Chapter 1413: The People's Hearts Are the Blade
Qin Mu walked out of the Lanque Terrace and looked back. Wei Yong stood dazed on the terrace platform, staring at that piece of iron.
The Butcher strode over and walked alongside him, praising, "Your cultivation in the Dao realm is too profound, which has improved your blade technique. Even a piece of iron can be wielded by you with the power of a divine weapon."
Qin Mu was lost in thought, then shook his head again.
This was not something worthy of praise. Compared to these ordinary practitioners, he surpassed them by too much—whether in vision, insight, or Dao heart, or in foundation. Even if he were given a small wooden stick, he could still sever a divine weapon.
The Butcher laughed, "The enlightenment you gained this time, comprehending the Blade of Law and Order, is clearly meant to undermine my prestige, saying that I am merely acting on reckless courage. But I wield my blade and roam the world, carefree and unrestrained, without the constraints of your rules and regulations. Your Blade of Law and Order is not necessarily better than my path of the blade."
Qin Mu was silent for a moment, then said, "Grandpa Butcher, you must have known about Wei Qinghe long ago. Why didn't you use your blade of reckless courage to eliminate him, instead leaving him for me to deal with personally?"
"If I did it, it would always be acting on reckless courage. If you do it, it represents the direction of Yankang."
The Butcher smiled freely, "In these years, you were in the Heavenly Court while I was in Yankang. I have seen too many similar things, and I have killed quite a few out of reckless courage. But so what? The blade of reckless courage cannot solve these problems. Yankang is so vast; the power of one man cannot investigate the rights and wrongs of the entire Yankang. It requires Lord Mu to establish the law and order. I have been waiting for you to return."
"In this world, there are always places where the blade of law and order of Yankang cannot reach. Perhaps the anger of a common man, spilling blood within five paces, is still needed."
Qin Mu thought for a moment, then said, "The court needs to show the blade of law and order, to rectify official governance. But no matter how much it is rectified, there will still be people like Wei Qinghe. Grandpa Butcher, you are right. I have been too close to the heavens and too far from the earth. It is time for me to reflect on myself. All my skills originally arose from the mortal world. It was only after I went to the Heavenly Court that I began to study the Dao of the Primordial, attempting to catch up with the Ten Venerables in a short time, giving Yankang a chance to breathe and develop. In these years, I have forgotten where these skills of mine came from."
The path of the sage lies in the daily use of the common people. He had always thought he was still on this path, but when he suddenly looked back, he realized he had deviated. It was not too late to return now.
"Your original intention has not changed, so you are still a good youth."
The Butcher patted his shoulder and brought him to the blacksmith shop in the new city. This was a place for making farming tools, not for forging spiritual weapons. The blacksmith shop hung hoes, iron plows, kitchen knives, and other items.
"Forge a good blade."
The Butcher sat down and said to the blacksmith, "I want a wrought iron blade. Two catties of iron, for this young man."
He pointed at Qin Mu, who also sat down on the long bench. The blacksmith brought over coarse tea and said, "I don't have wrought iron, but I have crude iron."
"If there's no wrought iron, even better. This young man can shatter divine weapons with just a piece of iron scrap. Bring two catties of crude iron, not a single tael more, lest he find it too convenient to cut people. Let the young man forge it himself."
The Butcher drank his tea. The coarse tea was bland, but he savored it with great relish, saying, "You work the bellows for him and assist."
The blacksmith looked at Qin Mu suspiciously. Seeing his fine attire, he laughed, "This young master is a noble gentleman. How could he do such rough work?"
Qin Mu drank his tea and laughed, "I was also a blacksmith back in the day. Why do you have these farming tools in your shop? Aren't there daily-use spiritual weapons?"
"Even if one eats abalone and delicacies all year round, one must also eat coarse meals sometimes."
The blacksmith laughed, "Besides, the common folk aren't that wealthy. In recent years, grain prices have been too low. Hiring practitioners to harvest or using daily-use spiritual weapons to harvest costs too much—not everyone can afford it. In these years, the practitioners have money, but what wealth do ordinary folks have? Using these farming tools to do the work can also save some expenses."
Qin Mu silently drank his tea, holding the bowl for a long time without finishing it.
Suddenly, he tilted his head back and drained it in one gulp. He set down the large bowl, stood up, and said, "Come, you work the bellows, and I'll forge the iron."
