Tzu-yang

  Hei San's departure also gave Mo Wen the intention to leave. The woman in white beside him, who was covering her face, shook her head slightly when she saw this, indicating that he should not be rash.

  After half an hour, Guyangzi and Qingyangzi were checking the papers handed over by everyone, and after finishing, they divided them into two piles on both sides.

  Mo Wen was very puzzled, Gu Yangzi only asked everyone to write down their ancestral home and family situation, but judging from the current situation, they should be screening, could it be that family background is also being selected?

  Around noon, Gu Yangzi read out the names of more than 50 people one by one. These dozens of people were all eliminated, and everyone loudly asked for the reason why they were eliminated.

  "When parents are alive, one cannot travel far. To do so is to be unfilial. All of you have parents who need to be supported, how can you abandon them for the sake of cultivating and understanding the Tao? The Taoist teachings are different from Buddhism, we do not accept people who are unfilial." Gu Yangzi's tone was extremely severe, after speaking he raised his hand and gestured to the nearby Taoists to drive these fifty or so people away.

  The rest of the people, including Mo Wen who had previously disagreed with Gu Yangzi, were now all convinced by Gu Yangzi and Qing Yangzi's selection. What Gu Yangzi said was the filial piety that both Confucianism and Taoism follow: when parents are alive, do not travel far!

  "Let's have lunch first, and then come back here after noon." Gu Yangzi led the remaining thirty or so people with paper scrolls written by the master out of the place. Qing Yangzi was more easy-going, smiled at everyone before turning around to leave.

  After Gu Yangzi and Qing Yangzi left, the remaining crowd finally breathed a sigh of relief and slowly walked out of the East Hall. Mo Xun didn't move, he was recalling the previous selection process. The first test at the mountain front pavilion where silver money was collected was to test sincerity. This morning's formal selection should be the second and third tests, the second test is to test loyalty, and the third test is to test filial piety. These three tests are all aimed at selecting people with good character, which shows that the Upper Clear Sect attaches great importance to the character of its disciples.

  "There are still three passes." After a long time, Mo Xie sighed and opened his mouth, turned around and took steps. Only after turning around did he discover that the white-clothed masked woman had not left either.

  "The young master is polite, may I ask why you said there are still three passes?" The white-clothed woman saluted Mo with a martial artist's bow.

  "Turning to the maiden, I recall that Qingyang Daozhang once told me that one must pass six tests in the Upper Clarity sect before being accepted as a disciple. Calculating it out, I have only passed three tests so far." Mo Xiu spoke up in response. At this time, social customs had become more open and enlightened, and men and women conversing was no longer considered improper. These female seekers of the Way who wore veils over their faces did so merely to avoid suspicion.

  "Thank you for your guidance, young master." The woman in white said with gratitude.

  "It's just a small effort, no need to thank me." Without another word, he strode out.

  Because he had something on his mind, Mo didn't go to the dining hall for food, but instead walked slowly back to his own room. After entering, he found two gold bars on the bed, which hadn't been smelted and were natural gold bars. According to historical records, the Dongbei Xianshan mountains are rich in gold deposits, so these two gold bars were undoubtedly left by Hei San when he departed.

  He couldn't help but feel terrible about the situation with Hei Sanling, and the screening in the morning had also cast a shadow over his heart. The rules of the Qing Dynasty were complex, the screening was strict, the hierarchy was clear, and the elders were very particular. Even if he passed the screening, the next three years would be extremely difficult.

  In the afternoon, Mo Wu returned to the East Palace, at this time all the candidates had arrived, and he was the last to arrive.

  After waiting for a while, Guyangzi and Qingyangzi arrived slowly, accompanied by Daoist priests who carried in wooden tables and brought the Four Treasures of the Study.

  "If you have the Tao and its virtue, and others cheat and insult you, how should you deal with it?" asked Gu Yangzi.

  "A dragon is drawn with a single stroke of the brush." Qingyangzi added with a sly smile.

