Chapter 15: San Shan Academy

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  Whether it was a clothing store or a bathhouse, they all treated Che Baishi as Li Wenjun's follower, no one suspected the package on Li Wenjun's back, and no one reached out to snatch Li Wenjun's things.

  After taking a bath and changing into the new clothes he had just bought, Li Wenjun's appearance changed instantly. He couldn't be described as a handsome young master, but when others saw him, they wouldn't take him for a poor kid. They would only think that his family background was relatively well-off, at least slightly better than average people.

  People rely on clothes, horses rely on saddles, and dogs are happy to run with bells. Li Wenjun originally helped his father and knew that people are all self-interested, wearing good clothes not only makes it easier to gain respect from others, but also reduces trouble when doing things.

  Li Wenjun not only paid the carriage fare as agreed, but also gave him an extra ten copper coins. The carriage driver now regarded Li Wenjun as a noble young master who had come to visit his relatives, and he took the money with great gratitude and left.

  Li Wenjun first found a wine house, ordered several dishes, and then began to ask the shopkeeper about the public security situation in Sanshan County and the local customs. According to the shopkeeper, the public security here has always been good, and there have been no murder cases for a long time.

  Then Li Wenjun asked the shopkeeper where there were houses for long-term rent and whose books taught well. The shopkeeper answered Li Wenjun one by one.

  After the shopkeeper finished answering his questions, Li Wenjun gave him ten copper coins as a reward, and the shopkeeper also thanked him profusely.

  After leaving the tavern, Li Wenjun rushed to the places where the shopkeeper told him that several houses were rented out for a long time. He was ready to check them out on the spot and choose one that he liked, rent it out, and not buy it because he didn't plan to stay in the county seat of Sanshan County for a long time. It was also to avoid exposing his wealth and prevent others from having evil intentions towards him.

  After circling around, Li Wenjun chose a yard that was not very big, with five bungalows. Inside the yard were two jujube trees and two luxuriantly leafy locust trees. The environment was quiet and secluded, but most importantly, behind the yard was a pond of considerable size. In case of an emergency, one could jump into the pond to hide after climbing over the wall, which meant having an extra escape route.

  Li Wenjun liked the courtyard as soon as he saw it and rented it without hesitation. He pretended to haggle with the owner of the courtyard, and finally rented it for three silver coins per month, with a lease term of one year, paying three months' rent in advance.

  Li Wenjun settled down in the county seat of Sanshan County from then on.

  He was eager to practice the immortal family's skills, and the next day, he began searching for famous teachers all over the county town. However, these famous teachers were not easy to meet. This is a county town, and scholars with some reputation are preparing for the imperial examination. Those without official titles want to take the xiucai exam, while those with official titles want to take the jinshi exam. They don't have the mood to see Li Wenjun, especially since Li Wenjun can't even recognize a few characters.

  Those unknown scholars, Li Wenjun was also worried that their learning was not enough, following them to learn, may not be able to interpret the words and sentences in those two books well, so for several days, he couldn't find a teacher.

  In these days, after Li Wenjun's inquiry, he also had a clear goal of worshiping his teacher.

  Sanshan County may seem like a small place, but it has a big figure.

  His name is Zhou Wei, over 40 years old. When he was over 30 years old, he went to the capital to take the imperial examination and was ranked first in both the provincial and metropolitan examinations. After entering officialdom, he once served as a prefectural judge, but later, for unknown reasons, he fell seriously ill and submitted his resignation to the imperial court.

  After returning to his hometown, Zhou Wei spent all his family's wealth and opened a private school, making a living by teaching and educating people, bringing benefits to his local community. Among his students, several have already become government officials, and in the eyes of the common people of Sanshan County, he has always had a good reputation, and among scholars, he is even more revered as an idol.

  According to rumors, even the county magistrate often comes to visit Zhou Wei and ask for advice on governance strategies.

  But what moved Li Wenjun the most was that Zhou Wei's favorite pastime in private was not discussing ancient and modern times, nor discussing sacred texts, but rather talking about metaphysics and the Tao. His favorite places to go were also temples and Taoist monasteries.

  Li Wenjun did not dare to confirm that the monks and Taoist priests would necessarily be involved with the Xianjia's methods, but so far, the only old Taoist who knew the Xianjia's methods was disguised as a Taoist priest. This made him even more inclined to choose Zhou Wei as his teacher, learning to read and write, perhaps Zhou Wei could explain the profound meaning behind a word or a sentence from the perspective of both Buddhism and Taoism, which would be extremely beneficial for him to better understand the two books left by the old Taoist in the future.

  Zhou Weikai set up an academy called Sanshan Academy, which enrolled more than 50 students. Not only did it attract the best scholars from Sanshan County, but also a dozen or so excellent scholars from neighboring counties came to study at Sanshan Academy.

  Li Wenjun made detailed inquiries about Zhou Wei's situation and then ran to San Shan Academy to make a special trip, looking for a way to meet Zhou Wei.

