In a hall packed to capacity, a thin man stood, a black mole marking the center of his face, his hair neatly combed, his bearing refined, clearly a man of letters, evident from the book he'd been reading aloud to the rest of those gathered.
Astonishment and deep thought dominated the atmosphere of the hall, everyone listening closely, in silence.
"...gentlemen, does anyone here know of the Venerable Zhou Ji?!"
The man with the mole asked calmly, a hidden dread lacing his voice.
The man presiding over the hall answered calmly, trying to steady his nerves:
"First in five paths, the finest Phantom refiner, and the greatest healer known to history. But the real question is: who are Ling Li and Bai Ren? And why would these three come together to train a child? And stranger still, the author of this very story is Zhou Ji himself?"
The man with the mole answered after deep thought:
"...I'd guess the reason lies in the Dang Ru Epic, the book that shook the entire continent, written by Zhou Ji's only rival: Dang Ru."
The whole hall fell silent, and after a moment, the man presiding over it, head of the Liu family, replied:
"You're comparing this farce to the Dang Ru Epic? If this weren't written by Zhou Ji, I wouldn't have even listened to this book in the first place."
The man with the mole answered:
"My lord, I fear the hidden depths of this story are more complicated than we realize."
The man with the mole was one of the few who held the right to call a gathering of this size, as he'd been tasked with informing the family of everything concerning the "Age of Stories," that era which had sparked endless wars, drawn out great powers once thought extinct from their hiding places, and reshaped the face of the world more than once to keep pace with what the era demanded: the emergence of people who read and analyzed these stories. These people had saved the world from numerous crises, and held the right to call a gathering like this at any time, with everyone required to attend.
The head of the Liu family replied:
"Zhou Ji's presence alone would be enough to train every emperor on the planet, once a week would suffice for them. But his presence alongside two others, without him even appearing to lead them, means the world is heading toward endless wars and conflicts that will wipe out entire civilizations. I only hope we don't become casualties caught up in the middle of it..."
The man with the mole answered, a trace of fear showing on his face, citing a line Zhou Ji himself had said:
"('And you know... I write down everything you do. Trust me, as your grandfather, I'll write what actually suits you... not what suits the rulebook.')"
"If my deduction is correct, this is the greatest threat the entire world faces, meaning everything that happens to Shen Zuo will be in his own favor. And these words coming from the mouth of the Venerable Zhou Ji himself gives them the highest possible credibility. So I don't believe Shen Zuo's mission is survival; his life may not even be in danger at all, unless the enemies of the Venerable Zhou Ji and the two other old men, who don't seem any less significant than him, get involved. I hope the center of that conflict stays on the opposite side of the continent, and if our luck is bad enough that one of them notices us... our safest bet is to stand on his side."
The head of the family said:
"Let's analyze this from the very beginning. I've noticed a great many suspicious lines scattered throughout. Also, what do you make of this unique writing style Zhou Ji is using? Does it carry some particular meaning?"
The man with the mole answered:
"I believe this style serves several major purposes, the most important being to send a message to every living soul: do not touch Shen Zuo. We've seen this in multiple places, to the point where he prioritized saving him over the plot itself. His only real plot device was 'shamelessness,' or as he himself put it: 'naturalness.'"
"Having a First Rank child help kill a Level Three beast, then calling it 'natural,' is about the most shameless thing your eyes will ever witness. But if you look at it from another angle, perhaps Shen Zuo, given enough training time, truly could have been capable of killing the lion alone, without any help at all."
The man with the mole gave himself a moment before continuing:
"But I don't believe there's any weakness in the writing. Quite the opposite, actually. Ling Li's description of it as 'no curriculum, no progression' might actually serve the story's purpose: having no clear plot, making everything feel natural. And that may be the most terrifying thing to anyone who might cross paths with Shen Zuo, because he has no fixed pattern. One moment you find him reckless, the next, cunning. This unpredictability makes his actions nearly impossible to anticipate. And perhaps turning disorder into a strategic shield was entirely intentional."
"Are you saying even this small detail is calculated? Why exactly does he want to bring out a beast like that? This is blatant bullying of the entire continent! He sends out a child and we're not even allowed to upset him with so much as a touch! How I hate this feeling of helplessness!"
One of the elders burst out, then continued after a brief pause:
"There's another point: why doesn't he just step out himself and say, 'This child is under my protection,' and leave it at that? Why all this?"
The man with the mole answered:
"It's not that simple. Neither is the pen, for that matter... I believe it may be a high-level construct. In other words, if this suspicion is correct, he might be able to control our conversation without us even noticing. Of course, this is purely my own hypothesis, and I have no proof for it."
The man with the mole wiped his forehead, opened the book to a particular page, placed his finger on a specific line, then raised his head:
"Let's start here, my lord. From the moment Zhou Ji described himself as 'the grandfather.' He didn't use the word 'teacher' or 'guardian,' but 'grandfather.' And this choice, in my opinion, wasn't arbitrary."
The head of the family raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.
"In our traditions, a grandfather isn't questioned about his actions. He doesn't need to justify his cruelty or his mercy, because his authority already exists above any logic of accountability. So I'd guess that when Zhou Ji chose this title, he wasn't just telling us he cares about Shen Zuo... he may have been hinting that any attempt to question what he does would be, from his perspective, an unforgivable insolence."
"So you believe he's immunizing himself against criticism before anyone even has the chance to level it," the head of the family said slowly.
"That may well be the case. And that leads us to an even more dangerous question: who actually holds the right to hold Zhou Ji accountable if he errs? Ling Li and Bai Ren, as we've seen, criticize him freely. But is that criticism genuine, or is it part of the game itself? I can't say for certain."
A long silence settled over the room. One of the family elders, seated at the far end of the table, cleared his throat before speaking for the first time:
"If things are as you describe, then we're not reading a story... we're reading an advertisement. An advertisement aimed at some specific purpose."
The man with the mole turned his head toward him, acknowledging the precision of the observation:
"That's exactly what I fear, my lord. And if it is an advertisement... then the question we should be asking isn't: what's happ
ening to Shen Zuo? But rather: who is this advertisement meant to be read by?"