  Everyone's face showed a worried expression when they heard this, and the question was originally difficult to answer. Using one word to answer made it even more difficult, and it was easy to misinterpret. However, what shocked everyone was that after the two finished speaking, they raised their hands to signal the Taoist beside them to collect the scrolls. The crowd hastily came up with answers without much thought, hastily writing down their responses.

  Gu Yangzi and Qing Yangzi sat high on the wooden platform, reviewing (the cases). The crowd below looked at each other nervously, only to see Gu Yangzi expressionless all along, while Qing Yangzi would frown or nod during the review, and there were even volumes that made him laugh loudly.

  "Zhao Fangchong, Luo Yulin, Ma Chushuang, Xu Hanqing, the four of them answered with 'kill', lacking in tolerance and humanity, full of bloody slaughter. Return the silver, send it back down the mountain." Gu Yangzi spoke coldly.

  "A junior dares to argue, but the elder only allows me to answer with one word and doesn't give us time to think it over. In a rush, I'm afraid of losing balance." One of the young men bowed his head and called out "Gu".

  "It is only in haste that one can see the truth, although Taoism does not prohibit killing, it is extremely cautious and indiscriminate slaughter is not the way of my Taoist." Gu Yangzi said.

  Gu Yangzi's words left the four men speechless, and they got up and left in a dejected manner.

  Just as the remaining people thought they had passed safely, Gu Yangzi pointed out the names of nine people again. "You nine people all wrote 'letting go' characters, you should remember that my Taoist family is different from Buddhism and does not tolerate evil. When it's time to take action, we must take action. Punishing evil and correcting mistakes is the right way, tolerating evil is absolutely unacceptable."

  Nine people heard the words and all trembled, but unexpectedly Gu Yangzi finished speaking and didn't say anything else, nor did he drive them away. It can be seen that Taoist masters still value benevolence above all.

  "Which Liu Shaqing is it?" asked Qingyangzi with a smile, who had been silent all along.

  A slender young man under the seat heard the sound and trembled with fear, bowed his head deeply, waiting for instruction.

  "Is this what you wrote?" Qingyangzi picked up one of the scrolls.

  Because of the proximity, everyone in the audience saw that big "run" character and burst into loud laughter.

  "Fleeing without a fight not only damages one's own reputation, but also disgraces the school's name. A cultivator should have a body as strong as plum blossom and a heart full of gentle breeze, neither fearing the strong nor bullying the weak. You must remember this." Qingyangzi said with a collected smile.

  "The junior remembers the Daoist's teachings." Liu Shaoying saw that the other party did not drive himself away, and suddenly felt relieved.

  It wasn't until now that everyone's heart was slightly at ease, as it turned out that the Upper Clarity Sect was only strict on the issue of nature, and unimportant matters were still quite lenient. The fact that even this deserter hadn't been driven away was good proof.

  As Mo Xun had been standing beside Hei San earlier, after Hei San left, he was now next to the white-clothed woman. At this time, the white-clothed woman suddenly spoke up in a low voice to Mo Xun, "Young master, what are you writing?"

  Mo Wen heard the words and picked up his pen to write, the other party did the same. After finishing writing, they exchanged papers to take a look. The white-clothed woman wrote "fight", Mo Wen wrote "punish". The meaning was roughly the same, but the atmosphere was still slightly better with Mo Wen's version.

  "If you have learned the art of alchemy, two people come to ask for medical treatment. The rich one brings gold, while the poor one comes empty-handed. You can only save one person, who will you save?" Gu Yangzi asked again.

  "Answer in two words." Qingyangzi set a general limit on the number of words again.

  As the first question was raised, everyone looked at the Daoist standing beside them and found that they were not in a hurry to roll up their scrolls. Only then did they feel slightly relieved, slowly picked up their pens, and wrote down their answers.

