On the long street, the two of them drove farther and farther away, and the crowd of onlookers also dispersed.
Qi Jingzhi withdrew his gaze, turned around and saluted Master Meng who was standing aside, and said respectfully: "Thank you, Master, for rescuing the siege!"
Master Meng is in his forties, with a slightly thin face, bright eyes, three long beards under his chin, wearing a square scarf, a soft hat, and an upright blue shirt.
He had the reputation of being a scholar, but he had no intention of pursuing an official career. He only enjoyed teaching and educating people. Over the years, he has served as a tutor for the children of many wealthy families in the county. He has also produced several scholars and scholars among his students, and his voice has become more and more important. He is now regarded as the number one figure in this small county.
The most rare thing is that this Master Mencius respected education regardless of distinction. Instead of discriminating against the poor students who were studying, he took good care of them. He also had an excellent reputation among the people.
Old man Qi once shamelessly brought two hares to his door and asked for a good name for his grandson.
When Qi Jingzhi was a little older, when he followed his grandfather into the city, he often went outside the private school window and listened randomly, and he actually learned a lot of words.
Master Meng felt pity for him because he had lost his parents since he was a child. Seeing that he was so smart and motivated, he let him listen and occasionally gave him some advice during the exam through the window.
After old man Qi heard about it, he simply asked his neighbors to help him and brought a wild boar to his door as a ceremony of apprenticeship.
Although according to ancient rituals, the apprenticeship was only a few pieces of dried meat, but times have changed, and now the reward for the teacher has long been converted into money. It is really unheard of to directly send a wild boar, and it immediately became a favorite among the people in the county. Talk and laugh.
However, Master Meng did not feel dissatisfied and insisted on accepting only one pig leg. He also solemnly presented the four treasures of the study in return, which was regarded as recognition of this student who was born as an Orion in the mountains.
It's a pity that Qi Jingzhi is talented in reading and calligraphy, but after his enlightenment, he was unwilling to continue writing articles and pursue an official career. In his own words: "The principles of the sages are excellent, but it is a pity that most of them are not feasible in today's world. Writing articles is not possible." It’s not difficult, but I don’t want to make those unintentional remarks all day long, so it would be better to hunt in the mountains!”
Master Meng was very angry at this time. He tried to persuade and teach him many times but to no avail. He had no choice but to find old man Qi. Who knew that both his father and grandson were open-minded and did not seek wealth and glory.
Master Meng had no choice but to let this naughty student go back to being a hunter in the mountains.
Qi Jingzhi came to the city today because he wanted to ask Master Meng for advice. When they met, many past events came to mind, and admiration appeared on his face.
Master Meng had bright eyes and a bright heart, so he naturally saw it, and his expression became softer and softer.
When he saw the young man saluting and thanking him, he immediately nodded and said with a gentle smile: "We've finished watching the excitement, so it's more serious to go deliver the goods quickly. Don't let your grandpa wait at home for too long."
Qi Jingzhi quickly explained: "The students are here specifically to meet the Master."
After hearing what he said, Master Meng glanced at the bamboo cage at the young man's feet, and immediately said angrily: "You are so young and unfaithful. If you are not happy in the mountains, why did you come to see me?"
Qi Jingzhi rarely smiled playfully in front of the teacher. After hearing this, he bowed again and said solemnly: "Students dare not hide anything from me. I have encountered difficulties in the past few days and have no choice but to come to the master for advice."
"Oh? Let's talk while walking."
Master Meng walked slowly towards the carriage and walked towards his private school.
Qi Jingzhi quickly picked up the bamboo cage and followed him, and said with some hesitation: "I am afraid that the student's problem will not please the master..."
Master Meng saw how cautious he looked, and his words were filled with anger: "You were only half-sentence, why did you get so nervous! I heard that your grandfather received a cane with twenty spines, a few days ago I paid a visit to the newly appointed Dianshi and revealed the matter, and your family was exempted from the tiger hunting duties."
This was beyond Qi Jingzhi's expectation. He raised his head suddenly with a look of astonishment on his face.
Then Master Meng continued: "I never like it when you use my name to build relationships and gain benefits, but firstly, hunting tigers is closely related to your family's life, and secondly, your grandfather is trying to save the hunters." My life was beaten for speaking out and admonishing, how could I sit back and ignore it and let the righteous people suffer?"
"Master, I have been so kind to you, and my grandparents will never forget it!"
Qi Jingzhi stopped, took a deep breath, and bowed to Master Meng to the end.
The crisis that he tried so hard to avoid, even killing people in anger, was so easily resolved by Meng Fuzi, relying on the articles and official career that he despised.
When he thought of this, although Qi Jingzhi had no regrets, he could not help but feel a little sad.
At the same time, the idea hidden in his heart grew like a weed.
Whether it was Lu Yunzi, Bronze Xiaojing, Dong Mao, or Lu Ao, they all made this mountain boy understand one thing.
That is, besides the official career of Wen Zhang, there is another mysterious door in this world. Behind the door is also a road leading to the sky, and the scenery beside the road is even more majestic and magnificent, which makes people yearn for it!
Just last night, there were also keys that could open that door in front of him... and there were more than one!
But compared to Lu Ao, who was destined to have a bright future, Qi Jingzhi didn't know the key he had on him. After opening the door, he would find the same avenue to the sky, or an abyss of eternal destruction.
He suppressed all the thoughts in his heart, straightened up and quickly caught up with Master Meng who never stopped, and said again: "Student, I am not here to fight tigers, but I really have a problem that I want to ask Master for help." Confused... I just spent a long time in front of Lu's house, and I have more and more questions in my heart."
Seeing that the young man actually came to ask for advice, Master Meng, who always liked to be a teacher, was a little surprised, but he was more pleased.
His pace slowed down and his tone became brisk: "Then ask them one by one!"
Hearing this, Qi Jingzhi immediately spoke: "Students have followed the Master to study, and they can recognize a few words. They have also heard the word "horns". I thought it was just a description, but I didn't expect that there are people with horns on their heads in this world. Na Lu Can Ao... still be called a human being? Where are Chi Yousi and Wuyun Inspection Department of Demon Suppressing Academy?"
Upon hearing this, Master Meng suddenly turned his head, raised his eyebrows, and said with anger in his tone: "I thought that after your grandfather's incident, you should have some repentance and make progress, and put your mind back to the right path of studying, but I didn't expect you to care about it. These strange powers and chaos are coming! Don’t you hear what the sages say, respect ghosts and gods and stay away from them?”
When Qi Jingzhi saw that the master was angry, he simply gave up. No matter what, he had to ask for some inside information: "The disciples naturally know the teachings of the sages. But if ghosts, gods and monsters come face to face and cannot be avoided, how should we mortals deal with it?"
Master Meng was startled when he heard this, because what the young man asked was not whether there were ghosts, gods and demons in the world, but how to deal with them when they encountered them.
He stopped suddenly, looked carefully at the young man's body, and his expression suddenly darkened.
The private school master first looked around and saw that there was no one around. Then he looked directly into Qi Jingzhi's eyes and asked in a low voice: "Are you really killing someone?"
For some reason, this low shout was of extremely low volume, but when it fell in Qi Jingzhi's ears, it was like a thunderous explosion, far more shocking than Lu Yunzi's evil thoughts or Dong Mao's questioning.
The young man was caught off guard. He felt a roar in his ears, his mind was in a trance, and there were fine beads of sweat on his forehead.
It wasn't until this moment that Qi Jingzhi finally realized that his beloved master in front of him was probably not a mortal!
