Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 171 - 162: Hurry Over (4200 words Big - )_2

Chapter 171: Chapter 162: Hurry Over (4200 words Big Chapter)_2

Today’s world is full of countless men in robes who are like beats, and those with wild ambitions have infiltrated the study of Neo-Confucianism and flooded into the royal court.

It is similar to the time when Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, and the demon king Boxun declared, ’When your final days come, I will let my minions infiltrate your monkhood, disguise in your robes, disrupt your Buddhist teachings, misinterpret your scriptures, break your precepts, and impersonate your Buddhists, just to achieve my goals’.

But at present, Neo-Confucianism lacks those who protect it!

※※※※

"He’s gone up! He’s passed the Lust Stage."

When she saw the light on the third floor come on, the whole body of Xue Yunrou relaxed, then was filled with infinite joy: "Worthy of Xuan, I knew it. With his character and will, how could he fall to lust?"

Jiang Hanyun’s face also softened, a hint of joy and surprise in her eyes: "I underestimated him, that chap, he is truly different from before."

She was reminded of what Zhang Yue had said that morning.

Li Xuan has such a heart and such a character, how could he hang around in a brothel for three years? He must have been led there by his two depraved friends, and Li Xuan couldn’t refuse.

Thinking of this, Jiang Hanyun unconsciously grasped her waist knife.

She wanted to beat someone up so badly—

Lady Jiang showed a kind smile: "See, I have never been wrong in judging people. The boy is upright, unlike ordinary people. Master Chenghuang’s General Tingtian wouldn’t talk nonsense."

She thought of the two times she had taken the trouble to make soup for the boy and felt it was worthwhile. He was indeed a good match for Hanyun.

But when she thought of Li Xuan still in that building, her face darkened.

Her old man, why does he have to meddle? If this marriage falls through, where will she find another as suitable as Xuan?

Madam Xue looked stunned, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"A man of pure character?"

Madam Xue began to believe it a bit. However, a moment later, she coldly said, "Don’t be too happy too soon. After lust, there are still stages of power and fame. Even if he passes these, there will still be the stages of asking the heart and asking the way. His Heavenly Demon in the Heart Asking Bell will not let him pass that easily."

Xue Yunrou had been worrying and her face paled. She glared at her mother, then gritted her teeth: "My uncle is on his way. He won’t let anything happen to him!"

※※※※

Li Xuan felt like he had another dream, a dream where he lived through the life of a poor scholar. His house was bare, but he worked hard for the imperial examination and eventually ranked second, becoming one of the Jinshi of the Great Jin Dynasty. The following twenty years of his official career were full of ups and downs, with ten years of hardship and ten years of success, thanks to the favor of a nobleman, and by the age of forty-five, he had become the servant in the Ministry of Punishments.

The events in the dream were extremely detailed, as if they were a real life. Then he found himself sitting in the public hall, and below were two men and women covered in blood from torture, and next to him was a young man in a brocade robe sitting smugly on the side.

"Servant Li, the prince thinks that the evidence in this case is conclusive and there is no need for further trial." The sharp voice came from an old eunuch standing next to Li Xuan: "These two people should be beheaded immediately."

Upon hearing this, Li Xuan frowned: "But there are still doubts in the case that have not been cleared."

"Are there?" The eunuch glanced at him: "Servant, you should think carefully before speaking. This is the prince’s intention, he says it can’t be delayed."

Li Xuan was lost in thought, recalling the ’Prince Han’, who was the nobleman who had supported him, making his official career prosperous over the past ten years.

What would be the consequence of refusing? His political life would be severely impacted, and he might even ruin his reputation.

He looked at the two nearly unconscious men and women below, and then at the emotionless eunuch beside him, then fell into contemplation.

He couldn’t let go of his position of power, and didn’t want his decades of hard work to go down the drain.

Li Xuan thought for a while, and then, to the eunuch’s surprise, he started to laugh: "Come here, there are still doubts about this case, we will trial it later!"

Why would a man with only a few years left live to bow down to power? To do things against his heart?

Eh? Why did he think that he had few years left to live?

And also, what was it that the saying, if an official doesn’t act in the interest of the people, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes. Having power is good, but if you can’t express your ambition, then what’s the point of it?

Next, the scene before his eyes shattered again and he went through many different lives, sometimes as a provincial department civil servant, sometimes as a general commanding tens of thousands of soldiers, or even becoming an emperor. He made a variety of different choices throughout them.

