Walking by the Abyss on Thin Ice

Chapter 1 – The fox accompanies reading

"In the poem 'Eastern Capital Rhapsody', it is said that within the four seas, schools are like forests, and the gates of schools are full of students. This sentence describes the flourishing education of the Yuan Dynasty.

Since Emperor Yuan, the Yuan Dynasty has established official schools throughout the country. The official schools in the countryside are called 'Xiangxu', the official schools in counties, roads, towns, and marquises are called 'Jiao', the official schools in prefectures and states are called 'Xue', and the official schools in the Eastern Capital are called 'Taixue'.

Qiu Shuijing, a male teacher from the city, came from Shuofang City to Tianshiyuan. However, what he saw on the way was not the same as the description in the 'Eastern Capital Rhapsody'.

The Xiangxu in the villages and towns along the way not only did not have students, but were even deserted. Some Xiangxu had already closed down, with weeds and foxes everywhere, and many monsters lurking.

In the past thirty years, people in the countryside have all gone to the city, leaving only women, children, and the elderly in the countryside, struggling to make a living on thin fields. This has led to many problems.

The countryside in Qiu Shuijing's heart carries his childhood memories of beautiful mountains and clear waters, talented people, and spiritual land. However, what he saw on this trip was a scene of moral decay and social disorder.

Without saying anything else, the education in Xiangxu alone has a big problem.

The young people in the countryside have all gone to the city, leaving only the elderly and children. Some couples with money will often take their children to the city to study in official schools, and those who are left are those who have no money. Their parents work outside, and their grandparents cannot take care of these children.

The children left behind in the countryside have no parental guidance and not only do not go to Xiangxu to study, but also call friends and form gangs, causing trouble in the villages.

In the past, Xiangxu was full of students, but now only three or five young people can study there, which is considered good.

'Without scholars, Xiangxu in the countryside cannot continue. Without Xiangxu, children in the countryside have nowhere to study, and ignorant people will increase, which will lead to chaos in the countryside.'

After reaching the no man's land, Qiu Shuijing shook his head repeatedly.

However, his purpose for coming to Tianshiyuan this time was not to investigate the situation in the countryside, but had other plans.

"Mr. Shuijing, it's getting late. Why don't we stay in this Xiangxu for a while, eat something, and make plans when the gate of heaven appears?" A scholar behind Qiu Shuijing spoke up.

Qiu Shuijing looked at the setting sun, nodded, and walked into a dilapidated Xiangxu with a group of scholars. They saw that the place was full of thorns and had been abandoned for many years.

After the scholars cleaned up, they were about to start a fire and cook, when suddenly they heard the sound of reading coming from the inner hall of the Xiangxu.

Qiu Shuijing's expression changed slightly, and he made a gesture for silence, quietly got up, and followed the sound of reading to the inner hall of the Xiangxu.

The scholars followed him quietly, and the sound of reading gradually became clearer. Everyone wondered: 'This Xiangxu has clearly been abandoned for many years, and it's in a deserted area with no one around. How can there be a teacher teaching here?'

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"The teacher in Xiangxu may not necessarily be a human." Qiu Shuijing seemed to have guessed their thoughts and said coldly in a low voice.

The scholars were frightened and looked into the inner hall, where a half-human, yellow-skinned old fox stood up, holding a teaching whip in his left hand and a book in his right hand, pacing back and forth in the hall.

And there were more than a dozen foxes sitting upright below, yellow, white, red, and flowered, each shaking their heads and reciting scriptures!

"Evil spirits are at work, opening up wisdom, understanding reason, and starting to recite the articles of the saints. They will definitely transform into humans in the future, causing harm to the world and even competing with humans for the world!"

Qiu Shuijing was filled with murderous intent and was about to make a move, but suddenly his gaze stopped, and his murderous intent gradually faded.

He saw a young man in a yellow shirt sitting upright among the fox demons, shaking his head and reciting articles with them. The young man was thirteen or fourteen years old, with clear eyebrows, red lips, and white teeth, and he was studying earnestly.

In this classroom, except for this young man, no one was human!

"The people of Tianshiyuan are in decline, the Xiangxu in the countryside is collapsing, and people no longer teach children, but fox demons are teaching them to read and write."Qiu Shuijing felt emotional in his heart: "And it's rare to have a good learner, forget it, let them be. This young man actually studies with a group of fox spirits in the remote area, he's not afraid, really strange..."

He turned and left.

The scholars were surprised and followed him quietly to the courtyard of the school.

Qiu Shuijing didn't speak, and the scholars didn't dare to ask.

After a while, the sound of the bell came, and the children's cheers, noise, and commotion could be heard from the classroom. Many fox spirits rushed out, making a fuss. When they saw the people in the courtyard, more than a dozen fox spirits stood there on two legs, staring with their eyes and mouths open, at a loss.

The scholars looked at Qiu Shuijing one after another, but he just smiled faintly and didn't care.

Footsteps came from the school, and a slightly childish voice said, "Brother Hua Er, Brother Li San, don't run too fast, wait for me!"

The scholars followed the sound and saw that the human boy had fallen behind, just coming out of the classroom.

A female scholar saw the boy's movements clearly and whispered to the scholar next to her, "He's blind..."

The other scholars looked carefully and suddenly realized.

The boy's eyes were all white, without pupils, he was indeed blind.

"No wonder he's studying with fox spirits."

Everyone thought to themselves, "He can't see, he can only hear, and he mistakenly thinks that everyone around him is human, but he didn't expect that he was studying with demons!"

