"Cheng Qian."

I don't know why, but when Master calls Han Yuan, he just calls him "Xiao Yuan", but when he calls Cheng Qian, he always calls him by his full name. I can't tell whether he favors him or not, but there is always a sense of solemnity in his words.

Cheng Qian looked up somewhat at a loss, and clenched his hands hidden in his sleeves into fists.

"Come here." Master Mu Chun looked at him, and then, probably realizing that he was too serious, he drooped his eyelids slightly, and restrained himself into a kind-looking weasel again, and his voice softened a little, "Come here."

As he spoke, Mu Chun raised one hand and placed it on top of Cheng Qian's head. There was a slight warmth in his palm, which was belatedly conveyed to Cheng Qian along with the scent of grass and wood from his cuffs.

But this did not provide any comfort, Cheng Qian was still panicked.

He recalled the comments his master had made about Han Yuan, such as "frivolous and frivolous", and thought anxiously, "What would my master say about me?"

In a hurry, Cheng Qian reviewed his equally hasty life from beginning to end, intending to point out his own shortcomings and expose them so that he could be mentally prepared before his master spoke.

Cheng Qian counted carefully in his mind: "Will he say that I am narrow-minded? Or that I am not kind enough? Or that I am not friendly enough?"

But in the end, Master Mu Chun did not point out Han Yuan's shortcomings and warnings to his face like he did with Han Yuan. His head master even hesitated for a moment, as if he was finding a suitable wording with particular difficulty.

Cheng Qian waited for an unknown amount of time with his hands and feet cold before he heard Mu Chun speak carefully, almost word by word: "You know what's going on. I won't say anything more. I'll just give you the word 'freedom' as a warning."

This warning was too simple and vague, making it difficult to understand its meaning for a moment. Cheng Qian could not help but frowning. All his preparations in his heart were in vain. The breath in his chest did not relax, but was instead held higher.

Cheng Qian first asked, "Master, what is 'freedom'?"

After asking, he felt a little regretful because he didn't want to appear to be as clueless as Han Yuan.

Cheng Qian tried to calm himself down, and with a little tentativeness and lack of confidence, he tried to make up a story and asked, "Does it mean that I should calm my mind and practice hard?"

Mu Chun paused, without giving any explanation, and finally just nodded vaguely and said: "Now... let's just say so."

It is now, but won’t it be in the future?

And what does “even if it is” mean?

Cheng Qian was even more confused after hearing this answer. He even sensitively sensed some clues of an unknown future from Master Mu Chun's words. However, he could see that his master didn't want to say more, so he had to swallow his doubts out of precocious tact and just bowed politely and said, "Yes, thank you for your teachings, Master."

Master Mu Chun sighed silently. He looked like a middle-aged man who was not very strong, but actually he was already very experienced. Of course, he could see some things - Cheng Qian was very polite in his behavior and addressed the Taoist children who served him as brothers. It was obviously not because he felt that the people around him were particularly worthy of respect, but because he did not want to damage his cumbersome "elegance" in front of these "outsiders".

It is said that "propriety is the thinness of loyalty and trustworthiness and the beginning of chaos" [Note], no matter how good this child's understanding is or how talented he is, his nature is still far from the great way, and Cheng Qian is a serious person, so he is not very likable... But he is very proud of himself, so he probably doesn't want to be liked.

Master Mu Chun let Cheng Qian go, a little worried that he would go astray in the future.

He overturned the broken three-legged wooden table and called Han Yuan and Cheng Qian to come over.

I saw that the back of the wooden table was covered with holes of various sizes eaten by insects, scattered all over the place, and there were even densely packed small words carved in the gaps between the insect holes.

Mu Chun said, "This is what I, your master, will teach you first when you become a disciple. This is the rule of my Fuyao sect. You two must memorize it word for word. From today on, write it down from memory every day until you have completed 49 days."

Faced with all these sect rules, Cheng Qian finally showed appropriate astonishment - he always felt that something as sacred as the sect rules should not be engraved under a broken wooden table.

…or a wooden table with three legs.

Han Yuan, who was standing beside him, was equally astonished.

The little beggar stretched his neck and said in great shock: "Oh, what are these? Master, it knows me, but I don't know it!"

