The white-robed man proposed that they kneel indefinitely, and the crowd quickly echoed in agreement. They knelt in front of the gates.

Li Banfeng was not afraid of evil people, but he had to stay far away from shameless people. Shameless people were more loathsome than evil people and far harder to deal with.

But the question now is… where should I go?

Going north was definitely not an option. If he wasn't careful, he might end up circling back again.

He managed to determine the direction of true north, so he could figure out the other directions as well. Li Banfeng chose to head east.

There were several hills to the east, unlike the barren wilderness to the north. As long as he kept his eyes on the hills, he believed he surely couldn't end up somewhere else.

As he made his way down the mountain, Li Banfeng kept wondering what food those Sages ate. He'd wandered around the mountain for quite some time, but he hadn't seen any farmland or farmers.

When he reached halfway down the slope, Li Banfeng saw a seventy-year-old man pulling a cart of white rice uphill. Two other people pushed the cart from behind. One was his son, who was in his early thirties, and the other was his ten-year-old grandson.

The white rice was heavy, and the three generations of that family struggled to push the cart. When they reached the middle of the slope, the old man stopped the cart. With just a pot of plain water, the old man, his son, and his grandson chewed on coarse grain cakes.

At a glance, the three people were clearly honest folk. Li Banfeng stepped forward and asked, "Excuse me, how do I get to the nearest train station?"

The old man's son looked up and said, "You're looking for a train station? That's quite far away."

The old man smiled. "You're a student who came up the mountain to seek knowledge, aren't you? Didn't get to see the Sage today? Young man, don't be impatient. Once you have enough sincerity, the Sage will surely meet you."

Li Banfeng shook his head. "I'm not here to learn. I'm just passing through."

Upon hearing that, the old man's son wore a look of disdain and no longer wished to engage with Li Banfeng.

The old man seemed to sense something and offered some advice. "Seeking knowledge is not easy. The Sage teaches the world's most profound knowledge. How could it be casually passed on to others? Our family has delivered rice to the Sage for sixteen years. We originally hoped he would accept my son as a disciple, but now my son is too old, and the Sage refuses to accept him. Now we can only see whether my grandson has that fortune."

"Delivering rice?" Li Banfeng looked at the cart filled with white rice, then at the coarse grain cakes in their hands. "How much does this rice cost per half a kilogram?"

The old man shot Li Banfeng a glance. "Why are you talking about the cost? It's about sincerity. The Sage is willing to eat our family's rice. That's a blessing for our whole family."

They can't bear to even eat the rice themselves, yet they're giving it away to the Sage for free?

Li Banfeng couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked, "What kind of supreme knowledge does this Sage actually possess?"

The old man's smile vanished, and he put away the coarse grain cakes.

The old man's son grew very nervous. He glanced around before saying to Li Banfeng, "On the Sage's mountain, you need to watch your words. You don't even understand basic manners. No wonder the Sage refuses to see you."

The old man waved his hand, signaling for his son to stop talking to Li Banfeng. They needed to continue on with their trip up the mountain.

The old man's son quickly straightened the cart and let the old man pull it from the front.

Li Banfeng commented, "You're stronger than your father. Shouldn't you be the one pulling it?"

The old man's son snorted. "This is called sincerity. Do you even understand that?"

A seventy-year-old man pulling a cart to deliver rice… His sincerity is indeed extraordinary, Li Banfeng thought.

The old man's ten-year-old grandson had been eating his bread this whole time, never once lifting his head. Children at his age tended to have increased appetites, and one piece of coarse grain bread was clearly not enough for him.

Li Banfeng asked the boy, "Have you ever eaten white rice?"

The boy glanced at Li Banfeng, then he trotted off to follow his father and help push the cart.

Li Banfeng continued descending the mountain. Along the way, he encountered many who had come seeking knowledge, as well as others delivering grain, vegetables, and livestock.

Compared to those on the mountain, these people were more talkative. When they saw Li Banfeng, they didn't turn away immediately and would at least exchange a few words.

However, whenever he asked where the train station was, they all avoided the question. They didn't believe he was just passing through. Instead, they assumed he had been rejected after seeking knowledge on the mountain and had lost heart, so he wanted to leave.

Everyone urged Li Banfeng to stay a few more days. They insisted that once he was sincere enough, he would surely move the Sage's heart and convince him to meet him.

