With virtue

Once Zhou Cheng'an's footsteps disappeared outside the courtyard gate, Zhao Yunshu sighed.

Convincing the others at the kiln won't be easy.

Take Sun, for example. He was indeed very polite. He arranged accommodations, prepared meals, found clothes for the children, and even arranged for them to become apprentices in the kiln. He did everything perfectly, and no one could find fault with him. Just like when he arranged for the refugees, he did things very well.

But having been a Taoist priest for several years, he had met quite a few people, and the more polite and considerate a person was, the more likely they were to have their own agenda.

Being polite is about saving face, but having substance is about getting things done. If you give him enough face, you won't give him an inch of substance. This behavior clearly shows that he's treating him like someone who's freeloading and taking advantage of others.

However, this is no trivial matter and we still need to take care of it.

Mainly, he really liked Wang Haiting, a seven or eight-year-old child who was almost fed to ghosts by his parents when they sent him up the mountain. He survived but didn't cry every day and even knew how to comfort children younger than himself.

Chen Wanchuan is also a good person. We met by chance, and last night he dared to go back up the mountain to save him. Today he carried two children for half a day without a single complaint. Such people are rare. I'll help him if I can.

Besides, he himself needed some travel expenses.

This may sound a bit vulgar, but even spiritual practitioners need to eat. Drawing talismans requires cinnabar and yellow paper. When my master was alive, he never shied away from making money. If we could establish connections in Ding kiln and resolve this matter, at least we could earn some money.

Of course, the most important person is Master Zhou. This old craftsman is an old friend of my master. Speaking of which, Master Zhou also contributed to the bricks and tiles in that temple. When he ran out of money to build the Taoist temple, he sold a pair of white porcelain pieces to build that small Taoist temple.

At this moment, his life was in danger. If Zhao Yunshu didn't know about this, it would be fine, but since he did know, it would be inhuman for him to just stand by and watch Master Zhou be dragged down by the viper.

Although that old bastard kept a lot of things to himself, he was still the master who picked him up from the roadside and raised him.

Master, Master, as his disciple, I must shoulder the responsibilities he left behind.

Zhao Yunshu went through these thoughts in her mind, and then remembered the little viper that had been hiding in the corner of the wall last night.

----------

But on the other side...

After last night, Chief Sun secretly sent a message into the city.

So today, Master Yuanmeng came to Sun Batou's room to inquire about what happened yesterday.

Master Yuanmeng arrived quickly and said, "I also saw that young Taoist priest who came yesterday in the shops in the city. I heard he examined Master Zhou's illness; did he find anything?"

Sun Shouxin poured a cup of tea for Master Yuanmeng before speaking, "I was just about to tell you about this when that young Taoist priest said that what's accumulating in Old Zhou's lungs isn't kiln ash, but resentment. He also said he could cure it and asked me to prepare some strange and unusual materials. I don't know if it's true or not."

He paused, then added, "By the way, he came with your letter of introduction, Master. I assumed he was a friend of yours and treated him with courtesy."

Master Yuanmeng took a sip of tea and remained silent for a moment.

When he looked up again, a hint of disgust, which he could hardly conceal, appeared on his gentle and refined face, though it was only for a moment before he suppressed it.

But who is Sun Shouxin? He has dealt with all sorts of people in the kiln for most of his life, and his ability to read people is already superb. He still managed to catch that fleeting hint of hostility.

"Master?" Sun Shouxin remained calm, only softening his tone further. "Is there something amiss?"

"Master, you are a respected figure among high-ranking officials. It is a blessing for everyone that you have come to our Quyang kiln to instruct us on our skills. I am a rough man and do not understand the ways of you practitioners. I am only doing this because I appreciate your hard work at the kiln. If you see anything wrong, please tell me frankly and do not hide it from me, Old Sun."

Master Yuanmeng did not answer immediately; he clasped his hands together, his expression showing some struggle.

After a long while, he sighed and said, "Chief Sun, there are some things I didn't want to say, because saying them would be bad for everyone."

