The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 77 Capturing the Fortune
The man could only manage a bitter smile after hearing those words.

He could only cup his hands and say:

"What is in broad daylight is the universe and all things, not the treacherous human heart; this is truly the only way."

Du Yuan looked at him with her hands behind her back and said:
"It is true that the human heart is unpredictable, but it is ultimately something that cannot be considered refined. If one is upright and honest, why should one fear these things that are not respectable?"

He seemed to want to say something more.

Du Yuan then asked with a smile:

So, are you afraid of others, or yourself?

If you want to use witty banter, then I'll use witty banter with you.

It means you don't know me, but I know you.

So don't cry at the end!

The question left the person speechless.

Du Yuan was downstairs, and he was upstairs.

At this moment, it seemed as if their positions were reversed—he, who was high above, was now standing on the edge of an abyss, looking up at Du Yuan, who was watching from the cliff top.

His Adam's apple bobbed laboriously, and he bowed again in a pleading manner:
"Human hearts are fickle, and I cannot see myself clearly. I beg the Daoist Master to show mercy and allow me to concentrate on what I should do!"

"And what is the task that should be done?"

"Public affairs, national affairs, and affairs of the world!"

Du Yuan did not answer, her gaze fixed intently on the thin man in front of her.

Only when she saw the other person slightly shift their feet and pause slightly did Du Yuan finally break into a smile:
"Right here?"

The man breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said:
"Naturally, it's upstairs. Daoist Master, please follow me into the private room for a chat."

Du Yuan didn't know who this person was. But Du Yuan saw a faint image of a wild goose circling around him, which reminded him of the blurry mandarin duck he had seen on Magistrate Fang.

This guy is clearly an official, and of a high rank at that.

Unlike the mandarin duck of Magistrate Fang, whose body was identical despite its unclear features, his cloud goose, though much clearer, had wings tinged with an indescribable color.

It appears both black and yellow, each with its own unique characteristics.

Not many, but very noticeable.

Another significant difference is that his Yunyan (cloud goose) has a few more strands of golden aura surrounding it than the mandarin duck of Magistrate Fang.

After both parties were seated in the private room.

The burly man who had been following the thin man closed the door and stood guard outside.

Only then did the man formally introduce himself to Du Yuan:

"My name is Pei Jingyuan! In the second year of the Tianbao era, I passed the imperial examination and was appointed as the assistant magistrate of Wutong County. In the fifth year of the Tianbao era, I was rewarded for my meritorious service in controlling locusts and was appointed as the chief administrator of Jizhou. In the eleventh year of the Tianbao era, I was favored by the emperor and promoted to the fourth rank, and appointed as the governor of Qingzhou!"

He said this with great pride.

Normally, such an important position as governor would never be given to someone from a humble background like him.

Even if such an opportunity were to come, it would take at least twenty or thirty years of ups and downs in officialdom.

But he rose to the position of governor in less than ten years.

Just then, the wisps of golden light carried by the illusory cloud goose drifted right up to Du Yuan's eyes.

In her curious attempt to grasp it, Du Yuan regretfully discovered that she could only see it but could not touch it.

However, as his palm swept across the golden light, he faintly heard a dragon's roar.

It was very far away, very faint, so far away it seemed to come from the horizon, and so faint that Du Yuan almost thought she was hallucinating.

Looking at Governor Pei across from him, he found that the other party also showed no signs of anything amiss.

Du Yuan initially wanted to give up, but then he felt that this might be a good opportunity to experiment.

After glancing at the arrogant Governor Pei and the unclean Yunyan on the other side.

Du Yuan silently recited Amitabha Buddha in her heart.

He immediately raised his hand again to grab that ray of golden light.

"Master, what's going on?"

Governor Pei, bewildered, spoke in surprise. However, before he could finish speaking, his whole body suddenly tensed, as if an invisible hand had gripped his heart tightly! He even choked on his breath, feeling as if he had been struck by a heavy blow.

pat!

Prefect Pei's body went limp, and he fell straight down from the chair! In a panic, he could only use all his strength to support himself on the table to barely keep his balance and prevent himself from actually falling.

But the cups and bowls in front of them suffered the consequences. They smashed and shattered on the ground with a loud crash.

Ignoring all else, Governor Pei looked up in shock at Du Yuan, who seemed to be casting a spell, his voice trembling:

"Taoist Priest?!"

At the same time, the tightly closed door was suddenly flung open by the burly man!

"grown ups?!"

The two of them were instantly stunned by what they saw!

Because they all saw that Du Yuan clearly grasped several strands of golden light with one hand.

And at the end of those golden rays, a lifelike wild goose was fluttering in panic.

Immediately, a clear and melodious dragon roar burst forth from the depths of the golden light, crystal clear!
"this--!"

The two of them spoke in surprise.

At this moment, Du Yuan also released her grip on those strands of golden light.

At this point, all the supernatural phenomena vanished instantly.

The same applies to Yunyan, Jinguang, and Longyin!
The only ones left were two people who were dumbfounded.

After a long period of astonishment, the man who was the first to recover immediately went out and told the waiters downstairs who had also heard the commotion to leave.

After confirming that no one was around, he hurriedly closed the door and turned to look at his master.

Seeing that the other party still hadn't come to their senses and was still staring blankly at the Taoist priest.

He slightly opened the already closed door, then slammed it shut.

Startled awake by the noise, Prefect Pei immediately slumped from the table to the floor and asked Du Yuan:

"Daoist Master, what was that just now?!"

Du Yuan did not answer, but just looked at him with a sense of melancholy.

This startled Governor Pei, and after a moment, he turned his head away with a face full of shame.

He had just noticed that the wings of the wild goose seemed to be stained with some colors that shouldn't be there.

As a high-ranking official of the fourth rank, how could he not know that Yunyan was the insignia on his official robe?

How could he not know that his official conduct was not as upright and honest as it appeared on the surface?

Therefore, he was certain that the Taoist priest had used his great supernatural powers to see the essence of things and knew the dirty secret he was carefully hiding.

Therefore, he felt extremely ashamed and turned away in a panic.

At that moment, he felt an overwhelming bitterness in his heart.

I should have thought of that sooner! I should have thought of that sooner!

How could such a master not know? Moreover, weren't the Taoist priest's previous words all pointing to himself?

But he kept avoiding the topic until it was truly presented to him, at which point he finally realized the truth.
Furthermore, he also figured out that those few golden rays must be His Majesty's favor.

Otherwise, where would the dragon's roar come from?

Looking at it this way, the achievements I have been proud of to this day are essentially nothing more than the emperor's favor and grace, which I used to control the local areas.

Rather than the remarkable achievements he has always claimed.
He clearly knew this all along, but he kept turning a blind eye to those filthy things.

The Taoist priest was right after all. What I fear isn't others, it's myself.
I know I am not upright, so I am especially afraid of being criticized for my crookedness!
I am so hypocritical, I had no sincerity beforehand, and I even think I am superior.

No wonder the Taoist priest gave him a sharp rebuke, showing no mercy whatsoever.
What he didn't know was that Du Yuan's melancholy wasn't directed at him. After all, he had already been seen through.

That melancholy was directed at Du Yuan herself.

The golden light that could only be seen but not touched just moments ago was suddenly grasped by simply reciting "Amitabha" in one's heart, and everything else became clear and distinct.

So, is the difference between my Buddhist and Taoist roots really that great?

(End of this chapter)