Ying Zheng slowly opened his eyes.
"I...can I move?"
Ying Zheng's face was full of joy, but this joy immediately turned into endless fear.
For some reason, he turned into an octogenarian with gray hair, dry skin, and his fingers were as dull as dead branches.
Although Ying Zheng is nearly fifty years old, as the leader of a country, although he is tired, he does not have to work hard under the scorching sun like the poor people.
Although there are white hairs, most of them are jet black and thick.
But now, Ying Zheng touched the sparse white hair on his head, feeling extremely frightened.
He did wake up, but what happened to this body? How could he become like this?
"What are you still doing? Master, let's go!"
"Let's go? Where?"
Before Ying Zheng could speak, he was carried forward by the crowd.
Only after hearing a few words from other people did he realize that they were refugees escaping from corvee labor.
Along the way, he didn't even have to drink water. His old and dilapidated body made it impossible for him to bear such suffering.
After just half a day of walking, blood blisters appeared on the soles of his feet.
But he couldn't stop, because if he was caught by the officers and soldiers, there was only one chance of death!
But where to go? Where to go? When is the end?
No one knew, and no one asked, they were just moving forward numbly, looking for a hope of survival.
The blood blisters on the soles of the feet have been worn out layer after layer, but the physical pain is not as good as the mental suffering.
Because he discovered that these people who were forced into exile were not prisoners of war, slaves, or sinners.
They were just ordinary people living a normal life under the rule of Da Qin.
However, the population was already depleted due to years of war, and coupled with Da Qin's attitude of not treating people as human beings, the years of large-scale construction projects had already exhausted the expendable population.
But His Majesty's orders had to be obeyed, so the work that should have been done by slaves, sinners, and prisoners of war was gradually assigned to the common people.
The older Ying Zheng is, the closer he is to death, and the life of the people becomes more difficult.
Who is willing to abandon their hometown and become a refugee if it is not a last resort?
In the end, Ying Zheng failed to persist. Such a high-intensity escape was really too difficult for an old man of his age.
Just the next day, he started to have a high fever due to infection caused by the ruptured blisters, and he fell unconscious in the afternoon.
…
When Ying Zheng woke up again, he became an ordinary farm boy.
This family has no skills and has spent its whole life digging for food in the loess land. Although the taxes have become more and more stringent, they will pay all the taxes they should pay honestly even if they are hungry.
But as a result, their lives become increasingly difficult.
In the first year, the youngest son of the family failed to survive. In the second year, due to malnutrition, the wife died in childbirth.
Fortunately among the misfortunes, the child who was born seemed to be a lucky person and grew up fortunately.
What makes Ying Zheng even more fortunate is that the third child is also a boy.
It's not that he doesn't like girls, it's just that for Ying Zheng now, adult boys are obviously more helpful.
But even so, disaster still strikes unexpectedly.
Da Qin wanted to build the Great Wall, build the Lishan tomb for the emperor, and build the Ling Canal...
All of these require a lot of manpower, so the number of people around them begins to decrease one by one.
Finally one day, it was their family's turn, first the eldest son, then him, and finally the younger son.
There is only one old woman left in Yingzheng's family, who is working hard in the farmland.
Life as a laborer is not easy, and it is common to not have enough to eat.
Later, he found out that the eldest son went to build the Lishan Tomb, the younger son went to build the Ling Canal, and he himself was building the Great Wall.
Ying Zheng had no time to think about the irrationality of this, and no time to think about what he should do.
All he knew was that none of his family could survive.
In order to ensure that the tomb is not known to tomb robbers, all the craftsmen and even civilians involved in the construction of the Lishan tomb will eventually be buried with Ying Zheng.
Needless to say, those who built the Ling Canal could survive the heavy labor, let alone such dangerous work as building water conservancy projects.
With no one to support him at home, his mother would starve to death sooner or later, and he himself... would not be able to hold on any longer sooner or later.
…
When he opened his eyes again, Ying Zheng found that he had become an ordinary soldier in Da Qin.
I thought my life would be better this time, but in the end nothing changed.
