Chapter Forty-Seven: Spreading the Way

"Why is there such vast wisdom and profound philosophy in the world?" Socrates was drenched in sweat, as if he had been washed in water. When he saw the sweat from his fingers staining the papyrus, he hurriedly placed the five sheets on the table. He stood there in a daze for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter, laughing so hard he bent over, only to break into tears, weeping uncontrollably.

Zhu Xiaoyong slept like the dead, but Wang Dongwei was awakened by this laughing and crying. He blinked open his eyes in confusion and turned his head, just in time to see Socrates clutching his head, bawling.

Though he’d never met him before, the man’s distinctive, peculiar features made it obvious—this was Socrates! To see the ancient Greek sage weeping while a smile ghosted across his face, like a madman, made Wang Dongwei’s mouth fall open, his eyes wide.

"Am I dreaming? Or is this a hallucination?"

He stared for a few seconds, as if doubting his own eyes, rubbed them, and looked again.

No mistake.

It was Socrates.

He pinched himself.

Ouch!

Not a dream.

If it weren't for Yan Luo's Heartless Doll, already filled with 200 points of capacity, it certainly would have absorbed the intense and complex surge of emotion flooding the room.

After venting his feelings with laughter and tears, Socrates, now somewhat drained, wiped muddy tears from his face and asked in a hoarse voice, "Are these your thoughts?"

"No."

"These were written by a wise man from our land of Hua Xia. It is precisely this civilization that we three envoys have come across ten thousand miles to Greece to share. Now, I have put them on paper... May I entrust this task of spreading them to you?" Yan Luo asked.

"It would be my honor."

With heartfelt reverence, Socrates first dried the sweat from his hands, then lifted the five sheets of papyrus covered in letters.

"May I ask, what is the name of this sage?"

"If you translate his name directly into your ancient Greek, you could call him Father; but in Hua Xia, he is known as the Grand Supreme Elder Lord, one of the three beings born from the soul of Pangu after he created the world and perished, a sage dwelling beyond the heavens."

"Yesterday, I heard students recount the history of Hua Xia, and did not believe it—now I do. Only a sage greater even than the gods could possess such thought and wisdom," Socrates exclaimed in awe.

What Yan Luo had written was the classic left by Laozi on his journey west through Hangu Pass: the five thousand words of the Book of the Way and Virtue.

Socrates in the West held a status equal to Confucius in the East.

History records that Confucius once sought advice from Laozi. For three days after returning, he said nothing. His disciples wondered why. Confucius replied, “When I saw Laozi, he was like a dragon—his knowledge deep and unfathomable, his aspirations lofty and mysterious; as a snake bends and stretches at will, so the dragon transforms with the times. Lao Dan is truly my master!”

It was not until the 16th century that the Book of the Way and Virtue was translated abroad. By modern times, there are hundreds, even thousands of versions! According to UNESCO statistics, among the world’s cultural masterpieces, only the Bible sells more copies than the Book of the Way and Virtue.

Even the mad philosopher Nietzsche, who once said, "I am the sun—I do not take, I only give," praised the Book of the Way and Virtue as an inexhaustible wellspring, overflowing with treasures, where one needs only lower the bucket and the bounty is in hand.

The most illustrious philosophers, thinkers, mathematicians, physicists—Marx, Hegel, Tolstoy, Leibniz, Schopenhauer—and even Bohr, who famously debated Einstein, were all astonished by the wisdom found in the Book of the Way and Virtue.

Einstein himself kept a translated copy on his bookshelf.

Socrates, the Western sage whose status matched Confucius, could only be truly humbled by Laozi—and as a philosopher, he could appreciate even more the astonishing thought contained in the Book of the Way and Virtue.

He laughed at his own arrogance for daring to challenge such wisdom from Hua Xia; he wept that he had only now come to see it.

Yan Luo had no idea Socrates would seek him out, but since the man hadn’t appeared the day before, and since the three claimed to be spreading the civilization of Hua Xia, he decided to translate the Book of the Way and Virtue directly. If Socrates came, he could simply hand him the book and send him on his way; if not, he could give it to Herodotus and the other Greek sages, and his diplomatic mission would not be a lie.

The Book of the Way and Virtue is called the General Canon of All the Ways under Heaven. Whether these Athenians could glean any "longevity techniques" or such cultivation methods from it was not Yan Luo’s concern.

Perhaps, in this alternate history, the West would develop Daoism? Give rise to a band of wild Daoist priests?

From his initial fighting spirit to being so moved he laughed and wept, then, stirred by the wisdom of the Book of the Way and Virtue, Socrates, invigorated once more, left Yan Luo’s presence and returned to the Senate.

