Xiao Mo entered the classroom and invited He Yeye to step outside. Only then did the children quiet down.
Xiao Mo first taught them some basic Confucian etiquette. The children were all very clever and found it fresh and interesting, so they learned quickly.
Xiao Mo then had them introduce themselves, learning about their preferences and memorizing their names. Finally, Xiao Mo tested their foundation to see how many characters they recognized.
Among the dozen or so children, the one who recognized the most characters was the little girl who had bowed to Xiao Mo outside the school earlier. Her name was Xu Yuerou, and she knew most common characters and had even learned some Confucian classics.
There were also children who were only seven years old and didn't understand a single character. However, this wasn't a big problem, he would teach them slowly. After all, barring any accidents, he would be staying in Demon-Suppressing City for a very long time.
Xiao Mo distributed the textbooks he had written the night before to the children. The textbooks didn't contain only the School of Mind, which occupied only a very small portion and was the most shallow and easily understood part. The textbooks contained more Confucian classics, as well as some relatively easy-to-understand content from Daoist, Buddhist, Mohist, and other schools.
Learning was never something that could be accomplished overnight. It was best to proceed from shallow to deep, there was no need to rush.
Xiao Mo's teaching voice drifted from the classroom, echoing leisurely throughout the courtyard. Inside the classroom, every child listened attentively, and even those who couldn't understand were racking their brains trying to comprehend.
Outside the classroom, Big Guy sat on the ground. He didn't care at all about what Xiao Mo was teaching, he just watched the swaying white clouds in the sky. On the windowsill, He Yeye propped up her small hands, leaning sideways to watch Xiao Mo teach, her small feet gently swaying, the red rope bells jingling softly.
As noon approached, Xiao Mo closed his textbook and said to the children, "Today's lesson ends here."The children stood up and used the etiquette Xiao Mo had taught them to bow, "Thank you for your hard work, Teacher."
"The students have worked hard too." Xiao Mo bowed in return.
"Class dismissed!"
After school ended, the students filed out one by one, once again returning to their natural selves.
Xiao Mo packed up his textbooks and walked out of the classroom. He Yeye was already waiting outside. The two walked out of the courtyard together, with Big Guy following behind them.
"Are you really a Confucian scholar?" He Yeye asked Xiao Mo as they walked down the street.
Xiao Mo nodded, "Genuine and authentic, here's my identity token."
“Then shouldn’t you just be teaching all those stale bookish phrases? Why are you teaching everything else, when you’ve only taught a little from your own School of Mind?”
Xiao Mo smiled, “Who says Confucian scholars can only teach Confucianism? And who says Confucianism is nothing but stale bookish phrases?”
"Then why don't you only lecture on your School of Mind?"
"The School of Mind is just one branch of learning, not much different from other branches. I will teach them Confucian classics and some knowledge I understand reasonably well. The School of Mind is just one of them, it shouldn't become the entirety of their learning."
"..." He Yeye's eyebrows twitched, "You scholar are truly strange."
"So will the City Lord throw me into the lake to feed the fish?" Xiao Mo asked with a smile.
"What do you think of the name I gave to the school?" He Yeye suddenly asked, with a feeling of complete irrelevance.
"Uh..." Xiao Mo was stunned for a moment, then said insincerely, "Good name."
"How's the calligraphy?" He Yeye asked again.
"Beautiful, very spirited, like dragons soaring and phoenixes dancing, quite charming." Xiao Mo continued to praise insincerely.
"Hmph." He Yeye proudly raised her chin, jumped with her small feet, and sat on the giant's shoulders. The giant strode toward the City Lord's mansion, and her voice came from behind the giant, "This lady sees that you taught reasonably well today, so I won't throw you into the lake to feed the fish for now."
"Thank you, City Lord, for sparing my life."
Xiao Mo smiled, bowed farewell as he saw the City Lord off, then returned to his own courtyard.
From then on, every day at the hour of chen, Xiao Mo would go to the courtyard by the lake to teach the children to read.
Gradually, besides the original dozen or so children, more and more children came to attend classes at the "Great Academy."
Xiao Mo welcomed all these students without exception.
Eventually, because there were too many students, Xiao Mo had to have the students move their desks and chairs into the courtyard for outdoor classes.
Among these children, Xiao Mo felt there were indeed several promising students.
One was the little girl Xu Yuerou. The other two were boys, one named Li Man and one named Zeng Songshi.
These three children were all around ten years old. They were not only intelligent but also hardworking. After school, they would still come to Xiao Mo with their questions.
Xiao Mo patiently answered their questions and told them that if they had doubts, they could come to his courtyard anytime.
Of course, there were also some children who really couldn't continue their studies. Xiao Mo didn't force them, as long as He Yeye permitted it, they could also choose not to come.
In comparison, He Yeye didn't miss a single class.
While teaching, Xiao Mo was also organizing his own scholarship. "Unity of Knowledge and Action" was also being written word by word.
After the demon race formally declared war on the Ten Thousand Laws Realm, they would come to assault Demon-Suppressing City almost every few days.
Demon-Suppressing City would also choose to actively engage the enemy.
Xiao Mo knew that the demon race wanted to test the depths of Demon-Suppressing City, looking for weaknesses and opportunities. But wasn't Demon-Suppressing City doing the same?
Every time Xiao Mo went to battle, he was always the one charging at the very front.
And just as He Yeye had said, the Demon Realm had already noticed Xiao Mo. When Xiao Mo appeared, demon cultivators would come to assassinate him.
If they were demon race of the same realm, He Yeye didn't interfere. But if cultivators of the Upper Three Realms came to bully the weak with their strength, then He Yeye wouldn't be polite with them.
Xiao Mo taught the children of Demon-Suppressing City to read, and He Yeye protected Xiao Mo's path as tuition.
Gradually, in Demon-Suppressing City, Xiao Mo's reputation spread wider and wider.
More and more people in the northern part of Demon-Suppressing City came to know that by that lake, there was a teacher.
Whenever a great battle began, he would go down to the city to slay demons. Whenever a great battle ended, he would return to the city to teach.
…
Four thousand years later, in Demon-Suppressing City.
A young girl walked through the city while eating candied hawthorn, with a three-zhang-tall giant following behind her.
No matter how much time had passed, the girl always looked the same, never seeming to grow up.
As she walked, the girl came to a villa by the lake.
On the gate plaque in front of the courtyard, three characters were written: "Great Academy."
However, this plaque had already decayed beyond recognition, as if it would crumble into wood chips with just a gentle touch.
"City Lord?"
Just as He Yeye was staring blankly at the wooden plaque, a woman walked out from the courtyard.
"Yuerou, what are you doing here?" He Yeye asked.
"I come to clean the academy regularly," Xu Yuerou said. "City Lord, what brings you here?"
"Just taking a casual stroll," He Yeye shook her head. "By the way, I heard you're going to the Confucian Academy."
"Yes." Xu Yuerou nodded, her eyes determined, "Li Man and Zeng Songshi have both become 'Accompanying Saints.' They want to work together with Dean Shang Jiuli of White Deer Academy to clear Teacher's name. I want to help them. What the Ten Thousand Laws Realm should least erase is Teacher's name!"
"Clear his name? Hehe."
He Yeye smiled, patted Big Guy, turned and left, her voice echoing in the night.
"The Confucian Academy has no qualification to clear Xiao Mo's name. Your teacher's name will forever remain on the stone tablets of that Great Wall, and no one can erase it."