Scripture of Days Past

Chapter 104: Educating Chen Gang and the Cat Fiends

On this day, Chu Qiguang had just finished his morning cultivation and was planning to give a lesson to the cat fiends before visiting the ruins with Qiao Zhi. The cat fiends were already waiting eagerly, and even Chen Gang and his two brothers were there as well.

The day before, Chen Gang and his two brothers had suffered a brutal beating at Lin Zifeng’s hands. They had also been caught in all the lime powder that Chu Qiguang had thrown into the yard. Fortunately, the battle had ended quickly, and they had washed the lime powder off with vegetable oil afterward, so their injuries were relatively minor.

Recently, Chen Gang and his two brothers had been attending these lessons regularly. The more they listened to Chu Qiguang’s ideologies, the more reverence they felt toward him.

In their eyes, Chu Qiguang was no longer just an ordinary murderer, schemer, and leader of fiends. He had become something greater, almost like a higher life form. The concepts that he introduced during his lessons had always left Chen Gang and his two brothers feeling enlightened and inspired, and they found themselves becoming increasingly drawn to him like moths to a flame.

Chu Qiguang had only just sat down when Chen Gang poured him a cup of tea and respectfully offered it to him with both hands.

Noticing the swelling on Chen Gang’s face had not fully gone down yet, Chu Qiguang said, ”Get some proper rest over the next few days. Put your daily duties and cultivation on hold for now.”

Chu Qiguang had constantly beaten and criticized Chen Gang, so this rare display of concern from the former had him feeling extremely moved.

”I’m fine, Brother Chu. I only have myself to blame for being too weak. I want to become stronger so that if someone like Lin Zifeng comes again, I can protect our home without having to rely on you.”

”Of course, you were no match for a fourth-state martial artist like Lin Zifeng,” Chu Qiguang scoffed. ”You should’ve just knelt down like your brothers. Instead, you insisted on fighting back, and that’s why you got beaten so badly.”

Chen Gang lowered his head in embarrassment.

However, Chu Qiguang’s tone shifted as he continued, ”That said, your refusal to surrender is also one of your best traits. I hope you can use this quality to reach even greater heights in martial arts. Keep working hard, and I’m sure you’ll go far. If you encounter any difficulties, feel free to tell me, and I’ll support you.”

”I’ll definitely work hard, Brother Chu,” Chen Gang replied eagerly.

A hesitant look then appeared on his face as he continued, ”Brother Chu, I... I want to buy some Hundred Refinement Ointment for myself...”

”Don’t always be thinking about taking shortcuts by spending money or taking pills,” Chu Qiguang reprimanded. ”On the path of martial arts, willpower reigns supreme, and the ability to endure hardship is your greatest asset. At your age, you need to go through more hardship and make progress in your cultivation through your own efforts. This will benefit you immensely going forward.”

Chu Qiguang could see that Chen Gang still seemed doubtful, so he patted him on the shoulder and continued, ”You must be thinking that I’m only saying this because I don’t want to spend money on you. Let me tell you this. If I saw you as nothing more than an ordinary subordinate, I’d give you a thousand taels of silver right now and let you spend it however you wanted on cultivation resources.

”However, I’m intentionally withholding money from you because I can see your potential. I want you to strengthen your willpower during the early stages of your growth as a martial artist. Once you’ve built a solid foundation through your own hard work, I’d be willing to spend tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of taels of silver on you!”

Chen Gang had never heard anyone express so much belief in him, and he was once again very touched.

”I understand, Brother Chu. I’m going to work hard and make breakthroughs through my own efforts!”

Chu Qiguang nodded in approval and said, ”Alright, go on now. I need to begin the lesson.”

As Chen Gang left, Chu Qiguang shook his head as he sighed inwardly.

I really don’t have any money to spare right now. Once I have more money, I’ll make sure to invest in your cultivation.

”Teacher, what are we learning today?” White Rice asked.

”Today, we’ll be discussing species conflict and class conflict,” Chu Qiguang replied. ”White Rice, what beings do you consider to be the same species as yourself?”

”Other cat fiends,” White Rice replied, unsure of what to make of the question.

”In that case, have you ever been bullied by other cat fiends, and have you ever been bullied by humans?” Chu Qiguang asked.

”Yes to both.”

”Why did those other cat fiends bully you, and why did humans bully you?”

”When I was still a small kitten, other cat fiends would come and take my food. As for the humans, they either wanted to beat me for stealing food from their homes, or they wanted to catch and eat me.”

”Alright, then from that, we can conclude that the conflict between cat fiends and humans doesn’t come from the fact that you belong to different species. Instead, it comes from a conflict of interests,” Chu Qiguang surmised. ”Right now, the lowest classes of the Great Han Empire, whether cat or human, are all fighting over the scraps left behind by those above them just to survive. Hence, the true nature of the conflict between cat fiends and humans is not species conflict but class conflict.

”The upper echelons of society have taken resources that rightfully belong to all of you. As a result, you’re forced to fight over limited resources. The Heavenly Master Religion and the imperial court have twisted the story to make you all believe that this is a conflict between humans and cat fiends. However, if the imperial court and the Heavenly Master Religion didn’t exploit those beneath them, all commoners and cat fiends would be self-sufficient. If that happened, none of you would have any reason to fight with one another.”

”But there are some humans who hate us for no reason!” Lulu argued.

”There are humans who kill other humans, just as there are cats who kill other cats. Is that species conflict as well?” Chu Qiguang asked. ”Every species has its twisted individuals, but those people are exceptions. They don’t represent the entire species as a whole. On the other hand, aren’t there also humans who treat cats and dogs like family?”

This question clearly resonated with the cat fiends, and they began to reminisce about their former owners.

”Let me ask you another question, White Rice. If you had to choose between an ordinary stray cat or Chen Gang to be your brethren, who would you choose?” Chu Qiguang asked.

Neither option appealed to White Rice. In the eyes of fiends, ordinary animals were unintelligent, unsophisticated creatures that they didn’t even consider to be the same species as themselves.

”Take a look at Chen Gang, then compare him to Lin Nan,” Chu Qiguang continued. ”Chen Gang is a human who can become a fiend, while Lin Nan was a fiend living in a human form. Theoretically, it’s possible to transform every human in the entire world into fiends, and if that happens, then species conflict will no longer exist.”

All of the cat fiends’ eyes lit up at this idea. Before this, they had never even dared to imagine a world inhabited entirely by fiends. However, they had personally witnessed Chen Gang and his two brothers undergo fiendification at Chu Qiguang’s hands using the Heavenly Fiend Foundation Establishment Technique, so this no longer sounded like an unrealistic future.

”The point I’m trying to make is that the most important thing is how we think,” Chu Qiguang explained. ”If you keep fighting commoners over food, then you’ll never rise above them. However, if all of you unite to take all the land, food, and other resources from those above you, then all cat fiends and commoners would become self-sufficient and have the means to live comfortable lives.

”When we unite under the shared goal of liberating all the people of this world, for a brighter future in which all fiends and humans can be self-sufficient and free from the exploitation of the imperial court and the Daoist temple, then we will all be fellow brethren...”

Thoughtful looks had appeared on the faces of all the cat fiends present.

However, Qiao Zhi looked distracted as he thought to himself, The contents of his lessons have changed again. He never said anything about having all fiends and humans become self-sufficient before. Instead, he was always talking about working harder to pick more cotton than the previous day... Something about hitting Kay Pee Eyes or whatever...