Chapter 176: Golden Pool

This green ox spirit, having pulled until it had no strength left, had its Dharma Power already constrained by the croton poison.

Hu Jinhua, seeing him in such a miserable state, felt a tightening in her rear and immediately asked, "Master Xu, what do we do now?"

Xu Jia opened his mouth to say, "This ox spirit often eats all kinds of herbs, so his ability to detoxify is not bad. We must act quickly. Hai Sanniang, you go ahead and provoke him!"

Hai Sanniang had previously been all old flesh, as sturdy as an elephant, but she had been paralyzed on the ground; now she was slightly better, though her movements still could not be considered very agile, yet she still possessed a good amount of strength, not to mention she had cultivated an Inner Elixir of pig treasure.

Hai Sanniang charged up, and the green ox spirit was at that very moment of vulnerability, suffering from diarrhea and weak-legged, unable to dodge in time, and was knocked over straight away.

He was furious and said, "Old sow! I have no grudge or enmity with you, why have you come to plot against me?"

The next moment, Huang Pipo unleashed a stinking fart, a full-frontal blast, and a cloud of yellow smoke made the ox spirit weep tears; he then angrily spat out a streak of yellow light from his mouth, which was none other than ox bezoar.

Ox bezoar has the use of "clearing heat and detoxifying," and having been tempered by the medicinal properties of a hundred herbs by the green ox spirit, it possessed a strand of Yimuqingqi; striking a person with it could injure their liver and kidneys.

Just as this ox bezoar flew out, the green ox spirit tilted his head, struggling to rise to knock over the old sow Hai Sanniang, but Hai Sanniang spat out a streak of black light—it was her pig treasure Inner Elixir—and this Inner Elixir entangled with the ox bezoar, intending to abduct it.

Behind him, the beautiful youth transformed by Hu Jinhua held a Wind Fan and fanned the Fox Fire he had cultivated; immediately, the wind aided the fire's momentum: "Big Brother Ox, I see you've fallen ill, let me give you some moxibustion!"

He aimed straight for the half-section of intestine still protruding from the big green ox's rear.

The green ox spirit tucked his tail, caught between a rock and a hard place, and in the end, his backside was burned by the Fox Fire, causing him to let out a miserable shriek.

Xu Jia also seized the opportunity to strike, shaping the ox-leading rope into a "horse-catching loop," and flung the loop out, aiming to snare the ox's head.

The green ox spirit, seeing Xu Jia, became even more furious: "You bunch of treacherous demons!"

But before he could finish speaking, the mud doll Liu Yuanheng grabbed the rope loop Xu Jia had missed and cast it onto one of the green ox spirit's horns.

At the same time, Xu Jia shouted, "Green ox spirit, this True Person is in charge of all matters concerning demon spirits and monsters in the Jiangnan West Circuit. You occupy Jiujiegou, encroach upon fertile fields, and commit all sorts of evil—have you no repentance?"

"What repentance should I have? They all owe me!" The green ox spirit, having been burned by the Fox Fire, was in extreme pain, but his diarrhea symptoms had inexplicably vanished. Added to this surge of anger, it stimulated a burst of strength; he stood up and prepared to charge at Xu Jia.

Xu Jia, wearing the Armored Horse Talisman and employing the Earth-Shrinking Method, walked in Eight Trigrams steps to circle around, one hand holding the ox rope while directing Hu Jinhua, Huang Pipo, and Hai Sanniang.

The ox spirit kicked and panted heavily, but Xu Jia was like a matador, never letting him make contact, while that piece of ox bezoar was entangled by Hai Sanniang's pig treasure. Hai Sanniang's Daoist Practice was also over two hundred years, and the green ox spirit's Daoist Practice was not necessarily higher than hers; the only difference was that Hai Sanniang was old and frail, while this green ox spirit was at his peak state, with his vital energy flourishing.

However, even with flourishing vital energy, at this moment, being countered by Xu Jia according to his origin and having been struck by the croton poison until he suffered a prolapsed rectum, he was at the end of his tether.

It was simply that Xu Jia dared not get too close; after all, this green ox spirit, though not as large as an elephant, had a bit of the "rhinoceros" about him, as the poem testifies: "Two horns sharp as swords, eyes gleaming like lightning!"

But circling around like this, he led the ox-leading rope to form a slipknot on the ground; the green ox brute, without looking down, stepped right into it, and the mud doll Liu Yuanheng helped pull it tight.

Thus, one loop caught an ox foot, and the other caught an ox hoof; without needing Xu Jia to trip him personally, he fell down with his hooves pulling his head.

Once he fell, Hai Sanniang sat her old backside directly onto the ox's neck. The green ox spirit kicked wildly, and Huang Pipo released another fart toward his face, dazing him so he didn't know north from south.

Seizing this opportunity, the ox-leading rope was used to tie up the other three hooves, binding him securely.

This rope looked unremarkable, but after the green ox spirit was bound, he discovered his Dharma Power could not circulate, and the more he struggled, the tighter the thing became; even his thoughts slowed down, his temper gradually vanished, and he returned to the state of when he had not yet achieved Enlightenment and was merely a plow ox.

Until he struggled until he had no strength left, he panted, and tears flowed from his eyes: "I am not convinced! I am not convinced! You despicable villains, you plotted against me!"

Xu Jia said, "This is called calculation without omission," and advised him: "Because of the Cause and Effect of your past life, you have harbored resentment until now. Now, calculating back and forth, the Cause and Effect is almost settled. You trampled two reincarnated enemies to death and trampled many commoners to injury; if you do not stop now, I fear your end will not be good."