The blacksmith selected a few pieces of crude iron and assisted him.
Qin Mu wielded the hammer to forge. The blacksmith watched his technique and could not help but praise, "You're truly a skilled blacksmith. If you opened a shop, old man, my business would be ruined by you!"
Qin Mu forged a crude iron blade. The two catties of crude iron were tempered by him until they looked as if they were cast from dark iron, gleaming with cold light, the chill emanating from it.
The Butcher paid the bill and said, "Keep the change. Mu'er, let's go. You've found your original intention. Your blade needs the next step of tempering."
But Qin Mu did not follow him, saying, "I still have some matters that urgently need to be handled."
The Butcher's heart stirred slightly. He stopped, looked up at the sky.
The blacksmith was delighted at their generous spending. He suddenly looked up and saw that stars had appeared in the sky.
It was broad daylight, yet there was starlight, and this starlight was dazzling—truly a strange occurrence!
The starlight was moving. One large star was surrounded by a hundred or so smaller stars. As the starlight drew closer, the stars became increasingly clear.
Whoosh—
Beams of starlight descended from the sky, landing in this new city of Jiangling. They were none other than the civil official corps of the Yankang court—the officials of the Ministry of Personnel responsible for official governance.
"Officials of the Ministry of Personnel pay respects to the Imperial Preceptor!" The hundred or so officials, surrounding the Minister of Personnel, bowed in unison and spoke with one voice.
"No need for such formalities."
Qin Mu raised his hand, unsealing his cultivation, and said to the stunned blacksmith, "Borrowing your shop for a while. There will be compensation."
The blacksmith hastily retreated to the inner chamber. Qin Mu took out divine gold and divine materials from the Ancestral Court, smelted and forged them in public. The Minister of Personnel and the gods of the Ministry of Personnel looked up and saw lines of legal text floating in the air, spreading from this small blacksmith shop, extending throughout the entire new city of Jiangling. The legal text was accompanied by grand Dao sounds, rumbling and resonating continuously, as if impartial judges were reciting the iron laws of Yankang one by one!
In the new city of Jiangling, countless common folk walked out onto the streets, listening to the voices reciting the laws, unconsciously drawn in.
Wei Yong and those few gods of Jiangling had not left either. They watched the legal text descending from the sky, dazed and lost in thought.
With Qin Mu's hammering, amidst the recitation, those legal texts were hammered by him into a divine blade, becoming iron laws, becoming the power of the divine blade.
After a long while, Qin Mu dispersed the divine fire, discarded the iron hammer, and held up a Blade of Law and Order in his hands. His voice resounded throughout the entire city, deep and solemn: "Officials of the Ministry of Personnel, step forward to receive the blade."
The officials of the Ministry of Personnel stepped forward. The Minister of Personnel bowed, raising both hands high.
"Is the law of Yankang rule by man or rule by law? Is it governing the country with law, or governing according to law? Do the old laws of Yankang still conform to the current era?"
"Yankang's Dao techniques and divine powers must change. Should Yankang's laws also change?"
"Were the good laws of yesteryear turned into evil laws in the present? How to punish evil, how to promote good, how to achieve justice?"
"It is impossible to completely abandon rule by man. How to strike a balance between rule by man and rule by law?"
"Are those who uphold the law self-disciplined, externally disciplined, or disciplined by the law?"
"Ministers of the Ministry of Personnel!"
"The law concerns the direction of the people's hearts!"
"The people's hearts are the blade—the strongest divine blade. It can cut down one or two corrupt officials, and it can also destroy a powerful nation. Gentlemen, I ask you to care for the people's hearts on my behalf."
"Today, on behalf of the court, I bestow this blade upon you. The reform and transformation of the law is entrusted to you!"
Qin Mu bowed and offered the Blade of Law and Order. The Minister of Personnel stepped forward, raised the divine blade with both hands, bowed his head, and retreated to stand with the other officials. He said in a deep voice, "Where the law resides, the Ministry of Personnel will go through fire and water, and will not fail the people's hearts of the world!"
...
Qin Mu followed the Butcher as they left the new city of Jiangling, step by step. This bestowal of the blade in the new city would cause no small shock in Yankang. The reform of the law would inevitably be promoted and spread, perhaps returning a clear and upright political situation to Yankang.
"Grandpa Butcher, where is our next stop?"