  Don't ask, he was worried. This seemingly simple question is actually very difficult to answer. If you answer incorrectly, you will definitely be eliminated. The Confucianism he had learned before tended to help the poor and the weak, but after falling into trouble, he wanted to choose a rich man. The reason was simple: the rich man did not rob him of his silver, nor did he want to strip off his and Lao Wu's clothes.

  At a loss for what to do, I suddenly remembered the matter of having to pay silver to enter Mount Wutai. In an instant, I was enlightened: seeking medical treatment and asking about medicine depends on sincerity. The rich are sincere, so they bring gold and silver. As for the poor, although they have no gold or silver, they always have other items that can express their sincerity. Their coming empty-handed is in line with the ancient saying that a pitiful person must have something hateful about them.

  After a while, the Taoist took back the scrolls and Gongyangzi and Qingyangzi reviewed them. Only twenty or so people were left below, and the two quickly finished reviewing, their expressions becoming extremely solemn.

  "Why did you choose to save the poor man?" asked Gongyangzi.

  Gu Yangzi did not specify who should answer, so no one stood up from the audience. After a long time, a man with a pointed mouth and small ears in a green robe stood up, "Helping the weak and the strong is the duty of a cultivator, the rich are not worth saving because they are full of greed, but the poor and helpless should be rescued."

  Don't ask who this "person" is, he lives in the same yard as Hei San and should be the "bird" in his mouth. After this person stood up to answer, many people echoed, presumably they were all voting for saving Mu Zong.

  "Why did you choose to save the rich man?" Gu Yangzi's response to Birdman was noncommittal, and he asked again.

  As soon as this was said, the camp was clearly divided. Only ten people turned their heads to choose to treat the rich man, less than half of them.

  Looking around, no one replied. Mo asked and stood up straight, "The rich man came with gold, intending to exchange it for a reward. The poor man arrived empty-handed, only with the intention of begging. Although poor people may not understand etiquette, they should have a grateful heart, rather than relying on their poverty, begging and humiliating themselves. Therefore, I want to save the rich man and stop this evil practice."

  "How can a cultivator value money and follow the crowd? Wouldn't that tarnish the reputation of Daoism and make them no different from ordinary people?" The Birdman stood up to refute.

  "If you want to overthrow the strong and support the weak, go be a bandit. If you want to save those in suffering and difficulty, go worship at the Buddha's gate. The Taoist way is to rescue only those who should be rescued, not to recklessly bestow compassion, nurturing small troubles into great calamities!" Mo asked, raising his voice as well, despite the other person's rude words.

  "How dare you!" Gu Yangzi's eyes blazed with anger as he spoke up, and the two of them hastily lowered their heads at the sound.

  "This is a test of your magnanimity and demeanor. Don't ask if your answers conform to the style of our Taoist sect, for they are not entirely wrong. However, they deviate from our Taoist principles and smack of seeking fame and fortune. A cultivator should have noble integrity, maintain an air of pride, concentrate their spirit, and not be swayed by external influences. One's heart must be stable, one's will unshakeable." Qingyangzi sighed and waved his hand, "You may leave."

  The crowd who chose to save the poor people heard this and regretted it endlessly. In fact, they chose to save the poor only to please the two old Taoists in charge of the assessment, thinking that the Taoists would sympathize with the poor. Unexpectedly, they were wrong. The Taoists do not look at whether the other party is rich or poor, but treat everyone equally, neither loving nor hating the poor, and neither loving nor hating the rich, only looking at whether the other's attitude is proper.

  The price of wrong answers is departure, no compromise at all.

  "Previously, the five passes tested one's sincerity, loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and demeanor. The last question is, where will you use your skills when they are fully mastered?" Gu Yangzi looked around at the remaining ten people.

  "Within ten words." Qingyangzi didn't smile this time,

  Strengthen yourself, benefit your relatives and friends, and bring blessings to all under heaven.

  The last round eliminated three people, and these three people wrote "loyalty to the monarch and dedication to the country." The reason for elimination is insincerity.

  The first round of selection is over, and out of 300 people, only seven are left...