eurekapd Chapter 1016 Trip to Yunmeng Mountain (6)
Chapter 1016 Trip to Yunmeng Mountain (6)
Li Che knew that explaining the concepts of parallel worlds and time travel to someone who had received an ancient education was by no means an easy task.
Even if this person's teachers were also from modern times and he had absorbed many advanced ideas.
After a moment's thought, he decided to use a relatively easy-to-understand story as an introduction.
"Let me tell you a story; perhaps it will help you understand."
Although Xu Jiezi was eager to know the truth, as a great sage, he still possessed basic composure and patience.
He forcibly suppressed his chaotic thoughts and respectfully said, "I am all ears, and I humbly request Your Majesty's guidance."
Li Che cleared his throat and began his narration: "During the Taiyuan era of the Jin Dynasty, a fisherman from Wuling made his living by fishing. He followed a stream, forgetting how far he had gone. Suddenly, he came upon a peach grove, stretching for several hundred paces along both banks, with no other trees, fragrant grasses, and fallen petals in abundance..."
That's right, Li Che was recounting Tao Yuanming's famous "Peach Blossom Spring".
This was one of the few classical Chinese texts he could recite from memory, making it a perfect metaphor for the moment.
He recounted in detail how the fisherman stumbled upon the Peach Blossom Spring, how he met the villagers living in peace and contentment, how he was warmly received, how he marked the path after leaving, and how he could never find that ideal country again.
"...The prefect immediately sent men to follow him, but they lost their way and could not find the path again. Liu Ziji of Nanyang was a man of high moral character. Hearing of this, he was delighted to go there. However, he died of illness before he could go, and afterwards no one else inquired about the place."
As Li Che uttered the last sentence, the story ended in a melancholy atmosphere.
At this moment, Xu Jiezi was completely immersed in the story.
The literary value of "The Peach Blossom Spring" is beyond doubt, and its skillful blending of reality and fiction is truly remarkable.
But at this moment, what Xu Jiezi cared more about was the deeper meaning conveyed by this story.
He couldn't help but stroke his beard and sigh: "The artistic conception of this article is transcendent. Although the Peach Blossom Spring it describes is beautiful, it is ultimately a mysterious and ethereal place that can be encountered but not sought after. It is not worth deliberately looking for it."
Then, he looked thoughtfully at Li Che: "Does Your Majesty mean... that you and your late teacher both came from a place as secluded as 'Peach Blossom Spring'?"
Li Che shook his head and further explained: "In my opinion, this Peach Blossom Spring is more like a small world that depends on this world, yet exists independently."
“It occasionally intersects with our world, but the rules are different. The fisherman stumbled in by chance, and later people who went looking for it with a clear purpose naturally couldn’t find it, because it was not on the usual time and space trajectory.”
Seeing that Xu Jiezi still looked confused, Li Che changed to a metaphor that was closer to traditional understanding:
"For example, Taoist classics often mention the thirty-six grotto-heavens and seventy-two blessed lands."
"Legend has it that these fairylands exist in famous mountains and rivers, but they are fundamentally different from the mortal world we live in. As the saying goes, 'Seven days in the mountains are a thousand years in the world.' The flow of time within these blessed lands is vastly different from the world we live in."
Xu Jiezi seemed to have grasped a clue, but found it hard to believe. He tentatively asked, "Does Your Majesty mean... that you and your late master came from some blessed land?"
Li Che finally revealed his true intentions, giving the most direct answer:
"To be precise, it comes from another complete world! A world that is just as real and vast as Daqing, but has developed along a different historical trajectory."
"Another world...?!" Xu Jiezi's eyes widened, her double pupils filled with shock.
Li Che continued his description: "That world is also inhabited by hundreds of millions of people. They have their own dynasties, beliefs, culture, and technological civilization. In fact, a long, long time ago, the historical trajectory of that world overlapped with that of this world."
Seeing Xu Jiezi's dumbfounded expression, he asked in a guiding manner, "Sir, have you never found it strange that the ideas behind the knowledge left by your master are so strange and the system so complete that it often forms its own school of thought, and its source cannot be found in the classics of this world?"
Xu Jiezi nodded blankly, deeply understanding this point.
Much of the knowledge in the sect's classic texts seems to have appeared out of thin air, and has no connection with any school of thought circulating in the world.
Li Che continued, "On the other hand, looking at our Great Qing, and even the previous dynasties, after the various schools of thought, although there have been many talented people, most of them have carried forward, improved and perfected the foundations laid by their predecessors."
"Those who can truly start from scratch and create a complete, meticulous, and effective new system are extremely rare."
