Zi Yang

  Don't ask how I came to Mount Wuliang originally didn't come for the sake of seeking the Dharma or cultivating, but rather to help Hei San pass smoothly. Since that's the case, it's only natural to help Hei San do something.

  "Hero, wait a minute." Mo Wen shouted, stopping Hei San who was walking towards the west wing gate.

  Hei San turned around and stopped, without asking he quickly ran up to him. "Hero, tell me about your ancestral home, the situation of your family, parents, children, as well as your age."

  "What did you hear about these?" Hei San asked in puzzlement.

  "Tomorrow, the people of Mount Wulang may ask us to write down our family's ancestral home situation. You tell me and I'll help you write it on paper. Tomorrow, you can just copy it over when the time comes, and then hand it in with me." Mo Xiang said.

  "You bookworm, Third Master really misjudged you, you actually dare to cheat and deceive, your heart is not right!" Hei San raised his tone.

  He didn't expect Hei San to say that, and he was stunned for a moment. However, he had a strong sense of gratitude and did not resent Hei San. "You are illiterate, you can't recite scriptures, and if you can't recite scriptures, you can't enter the Tao. I'm also helpless in this matter. If I don't do this, they will drive you away."

  "Also, listen...". Hei San spat out his ancestral home and family like a bamboo tube spitting out beans.

  "You go back first and wait for me at the entrance at the second watch." Mo asked to wait until dark, San said in a low voice.

  Hei San nodded and left.

  Mo asked to return to the room, picked up the writing brush on the desk and wrote down what Hei San had told him one by one. Hei San's parents had passed away early, not even leaving a name or surname behind. He had a wife and many children, but he couldn't remember his own age, roughly around three hundred years old. He also couldn't remember how many children he had, only knowing that there were more than twenty.

  It was already past the second watch when I finished writing, and when I arrived at the west wing gate, I found that Hei San had been waiting for a long time.

  "Tormented to death by Third Master." Hei San took the hemp paper handed over by Mo Xiong without thanks, stuffed it into his bosom and went back inside to sleep.

  The Taoist temple on Mount Wúliáng is located on the south slope of the mountain peak, with high walls that block the wind and a warm interior. The bedding was also very neat, but don't ask about how well they slept that night. As Hei San said, his actions were deceitful, and if exposed, he would certainly be driven out of Mount Wúliáng.

  The next morning, at the hour of the rat, the sound of striking a pot and reciting scriptures came from the direction of the main hall. The people in the east hall also got up, among these three hundred people, there were originally Taoist priests who also recited scriptures. There were also more than a dozen monks, who recited Buddhist scriptures. In addition, there were many pedantic scholars who feared that others would say they were not diligent, loudly reciting the various masters' classics, making the entire east hall noisy and chaotic.

  During this time, the Taoist practitioners had three meals a day. Therefore, breakfast was served relatively early. After breakfast, the sun rose in the east, and everyone was summoned to the East Hall. Without asking, they looked around and saw that among these 300 people, most were young men and women, including monks and nuns, with men outnumbering women. There were only about thirty veiled women.

  On the west side, another group of people stood, only a dozen or so, with unusual appearances, probably all aliens who lived in the West Wing before, including Black Three and the white-clothed woman who knelt down yesterday.

  Because it was a casual gathering, Mo Xian walked over to stand beside Hei San. When he arrived, Hei San smiled at him with a slight curve of his lips. The woman in white also nodded at him in greeting, and Mo Xian nodded back without saying a word.

  After a moment, two people walked in from the entrance. Mo asked turned around and looked back, only to find that the newcomers were none other than Qingyangzi and Guyangzi, whom he had met at the mountain foot pavilion yesterday. As soon as they entered, the crowd immediately stopped their noise and watched them climb up onto the wooden platform on the north side.

  "Gentlemen have come from afar as guests. Mount Wu Xiang's hospitality is not thorough, please don't take offense." The long-faced old Daoist Gu Yangzi was the first to speak up among the crowd.

  As soon as this was said, everyone responded and expressed that Mount Wutai had no place for laziness.

  "I am Gu Yangzi, and this is my junior fellow disciple Qing Yangzi. Our master is busy with teaching duties, so he has sent us two brothers to select talented individuals on his behalf." Gu Yangzi announced their identities to the crowd.

