Tzu-yang

  "That monk has martial arts skills, what can we do to help him?" Lao Wu thought Mo Xun was going to look for the young monk who had saved them from the bandits.

  "It wasn't that monk, it was the hero given to us by the wolf child, he also went to Mount Wuliang." Mo Xun turned around and headed west. In his few days in the city, he had inadvertently heard people mention Mount Wuliang, which was located two hundred miles due west of Ye City in Minzhou.

  "Are you going to send him off with some food?" Lao Wu followed along.

  "He might have brought some luggage, but that hero is illiterate, I'll go see if there's anything I can help him with." Mo Xiang replied, "A saint has words to come and go without courtesy, receiving kindness from others should be repaid, only petty people receive kindness in vain."

  Lao Wu nodded and followed Mo Wen's back with ease, as long as Mo Wen didn't look for Lin Ruocheng again, it was fine wherever they went.

  After leaving the city, the two of them headed west. Lao Wu couldn't stay still and kept asking Mo Wen about the hero's background. Mo Wen was evasive in his answer, if he had told the truth, Lao Wu would have definitely stopped him from going to Wuliang Mountain.

  Mo asked to know that the Fa conference will be held on January 15th, and in order to rush for time, the two of them hurried all the way. The next day, they arrived at the border of Minzhou, and after asking for directions, Mo asked to know that the general location of Wu Liang Mountain was in the southwest of Minzhou.

  As I walked, I couldn't help but feel a growing sense of doubt in my mind. This was a narrow country road with few pedestrians, and the occasional passerby was dressed as a farmer, not like someone from afar. The wooden signposts erected by Qinghe should have numbered in the tens of thousands, yet there were hardly any people coming to see them.

  While secretly doubting, Mo asked and found that a farmer was digging a ditch to drain snow water in the field ahead. He went up to ask and the other party replied that Mount Wuque was just west of the mountain, and many people had come in the past few days, but most had left.

  "Old master, this Upper Clearness seems to have a bad reputation," said Old Five, the farmer who had spoken earlier showed no respect for Upper Clearness Mountain, and his words were full of disdain.

  "A cultivator should not be tainted by the smell of copper." Mo Wen nodded and said, he could see that the farmer's dissatisfaction with Wu Liangshan was mainly because Wu Liangshan required a large amount of silver to accept disciples.

  As the two of them were talking, a person appeared in the distance on the road ahead. As he drew closer, Mo Xun saw that it was a young man with an angry look on his face, wearing hemp clothing and carrying a bundle on his back.

  "Go back quickly, they are greedy for wealth and disdain the poor, without a shred of compassion, only deceiving people out of their money." The young man walked up to the two of them and said hastily before hurrying away.

  Mo Wen was taken aback for a moment, originally wanting to keep him to ask a few more questions, but found that the young man had already walked away quickly.

  "Shall we go, Master?" asked Lao Wu.

  "Since we've come all this way, let's go take a look." Mo Wen said.

  "They're swindlers, and we've only got this little money on us." Old Five feared being cheated.

  "Three people make a tiger, rumors are unreliable, seeing is believing." Don't ask, just move forward.

  Lao Wu shook his head helplessly and followed with a sigh.

  They had not gone far before entering the deep mountains, where human traces became increasingly rare and the road grew narrower. After noon, Mo Wen heard a noisy commotion coming from ahead. Hurrying to climb over the mountain ridge, he saw that at the foot of a mountain peak on the west side, many young people wearing hemp clothes were gathered outside a pavilion, making a racket.

  Mo Wen, accompanied by Lao Wu, quickly approached and found a red candle altar set up in the pavilion. On either side of the altar stood two elderly Taoist priests. Among the dozen or so young people gathered there, one was now indignantly pointing at the couplet on the south-facing pillars of the pavilion, loudly cursing "How dare you speak such nonsense, shameless!"

