The old man slowly walked to a place not far from us and took the lead in saluting, "I am the rebellious Confucian, Pei Haohong."

I looked at Pei Haohong and said, "Brother Pei, we rushed to Shanglin Village originally to find you and ask you to return to Half-Sage Village for reinforcements. Now it seems that there is no need, right?"

Xia Chuan, the head of the Xia family, released Xia Mengying at the critical moment when the Half-Sage Village crisis was approaching, just to let her find the rebellious Confucian and bring back reinforcements.

After I arrived at Shanglin Community, I had always had a doubt.

Were the black-clothed rebellious Confucians who occupied Shanglin Community actually in the community?

Now it seems that he had just rushed back. Perhaps he already knew that Half-Sage Village had closed its mountain gate.

His failure to rescue Half-Sage Village had already shown his attitude towards Confucianism!

In this case, even if we begged bitterly, we would not get the result we wanted.

Pei Haohong nodded and said, "I am very clear about your intentions. Half-Sage Village has nothing to do with me!"

"Understood! Goodbye!" Without saying a word, I turned around and wanted to walk out, but Pei Haohong said in a deep voice, "Wait a minute, you can't leave yet."

I looked at the other party again, "Friend, is there anything else?"

As a result, Pei Haohong did not answer my question, but looked at Xia Mengying, "Little girl, we meet again."

"Back then, I saw fifty children in the Linjian Academy."

"After they saw me, they were either panicked or angry."

"Only you were able to suppress your fear, control your emotions, and not be instigated. You could also stand up and debate with me."

"Among the fifty or so children, you were the only one who was a promising talent."

"Over the years, I have been waiting for you to come to Shanglin Village."

Pei Haohong said, "I set up this game in Shanglin Village to accept a Confucian disciple to inherit my mantle."

"Shanglin Village is a test I have left for everyone."

"In this village, those who keep their promises will not only not be harmed by ghosts and gods, but will also receive generous rewards."

"Even if they are not my direct disciples, the rewards I leave for them will be enough to make them rich and noble."

"Unfortunately, none of the people who came to Shanglin Village were able to pass the test."

Pei Haohong sighed, "I once wondered if my requirements were too high?"

"After all, there are not many people in this world who can adhere to 'benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness'."

"So, I lowered the standards again and again. In the end, only 'trustworthiness' remained."

Pei Haohong sighed, "I didn't even test the righteousness of the visitors' trustworthiness, but only tested whether they were trustworthy. It made them show their ugly sides one by one."

"Sad, lamentable, hateful!"

Pei Haohong looked at Xia Mengying again, "Among the people who entered Shanglin Community this time, only your performance was passable."

"You can leave!"

"The others must stay until the next untrustworthy person arrives before they can leave."

I looked at the serious Pei Haohong and asked, "Old man Pei, you're not joking, are you?"

"You don't seem to be joking!"

"Do you think your brain is normal?"

Pei Haohong glanced at me without saying a word, and I continued, "Do you think a normal person, when putting makeup on a dead person, discovers that the other person is absorbing their life essence to revive?"

"Should they turn around and run, or should they risk being sucked into a dried corpse and finish the makeup?"

Pei Haohong said, "Since there was an agreement beforehand, even if it means dying on the spot, one should keep their promise!"

I said with a smile, "Then let me ask you, is it loyalty or trustworthiness when a ruler asks his subject to die, and the subject has no choice but to die?"

Pei Haohong said, "It is both loyalty and trustworthiness!"

"Even if the ruler is unprincipled, the subject should try his best to help the ruler correct his mistakes. This is the subject's loyalty and also the subject's trustworthiness."

I laughed and said, "That's your idea."

"In my opinion, if a ruler asks his subject to die, the subject can leave. If a ruler forces his subject to die, the subject can only kill the ruler."

"Your so-called trustworthiness may be the way of the noble, but it is also fueling the arrogance of evil."

"No matter how high your cultivation is or how deep your knowledge is, you are just a Confucian who is skilled in power and trickery, or simply a petty Confucian."

Pei Haohong said coldly, "Are you trying to argue with me?"

I said lightly, "If it were someone else, I really wouldn't want to talk nonsense. But since it's you, I don't mind saying a few more words."

"I now understand why the rebellious Confucians and the heretical Confucians, who have already been tainted with the word 'heretical', still have the aura of righteousness."

"To put it bluntly, you have misread the books."

"If I were to put you in Wang Xiaohuan's position, could you finish the makeup for that dead person?"

"Definitely!"

"Because you are keeping your promise."

"Are you a trustworthy gentleman?"

"Definitely!"

"Even if it means giving up your life, you must complete the agreement. Can you say that he is not trustworthy? Can you say that he is not a gentleman?"

"But is your Dao worthy of my respect?"

"I can tell you, I can't respect it at all!"

"Using the integrity of a gentleman to gamble on the schemes of a villain, I can only say that it is foolishness, not trustworthiness!"

Pei Haohong sneered, "That can only show that you are an unfaithful and unrighteous person!"