  Everyone had different identities, and upon hearing this, they all bowed, knelt down, clasped their hands together, and paid respects to Chungu Yangzi and Qingyang Zi.

  "Now that you have entered the mountain gate, from today on, you will be a member of the Upper Clarity sect. No matter which school or faction you belonged to before, if you want to practice the Upper Clarity method, you must join our Upper Clarity sect." Gu Yangzi said loudly.

  The words caused a stir in the audience, and many of the Taoist and Buddhist disciples present found it difficult to accept Gu Yangzi's words.

  "Brother, your words are wrong. The Upper Clarity Sect is broad-minded and generous, spreading the teachings and transmitting the Taoist principles to benefit all people. How can we have a sectarian view?" retorted Yuan Lian, the old Daoist Qingyangzi.

  "The Supreme Clarity method encompasses all phenomena, and it's already difficult to grasp its subtleties with a focused mind; if you also cultivate other methods, you will certainly find it hard to achieve great success." Gu Yangzi said with a serious face.

  "The worldly Dharma gates are diverse but do not depart from their origin. In the practice, regardless of sect or school affiliation, the differences in Dharma gates all aim at glimpsing the Great Way. Although the paths may differ, they will eventually converge. In my view, regardless of whether the person is from a certain sect or school, whether they are Taoist or Buddhist, male or female, they should all be treated with equal respect and taught the great Dharma." Qingyangzi's face turned stern.

  "Those who come must enter the Upper Clarity sect, only by eliminating other schools of law can the Upper Clarity school maintain its orthodoxy and not lose its original truth." Gu Yangzi said with his eyes wide open.

  "Those who come may keep their original place, rivers enter the sea, there is tolerance in greatness, and only by being versatile can one truly cultivate the Tao." Qingyangzi's eyes widened in surprise.

  Everyone below the stage was stunned at this time. No one expected that before the selection even began, the two old Taoists would start arguing first.

  "Those who agree with Poor Dao's words move to the left." Gu Yangzi coldly hummed as he opened his mouth.

  "Those who think Poor Dao is reasonable, move to the right." Qingyangzi took three steps horizontally and opened up a distance with his master's brother.

  When the two finished speaking, the crowd below was shocked. After a moment, they all stood on the side of Qingyangzi. What Qingyangzi said was very open-minded and had a tolerant attitude towards others. In comparison, Chang Yang's remarks were full of sectarian bias and exclusionary intentions, with a narrow scope and limited breadth.

  Soon, the crowd under the stage was divided into two groups. Qingyangzi's side had more than 200 people, while Guyangzi's side had less than 100 people.

  "What are you pulling me for?" Mo Wen asked, tugging at his collar as Hei San pulled him.

  "Go to Gu Yangzi's place." Mo Xun said in a low voice.

  "I'm not going if you're going, that guy's got a small door and a small house, his eyes are smaller than a needle's eye." Hei San shook his head repeatedly.

  "This is no ordinary dispute, the one who loses might be chased away, come with me." Mo Wen dragged Hei San and wouldn't let go.

  "Why follow him? He's unpopular, come with me instead." Hei San pulled Mo Wen towards the crowd on the west side.

  "This time, the two Taoist priests are not testing our temperament, but rather measuring our loyalty. Those with divided hearts will be eliminated." Mo Xun dragged Black Three away with a mighty effort.

  "That old black face has a vision for the future, he can't become a big shot." Hei San exerted his strength and quickly pulled Mo Wen to the west side.

  "Having tolerance is good, but being loyal and not betraying others is the foundation of being a person. Come with me quickly." Mo Wen pulled Hei San back.

  Everyone had already taken sides, and all eyes were focused on Mo Wen and Hei San. Seeing that Hei San refused to listen to his advice, Mo Wen angrily threw up his hands and ran back to the east side. Hei San hesitated for a long time before finally following him.

  "Take all of you friends down the mountain, return the silver, and give them travel expenses." The round-faced old Taoist stretched out his hand pointing to the crowd in front of him and said to the Taoist on the side.

  As soon as this was said, the crowd erupted in an uproar, with emotions running high. However, Qingyangzi and Guyangzi did not waste their breath, instead waving their hands to signal for the sect members to chase those two hundred people out.