Pericles and the elders had finished their midday meal and were awaiting Socrates’ return from challenging Yan Luo.

"I wonder if he can defeat that envoy from Hua Xia," one elder mused.

"Of course! Socrates has never lost a debate with anyone in Athens!"

"Socrates is here!" cried a herald, rushing into the hall.

Speak of Socrates, and Socrates appears.

"Quick, let him in," Pericles said, his heart a mix of anticipation and apprehension.

Yet the moment he saw the gadfly of Athens beaming with joy, his eyes alight, Pericles relaxed.

He stood up at once, laughing heartily: "I was worried, but seeing you now, I am reassured. Well, you must have defeated the envoy, right?"

"Undoubtedly," an elder nodded in agreement. The genuine joy radiating from Socrates was plain to see.

It seemed not just a victory, but a resounding triumph!

"No one can match Socrates."

"The wisest man in Athens—how could he lose?"

"Socrates, you are the hero of Greece!"

…

As the elders showered him with praise, Socrates’ expression stiffened slightly, his lips twitching as he said, "I lost."

"So, victory after all—wait, what?"

An elder who spoke by reflex was struck dumb.

"Ha…ha?" Pericles’ laughter cut off abruptly.

It was as if someone had invoked "the world"—all the elders froze, their faces and bodies motionless. For more than ten seconds, time itself seemed to halt, until at last it flowed on and Pericles forced a laugh, saying, "Socrates, you're joking with us?"

"No… I truly lost," Socrates replied, still beaming with joy.

Pericles felt a surge of anger, mixed with bewilderment. "You lost, and you’re this happy?"

"I have always considered myself an ignorant man, lacking in wisdom; thus, I have always loved wisdom. Today, I have seen true wisdom!" Socrates lifted the five sheets of papyrus. "Here, it is written!"

“We did not debate. He handed these to me, asked me to pass them on… This is the civilization the envoys from Hua Xia wish to share with Greece.”

“What? Socrates, have you gone mad?” cried an elder in disbelief.

It was precisely because they had been insulted as barbarians that the scholars had been summoned, to utterly defeat the envoys at the reception. Now, Athens’ greatest thinker and philosopher was volunteering to help the other side spread their civilization.

“Do you want to be put on trial?” Pericles demanded angrily.

“Archon,” Socrates stepped forward, his face resolute, “If you read these, you would understand… I love Athens, but I love wisdom even more. What is written here—the Book of the Way and Virtue—is the crystallization of civilization and wisdom. With this, Athens will become even more glorious.”

“I will not read it, nor will I allow you to spread it. Socrates, you have deeply disappointed me!”

“Archon, wisdom and thought know no borders! This is the classic of the great sage of Hua Xia—Father… the Grand Supreme Elder Lord. Though Athens prospers today, it is sunk in arrogance and emptiness. Without profound wisdom to guide us, prosperity and ruin are but a step apart!”

Socrates’ warning was not in vain; in truth, the Peloponnesian War would soon begin, and in the struggle with Sparta, Athens would utterly decline.

“Baseless threats and nonsense!” Pericles’ face was icy.

“Socrates,” an elder suddenly interjected, “Did you just say this papyrus, the Book of the Way and Virtue, comes from… the Grand Supreme Elder Lord?”

“Yes.”

With that confirmation, the entire senate was suddenly ablaze with excitement.

“It’s the Grand Supreme Elder Lord!”

“The sage born from Pangu’s soul after his death?”

“So the Book of the Way and Virtue is a scripture left by a sage? Can we cultivate immortality?”

“Let me see it!”

…

From yesterday to now, the elders had spoken of little else but the three sages in Hua Xia’s history—the Grand Supreme Elder Lord being the mightiest. The Great Desolation War, the War of Enfeoffment, the exquisite black and yellow pagoda in sky and earth, the image of two black and white fish spinning endlessly, the cushion of wind and fire, the art of dividing primordial energy into three beings—all these stories left the elders both shaken and full of longing.

And now Socrates had actually obtained the wisdom left by this sage!

The Book of the Way and Virtue.

With this—

Could they cultivate immortality?

Ascend to the heavens?

Live forever?

Many elders were already in their twilight years; now, with a sage’s scripture in hand, could they, by grasping its wisdom, also become wondrous immortals and join the ranks of Olympus?

The scene became chaotic at once. One by one, the elders pressed in around Socrates, reaching for the sheets of papyrus, their eyes burning with desire as they jostled and vied for the five pages. Pericles’ chest heaved violently; once more, he slammed his golden archon’s staff hard against the floor.

"This is enough to drive me mad!"