Chapter 25: A Pure Heart for Dao Part Two

“Therefore, Spiritual Master Xiao, you built a pavilion here to block out the rain and wind for this rock?” the man in fancy clothes laughed.

“Gold-Sharing Duke… you donated 100,000 taels of gold to renovate one of the four city walls of Chang’an, and His Majesty rewarded you handsomely. I built this pavilion with the same thought that you had when you renovated the city wall; I only want to flatter His Majesty.”

There was only one Gold-Sharing Duke, and he was Wu Yidao who was the wealthiest person in Great Sui. It was heard that he was rich enough to buy one of the 24 circuits of Great Sui.

Since Great Sui’s giant territory of divided into 24 circuits, one circuit was bigger than the entire territory of Eastern Chu.

Wu Yidao laughed, “I’m a mortal, so I need to flatter His Majesty. But Spiritual Master, you are a cultivator…”

“A cultivator is also a human.” Spiritual Master Xiao smiled and said, “Cultivators need to eat and live well. With His Majesty’s writing here, Gold-Sharing Duke, you know how many patrons it will attract.”

“Opportunist!” Wu Yidao replied with a smile.

“I want to be more opportunistic.” Spiritual Master Xiao stopped and asked Wu Yidao in all seriousness. “The wealthiest merchant in the world is in One Qi Daoist Temple. Are you going to make a donation?”

Wu Yidao waved his hand, and a servant quickly walked up and passed a red sandal wood box to Spiritual Master Xiao. The disciple behind Spiritual Master Xiao quickly walked up and accepted it.

When this disciple realized that this box wasn’t heavy, his expression turned disdainful as he thought, “Even the silver taels that ordinary wealthy families donate are heavier than this box. The wealthiest man in the world is so cheap? It is surprising.”

“Spiritual Master Xiao’s words are worth more 10,000 taels of gold.” Wu Yidao smiled and said, “The gold certificates can be redeemed at any money shop in Great Sui, but the small ones might not have this much gold taels.”

…

After returning to his room, Spiritual Master Xiao seemed to have changed to another person. After arranging everything for Wu Yidao and walking all over Pure Joy Mountain with him, Spiritual Master Xiao threw himself onto his bed and sighed while rubbing his sore back.

“If not for those 10,000 gold taels, why would I smile that much? My facial muscles are stiff. I wonder if those madams in pleasure quarters have unique techniques that they use to smile at their customers all day.”

A little daoist took off Spiritual Master Xiao’s shoes and quickly started to massage Spiritual Master Xiao’s back. He said, “You are the Leader of Daoism in the world. Why would you work so hard for money? If this news gets out, the citizens of Great Sui will laugh at you.”

“What do you know?” Spiritual Master Xiao knocked this little daoist’s head and said, “Do you like eating meat?”

“Yes!”

“Where do meat come from?”

“The butcher at the foot of the mountain brings meat to us.”

“Is it free?”

“Of course not. We have to pay him silver taels.”

“If I don’t accompany those rich and influential people, where do we get the money to eat meat? The patronage that the residents at the foot of the mountain give us is way too little,” Spiritual Master Xiao snorted, “If you want to eat meat, you need to have the ability to earn money. You can eat meat every meal because I accompany those people and ask for money shamelessly. If you still ask such dumb questions, I will send you to the garden in the back to plant vegetables and feed you greens and tofu. I will see if you can say such words after that.”

“But you are the Leader of Daoism in Great Sui…”