Chapter 60: Old Master Sun

On the road about a hundred meters away from the Sun estate, the Sun family had set up a table specifically to welcome and direct incoming guests.

An old man in a patched garment walked in front of them with a hunched back, tightly holding the hand of a child of seven or eight. The child's clothes had fewer patches, though several pieces had still been sewn on, and at least they were clean.

The old man led his grandson to the table and said, "I am from Ox-Head Village. Master Sun built a bridge for our village, so I've come to see him off on his final journey."

Upon hearing this, the steward let him in and pointed the way, saying, "Cry by the door, and then go eat at the road behind the village."

The old man acknowledged the instruction, felt around his person, and fished out two copper coins to give to the steward as a condolence gift before leading his grandson inside.

Tao Ji, however, had an invitation. He presented the Sun family's post to the steward, who immediately called over a person and said respectfully, "Taoist Priest, you may enter the mourning hall directly. Other monks and Taoist priests are already waiting on the east side of the mourning hall, and someone will make arrangements once you arrive there."

Tao Ji agreed, handed his mule and cart over to the steward to be tended to, and they picked up their bundles and headed toward the Sun estate.

The main gate of the Sun estate was draped entirely in white mourning cloth. The weeping inside had temporarily subsided. By the time they reached the main gate, the grandfather and grandson had just arrived as well.

The old man pulled his grandson down to their knees, kowtowed three times toward the interior of the gate, and then burst into loud weeping. The wailing was distant and mournful, carrying a strange cadence, part-chant and part-recitation, as it detailed the good deeds Master Sun had done, along with his longing and grief over Master Sun's passing...

Seeing that Pan Jun was listening intently, Wang Feiyin tugged her along inside. "Let's go. First, let's go meet our fellow practitioners."

The Sun family had not hired just one group of Taoist priests; indeed, they had hired more than just Taoists—there were Buddhist monks and nuns as well.

Now, Buddhism and Taoism shared the same roof. As soon as Wang Feiyin and his group arrived, a young man dressed in full mourning attire, accompanied by the steward, came over and said, "Our master has passed away, and his family is consumed by grief. Please forgive us if any of our hospitality has been lacking."

The practitioners of both Buddhism and Taoism immediately stood up and returned the courtesy, expressing that the Bodhisattvas and the Three Pure Ones would not take offense.

The Sun family intended to employ both Buddhist and Taoist rites. Taoist priests would hold a Taoist ritual in the left section, while Buddhist monks would chant scriptures for salvation in the right section.

In short, there was only one objective: to ensure Master Sun had a smooth journey, to clear the path for him to the underworld so that he would be free from worries about food and clothing once he reached the nether realm, to leave him with fewer attachments to the mortal world, and to let him know his descendants were filial.

Hearing this phrased in such a manner did not sound particularly filial.

Especially since the Sun family also demanded that the spirit be kept lying in state for seven days, and the religious services must also be performed in full for seven days. During these seven days, both Buddhists and Taoists had to dispatch one person each day to keep vigil alongside the filial descendants of the Sun family.

Because of this requirement, the payment for performing the rituals was calculated per person and doubled!

Even Pan Jun and the others, who had come merely to make up numbers and handle odd jobs, received a share of the wages. Consequently, all the Taoist priests and Bodhisattvas agreed to the terms.

Wang Feiyin also wanted Pan Jun and the others to learn a little more. He had planned it out thoroughly: "Once you follow through with this funeral, you will know how funeral rites are performed, and how filial descendants keep vigil and show their filial piety. You can put this to use when you descend the mountain in the future; these are all skills to earn a living with."

Pan Jun asked, "Do we also have to learn the rules for how filial descendants keep vigil and show filial piety?"

"Of course," Wang Feiyin replied. "How the coffin is placed, how the filial descendants should weep, how to offer incense, and later how to seal the coffin and complete the mourning period—you must learn all of these. There are always people who do not understand these customs, yet their families have no elders to teach them. You can earn money from all of this."

