Ink Slave

  This old saying is well said: If a person does not think about the future, he will surely have worries in the present.

  Before going down the mountain to visit the people, Lin Xu didn't forget to prepare a certificate for his incarnation, and at the suggestion of the two deputy generals, he solemnly stamped it with the Mountain God's seal. At this moment, taking out this complete document from the incarnation for people to examine is naturally beyond doubt.

  After re-examining the format and content of this document, as well as the application of seals, there are no errors. Lin Xu, facing this middle-aged man with a cool demeanor that could make little girls scream, knew he had made an empiricist mistake. He could only offer a ugly smile, cupped his hands together in apology and said:

  "Just now I was careless and accidentally rushed into the sacred chariot, it's truly impolite. Mo Men disciple Dong Men Qiu, pays respects to Huo Shan God."

  When Lin Xu unexpectedly heard the two words "Mo Men", he immediately came to his senses, stretched out his hand to help up Dongmen Qiuzi who claimed to be a Mo Men disciple, and said:

  "Ignorance is bliss. Mr. Dongmen, please get up quickly."

  In the past, after the heyday of the Warring States period when seven powers coexisted and academia was dominated by either Confucianism or Mohism, Mohism split into different schools such as the Mozi school from Song, the Dengling school from Zou, and the Mozi school from Chen, each with their own independent sources and traditions.

  These branches not only did not belong to each other, but even reached the point of internal strife and oppression. The internal divisions dragged down the Mohist school, which then went downhill. When Qin Shi Huang unified China, the situation facing the Mohists became increasingly severe. With its highly disciplined organization and militarized management, the Mohist school bore the greatest pressure among all the various schools of thought. It's no wonder that the Mohists were the first to be eliminated - after all, they had the strongest collective combat power! As a result, the Mohists could only switch from open activities to underground dissemination. However, the high-pressure policies from the external environment also brought some unexpected benefits.

  The Mohist disciples, who were besieged by the Qin army, reflected on their pain and thoroughly reorganized their original organizational structure. At that time, they selected a new leader and clearly divided the Mohist scientific theory research and the Jianghu Youxia into two independent systems. The Mohists also changed their name to Mo Men.

  The Moists who mainly engaged in theoretical research work successively quit the Jianghu, changed their names and surnames, and hid among the people. They became blacksmiths, carpenters, or bricklayers, etc. In essence, they still used these occupations to disguise their special characteristics. This group of people is called Gong Mo. The dual mode of operation between Gong Mo and Xia Mo has a very strong regenerative ability, which can guarantee that the Jianghu Youxia who are easily hit by the imperial court will not be completely destroyed even if they lose in action for a while. As long as the Gong Mo who do not show their strength are still dormant, they are responsible for preserving the Mo School's classics and regulations, and new generations of Mo School Youxia will emerge from them, it is only a matter of time.

  Relying on the benefits of timely transformation, Mohism barely survived the difficult period during Qin Shi Huang's reign.

  When the majestic and ambitious Qin Shi Huang went on a tour, he suddenly died in the palace of Sand Hill. His death marked the end of an era of high pressure. After that, his eldest son Fusu followed the will to go south with General Meng Tian to Xianyang, the capital of Qin, to announce his accession as emperor and was called the Second Emperor of Qin.

  Due to Fusu's long-term residence in the border areas where Qin and Hu people fought, he was familiar with military operations and the labor situation borne by the people. He truly felt the great disadvantages of the harsh Qin law and the hardships brought to the people by the large-scale conscription of corvée labor. Therefore, in the first month after Fusu's accession to the throne, he ordered a drastic reduction in laws and regulations, issued an edict to suspend all national-level engineering projects except for the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang on Mount Li, abolished a series of past prohibitions including the prohibition on private book storage, allowed the various schools of thought to resume normal teaching, and implemented a policy of resting and nurturing the people.

  Although the external environment improved after Fu Su took office, the Mo Men disciples learned to survive under a centralized system of power and did not dare to show off too much, maintaining their semi-underground way of passing on the Taoist tradition.

  The more powerful the national machine, the less it can tolerate the existence of something beyond its control, no matter what name it exists under. Mo's cautiousness allowed them to avoid many secondary survival crises that came later.

  In recent years, the political climate of the Great Qin Empire has become increasingly corrupt. Successive generations of monarchs have either been incompetent or indulgent, neglecting state affairs. As a result, the central government's control over local officials has gradually weakened. Against this backdrop of widespread banditry, the long-dormant Mohist School has once again made a high-profile comeback. The Dongmen Qiu that Lin Xu encountered today is a member of the Xiaomo system.

  The two parties cleared up a misunderstanding face-to-face. Lin Xu had the intention of making friends with this ink apprentice, and he warmly grasped Dongmen Qiu's hand, saying:

  "Haha, this is not a place for conversation, can Mr. Dongmen have a drink?"

  The Mohist school of thought in the pre-Qin era, starting from its founder Mozi, extremely advocated for a simple and frugal personal life. He firmly opposed all forms of consumption and entertainment that were not necessary for survival, to the point where he considered listening to music as a corrupting influence. Not to mention other things, just looking at Dongmen Qiu's attire, which was comparable to that of the legendary Nine-Bag Elder of the Beggars' Sect, Lin Xu knew that their rules had not changed much, and this was just a casual inquiry.