Although the boy was blind, his ears were sensitive. He smiled and said, "Teacher, teacher, there are guests in the school!"

Tap, tap.

The sound of the cane hitting the ground came, and the old yellow-skinned fox teacher came out of the classroom with a cane, his voice sounding old, "The guest has come from afar, I apologize for not welcoming you, please forgive me."

After speaking, the old fox's face sank, and he said to the little foxes, "Class is over, it's late now, hurry home."

The little foxes quickly scattered.

Qiu Shuijing looked at the blind boy, but saw that although he was blind, he seemed to be able to see clearly around him. He and the scholars slightly bowed to him, and followed the foxes out of the dilapidated school.

Qiu Shuijing was slightly surprised and looked at the boy's back, lost in thought.

"His name is Su Yun."

The old yellow-skinned fox coughed and raised his hand to lead Qiu Shuijing into the inner hall, saying, "He's from Tianmen Town in the Tianmen Wall. He's thirteen years old this year. When Su Yun was seven years old, his family had an accident, and he became blind. It's quite pitiful. But he's a good student. One day he came to me and heard the sound of reading, and he couldn't walk away. I saw that he was eager to learn, so I let him stay."

Qiu Shuijing nodded and said lightly, "He's from Tianmen Town? As far as I know, there are no living people in Tianmen Town in Tianmen Wall. Not only are there no people in Tianmen Town, but also in the surrounding hundred miles."

The old yellow-skinned fox stopped and looked at him, smiling slightly and shaking his beard, "What you heard is probably just a rumor."

Qiu Shuijing looked at the painting hanging on the main hall, which depicted plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums, corresponding to the four gentlemen. There was a title on it, "To be a teacher and a model for others," without a signature, and he didn't know who painted it.

The old yellow-skinned fox came to the painting, sat upright facing Qiu Shuijing, and placed his cane on his knee, saying solemnly, "The gentleman from the city, please spare my life."

Qiu Shuijing took his gaze back from the painting and asked, "What should I call you?"

The old fox said, "They call me Mr. Fox. What should I call the gentleman from the city?"

"Qiu Shuijing."

Qiu Shuijing slightly bowed, "I led my students to pass by this place, and we were tired from the journey. I ask for your understanding to allow us to rest here."

The old fox raised his head and looked at him in surprise, "You're not here to slay demons and exorcise evil?"

"Confucius taught without discrimination, isn't that what Mr. Fox is doing?"

Qiu Shuijing solemnly said, "Sir is a demon, Su Yun is a human. Sir did not refuse to teach him just because he is not of the same kind. This is what a good teacher should do. However, now that the rural areas are in disorder, education is difficult to carry out. It is already hard enough for people to teach without discrimination, let alone demons. Therefore, Mr. Wild Fox's actions are particularly precious."

Old Fox breathed a sigh of relief.

Qiu Shuijing changed the subject and said, "But I just heard Mr. Wild Fox teaching the classics of the old saints, thousands of years old and out of date. Although the classics of the old saints are good, they are no longer suitable for the present era."

Old Fox was shocked, "Why would you say that, Mr. Shuijing? These are the books taught in schools in the past. They have been studied for thousands of years..."

"In the past, yes. Even a few hundred years ago or thirty-five years ago, it was still the same. But now..."

Qiu Shuijing showed a bitter smile, paused, and said, "Sir, times have changed."

He repeated, "Times have changed. Hehe, sticking to old ways will only lead to defeat. Things are different now..."

He shook his head and did not continue.

Old Fox stood up tremblingly, a little confused, "May I ask Mr. Shuijing, if we don't teach the classics of the old saints, what should we teach? You mentioned the old saints, are there new saints now?"

Qiu Shuijing shook his head and sneered, "New saints? There are none in the world today... Maybe there are, but not in Yuanshuo country..."

He paused for a moment and said, "The rural schools cannot keep up with the times. If you want to learn useful things, you have to go to the city. Sticking to the classics of the old saints will only lead to defeat, and you will only learn things from thousands of years ago. Mr. Wild Fox, although you teach without discrimination, continuing to teach like this will only mislead the next generation. The old saints' teachings cannot survive in the city."

Old Fox was stunned.

Mislead the next generation?

Where did this come from?

Has the knowledge of the old saints really declined to this extent?

After a moment, Old Fox bowed to Qiu Shuijing and turned into a demon spirit, disappearing.

Qiu Shuijing stepped out of the hall.

At three in the morning, Qiu Shuijing was meditating and dozing off when suddenly he became alert and opened his eyes, whispering, "Wake up! Tianmen has opened!"

In the school, all the scholars were sleeping on the ground. Upon hearing this, they all got up with excitement.

"Extinguish the fire!"

Qiu Shuijing ordered, and immediately some scholars put out the fire.

Whoosh...

Qiu Shuijing jumped onto the roof of the school building, and several scholars followed suit, landing beside him.

There were no lights in the villages of the night sky market, unlike the colorful lights of the city. Only the stars and the crescent moon decorated the night sky.

The cold wind blew.

Qiu Shuijing whispered, "Open your heavenly eyes, otherwise you won't be able to see Tianmen!"

The scholars behind him each took out a jade leaf, shaped like an eye, and stuck it on their foreheads, like a vertical eye.

"Open!" The scholars all muttered.

The jade leaves on their foreheads gradually disappeared under their skin.

One scholar's skin under his forehead rolled, and then his skin split to the sides, revealing a rolling eyeball.

The heavenly eyes of the other scholars also opened one after another, looking around, and they couldn't help but tremble and whisper, "Tianmen has really opened! The ghost market has appeared too!"