Cheng Qian: “…”

A master who might be a weasel in disguise, a bunch of bullshit precepts, a set of sect rules carved under a rotten wooden table, a sissy senior brother, and an illiterate beggar junior brother… The starting point of his spiritual career was so unusual, what good could he achieve in the future?

Cheng Qian felt that his future was bleak.

However, when he returned home at night, Cheng Qian's mood brightened, because he learned that he actually had a study room. In the study room, there were not only the books he had always dreamed of, but also paper and pen prepared for him by Xue Qing.

Cheng Qian had never written on paper before - the combined knowledge of his biological parents might not be enough to write from one to ten, so his family naturally did not prepare these. Over the years, he relied on his photographic memory and secretly learned a lot of words from old students. He memorized them and went back to draw on the ground in front of his house with branches. He really wanted to touch the four treasures of the study even in his dreams.

Cheng Qian became addicted without realizing it, so he didn't listen to his master - his master only asked him to write the sect rules once a day, but when Xue Qing came in and asked him to eat, Cheng Qian was already writing it for the fifth time like an addict, and it seemed that he would not stop.

Wolf hair brushes are different from tree branches. The first time Cheng Qian touched paper and pen, the words he wrote were of course unsightly, but it was obvious that he was deliberately imitating the handwriting of the sect rules on the wooden board. When he took a look at the rules in the Unknown Hall, he not only memorized the sect rules in detail, but also greedily memorized all the ins and outs of every horizontal and vertical line, every stroke and every hook.

Xue Qing discovered that every time he wrote, he would correct the parts that were not like or good in the previous writing. He imitated with full concentration, oblivious to the people around him. Once he sat down, he would not move for most of the hour, and he didn't even notice that he had entered his study.

Cheng Qian slept well on the first day, but he was a little excited and couldn't sleep on this day. As soon as he closed his eyes, he could feel his wrists getting sore, and the words on the sect rules kept running through his mind.

The sect rules must have been carved by the person who wrote the plaque. Cheng Qian loved his calligraphy so much that he tossed and turned. The plaque was fine, but the broken wooden table on which the sect rules were carved looked like it would fall apart in a few years. He deduced that the sect rules must not have been carved for too long.

Whose handwriting is that? Could it be Master?

Until he fell asleep unknowingly, he was still thinking about it randomly. In his confusion, it seemed as if something was leading him to wander around Fuyao Mountain. He wandered around and around and came to the "Unknown Hall" where he had been during the day. Cheng Qian wondered inexplicably: "Why am I here, Master?"

But he walked in involuntarily, and then saw a man in the yard.

The man was tall and should be a man, but his features were very blurry, as if his face was hidden in a black mist. His hands had distinct joints and were pale to the point of bluish, like a wandering ghost.

Cheng Qian was startled and subconsciously took two steps back, but he was a little worried about his master, so he bravely asked, "Who are you? Why are you in my master's yard?"

As soon as the man raised his hand, Cheng Qian felt a huge suction force that sucked his feet off the ground and in the blink of an eye he was in front of the man.

The other person raised a hand and touched Cheng Qian's face condescendingly.

Cheng Qian shuddered. This man's hands were so cold that he was frozen to the bone when he was touched by them.

Then, the man grabbed Cheng Qian's shoulders and chuckled, "Little thing, you are so brave, go back!"

Cheng Qian felt like someone pushed him hard. He suddenly woke up in his bed before dawn.

After having such a dream, he could no longer fall asleep, so he had to get himself ready and run to the yard to water the flowers to kill time, which made Xueqing feel ashamed for getting up later than him even after she sent him to the preaching hall.

The preaching hall was a small pavilion with a few tables and chairs inside and an open space around it. It was still early when Cheng Qian and his companions arrived, but the Taoist children had already cleaned the place, boiled water, and were preparing to make tea.

Cheng Qian quietly found a place to sit down, and the little Taoist boy immediately served him a bowl of hot tea in a well-trained manner.

Although Cheng Qian maintained a cold expression, he always sat on the stone bench with his butt carefully touching the edge - habit becomes second nature, there is nothing he can do about it, he can endure the suffering but cannot enjoy the happiness, sitting on the side drinking tea and watching others work, he felt an embarrassing uneasiness in his heart.