  Don't ask for a sidelong glance to measure the couplet on the pavilion column, see the upper line is "Infinite wonderful Dharma, I have you without". The lower line is "Xian Tao values life, human fate is noble or humble". The horizontal label is "Youqin Yuyuan".

  "Are kings, princes, generals and ministers born of a different breed? All people under heaven are equal, why should there be distinctions between the noble and the lowly?" A man wearing a hemp garment shouted loudly, with many others echoing his sentiments.

  Those two old Taoists remained calm and composed, ignoring the crowd of onlookers.

  "You tell us clearly, why do those rich people get to go in just by paying silver, while we have to crawl up the mountain on our knees? If you don't give us a clear answer today, we'll tear down this rundown toll booth of yours!" The leader, a scholar in a hemp robe, shouted again.

  Mo Wen suddenly realized that as long as he paid the silver, he could enter, but poor people in tattered clothes had to kneel down to get in, which was indeed a great insult to the poor.

  "Pay the silver, and I'll help you out." The round-faced old Taoist on the right pointed to the wooden box in front of the altar.

  The young man, in a fit of rage, rushed forward and stretched out his hand. The poor scholars who were with him also took out copper coins and scraps of silver from their pockets and handed them over to him. The young man threw the money into the pavilion: "If you don't give us an explanation today, don't blame us for being rude."

  "Less than ten taels, no enlightenment for you. Scram!" The long-faced old Taoist on the left swung his hand back, and his sleeve fluttered in the wind. The silver coins that had been scattered around the pavilion earlier quickly flew out of the pavilion and piled up at the feet of the hemp-clothed man with not a single coin missing.

  The man in the lead, Mai Yi, and the others were subdued by Lao Dao, this move undoubtedly showed that he had martial arts skills.

  "A Taoist priest who has left home would actually utter such filthy words, how can this be? Let's go and smash his donation box, so that others won't be cheated later." The man in the hemp garment shouted loudly as he rushed towards the pavilion, followed by a crowd of people making a ruckus.

  An unexpected scene unfolded, two old Taoists who were originally standing calmly suddenly took action at the same time. With a few swift moves, they sent the ten would-be robbers flying out of the room. The round-faced old Taoist's movements were gentle, and most of the people he threw out landed on their backs. The long-faced old Taoist was ruthless in his actions, and everyone he threw out fell face down.

  Many bookworms, although having suffered a loss, did not hurt their tendons and bones, and scrambled to run east. The long-faced old Taoist swung the silver coins that everyone had left behind again, flying impartially into one person's bundle.

  He stared at this scene in stunned silence, never having thought that a Taoist priest would actually lay hands on a bookworm.

  "Boundless Heaven Venerable, that young man, have you come to Mount Boundless to seek the Way?" The round-faced old Daoist said to Mo Xiu who was standing still beside him.

  "I humbly ask the Taoist master, why can one enter directly after paying silver, but has to kneel on the ground and climb up the mountain if their purse is empty?" Mo Wu asked with a bow.

  "You're also a bookworm, you know more about etiquette than they do. However, I, the poor Taoist, can't enlighten you, you'll have to figure it out yourself." The round-faced old Taoist smiled and spoke up.

  Mo Wen heard the words and slightly furrowed his brow. Judging from their previous actions, they were both masters with extraordinary skills and would not be swindlers who deceive people for money. It was unreasonable that they attached such importance to money. Moreover, if the two were swindlers, they wouldn't have insisted on ten taels; being one or two taels short wouldn't have made a difference to the crowd. The two must have had ulterior motives.

  Those with gold, use gold to show sincerity. Those without gold, use actions to demonstrate their will. The noble family's move is not about wealth, but to test whether the people who come have a sincere heart! After a moment, Mo asked, suddenly enlightened.

  "Ten in five, it's also rare, and actually kneeling at the mountain gate has a deeper meaning." The round-faced old Taoist nodded slightly.

  Mo Wen heard this and frowned again. The old man's meaning was that he had only understood half of it, and there was another half that he hadn't grasped yet.

