THE WEIRD HERMIT 6

"Ah... for that part, maybe you are right... My way of thinking is somehow different from my other siblings." And that is why I often argue with Fu Huang.

"And more, my brother said, if your mindset could be applied in its entirety, Ming would flourish in an instant, and would gain one hundred years of advancement at once... or even more."

"What?!"

"If only it could be applied... but you won't be able to apply it. The reason is the same as what my brother had to endure. Authoritarianism."

Gao Qing looked up. Looking at the blanket of stars that stretched to infinity.

"You and my brother are the kinds of people who should not be born in this era. You should be born in an era when everyone can actualize themselves without being bound by social status. The era when every person has the right to choose what type of life he wants and it becomes his full responsibility, and no one can force him of what he must or mustn't do, not either the ruler of this country. But God knows whether that kind of era may exist or not. Only the stars know the answer."

A group of stars with lazy eyes scattered around the moon. The gauze-like clouds floated in the sky, which seemed to hide the ethereal fairyland of the unreachable world. Few seconds later, a star glittered luminously at the far right of the star ocean in the sky.

"If I can regain political power, I will make sure that it can be realized!"

The sudden words which were uttered by Zhu Su very seriously soon provoked Gao Qing to ask, "Well, then. What actually has made you stranded in here?"

Zhu Su told everything that had happened to Gao Qing briefly. Gao Qing took a very long breath as a sign of pity.

"Then what I say is precisely right. You live in the wrong era. The noble Confucian principle is being deviated so chaotically just for political interests and lust for power. We do have to respect leaders, but that does not mean our lives are entirely determined by leaders. If the leader wants someone die, then he will surely die, isn't that a strange concept? Doesn't it violate the Buddhist principle that we should treat every creature and every life as it should be? And moreover, your nephew and son have violated the most basic Confucian principle - respect for elders. Hence, do they still have the right to call themselves good leaders?"

"It isn't an important issue for them to violate the Confucian principle. My father himself did not like Confucian principles, he even forbade the books which were written by Mencius (indirect student of Confucius) and also the worship of Confucius. So they get the defense to break any rule from Confucius - especially if it is useful for their selfishness."

Gao Qing drew in a long breath.

"Brother Di - Yan Wang - has even been angry about this and he is now waging a war against Yingtian."

"Are you in the allies?"

"Yes... but I don't help a lot..."

"You still want to gain power?"

Zhu Su pursed his lips. "Absolutely! Everything they do towards me and my family is unforgivable. They have killed my wife, and almost kill my son. Not to mention their sins against other Fan Wangs. Their enormous sin must be avenged whatever it takes!"

"So you want to usurp the throne just because of vengeance?"

The occasional barking of faraway dogs broke the silence of the night.

"Because what I see is, Heaven doesn't help the right. At first, I thought that Heaven will give me a miracle as the legend of a good person always tells; although he was suffering at the beginning, Heaven always helped giving him in a magical way, and finally he defeated the people who did him wrong... but apparently, it is just a legend. The reality is, the one who will win in the end, is the strong one!"

"Boy, do you know the life story of Confucius?"

"Of course I know."

"So you surely know that, once Confucius' theory had been rejected so many times, until he chose to go to a tranquil mountain and taught students there?"

"Yes, I know the story."

"The important thing is not whether you memorize the story or not. The important thing is, can you draw a similarity between that story and your life experience now?"

Zhu Su stared at Gao Qing in surprise. Gao Qing nodded firmly.

"N... no. It's different! Confucius was only rejected but he was not punished unfairly. He could live freely even though his life was far from luxury. As for me... I am a person who should have died a long time ago... It is just because the strange path of fate save me from dying several times then I am still alive!..."

A small star twinkled brightly and squinted mischievously, like a sly pearl that adorned the dark blue night sky, and was no less inferior to the bright moon.

"You want to say, you are more miserable than Confucius so you have the right to take revenge?"

"I don't want to know about that anymore. All the books I've studied, their hypocritical wisdom and virtue, and other nonsense things... they are all but bullshit for me!"

Gao Qing turned silent. The atmosphere was then only filled by the sound of the night wind.

And, when he opened his mouth again, his voice sounded different.

"You will take revenge without having any weapon to fight? Isn't it a big foolishness?"

"Yes... I know I am just daydreaming..."

"You aren't just daydreaming. I will give you weapon, and by using it you will be able to get what you want."

"How... how can it be?!..." Zhu Su stared in astonishment. Gao Qing, an old man who had been driven out of Ming, owned nothing, and lived like an isolated hermit in the forest, now promised to give him the weapon to seize power?!?

"The weapon, is knowledge." Gao Qing nodded firmly. "That will help you far more effective than an ordinary military weapon."