13: Chapter 13 The Mohist Test

A wave of heat rushed out first. The clanging of hammers in the workshop never ceased, and sparks sprayed from the furnace, sizzling as they hit the ground.

The air was thick with the smell of rust, sweat, and the acrid scent of charcoal burning wood. Light filtered in from a few small windows high up, illuminating the dust in the room as it floated like Impurities in water.

"Mr. Xiangli." A man with a face covered in soot put down his hammer and wiped his sweat with his elbow.

"Hmm." Mr. Xiangli nodded without stopping his stride. "Old Chen, the wall thickness of that batch of bronze pipes is insufficient. Make them two points thinner."

Someone else poked their head out from a corner. "Sir, that linkage mechanism is stuck. Could you take a look?"

Mr. Xiangli walked over, squatted down, and poked his fingers into the gaps between the gears. The metal grated with a dry clicking sound, then began to turn smoothly.

"It lacks oil. Go to the storeroom and get a canister."

Wu Xi followed behind Mr. Xiangli, looking at the people around him. They reminded him of the elders in his village who would always show up to help whenever someone had a funeral or a wedding.

"The two of you, go separately." Mr. Xiangli stopped in front of a wooden door covered in dense, intricate carvings. "Niu Fei, come with me. Wu Xi, enter this room."

Niu Fei paused, stunned. "Me... alone?" "Yes."

Wu Xi reached out and pushed the door. The wood was slightly damp, sending a chill through his palm. The door hinges creaked. The light inside was dimmer than outside, but still clear enough to see.

The room was small. The walls were covered in various mechanical parts, and in the center stood a low table with a scroll of bamboo slips spread out on it.

He looked up and saw a plaque directly in front of him—the four large characters for "Universal Love, Non-Aggression." The ink had already faded, and the corners were curled.

The door behind him closed on its own with a click, as if it had locked.

Outside the door, the group of craftsmen had already gathered together.

"Another one," an old man with a missing front tooth smacked his lips. "That's the seventh this month. All twelve last month failed."

"The test is getting more and more bizarre these days," the old man shook his head. "Back in my day, all I had to do was make a mortise and tenon chair. Now? I snuck a peek at the test questions once, and I couldn't even recognize all the words."

"Is it that you can't recognize all the words? You can't even read," someone teased.

A middle-aged man in the corner slammed his hammer onto the ground. "If you ask me, the Mohists have lost their way. We used to make a living by our craft, but now? They test us on all those fancy literary phrases."

"The outside world is in such chaos, and the Mohists are divided themselves. I heard several factions are arguing until they're red in the face."

Inside the wooden room, Wu Xi stared at the bamboo scroll and reached out to untie the hemp rope binding it.

As the bamboo scroll unfurled, a line of text appeared: "Two people, A and B, are trapped by a mechanism. A is in the left room, B is in the right room. The mechanisms are connected; saving A will cause B to die, and saving B will cause A to die. You have one stick of incense time. If you do not choose, both will perish."

Wu Xi looked down at the stick of incense by his feet. Nearly half of it had already burned away. He muttered to himself, "You want me to choose someone to die?"

The stone room was very quiet, save for the faint crackling of the burning incense. Wu Xi walked to the left door and placed his hand on it, feeling the faint sound of breathing from behind. He walked to the right door, and someone was there as well.

"Universal Love, Non-Aggression..." He recited the Mohist creed, his brows furrowing tighter. "But this question forces me to choose between two people?"

Wu Xi stood up. "But by what right do I decide who lives and who dies? The question itself is unfair."

But another voice rang out in his mind: Who set the rules? Wu Xi paused, then reread the words on the bamboo scroll: The mechanisms are connected.

He walked to the left door and carefully observed the door frame. He did the same for the right door. Then he squatted down to examine the cracks in the floor.

The floor of the stone room was paved with stone slabs, and there was a very thin crack between two of them. He followed the crack with his eyes and found it extended to the center of the stone room, where it split into two, leading to the left and right doors respectively.

"Connected..." Wu Xi suddenly stood up.

"This test is lying to me. It makes me think I can only choose one person. But Universal Love has never been a multiple-choice question."

He walked to the center of the stone room, squatted down, and used his fingers to trace the crack in the floor. The crack was very thin, but it truly connected the left and right doors.

"The mechanisms are connected. Since they are connected, it means they are one entity."

Wu Xi stood up. "Universal Love is not about dividing things equally, but about creating conditions that make coexistence possible."

"Mohist Non-Aggression is not about cowardly avoiding war. It is about using ingenuity to break through dilemmas."

Wu Xi opened his eyes and pressed both hands to the ground, using the Ghost-Eating Technique. Qi flowed from his palms, traveling along the cracks in the floor toward the left and right doors.

He sensed the structure of the two mechanisms on the left and right—they were indeed connected, sharing the same core.

He adjusted the mechanism to make the gears rotate in reverse, and with a click, both the left and right doors opened simultaneously.

Wu Xi stood up and brushed the dust off his hands. A person walked out from behind each door; they both looked like ordinary villagers, staring at him in bewilderment.

"It's alright now," Wu Xi said. "The mechanism has been disarmed. You can both leave." The two bowed to thank him and hurried out of the stone room.

Wu Xi walked out of the stone room, and not far away, he saw a figure squatting in the corner.

"Niu Fei?" The person looked up, revealing a simple, honest face.

"You're out too?" Wu Xi asked.

"Yeah." Niu Fei stood up and tossed the grass stalk he was holding aside. "I came out a while ago."

"How... how did you solve the test?" Niu Fei scratched his head. "What do you mean, how did I solve it?"

"The multiple-choice question. You could only save one of the two people, A or B. How did you choose?"