"Furthermore, geomancy and feng shui, calculating auspicious hours for departure, and so forth, can all serve as means of livelihood," Wang Feiyin said as he opened his bundle. "Remember, we Taoists are not like the children of ordinary families. We have no home and no clan; the only thing we can rely on is ourselves. Do not think cultivators are all that different. We simply possess a little more than ordinary people, yet we also lack a great deal."

Pan Jun did not deeply understand these words at the time, but Miaozhen and Miaohe caught on instantly and fell into thoughtful contemplation.

Wang Feiyin patted their heads and said, "Go fetch some water. We need to bathe, cleanse our hands, and prepare to set up the ritual altar."

Pan Jun and the others were here precisely to do the grunt work, so they immediately went out to look for the servants, inquired about where to fetch water, and set off to draw it.

Tao Yanbai, who was experienced, caught sight of a young Taoist acolyte emerging from an adjoining room and immediately broke into a sprint. "Quick—"

Pan Jun and the others reacted with equal swiftness and bolted forward.

Upon seeing this, the young Taoist acolyte, along with the young monks and nuns who had just emerged, also broke into a run.

Pan Jun and her companions ran the fastest, charging to the very front. They swiftly seized four wooden buckets and rushed over to the area where hot water was being boiled to scoop it up.

After the serving woman confirmed that the water was for the Taoist priests performing rituals, she reluctantly let them draw it despite her displeasure.

Pan Jun and the others filled four wooden buckets to the brim. The young Taoist acolyte, monks, and nuns who rushed up behind them could only find the remaining three buckets, which were nowhere near enough to go around, and turned to glare at Pan Jun's group.

Pan Jun kept her gaze straight ahead. Holding her own wooden bucket in her left hand, she reached out with her right hand to grab the side of Miaohe's bucket and shot Tao Yanbai a look. "What are you standing around dazed for? Senior Brother and the others are still waiting for the hot water."

Coming to his senses, Tao Yanbai immediately stepped forward to help Miaozhen carry half of her bucket. Thus paired up, the four of them carried the four buckets of hot water back.

Having won the initial skirmish, Wang Feiyin was quite satisfied. After bathing and cleansing his hands, he personally instructed them on how to use various ritual implements, how to set up the altar for the rites, and how to calculate auspicious hours...

In truth, everyone simply watched them work. Once they finished, a steward came over to lead them out for a meal.

As dusk fell, figures were only vaguely visible. The grandfather and grandson who had been kneeling and weeping outside the main gate were no longer there; they had gone to eat as well.

When Pan Jun came out after finishing her meal, she saw the grandfather and grandson kneeling outside the main gate, kowtowing toward the mourning hall inside.

Pan Jun could not help stopping in her tracks, and she asked Wang Feiyin, "Senior Brother, was Master Sun a great person?"

Wang Feiyin also noticed the pair and said, "What kind of person is considered a good person, and what kind of person is considered a bad person? I do not know Master Sun's life story, but to this pair of grandfather and grandson, he should be considered a good person."

Pan Jun fell into contemplation.

Some stewards also noticed the grandfather and grandson, and shortly thereafter, a steward came out to lead them to stay in the mourning shed outside. "Our Third Young Master heard that you specially came all the way from Ox-Head Village to mourn, and he was deeply moved. Tonight, you can stay right here in the mourning shed, and you may leave tomorrow after partaking in the midday meal."

Pan Jun watched as they walked into the distance. Seeing them depart, Wang Feiyin turned around as well. "Let's go. Tonight, I will keep vigil alongside the filial descendants of the Sun family. Will you join?"

Pan Jun agreed and immediately followed along.

She was quite curious about this newly deceased Master Sun. If he was this wealthy in death, he must have been even wealthier in life, right?

How truly enviable. Some people are born wealthy and remain wealthy in death, never tasting a shred of hardship their entire lives.

The moment Pan Jun stepped into the mourning hall, she heard a string of angry curses: "Rebellious son, unfilial fool, you are not allowed to cry for my spirit, you are not allowed—"

Lifting her gaze, Pan Jun saw a ghost standing right on top of the coffin lid, pointing frantically and hurling abuses at a middle-aged man who was kneeling on a straw mat, spittle flying from his mouth.