  With just this one move, the monks and his followers were all driven away, leaving mostly young scholars. The remaining people were also at a loss, with six out of ten being killed in less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, it seems that staying until the end is extremely difficult.

  "Bookworm, thank you." Hei San grinned and rushed towards Mo without waiting for thanks.

  Mo Wen heard this and shook his head with a bitter smile. With such strict screening, the possibility of Hei San making it to the end was extremely low.

  "When entering our Upper Clarity Sect, one must be loyal and not divided in heart. Respect the ancestors and revere the gate of the sect. If there is no loyalty, the higher one cultivates, the greater the harm." Gu Yangzi looked around at everyone.

  "We obey the Master's teachings." The crowd responded in unison.

  "Those who are deaf and short-sighted, those whose ten fingers are incomplete, those whose speech is stuttering, come forth." Gu Yangzi spoke again.

  As soon as this was said, eight people stepped forward.

  "Unable to distinguish the fragrance of herbs, short-sighted and unable to open one's heavenly eyes, crippled fingers unable to grasp the key to the law, stuttering mouth unable to recite the true words." Gu Yangzi's face was expressionless. "Since you've come, go to the main hall to burn incense on the pillars. Someone will return your silver money and give you travel expenses soon."

  These eight people naturally had regrets, but it was too late, and pleading would not have made a difference. They could only sigh and follow the Taoist priest who led the way away.

  The remaining eighty or so people were already trembling with fear at this moment, and Mo Xun also felt a slight tension, because he didn't know what the next screening was for.

  "With ten people making a row and eight people forming a column, with one arm's length between each other to the left and right, and three feet apart from front to back." Qing Yangzi raised his hand and said to the crowd.

  Everyone heard the words and immediately lined up. After lining up, a Daoist boy in charge of miscellaneous tasks lifted several wooden tables and brought them to the study.

  "Write down your eight characters of birth name, ancestral home, whether parents are still alive, and the number of elder and younger brothers." Qingyangzi said.

  Everyone heard the words and immediately bowed down to write. No one asked for a turn, looking back at Hei San, only to find that Hei San was filled with worry, holding his brush pen in a daze.

  "According to what I wrote down for you yesterday." Mo Wen said in a low voice.

  "It's gone." Hei San said with a curl of his lip.

  "Look carefully." Mo Wenji said hastily, Gu Yangzi didn't ask many questions, and the prescribed writing time was naturally limited.

  "Last night I went out to pay respects and wiped my butt." Hei San scratched his head.

  Don't ask, one listen to the dark passage is terrible, hurriedly lowered his head to write, wanting to finish writing as soon as possible to help Hei San write another copy. However, when he wrote halfway through, he found that Yuan Lian Old Dao Qing Yangzi was standing beside him. After finishing writing, Qing Yangzi picked it up and admired it, never leaving.

  When the time arrived, there was nothing written on the paper in front of Hei San.

  "You three are illiterate, and being illiterate means you can't recite scriptures or write talismans. Go to the main hall to burn incense and leave early." Gu Yangzi said to Hei San and others, and it's not just Hei San himself who is illiterate, he has two companions with him.

  The other two were greatly discouraged by his words and turned to leave, but Hei San refused to go and knelt down to beg to stay.

  "The Tao is long and kind, I can teach it to recognize characters, you can leave it here." Mo Wen asked, bowing his body.

  "No distinction between superior and inferior, we are equal in conversation, how dare you interrupt?" Gu Yangzi said discontentedly.

  Don't ask why Gu Yangzi was so rude. A surge of anger arose in his heart, and he glared at Gu Yangzi with a cold expression. Such an unfeeling sect might as well not advance.

  "Understanding the text is not a one-day effort, sit down quickly and don't be too mouthy." Qingyangzi had a good impression of Mo Wen, and hastily gave him a signal with his eyes, indicating that he should not talk back.

  "Bookworm, don't be stubborn, Third Master is leaving." Hei San saw Mo Wen speaking up for him and was deeply grateful. He turned around and walked towards him, patted his shoulder, left a sentence "Come to Heifeng Ridge in Buxian Mountain when you're free" and went out the door...