465 Teaching (1/2)

Chapter 465: Teaching

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

Ye Su had studied Taoism in Zhishou Abbey since he was a child. He had then traveled to other countries and saw that Haotian Taoism was highly respected there. He had always thought that this was natural and had never thought that one could explain beliefs in this way.

He had wanted to kill the blasphemous Taoist. However, he suddenly thought that while the skinny Taoist's words were blasphemous, they weren't erroneous when he thought about it carefully.

As such, he remained silent for a long while.

The sparrows below the stone steps began chirping in the silence. They flapped their wings and flew into the shade of the autumn trees.

Ye Su emerged from his stupor. He looked at the skinny Taoist with an inscrutable expression, ”Please, teach me.”

The skinny Taoist smiled at him and said, ”Actually, more than 90 percent of the Tangs are believers of Haotian Taoism. It is just that they are different from the believers of South Jin Kingdom and the Kingdom of Song. They do not have the patience to participate in preachings. That is why preaching isn't the best way to get them to believe in Haotian.”

Ye Su said, ”Then what should we do?”

The skinny Taoist said, ”Those in the Haotian Taoism believe in being virtuous. That is why we must do as we say. In spreading teachings about Taoism, words could never compare to action. As the chief of the temple, if you can get close to the neighbors, help them when they need it, get water, or help in drying their grains, would be showing them the benevolence and love of Haotian. The best way to preach to the Tangs is through the way you speak and act.”

Ye Su looked pensive.

The skinny Taoist patted Ye Su's shoulders lightly. He said, ”Other than the God of West-Hill, there aren't many who can witness the miracles of Haotian in person. Us ordinary Taoists are the spokespeople of Haotian on earth. The ordinary folks out there can only experience Haotian through us.”

Ye Su was enlightened and he said, ”This makes sense.”

The skinny Taoist sighed and said, ”I have left the West-Hill for 23 years. Even though it isn't as glorious being in the Tang Empire as compared to being in other countries, I am happy in this little Taoist Temple. I heard that the Taoists in other countries would enforce tax and those sent out by the Divine Hall are proud and live extravagantly. How would people then truly respect Haotian? Those Taoists are not spokespeople of Haotian, they are the shame of Haotian.”

Ye Su did not wish to debate this matter as it involved the work of Haotian Taoism sect in the secular world. He looked at the bowl of noodles in his hands and said, ”Your noodles will get cold if you do not eat them.”

The skinny Taoist only remembered his noodles then, and he quickly handed it to Ye Su. He said, ”This is for you, how will you have the strength to preach if you do not have a full belly?”

Ye Su looked at the bowl of noodles in his hands quietly. He suddenly said, ”I will try your method.”

A drop of rain landed into the bowl of noodles.

Ye Su and the skinny Taoist looked up into the sky to see raindrops falling.

An autumn shower had started without any warning.

The rain in deep autumn was unexpected, and the force of the rain was also different. Some of the house beside the Taoist temple had not fixed their roofing as they thought that the rainy season had ended. Their roofs began leaking due to the heavy rain.

After eating, the rain gradually tapered off. The skinny Taoist brought Ye Su and two other servants to the streets and started to help the neighbors to fix their roofs.

Ye Su had done many things. He had laughed at those from the Underworld, and witnessed the trivial matters of the mortal world from the clouds. But he had never fixed roofing that had been damaged by rain. His actions were a little unpracticed when he climbed up to the roof and replaced the black tiles.

However, he was still the strongest person in the Haotian Taoism sect. His little sister, whom he did not pay attention to was Ye Hongyu. She was called the Tao Addict in the West-Hill Divine Palace. Ye Su was in no way worse than her.

He became more practiced and began to speed up as he changed the roof tiles. The neighbors who stood beneath the stairs to help him increased from one person to four and yet, they could not keep up with his speed. Gradually, more and more people came forth to watch the tiles that flew over the streets. They watched as he painted on the mortar as if he was drawing rivers and mountains. They could not help but make loud exclamations.

Ye Su kept his face straight as he listened to the praise and exclamations from the street. He did not grow self-satisfied because of this, as this act was not very difficult. Instead, he only removed the tiles calmly and spread mortar. He did it casually and looked well-practiced.

The puddles on the streets evaporated into vapors that enveloped the houses and the leaves on the trees. Everyone was looking at the Taoist from the temple who was on the roof. They watched the scene intently and did not notice what was happening at the end of the street.

There was a round figure who walked out from the mist formed by the evaporated rain.

Chen Pipi walked along the street and trodded on the rainwater. He came to the crowd and looked up with narrowed eyes. He recognized the person in a short while. His eyes grew wide and red, and tears began to fall.

He looked at Ye Su who was on the roof and said with a trembling voice, ”Senior Brother!”

Ye Su was using bamboo ropes to tie some of the wooden sticks on the roof that had parted slightly. He turned around slowly when he heard the sound ringing in the crowd.

He looked at the fat young man in the crowd, and a sincere smile appeared on his usually composed face. He said happily, ”You're here?”

Chen Pipi looked at Ye Su and said tearfully, ”Senior Brother... What are you doing? Have you also been chased out of the Haotian Taoism? Is that person really so heartless?”

Ye Su's expression stiffened and he looked like a dried out lizard on the roof.