Chapter 38: The Merit Box Opens for Business

Boss Wan and the skinny shop assistant hid inside the house for an entire day. They did not even dare go out for lunch, afraid they would be attacked by the flock of birds again.

Only when evening came, after the two of them confirmed there were no large flocks of birds nearby, did Boss Wan finally pick up his clothes, now covered in bird droppings, and head home in a miserable state.

The moment he entered the house, Boss Wan threw the clothes down in disgust and shouted in a rush, “Wife, draw me water for a bath!”

Boss Wan’s wife ran out of the kitchen. Seeing him in such a filthy state, she stepped back twice, covered her nose, and asked, “Where did you go? You didn’t even come back for lunch.”

“Where could I go? I went to sell roof tiles!” Boss Wan snapped. “Hurry up and draw water! I stink all over!”

Boss Wan’s wife muttered as she walked toward the well, “Selling roof tiles could make you end up like this? Who knows where you went fooling around.”

After washing himself thoroughly twice from head to toe, Boss Wan finally felt comfortable.

“Hurry up and come eat. I’m asking you, where did you go fooling around to get yourself like that? I could barely bring myself to wash your clothes,” Boss Wan’s wife complained.

Boss Wan picked up his bowl, took a chopstickful of food, and said impatiently, “I already told you, I went to sell roof tiles! Sell roof tiles!”

“How could selling perfectly normal roof tiles make you like that?” Boss Wan’s wife clearly did not believe him. “I’d sooner believe you fell into a manure pit. Is there a manure pit where you sell tiles?”

“I’m eating. Do you still want me to eat when you say things like that?” Boss Wan closed his eyes, forcing himself not to recall what had happened during the day.

He could not help grumbling to his wife, “Speaking of it, it really was strange. You know the courtyard where I sell tiles. There aren’t many households around there. But today was downright bizarre. A huge flock of birds flew over and targeted my courtyard specifically. That whole flock either dropped filth or threw pebbles. It was as if the birds had listened to someone’s orders and come to take revenge on me.”

Boss Wan’s wife frowned and said nervously, “Revenge? Who wants revenge on our family? Can birds even understand human speech?”

“How would I know?” Boss Wan shoveled down a big mouthful of rice. Missing lunch had left him starving.

“Did you do something against your conscience in business?” Boss Wan’s wife looked at her husband suspiciously. “Otherwise, why would the birds only find the courtyard where we sell tiles and not come to our home?”

Boss Wan’s face reddened, and he said loudly, “What nonsense are you spouting, woman? What have I done against my conscience?” He quickly lowered his head and, to cover himself, lifted his rice bowl and took a big bite.

“I’ve lived with you for half my life. You think I don’t know you?” Boss Wan’s wife pressed on. “Whenever you’ve done something wrong, you’re bound to speak loudly. Why did your face turn red just now?”

“How could you do things against your conscience? Whose money comes blown in by the wind? Especially poor people’s money. Back then, when our family had no money, the money to buy bricks and sell tiles was all borrowed…”

At first Boss Wan was unhappy, but as he listened to his wife nag about the old days of poverty, he thought back to how hard things had been for him back then, and shame suddenly rose in his heart. He too had started from nothing. At the time, he had owed quite a lot of debt just to build a house. He had tightened his belt for three or four years before finally paying it off.

That night, lying in bed and thinking about what had happened over the past two days, Boss Wan tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Could the strange event today really have happened because he had done something against his conscience? Was there something unclean on him after all?

He slept in a daze until daybreak. When Boss Wan heard the rooster crow, he suddenly sat up. He swiftly pulled on his shoes, grabbed a coat at random from the wardrobe, went into the courtyard, hitched up the ox cart, and went out.

Boss Wan’s wife opened her eyes blearily and reached out with one hand. The space beside her was already empty. She closed her eyes and muttered, “Where’s he gone so early in the morning?”

Before she could fall asleep again, the door was flung open with a bang.

Boss Wan ran into the room holding a purplish-red outer robe.

“What’s wrong? Why are you up so early? What are you doing with my clothes?” Boss Wan’s wife sat up and asked her husband, who was putting on the outer robe.

“I’m going to Yunling Temple to pray. You sleep.” Boss Wan tossed out those two sentences, then ran out of the room like a gust of wind.

Boss Wan’s wife lay back down and muttered, “If your heart is black, praying however you like won’t help.” She planned to properly persuade her husband after he came back from Yunling Temple. A person had to live honestly and steadily. They could not take crooked paths.

At the hour of the dragon, Boss Wan followed the small path up Yunling Mountain. He ran into a dark, thin old man with a white puppy trotting by his feet.

It was Boss Wan’s first time coming to worship at Yunling Temple. Now that he had seen someone, he asked, “Is Yunling Temple halfway up the mountain or at the summit?”

“Halfway up. Not all the way to the top,” the dark, thin old man answered.

“You’ve come to worship at Yunling Temple too?” The old man squatted down, picked up the puppy, and said with a smile, “Our Yunling Temple here is truly effective.”