Ying Zheng followed the army of Qin and fought in all directions. He saw that the state of Qin turned into Qin, and saw that the six kings were unified all over the world.
But what does all this have to do with him, an ordinary soldier?
Ying Zheng thought that this time, he would spend his life in a muddleheaded way, but things finally changed.
He heard that the First Emperor had passed away and Hu Hai had not yet ascended the throne, so he sent someone to send an edict to the border.
Fusu believed it and committed suicide in tears.
After Hu Hai came to the throne, the situation intensified, and dozens of his brothers and sisters were all brutally murdered.
Everyone was killed by Hu Hai on any excuse he found.
Many people died in horrific circumstances. Seeing all this with his own eyes, Ying Zheng was in great pain.
Hu Hai's atrocities were soon repaid.
The already crumbling Great Qin collapsed overnight under Hu Hai's atrocities.
Ying Zheng saw with his own eyes the uprising of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, and saw the suffering of every citizen under Hu Hai's tyranny.
When Ying Zheng unified the world, he originally wanted to bring long-term peace to the people, but the result was exactly the opposite. Without the war, Da Qin became a new shadow on the people.
Before that, common people and soldiers were just a number to Ying Zheng, a number that could be discarded at any time when necessary.
It doesn't matter if some people die when building the Great Wall. It doesn't matter if some people die when building the Ling Canal to resist the Huns. This is for people's livelihood. In order to dredge the canal, the people should be grateful.
Epang Palace, Lishan Tomb? I have spent my whole life worrying about the people of the world and accomplished great things that will last forever. Shouldn’t I be allowed to enjoy my life after death?
Ying Zheng felt that everything he got was deserved.
But when he became a pawn of the people and a grain of sand under the times, he finally realized that his casual words would become an insurmountable mountain if it fell on the people.
It was only at this moment that Ying Zheng finally understood what Qin Tian's words "you should take the blame on yourself" mean.
"Da Qin... Da Qin..."
A trace of tears flashed across the corner of Ying Zheng's eyes on the hospital bed.
A person cannot transcend the limitations of the times, let alone recognize things beyond what he knows.
But Qin Tian's method of entering dreams allowed Ying Zheng to perceive things that he would never have known in his life.
Thousands of miles away, a flash of understanding flashed in Qin Tian's eyes.
The spell he used was very simple, nothing more than Huang Liang Yimeng, and even practitioners who had just started using it could use it.
But the real difficulty lies in weaving a dream that is absolutely real and does not feel half-illusory to the dreamer.
Qin Tian can weave a short dream that is so exquisite that ordinary people cannot detect it, as if the other person really has this experience.
But he couldn't weave such a long dream.
This is a total of nearly a hundred years of memories for several people, and there are so many people and things involved.
However, Qin Tian used a clever trick. He made Ying Zhengtang become a bystander, quietly feeling everything happening in the outside world.
Qin Tian didn't do much polishing on the dream environment.
The human brain has the idea of self-improvement, which is simply association.
The so-called hieroglyphics and shapes are all the result of human imagination.
Therefore, Ying Zheng only needs to be placed in an environment he is familiar with, and Ying Zheng's brain will automatically improve the unreasonable things around him.
It was also through Ying Zheng that Qin Tiancai gradually improved his understanding of Huang Liang Yimeng.
As the saying goes, one method can master all methods. Although Qin Tian is not yet at this level, through various exercises, he can quickly achieve the mastery of all methods.
All things are unified, but I don’t know where the one that belongs to Qin Tian is.
In Huang Liang's dream, Ying Zheng was still suffering in the world, but Qin Tian woke up early.
Although he is the caster of magic, as the weaver of dreams, he will also be forced to experience what Ying Zheng experienced.
After all, these are memories and stories he made up.
But unlike Ying Zheng, he could clearly realize that everything he experienced was actually an illusion.
Unless he can create a dream that makes him unaware of the illusion.
"Sure enough, this method doesn't work." Qin Tian shook his head slightly.
He originally wanted to take this opportunity to see if he could use this method to refine his mind in the world of mortals.
The facts clearly told him that taking tricks was not the right way.