  The gate of San Shan Academy had a special gatehouse guarding it. The gatehouse was dressed very neatly and looked easy to talk to, but in reality he wasn't. Li Wenjun told him that he wanted to see the head of the academy, Zhou Wei, and the gatehouse's eyes widened as he rudely chased Li Wenjun away.

  The second time, Li Wenjun bought a few packs of good pastries and tried to bribe the doorman, asking him to make an announcement. The doorman felt as if he had been greatly insulted, and directly threw the several packs of pastries that Li Wenjun had presented onto the street, then pointed at Li Wenjun's nose and scolded him.

  Li Wenjun sighed at the sight of Yan Wang, and the difficulty of dealing with the little ghosts. For a while, he really didn't have a better solution. All he could do was stand far away on the opposite side of the academy, across the street, watching the scholars coming in and out, listening to their clear reading voices, and feeling envious.

  Li Wenjun had been squatting outside the academy for several days, and he still hadn't seen Zhou Wei take a single step out of the academy's gate. Li Wenjun was getting anxious, and every day he delayed his learning, he would be one day late in mastering the immortal family's techniques. He might also be one day late in finding his family. Wouldn't this delay his important matter?

  After a few days, Li Wenjun suddenly had an idea in his mind. There were guards at the entrance of the academy day and night, making it extremely difficult for him to enter. However, he didn't necessarily have to go through the main gate to get into the academy. There was another way - wall-climbing technique. He could simply climb over the wall.

  As he thought of this, Li Wenjun suddenly felt a sense of clarity and brightness. He patiently waited until nightfall when the San Shan Academy quieted down. He snuck to the place he had observed during the day, where there was a wall with a mulberry tree growing inside it, its branches dense and leaves lush, stretching out from within the wall.

  The wall was a bit higher than the ordinary residential walls, but Li Wenjun was not deterred. He came out of his rental place with a bundle of dry firewood and some rope. He sneaked to the bottom of the wall, tied the firewood together with the rope, forming a simple ladder, and leaned it against the wall.

  How high can a bundle of firewood be tied up? But it was enough to let him step on it, and his hands could reach the top of the wall. Li Wenjun used both hands to exert force, and his two legs kicked randomly on the wall, relying on the advantages of being young and strong, with a flexible body, without much effort, he climbed onto the wall head. Then he grabbed the trunk of the mulberry tree, climbed up the tree, slid down along the trunk, and fell into the Sanshan Academy.

  Standing on the flat ground paved with bluestone bricks in front of San Shan Academy, Li Wenjun looked up and examined everything inside the academy. It can't be said to be luxurious and grand, but it's neat and tidy everywhere, moderate and square.

  After a short while, Li Wenjun remembered the purpose of sneaking into the academy this time and hastily stopped observing, heading towards the backyard. He didn't know where Zhou Wei lived, but based on experience, he judged that Zhou Wei should live in the backyard.

  After a while, Li Wenjun found a moon gate and stood in front of it to look inside. He saw that it was a courtyard with a main hall and side houses, one of which still had its lights on.

  At the door of this brightly lit house, there was a book boy-like person leaning against the pillar, nodding off to sleep.

  Li Wenjun walked over and patted Shu Tong's shoulder.

  Shu Tong shook his head, opened his eyes, and looked at Li Wenjun. His mouth opened wide and a shrill cry escaped from his lips, "Thief!"

  This shrill cry suddenly broke the tranquility of San Shan Academy, and before Li Wenjun could explain anything, the door of the wing room with the lit lamp was suddenly burst open, and a black shadow rushed out from inside. The person shouted: "Where is the thief?"

  Shu Tong pointed at Li Wenjun and said nervously: "It's him, he's the thief."

  Li Wenjun hastily waved his hand and explained: "I am not a thief."

  The young scholar hummed and scolded: "There are more than 60 people in the academy, big and small, I know them all. How have I never seen you before? If I saw you during the day, I could say you're not a thief. Now it's nighttime, sneaking into a good house at night, what else could you be but a thief?"

  "Alright, you little scoundrel! Let me, a poor monk, take you in and bring you to justice at the county yamen." The black figure that had just rushed out said. This person wore a grey monk's robe, with several incense scars on his shiny bald head.

  "I'm really not a thief, I've come to pay respects to the master. I want to follow the head of the courtyard and learn to recognize characters." Li Wenjun allowed the monk to grab him, he didn't resist, but instead loudly explained.

  "Is this how you pay respects? Sneaking into a civilian's home in the middle of the night, either thieving or stealing, not a good person. Master, quickly take him to the county yamen." Shu Tong said with a sharp tongue and quick mouth.

  Li Wenjun hastily said: "I really am here to pay respects. During the day, I wanted to come in, but the gatekeeper stopped me and refused to announce my presence. I had no choice but to resort to this method, as I couldn't think of a better way to see the head of the institute. Head of the institute, great master, everything I said is true, not a single word is false."

  "Master Yuanzhi, first put down this little brother." Another middle-aged man walked out of the wing room, with a slender figure, a sickly face, and three long whiskers under his chin.