He stared at Xu Jiezi and asked, "Sir, have you never wondered why your master's thoughts are always so unconventional, as if they appeared out of nowhere?"
"The principles he knows are intricate and all-encompassing. Could it be... that he is truly a celestial being descended to earth?"
“How could that be?” Xu Jiezi smiled bitterly. “I have been cultivating in the mountains for a hundred years, and many people call me the old immortal, but they don’t know that I know better than anyone that there are no immortals in this world.”
Li Che nodded and said, "Yes, so you should also understand that your teacher's knowledge is beyond explanation; even Confucius could not do it."
"The reason why our master was able to do this is because he had an entire world standing behind him!"
Xu Jiezi was speechless.
Although he had previously felt that his master was incredibly learned, he only thought it was due to his extraordinary talent and never dared to think that he was someone from another world.
Now that Li Che has pointed it out, he finally understands.
Even Confucius and Lao Tzu were thinkers, not philosophers, poets, politicians, or scientists...
Because no one is perfect, people have limited energy and talent, and there are always informational silos and things they are not good at.
But a glimmer of hope remained in his heart, and he asked with anticipation, "Teacher knows so many profound principles, even in the world Your Majesty spoke of, he must be a remarkable scholar, right?"
Li Che sighed inwardly, but still decided to tell the truth.
At his level, the price of lying is far greater than the price of telling the truth.
He shook his head: "Not necessarily."
"Why?!" Xu Jiezi asked anxiously, completely unable to accept that her mentor was just an ordinary person in that world.
Li Che explained, "Because the timeline of that world is much older than that of Daqing."
"If we calculate based on the timeline of Daqing, that world is roughly equivalent to... a thousand years from now."
“More than a thousand years?!” Xu Jiezi gasped.
“Yes, a thousand years.” Li Che’s tone was heavy. “How many sages and wise men can emerge in a thousand years? How many magnificent articles and crystallizations of wisdom can be accumulated?”
"Moreover, that world has also undergone a tremendous change known as the 'Industrial Revolution,' which was one of the greatest turning points in human destiny, with productivity and knowledge levels growing at an explosive rate."
"That was an era of extremely advanced information. Even an ordinary child in that world might possess a lot of common sense that seems astonishing in this world."
Li Che thought for a moment and then added some more clues: "Of course, although we may come from the same 'big world,' we may not be at exactly the same point in time."
"However, the 'cowpox' vaccination method was only invented in 1796 AD... Well, that was the Western calendar in that world, and it was introduced to China after the founding of the People's Republic of China."
"Although the multiplication table and the periodic table were invented relatively early, they were not widely used by ordinary people until around that time."
"In this light, my esteemed teacher is certainly not an 'ancient person,' but I will need to see more information about him to determine the exact time."
Looking at Xu Jiezi again, his face was now ashen and his eyes were unfocused.
It was as if the pillar of his faith, which had sustained him throughout his life, had collapsed before his eyes.
Li Che knew what he was thinking.
In his heart, his teacher was a unique, brilliant genius who single-handedly deciphered the mysteries of the world.
But now, Li Che is telling him that the knowledge he has revered all his life is nothing more than common sense in another world, and that his teacher may just be a transmitter of knowledge rather than a creator.
This disparity was devastating for Xu Jiezi, who revered his mentor as a god.
Seeing Xu Jiezi's distraught appearance, Li Che couldn't help but offer words of comfort:
"However... sir, while it is important who summarizes knowledge, it is even more important how those who come after use it."
“If someone uses profound knowledge to oppress the people and consolidate their rule, then they are a thief who steals from the world, and their heart is worthy of condemnation.”
"But if someone uses this knowledge to pass on civilization and benefit all living beings, then even if he is just picking up scraps of others' ideas, his merit is no less than that of the original discoverer. It is also a sage's act that benefits future generations."
"I just don't know... whether your esteemed master belongs to the former category or the latter?"
Just like the atomic bomb, both the US and Germany were researching it back then, but it was the US that developed it...
If Germany had researched and manufactured it first, who knows what the world would be like today.
The principle behind the atomic bomb remains unchanged; what changes is the people who use it.
Xu Jiezi nodded slightly: "My teacher said something similar. It seems that Your Majesty and my teacher have indeed received the same education."
Li Che remained noncommittal, gazing at the mist-shrouded Yunmeng Mountain, and then said, "Old sir, I have already told you my greatest secret. So, shouldn't you also tell me yours..."
"What kind of person was your teacher?"
The confusion in Xu Jiezi's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a complex expression that mixed relief and reminiscence.
He remained silent for a moment, seemingly sorting through memories spanning a long period of time.
Ultimately, he set the tone for his teacher with a single sentence:
"My teacher... is a true sage."