The old farmer did not answer immediately. Instead, he kept walking briskly until he was certain the estate steward had gone far away. Then he suddenly reached out and smack, slapped the back of the boy's head hard before saying:
"You brat, always so rash! What did I tell you before we came up the mountain? Don't make a scene, don't make a scene!"
"And if the steward had heard what you just said, the two of us would be carried out flat on our backs right now!"
The boy protested somewhat indignantly:
"Honestly, Father, if it's so dangerous, why did we come here? We both have plenty of strength. Where couldn't we make a living?"
The old farmer rolled his eyes at the boy, then leaned close to his ear and whispered:
"Do you know how much silver we'll earn for this job? Three hundred taels! Three hundred!"
Upon hearing that this job would earn them three hundred taels all at once, the boy's eyes, which had been full of resentment, suddenly lit up with excitement.
But a boy's nature was hard to change. The more the old farmer said, the more curious he became about this Daoist monastery.
So after entering the room and setting down his load, he finally could not resist asking, "Father, just what sort of place is this monastery? Tell your son about it."
Xu Taiping, who had followed them here, immediately perked up upon hearing the boy's question.
"Phew..."
Unable to hold out against him, the old farmer lit a bowl of tobacco and took a deep puff before saying slowly:
"This monastery is also called Ten Evils Monastery. The immortals on the mountain established it to punish disciples who broke their sect's rules."
"Disciples who killed someone or committed a grave offense