Bluestone Daoist's words laid bare the true conditions of survival in the Mortal Realm.
"Does begging on your knees mean people will actually give you anything?" Chen Xiang lifted his chin and challenged him indignantly. "They're complete strangers. Just because he knocks his head against the ground a couple of times, people will pull copper coins out of their pockets? That makes no sense."
At that, Taoist Azure Bamboo laughed.
The fat Taoist casually took a walnut, polished glossy from handling, from his waist, tossed it into the air, and caught it neatly before taking up the conversation at his leisure.
"Boy, that's a good question."
"If you don't kneel, why would anyone give you anything?"
"Remember this: when you're scraping out a living in this mortal world, kneeling might get you something, but without kneeling, you get nothing."
Chen Xiang's stubborn streak reared its head.
Refusing to give up, he pointed at the sky and continued arguing with righteous conviction. "Since he has to kneel either way, why doesn't he ask the immortals? Those clay figures and wooden statues in the temples receive incense offerings every day. Wouldn't asking the immortals work better than asking these passing mortals?"
"Oh? Asking the immortals would help?"
The smile on Taoist Azure Bamboo's face deepened as he laughed. "Which immortal in the Three Realms doesn't sit high above everyone else? Do you think they spend every day with nothing to do but stare at these few battered begging bowls down in the Mortal Realm? Without the full sacrificial offering of three animals, without real gold and silver donated to the temple, which immortal would lower their head to give you a glance?"
"Then what do we need immortals for?!" Chen Xiang blurted out, his neck stiff with defiance.
When he shouted those