  Unexpectedly, Dongmen Qiu burst out laughing, he waved his hand and patiently explained to Lin Xu:

  "It doesn't matter, as long as you don't get drunk."

  Hearing this, Lin Xu was even more surprised and asked back:

  "Oh, could it be that a later generation of Mohist disciples changed the rules set by Mozi?"

  Although he knew that this sentence should not be asked, Lin Xu couldn't help but ask another question due to his curiosity.

  Facing this seemingly somewhat jarring question, Dongmen Qiuyu's expression remained calm and composed. He smiled and nodded his head, saying:

  "In the Mo School, there are three sets of disciplinary rules. As for me, my virtues and moral character are shallow, and my self-cultivation is not even worth mentioning. Now, I only make a vow to strictly observe the second set of disciplinary rules, which does not include the prohibition on drinking wine. However, getting drunk from excessive drinking is a serious mistake at any time or place, and it must be absolutely avoided."

  One of the interesting phenomena in traditional Chinese culture is that different religions blend with each other, so that everyone ends up having a bit of each other.

  For example, in a temple, the images of Laozi, Confucius and Sakyamuni can be worshipped at the same time. Such an unusual belief paradigm is roughly an incomprehensible thinking mode for followers of Western monotheism.

  Like the Confucian school of thought, Mohism can also be classified as a belief and ideology. If this belief takes another step forward, it naturally becomes a new religion.

  After the end of the Warring States period, under the influence and penetration of Buddhism and Taoism, Mohists began to gradually revise and perfect their own creed system. In the later period, they simply imitated the Buddhist Vinaya, and established a set of Mohist precepts on their own. Like the Northern Chan School that advocated gradual enlightenment, the Mohist doctrine also went through several improvements during this period, no longer demanding uniform standards, but instead advocating that Mohist disciples, with the improvement of their understanding and awakening, continuously accept more stringent disciplinary constraints, in order to ultimately achieve the lofty ideological realm of "Mozi's universal love" that Mozi advocated.

  From another world, Lin Xu was completely unaware of the process by which the Mohist school in this land had evolved into the Mohist sect. At this moment, he simply expressed his attitude with a calm smile. A little later, Lin Xu said indifferently:

  "Someone has been taught a lesson, since there's no need to abstain from wine, Brother Dongmen, would you like to move to the wine house?"

  Spending one's own money on drinking, rather than using it to help the poor, is inevitably going to give a Mozi a feeling of decadence; but if someone else is footing the bill, that's a different story.

  Dongmen Qiu readily accepted Lin Xu's invitation, found a quiet little tavern, casually ordered a few dishes and drinks, and then started chatting.

  Since arriving in this strange and mysterious land, Lin Xu had become accustomed to readily admitting his ignorance and was even more willing to humbly ask others for guidance.

  After all, a person's ignorance is not shameful, and no one is born to know everything. Not understanding but pretending to understand is truly shameful, and there is nothing more despicable in the world than pretending to be omniscient.

  Although he has lived for more than 20 years in total, Lin Xu's understanding of this strange world where gods and demons roam is no different from that of an ignorant child. Not being ashamed to ask questions is the correct learning attitude.

  He took a sip of the so-called hundred-year-old wine, which was actually just a murky beer with an alcohol content no higher than that of dry beer. Lin Xu revealed a smile-like expression and gazed at Dongmen Qiu sitting across from him, saying:

  "You've come all the way to Jiangjia Village, it can't be just for sightseeing! If there's something difficult you're not willing to talk about, I can understand your difficulties."

  Upon hearing this, Dongmen Qiu didn't hesitate or beat around the bush, instead speaking openly and honestly:

  "There's nothing to hide, this trip is to scout ahead under the orders of Master Miao. The thousand-year-old tree demon in Lanruo Temple has committed countless atrocities, not only devouring humans but also controlling evil spirits with seductive charms to lure people out and suck their blood. Our Xia Mo have long intended to eliminate this beast, but unfortunately, it's skilled in evasion and escape techniques. Don't look at its true form as just a large tree; through its underground roots, countless ancient trees on this mountain have been transformed into its minions. If we can't eradicate it once and for all, it will be a hundred times more difficult to destroy later. This time, I was ordered to come and investigate the situation in Lanruo Temple, aiming to capture all the temple's demons at once."

  Every time Lin Xu hears the name of Lanruo Temple from someone else's mouth, he recalls his life on Earth as if it were a past life, and he can't help but feel a strange and unreal feeling.

  At this time, Lin Xu nodded and said:

  "So it is, as the God of Huo Mountain, I am in charge of the geography of this mountain and river, but I cannot eliminate the demons that are entrenched in my territory, it's really shameful!"

  In everything, first put yourself in a disadvantaged position. Although doing so is a bit humiliating, don't forget the old saying: "Taking a loss is actually gaining an advantage."

  In Lin Xu's view, even if he didn't say this and humbled himself, wouldn't Dongmen Qiu secretly despise him for being an incompetent god who couldn't protect the peace of Huo Mountain? It would be better to just be a bit more arrogant.

  PS: The number of red tickets for "Wu Yue Du Zun" has exceeded 1,000 for the first time. I'd like to thank all new and old book friends for their support.