Chapter 15: The Taoist Patriarch Emerges from the Painting

Three days passed.

Lu Ge discovered that the best thing about returning after his time travel was that attending classes no longer felt like a struggle.

With the unparalleled comprehension granted by the Tao Te Ching, listening to lectures was no longer like deciphering a foreign language.

Although Lu Ge was already on the edge of immortality, he remained humble.

No matter what, he thought, “I’ve become an immortal, so why do I still need to attend classes?”

After all, subjects like literature, mathematics, chemistry, and physics were all expressions of the Dao.

They all needed to be learned.

This was a good habit he had learned from Lao Dan: the pursuit of knowledge.

“Damn you, how did you get a perfect score on this mock exam?”

“Were you secretly studying behind my back?”

Li Fei looked at Lu Ge in disbelief, as if he had been stabbed in the back by the greatest betrayal in the world.

“Stop pretending. I’m coming clean — I’m actually a genius.”

Lu Ge raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Li Fei smirked, “Then I’m your number one fan.”

Lu Ge was momentarily speechless.

That was genuinely sly.

The following month passed quietly, as usual.

No extraordinary organizations came looking for him, nor did any government agencies attempt to recruit him.

Lu Ge lived peacefully and finally awaited his second time travel.

...

Qi State, Linzi.

Jixia Academy.

This was the highest academy of the time, where the myriad schools of thought gathered.

“Today is the day to honor our ancestors. Do not be late. Hurry up.”

“Hey, wait for me!”

Amidst the bustling crowd, the academy’s disciples assembled.

The Ancestor Hall.

The disciples entered in an orderly fashion, each forming their respective lines.

Taoists, Confucians, Legalists, Mohists, and others.

On the side of the main hall hung numerous portraits.

There was the painting of Laozi riding an ox, another of Confucius imparting teachings, and one of Zouzi demonstrating the Dao, among others.

Each sect’s disciples bowed to their ancestors.

The Taoist line all bowed toward the painting of Laozi riding the ox.

“Disciples, our Taoism begins with Laozi,” said Yin Wenzi, the Taoist leader of Jixia Academy, introducing to the gathered disciples.

“Look closely at the ancestor’s painting.”

“The one riding the blue ox is the ancestor himself.”

A novice raised a question, “Teacher, who are the other people in the painting?”

Yin Wenzi glanced back at the painting.

Besides Laozi and the blue ox, there were two others.

One was leading the ox, and the other stood afar with hands clasped respectfully.

Yin Wenzi smiled, “The other two are the ancestor’s direct disciples.”

“The one bowing in front is Guan Yinzi, the one who transmitted the five thousand words of the ancestor’s Tao Te Ching to us.”

“The one leading the ox — I do not know his name, but according to later records, his surname was Lu, so we all call him Luzi.”

The novice nodded and asked again, “I have heard of Guan Yinzi’s fame.”

“Luzi...”

On the other side, a Confucian disciple overheard and couldn’t help but laugh, “You don’t even know the name Luzi?”

“In our Confucian records, the Sage Yanzi often said Luzi was a close friend.”

Yin Wenzi nodded, “That’s right.”

“It is said that when Laozi headed west through Hangu Pass, he met Confucius along the way, and they debated the Dao for more than three days.”

“At that time, Yanzi recorded the Sage’s words and deeds, which are now known as the Analects.”

“Luzi had a unique interpretation of the Analects.”

“This has led to two schools within Confucianism regarding the understanding of the Analects.”

“One is the Confucian school, and the other is the Lu school.”

The Taoist novice suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!”

“So that’s Luzi. Now I understand.”

“I used to think Luzi was a Confucian sage.”

Yin Wenzi and the novice’s exchange revealed the awkward situation within Confucianism.

The Confucian disciple who mocked them blushed, no longer speaking.

The Confucian leader glared at the disciple.

Why meddle in Taoist affairs?

Now they had been struck back, dragging the entire Confucian school into embarrassment.

Within Confucianism, though the interpretation of the Analects was divided between the Confucian and Lu schools, the Confucian school was the mainstream.

The Lu school was marginalized and even regarded with shame by the mainstream.

They believed the Lu school distorted the Sage’s intent and sullied his reputation.

Thus, the Lu school was essentially a family disgrace within Confucianism.

The earlier interruption by the Confucian disciple received a mild rebuttal from Guan Yinzi.

Mocking the Taoist disciples for not recognizing their ancestor?

Then let me say that your Confucian disciples serve our ancestor.

Our Taoism will always outshine your Confucianism.

As the various schools of thought worshipped their ancestors, suddenly someone shouted,

“The ancestor’s portrait is showing signs of spirit!”

Many disciples looked toward their ancestor portraits but saw no change.

Only in the Taoist painting of Laozi riding the ox did something happen.

The figure leading the ox suddenly moved.

The crowd was shocked and gathered around.

Even Guan Yinzi was dumbfounded.

He had been at Jixia Academy for many years but had never witnessed such a phenomenon.

The figure leading the ox shook his head, as if observing his surroundings.

But in the next moment, the blue ox suddenly used its horn to nudge the man, causing him to stumble.

In an instant, the ancestor’s portrait radiated boundless light.

Under everyone’s gaze, the figure leading the ox, Luzi, actually fell out of the painting.

...

“Uh, where is this?”

“What the hell is this place?”

“Is this still even in our country?”

Lu Ge looked around in confusion. The world was a vast expanse of whiteness.

Before he could react, he suddenly felt a push from behind.

In the blink of an eye, the scene changed.

Lu Ge steadied himself and stared ahead in a daze.

Wow, so many people.

But why did their gazes feel so strange?

Lu Ge looked down at himself; his clothes were fine.

These were Hanfu custom-ordered from Pinduoduo, after all.

Though somewhat different from those around him, at worst it was just an odd outfit, not enough to attract such intense stares.

“Ahem.”

“Hey, why are you all staring at me like that?”

“You’re making me shy.”

Lu Ge spoke softly, breaking the silence.

Suddenly, the crowd in front of him seemed to come alive, their voices rising as if to burst through the roof.

“The Taoist ancestor has manifested!”

“The Taoist ancestor has come out of the painting!”

“The Taoist ancestor has emerged!”

“The Taoist ancestor has appeared!”

“Ah~~~”

Startled by the sudden uproar, Lu Ge was taken aback.

Did these people have some serious problem?

Where had he traveled to?

Lu Ge hurriedly tried to look inward, into his mind palace, to check the ancient mirror.

The mirror should now present a mission.

According to the mission information, he could get a sense of what kind of world this was.

Just as Lu Ge’s attention was about to sink into his mind, a group suddenly knelt down before him.

“Taoist Yin Wen.”

“Taoist Song Jing.”

“Taoist Huan Yuan.”

“Taoist Tian Pian.”

“Taoist Shen Dao.”

“Leading the Taoist disciples to pay respects to the ancestor.”

Lu Ge stared blankly at the crowd lined up in front of him.

“Who?”

“The Taoist ancestor?”

“Me?”

“Are you sure you’ve got the right person?”

Yin Wenzi’s face was filled with excitement as he looked up at Lu Ge.

“No mistake, no mistake.”

“You came out of the ancestor’s painting; you are our Taoist ancestor.”

“Luzi.”