Invasion Myth: Starting with the Schoolteacher

Chapter 787 Sending Out Invitations to Heroes

In the storeroom in the backyard of Bailu Academy.

Old Shen was carefully wiping a bronze gui vessel.

Under the dim candlelight, the taotie patterns on the surface of the Boyi Gui appeared particularly dull, and the originally lustrous bronze luster was now covered with a layer of gray.

"A sin..."

He took out three sticks of incense from his sleeve, and as the wisps of smoke rose, he chanted incantations. The pure aura of literature above the academy was slowly drawn down, flowing like a trickle into the grains stored in the food vessel.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival for Confucius draws ever closer, the wrinkles on my forehead grow deeper and deeper.

He had to restore the gui vessel to a near-complete state before then—at least to prevent anyone from immediately recognizing that this prized possession had been borrowed by some spendthrift son to be used as a ritual implement to attack people.

"Xu Hanwen, Xu Hanwen... He's really efficient, but he doesn't care about selling his father's land."

Old Shen looked at the other ritual objects in the storeroom and suddenly shivered.

Fortunately, we didn't lend out the most important bronze vessel back then, otherwise we'd probably be crying our eyes out in the outhouse with a pile of bronze fragments right now.

After finishing the repair work for the day, he checked again to make sure the handprints on the door had faded. Only after everything was done did he lock the door tightly and instructed the academy guards outside to carefully protect the academy's property.

"Don't let anyone in without my authorization. Your duties are crucial."

The guards were surprised when the old director suddenly took on a sense of responsibility; he never used to come every few days.

Old Shen had just breathed a sigh of relief and was about to go back to his room to rest when he saw the gatekeeper rushing over, holding a letter in his hand.

"Headmaster, your letter."

"Where did it come from?" Old Shen asked casually, his fingers still smoothing out the wrinkles on his sleeves.

“Chongqi Academy, Instructor Xu”

"Huh?!" His whole body stiffened, as if he had been struck by lightning and stood frozen in place.

Suddenly, I felt my arms become heavy and my chest feel tight—it felt like being rammed by enemy cavalry on the battlefield back then.

He remembered how, in his youth, he could wield a thirty-pound halberd with one hand for half an hour without breaking a sweat, and drive a chariot around mountains as if it were flat ground. Though he dared not say he could eat five oxen a day, he could certainly eat three bushels of rice. But now, he felt old.

Seeing the letter in the doorman's hand, he seemed to have received some terrible news and hesitated to act.

"Headmaster, you..." The gatekeeper was a little worried. Our headmaster is not usually indecisive, so why is he suddenly lost in thought today?

"Cough cough, it's alright, give it to me."

Back in his study, he sat in his armchair, his mood fluctuating between good and bad.

This jinx...

Rubbing his temples, he suddenly recalled his "glorious deeds" from his youth—

He once reigned as king in the mountains, rushed to the capital to provide aid from afar, and even fought across three thousand miles, dominating Dongting Lake.

He has always been particularly proud of his wild experiences in his youth, and even takes pride in them.

As a result, when he got old, he saw a younger generation barging into his world in an even wilder way.

Looking back now, I realize I was quite low-key when I was young.

Hopefully this time it will be a good thing.

With mixed feelings, I opened the letter.

Old Shen had only read half of the letter when the veins on his forehead bulged and his wrinkles were so deep they could trap a fly.

After reading the last word, he slammed his hand on the table, making the teacup jump three inches high. "Bring me my knife!" he roared, his white beard trembling.

The grand imperial examination ceremony was defiled by these scoundrels from powerful families using such despicable means!

But despite his anger, he was ultimately more mature and experienced as he got older.

Suppressing his anger, he summoned the academy's instructors overnight and used the White Deer Academy's connections in Jingzhou to secretly investigate those strange statues of the God of Literature.

Sure enough, they reaped the rewards in less than three days.

They found several students at Xunyang Academy at the foot of the mountain and also arrested a few good-for-nothing students.

As the letter stated, the image of Wenqu Xingjun (the God of Literature) has been distorted, and the nature of the evil magic remains uncertain.

As a leading figure in the cultural heritage of Jiangnan, Old Shen has an advantage that Xu Xuan cannot match—a thousand-year-old Confucian foundation.

There's no need for analysis or reasoning, nor for calculating the stars; just go to the storeroom, retrieve the Azure Wall, and you'll know the answer.

The six jade objects were used to worship Heaven, Earth, and the four directions, and the blue jade disc was used to worship Heaven.

This jade disc gleamed with a lustrous sheen in the sunlight, and the ancient cloud patterns on its surface seemed to flow slowly—this was the very same ritual object used by Confucianism for thousands of years to communicate with the heavens and oversee the flow of literature.

Dean Shen has already called on the academy's professors to witness this scene. If Xu Xuan's claim of a photographic record is true, then...

"Fellow colleagues, today we will use the Azure Jade to expose the demon!" He held the jade above his head with both hands.

The academy professors held their breath, and saw a beam of clear light shoot out from the center of the wall, pointing directly at the strange statue of the God of Literature.

With a crisp "crack," the painted surface of the wood carving instantly cracked. Black smoke, like a venomous snake, shot out from the crack, yet emitted a sizzling burning sound in the clear light.

"Just as I thought!" Headmaster Shen's beard and hair stood on end. "They actually dared to use evil magic to steal the fortune of scholars and shake the foundation of the imperial examination system!"

The professors were in an uproar.

In ancient times, this was irrefutable evidence—even Di Renjie's reasoning, Song Ci's autopsy skills, and Bao Zheng's tiger-head guillotine combined could not overturn the truth revealed by the Cangbi mirror!

The crowd was furious, thinking that this was an insult to the Confucian school, which lacked decisive and ruthless methods.

Old Shen was furious. Back then, the old dean had taken him in as a martial artist at Bailu Academy precisely because of his spirit. Now, if these villains succeeded, how could he face his mentor in heaven?
So he immediately issued a call for heroes, which spread far and wide.

In an instant, messengers from Bailu Academy scattered in all directions.

From Yanjing in the north to Lingnan in the south, from the sea in the east to Sichuan in the west, all the famous academies received this proclamation filled with boundless rage.

The literary world was shaken—you must know that this move by Bailu Academy is not just a matter for Jiangnan, but a struggle for the fate of the entire Confucian school!
When Xu Xuan received the news in Qiantang, his hand, which was holding a teacup, froze.

"I underestimated this matter."

Although he anticipated that Lao Shen would take this matter seriously, he did not fully consider it from a Confucian perspective.

This is no longer a simple case of cheating in the imperial examinations; it's someone trying to carve a piece of flesh out of Confucianism.

The sectarian conflicts in this world are extremely fierce. The conflict between Buddhism and Taoism in the past caused a great upheaval; now, anyone who dares to challenge the foundation of Confucianism's cultural heritage is tantamount to declaring war.

Even Confucius himself intervened, leaving behind considerable controversy.

Shao Zhengmao was a high-ranking official in the State of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period. He held the official title of Shaozheng and was known for his eloquence and persuasive skills. He was a famous figure in Lu and was called a "renowned person".

Both he and Confucius opened private schools and enrolled students. He repeatedly attracted Confucius's students to listen to his lectures.

In the fourteenth year of Duke Ding of Lu, Confucius served as the acting prime minister of Lu. Seven days after taking office, he had Shao Zhengmao executed under the East Pavilion of the two temples as a "gentleman's punishment" and his body was left exposed for three days.

The methods used were undeniably ruthless.

(End of this chapter)