Chapter 147: Heaven-Sent Talent

After hearing Fang Jifan’s words, Yu Daochun was so happy that he cried.

Yu Daochun said with deep emotion, “I really never expected this. Yes, that makes perfect sense. Master was skilled in the Daoist methods, and he happened to meet you. He taught you the meaning of the Daodejing. It’s no wonder you have such understanding of the Daodejing. Then, it’s not surprising at all that you could write this ‘Collected Commentaries on the True Scripture of the Dao and Its Virtue’. Master said you had unusual bone structure. It must be because you have a spiritual root. As for us, his disciples, it’s shameful to say. Although we followed Master and studied the Dao for twenty years, we achieved nothing. You… junior brother… you are a fated one…”

Junior… junior brother…

Fang Jifan looked at Yu Daochun, who was so moved that tears streamed down his old face, and for a moment, he couldn’t speak.

Yu Daochun cried messily and continued, “All these years, I have never failed to follow Master’s teachings. I kept a firm Dao heart and sought to bring glory to our school. But… but…”

Maybe he was too emotional. He coughed violently for a while and finally calmed down. He looked Fang Jifan over seriously and said, “When Master left, did he say anything to you?”

“This…” Fang Jifan felt a little cruel inside. If he had known earlier that Wei Dayou was Yu Daochun’s mentor, he wouldn’t have used Wei Dayou to make up stories.

He thought for a moment and then said, “That Taoist said he had several good disciples, and… he was a man beyond worldly affairs, so he left all mundane matters to his disciples.”

Yu Daochun said with emotion again, “And then?”

“He…” Ah… Fang Jifan thought to himself. Since things had come to this, he had to thicken his face and make things up. “He said I have a spiritual root and that I’m a talent that appears only once in a thousand years.”

Yu Daochun actually nodded and said, “Master had sharp eyes. Otherwise, how could you, junior brother, have written ‘Collected Commentaries on the True Scripture of the Dao and Its Virtue’? We followed Master for decades but never had such understanding. Shameful, shameful. Junior brother, did Master say anything else?”

Fang Jifan tilted his head and thought again before saying, “That was mostly it. Besides teaching me some Daoist Studies, he patted my shoulder and said, ‘Kid, you have great potential.'”

Yu Daochun shook his head, tears in his eyes, and said, “Master must have been very pleased to find a clever disciple like you.”

Fang Jifan said modestly, “No, no, I don’t think so. I think Master must have misjudged.”

But Yu Daochun said very seriously, “Nonsense! Master practiced the Dao for two jiazi. With his cultivation, how could he misjudge? Don’t be modest.”

Fang Jifan pursed his lips and fell silent. He thought to himself, I was being modest, but you insisted on praising me. Don’t blame me for that.

At this moment, Yu Daochun took a deep breath and seemed to have made up his mind. “Master followed the decree of Celestial Master Zhang to come to the Capital and establish a temple. He spread Zhengyi Taoism in the Northern Region. Longquan Taoist Temple has since become very popular. This is a great merit. Since you are Master’s disciple, junior brother, why not join the Taoist Sect and practice together?”

He didn’t doubt Fang Jifan’s identity at all. Instead, he became suspicious when Fang Jifan said he had no guidance.

After all, he deeply felt that ‘Collected Commentaries on the True Scripture of the Dao and Its Virtue’ truly embodied many of his Mentor’s views on the Daodejing. No wonder he was so amazed when he first saw ‘Collected Commentaries on the True Scripture of the Dao and Its Virtue’! If Fang Jifan hadn’t inherited Master’s legacy, Yu Daochun would cut off his own head and let people kick it like a ball.

Yu Daochun said very seriously, “Our lineage of Longquan Taoist Temple comes from Dragon Tiger Mountain’s Zhengyi Taoism. Mentor crossed the river and went north. He has been spreading the Dao in the Northern Region for a hundred years. The school’s succession has gone through four generations. Disciples follow the ‘Great Dao Faces Heaven’ generational names. For example, Mentor was of the ‘Da’ generation. His Taoist name contained the character ‘Da’. My several senior brothers and I are all of the ‘Dao’ generation. The disciples below us are of the ‘Chao’ generation. As for the disciples’ disciples, they are of the ‘Tian’ generation. Since you have inherited Mentor’s legacy, you are my junior brother. I will write a letter to inform the Perfected Master at Dragon Tiger Mountain. I will ask him to bestow a talisman upon you. Then I will report to the Ministry of Rites’ Daoist Registry Office to issue a daoist register for you, junior brother. We are of the same school and are fellow disciples. We are also both of the Dao generation. From now on, your Taoist name might as well be ‘Fang Daofan’. What do you think?”

He looked at Fang Jifan very sincerely. His mind was filled with many thoughts. He thought that this person was Mentor’s legacy, a true disciple. If he could make him join the Taoist Sect, it might fulfill Mentor’s lifelong wish. Besides, Fang Jifan received Mentor’s personal teachings and wrote ‘Collected Commentaries on the True Scripture of the Dao and Its Virtue’. He was so extraordinary at such a young age. No wonder Mentor said he had unusual bone structure. If junior brother could join the Taoist Sect, it would be a great good thing.

He was a man beyond worldly affairs. He had always practiced asceticism in a Taoist temple outside the city. He actually knew little about Fang Jifan. But he valued the bond between fellow disciples the most.

But…

Fang Daofan?

Fang Jifan was even more confused now. Are you kidding me? You want me to become an old Taoist?

