荒墟牧神 - 第166章 樵翁授訣 - 簡牘書房

In the capital, at the Imperial Preceptor's residence.

The registrar came hurrying in with a report: "Imperial Preceptor Jingping, there has been a disturbance at Yongzhou City. The high ranks of the Dark Demon Cult have gathered there in force, along with countless brigand chiefs. All at once the city magistrate's office vanished into thin air, gone without a trace, leaving only a bare stretch of ground behind."

Imperial Preceptor Jingping was reviewing the various memorials the emperor had sent over, and did not even raise his head. "Noted."

The registrar hesitated. "Imperial Preceptor Jingping, this is the Dark Demon Cult — the foremost sect of the demonic path. With something of this sort arising now, we cannot afford to be caught off guard..."

Imperial Preceptor Jingping looked up. "Yunyang, do you know who the Dark Demon Cult's founding patriarch is?"

The registrar Yunyang shook his head.

His expression calm, Imperial Preceptor Jingping said, "If you knew who he was, you would not be so flustered. He was once the Grand Libationer of our Grand Academy."

Registrar Yunyang was deeply shaken, and blurted out, "Him? Imperial Preceptor Jingping, the Dark Demon Cult's patriarch actually served as Grand Libationer of the Grand Academy for all these years — this is treason! Over all these years, how many officials has he taught, how many generals? His influence must reach into the court itself, into the army! Imperial Preceptor Jingping, this matter cannot be overlooked — I fear the army is full of his people!"

Imperial Preceptor Jingping was rendered speechless, then shook his head. "You are overthinking it. The Dark Demon Patriarch taught scholars — does that make every scholar a member of his Dark Demon Cult? If that were so, would you not have to drag me in and kill me as well?"

He rose to his feet and paced slowly, his gaze sharp. "In my younger years I wandered the four quarters, learning what each sect excelled at. I saw that every sect under heaven kept to its own way, hoarding its treasures, holding back the progress of the world's divine arts and methods. So I called at their doors, hoping to break down the barriers between the great sects. The first man I met was the Dark Demon Patriarch. He was the first to set aside sectarian prejudice and teach me with his whole heart, and the first to point me toward a clear road."

A look of reverence came into his eyes. "Afterward, he recommended me himself, giving me a letter to carry to the Daoist Lord of the Daoist Sect. It was because of his letter that the Daoist Lord looked upon me with special favor and regard, and permitted me to study the Fourteen Chapters of the Dao Sword. It was he, too, who sent me to the Great Thunderclap Temple, where I beheld the Tathagata and received the scriptures passed down by the Tathagata. Though he never revealed his identity, he could not hide it from me — nor did he try overmuch to hide it."

The shock in Registrar Yunyang's heart was beyond measure.

Imperial Preceptor Jingping said, "I asked him to come out of retirement and help me govern the Grand Academy — and why? Not because of his abilities, not because he is the Dark Demon Cult's patriarch, but because he has that kind of breadth of spirit. It was the first time I had ever met a man of such breadth, such purity. The only one fit to govern the Grand Academy is him! Now he has gone — no doubt to labor over the matter of the Dark Demon Cult's next Cult Master."

"The next Cult Master of the demon cult?"

Registrar Yunyang steadied himself. "The Dark Demon Cult has been without a Cult Master for over forty years, and now they have actually chosen one? Imperial Preceptor Jingping, this is a matter of grave importance — should we report it to the emperor?"

Imperial Preceptor Jingping said, "You go draft a memorial and present this matter to the emperor. As for the Dark Demon Patriarch's origins, there is no need to say much."