The middle-aged man remained completely oblivious as he wiped away tears with one hand and burned paper money in the brazier with the other. Whenever guests came to pay their respects, he would howl a couple of times and dab at the corners of his eyes.

The guests who entered to offer incense all sighed, stepping forward one after another to offer words of comfort.

Seeing Pan Jun freeze the moment she stepped through the door, Wang Feiyin gave her a tug. His gaze swept rapidly across the top of the coffin, and acting as though nothing were amiss, he pulled her into a corner, handed her a straw kneeling mat, and sat down cross-legged on his own mat. "Stop looking. Tonight, all we need to do is guard the mourning hall properly."

Hearing this, Pan Jun glanced at her senior brother and sat down cross-legged as well. Ah, right—if Xuanwang could see King Zhou, it was hardly strange for Senior Brother to see Master Sun.

As Pan Jun sat on the mat, her left ear caught the guests praising the Sun family for their filial piety: "Your father knew how filial you all are, and with the funeral arranged so splendidly, your father can rest in peace."

Meanwhile, her right ear caught Master Sun on the coffin lid spitting in disgust and roaring, "Your eyes are blind! Where on earth can you see any filial piety in them? This entire funeral is being funded by my money! Using my money to hold my funeral for me—they are truly trying to 'filial-piety' me to death! I hope that one day your descendants are just as filial to you, and after angering you to death, they use your money to hire monks and Taoist priests to suppress you..."

Pan Jun's eyelids twitched, and Wang Feiyin furrowed his brow as well.

The junior sister and senior brother exchanged a glance and began to carefully scrutinize the mourning hall.

Upon closer inspection, they indeed discovered suppression talismans mixed in among the numerous posting strips for sending off spirits and praying for blessings.

Displeasure welled up in Wang Feiyin's heart, and he straightened his posture.

Taking someone's money to eliminate disasters for them was the righteous path. By the same token, eliminating disasters for someone without taking their money was certainly no long-term strategy.

The money they accepted was for performing rituals and escorting the departed soul to rebirth. Yet what the Sun family was doing was engaging in spirit suppression. The price for this was different, and the karmic consequences differed as well.

To accept a single share of payment while burdening themselves with a hundredfold of karmic responsibility—even a losing business deal was not conducted this way.

Wang Feiyin fished a handful of roasted beans from his sleeve, secretly pinched one between the fingers of his right hand, and flicked it with a *whoosh*. It struck dead center on the rune of a suppression talisman; the rune was pierced and broken, instantly rendering the talisman powerless.

Seeing this, Pan Jun—who had just pinched a copper coin and was secretly plotting to cause mischief—promptly put her coin away. Darting a quick look left and right to confirm no one was paying attention to them, she immediately grabbed a handful of soybeans straight from Wang Feiyin's palm.

Wang Feiyin turned his head to look at her, his expression silently conveying: *You grabbed too many.*

In response, Pan Jun glanced at his sleeve. *There aren't any left in there, are there?*

After an unspoken dialogue of glances, the two turned their heads back in unison, each pinching a soybean. Their eyes swept across the talismans pasted around the room in the darkness like searchlights. As soon as they spotted one, they flicked a bean at it. Within a short while, a quarter of the talismans visible to the naked eye within the room had been ruined.

Yet no one noticed, because every single talisman merely had a hole the size of a soybean punched right through its center.

Tired of cursing, Master Sun on the coffin lid finally halted. Grumbling under his breath, he leaped down from the coffin lid. "I refuse to believe I still can't get out. I... oh?"

Master Sun stepped across the threshold, looked down at his own feet in mild surprise, and then turned back to look at the mourning hall.

After a moment of thought, he hopped one more step outward and discovered that he was no longer being bounced back as he had been previously. Overjoyed, he burst into hearty laughter. "Clueless fools! With skills like yours, you thought you could suppress old man me? Your father is still your father, after all."

Flinging his sleeve and walking with his hands clasped behind his back, he strode out with an arrogant swagger.