Chapter 619: The Call (4)

Chapter 619: The Call (4)

“I would ask you, how do you view the current order within the Great Ming Empire?”

Faced with this question from Zhang Fengyue, Li Jun was momentarily stunned.

Originally, Li Jun had thought that Zhang Fengyue had gone to such trouble to meet him for the sake of the vassal lands affair.

His purpose was no more than two points: either to warn him not to continue interfering in the vassal lands matter, so as not to affect the implementation of his new policies.

Or else to win him over, to deal with the possibly maddened members of the Buddha Order, and take this opportunity to cast a net and catch all the birds, sweeping the Buddha Order clean.

If the other had asked either of these two things, Li Jun would not have been surprised.

But now he asked a question completely unrelated to the vassal land incident, and even had little to do with him personally.

This was entirely beyond Li Jun’s expectations.

After pondering for a moment, Li Jun still did not answer rashly, but said coldly: “Grand Secretary Zhang, if you have something to say, you’d best say it directly. I have no interest in going in circles with you here.”

Faced with the wary Li Jun, Zhang Fengyue smiled indifferently.

“Director Li, there is no need to be so guarded. I am here today merely to chat with you, to hear the views of the current leader of the Martial Order on the future. The answer will not be judged as right or wrong; you may say whatever you wish.”

Zhang Fengyue smiled: “If you are worried about the vassal lands matter, you can rest assured. With Siyuan currently blocking the way on Sangyan Divine Mountain, your people, Director Li, are in no immediate danger of losing their lives.”

My people on Sangyan Divine Mountain? Who?

Li Jun’s heart jolted at these words, yet almost at the same moment he guessed who that person on the mountain must be.

Yuan Mingfei.

There could be no one else but her.

But why would she go up Sangyan Divine Mountain at this time?

“What is she doing on Sangyan Divine Mountain?”

Li Jun’s sharp gaze bore into Zhang Fengyue, and the killing intent that had not yet fully subsided began to rise again.

“Since you also have questions you want to ask, how about this: today, you and I trade one question for another?”

Zhang Fengyue calmly flicked his sleeve, and two armchairs materialized side by side, facing the hole smashed in the wall by Li Jun and his men.

“Please.”

Zhang Fengyue sat down first. Li Jun, without a moment’s hesitation or timidity, immediately sat down with a bold and unconstrained manner, sitting shoulder to shoulder with the Empire’s Grand Secretary.

“Yuan Mingfei went up Sangyan Divine Mountain to inherit everything from Linjiapo, the Sangyan Buddha Ancestor, attempting thus to break into the true second rank of the Buddha Order, to coerce the State Agriculture Order into destroying its own Rice Fields, thereby rescuing you.”

Zhang Fengyue gave the answer, then, without giving Li Jun a chance to pursue the matter, raised his hand to signal that it was Li Jun’s turn to answer his previous question.

“The Hundred Schools of Thought existed thousands of years ago, and the Sequence has been around for hundreds of years. What’s the point of discussing such old news? Do you, Grand Secretary Zhang, have the ability to change the Sequence?”

Li Jun spoke rapidly, without hesitation.

Zhang Fengyue shook his head at this. “That is still a question, not your answer. Since I have said that your people are in no immediate danger, then you surely have time to rescue them. I hope Director Li will think carefully before answering.”

Though the other’s tone still sounded calm, Li Jun detected an unusual meaning in his words.

It seemed that his answer would have incalculable and far-reaching consequences for himself, or for the entire Martial Order.

Their eyes met, each hiding their own thoughts.

But then, Zhang Fengyue’s eyes, deep as an abyss, suddenly trembled.

Because Li Jun had spoken four words that were completely beyond his expectations.

“None of my damn business.”

“Li Jun, I am meeting with you today not to watch you act recklessly and foolishly. Nor do you need to use the brutishness of the Martial Order as a shield to play the fool here. I can remind you: though this question has no distinction between right and wrong, it does have a distinction between left and right. Your answer will determine where many people will go in the future!”

Zhang Fengyue’s brow furrowed slightly, and his tone finally showed some fluctuation, revealing a hint of the domineering and forceful manner of one who had long held a high position.

“Grand Secretary Zhang, there is no need for you to be angry. This is the answer I give.”

Although Li Jun was worried about Yuan Mingfei’s safety, he also knew that panic was useless at the moment.

Because it was clear that Zhang Fengyue would not easily let him leave this illusion.

And since the other had said that Zhang Siyuan was now blocking the blade on the mountain, and Yuan Mingfei was temporarily safe, he need not be anxious.

The leader of the Confucian Order would not stoop so low as to deceive him using his own son on such a matter.

Li Jun still believed that.

With this in mind, Li Jun calmed down, leaned back in his chair, and even leisurely crossed his legs in front of Zhang Fengyue.

“I don’t know what deep meaning you, Grand Secretary Zhang, have in asking me this question.”

Li Jun said casually: “But to be honest, whether the Sequence is good or bad, what does it have to do with a martial artist like me? If I say it’s good, then there are indeed too many disgusting and filthy people in this Sequence who deserve to die. If I say it’s bad, then wouldn’t I be incriminating myself?”

