chao was sizing up the young scholar before him, that young scholar was in fact also sizing up Chen Chao.

On this trip to Ying Prefecture, Chen Chao did not wish to invite unnecessary trouble, so he had not ostentatiously hung his saber at his waist.

His aura was moreover concealed by an extremely subtle technique. Presumably, in this world there was no one who could identify his identity at a glance.

The young scholar closed the old book in his hands and returned it to the shelf behind him. Even though he was already being very careful, the bookshelf still inevitably shook a little, producing a creaking sound.

The young scholar looked at Chen Chao with some curiosity. His lips moved, as if hesitating again and again, but in the end he could not help himself and asked, “Why would sir come to the Master Dong Shrine, sir?”

Chen Chao frowned slightly. Before he could speak, the young scholar added, “From the looks of you, sir, you do not seem to be a scholar, but rather more like... a martial artist.”

This made Chen Chao curious instead. How had the other party been able to tell at a glance that he was a martial artist?

“How did you see that, Sir?”

Chen Chao did not try to hide anything, but spoke plainly.

The young scholar smiled and raised his hand to point at the young martial artist’s hands, smiling as he said, “The calluses at the webbing between your thumb and index finger are thick. They should be from years of gripping blades and swords. Moreover, although you seem to bear some injuries, your posture is still upright. You are undoubtedly a martial artist.”

Chen Chao lowered his head to take a look, then smiled faintly. “Good eyes, Sir. Are you also a cultivator?”

The young scholar smiled and said, “I have only just glimpsed the threshold. My talent is truly ordinary. In this lifetime, I fear it will be hard to achieve anything great.”

Chen Chao nodded as well. The aura within this young man’s body was weak; clearly that of someone who had only just stepped into the initial stage of cultivation, and with an unstable foundation. It was just as he himself had said. Since this was merely a chance encounter, and since the other party had neither seen through his identity nor shown any killing intent toward him, Chen Chao did not plan to dig any deeper. He simply smiled and asked, “Then why does sir think I should not have come here?”

The young scholar said, “When the Master Dong Shrine’s incense was flourishing, those who came here were all scholars. Now, in all of Changban Commandery, the scholars have long since gone far away. Even if there are still a few, they rarely come anymore. You, a lone martial artist, seem to have no reason to come here.”

After saying this, the young scholar suddenly felt it might be a bit impolite, and added softly, “But it is merely curiosity. If you are unwilling to answer, you may leave it unsaid. I was somewhat presumptuous.”

Chen Chao smiled faintly. From just these few words, he already felt that this scholar’s temperament was rather decent. After thinking it over, he chose not to conceal anything and explained his reason for coming here. In the end, it amounted to just one sentence - a whim.

The young scholar nodded, wearing an expression of “just as I thought.”

Chen Chao instead asked, “And why have you come here, Sir? I see you did not offer any incense either.”

The young scholar was equally forthright. “I am short on money, and just happened to have my craving for books act up. I have gone to the bookshops many times. Each time I only read and never buy, and the shopkeepers are not pleased. I thought there were still some old books here at the Master Dong Shrine, so I came to browse. No money required, and no one to disturb me. For someone like me, it is quite an excellent place.”

Chen Chao nodded, glanced at the robe on the young scholar’s body that had been washed until it faded pale, and found the explanation reasonable. He then flicked his eyes toward the old book the scholar had just returned to the shelf. On its cover were the characters Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals, one of Master Dong’s works.

Noticing Chen Chao’s gaze, the young scholar picked up Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals again and said softly, “The Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital says that Master Dong dreamed of a flood dragon entering his bosom, and thus composed Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals. Most later scholars consider this book to be one of the classics. In my view, however, many parts of it are merely Master Dong’s own fanciful talk, and cannot truly be said to have sound reasoning.”

Chen Chao was taken aback. Although Master Dong had been gone for many years and the incense at the Master Dong Shrine had long since faded, his standing among scholars should still have been extremely high. Words like these, coming from a scholar such as the one before him, were in fact very rare to hear.

