Chapter 451: Time

Chapter 451: The Hour

As he watched the blood-sucking leech crawling onto his shoe, Li Huowang raised his foot and stamped it flat, then glanced at the young Yang Xiaohai with rare concern.

"Does this creature often latch onto your legs?"

"When plowing fields, there's bound to be some cow dung in the water. As long as it's not a water snake, it's no big deal. Actually, it's harmless for it to suck human blood—people have hands to pull it off."

"But when it bites cattle, that's another matter. Cattle don't have hands to remove it. They can only let it feed freely. That's why it's called 'cow rot'."

Li Huowang looked at the innocent face of the boy before him. In another time, this child would probably only be in sixth grade. But here, he had already matured like an adult.

After a moment’s thought, Li Huowang patted his shoulder. "Don’t plow fields anymore. At your age, you should be learning to read in a private school, not working in the fields. Let the tenant farmers do such labor."

When Li Huowang spoke, a new teacher soon appeared in Niu Xin Village.

Though Niu Xin Village was remote, with enough money, one could easily find a failed scholar who taught in a private school.

It wasn’t just for Yang Xiaohai; Li Sui was also enrolled in the same school. Following Liu Huowang’s instructions, he listened quietly without speaking.

Besides them, anyone with nothing else to do would peek through windows to listen and watch, as if hearing more would bring them some kind of gain.

Even the Imperial Scholar Lu brought his grandson—who was less than a year old—to the school, saying he wanted to absorb some scholarly aura so he’d have better luck in future exams.

Seeing this scene, Li Huowang simply opened the door. From now on, anyone in the village who wished to learn could enter the private school—it would be considered a benefit of Niu Xin Village.

Looking at all the people inside the school, earnestly listening, Li Huowang smiled faintly. Even his previously gloomy mood lightened considerably.

"What are you smiling about?" Bai Lingmiao asked, surprised, standing beside him.

"You see how peaceful it is. No matter what hardships we’ve endured on our journey, life keeps getting better. Isn’t that what they really want?"

Bai Lingmiao reached out and linked her fingers with his, her hand bare of skin, and leaned slightly toward him.

"Yes, life will always get better. So, no matter what happens in the future, never think of suicide. There’ll always come a day when things pass."

At that moment, the teacher inside was instructing the students. "The words 'zhi hu ye ye'—you won’t find much use in them. I don’t expect any of you to become scholars. Learn practical skills instead—like reading and calculating!"

"Mastering these gives you a real skill. You'll never go hungry! Today, we start with counting rods!" The teacher raised a bundle of chopsticks high above his head.

"One day has eleven hours!" He picked eleven sticks from the pile and laid them on the ground.

"For example, a peddler going to your village spends five hours on the road." The teacher took five sticks away. "How many hours does he have left to sell goods and rest?"

"Hmm?" Li Huowang’s expression darkened.

Noticing the change in his face, Bai Lingmiao asked curiously, "What’s wrong? Isn’t this teacher quite good?"

"A day has twenty-four hours, two hours make one hour. So there should be twelve hours in a day. Where did this man get eleven hours from?"

"He doesn’t even understand basic time. No wonder he failed to become a scholar. Let’s find a reason to dismiss him before he misleads others."

Hearing Li Huowang’s words, Bai Lingmiao’s pale eyes showed slight doubt. "Li Huowang, what exactly are you talking about? A day is naturally eleven hours. Where did you get this idea of twelve?"

"What?!" Li Huowang felt as if something had struck him hard, buzzing in his ears.

He first stared in shock at Bai Lingmiao, then, upon receiving her confirmation, rushed into the classroom and demanded, "Is it truly only eleven hours in a day?"

"Nonsense. If not eleven, how many else? What’s your point?" The teacher, annoyed by the interruption from a man wrapped in white bandages, frowned.

With a shocked expression, Li Huowang turned around and looked at the eyes behind him, asking everyone, "Only eleven hours in a day?!"

Yang Xiaohai, confused, replied, "Yes, Senior Brother Li. Isn’t a day always eleven hours? Why the surprise?"

"Eleven hours? That means a day here is only twenty-two hours? Where did the other two hours go?"

In that instant, Li Huowang felt as though the world around him was unreal.

Bai Lingmiao, frowning slightly, entered the classroom and pulled his hand, leading him outside. "What’s wrong with you? Eleven hours in a day isn’t unusual, is it?"

"No, still not right," Li Huowang calmed himself. He decided to find answers on his own. "Miaomiao, does the village have any timekeeping devices? Bring them all out—I need to use them."

"Timekeeping devices? A water clock? The Bai family only has that."

"Fine!"

Soon, three large wooden barrels, connected and stacked from high to low, were placed before Li Huowang. The top barrel was full of water, which dripped drop by drop through a thin tube into the second barrel.

Each drop took roughly the same time as one second. Li Huowang didn’t trust even his tools, so he counted mentally.

Yet, no matter how he calculated, the result remained the same: one day had eleven hours.

Though the calculation was slightly off, it couldn’t possibly be off by two whole hours.

After staying up all night, Li Huowang finally accepted this reality—the world truly had only twenty-two hours in a day.

Rubbing his tired eyes with the back of his hand, he muttered, "So that’s it. That’s why I used to oversleep so often—it’s because a day here is missing two hours?"

Since leaving Qingfeng Temple, he hadn’t slept enough or overslept—he now realized it was due to time.

Standing behind him, Bai Lingmiao looked deeply worried. "Li Huowang, what are you going on about now?"

Li Huowang had accepted the idea of only twenty-two hours in a day faster than she had imagined. If the world itself was insane, then time being abnormal was only natural.

He stood up and gently embraced Bai Lingmiao. "Back at Qingfeng Temple, was a day really eleven hours?"

"Of course."

"Then why didn’t you tell me?"

"Do you need to be told such things? How was I supposed to know you didn’t even know that?"

As the two talked, far away, Zhuge Yuan, listening to the faceless Zuo Wang Dao with a smug expression, whispered, "How about that? Did you see it? That’s the confused heart essence! You’ve learned something new, haven’t you?"

(End of Chapter)