Chapter 459: Crossing Time and Space to Meet Confucius!
Before anyone noticed, the sky had darkened.
The Confucian disciples lit candles in the library.
One disciple carefully approached, holding a candlestick while shielding the flame with his hand.
“Let me have that.”
Master Xun stopped him, reaching out to take the candlestick to illuminate for Li Mo.
The Confucian disciples crowding behind Li Mo were all taken aback.
The Master is holding the lamp!
What an honor!
Li Mo held the bamboo slips in both hands, fully engrossed as he read each character one by one.
His fingertips gently traced the knife marks on the bamboo, feeling the timeworn traces left behind.
He savored every word and sentence, moving to the next roll only after finishing one.
He couldn’t tell how long he’d been reading; it felt like time had halted.
Despite the hundreds of people in the vast library, the place was oddly quiet—not a whisper to be heard.
Suddenly, a gust of night wind blew in through the window.
Li Mo felt the flame flicker beside him.
The words on the bamboo slips momentarily appeared misty and blurry.
Thinking it was just his eyes getting tired from reading for too long, he intended to put down the roll and rest for a moment.
But when he lifted his head, he was stunned to discover something was off!
Everything around him had changed!
The Confucian disciples who had been crowding beside him were nowhere to be seen.
The neatly arranged bookshelves were in different locations.
Even the space he was in had shrunk by more than half!
Li Mo’s heart filled with doubt—what on earth was happening?
“You’ve arrived.”
An ancient voice resonated from behind him.
Deep and melodious, it felt as if it had crossed the river of time to reach his ears.
Li Mo pivoted around sharply.
He hadn’t felt any presence behind him!
With his current strength, even Master Xun couldn’t sneak up on him unnoticed.
Behind him was a low table, neatly stacked with a tall pile of bamboo slips.
And seated behind the table was a person.
A tall elder with long hair reaching his chest and a beard as white as snow.
The elder was focused on writing something.
Li Mo glanced at what the elder held—a half-foot-long carving knife, as he concentrated on his writing.
“You’ve arrived.”
As if sensing Li Mo’s gaze, the elder looked up and spoke again.
“You are…”
Li Mo already had an answer in his heart.
But he could hardly believe it!
“Confucius!”
He exclaimed in shock.
“Confucius?”
The elder was momentarily taken aback, then let out a hearty laugh.
“Is that how they all address me now?”
While he didn’t outright confirm it, this response was an answer in itself.
This towering elder was indeed the Confucian Sage, Kong Qiu!
“What is this place? Why am I here?”
Li Mo’s surprise gradually settled.
Looking around, he realized this must be a study.
Suddenly, he gasped in horror.
Having learned from previous experiences, he couldn’t help but suspect that he had traveled hundreds of years into the past to Confucius’ time.
But what about Jing Ni and the others?
Yet, Confucius’ next words eased his worries.
“You haven’t come.”
Confucius shook his head, smiling at him.
“Haven’t come?”
“Correct. You are still where you belong, and I am in my rightful place.”
Li Mo asked in confusion, “Then how are we able to meet?”
The Qin State and Confucius’ era were over two hundred years apart!
If he hadn’t traveled again, how could he suddenly find himself in this study, meeting the Sage from over two hundred years ago?
“Because I have always existed.”
Confucius’ answer astonished Li Mo.
But as he thought it over, he began to understand.
“You get it?”
Confucius asked, amusement evident in his eyes.
Li Mo nodded, “Your thoughts have been passed down, so you have always existed.”
“Exactly.”
Confucius nodded in satisfaction.
“Every Confucian disciple studies me, imitates me, and wishes to become me, yet they do not realize that each one of them is me.”
Li Mo added, “People in this world live only about a hundred years. From infant to youth, youth to middle age, middle age to old age, and finally from old age to bones. Heaven and earth are indifferent, treating all things as fodder. Within heaven and earth, amidst the passage of time, there are no kings or nobles, no distinctions between genders. Everyone is but straw—a mere fleeting existence. After a hundred years, only thoughts that continue to endure can remain.”
He gazed at Confucius, who looked at him with appreciation: “So your thoughts remain, and thus you’ve always been; they study your teachings, adopt your style, and emulate your character—though not you, they are all you.”
Confucius laughed heartily: “Hahaha, young one, you have great wisdom!”
Li Mo finally understood where he was.
He was in his own spiritual world!
This was a clash with Confucius’ ideology!
No distinctions between time and space existed here.
Li Mo humbly replied, “Wisdom? I wouldn’t dare be presumptuous. Merely a bit of small cleverness, not worthy of mention in front of the Sage.”
One can be proud, but not arrogant.
Facing such a great scholar, Li Mo found himself instinctively growing humble.
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