Chapter 4: The Teacher of Ten Thousand Generations, Saint Confucius

In this era, those who raised cattle and horses were mostly nobles. In a small place like Lixiang, a single ox could serve dozens of households. Most people plowed the fields by hand instead of using cattle. Outside, the tall grasses, reaching up to the waist, were harvested and sold as fodder. But those grasses barely above ankle height were left untouched.

Lu Ge led the green ox out of the gate and hadn’t gone far when he saw the lush grass swaying gently. The ox eagerly rushed forward and began to graze wildly. Lu Ge sat down casually and gazed absentmindedly at the ox munching on the grass. The ox was intelligent, so he wasn’t worried it would wander off.

“What are you looking at me for?”
“What? You want to eat too?”

The ox felt uneasy under Lu Ge’s gaze and turned back to ask. Seeing the ox speak still left Lu Ge a bit stunned.
“Uh, I’m not eating, I’m not.” Lu Ge waved his hand to refuse.

The ox shook its head.
“Oh, it’s nothing. If you want to eat, just eat. There’s plenty of grass, and I’m not a guard ox.”

The ox was rather generous.
“Brother Ox.” Lu Ge looked at the ox and suddenly spoke, “Do you know the Supreme Taoist Sovereign of Virtue?”

The ox was slightly taken aback and turned to look at Lu Ge.
“What? What ‘sovereign’?”
“No idea, don’t know him.”
“Are you starving?”
“It’s fine, there’s so much grass. Eat if you want.”

Doesn’t know him? Lu Ge rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Could it be that this world wasn’t one of top-tier myths but rather one where history and myth coexisted? He pondered for a long time but remained clueless. Forget it, he didn’t want to think about it anymore. Whatever kind of world it was, he just needed to cling to Lao Dan’s golden thigh. Shaking his head, Lu Ge brushed away his worries.

“Brother Ox, you’ve been with Old Li for so many years, and you can already speak human language. Do you have any other supernatural abilities?” Lu Ge asked curiously.

The ox sprawled out, lying on the grass as it chewed thoughtfully.
“Hmmm... supernatural abilities? I can eat ten thousand pounds of fodder at a time—does that count?”

Lu Ge was speechless for a moment. Would that count? Probably.
“What about anything else?”

The ox lay flat on the grass, still munching.
“Nope, that’s it. I don’t care about supernatural abilities. I only care about whether I can eat my fill.”

“Little Lu, don’t be too obsessed with that. In my opinion, the more you cling to such things, the more distractions you have in your heart while learning the Way. That will only make cultivating supernatural powers harder. Enlightenment and cultivation depend on purity of thought. When the Way gathers within oneself, supernatural powers arise naturally.”

The ox gave Lu Ge a meaningful glance. Lu Ge was slightly stunned; that seemed to make sense.
“Thanks for the advice, Brother Ox.”

The ox chuckled, “Not bad, you’re good at taking advice.”
“That’s good enough.”

One man and one ox, chatting and grazing. Time passed unnoticed until the sun was at its zenith. The ox stood up and said, “Alright, I’m about thirty percent full.”
“Let’s go home.”

Lu Ge was puzzled. “Thirty percent full? Isn’t that like not eating at all?”
“Why don’t you eat some more then?” The ox bit the rope back into Lu Ge’s hand.
“Thirty percent full is enough to last me three days. But if you don’t go back and eat now, your stomach will start growling.”

Lu Ge held the rope and stroked the ox’s head.
“Hey, Brother Ox, you’re thoughtful after all.”
The ox raised its head proudly.
“Of course.”

“Let’s go, let’s go home.”
“Remember, tomorrow you have to take me out to graze again.”

Lu Ge patted his chest, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely bring you out.”

The man and the ox ambled home. Upon arrival, they found Lao Dan had already prepared food. Lu Ge didn’t hesitate and ate heartily. It seemed he was gradually adapting to the flavor of food in this era.

“In the afternoon, I’ll teach you the Way for one hour, and you tell me about the later world for one hour. How about that?” Lao Dan smiled and asked Lu Ge. Lu Ge naturally agreed, nodding repeatedly.

After the meal, they sat back inside.
“The Way that can be spoken of is not the constant Way,” Lao Dan began slowly.
Instinctively, Lu Ge replied, “The name that can be named is not the eternal name.”

Lao Dan was slightly surprised. “You know this?”
Lu Ge was a little embarrassed. “Your Tao Te Ching is revered as the king of all classics in the later world. Though I haven’t studied it deeply, I’m familiar with a few lines.”

Lao Dan raised his eyebrows, his face brightening. It was heartening to know his teachings would be handed down for a thousand years.
“Then you must learn well now. The meaning behind this is such and such, thus and so.”

Lao Dan explained the principles carefully, and Lu Ge listened attentively.

Time slipped by unnoticed.
“All right, now it’s your turn to speak,” Lao Dan suddenly said.

Lu Ge was stunned. An hour—two hours—had passed so quickly? When he was in class in the later world, two hours felt like two days.
“All right. Actually, I’m still in school in the later world. There are many things I know the results of but not the reasons why. How about I talk about what I usually study? That’s what I’m most familiar with,” Lu Ge said, looking at Lao Dan.

Lao Dan smiled and nodded without hesitation.
“Good.”

Lu Ge began to speak, covering poetry, songs, reading comprehension, multiplication tables, and calculus. Lao Dan was fascinated, as if listening to heavenly music. One old, one young, sharing the Way with each other. Days and months passed unknowingly.

Lu Ge spent his mornings herding cattle and his afternoons discussing and learning the Way. The restless heart that longed to cultivate supernatural powers gradually calmed. Joy, serenity, and ease gradually emerged. To outsiders, a faint aura of the Way had begun to manifest.

One midday, Lu Ge returned from grazing to find several ox carts and horse carriages parked at the gate.
“Hey, are there guests?”

In all the time he’d been here, this was the first visit he’d seen. Judging by the number of carriages, the visitors were no ordinary people. These carts and carriages would be considered luxury vehicles in the later world.

Upon entering the yard, people crowded together, even filling the ox’s stall. The green ox was a little unhappy.

“Moo.”

The crowd turned as one to look at Lu Ge and the ox.
“My name is Yan Hui. May I ask your name?” a man stepped forward, cupping his hands in greeting.

Yan Hui? Lu Ge recognized the name. The Restorer of Confucianism! Could it be that the visitors were... the eternal teacher, Confucius himself?

Lu Ge scanned the crowd. These must be Confucius’s disciples.
“My name is Lu Ge, and I am...”

Before he could finish, Lao Dan’s voice rang from inside the house.
“He is my disciple.”
“And also my teacher.”

As the voice fell, Lao Dan appeared at the doorway. Beside him stood another man, about nine feet six inches tall, with a majestic presence. His head was slightly indented at the top. No need to say more—this was Confucius himself.