Uncle Dayun told Boss Wan about his fulfilled dream, then asked him, “What did you come up the mountain to pray for?”

“There have been some strange things at home. I’ve come to pray for peace.” Boss Wan did not want to say more. He bid farewell to Uncle Dayun and continued up the mountain.

A little sparrow standing on a tree branch saw Boss Wan and flapped its wings, taking flight.

Boss Wan heard the movement and immediately covered his head with his sleeve. What had happened yesterday had truly made him afraid of birds.

“Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.” The blackhearted Boss Wan is going up the mountain!

“Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.” The blackhearted Boss Wan is going up the mountain!

The little sparrow passed the news all the way to the summit.

Even Hong Shan, who had transformed back into his tree body to bask in the sun, heard the news. With a shake of his body, he became an old Daoist priest with white hair tied in a Daoist topknot, wearing a dark blue long robe and black round-toed shoes.

Boss Wan was walking alone through the woods when suddenly, from the tree above, a branch dropped down and landed squarely on Boss Wan’s head.

He instinctively looked up and saw a monkey leaping quickly among the branches. Boss Wan sighed. Today was not going smoothly either. Walking under a tree and unexpectedly encountering a snapped branch was the sort of thing that probably happened only once in several decades.

He stepped forward, then suddenly lowered his head and frowned. He crouched down and picked up the branch. The branch had no leaves. Its bark was dry and shriveled. With just a little force, it snapped lightly with a crack, clearly not a broken branch that had just fallen from the tree.

Boss Wan held the branch and looked upward, seeing the already-risen sun through the crisscrossing leaves. As for the monkey from just now, it had already vanished.

Could it be that the monkey had thrown the branch down? Boss Wan’s brow relaxed slightly. Perhaps the monkeys in the mountains were mischievous and liked playing tricks on people.

He casually tossed the branch onto the grass beside him and continued forward.

He had only taken a few steps when something else fell on his head, striking him solidly. This time, it hurt quite a bit. Boss Wan clutched his head and cried, “Ow!” Then he saw a chestnut in a spiny husk rolling on the ground. He quickly looked up and saw a small shadow swiftly disappear among the leaves.

There was not a single chestnut tree overhead, so it was clearly the little animal just now that had thrown it down.

Boss Wan’s expression darkened. Getting hit by a monkey once could be coincidence, but getting hit again was no coincidence. Besides, the old man he had met on the mountain just now had not mentioned that the animals in the mountains were mischievous. It was very possible they were targeting him again.

Yesterday it was birds. Today it was monkeys, and some other little thing too. He must have provoked something, or why else would things be so strange? These animals were specifically targeting him.

Boss Wan quickened his pace, wanting only to hurry to Yunling Temple and pray for peace.

After turning past a large rock, before Boss Wan could even see the path clearly, a figure darted out from one side, scaring him into a jolt.

When he looked closely, he saw a young deer with spots on its body running quickly ahead.

Boss Wan clutched his chest and breathed out heavily. From the look of it, today’s visitor meant trouble.

He did not dare slack off. He tucked the hem of his robe into his waistband and ran madly upward all the way, wanting only to reach Yunling Temple quickly.

Fortunately, nothing else unexpected happened along the way, and no animals made things difficult for him again.

Panting heavily, Boss Wan stepped through the wooden gate of Yunling Temple, and a scent of wood instantly entered his nose.

The little Daoist child sweeping the courtyard raised his head. The disgust in his eyes flashed past.

The little Daoist child put down the broom, ran over, and asked, “Good believer, what have you come for?”

Boss Wan lowered his robe hem and replied while straightening his clothes, “To pray for peace.”

“Little master, there seems to be something unclean on me. Does the temple have any senior master who can help take a look?”

The little Daoist child pretended to examine Boss Wan from head to toe, then spoke in an old-fashioned tone. “There is cause and effect. Go to the hall first and offer incense to the Ancestral Master and the various immortals. Think about whether you have recently done something against your conscience.”

Boss Wan’s heart jolted in shock. This Yunling Temple really was divine. Even the little Daoist child who swept the grounds could tell he had done something against his conscience?

He hurriedly pressed, “Little master, help me look again. Have I attracted something unclean onto myself or not?”

The little Daoist child said, “Go to the hall and burn incense first.”

Boss Wan immediately nodded and followed behind the little Daoist child.

Looking at the immortals in the hall, Boss Wan did not know why, but he actually felt rather guilty.

He worshiped each of the divine statues in the hall one by one. Boss Wan silently prayed, “Immortals, bless me. Immortals, bless me. Keep me safe, keep me safe. I’ll never do anything against my conscience again. When I go back, I’ll definitely make up the roof tiles to Xi Jue.”

After making a full round of worship in the hall and kowtowing devoutly more than a dozen times, Boss Wan stepped out of the main hall.

There was no sign of the little Daoist child in the courtyard. Inside the temple, he did not dare make a loud noise, afraid he might offend some immortal. He searched through the temple on his own, but there was no one there.