“If sir wishes to discuss Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals with me, then you have chosen the wrong person. I am merely a martial artist, and truly do not understand such things.”

Chen Chao smiled wryly. He was not even half a scholar. If this young scholar had run into Xie Nandu, the two of them might have been able to talk things through, but speaking with him was no different from a chicken talking to a duck.

The young scholar did not mind in the least. He merely smiled and said, “When it comes to reading, everyone has different views. Famous scholars are not necessarily always right, and what unlearned peddlers and common folk say is not necessarily all wrong. The principles within books ought to be debated again and again, across tens of thousands of generations, before right and wrong can be determined." “Like the way people nowadays insist that some book is excellent and some book is terrible. In truth, neither approach is acceptable. Just like Master Dong himself, although he did accomplish certain things, it does not necessarily mean he was a saint. Later generations should not blindly revere him either. And just like this Master Dong Shrine: after its incense once flourished, it is now desolate. There is nothing wrong with that.”

Chen Chao smiled. “That sounds reasonable. It should not apply only to Master Dong, nor only to the Master Dong Shrine.”

The young scholar nodded, his eyes full of smiles.

Chen Chao suddenly asked, “Sir, do you not plan to go to the Divine Capital to take part in the autumn examination?”

The young scholar smiled with narrowed eyes. “My ambitions do not lie in becoming an official. Besides, even if I did have such aspirations, I do not have the travel funds to go to the Divine Capital. What’s more, there are demons out there that eat people.”

Chen Chao said sincerely, “Sir ought to go to the academy and seek to learn”

The young scholar burst out laughing. “You flatter me too much, Sir. What learning can I seek? I am merely full of grievances. It’s only because you have a good temperament that you’re willing to patiently listen to me ramble on for a bit. If it were someone else, they would probably already be glaring at me by now.”

At this point, the young scholar rubbed his head and suddenly said, “I won’t trouble sir any further. It’s getting late, and this place isn’t fit for reading anymore. I’ll go find somewhere else.”

After saying this, the young scholar returned the old book in his hands to the shelf once more, then turned and left, without the slightest hesitation.

Chen Chao watched the scholar depart, a hint of a smile in his eyes. In one’s lifetime, the people one encounters come in all kinds. Most of them may not become friends, yet simply meeting them once can still leave one feeling at ease. Just like this young scholar, they had spoken only briefly, but the feeling was like drinking fine wine, comfortable and pleasant.

Even if neither of them had exchanged names.

Not long after the scholar left, Chen Chao also planned to turn around and leave. A whim satisfied, it was time to go.

But just as he was about to depart, he suddenly heard footsteps outside the door. From the sound of them, there were quite a few people, and they were being extremely cautious.

Chen Chao tapped the ground with the tip of his foot and swept up onto a crossbeam above, holding his breath and focusing his mind. But soon he laughed at himself, it seemed the last time he had hidden atop a beam like this had been outside Tianqing County, when he ran into Guo Xi and his group.

A group of people, about seven or eight in number, all sturdy men, entered the great hall. Each of them carried tools like hammers and chisels.

As soon as they stepped into the hall, the leading man lowered his voice and asked, “So there really is something good inside this stone statue?”

The moment he spoke, someone immediately responded, “Absolutely. I heard it from that old blind man east of the city. That massive stone was never anything ordinary. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have gotten stuck here and been impossible to move further. And after the stonemasons finished carving it, they all died mysteriously. That was actually the emperor silencing them. That emperor revered Master Dong above all else, and Master Dong even helped him greatly back then. How could he have used ordinary stone to carve his statue?”

The one who spoke clearly knew a thing or two, and his account was reasonably coherent.

“If that’s the case, then let’s chisel it open and take a look?”

The leading man rubbed his hands together. If there really was some treasure inside the statue, they would strike it rich.

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