Chapter 153: The Martial Arts Academy’s Teaching Style
No matter how hot it got, it was cool in the mountain range to the north of Chang’an. There were many trees, and spring water could be found. However, not a single animal could be seen.
Some people said that the mountain range lost its spiritual energy, and all the animals moved away. Others said that the construction of Chang’an altered the dragon vein. Therefore, even though the trees looked green, they were all dead.
[TL Note: In ancient China, people believed in dragon veins. They were terrains that looked like dragons, and people believed that they represented the future of the royal families.]
Regardless of what people said, it was a fact that there were no animals in this mountain range.
However, the plants were overgrown here. Giant trees that required three people to hug around their trunks were everywhere, so it wasn’t reasonable to call this a dead mountain range.
This was a strange phenomenon, and several emperors of Great Sui sent people to investigate this. However, people still didn’t know why no animals could be seen.
Even though some people predicted with confidence that this mountain range would soon become empty with no trees, it didn’t happen.
There were many rumors about this, with the scariest one being the prophecy that Great Sui would end when this mountain range becomes empty. Of course, such a prophecy had to come from an unworldly master. Some people said that it came from an immortal-like old man who had a white beard, some people said that it came from a beautiful fairy in white, and others said that it came from a vicious monk.
Regardless of who it came from, this prophecy was still circulating in Great Sui.
This prophecy stated that if all the trees on the mountains died, Great Sui would end. This went against the saying, “half hugged by mountains; Chang’an wouldn’t fall.”
Compared to the prophecy, the people of Great Sui liked the saying more. After all, according to the saying, Chang’an would be prosperous as long as the mountains stood.
…
The tranquility of the mountains was broken by the noises made when people stepped on fallen leaves. Three men and one woman appeared in this mountain range that was isolated. There were no paths, and the thick layer of leaves felt like a carpet. Although it was comfortable walking here, the four people all looked serious.
Footsteps sounded non-stop, and it felt like these four people were walking in the underworld as they traveled in the quiet and dark forest.
The person in the very front was in a scholarly robe, and it was difficult to tell his age. The other three people were about 15 meters away from him, and they walked in a line. The person behind would walk on the exact footprints of the person in the front. After the four of them walked by, it seemed like there was only one person here by the looks of it.
The scholarly person in the front frowned and sped up a little. The people behind him all sped up as well.
The second person in line was a village woman in a blue floral dress, and she had a basket in her hand. The person behind her was a senior in a sapphire robe. He would look at the woman in front of him from time to time with a complex expression.
The person at the end of the line looked young. He was in a fancy robe and a jade belt. His status was clearly high. He looked handsome with thin brows and big eyes. His chin was sharper than that of others, but it looked good. His lips were small and red, adding to his presence.
It didn’t seem like he fit the group.
The first person looked like a scholar, the second person looked like a village woman, the third person looked like a wealthy merchant, and the last person looked like a young master; he didn’t look like a part of the team.
The person in the front was Zhuo Buyi. He made a hand gesture and sped up, and the people in the back no longer walked in his footsteps. They spread out into a cone shape before dashing forward.
They left no traces on the ground! Even the rotten leaves didn’t change after they stepped on them.
It still looked like only one person was walking here.
An empty space appeared before them, and there was a burned-out campfire beside a big boulder.
Zhuo Buyi squatted down to sense the temperature, then he shook his head and said, “They left at least half a day ago.”
“I’m curious.” The young master in the back frowned and said, “Why didn’t they escape using the fastest route? Why did they enter this mountain range? Without a question, they would leave behind traces here.”
The senior in the sapphire robe was Li Nan, and he seemed extremely respectful toward this young master. He bowed forward and said, “Perhaps they aren’t in a hurry to escape.”
Zhuo Buyi nodded and said, “If they are in a hurry, it means they know nothing about the government’s plan in the northwest. Since they are trying to delay time, they probably figured out the situation. It means at least a third person took another route and is bringing the message back. The people here are only distractions.”
“Might not be a person. Phoenix-Chirp Daoist chased toward the west and didn’t find any traces. No human could hide from his innate godly third eye,” Li Nan said.
“No.” Du Hongxian who was in the blue floral dress squatted beside that big boulder and observed. Then, she picked up some soil and smelled it. She said, “There aren’t only two people here. Although there are only the traces of two people, I’m sure that three people are escaping this way.”