After waiting for a cup of tea, Cheng Qian heard footsteps. He looked up and saw a strange young man walking towards him from a path on the side.

The young man was wearing a dark blue robe and holding a wooden sword more than a palm wide in his arms. He walked very fast without looking around. The Taoist child who followed behind him kept chasing him in a somewhat embarrassed manner.

Xue Qing whispered to Cheng Qian: "That's Second Uncle-Master."

Second Senior Brother Li Yun, Cheng Qian had seen the wooden plaque with this name written on it behind the wooden door of the Unknown Hall, and hurriedly stood up to greet him: "Second Senior Brother."

Li Yun didn't seem to expect that there was already someone in the pavilion. He paused when he heard the voice and looked up at Cheng Qian. The black pupils in his eyes seemed to be bigger than those of ordinary people, so his gaze did not seem very gentle and he looked at people coldly.

...Maybe it's not that I appear cold, but I am cold by nature.

Li Yun quickly glanced at Cheng Qian, then suddenly and stiffly smiled at Cheng Qian, which looked like he had bad intentions. "I heard that the master brought back two junior brothers. Is that you?"

Cheng Qian instinctively disliked Li Yun's gaze, which seemed sinister and not like a good person, so he simply replied, "It's me and my fourth apprentice brother Han Yuan."

Li Yun took a step forward, leaned closer and asked with interest: "What's your name?"

His interest was like that of an old wolf seeing a rabbit. Cheng Qian almost wanted to retreat, but he held back. He stood straight and answered expressionlessly, "Cheng Qian."

"Oh, Xiao Qian." Li Yun nodded familiarly, putting on a fake smile, "Hello."

Cheng Qian's eyes were filled with his white teeth. At this point, he was sure that, apart from his master, there was no one else in the entire Fuyao Sect whom he could like even a little bit.

But it’s not certain whether the master is a human being or not.

After a while, Han Yuan and the master also came. Han Yuan sat down in front of Cheng Qian without any hesitation, and complained to himself that Cheng Qian did not come to play with him. At the same time, he took advantage of the gaps in the conversation to pick up each snack on the table and tasted it.

Han Yuan would sometimes smile fawningly at his master, and sometimes turn around and make eyes at Cheng Qian. He was busy but not chaotic, and he interpreted word for word what "ugly people are prone to mischief" means.

However, the eldest senior brother Yan Zhengming was two quarters late and just came over yawning.

He absolutely refused to walk here, and asked two Taoist boys to carry a rattan chair in front and behind to carry him all the way from the Land of Bliss.

A beautiful girl followed behind him in small steps, fanning herself, and there was a Taoist child holding an umbrella beside her.

Yan Zhengming led the two generals, Heng and Ha, all by himself, with his white robes fluttering like clouds.

It seemed as if this young master was not here to attend morning lessons, but to stir up trouble.

After entering the preaching hall, the eldest brother first glanced at Li Yun with an arrogant look, disgust clearly hanging on his brows, and then glanced at Han Yuan and his table of imperfect pastries. This glance made the eldest brother open the folding fan in his hand with a "swish" and cover his eyes to prevent his innocent sight from being tarnished.

In the end, he had no choice but to walk to Cheng Qian with his nose not nose and eyes not eyes. The Taoist boy beside him stepped forward in a well-trained manner, wiped the stone bench back and forth four times, put a mat on it, brewed tea, and then placed the hot tea on a tea tray engraved with talismans on the side. The tea tray cooled down the steaming tea in the blink of an eye, and it was so cold that a layer of water vapor condensed on the outside of the teacup. Only then did Yan Zhengming pick up the tea and drink it half-dead.

After completing all the above steps one by one, Young Master Yan finally sat down.

Li Yun acted as if he didn't exist, while Han Yuan's stunned expression seemed to say "What the hell is this".

Cheng Qian watched the whole process from a close distance. Even though he was usually harsh, he felt speechless at this moment.

The chaotic morning class of Fuyao sect began with the four disciples of Master Muchun disliking each other.

The author has something to say: Note: Ritual is the thinness of loyalty and trust and the beginning of chaos - Laozi's "Tao Te Ching"