Chapter 141: Go with the Flow

So, that was what Xiao Bai was worried about?

Hearing this, Mo Xiaobai shook his head. He thought Bai Hualin was already filled with hatred for the Mohist School, but the situation was actually much better than he imagined.

The girl in front of him only didn’t want to join the Mohist School because she couldn’t see a future or hope.

Xiao Bai’s question was indeed crucial. After the Mohist School truly mobilized, the power it gathered among the common people was such that no King would dare to ignore it. The best move was to hold it firmly. If they couldn’t hold it, then let the Mohist School become a disposable sacrifice.

These two approaches were the paths taken by King of Chu and King of Qin.

However, Mo Xiaobai knew very clearly: once the Mohist School was controlled, its most powerful aspect would inevitably be weakened to nothing. So, after listening to Bai Hualin, he spoke up: “Actually, your worry is unnecessary. Let me put it this way, Xiao Bai, do you know what King of Chu and King of Qin really value?”

Without even thinking about it, Bai Hualin answered directly: “Obviously, the most important thing is the product of the Mohist School encouraging people to practice with their own hands. In modern terms, it is technological power in every aspect.”

“Mm, you are absolutely right. The Kings of Chu and Qin want exactly this result. They don’t care at all about the core philosophies or the derived concept of non-aggression.”

“So you see? Just like with the Great God, talking about universal love to you is like playing the lute to a cow, right? If I used the ‘non-aggression’ principle to persuade you not to fight other Players for quests or resources, you would surely say I was crazy.”

“Cough, cough, although your words are very blunt, the logic is indeed correct.”

For this point, Mo Xiaobai couldn’t deny it. After all, in the current “Yang Zhi’s Calamity” Instance Quest, he had stolen it from others.

“So what more is there to say? I also know the Great God isn’t wrong. Just like we will definitely have a battle with Wa Country on the Plane someday, how could I foolishly urge you not to fight? I saw the last Forum incident, too. If they dare to come to our Forum and talk big, they must be careful that this Heroine will hunt them down to Mount Fuji.”

“I didn’t expect Xiao Bai to be such an angry nationalist.”

Mo Xiaobai was amused by Bai Hualin’s appearance, so he waved his hand: “Let’s not talk about such far-off things for now. Let’s talk about the Mohist School’s most precious asset. Both King of Qin and King of Chu want the Mohist School’s technological power, and you also feel it is the most tempting part. But in my eyes, the Mohist School’s true treasure is not this.”

“Then what does the Great God mean?”

“The Mohist School I admire is the one that, after rejecting the Confucian School’s ‘Fate Theory’, encouraged the people to practice with their own hands and never be lazy to seek strength and change. In our modern words, it is infinite creativity. The idea of ‘Life and death are determined by fate, and wealth and status come from heaven’ should indeed be thrown away. For many things, we only know the result after we have done them.”

While speaking, Mo Xiaobai pointed to the kitchen of the small shop: “If I don’t tell you that an Instance can be played this way, I guess that even after a year, you still wouldn’t think of it. Why? Because Players are used to following instructions. When you see the Intellect Brain’s quest prompt, you immediately feel you should follow the task. It’s like once the quest appears, its entire trajectory is set, and Players just need to obediently finish it to get the reward.”

“Speaking of this, I actually have a question to ask you. When you celebrate the New Year at home, have you ever personally written Spring Festival couplets?”

New Year? Spring Festival couplets?

We are talking about the Mohist School here; how did we end up talking about couplets?

Bai Hualin shook her head, completely not understanding what Mo Xiaobai was saying.

“A-Dai, what about you?”

“I haven’t learned calligraphy. The Spring Festival couplets were either bought or given to me outside,” A-Dai thought for a moment and gave a similar reply.

“Actually, before I turned sixteen, my thoughts were the same as yours.”

Mo Xiaobai nodded and continued: “But on the New Year’s Eve of that year, when I went to my grandmother’s house as usual, she taught me a lesson. I originally intended to hang up the Spring Festival couplets, but my grandmother said she hadn’t bought any this year; instead, she only brought out a set of brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.”

“I was speechless at the time. What era is this? Why write couplets by hand? I told my grandmother I hadn’t learned calligraphy and had never written couplets before. But my grandmother asked me back: ‘Since you’ve studied for more than ten years, why can’t you write just because the pen changed?’ I explained to the old lady that fountain pens and calligraphy brushes are different. However, she was stubborn and insisted that since I could write, I should be able to write couplets myself.”

“Later, it took me the whole afternoon to barely write a few couplets that were ‘hard to look at’, but my grandmother was very happy and hung them all up. Seeing her so happy, I really couldn’t say anything, so I just acted as if I was making her laugh.”

“Originally, that was the end of the story, but later a guest came. Obviously, no one would admire my chicken-claw-like handwriting. However, the paper, brush, and inkstone used for writing the couplets were picked out. They were produced by an old store in Huizhou; a single set could buy more than a hundred couplets from street vendors. It was then that my grandmother finally told me what she always wanted to say. Sending me to school wasn’t just to teach me that people must learn; besides learning, there are even more important things.”

Besides learning, there are more important things?

After listening to this, Bai Hualin curled her lips: “The Great God, you are dangerous. This story coming from your mouth sounds like you are going to attack the Confucian School at any moment. Who doesn’t know that ‘learning leads to knowledge’ is the essence of the Confucian School?”

“If you say I am attacking the Confucian School, then you are not wrong. Just like ‘universal love’ of the Mohist School has huge flaws, the ‘learning’ of the Confucian School is also its fatal weakness. Placing ‘learning’ at the core means that if you control the source of learning, such as the teachers who teach, you don’t even need to control the teachers. As long as you control the textbooks, you can control all the students in the world.”

Mo Xiaobai shrugged and continued: “This biggest flaw of the Confucian School was pointed out by Mozi two thousand years ago. Mozi looked down on the Confucian idea that everything must be learned. ‘Rites’ must be learned, ‘Righteousness’ must be learned, and ‘Benevolence’ must be learned even further, as if humans had no way out except for learning.”

“The learning process is too long, and once it detaches from reality, it easily becomes empty talk. That is why Mozi, who tends to be pragmatic, left. He wanted to start another way to spread knowledge, to find the technology humans can create using the method of ‘knowing through action’.”

“As for me, what I truly want is not the technology the Mohist School has already invented. I have ten thousand ways to get those things through Instances or quests. What I want to see is the process itself—the process of the Mohist School awakening the people’s intelligence. Someone in the Huaxia Region of the Plane must continue to do this thing. Only then can we improve the strength of all Players from the very foundation.”

“Only when the foundation is strong enough can we Players truly become powerful. My Daming Village will naturally be a beneficiary. In the future, continuing to lead other countries is just as easy as going with the flow, isn’t it?”