“You must be right,” Li Nan replied.
For some reason, he was looking at Du Hongxian with a strange expression.
However, Du Hongxian didn’t seem to like him at all. She walked to Zhuo Buyi and said, “One person’s steps seem light and unsteady. If it isn’t that young monk who got severely injured, it means there is someone with average strength or no cultivation strength at all with them.”
“Who is this third person?” the young master asked.
“You will know when we find them.” It seemed like Du Hongxian wasn’t fond of this young master as well, so she replied coldly before walking forward. The young master’s face changed color, but he held back and didn’t unleash his anger. Li Nan approached him and whispered, “Your Highness, she had traveled west alongside Royal King Zhong.”
Hearing this, this young master was surprised, and he looked at Du Hongxian with admiration and respect.
At this moment, Zhuo Buyi’s face changed color, and he said, “Someone is coming from behind! This person is extremely fast!”
Fang Jie’s first few days in the Martial Arts Academy were calm. In the morning, he would listen to the professors teaching the arts of war, read books, and write papers. In the afternoon, Qiu Yu would bring him to that waterfall to get tortured. Of course, Principal Zhou would occasionally summon him and research his body in a secret chamber.
Since Fang Jie rarely spent time with other students, more and more rumors said that he was arrogant. There was usually another word behind that word –wastrel, and arrogant wastrel.
From other students’ perspectives, even though Fang Jie’s strength wasn’t low, he couldn’t cultivate, meaning that others would surpass him sooner or later. There was no end to cultivation, but people believed that there was a limit to how strong the physical body could get.
The respect that most students had toward Fang Jie gradually turned into mock.
Most of them believed that even though Fang Jie was strong right now, people like Yu Xiao, Pei Chuxing, and Xie Fuyao who were probably slighter stronger than him right now would far surpass him.
Fang Jie ignored all these comments. He only interacted with these few people; Zhang Kuang, Mo Xidao, Xie Fuyao, and occasionally Yu Xiao and Pei Chuxing. Of course, he wouldn’t pay for drinks when he was with the latter two.
On the sixth day of school, Professor Mo Wanwu was teaching how to use scouts in the morning. Scouts were required for war, and they were usually the most elite soldiers in an army. They were in charge of gathering intelligence on the enemy, figuring out the terrain, and sometimes assassinating the enemy chief commander.
Fang Jie and Zhang Kuang were both scouts before, so they looked at each other with tactical understanding when they heard that Mo Wanwu was going to teach how to arrange and use scouts.
“A great scout sometimes is more useful than the generals in an army. The chief commander is the brain of the army, and the generals are the two arms. The arms will hit where the brain directs. Scouts are like the chief commander’s eyes. The success of scouts will lead to the success of the war. Verse versa, the failure of scouts will negatively affect the chief commander’s judgment, leading to a potential defeat.”
“Professor!”
When Mo Wanwu talked about that, a student raised his hand and said doubtfully, “Are you exaggerating this? If scouts are so important, why is rank 6 captain the highest position that a scout can get? Isn’t it a bit too low?”
“What is your name?” Mo Wanwu asked.
“Liu Shuang of Chu State.” That student stood up and cupped his hands before saying, “My father is Liu An, the Governor of Chu State.”
“I didn’t ask who your father is,” Mo Wanwu replied calmly before walking to him and saying, “You think I exaggerated the fact?”
“I only think that even though scouts are important, it is an exaggeration when you said that they are like the eyes of the chief commanders. The chief commanders need to know everything from astrology to geology, and they need to be open-minded and cautious. How could they only make decisions based on the information that scouts obtain? From what I know, Great General Li Xiao was trapped by the soldiers in the south when he tried to conquer Yangtze-South during the years of the Second Emperor. He defeated 70,000 soldiers of the south with only 3,000 soldiers. It didn’t seem to have anything to do with scouts.”
“Are you a member of Chu State?”
“Yes!”
“Chu State is in Yangtze-South… Li Xiao is from the north,” Mo Wanwu said lightly.
“Professor, what do you mean by this?” Li Shuang blushed, and he asked with slight anger.