“Grand Secretary Zhang, you are in the court, I am in the martial world. You wield your brush, I speak with my blade. What you see is the state and society, what I see are love and hate, gratitude and grudges. Our positions are inherently different. How could I give an answer that would satisfy you? Don’t you think so?”

Zhang Fengyue, who had been faintly angry, could not help but laugh at this: “The outside world all says that Director Li is a brutish and unwise man, but these words you speak now are not something a brute could utter.”

“As the old saying goes, long wisdom brings no long life. Overly clever people usually do not live long. Especially someone like me—I have the guts to draw my blade, but also the brains to hide its edge. Otherwise, I’d have died in the streets long ago.”

Li Jun paused, turned his head to look at Zhang Fengyue, and smiled: “But you, Grand Secretary Zhang, are an exception.”

“You—”

“Don’t rush, Grand Secretary Zhang. You set the rule: one question for one question. I have already answered, now it’s my turn to ask.”

Li Jun turned the other’s tactic against him, cutting off Zhang Fengyue’s words, and asked: “Why was Linjiapo willing to abandon everything he had schemed so hard to obtain?”

“Take money, eliminate trouble. Linjiapo shed his shell like a cicada to save himself, Yuan Mingfei sacrificed herself to save you. It was a willing transaction between two parties.”

“Willing transaction? A fine ‘willing transaction.’”

Li Jun snorted and laughed coldly: “Not a single person in the Buddha Order is clean, damn it.”

“Director Li, do you think I am a man of long wisdom and long life?”

Zhang Fengyue did not continue pressing Li Jun for his views on the Sequence, but instead threw out another question.

“Isn’t that...”

Before Li Jun could finish, he shut his mouth under Zhang Fengyue’s mocking gaze.

Indeed, with Zhang Fengyue’s rank as a Confucian Order Tier Two, he was already an unattainable immortal in the eyes of mortals.

Even among Sequence Followers, he was a terrifying figure who had crushed several generations under his weight.

But even so, Zhang Fengyue only had a lifespan of a little over two hundred years, and there were even rumors that his implementation of the new policies was to complete a Confucian Order ritual to prolong his own life.

Such performance truly did not deserve the word “long life.”

In fact, this question had also troubled Li Jun for a long time.

Putting aside non-human existences like the Mare King’s soul-like being, even the Soldier Order, which had barely any flesh on its bones, still had its old age.

Mechanical bodies rusted, mechanical hearts grew sluggish, every move like a marionette.

The Agriculture Order, which could devour a city with its fields of flesh and blood, construct Rice Fields to grow agricultural beasts, and use flesh and blood to a level approaching creation, had never been heard to achieve true immortality.

Both the Buddha and Taoist Orders were restricted by the “Five Decays of Heaven and Man”; those lucky could seal themselves, those unlucky would have their souls scattered.

The Martial Order was similarly affected by “genetic aging,” and the severity was such that even someone as powerful as Su Ce could not resist it.

This situation is completely inconsistent with the immense power possessed by the high-ranking Sequence Followers.

As if, in the unseen, the heavens had long decreed a rule: opening a path for them to gain power while simultaneously sealing the upper limit of their lifespan.

This made 'lifespan' the true natural enemy of Sequence Followers, something they had to fight desperately for.

Even the current conflict in the feudal territories, on the surface, seems to be the Buddhist Sequence seeking a correct path to save its own order. But the underlying root cause is still the thirst for prolonging life.

If one cannot continuously advance in sequence, even a Sequence Three will turn into a pile of yellow dust after a hundred years.

For Sequence Followers who stand above all beings, this outcome is unacceptable; no one would be willing to sit and wait for death.

From this perspective, all the conflicts erupting within the Great Ming Empire are nothing more than a single goal.

To fight for life!

Li Jun was silent for a long time, then said in a deep voice, "To this question, I cannot give an answer."

"No matter, then I will ask another question," Zhang Fengyue continued.

"In the twelve sequences now, some are in an awkward position: in individual combat strength they are inferior to the Martial Sequence, in strategy and planning they are inferior to the Confucian Sequence, in manipulating faith they are not as good as the Buddhist and Daoist schools, and they don't even have a decent base. Why then have they continued to be passed down without any sign of being cut off?"

"Is it because they have some unique qualities unknown to outsiders that allow them to continue existing? Or is it because they are needed, and so they exist?"

Li Jun continued to shake his head and said, "I don't know either."

Without pausing, Zhang Fengyue asked again, "Then I ask you, what is ritual?"

Upon hearing this, Li Jun couldn't help but frown.

Of course, he knew what ritual was. Not only that, he had even acted as a pioneer on this new path with no predecessors, using his fists to forge brand new rituals.

But faced with Zhang Fengyue's question, Li Jun lost the confidence to answer, and a strange feeling arose in his heart, as if what he knew now was not the correct answer about rituals.

Zhang Fengyue looked at Li Jun who seemed to want to speak but stopped, and said softly, "Someone must have told you that ritual is the necessary prerequisite for advancing in sequence, a method to make yourself feel exhilaration and thus ignite the gene, right?"

Li Jun asked, "Is there something wrong with that?"

