Chapter 577 Not Indulging

Song Chunxue was puzzled. How could Tu Dan'er, a child who wandered around the Northwest, possibly know a Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain?

Unless, Yu Wanqing is not from Longhu Mountain.

Longhu Mountain is a sacred Taoist site. Song Chunxue has heard her senior brother talk about many extraordinary people and strange tales there. It is the place she most wants to visit in her lifetime, apart from the water towns of Jiangnan.

If Yu Wanqing, a rogue cultivator, really came from Longhu Mountain, he would be hard to like at first glance.

Unless he's faking it, trying to play dumb to take advantage of others.

However, Song Chunxue firmly believed that Yu Wanqing was a fraudulent Taoist priest who had only learned half-baked fortune telling and face reading in order to make a living.

Before long, the senior brother brought Yu Wanqing to his room and invited everyone to sit down and have tea.

Changfeng and Changyun were working in the courtyard when they huddled together and discussed the Taoist priest with the strange accent.

Song Chunxue sat quietly to the side without interrupting, listening to their conversation and observing the wandering Taoist priest.

Changfeng is right. Longhu Mountain is in the south, and the accents there are completely different from theirs. Yu Wanqing's accent is very nasal, making him sound more like a northerner.

Having traveled to so many places, my senior brother must be able to tell what kind of background he has.

"My Daoist name is Yunqing." Fellow Daoist, is your name Yu Wanqing, or is your Daoist name Wanqing? Judging from your accent, you don't seem to be from the Longhu Mountain area; your appearance and accent are those of someone from the Central Plains."

Yu Wanqing was taken aback, then picked up his teacup and laughed, “When I was a child, I was indeed from the Central Plains. Later, I went to the vicinity of Longhu Mountain and met a hermit master. He taught me Qimen Dunjia and the I Ching. I only learned a little bit to make a living, so please forgive my ignorance, fellow Daoist.”

Master Zhang nodded. "I was just lucky that a wealthy merchant from the foot of the mountain built a Taoist temple for me. As you know, rich people like to spend money to ward off misfortune."

"Oh?" Yu Wanqing asked casually, "Which wealthy merchant is so generous? They probably wouldn't dare to be so lavish without a foundation built over several generations."

“That’s right, it’s the Zhao family, the head of the four great families of Jincheng.” The Taoist priest looked up at the person who had stepped across the threshold and greeted him with a smile, “Tudan’er, come here and greet this fellow Taoist who has come from afar…”

"You damn liar, give me back my chicken leg!"

Tu Dan'er, who had just wiped his hands on his clothes, was all smiles and ready to greet him when he suddenly saw the person in front of him. He clenched his fists and rushed over aggressively, grabbing Yu Wanqing by the collar and punching him twice.

"Fine, you've even tried to trick my master! Do you know that chicken leg is something I only eat once a year? You snatched it and gave it to your apprentice. So your apprentice is greedy for meat, but I'm not? Waaah..."

As he spoke, Tudan'er became very sad and turned to the Taoist priest to complain.

"Master, I saw him before in the Longdong area. He's a complete snob, with no compassion whatsoever. Not only does he not have a lover, but he even tried to steal food from a beggar like me, sob sob..."

As he spoke, Tudan knelt on the ground, crying, and hugged Zhang Daoren's legs.

"Master, you have to stand up for me! I have a master now, you have to get justice for me, Master! Waaah!"

"..." Song Chunxue frowned slightly, looking at Tu Dan'er who was crying uncontrollably with a complicated expression, thinking that he must be faking it.

However, the crying was half genuine; there was definitely some grievance involved, but she was just using the tantrum to get back at the debt from back then.

She looked at Yu Wanqing with a cool gaze, crossed her legs, crossed her arms and leaned back. This Yu Wanqing is really no good.

They bully the weak and fear the strong, taking advantage of their power to bully even the most helpless country bumpkins.

Hmph, she wanted to see how her senior brother would stand up for him.

"You silly child, it's just a small matter, why are you still holding onto it? I had no choice back then, my apprentice was about to starve to death, you had two chicken legs in your hand, it wouldn't be too much to ask me to give you one, besides, I already paid for it." Yu Wanqing chuckled, "However, this trip was indeed inappropriate, I apologize to you here."

As he spoke, Yu Wanqing stood up and bowed to Tu Dan'er in apology.

It would have been better if he hadn't said that. Seeing his eloquent yet extremely hypocritical manner, Tu Dan'er was so angry that his face turned ashen.

"Hehehe, you old codger, how dare you say you paid? Two copper coins can't even buy a chicken leg, huh?"

He pointed at Yu Wanqing, so angry that snot was bubbling from his nose. "You said back then that although I had opportunities, I was not as fortunate as your stupid apprentice. You even wanted to exchange five copper coins for my luck. You old bastard, do you think I'm too young to remember anything? I will never forget your face!"

Song Chunxue narrowed her eyes, straightened up and leaned forward slightly, staring at Yu Wanqing calmly.

Tu Dan'er wasn't wrong to call him that; he really is a bad guy.

People like that should be kicked off the mountain!

“How can you make false accusations like this, child? I am a cultivator, how could I do such a thing?” Yu Wanqing turned to the Taoist priest and bowed. “Please be clear, Taoist priest. I was just joking. The child was young at the time and may have misremembered.”

"You misremembered?" Song Chunxue burst out laughing. "Then let's assume you're right, but shouldn't you apologize properly for taking his chicken leg back then?"

Yu Wanqing was displeased, but tried her best not to appear unreasonable.

"Then, in your opinion, how should I apologize?" Yu Wanqing pretended to be very reasonable and humbly asked for advice.

“You’ll have to ask Tudan’er,” Song Chunxue said, looking at the Taoist priest. “What do you think, senior brother?”

Master Zhang secretly rejoiced, thankful that his junior brother hadn't acted impulsively; otherwise, it wouldn't have been good if he had injured someone who was at least half a fellow practitioner.

As the saying goes, it's better to offend a gentleman than a petty person.

Petty people are extremely difficult to deal with, and can cause endless trouble in the future.

“Wangchen, you’re not a country bumpkin anymore. You’re my disciple. What happened back then won’t happen again. Besides, Master Yu has already apologized to you…”

"I don't care about his apology. Wrong is wrong, and I won't forgive him even if he apologizes." With that, Tu Dan'er stormed out. "Unless his apprentice comes to apologize to me in person and gives me a chicken leg as compensation."

Yu Wanqing couldn't save face, so giving them a chicken leg as compensation would be tantamount to admitting that they were being unfair.

He turned his gaze to Master Zhang, "Look, let the child handle this. In a few days, when my disciple arrives, I'll have him apologize to your disciple, how about that?"

Master Zhang smiled faintly and tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

When will your apprentice arrive?

“I will go down the mountain to pick him up tomorrow,” Yu Wanqing said with a smile. “There are not many people in this Taoist temple yet. If you don’t mind, my master and I can stay in the temple to clean the main hall and offer incense. I can also take on a few more disciples and teach them fortune telling and face reading.”

“I heard that the Taoist priest used to make a living by telling feng shui for people. We’re about the same. This mountain will be more lively in the future.”

"Heh, heh heh!" Song Chunxue finally couldn't help but laugh out loud. "You sure know how to talk. There aren't many people who are similar to my senior brother. Why don't you two have a competition and see who's better?"