Mo Wanwu smiled and replied, “Nothing. I just suddenly remembered that Li Xiao was born in the north. What is wrong? Besides, let me ask you this. Even though it was a great victory to defeat 70,000 enemies with only 3,000 soldiers, if he had scouts who gathered intelligence, would he have fallen into the ambush? Do you know that out of those 3,000 elite soldiers, only 26 were still alive when the reinforcements got there? Even though Li Xiao defeated the enemies, and others said that this was a great victory, I look down on him for losing these 3,000 elite soldiers since he didn’t gather intelligence on the enemy. Was it worth it to trade 3,000 elite soldiers for only 70,000 weak soldiers of the south?”
“Professor, you mean you are better than Great General Li Xiao?” Li Shuang asked angrily.
Mo Wanwu ignored him and continued, “Because of this battle, Li Xiao wrote a memorial to the throne, asking for punishments. The Second Emperor didn’t punish him since he contributed so much to Great Sui, but Li Xiao didn’t dare to overlook scouts from that moment on. To prevent such tragedies from happening again, he invited many cultivation masters of the Royal Guard to train the soldiers, creating the first scout team. Before that, the chief commanders would send a random team of soldiers to gather enemy intelligence. Do you know about this?”
He was asking Liu Shuang.
“I only know that you are being disrespectful toward Great General Li Xiao!”
Mo Wanwu snorted and said, “Are people only respectful when they say so? Li Xiao wasn’t a god. Even if he was, isn’t anyone allowed to point out his mistakes? I don’t dare to say that I’m better than him, but he was wrong where I say he was wrong. You don’t have to listen to me if you think I’m wrong, but you aren’t allowed to argue with me.”
“Professor, how come you could point out Great General Li Xiao’s mistakes, but we can’t point out yours?” Liu Shuang asked angrily.
“Because Li Xiao is dead. When I say he was wrong, he wouldn’t crawl out of his grave and beat me. However, I’m still alive right now. If you doubt me and anger me, I can beat you so hard that your parents won’t recognize you. Do you understand now?”
“I… I don’t agree with it!” Liu Shuang said, “How can the professors of the academy be so unreasonable?”
“Because this is the Martial Arts Academy, so whatever the professors say is correct,” Mo Wanwu said, “I know many of you think he is right and I’m wrong. How about this? Tomorrow, whoever thinks Liu Shuang is correct can team up with him, and I will team up with the remaining students. Of course, I will only bring less than one-fifth of the people compared to your group. You will know the usefulness of scouts after that.”
Fang Jie smiled and thought, “I really like the Martial Arts Academy’s teaching style.”
Some people said that the mountain range lost its spiritual energy, and all the animals moved away. Others said that the construction of Chang’an altered the dragon vein. Therefore, even though the trees looked green, they were all dead.
[TL Note: In ancient China, people believed in dragon veins. They were terrains that looked like dragons, and people believed that they represented the future of the royal families.]
Regardless of what people said, it was a fact that there were no animals in this mountain range.
However, the plants were overgrown here. Giant trees that required three people to hug around their trunks were everywhere, so it wasn’t reasonable to call this a dead mountain range.
This was a strange phenomenon, and several emperors of Great Sui sent people to investigate this. However, people still didn’t know why no animals could be seen.
Even though some people predicted with confidence that this mountain range would soon become empty with no trees, it didn’t happen.
There were many rumors about this, with the scariest one being the prophecy that Great Sui would end when this mountain range becomes empty. Of course, such a prophecy had to come from an unworldly master. Some people said that it came from an immortal-like old man who had a white beard, some people said that it came from a beautiful fairy in white, and others said that it came from a vicious monk.
Regardless of who it came from, this prophecy was still circulating in Great Sui.
This prophecy stated that if all the trees on the mountains died, Great Sui would end. This went against the saying, “half hugged by mountains; Chang’an wouldn’t fall.”
Compared to the prophecy, the people of Great Sui liked the saying more. After all, according to the saying, Chang’an would be prosperous as long as the mountains stood.
…
The tranquility of the mountains was broken by the noises made when people stepped on fallen leaves. Three men and one woman appeared in this mountain range that was isolated. There were no paths, and the thick layer of leaves felt like a carpet. Although it was comfortable walking here, the four people all looked serious.
Footsteps sounded non-stop, and it felt like these four people were walking in the underworld as they traveled in the quiet and dark forest.
The person in the very front was in a scholarly robe, and it was difficult to tell his age. The other three people were about 15 meters away from him, and they walked in a line. The person behind would walk on the exact footprints of the person in the front. After the four of them walked by, it seemed like there was only one person here by the looks of it.
The scholarly person in the front frowned and sped up a little. The people behind him all sped up as well.