Niu Fei blinked, looking blank. "I didn't choose. I just kicked both doors open. That piece of junk door... one kick, and the people inside just walked out."

Wu Xi was stunned. "You... you didn't read the question?"

"I did," Niu Fei said. "It said you could only save one, but why only save one? Wouldn't it be better to save both?"

"But the mechanism..." "What mechanism?" Niu Fei scratched his head again. "I just kicked the doors twice, and they opened. The people inside came out. It's that simple."

Wu Xi opened his mouth, speechless.

He had thought so much, from Universal Love to Non-Aggression, from questioning the rules to finding the core of the mechanism, only then realizing he needed to save both people. And Niu Fei had simply kicked the doors twice.

He had spent so much effort, taking such a long, winding path, only to achieve the same result as Niu Fei, yet Niu Fei hadn't thought about it at all.

He just wanted to save people; he wanted to save both, and that was it.

Universal Love, perhaps, was just that simple. It wasn't philosophy or speculation; it was just a pure desire for people to live.

Someone led Wu Xi and Niu Fei into a side room. There were a few bamboo chairs in the room, and Mr. Xiangli was sitting in the center.

Mr. Xiangli didn't speak. He just looked up at the two of them, then lowered his head to continue reading the papers. His fingers tapped lightly on the surface of the paper, as if counting something.

"Sit." He finally spoke, leaning back against the chair. "Since you've entered the Mohist gate, there are some things you need to know."

Wu Xi walked over and sat down. The bamboo chair creaked, and the legs wobbled as if it might fall apart at any moment.

"In our Mohist school, the leader is called the Juzi." Mr. Xiangli took out a drawing and held it up to them. "We are currently on the third generation. Since you've just joined, you must recognize the Juzi Token."

He pointed to the pattern of the Juzi Token on the drawing—it was a uniquely designed graphic credential. "Remember this symbol," he said. "In the future, whoever holds this token is the leader. Don't fail to recognize it and make a fool of yourselves."

Mr. Xiangli walked back and sat down with a thump, patting his knees. "There isn't much work you can take on right now. You can either work as assistants in the workshop or take on some simple errands. Wandering Knight, Debater, or Wandering Official—there are three paths. Decide for yourselves which one you want to take."

Niu Fei scratched the back of his head, looking a bit confused. "Mr. Xiangli, this... what exactly do they entail?"

"To put it simply," Mr. Xiangli lifted his chin. "Wandering Knights run errands and guard houses. Debaters go around arguing and reasoning with people. Wandering Officials run errands for the government. You work to earn contribution points. Once you've saved up enough points, you can exchange them for Cultivation Techniques, weapons, or information."

Mr. Xiangli stood up and walked to the wall. A faded map was hanging there, its edges curled, covered in dense ink dots.

Mr. Xiangli noticed Wu Xi staring blankly at the map. He leaned over and tapped it three times. "There's one more thing you must remember. Never go to the Heizhuo River at night; the Mermaid Grudge specifically targets ferries... That King Ridge in Dai Mountain... it makes people walk right into it, and you can't stop them. Also, a Slug Demon hides beneath the Dead Bones Marsh, and its Tentacles can reach three miles onto the shore..."

After he finished, he tapped the map. "Remember all of this. Don't take it lightly."

"The entire prefecture city, along with the surrounding three hundred miles, is the territory of the Luo Prince Mansion. Why do you think these Demon Ghosts haven't eaten everyone? It's because the Luo Prince Mansion is suppressing them. Both sides are wary of each other, maintaining a... balance."

"Is the Luo Prince Mansion that powerful?"

"They were enfeoffed as princes of a different surname when the Great Yin Dynasty was founded, and they have a deep foundation after generations of inheritance. They have people in their mansion specifically for dealing with Demon Ghosts, called the 'Evil Suppression Bureau.' We and they are like well water and river water—we don't interfere with each other."

"Cultivation in this world basically relies on Spiritual Qi," Mr. Xiangli continued. "However, ever since the Spiritual Qi became chaotic fifty years ago and Demon Ghosts entered the world, various strange things have appeared on cultivators—growing an extra eye is a common occurrence. Some with low Realms can control or hide it, but the higher the Realm, the more obvious it becomes."

"Spiritual Qi chaos?"

Mr. Xiangli nodded. "Anyway, ever since then, cultivation has been like gambling with your life. You see those experts looking glorious, but who knows what ailments they're hiding?"

Wu Xi was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Mr. Xiangli, have you heard of Zhong Kui?"

Mr. Xiangli tapped his fingers on the armrest. "The one with red hair and a red beard, wearing an official robe?" "Yes."

Mr. Xiangli's voice became cautious. "Recently, Cultivation Techniques related to him have appeared in many places, and the rumors are bizarre. It's said to be an official from the previous Dynasty who became famous for catching ghosts and became a god after death."

"I heard those Cultivation Techniques can directly absorb the Soul Power of ghosts."

"This ability is not common," Mr. Xiangli continued. "I've heard that many people practiced it, only for their minds to descend into chaos, leading to Qi Deviation."

"We Mohists don't need to practice such unorthodox methods. Our own Cultivation Technique, 'Juchi Tianxia,' allows the weak to overcome the strong. When mastered, the enemy will appear to be full of openings."

"It's just that one's eyes are prone to aging, like cataracts."

Wu Xi was just about to ask more when he suddenly felt a heat in his chest.

The sensation came without warning, as if a string inside his abdomen had been tugged from afar. He looked down and saw a faint cyan light glowing beneath his clothes; it was the Sanyuan Art stirring.

A line of text appeared in his mind: "[Sanyuan Art (Incomplete)] Alert: A similar Cultivation Technique is interfering."