The reason Jing Zhe dared to impersonate Master Han, a former disciple of the Qingyun Sect, was mainly because he felt that the fat Taoist priest opposite him was suspicious and more likely to be impersonating a member of the Qingyun Sect, so he used the same identity to fool him.
As expected.
This fat Taoist priest's skills were too shallow; he was exposed as soon as he tried to trick him.
Even the simpleton noticed, his face filled with disdain and contempt.
This expression, however, gave the fat Taoist a completely different perspective.
In fact, Jing Zhe's act of impersonating Master Han cannot stand scrutiny; if a few more questions were asked, his deception would be exposed.
But the key point is that this fat Taoist priest himself is also an imposter. When he saw that even one of Jing Zhe's little followers showed him disdain, as if he had been despised by the legitimate bloodline, he became even more convinced of their identities.
Fortunately, he was just a dissident…
Thinking this, the fat Taoist priest felt much more confident. "May I ask, Master Han, now that you've joined my sect, how have you come to be..."
"Didn't the senior members of the sect tell you this?"
Before he could answer, Jing Zhe seemed to be talking to himself again: "They don't even know which year I left, so they probably don't know why I left either. Oh well, since Master and the others won't say, they must not have forgiven me yet! After I travel for a few more years, I will definitely return to the sect to apologize and thank Master and my uncles!"
The fat Taoist priest listened from the side and began to imagine: This Master Han must have entered the sect very early, but then he did something wrong and was expelled from the sect, and has not returned since!
With a quick glance, he smiled and said, "Speaking of which, I should call Master Han 'Senior Brother'! Senior Brother, there's no need to be too sad! The elders in the sect have never mentioned Senior Brother's matter; they must be waiting for Senior Brother to return!"
Jing Zhe waved his hand, somewhat dejected: "Since I haven't returned to my sect, there's no need to call me Senior Brother. Just call me Master Han!"
"Okay... Master Han..."
"By the way, when I left, my sect hadn't opened a Taoist temple for quite some time. Why did you open a new one here?"
"this…"
The fat Taoist priest's eyes darted around. "It's a long story! If our sect wants to grow stronger and compete with the other three major sects, how can we do that without financial support? That's why they sent me out to open a Taoist temple!"
"Oh? So, you're saying that praying for people is just a pretense, and your real purpose is to collect money from their offerings?"
Jing Zhe glanced at him and said indifferently.
"Collecting incense money is true, and helping people pray for blessings is also true! There are no demons or monsters in this world, so there are no gods or bodhisattvas. Praying for blessings is simply having something to hope for, something to believe in, and something to rely on. Building temples and spreading the teachings is to give people faith and help them obtain their vision, and we can then take money from incense offerings. Everyone gets what they need, so what's wrong with that?"
"..."
The fat Taoist priest's remarks left Jing Zhe speechless.
But then they realized that if they only wanted to obtain their desired outcome, they could simply burn incense and pray at home without spending any money. However, this fat master used some tricks to make people believe that there was a Taoist master here, and then used that to make money. This was clearly a scam!
"What are Master Han's plans for the future?"
Seeing Jing Zhe frown and remain silent, the fat Taoist asked.
"Since we are passing through this place, we thought we would rest here for the night and set off for Jingzhou early tomorrow morning."
"In that case—Lu Gen, take Master Han to the back room and serve him the best wine and food!"
He then cupped his hands to Jing Zhe and said, “Master Han, please rest in the backyard for a while. There are still people in the main hall waiting for me to answer their questions. Please forgive me for any shortcomings in our hospitality!”
After saying that, he led a few young Taoist priests out.
The young Taoist priest named Lu Gen said to Jing Zhe and his companion, "Master Han, come with me!"
...
"Brother, since he's from the Qingyun Sect, would it be alright to let him stay overnight at the temple?"
The fat Taoist priest glanced at the young Taoist priest who had spoken and retorted, "If we don't keep him here, are we going to drive him away?"
"No... I'm just afraid he'll cause trouble..."
"What are you afraid of?"
The fat Taoist priest snorted coldly, "Didn't you hear him say he's just a disgraced disciple? What's there to be afraid of?"
"The people of Qingyun Sect are no ordinary people after all. We've already received quite a bit of incense money, so let's call it a night and leave!"
The young Taoist priest was still uneasy and offered a suggestion.
"Go to hell!"
The fat Taoist priest, enraged, smacked the young Taoist priest on the head. "Have you forgotten how much silver we spent, how much effort we put in, and how much heart and soul we poured into building this Taoist temple? We'll be finished in less than half a month, and you're telling me to leave? If you want to leave, then leave!"
Seeing the fat Taoist priest was angry, the young Taoist priest smiled and said, "Brother, please don't be angry. I was just afraid that he would ruin things, so I was being careful! Back then, we used all our savings to build this Taoist temple. Which of us brothers didn't want to swindle more money back with us?"
Hearing this, the fat Taoist priest felt a little better: "Since you know it's hard, don't say things like 'leave early' again!"
"Furthermore, since he's a disgraced disciple, he's probably not of high character. Treat him to good wine and food, and send him one of the young ladies we left over today tonight. As long as we make him comfortable, he won't care about pursuing us."
The young Taoist priest quickly gave him a thumbs up, then asked curiously, "You've kept quite a few young ladies here today, which one would be suitable for him?"
"Give it to...that young lady from the Zhang family!"
After what seemed like a long time of hesitation, the fat Taoist priest gritted his teeth and said.
"Young lady Zhang... she's a virgin! Didn't my elder brother say he wanted to keep her for himself?"
"A chick may be precious, but what does it matter compared to escaping safely?"
The fat Taoist priest looked up at the sky, his expression righteous and awe-inspiring.
"Brother, you're willing to sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of your brothers, I admire you!"
"It's alright, it's alright!"
The fat Taoist priest waved his hand, looking humble.
...
“Master Han, this is your room. This… brave man’s room is next door. You two can rest for a while. If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”
Seeing Jing Zhe nod, the young Taoist priest went out.
Hanhan came to the door, looked around, and then closed the door.
"Young Master, these guys are clearly swindlers! Why don't you expose them to the face?"
Jing Zhe looked at him like he was an idiot. "How did I lie to you?"
"this…"
After thinking for a moment, Hanhan said, "Young Master is clearly not some Master Han, but this fat Taoist priest says he has heard of you. What else could he be but a fraud?"
"How do you expose it? You go and talk to those believers outside, do you think they'll believe you?"
"..."
The simpleton was speechless.
He had just heard it too; the Azure Cloud Bodhisattva outside was growing taller every day. Judging from the mud marks on the lotus flower beneath the Bodhisattva, it shouldn't be faked; in fact, it could be described as miraculous.
Their few words are far too inadequate in the face of a Bodhisattva in the cycle of life.
"So, why don't we stay here for now? Firstly, we've been traveling for several days, so this is a good opportunity to take a bath and change into some fresh clothes before heading to the capital. Secondly, we can observe them secretly, see through their tricks, and expose them!"
After Jing Zhe finished speaking, Hanhan nodded repeatedly.
————
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