The second person in line was a village woman in a blue floral dress, and she had a basket in her hand. The person behind her was a senior in a sapphire robe. He would look at the woman in front of him from time to time with a complex expression.
The person at the end of the line looked young. He was in a fancy robe and a jade belt. His status was clearly high. He looked handsome with thin brows and big eyes. His chin was sharper than that of others, but it looked good. His lips were small and red, adding to his presence.
It didn’t seem like he fit the group.
The first person looked like a scholar, the second person looked like a village woman, the third person looked like a wealthy merchant, and the last person looked like a young master; he didn’t look like a part of the team.
The person in the front was Zhuo Buyi. He made a hand gesture and sped up, and the people in the back no longer walked in his footsteps. They spread out into a cone shape before dashing forward.
They left no traces on the ground! Even the rotten leaves didn’t change after they stepped on them.
It still looked like only one person was walking here.
An empty space appeared before them, and there was a burned-out campfire beside a big boulder.
Zhuo Buyi squatted down to sense the temperature, then he shook his head and said, “They left at least half a day ago.”
“I’m curious.” The young master in the back frowned and said, “Why didn’t they escape using the fastest route? Why did they enter this mountain range? Without a question, they would leave behind traces here.”
The senior in the sapphire robe was Li Nan, and he seemed extremely respectful toward this young master. He bowed forward and said, “Perhaps they aren’t in a hurry to escape.”
Zhuo Buyi nodded and said, “If they are in a hurry, it means they know nothing about the government’s plan in the northwest. Since they are trying to delay time, they probably figured out the situation. It means at least a third person took another route and is bringing the message back. The people here are only distractions.”
“Might not be a person. Phoenix-Chirp Daoist chased toward the west and didn’t find any traces. No human could hide from his innate godly third eye,” Li Nan said.
“No.” Du Hongxian who was in the blue floral dress squatted beside that big boulder and observed. Then, she picked up some soil and smelled it. She said, “There aren’t only two people here. Although there are only the traces of two people, I’m sure that three people are escaping this way.”
“You must be right,” Li Nan replied.
For some reason, he was looking at Du Hongxian with a strange expression.
However, Du Hongxian didn’t seem to like him at all. She walked to Zhuo Buyi and said, “One person’s steps seem light and unsteady. If it isn’t that young monk who got severely injured, it means there is someone with average strength or no cultivation strength at all with them.”
“Who is this third person?” the young master asked.
“You will know when we find them.” It seemed like Du Hongxian wasn’t fond of this young master as well, so she replied coldly before walking forward. The young master’s face changed color, but he held back and didn’t unleash his anger. Li Nan approached him and whispered, “Your Highness, she had traveled west alongside Royal King Zhong.”
Hearing this, this young master was surprised, and he looked at Du Hongxian with admiration and respect.
At this moment, Zhuo Buyi’s face changed color, and he said, “Someone is coming from behind! This person is extremely fast!”
Fang Jie’s first few days in the Martial Arts Academy were calm. In the morning, he would listen to the professors teaching the arts of war, read books, and write papers. In the afternoon, Qiu Yu would bring him to that waterfall to get tortured. Of course, Principal Zhou would occasionally summon him and research his body in a secret chamber.
Since Fang Jie rarely spent time with other students, more and more rumors said that he was arrogant. There was usually another word behind that word –wastrel, and arrogant wastrel.
From other students’ perspectives, even though Fang Jie’s strength wasn’t low, he couldn’t cultivate, meaning that others would surpass him sooner or later. There was no end to cultivation, but people believed that there was a limit to how strong the physical body could get.
The respect that most students had toward Fang Jie gradually turned into mock.
Most of them believed that even though Fang Jie was strong right now, people like Yu Xiao, Pei Chuxing, and Xie Fuyao who were probably slighter stronger than him right now would far surpass him.
Fang Jie ignored all these comments. He only interacted with these few people; Zhang Kuang, Mo Xidao, Xie Fuyao, and occasionally Yu Xiao and Pei Chuxing. Of course, he wouldn’t pay for drinks when he was with the latter two.
On the sixth day of school, Professor Mo Wanwu was teaching how to use scouts in the morning. Scouts were required for war, and they were usually the most elite soldiers in an army. They were in charge of gathering intelligence on the enemy, figuring out the terrain, and sometimes assassinating the enemy chief commander.