"This statement is not wrong; it can be considered the consensus among the various sequences in the empire regarding rituals."

Zhang Fengyue changed his tone: "But the word 'exhilaration' is inherently subjective. A greedy person might find exhilaration in gaining a temporary advantage. A generous person might see liberality as exhilarating."

"One man's honey is another man's poison."

Zhang Fengyue said solemnly, "The word 'gene' refers to the basic factors that constitute a person: it is the unity of bone, bloodline, insight, and thought. Since that is the case, the conditions or events required to ignite the gene cannot possibly be unified. How then could there be fixed conditions for breaking the lock and advancing in sequence?"

Zhang Fengyue did not give Li Jun time to think and answer, continuing without a pause: "In my view, ritual is essentially imitation. Its purpose is to reduce the difficulty of breaking the lock and advancing in sequence, allowing later generations the possibility of following the footsteps of their predecessors."

"At the same time, satisfying the ritual is also a process of tracing the source. A Sequence Follower who advances by following a ritual will rejoice in others' joys and anger in others' anger, gradually approaching the source in all aspects. Therefore, only the source person is the truly unique Sequence Follower; the others might be called imitations."

Zhang Fengyue's shocking words left Li Jun momentarily stunned.

He had never thought so deeply about the reason for the existence of rituals. In his view, since countless people over hundreds of years had followed the same path, it was already proof of the correctness of that path.

But now it seemed that there might be more to it than he had imagined.

Li Jun asked in a deep voice, "Who is the source person?"

"All the immortals, demons, devils, buddhas, and ancestors; they are gods in heaven and saints on earth. Of course, if one day you reach the end of the solitary path, you can also be listed among them," Zhang Fengyue said softly. "But when you truly reach the end, can you guarantee that you are still yourself?"

Li Jun stared blankly at the desolate city covered in snow below the building, but still could not calm down, his thoughts boiling endlessly in his mind.

After a long silence, Li Jun let out a long breath and showed a bitter smile.

"I don't know."

"Actually, I myself don't have a clear answer on this point."

Zhang Fengyue sighed and gestured to Li Jun.

"So, now it's your turn to ask."

At this moment, Li Jun's thoughts were a tangled mess, giving birth to countless questions.

But he still forcibly suppressed these complex thoughts, cut through the mess with a sharp knife, and asked directly, "Why did Lin Jiapo approach Yuan Mingfei? How could she be certain that Yuan Mingfei could help her escape by shedding her skin and cheat death?"

With this question, Li Jun instantly turned the conversation from matters of sequence concerning all living creatures under heaven to a small matter of personal gratitude and grudges regarding a single life.

Strangely enough, Zhang Fengyue showed no surprise at all on his face; instead, he even revealed a faint smile.

"Is this one question or two?" Zhang Fengyue asked teasingly.

"In the feudal territory, I called Zhang Siyuan brother. Logically, you, Lord Zhang, are also an elder. You wouldn't haggle with a junior like me, would you?"

Li Jun wore a forced smile, his eyes dim as if covered by a thin gray fog, no longer showing the sharpness from before.

At this moment, he felt exhausted both physically and mentally, more tired than after a life-and-death bloody battle.

"I dare not be your elder; it's unlucky," Zhang Fengyue said with a laugh. "Lin Jiapo is a woman who is ruthless, decisive, and smart. She did this because she knows clearly that Yuan Mingfei is currently the only Buddhist Sequence Three who dares to make a deal with her. She is also the only one capable of breaking into Sequence Two and helping her prove whether the path she pursues is correct."

"On the other hand, she can even use you and Siyuan's hands to clear some obstacles for her future comeback."

"This deal is a boon for Lin Jiapo, achieving multiple goals in one move. To come up with such an escape method in the cracks is especially rare. If the Buddhist Sequence had not taken the wrong path, perhaps she would not have needed to borrow other forces; she could have reached Sequence Two on her own. She is a rare talent."

Zhang Fengyue's evaluation of Lin Jiapo could not be said to be low.

But what made Li Jun even more alarmed was the ability Zhang Fengyue displayed to control events and human hearts.

It seemed that Lin Jiapo's every move and every word were under his watchful eye, with no place to hide.

Li Jun, having received the answer, nodded and said, "I've finished asking. Now it's your turn, Lord Zhang."

"My question..."

In this round, Zhang Fengyue, contrary to his usual manner, pondered for a moment, then asked slowly, "Why do you think Emperor Yizong brought up the sequence?"

Li Jun looked up and rubbed his brow. Without delving deeper into questions he had never considered before, he blurted out, "Naturally, to reverse the decline of the empire at that time and restore the Great Ming."

"When the people are physically strong, heroes rise together. When the people have strong wills, they can topple the state. Achieving either one—physical strength or spiritual strength—already poses a threat to overthrow the rule. What's more, after the emergence of the sequence, the people of the world are strong in both body and mind?"

Zhang Fengyue spoke each word with force, each syllable striking the ground!

"To achieve the restoration of the empire, one should gather all the weapons of the world into one's own hands, not scatter individual power across the land. Doing so is not self-strengthening for revival, but rather cutting off the very foundation!"