It was not until the tenth time that Li Xuan experienced a different kind of dream.

This time, Li Xuan also went through someone’s life, but the protagonist was a famous doctor viewed as a national treasure for saving countless people.

In the end, he held a golden needle in his hand, sitting in front of a seven-year-old child, surrounded by numerous villagers.

"Master, you mustn’t!" A young man carrying a medical box cried out, his face stricken with grief. "This child is beyond saving! The chance to save this child is less than ten percent. Why insist on forcibly administering the needle?"

He cast a sidelong glance around him, then spoke in a whisper, "This place bodes ill, Master. I fear that if you fail to save the child, the blame will be pinned on your head. A false claim for money is one thing, but your reputation, accumulated over decades, may be ruined by your peers."

Li Xuan knitted his brows, falling into deep thought.

As the young man warned, this child, after being mishandled by four quacks, was now on the brink of death, and these villagers were not exactly good people either.

Li Xuan then lowered his head again, looking at the child who was already pale-faced and barely hanging on.

With his eyes half-closed, he was lost in thought, then let out a sigh of murky breath. "You go and write a contract, implying that this child’s life is hanging by a thread. Although I can try my best to insert the needle for him, I cannot guarantee that I can bring him back to life. Let his parents and friends all sign their names and press their finger prints on it."

A doctor’s benevolence, Li Xuan thought to himself, he could disregard fame and fortune and fully commit to saving the child. But before administering the needle, he couldn’t neglect the need for self-protection.

Therefore, he felt that the practice in the hospitals of his previous life, making people sign surgery consent forms, was the most appropriate. It was compliant with both Heaven’s will and human emotion.

※※※※

"Boom!"

When the lights on the fifth floor of the Wenxin House lit up, the crowd outside made a loud stir.

"He’s moved up!"

"He’s now on the fifth floor!"

"The third and fourth tests took a total of one hour plus two moments. Do you all know how long it took those past Hufa masters?"

"Who cares about that? But this guy, he’s really impressive."

"I’m having trouble accepting this. Could a foreigner from the Liudao Division really succeed in reaching the top and become the Hufa of Neo-Confucianism?"

"What’s wrong with being a foreigner? The Four Desires—greed, lust, power, and reputation—are all great disasters for Confucianists. If this person can resist the Four Desires, even if he doesn’t know Confucianism, he deserves our respect."

"Indeed, not disappointing my expectations, the desires for power and fame really didn’t trouble him." Amidst the crowd, Long Rui’s gaze was incredibly serious, his hand tightly clutching his folding fan, but it no longer moved: "But he did surprise me. I remember that the great scholar of the former dynasty, Rune Chen, took only half an hour for these two tests, much less than this guy. But back then, the Heart Asking Bell was still normal."

Wang Jing was squinting his eyes: "Next comes Kouxin. This is also the most difficult. Everyone has some private matters they don’t want others to see. Even Master Yu said that even he may not be able to pass this test."

At this moment, inside the illusionary world of the Heart Asking Bell, Li Xuan was staring blankly at the scene before him.

He was standing in front of a simple temple, and in front of him, at the threshold of the temple, was a charming adolescent girl of about fourteen years old, dressed lightly, her entire body covered in red runes, who was staring at him with an incredibly ominous and cold gaze.

"You got through the four tests just by borrowing the power of that guardian spirit, what are you so proud of? The posture of a monarch, is that something incredible?"

Li Xuan blinked, puzzled. When did he act proud? He was just trying to understand what was going on the entire time.

"Indeed, it’s really incredible. If she chooses to cultivate the Heavenly Demon’s path, then she is destined to be the king and I, Suxin, can only be a subject."

The charming girl’s eyes turned blood-red: "But next is the Kouxin test! Even she can’t help you with this."

The girl then beckoned, and suddenly, a small Tibetan Mastiff appeared in the void in front of the temple.

"Tingtian!" The girl put her hand on Tingtian Ao’s forehead, her gaze cold. "Quickly reveal this man’s past secrets, his wrong doings, all one by one to me!"

Tingtian Ao lifted his eyes to look at Li Xuan, and then, the dog’s eyes widened in surprise, as he was seemingly locked in a staring contest with Li Xuan, who was also focused on him.