Divine Tang Era

Upon entering, one is greeted by a fierce and valiant deity with three eyes on his forehead, a red face and beard, wearing golden armor and a red robe, holding a golden seal in his left hand and a golden whip in his right, riding on a wheel of fire. He looks majestic and brave, inspiring awe.

This is Wang Lingguan, a Taoist guardian deity, also known as Marshal Wang, the Fire Spirit Official.

Legend has it that Wang Lingguan's eyes on his forehead could distinguish truth from falsehood and discern good from evil, which is why Taoism used him to guard temples and ward off evil spirits.

Xu Dan clasped his hands together in prayer and walked towards the back hall. On either side of Wang Lingguan were two guardian deities, the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger. He bowed to them one by one before continuing to the back.

When it comes to praying, the first thing is to be sincere.

Believe it or not, once you're in someone else's home, you must be sincere. Just like if someone comes to your house with a bad attitude, complains, and has a lot of dissatisfaction, you certainly wouldn't be happy either, right? It's the same principle.

The second is to ensure that nothing is missed.

When you go to a temple to pray, you must worship all the gods without missing a single one.

Otherwise, if you worship her but not him, and he blames you, he won't protect you and will even hold you back.

In the center of the back was a courtyard, with wide corridors on both sides, where the sixty Jiazi Tai Sui were enshrined. These were powerful deities, and Xu Dan bowed to them one by one. He stepped up a flight of stairs and entered the main hall, where the supreme deities of Taoism were enshrined: Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun, Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun, and Taiqing Daode Tianzun.

A chubby little Taoist boy was sleeping on the altar in front of the statues of the Three Pure Ones, clutching a whisk. He was drooling, and it was unclear what he was dreaming about.

Xu Dan found it amusing, and on a sudden impulse, he took a copper coin from his pocket, threw it on the ground, and shouted, "Who dropped their money?"

The copper coin clattered to the ground and rolled forward. Xu Dan went to pick it up. The young Taoist boy, awakened by the sound, saw Xu Dan chasing the coin and shouted, "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I'm picking up money, didn't you see?" Xu Dan said as he picked up the money.

"Is that your money?" the young Taoist priest asked sternly.

"If it's not my money, is it still your money?"

"That's not necessarily true."

In the temple, there's no reason to take back money that's been given out. Xu Dan took out nine more copper coins, making ten in total. He looked around and, finding no money to add to the oil box, handed them to the young Taoist boy, saying, "This is my donation to the temple for incense offerings. Take it."

The young Taoist priest glanced at it and said indifferently, "I do not accept monetary donations."

"No incense money?" Xu Dan asked in surprise.

"No," the young Taoist priest shook his head.

Are there still Taoist temples and Buddhist monasteries in this world that don't charge for incense offerings? Xu Dan had never heard of such a thing before. It was truly bizarre. But since he had already taken out the money, there was no reason for him to take it back. He looked around and said, "Then give me a few sticks of incense. Consider this money as payment on my behalf."

"That would be acceptable."

The young Taoist boy put away the copper coins and took out three green incense sticks for him.

The incense has a natural, refreshing fragrance, which is quite nice.

Xu Dan placed the incense sticks on the side, lit the sesame oil lamp, bowed to the Three Pure Ones, and placed the incense in the burner. The young Taoist boy beside him banged on a drum and recited a few lines of scripture in a seemingly serious manner. Xu Dan didn't understand what it was.

After finishing reciting the sutra, the young Taoist said:

"You've struck gold today. Incense from our palace is valuable; you can't buy it for ten coins. But my master said that burning incense and worshipping gods is human nature. As long as you're sincere, we'll sell it to you no matter the price. He always makes money at a loss."

Business?

Upon hearing those two words, Xu Dan raised an eyebrow. Suddenly remembering something, he couldn't help but ask, "Do you have any scriptures for the deceased here?"

"Did someone in your family die?" the young Taoist asked curiously.

"Your family just had a fatal accident, how dare you talk like that?" Xu Dan glared at him.

"Why do you need to perform sutras for the deceased if no one has died?"

"I think if I encounter wandering ghosts outside, I should recite some scriptures for them and help them pass on to the afterlife, so that those who should go to heaven can go to heaven, and those who should go to hell can go to hell, and not linger in the world and frighten people." Xu Dan thought of the old woman he met last time. If there were a scripture for passing on the soul, how wonderful it would be, and he wouldn't have to just recite the Heart Sutra to get by.

The Heart Sutra is primarily about the mind, not about salvation.

"You're a good person. My master does have a few scriptures, but he doesn't sell them," the young Taoist said.

