Chapter 133: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way

“Alright, that’s it for today’s lesson on the Book of Songs. Are you hungry? I’ll go cook some noodles for you,” said Li Fangchang, rising from his desk.

At that moment, Tang Zi, Wang Sheng, and Sun De all stood up, approached him, and said in unison, “Teacher, you sit down—we’re going to teach you today!”

Hearing this, Li Fangchang smiled. “Oh? You three little ones are going to teach me?”

“Did the sun rise in the west today?”

Tang Zi tugged at Li Fangchang’s sleeve and grinned. “Teacher Li, just go sit down there!”

Perplexed but amused, Li Fangchang chuckled, “Alright, alright, I’ll sit.”

Before long, Li Fangchang found himself seated in the “student’s” position, while the three children confidently took up the “teacher’s” roles.

Knock, knock!

Standing at the lectern, the three children tapped the desk in unison and called out, “Class is in session!”

Sitting cross-legged with his arms folded, Li Fangchang smiled, waiting for the children to begin.

But instead, the children simply stared back at him.

After a moment of silence, Tang Zi exclaimed, “Ah! Teacher Li… when Teacher Gu taught us, he said that teachers and students should greet each other before starting class.”

“Greet each other?” Li Fangchang raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

“Yes! Let us show you how it’s done!”

Hearing this, Wang Sheng and Sun De immediately stepped aside, with one pretending to be the teacher and the other the student.

Clearing his throat, Sun De called out, “Class is in session!”

Swish! Wang Sheng, who had been sitting on the ground, stood up, cupped his hands, and bowed, saying, “Greetings, Teacher Sun!”

“Greetings, student!” Sun De returned the bow.

Knock, knock! Tang Zi tapped the desk lightly. “Teacher Gu said that ‘student’ is how the teacher addresses the class out of respect.”

“Teacher Gu also told us that when he was studying, this is how they did it… to show mutual respect between teachers and students.”

“Alright, I understand now. Let’s do it again,” Li Fangchang said with a smile.

Soon, the three students resumed their positions and called out in unison, “Class is in session!”

Li Fangchang stood up, cupped his hands, and said, “Greetings, Teacher Tang, Teacher Wang, Teacher Sun…”

The three students responded in unison, “Greetings, student!”

“Alright, you may sit now,” said Tang Zi, gesturing for everyone to take their seats. She continued, “Now let’s begin the lesson… this is what Teacher Gu taught us that day.”

Over the next half-hour, the three children enthusiastically recounted the lesson Gu Ning’an had given them, replicating it as vividly as possible.

In reality, Gu Ning’an hadn’t taught them anything from the books that day.

Instead, he had shared the story of Wen Songmo with the children. Of course, he omitted many of the more “unsuitable for children” gruesome details, focusing instead on the tale of Wen Songmo’s rise and fall. He described how Wen Songmo went from being an ambitious scholar and top scorer in the imperial examination to a righteous official eradicating corrupt bureaucrats. Then, to protect his wife and children, he endured twenty years of begging, before finally returning to the court.

Gu Ning’an had chosen to tell the story of Wen Songmo because it resonated with Li Fangchang’s own circumstances.

Li Fangchang was naturally gifted, but Wen Songmo was even wiser—he had once been the top scholar in the imperial examination.

This top scholar, after years of diligent study, had become a magistrate, only to face such tragic misfortune within a year of his appointment.

But Wen Songmo was not defeated. Even though he fell from being a Zhuangyuan and magistrate to a beggar on the streets, he never gave up…

“Teacher Li, Mr. Gu asked us to tell you… Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” The three children spoke in unison. Their young voices, though innocent, struck straight to the heart.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way…” Li Fangchang murmured, repeating the phrase, his pupils trembling slightly. Suddenly, he stood up and shouted, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way!”

“Mr. Gu, I understand now!”

“Understand?” Gu Ning’an gazed at the Worldly Qi in his palm and chuckled. “What is there to understand? If you give it your all and still fail, sometimes letting go can be a form of grace…”

“Mr. Gu, who are you talking to?” The young Daoist looked around. After confirming that only he and Gu Ning’an were in the dense forest, he asked hesitantly.

Ignoring the question, Gu Ning’an casually dispersed the Worldly Qi and said indifferently, “Daoist Qingyuan, please explain this so-called Bat God matter in detail.”

Earlier, after Gu Ning’an had taken the young Daoist away, the man, perhaps out of honesty, confessed everything—from his background to how he lured and deceived ordinary people.

The Daoist, who called himself Qingyuan, was the abbot of the “Sanwu Daoist Temple”¹ located two hundred miles south. His master, the previous abbot, had passed away several years ago.

Qingyuan used wooden carvings imbued with mystical power as bait, leaving them in places like Aunt Zhou’s path. Then, he would hide nearby, using sound-transmitting techniques to guide people into picking up the carvings and worshiping them at home.

To avoid frightening Aunt Zhou, Qingyuan deliberately claimed the wooden carving represented a widely revered deity— the City God.

Aunt Zhou, who had initially planned to visit a temple to pray for Li Fangchang’s success in the exams, felt it was a stroke of luck. However, after bringing the carving home but before worshiping it, she experienced dizziness and blacked out.

Subsequently, Qingyuan appeared at the right time, falsely claiming there was an evil spirit at work. He charged a few copper coins, dispelled the “curse,” and left with everything seemingly resolved.

This “flawless” scheme would have been impossible for most people, no matter how clever, to see through.

Unfortunately for Qingyuan, his luck was poor. His very first attempt at deception brought him face-to-face with Gu Ning’an.

Considering that Qingyuan had only intended to cheat fifty coins and later showed genuine remorse, Gu Ning’an decided to listen to his story before taking further action.

To Gu Ning’an’s surprise, Qingyuan’s deceit did have a “valid” reason.

It turned out Qingyuan wasn’t keeping the money for himself. Instead, he planned to use it to combat a wild deity known as the “Bat God.”

According to him, Qingyuan possessed a spell called Golden Thread Coins, which required silver imbued with “wish power” to be effective.

To obtain such silver, Qingyuan orchestrated the entire “Daoist expelling evil” act, hoping to extract coins imbued with wish power from Li Fangchang’s family.

“The Bat God’s true form is likely a golden-winged bat that has achieved sentience. Someone built a temple for it and spread word of its powers to ward off evil and protect people.”

“At first, the Bat God’s incense offerings were scarce. But over time, rumors of its miraculous powers began to spread widely.”

“Beyond the original claims of warding off evil and ensuring safety, stories emerged of it granting children, curing illnesses, revitalizing spirits, and other unbelievable feats.”

“As its incense offerings grew, the Bat God transformed into a wild deity of the mountains and forests…”