As he said this, he looked up and stared directly at Sun Shouxin, his eyes full of sincerity. "But now that Chief Sun has asked, if I were to conceal it any longer, I would be letting down the hospitality I have received at the kiln these past few days, and I would also be letting down Chief Sun's trust."

Hearing his tone, Sun Shouxin quickly said, "Master, please speak freely."

"This person," Master Yuanmeng said slowly, his voice low but each word distinct, "is likely a demon."

Sun Shouxin's pupils contracted slightly as he said, "A demon? What do you mean by that, Master? That young Taoist priest looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old. He didn't do anything outrageous yesterday; he just checked Master Zhou's pulse and said something about resentful spirits turning into snakes. I thought he was just trying to freeload, and now he's a demon?"

"Has Chief Sun ever considered what kind of knowledge a young Taoist priest, barely a teenager, could possibly have? How could he so readily spout things like vengeful spirits turning into snakes?"

"Moreover, even ordinary cultivators who have cultivated for one or two decades may not be able to glimpse the form of resentment. How could a young man possibly 'see' it?"

Master Yuanmeng's tone turned solemn as he continued, "Resentment is an invisible thing, unseen by ordinary people. Even I couldn't 'see' it with my own eyes. Perhaps only someone who has been exposed to it or cultivated themselves could recognize it so clearly. Not to mention, who knows whether the resentment was present from the beginning or was introduced by someone else?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Shouxin frowned.

Master Yuanmeng's words did make him somewhat worried. In fact, from the very beginning, he felt that the young Taoist priest was talking nonsense, and now, after hearing what Master Yuanmeng said, he felt that it made even more sense.

"Furthermore," Monk Yuanmeng continued, "Think about it, since Master Zhou has been ill for a long time, he could use the pretext of treating Master Zhou's illness to secretly do something to kill Master Zhou. The people at the kiln would only think that Master Zhou was seriously ill and had no chance of getting better, and would never suspect him. At that time, he could then use Master Zhou's dying words to leave those children at the kiln, thus planting a thorn in the side of Quyang kiln."

Sun Shouxin was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Yesterday I just thought this young Taoist priest was here to freeload, I didn't think that far ahead, but... the master said he had ulterior motives, I wonder what those motives are? Just sending a few children in? What use are they?"

Master Yuanmeng slowly got up, walked to the window, and turned his back to Sun Batou.

He looked at the plumes of smoke rising from the kiln outside the window, and after a while he spoke: "Mortals know when they are full after eating one meal, and so do demons who absorb essence. They can also distinguish between being full at one meal and being full at every meal. I'm afraid they have their eyes on these hundreds of strong laborers at Ding Kiln."

Sun Shouxin's face finally darkened. He recalled the confident look on Zhou Chengan's face when he came to tell him to cooperate with Zhao Yunshu in treating the illness, and he couldn't help but feel a chill of fear.

If Master Yuanmeng's words are true, then the young Taoist priest who is currently proclaiming his intention to "cure illnesses in public" in the kiln is not saving people, but killing them.

"There's one more thing," Master Yuanmeng turned around. "Putting everything else aside, do you remember that peddler next to him? This man claimed with absolute certainty that he saw him drive away a hundred ghosts last night, and that he obeyed him completely today. What peddler in this world would dare to stay and help after witnessing a hundred ghosts parade at night? He must have been bewitched by his sorcery."

Upon hearing this, Sun Shouxin finally couldn't sit still any longer. He stood up, paced around the room a couple of times, and said in a deep voice, "Thank you for your guidance, Master, and thank you for your concern for Master Zhou. I will handle this matter properly and ensure he doesn't cause any trouble in Ding Kiln territory." He paused, then looked at Master Yuanmeng and asked, "Master, do you have any solutions?"

Master Yuanmeng clasped his hands together and lowered his eyes, slowly saying, "Now that things have come to this, this humble monk can no longer remain uninvolved. Head Sun, please allow this humble monk to go back and prepare some ritual implements and scriptures. This matter must be resolved. If he is willing to leave, then let him live. If he is not willing... then it will be a blessing for Ding kiln and a responsibility for this humble monk."