After confirming that he couldn't communicate with these people at all, Li Banfeng stopped asking for directions. Whenever he encountered people heading up the mountain, he went around them. He just wanted to get off the mountain as quickly as possible.

Everyone on this mountain—along with every blade of grass, every tree, and even the very air itself—made Li Banfeng feel extremely disgusted. He hadn't felt this awful even at Bitter Greens Manor.

Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, Li Banfeng hurried east. After traveling over fifty kilometers, he finally saw a glimmer of hope.

His path was blocked again, but the obstacle was different from the one before. It was much lower in height than the mountain he'd descended earlier. This was a hill, and at its base was a village.

Li Banfeng entered the village and saw beautiful, lush stretches of fertile fields and farmers hard at work.

The repulsive air seemed to vanish, and Li Banfeng's nerves gradually relaxed as he walked in.

However, the villagers did not relax. Li Banfeng's arrival made them extremely anxious, even a little fearful.

His clothing frightened them. His mannerisms frightened them. Even the tone of his voice frightened them.

Li Banfeng understood why they reacted that way. The village was very remote. The villagers had likely rarely seen outsiders, so it was only natural for them to be wary.

When he asked about the train station, a small number of villagers said they didn't know, but most of the villagers he asked looked at him in confusion, as if the very concept of a train station didn't exist in their world.

Li Banfeng could see how that was as well.

It was very possible that these villagers had never taken a train before. Even Qin Tianjiu, who had grown up in Medicine King Gully, had never taken a train before in his life. That was perfectly normal in Puluo.

As Li Banfeng walked from one end of the village to the other, he heard the clear voices reading aloud. The youthful and spirited voices of the students made Li Banfeng certain that he had already left the domain of the Sage's Peak.

It didn't matter that this was a remote village. There was a school here, and they were learning proper knowledge. A place like this allowed people to have life opportunities and hope.

What exactly are they learning?

"The root of the heavens and the earth begins with the Sage's heart. The changes of the heavens and the earth begin with the Sage's thoughts. The foundation of the heavens and the earth begins with the Sage's virtue. The origin of the heavens and the earth begins with the Sage's will."

The moment he heard the word "Sage," Li Banfeng's scalp tingled.

Is this really proper knowledge?

He couldn't make reckless judgments. This was considered traditional knowledge here. He had only been in Puluo for less than a year. There were likely traditions he didn't know about yet.

When he walked closer, he saw that the reading didn't come from a school but from a rice field.

A group of children, all under ten, recited the Sage's scriptures while planting rice seedlings in the field.

This was something considered perfectly normal. The children were learning both literary knowledge and survival skills.

One child carefully planted a row of seedlings, but a middle-aged man stepped into the paddy and trampled them to bits.

"Replant them," the middle-aged man ordered.

The child didn't know what he had done wrong and looked up at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man slapped the child to the ground in the muddy water, then he kicked the child before he could get up.

The child struggled for a long time but couldn't get up. The middle-aged man dragged him to the edge of the field, snapped off a willow branch, and whipped him repeatedly.

The child's parents stood nearby watching. His mother's heart ached terribly for him, so much so that she was trembling.

Standing beside her, the child's father held his wife back from going to their child. He repeated quietly over and over, "It's for his own good. It's all for his own good…"

After several strikes, the middle-aged man rebuked angrily, "Stop crying! Have some backbone! If you can't endure even this bit of pain, what right do you have to learn the principles of the Sage?"

Is this really a normal occurrence?

Li Banfeng stood by the edge of the field, veins bulging on his forehead in anger. Unpleasant memories from his childhood were flooding into his mind.

The middle-aged man looked at the child and said, "Do you know why I hit you? Do you know why I made you replant the seedlings?"

The child shook his head in confusion.

The middle-aged man reprimanded furiously, "If there is doubt in your heart, your will is not sincere. When I tell you to replant, you replant. Where does this hesitation come from? You truly are rotten wood that cannot be carved."

Seeing the child was now covered in injuries, the middle-aged man said coldly, "I'll apply some medicine for you."

He grabbed a handful of salt, intending to rub it onto the child's wounds.

The child trembled in fear. His parents trembled along with him, still muttering, "My child, this is for your own good. It's all for your own good."

