After struggling desperately several times, relying on his considerable strength, Grace Walker finally escaped the humiliating possibility of traversing again in such a way. He broke free from the suffocating grip, breathed in fresh air, and felt it was truly rare and precious. The scholar in the blue robe walked over, glanced at Grace Walker a few times, sighed softly, and said, “Sister Yan, this is not your little Bao. You shouldn’t be so sad—everything will pass…”

The middle-aged woman refused to believe it no matter what. Although she usually held great respect for this learned gentleman, this time she just clung to Grace Walker and wouldn’t let go.

Unable to persuade her, the scholar in the blue robe turned to look at Grace Walker. The complex expression in his eyes made Grace Walker instantly understand the meaning behind it. He immediately shouted, “Mom! It’s me, please let me go, I’m about to be smothered by you.”

At the word “Mom,” the middle-aged woman’s face immediately lit up. Although he was just playing along to comfort her, this outpouring of motherly love made Grace Walker feel a pang of sorrow. Suddenly, he thought, “I was beaten to death by thugs. If my real mother knew, I wonder how much she would cry…”

At this thought, tears welled up in Grace Walker’s eyes. The middle-aged woman, on the contrary, kept comforting him, “Little Bao, don’t cry, please don’t cry. With your mother by your side, no one will ever hurt you again!”

He knew very well that this middle-aged woman was only comforting him with a mother’s love. If real danger came, what could this frail woman possibly protect? Yet Grace Walker suddenly felt a wave of warmth wash over him, making him feel even safer than when he had the Water and Fire Exquisite Pagoda from the red-robed general.

“I know, I’m not afraid.”

The surrounding refugees all showed sympathy in their eyes. They had lived in the same county as Aunt Yan for decades, as neighbors, and of course recognized her son. He had indeed died during the last flight from disaster, but no one had said it out loud.

After much effort, Grace Walker finally managed to break free from his new “mother” and moved closer to the middle-aged man in the blue robe, who had a scholarly air about him. He first bowed deeply, then asked about the current situation on the battlefield, which concerned him most.

Since these people dared to return to the city, they must have felt that the war would not reach here again. Grace Walker was eager to understand the current situation.

“Alas! To put it simply, our Great Qian Dynasty suffered a crushing defeat this time. The Grand Commander of Lingzhou, Yanzhou, and Qianzhou, Mu Yuanzhi, was killed by Yan Chimei, a general under the Western Di’s Fire Ape General. The commanders of the two nearby towns sent a total of eighty thousand troops to help, but they were a step too late. Seeing the strength of the reinforcements, the Fire Ape General has already retreated back into Western Di territory. For now, there will be no more battles in Lingzhou.”

This middle-aged man called himself Mr. Brooks. Although his knowledge was not particularly profound, he had a good grasp of the general situation in the world. Grace Walker finally had the chance to ask all the questions in his heart.

The two chatted for a while, and Aunt Yan felt reassured seeing this.

Grace Walker, not knowing how to face this new “mother,” deliberately stayed by Mr. Brooks’s side and went to his house.

Although the house was a bit messy, Mr. Brooks’s family was quite poor, with nothing of value except for some books scattered all over the floor. His residence was rather remote and had not been ravaged by fire, so the situation was relatively good.

After this conversation, Grace Walker finally understood the general shape of this world.

The Central Divine Land was vast, and people had not yet explored all of it. The Great Qian Dynasty only occupied the central region and had always regarded its culture as orthodox, claiming descent from the ancient god Xinggan. The Western Di consisted of dozens of tribes, each with different ancestors, and were contemptuously called “demon clans” by the people of the Great Qian Dynasty, occupying the western part of the Central Divine Land. However, both sides had tens of thousands of years of history, with constant migration and intermarriage, so their bloodlines were already thoroughly mixed, and it was rare to find anyone of pure descent.

Moreover, in ancient times, the White Moon demon clan ruled the world and intermarried with various barbarian tribes, which led to the emergence of the Baidi human clans. The Great Qian Dynasty was just one of the Baidi human clans, born from the union of the White Moon demon clan and the descendants of the giant god Xinggan.

Grace Walker pondered hard and had more or less figured out that this world also had schools of Confucianism, Daoism, agriculture and sericulture, yin-yang, Buddhism, astrology, and so on.

However, these schools were very different from those on Earth. What gave him a headache now was which field he should devote himself to in order to gain a foothold in the future and make life a bit better.

The Confucianism passed down in the Great Qian Dynasty was the most eclectic, covering military strategy, governance, literature, morality, political decrees, laws… ten times more than what he knew of Confucianism in his previous life. Since ancient times, the Central Land had the custom of establishing academies, and Confucianism was now divided into dozens of schools, each with wildly different political views.

Eighteen out of twenty officials and generals in the Great Qian Dynasty had studied at academies.

As for Daoism, it encompassed astronomy, calendrical calculations, the five elements, stars—almost every field needed such talents.

These two schools were the cultural orthodoxy of the Great Qian Dynasty, and there was a saying: “Three hundred in the Daoist forest, a thousand students in the academies.” However, this world valued martial prowess, and every school had a special focus on martial arts. Daoism, in particular, had some rather mysterious Daoist arts for disciples to practice.

Chapter Nine: Not Settled, No Pursuit of Learning

Originally, he didn’t know where he should go. So Grace Walker stayed with this group of refugees.