Fang Jie and Zhang Kuang were both scouts before, so they looked at each other with tactical understanding when they heard that Mo Wanwu was going to teach how to arrange and use scouts.
“A great scout sometimes is more useful than the generals in an army. The chief commander is the brain of the army, and the generals are the two arms. The arms will hit where the brain directs. Scouts are like the chief commander’s eyes. The success of scouts will lead to the success of the war. Verse versa, the failure of scouts will negatively affect the chief commander’s judgment, leading to a potential defeat.”
“Professor!”
When Mo Wanwu talked about that, a student raised his hand and said doubtfully, “Are you exaggerating this? If scouts are so important, why is rank 6 captain the highest position that a scout can get? Isn’t it a bit too low?”
“What is your name?” Mo Wanwu asked.
“Liu Shuang of Chu State.” That student stood up and cupped his hands before saying, “My father is Liu An, the Governor of Chu State.”
“I didn’t ask who your father is,” Mo Wanwu replied calmly before walking to him and saying, “You think I exaggerated the fact?”
“I only think that even though scouts are important, it is an exaggeration when you said that they are like the eyes of the chief commanders. The chief commanders need to know everything from astrology to geology, and they need to be open-minded and cautious. How could they only make decisions based on the information that scouts obtain? From what I know, Great General Li Xiao was trapped by the soldiers in the south when he tried to conquer Yangtze-South during the years of the Second Emperor. He defeated 70,000 soldiers of the south with only 3,000 soldiers. It didn’t seem to have anything to do with scouts.”
“Are you a member of Chu State?”
“Yes!”
“Chu State is in Yangtze-South… Li Xiao is from the north,” Mo Wanwu said lightly.
“Professor, what do you mean by this?” Li Shuang blushed, and he asked with slight anger.
Mo Wanwu smiled and replied, “Nothing. I just suddenly remembered that Li Xiao was born in the north. What is wrong? Besides, let me ask you this. Even though it was a great victory to defeat 70,000 enemies with only 3,000 soldiers, if he had scouts who gathered intelligence, would he have fallen into the ambush? Do you know that out of those 3,000 elite soldiers, only 26 were still alive when the reinforcements got there? Even though Li Xiao defeated the enemies, and others said that this was a great victory, I look down on him for losing these 3,000 elite soldiers since he didn’t gather intelligence on the enemy. Was it worth it to trade 3,000 elite soldiers for only 70,000 weak soldiers of the south?”
“Professor, you mean you are better than Great General Li Xiao?” Li Shuang asked angrily.
Mo Wanwu ignored him and continued, “Because of this battle, Li Xiao wrote a memorial to the throne, asking for punishments. The Second Emperor didn’t punish him since he contributed so much to Great Sui, but Li Xiao didn’t dare to overlook scouts from that moment on. To prevent such tragedies from happening again, he invited many cultivation masters of the Royal Guard to train the soldiers, creating the first scout team. Before that, the chief commanders would send a random team of soldiers to gather enemy intelligence. Do you know about this?”
He was asking Liu Shuang.
“I only know that you are being disrespectful toward Great General Li Xiao!”
Mo Wanwu snorted and said, “Are people only respectful when they say so? Li Xiao wasn’t a god. Even if he was, isn’t anyone allowed to point out his mistakes? I don’t dare to say that I’m better than him, but he was wrong where I say he was wrong. You don’t have to listen to me if you think I’m wrong, but you aren’t allowed to argue with me.”
“Professor, how come you could point out Great General Li Xiao’s mistakes, but we can’t point out yours?” Liu Shuang asked angrily.
“Because Li Xiao is dead. When I say he was wrong, he wouldn’t crawl out of his grave and beat me. However, I’m still alive right now. If you doubt me and anger me, I can beat you so hard that your parents won’t recognize you. Do you understand now?”
“I… I don’t agree with it!” Liu Shuang said, “How can the professors of the academy be so unreasonable?”
“Because this is the Martial Arts Academy, so whatever the professors say is correct,” Mo Wanwu said, “I know many of you think he is right and I’m wrong. How about this? Tomorrow, whoever thinks Liu Shuang is correct can team up with him, and I will team up with the remaining students. Of course, I will only bring less than one-fifth of the people compared to your group. You will know the usefulness of scouts after that.”
Fang Jie smiled and thought, “I really like the Martial Arts Academy’s teaching style.”
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