  "Old man, don't fall for it." Lao Wu hastily pulled Mo Wen back.

  Don't ask, he raised his hand to signal Old Five not to speak too much, focus on thinking carefully. After a moment, his eyebrows relaxed and he pointed at the couplet on the pillar of the pavilion: "This couplet is meant to make those who enter the mountain understand the distinction between superior and inferior, correct their position, without distinction there can be no etiquette, without correctness one cannot clarify their body, those who kneel at the mountain gate are inferior by one level, under the gaze of all, it's hard to avoid feeling ashamed in one's heart. In the future, cultivation will certainly be extremely arduous, using a thousand kinds of diligence to make up for the deficiencies of heaven, enduring ten thousand kinds of suffering to wash away the humiliation of kneeling at the gate."

  "Master brother, if all the people in the world are like these young men, I won't worry that our Upper Clarity Sect can't prosper." The round-faced old Daoist said happily to the long-faced old Daoist.

  "You two were just physically fighting with those scholars, what do you understand from that?" The long-faced old Taoist asked expressionlessly.

  "They are mentally confused and not worthy of refinement, so the two Taoist priests did not want to waste their words. Later, the crowd pretended to be human but actually committed robbery, even though they were poor scholars, they were doing the work of bandits, so the two Taoist priests did not tolerate them, took action to punish and correct their wickedness." Mo asked Dao said.

  "Present your identification plaque." The long-faced old Daoist was very satisfied with Mo's answer and raised his hand to signal him to present the plaque.

  "Return to the Way, Junior..." Mo Wen was stunned by these words. He had come to Wu Liang Mountain only to find Hei San, not to seek enlightenment.

  "It doesn't matter if you're shy, it'll save you money, and you can enter directly. Give me the token." The round-faced old Taoist stepped out and walked to Mo's side, extending his hand.

  Mo Wen didn't ask, looking even more worried, and helplessly looked at Lao Wu. Lao Wu had been worried that Mo Wen would be deceived earlier, but now Wuliang Mountain didn't even want the silver, so it wasn't a scam. Therefore, when Mo Wen looked at him, he subconsciously took out the wooden sign from his bosom.

  The old Taoist with a round face took over the wooden sign, turned around and entered the pavilion, picked up his brush on the altar and added some words.

  "Thanks to the two Taoist priests' kindness, but unfortunately my parents have passed away and I am the only child in the family. If I were to join your noble sect, wouldn't that be a loss of filial piety?" Mo asked, looking confused, just about to become a Taoist priest, hastily spoke out to decline.

  "The Upper Clarity does not prohibit marriage." The round-faced old Daoist handed the wooden plaque to Mo Wen.

  "Old master, if you become a Taoist priest, where will I go?" Lao Wu hastily interjected, seeing that things were not going well.

  "Has this servant of yours ever studied or learned characters?" asked the old man with a round face.

  "Never mind, it's a long story of gratitude..." Mo Wen shook his head.

  The round-faced old Taoist loved and cherished talent, but when he saw Mo asking, he wanted to decline. He hastily turned his head to look at the long-faced old Taoist inside the pavilion, who nodded slightly. The round-faced old Taoist turned around to face Old Five, "If you can't read characters, you can't recite scriptures. Can you understand cooking?"

  Lao Wu didn't understand the meaning of Yuan Lian's words, and turned to look at Mo Wen. Mo Wen smiled wryly and said, "The Taoist priest wants you to stay in the temple and cook for everyone."

  "Thank you, Master Dao, thank you, Master Dao." Lao Wu not only didn't look disappointed, but instead looked delighted, and bowed repeatedly to the two old Daoists.

  "Senior brother, I'll send him up and be back in a moment." The round-faced old Daoist greeted the long-faced old Daoist and led the two of them into the mountains.

  "Dao Chang, am I now a disciple of Shang Qing?" Mo Wen was still in a daze until this moment.

  "Of course not, the selection process takes three years and nine stages, only after passing all of them can one receive the ancestral master's personal transmission..."