Once the Grand Ceremony of Patriarch Worship concluded, instruction began the very next day.
Before dawn broke, Wei Yuan had already washed up and headed to the small square at the valley's entrance to wait. Classes were held at the Hall of Inspiring Thought, thirty li from the valley. Every morning at a set hour, carriages arrived to take the new disciples there; anyone who missed the time would have to make their own way.
When Wei Yuan reached the square, several carriages were already parked there. Drawing the carriages were tall, snow-white steeds standing one and a half zhang at the shoulder, faint wisps of cloudy mist drifting around their four hooves. Each carriage bore a distinct emblem on its flank, indicating a different destination. Wei Yuan soon found the carriage bound for the Hall of Inspiring Thought. After verifying his identity with the cultivating coachman, he climbed aboard.
Standing two zhang tall, this carriage was like a mobile pavilion. The interior was also exceptionally spacious, arranged with rows of seats sufficient to hold fifty people. After Wei Yuan boarded, others followed one after another, stopping once a little over twenty passengers had taken their seats.
Once everyone arrived, the cultivator closed the carriage doors and drove away from the square.
The moment they left the valley, Wei Yuan felt as though a heavy boot had slammed into his chest, pinning him firmly against the back of his seat and rendering him unable to move! The scenery outside the carriage window blurred backwards in an instant, yet the carriage itself remained remarkably steady, with only slight vibrations.
Wei Yuan had barely recovered from the crushing force and taken two breaths when the carriage suddenly jolted, flinging his body forward involuntarily. Fortunately, his reflexes were lightning fast. He seized the back of the seat ahead of him and braced with all his might, keeping himself from crashing into it. Other youths were not so fortunate. Some failed to react in time and struck the front row headfirst, their foreheads and faces swelling visibly on the spot.
Gasps and cries of pain echoed one after another throughout the carriage.
Amid the outcry, the scenery outside shifted once more, revealing a three-story pavilion.
The carriage door swung open, and the driver laughed. "We were short on time today, so I went a bit fast. If anyone is late tomorrow, we'll be moving even faster."
A boy with a bruised forehead immediately grumbled in discontent, "Just a driver, and acting so arrogant? Besides, the Palace of Grand Beginning is truly stingy! What kind of wretched carriage is this, not having even a wind-warding formation!"
The cultivator merely smiled, pretending not to hear.
The boy wanted to say more, but a companion beside him clamped a hand over his mouth.
Wei Yuan stepped down from the carriage and saw a plaque above the pavilion inscribed with three characters: "Hall of Inspiring Thought." The courtyard was exceedingly serene. Beside the wall grew a grove of emerald bamboo, its leaves verdant enough to drip color, with wisps of clear qi rising from among them now and then.
Following the other disciples inside, Wei Yuan saw rows of desks laid out. His own name shimmered atop one of them, so he walked over and sat down.
Once everyone was settled, a smiling young cultivator stepped in from the side—none other than the carriage driver. Taking his place at the front of the hall, he announced, "I am Feng Chutang. Over the coming year, I will be teaching the General History of the Human Race."
The boy who had just been mouthing off froze in shock and shrank down, not daring to lift his head.
The Palace of Grand Beginning placed immense importance on this centralized instruction, and not one of the instructors assigned was an ordinary figure. It was said that several among the younger teachers were geniuses with a genuine prospect of becoming True Monarchs. Even prominent noble clans sought to win them over if possible and would never offend them for no reason. Any youth of high birth had been lectured by their elders before class to leave a good impression on the teachers at all costs.
Fortunately, Feng Chutang paid no mind to that minor incident on the carriage. He began, "The history of our human race can be traced back three hundred thousand years..."
The recorded history of humanity stretched back three hundred thousand years at most; beyond that, no records remained to be examined. At that time, mankind was merely a minor clan among the myriad races, scattered across what are now the eastern provinces of Luzhou and Hedong, occupying no more than a few commanderies while surrounded by alien tribes.
In those days, humanity was feeble. Many alien tribes did not stop at invading borders to burn, slaughter, and pillage; some even fed on humans or sacrificed them to the heavens. Thus, the first volume of the General History of the Human Race was titled "The Alien Clans," spanning the first two hundred thousand years of human existence.
Feng Chutang's voice was gentle and mellow as he recounted ancient secrets of humanity one after another. As he spoke, several lifelike projections appeared at the front of the hall: a man, a woman, and two children. They bore some resemblance to humans, but were taller and more robust. The man stood roughly a head taller than Feng Chutang, while the woman was of equal height to him. The boy, labeled as ten years old, was already as tall as an adult human male, while the girl, labeled as six, was the size of an eleven- or twelve-year-old human child.
Their most striking features were a pair of gray pupils, long and pointed ears, and four fingers on each hand.
"This is the Vast Sea Liao Clan, commonly known as the Liao people, whom many texts refer to as the Northern Liao. In truth, that name is inaccurate. The Liao do not dwell solely in the north; they are also spread across the northeast and the east. The Liao are vast in number, their tribes as plentiful as the stars, with nine sovereign states having instituted their own kings and laws. Today, the border shared between the various Liao tribes and our Great Tang stretches 1.5 million li, making them the alien race with whom our fates are most deeply intertwined.
"In ancient times, in the eyes of the Vast Sea Liao Clan, the entire human race was merely a minor alien tribe. Back then, they would occasionally send troops across our borders to seize grain and supplies, slaughtering only if they met resistance. If provisions were offered obediently, one could usually get by unharmed. Consequently, many chose to pay tribute to ensure their survival. When Liao nobles occasionally wished to hunt for amusement, human tribes were made to dispatch a team of warriors into designated hunting grounds to serve as prey. They were permitted to flee or resist, and should they survive, they would even receive a reward."
Many students in the hall listened with mounting fury. Mostly born into noble families and full of pride, they found this dark chapter of ancient history hard to swallow.
A curious nuance crept into Feng Chutang's voice as he said, "The Vast Sea Liao Clan did not eat humans, nor did they kill indiscriminately. In their eyes, human women were hideous, so incidents of wanton abuse were rare. During those initial tens of thousands of years, because many human tribes regularly paid tribute, the Vast Sea Liao gradually came to view humanity as a vassal tribe and extended their protection. Without that initial shelter from the Vast Sea Liao, it is quite likely humanity would not have survived to this day.
"Compared to other alien clans, the Vast Sea Liao were considered the most lenient and gentle toward humans. Though mankind was treated as inferior, we could at least live. In this manner, our human ancestors bore humiliation and heavy burdens, reproducing and thriving, until war erupted between the Wuyu Clan and the Vast Sea Liao Clan.
"At the time, human territory lay along the border between the two races—a position that was not originally of great significance. Furthermore, our clan possessed several True Monarchs by then, so our strength was not entirely feeble: lacking the power to expand, yet more than sufficient to defend our land. Consequently, the Vast Sea Liao Clan entrusted that section of defense to humanity while redeploying their main forces westward. Little did they expect that the human race would open the border passes, allowing the Wuyu Clan to march straight through and cut off the rear of the Liao army."
Everyone, including Wei Yuan, was astonished. History was Wei Yuan's forte, so he asked, "Teacher, didn't the Wuyu Clan always use humanity as sacrifices to Heaven?"
Chapter 34