"If I sought a good end, I would have reincarnated as a heavenly being in my past life and not sunk into the Desire Realm. It is because I do not seek a good end that I must have revenge for revenge, and grievances for grievances. They prayed for rain and caused my mother and me to die; the Azure Heaven felt the grievance, which is why a torrential rain fell. I only hate why it wasn't a blizzard!"

"The underworld is unjust; it did not let me reincarnate as an official to oppress the people and exploit them, but instead cast me into the Beast Path. In my second life, I even had to be a beast of burden for them! I finally achieved Enlightenment and became a demon, knowing the Cause and Effect of my past, if I do not take revenge, would I not have lived a life in vain?"

"Do not be long-winded and hypocritical; if you want to kill me, then kill me. I will never beg for mercy!"

Xu Jia was also angered upon hearing this: "This nonsense about Buddhist reincarnation—which monk brainwashed you? You don't believe in retribution in this life, but believe in retribution in the next. This Daoist gives you good advice, yet you are ungrateful!" "Then kill me!"

"That is not my style." Xu Jia took out the Cow Nose Ring and pierced it directly through the green ox spirit's nose.

The green ox spirit cried out in pain, and Xu Jia tied the ox-leading rope to it, laughing: "If you want to die, that's too easy. I want to make you convinced in your heart; only then can my ability be shown, and I can make you resolve your resentment and let go of your obsession."

"Then unless there is another great drought here, and the daughters and wives of those who killed me back then, big-bellied, are trampled while praying for rain, only then can the hatred in my heart be extinguished!"

"If you die like that, wouldn't they just become the second or third you in the future? The Judge would judge them as demons one by one, and wouldn't there be no peace here forever? Moreover, since I govern this place, I will not allow a great drought here. Even if there is a drought, I have the Qiyuzhu, and I will not trample on pregnant women to pray for rain; it is naturally different from what you encountered."

With the ox rope and Cow Nose Ring attached, the green ox spirit could no longer stir up any waves, so Xu Jia told the mud doll to untie the snare.

The ox spirit tried to act up again, but Xu Jia gave a slight tug, and all his strength vanished; there was even a faint burning and electric sensation at the Cow Nose Ring.

That piece of ox bezoar also fell into Xu Jia's hands, making Xu Jia exclaim: "Good stuff!"

The ox spirit was reluctant: "Quickly return my treasure to me!"

"This is a stone inside your body; it is only comfortable once it is taken out." He then led the ox toward Lan Shi Huo.

At this time, the Hour of the Ox had passed and it had entered the Hour of the Tiger; around Lan Shi Huo, there were already idlers, gamblers, ruffians, petty thieves, and beggars working in the dark.

The green ox spirit saw this and opened his mouth, but could make no sound: "These people, how are they even more tired than oxen and horses?"

Xu Jia laughed: "When an ox is tired, it's only for a month or two out of the year; the rest of the time, they at most pull an ox cart. These people, however, have to work between four to six hours every day. These few who got up so early to work must be the six-hour shift; they were slacking off before and were punished by the Golden Toad."

He then led the green ox spirit to the Jin Chan Miao: "Duobao! Duobao, come out quickly! Labor creates value; I have found you someone who knows how to labor."

As Xu Jia was speaking, he saw the Jin Chan Miao shine brightly; it turned out that the Golden Toad had followed Xu Jia's instructions and switched to a new cultivation method. Now, he was circling in the first realm, and the "Treasure Basin" he sat upon could be used directly as a Dharma treasure—that is, a "Golden Pool"—using this as a foundation to store wealth and turn it into water, while debts and the like were mixed into the pool, undergoing transformation as they flowed in and out.

This Treasure Basin was inherently consistent with the meaning of "Boshu," and inside it was the "Greed Demon" among the fifty Essence Yin Demons, which had once manifested infinite debt ghosts, all taking pleasure in exploitation and oppression, practicing the evil wealth of "non-good" and wicked wealth.

It just so happened to correspond to the fact that "primitive accumulation of capital" is bloody, and the Golden Toad wanted to "launder" it, turning evil into good.

Now, controlling these idlers, gamblers, thieves, and beggars, he had gradually realized some principles.

Seeing Xu Jia at this moment, he said excitedly: "Dharma Lord, I have already constructed the Golden Pool and am now planning to refine bonds to circulate them."

"How do you plan to circulate them?" Xu Jia was curious, because he was not a professional himself and found it hard to keep up with the Golden Toad's train of thought.

"These gamblers have been caught by me, and now the owners of several gambling dens in Yushan County have all become my believers. They use gambling chips, not real gold and silver, but they can be used to exchange for money; this is the same as my idea of issuing bonds to exchange for capital."

"I have already told them to bring those chips here, and I will use the Wealth God's Dharma Power to consecrate them; they will be ready-made bonds, and even if they only circulate in the gambling dens, they can continuously absorb outside capital."

Xu Jia sensed something wrong: "This is gambling; there is no tangible project or asset as a hedge, and the risk is extremely high. Moreover, are you going to drag more people into the gambling den, speculating and losing all their family wealth?"

"Then what should I do?"

"Persuade wealthy merchants with industries to buy your bonds, and use the income from Lan Shi Huo as a hedge, or use their industries as collateral to help them issue bonds, and you must play a regulatory role."

The Golden Toad thought carefully: "That's true. Then I must change the names of these gambling dens."

Xu Jia nodded: "No rush, think about it slowly. This big green ox is handed over to you to work."

The Golden Toad looked the ox up and down and grinned: "He is worth a hundred idlers and gamblers! I will make a big deal out of him; he is a rare commodity to be hoarded!"

(End of chapter)