He can indeed refine his mind through this method and even advance to a higher realm easily.
But the improvement in realm brought about by such illusory mind training is also illusory.
If he really uses this trick to complete his mind training, then his subsequent cultivation will be like water without a source and rootless water, everything is based on illusion.
It's okay to say it's going smoothly, but if he encounters any setbacks, his perfect Taoist heart will be shattered in an instant like glass.
Not to mention the inner demons you may encounter in the future.
No matter how good a deception is, it can never completely deceive one's own heart.
Even if you think you have even lied to yourself, the inner demon will not lie to you at the critical points on the road to cultivation.
"Sure enough, do you still need to walk in this world of mortals in the end?" Qin Tian shook his head slightly.
Only those who have had it can understand the truth of loss. Without going through the world of mortals, how can one talk about the world of mortals refining one’s heart?
How can we talk about transcending this world if we have not experienced it?
No matter how you say practice is against heaven, in the final analysis, practitioners are also part of the human world.
No one can completely break away from the relationship with the world.
Even practitioners need to be clothed and fed. Which of these things does not come from the secular world?
Even if you farm and weave your own cloth, doesn’t that fertilizer still come from all living beings?
This is also the biggest difference between immortals and clay sculptures of idols in other myths. Although they pursue freedom and transcendence, they do not deny the power of the world.
Come from the human world, go to the human world, and finally find the freedom you want.
Seeing everything Ying Zheng went through, a flash of enlightenment flashed in Qin Tian's eyes.
The mental training he needs may be confirmed by Ying Zheng and the Great Qin that is bound to be destroyed.
Ying Zheng couldn't tell whether this was a lie or not. By walking in this yellow dream, he had completed the training he needed in the world of mortals.
Therefore, Qin Tian decided to help Ying Zheng.
Originally, Ying Zheng and the longevity medicine were no longer destined to be together. According to Qin Tian's habits, he would never take action again.
But now, since the heart-training he has to go through will eventually end up on Ying Zheng...or, in other words, on the Great Qin led by Ying Zheng, Qin Tian doesn't mind giving him a little help.
To be precise, that's all he could do.
Because if he doesn't help Ying Zheng survive, then where will his goal of refining his heart be?
Qin Tian was not unhappy because of this restriction.
Because he was born in this era, he is a person of this era, so it is natural that his heart training should be settled on Da Qin, which is the center of destiny in this era.
"That's it, that's it..."
Qin Tian raised his head and looked at the moon, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Cultivation is meant to go against heaven. This is true. Heaven and earth will not allow immortal creatures to appear, let alone creatures that transcend the way of heaven.
That’s why practice is said to go against heaven.
But the so-called defiance of heaven does not mean that practitioners should mindlessly defy heaven and earth and do as they please, nor does it mean that practitioners should release their inner sins without any scruples.
Defying heaven is not the ultimate goal of immortals. The most important thing in practicing cultivation is the word cultivation.
What is important is the process, not the results attached to the process.
Going against heaven, transcending heaven and earth, and transcending the way of heaven are just incidental results on the path of cultivating immortality. The real purpose of cultivation is to transcend oneself and find great freedom.
To put it simply, you don’t need to be stronger than Tiandao, you don’t need to be stronger than anyone else, you just need to be further than yourself yesterday.
Going one step further than who you were yesterday is the most solid step you can take on the path of spiritual practice.
At the same time, this also means that practitioners do not have to be too hostile to everything in the world, or even the way of heaven.
Understand the way of heaven, follow the way of heaven, understand the development laws of things, follow the development laws of things, just like fellow practitioners, move forward steadily step by step, so that you can reach the highest step by step.
These insights are mysterious and paradoxical. Qin Tian can only know their meaning, but cannot tell them.
When he can clearly explain the Tao in his heart and his path of cultivation, I am afraid that he will not be far away from truly becoming an immortal.
Qin Tian had no idea that just a simple dream would lead him to gain so much enlightenment on the road of cultivation.
As a result, he became more determined to join the world and practice Buddhism.
"When this is over, prepare to go down the mountain and join the world."
(End of chapter)