"This mortal world is both a great sacred land and a great purgatory. Living beings transcend in this sacred land and also sink in this purgatory. There are too many injustices in the world, too many conflicts—open and covert struggles, scheming and intrigue, countless beyond number. The path of the blade must be tempered in the mortal world, and also tempered on the battlefield."
The Butcher said, "I'll take you to the battlefield. Although you are my disciple, you have never been on a real battlefield. The war in Taihuangtian was only a taste for you. Back then..."
He was lost in thought, then shook his head again: "Never mind, let's not talk about it."
Qin Mu asked curiously, "Grandpa Butcher, since you brought up the subject, why not continue?"
The Butcher hesitated for a moment. Seeing that Qin Mu was not as solemn as before—having bestowed the Blade of Law and Order upon the Ministry of Personnel, Qin Mu's Dao heart had become firm again, stronger than before—the Butcher was also happy for him, so he did not hide it, saying, "Back then, I was still considered a talented scholar. Although I was tall and burly, I was well-read in poetry and books. My essays, poems, and songs were somewhat famous. At that time, I was a literary man, indulging in a life of luxury and pleasure, lingering in the pleasure quarters. It was not until the enemy invaded, the country was broken and my family was destroyed, that I saw the horrors of that time. So I threw away my brush and ink, drew my blade, and joined the army to go to the battlefield. Several hundred talented scholars from the south of the river went with me. Of those who returned..."
His voice was hoarse: "Only me."
Qin Mu patted his shoulder.
The Butcher let out a turbid breath and said, "The blade on the battlefield is different from the blade you encounter in ordinary times. The blade on the battlefield is a blade of slaughter, but also a blade of redemption."
Qin Mu was slightly startled and asked for the meaning.
The Butcher said, "The blade kills the enemy, and saves the rivers and mountains behind it, and the common people who live in those rivers and mountains. The blade of the common man spills blood within five paces, avenging grievances with swift pleasure. The blade of the battlefield gallops across a thousand li, hands stained with blood, saving countless lives! Come with me to the battlefield, to see your comrades in arms!"
Qin Mu's heart was greatly shaken, and he followed him, stepping forward.
They traveled for dozens of days and arrived at the battlefield in the southern frontier. After the Ten Venerables divided the Primordial Realm, the pressure on Yankang increased greatly. The first force to attack Yankang was under the command of Fire Venerable from the southern lands—a mixed force of humans and demigods attacking Yankang, seizing cities and territories.
These gods, demons, and practitioners came from the Southern Heaven, being the humans and demigods of the Southern Heaven.
The Butcher and Qin Mu each assumed false names and enlisted in the army.
"The army across from us—they are also people." A soldier looked at the opposing army and said with a trembling voice.
"Don't have that kind of thought."
An old soldier comforted him, saying, "Think about what's behind you. Behind you is Yankang! Behind you are the people of Yankang! If you treat the enemy across from you as people too, then the one who dies will be you, and the people you are supposed to protect!"
"Pant, pant..."
Someone was breathing heavily, legs trembling, face pale with tension, almost unable to catch his breath: "This is my first time on the battlefield. Before this, I only ever drilled with other scholars at the academy. I've never really been in battle..."
"Just follow me when the time comes."
An old soldier with a scar on his face laughed, "Do you remember what the teacher taught you in class? When you see someone in the sky waving a flag, stand up. When you hear the drum, if it beats continuously, advance. If the drum quickens, run and charge. When you hear the bell, stop. When you hear the drum and cymbal, retreat. Furthermore, there will be those proficient in divine consciousness who will transmit orders directly into our minds, so there won't be any mistakes."
The scarred old soldier then looked at Qin Mu and handed him a water pipe, laughing, "You don't look nervous. Are you an old soldier? Smoke this. The flavor is good."
Qin Mu took the water pipe, took a puff, and said, "I once went to the battlefield of Taihuangtian and fought blindly for a while."
"The Taihuangtian battlefield? That was over twenty years ago."
The scarred old soldier's spirits lifted, and he waved his hand, saying, "Everyone, gather around this brother. All of us in this squad, come over!"
The other few practitioners gathered around. The scarred old soldier chuckled, "There's an old soldier here who's been to Taihuangtian! When the fighting starts, we'll charge together. Follow him, and our chances of survival are greater! Come, come, everyone remember each other's faces. We must get familiar with one another."