Boss Wan left through the wooden gate and looked around, hoping to see the little Daoist child or some other Daoist priest.

To his surprise, he really did see an old Daoist. That old Daoist came down from the mountain, walking extremely fast.

Only when he drew near did Boss Wan see that this old Daoist priest had bright eyes, a ruddy complexion, and a straight, broad back.

Boss Wan instantly decided that the old Daoist must be an expert.

He hurriedly said, “Master, I’ve already offered incense. Please help me see whether there’s something unclean on me. To tell you the truth, yesterday I encountered something strange. It was as if all the birds within ten li gathered above my family’s courtyard. When I went out, they dropped filth on my head. After that, they changed to throwing pebbles.”

“And there’s more. This morning, when I came up the mountain, a monkey in a tree hit me with a branch. There was also some little thing that threw a chestnut in a spiny husk at me. Strange things are happening one after another. Please hurry and take a look for me!”

Hong Shan listened to Boss Wan finish speaking with a smile. Only after a moment did he say, “Your body is clean.”

“Then, then why have I encountered so many strange things?”

“Do you not know yourself?” Hong Shan asked back with a smile. “What you yourself have done—do you truly not know?”

Boss Wan’s eyes instantly widened, and he said bitterly, “Master, to tell you the truth, I did indeed do something bad. I sell roof tiles. Before this, I fired a kiln of tiles, and more than half came out bad. Somehow, I must have been possessed by greed, because I mixed the bad tiles into the good ones and sold them to someone. That family came from outside, and they aren’t wealthy. I… I swear, before this, all my dealings were honest. I’ve never mixed bad goods into good ones. Just this once. I was possessed by greed, possessed by greed…”

Hong Shan listened quietly.

Boss Wan spoke to himself for a while, then licked his dry lips and asked, “Master, if I return the tiles to them, will these unlucky things stop?”

At that moment, Hong Shan suddenly smiled and shook his head. “When one commits a wrong, retribution is certain.” He pointed at Yunling Temple. “Two taels of silver, used to repair the Daoist temple. Accumulate merit for yourself and dispel disaster.”

Two taels of silver. That was no small sum. At this point, Boss Wan looked at Hong Shan suspiciously. This person looked like an expert, so why was he so vulgar the moment he opened his mouth? And asking for such an exorbitant amount too.

Boss Wan struggled inwardly several times. He truly was afraid of that flock of birds. Gritting his teeth, he took two taels of silver from his pocket and handed it to Hong Shan.

Hong Shan did not accept it. He still pointed toward Yunling Temple. “Donate it into the merit box with your own hands.”

At this, he seemed to regain the bearing of an expert.

After Boss Wan donated the money, he trotted out the door, afraid the old Daoist would vanish without a trace while he was gone, just like the little Daoist child. Fortunately, the old Daoist was still standing in the same place as before with his hands behind his back.

“Master, has the bad luck on me gone?”

Hong Shan said, “Once the money enters the merit box, it is gone. From now on, do not do things against your conscience, or calamity may come looking for you at any time.”

Boss Wan nodded earnestly. “I’ll definitely conduct business honestly. I’ll never do anything against my conscience again.”

With one worry resolved, Boss Wan walked down the mountain with light steps. This time, he did not encounter any animals playing tricks on people along the way. He had not expected Yunling Temple to be this effective, with results showing immediately. Those two taels of silver had been worth it.

At the foot of the mountain, Boss Wan again ran into the old man with the puppy from when he had gone up the mountain.

The old man was crouching on the ground digging wild vegetables, while the white puppy lowered its head and sniffed around nearby.

This time, it was still Boss Wan who spoke first. “Yunling Temple really is effective. The old master inside is an expert. He solved my problem at once.”

Unexpectedly, the old man squatting on the ground froze. “Where would Yunling Temple get an old master? Originally there was a Daoist master with several disciples, but later they went down the mountain to subdue demons and never came back. Now only a few little Daoist children are left in Yunling Temple. What old master could there be? I went this morning and didn’t see any old master.”

Boss Wan said firmly, “I really did see an old master. That old master had white hair and a long, thin face. He looked very vigorous and was dressed like a Daoist priest. He had the air of an expert too.”

Uncle Dayun stood up and guessed, “Could it be an immortal descended to the mortal world? Such a good thing happened to you. No, I have to go too.” He picked up the puppy and hurried up the mountain.

An immortal descended to the mortal world? Boss Wan drew in a deep breath. Had he encountered an immortal descended to the mortal world? No wonder the old master had not wanted the money. What use would an immortal have for worldly wealth?

Boss Wan happily went down the mountain. He had good fortune. He had received guidance from an old immortal. Since he had promised the old immortal he would conduct business honestly, he absolutely could not do anything against his conscience again. Otherwise—otherwise, the old immortal had said calamity would come looking for him again. People really could not do bad things. Once he got back, he would make up the roof tiles to Xi Jue’s family!

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