"Why not sell it?" Xu Dan asked in surprise.

"That's Master's book. He gets all the money from selling it, and he won't share it with me. Why would I sell it?" The young Taoist looked at Xu Dan as if he were an idiot.

Xu Dan felt that his logic was quite clear and his words made sense, but what about the book he wanted? After thinking for a moment, he said, "If you sell me the book, I'll treat you to candy."

"I don't eat candy, it will ruin my teeth," the young Taoist priest refused righteously.

"Then I'll treat you to dinner," Xu Dan said again.

"What kind of food should we have?" The young Taoist priest seemed interested.

"Steamed buns, big steamed buns." Xu Dan had just eaten some; they tasted good.

Upon hearing this, the young Taoist priest's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Is it the big steamed bun from Meng Family Steamed Bun Shop?" Xu Dan didn't know the name of the steamed bun shop, but he still nodded and said, "Yes."

"I can eat two." The little Taoist priest happily held up two fingers.

"I'll buy you five. Eat two now, two later, and save one for a midnight snack," Xu Dan said generously.

"I'll save two for my master."

"Then I'll buy you ten, you can eat them however you want."

"Okay, the book is yours. Wait here, I'll go get it for you." Whether it was the charm of the big steamed bun or not, the little Taoist immediately agreed to sell the book to Xu Dan, and then ran off like the wind.

A moment later, he ran out carrying three books.

"These three are scriptures for salvation. One is the 'Wonderful Scripture of the Great Savior from Suffering,' which tells of the exorcism of sins from the Blood Lake of Fengdu. Another is the 'Wonderful Scripture of the Supreme Mysterious Treasure for Saving from Suffering and Exorcising Sins,' which tells of the 'Supreme Scripture of the Primordial Limitless Salvation of Man.' Even if you don't use them for salvation, reciting them regularly will benefit you. My master copied these by hand, so you need to pay for them. Otherwise, I won't be able to explain it when I get back," the young Taoist said with a serious expression.

"How many?"

"One tael of silver per book, just a token amount will do. Anyway, I didn't copy it, so there's no need to pay too much," the young Taoist said nonchalantly.

This guy is a typical example of someone who "sells his father's land without a care in the world," but since it benefited Xu Dan, he didn't say anything.

To be honest, at five copper coins for a steamed bun in Jingning City, a book costing one tael of silver is expensive. But considering that it was handwritten and includes paper and ink, it's not that expensive after all.

Xu Dan took out three taels of silver from his money bag and gave it to him.

The young Taoist priest casually tucked the writing into his sleeve, saying, "This was written by my master himself. It contains some magical power. If you encounter wandering ghosts, taking it out might be of some use."

"it is good."

Xu Dan nodded to indicate he understood, but he didn't really care. After paying, he took the young Taoist boy out to buy steamed buns. The boy seemed completely unconcerned about being kidnapped and sold, casually going out with him without even closing the palace gates.

After buying the steamed buns, Xu Dan turned back to the study to buy the Shuowen Jiezi (a dictionary of Chinese characters).

The young Taoist priest took the steamed buns back to the palace by himself.

An old Taoist priest stood at the door with a dark face, looking at the young Taoist boy who was carrying a steamed bun in one hand and taking big bites of it with the other, and shouted, "Where did you go just now? Why weren't you in the palace?"

"I went to buy steamed buns with someone, and I saved two for you."

The young Taoist priest took a bite of the bun in his mouth, took out two more from the buns he was carrying and gave them to the old Taoist priest, then took out three taels of silver from his sleeve and handed them over, saying, "Here, this is the money from selling the books."

"What book?" the old Taoist asked curiously.

"It's the 'Supreme Savior from Suffering Heavenly Venerable's Wonderful Scripture on Removing Sins from the Blood Lake of Fengdu,' 'Supreme Mysterious Treasure Scripture on Removing Sins from Suffering,' and 'Primordial Boundless Salvation of Man's Supreme Wonderful Scripture,' which you copied a while ago."

"One book for one tael." The old Taoist's face was terribly dark.

"Otherwise, how much do you want to sell it for? With those scribbles that look like dog's scratch, you've already made enough money." The young Taoist said honestly.

"I'll beat you to death!" the old Taoist priest shouted angrily.

When the young Taoist priest saw that his master was angry, he ran inside and hid.

The old Taoist priest watched him run inside, his face grim and uncertain. After a while, he looked up at the sky and sighed helplessly, "What a tragedy! How could I have taken such a fool as my disciple?" He shook his head and followed him inside.