Fang Jifan opened his bright eyes wide and looked at Yu Daochun, who was dressed simply, had white hair and beard, and only had a messy bun on his head.

Fang Jifan couldn’t help but shudder. He quickly said, “No, no. I was just lucky to receive a little guidance from Daoist Venerable Wei. I absolutely cannot become a Taoist. If my father found out, he would surely beat me to death.”

Fang Jifan didn’t know what his father, who was dozens of miles away, would feel being used as an excuse.

But it didn’t matter. He was the one to be tricked.

Yu Daochun insisted, “Junior brother, this is Mentor’s wish. Besides, you have a natural wisdom root. You are destined to have a deep connection with the Taoist Sect. How can you refuse?”

Fang Jifan just kept shaking his head, shaking so hard that tears were about to come out. Becoming a Taoist? That would be the death of him!

Seeing Fang Jifan keep refusing, Yu Daochun immediately looked disappointed. He couldn’t help but shed tears again. He felt even more emotional that he could still get news of his Mentor. His heart was full of melancholy. And it was even more regrettable that this junior brother refused to join the Taoist Sect.

But such matters really couldn’t be forced.

So he said with a bitter smile, “Perhaps the opportunity hasn’t come yet. Junior brother, ah…”

Fang Jifan saw the way he looked at him and couldn’t help but feel a little creeped out. He was sure about this look. It was no different from a brothel madam forcing a good girl into prostitution.

Fang Jifan felt flustered by his gaze. So he hurriedly said, “I still have some worldly matters in the city. I must take my leave.”

With that, he stepped away.

He left behind a bewildered Yu Daochun. This junior brother seemed to have some misunderstanding about the Taoist Sect. Why was he so afraid?

Thinking of this, a young man with such unusual bone structure, who had received Mentor’s legacy, actually avoided Longquan Taoist Temple like snakes and scorpions. Yu Daochun felt even sadder.

But… forced melons… aren’t sweet.

What a pity, what a pity…

He didn’t stop him. He just watched Fang Jifan’s back, feeling sorrowful in his heart.

Fang Jifan, who escaped in a rush, came out of the Three Pure Ones Pavilion. He went all the way back to the Patriarch Qiu Hall and saw several disciples still waiting there. Even Wang Shouren was there.

He saw that Tang Yin’s clothes were a bit messy. A few people were whispering about something, chattering away. When they saw Fang Jifan coming, they immediately shut up.

Fang Jifan saw their strange expressions and said irritably, “What happened?”

Tang Yin quickly said, “Nothing, nothing.”

But Fang Jifan saw that everyone’s expressions were odd, so he frowned. Did this look like nothing?

Wang Shouren said, “There was a small dispute just now. We heard the vegetarian food here was good, so we wanted to try it. The cook Taoist actually charged one tael of silver per person. When the food was served, there was actually meat in the dishes. Tang Yin felt a bit indignant, so he said something extra. He called them fake Taoists. Then we argued with the cook Taoist. They called us students sour Xiucai. There were many Taoists here, so there was a bit of pushing and shoving. But it’s nothing serious.”

Tang Yin’s face was a bit pale. He lowered his head and said, “It was my fault. I actually knew that Zhengyi Taoism allows eating meat. I was just unhappy that they charged one tael per person. So…”

A talented scholar is indeed a talented scholar. He naturally had a bit of unyielding spirit.

Ouyang Zhi and the other two were blockheads.

As for Xu Jing, he was always slick. Even if he was unhappy, he would hide it.

Fang Jifan said “Oh” and then looked at Wang Shouren. This guy Wang Shouren had an even stranger temper. He didn’t understand human affairs at all. Clearly, Tang Yin and the others didn’t want him to know about this, afraid he would worry. But Wang Shouren was good. He spilled everything at the first opportunity.

He shook his head inwardly. What kind of people are these?

Fang Jifan was still feeling lingering fear, afraid that someone would kidnap him to become a Taoist. He didn’t want any extra trouble, so he said, “Let’s go down the mountain.”

They went down the mountain gate and walked three or four miles toward the Capital. Fang Jifan felt a bit hungry. He saw a tea stall along the official road, so he decided to stop the carriage and took his disciples to sit down.

It was an open-air tea stall. Only a couple was running it. There were seven or eight greasy tables and chairs. They didn’t just sell tea; they also sold pastries.

Fang Jifan and the others sat down, taking up two tables. A few scattered tea customers sat far away, looking at Fang Jifan’s group curiously. They seemed to know that Fang Jifan’s group were noble people from the Capital, so their eyes held a bit of awe.

Xu Jing went to talk to the couple at the tea stall. He ordered tea and pastries. Wang Shouren shamelessly sat opposite Fang Jifan and said, “I’ve thought for several days and nights. Young master, your words ‘Unity of Knowledge and Action’ truly moved me deeply. What is knowledge? It’s nothing but principles. These principles can be the laws of all things or the true nature of matters. Then what is action? Coming to this Longquan Taoist Temple is action. Farming is action. Being an official is action. Unity of Knowledge and Action means that a person’s understanding must be integrated with their practice. What do you think, young master?”

After hearing Wang Shouren’s long speech, Fang Jifan said a bit irritably, “I’m hungry.”

“…” Wang Shouren could only say awkwardly, “But I still have something unclear…”

Clearly, his face was really eight feet thick. No matter what Fang Jifan said, he persisted with the spirit of getting to the bottom of things.

But Fang Jifan waved his hand and said, “Don’t ask now. Let me eat and drink first.”

Wang Shouren smiled wryly. Seeing Fang Jifan look listless, he had to nod in agreement.