Clutching the salt, the middle-aged man said, "Endure the pain. Stay here and reflect. If you dare cry out again, you won't need to come to learn tomorrow. You're not worthy—"

Wham!

Li Banfeng kicked the man in the face.

The middle-aged man staggered back a few steps and fell into the paddy. His nose was now crooked, and blood was streaming down his face.

The middle-aged man stared at Li Banfeng in shock.

Everyone nearby turned to look at Li Banfeng too.

"Who are you?" the middle-aged man asked, his voice now muffled because of his injury.

Li Banfeng wore his hat brim low, and with the sun at his back, the middle-aged man couldn't see his face.

Li Banfeng said, "Don't ask who I am. Do you know why I hit you?"

The middle-aged man looked utterly confused.

Wham!

Li Banfeng kicked him in the face again, right at his bewildered expression.

The middle-aged man fell flat on his back into the paddy, swallowing a mouthful of muddy water. He struggled for a long while before he finally managed to sit up.

"Y-you, what right do you have to hit me?"

Li Banfeng's second kick had knocked out two of the middle-aged man's teeth, and now his speech sounded a little airy.

Wham!

Li Banfeng kicked him again.

"If there is doubt in your heart, your will is not sincere. When I hit you, you should just take it obediently. Where does this hesitation come from? You truly are rotten wood that cannot be carved."

Then he grabbed the middle-aged man by the hair and kicked him several more times.

The middle-aged man let out anguished wails, but that just made Li Banfeng pinch his mouth shut.

"Stop crying. Have some backbone. If you can't endure even this little bit of pain, what principles of the Sage are you talking about?" Li Banfeng said, his voice low and measured. "I'll apply some medicine for you. Endure the pain. Stay here and reflect. If you dare cry out again, go find a rope and hang yourself. If you can't bring yourself to do it, I'll help you. Do you understand?"

He grabbed a handful of salt and rubbed it onto the middle-aged man's face.

The man wailed again. "He hit me. He hit me…"

Li Banfeng frowned. "You really didn't understand. Fine, I'll take you somewhere and hang you."

The surrounding villagers were all stunned.

One man shouted, "He hit a disciple of the Sage. Stop him quickly! Don't let him escape!"

A disciple of the Sage? This is the kind of disciple the Sage produces?

They want to stop me? What's wrong with these people? They willingly let their children be tortured by a fucker like this?

"So what if I hit him?" Li Banfeng said.

He lifted the middle-aged man by the neck. Then, with a twist of his wrist, he snapped the middle-aged man's neck on the spot.

The villagers watched in horror. He killed a disciple of the Sage!

Yes, I killed him, Li Banfeng thought. A fucker like him would only be a scourge if he were left alive.

The villagers rushed forward to block Li Banfeng's way, their shouts filling the air.

"Don't let him get away!"

"Take him to the Sage's Peak, and have him suffer death by a thousand cuts!"

Li Banfeng tossed aside the middle-aged man's corpse and walked straight out of the paddy. Looking at the villagers, he said, "Go tell your Sage that I'm the one who killed him. Let's see who can stop me today!"

The villagers fell silent.

Li Banfeng strode away, but no one dared to tail him.

One villager whispered, "We don't need to stop him. He's committed a grave crime. The Sage won't let him leave!"

Li Banfeng let out a scoff. He wanted to see just how capable this Sage really was.

By dusk, Li Banfeng returned to the village. Just like the villager said, he truly hadn't managed to leave. After walking for half a day, he ended up circling back to the same village.

When the villagers saw Li Banfeng in the village again, they all retreated into their homes and shut their doors tightly.

Li Banfeng sat at the entrance of the village and tapped the Liquor Gourd. "Sis, do you remember now? What kind of place is this?"

The Liquor Gourd fell silent for a long moment before replying, "I've been thinking, but it seems I've never been here before."

"And you?" Li Banfeng asked the Old Teapot.

The Old Teapot coughed twice and replied, "This place is damn strange. I've never been here either…"

Forget it. I'll go back to the Pocket Dwelling and ask Wifey.

Just as Li Banfeng was about to take out his house key, he heard someone approach. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

He stood up and asked quietly, "Who's there?"

The delicate voice of a woman rang out. "Benefactor, it's me. How did you end up here, eh?"