Chapter 300: Snatching a Person

Seeing Miao Zhen: "This cowshed is beautiful. A good person really does treat their stepson well—this is the best cowshed I've ever seen, with a bed and even a cabinet."

Pan Yun reached out and tugged at the cabinet; the door clattered off.

Pan Yun let out an exaggerated "Ah!" of surprise. "The cabinet door's just not sturdy—touch it once and it breaks."

Tao Mu's face flushed crimson. "You—you—who gave you permission to come in and rummage around? How does your Qingxu Sect raise children?"

Tao Mu shouted toward the doorway. "You're like bandits! A bunch of girls entering a man's bedroom, touching and moving things—what kind of behavior is this? How can a child learn anything good sent to such a place…"

Tao Yanbai's face turned bright red. He quickly grabbed her arm. "Mother, don't say that—this is my junior aunt and junior sister."

Seeing Miao Zhen kindly said, "Good person, shouting louder won't help. This is our junior aunt—she's an elder. Big Brother has no authority over her."

Pan Yun brushed the dust off her hands. "Sister-in-law, I don't mean anything by it. I've watched Yanbai grow up. This is my first time visiting his secular home, so I was naturally curious—just wanted to see how the child's been living."

As she spoke, she opened the other cabinet door, took out the two pairs of shoes inside, and tossed them to Tao Yanbai. "As a Dao physician, you'll be walking streets and alleys—you can't go without shoes. Don't leave them behind."

Tao Yanbai caught the shoes and shoved them into his bamboo basket—then saw Pan Yun reach into the cabinet, her hand moving in some way he couldn't follow, and pull out a money pouch.

Tao Yanbai: …

Tao Mu's eyes went wide.

This was exactly what she had always wanted but never found.

Pan Yun gave Tao Yanbai a look of utter disbelief. Is this how you use talismans?

To hide things? That was something she never imagined.

She quietly peeled off the yellow talisman stuck to the inside of the cabinet and stored it in her Spirit Realm space.

Then, under Tao Mu's gaze, Pan Yun held the money pouch in her hand, tossed it lightly, and turned to ask, "Yanbai, is this the money you're returning to me?"

Tao Yanbai froze. Did he owe his junior aunt money?

Oh—he did. She had entrusted him with one hundred and fifty taels, but he'd kept that money at the sect, under Senior Brother's care. If his junior aunt needed funds, she could simply ask Senior Brother directly. These were the earnings he'd made over the past few months traveling to treat patients…

Seeing Miao Zhen glided smoothly behind Tao Yanbai and pinched his arm. "Junior aunt is asking you—your debt of one hundred and fifty taels to her…"

Tao Yanbai snapped back to attention and nodded frantically. "Yes yes yes—this is the money I'm returning to Junior Aunt!"

Tao Mu's face darkened. She lunged to snatch the pouch—but Pan Yun spun away, and her hand passed right through the empty air where the pouch had been.

Pan Yun acted as if she hadn't noticed, tossing the pouch as she walked out the door. "Fine. It's not much, but I'll reluctantly accept it. Count it as ten taels. Pay me back the remaining one hundred and forty taels by working for me."

"Oh." Tao Yanbai couldn't suppress his joy as he answered, grabbed his basket, and followed.

Tao Mu moved faster than him, chasing after Pan Yun. "Wait! Even if your Qingxu Sect treats him like a laborer, why does he owe you so much? How could he possibly spend this much? How did he even get into this debt?"

Tao Fu turned sharply. "What debt? Who owes money?"

Pan Yun tossed the pouch, then, the instant it began to fall, retrieved it into her Spirit Realm space—in the eyes of the Tao family, it vanished as if by magic.

Pan Yun smiled sweetly. "Yanbai, my third junior nephew—he owes me one hundred and fifty taels."

Tao Fu gasped in disbelief. "How could he owe so much?!"

He eyed Pan Yun suspiciously, frowning. "Wang Daochang, who is this young Daoist? I've never seen her before."

Wang Cong said, "She's our sect's junior aunt—an elder."

Tao Fu choked. An elder? That meant she was his peer—he couldn't even scold her.

But Tao Mu had no such awareness. In her eyes, Pan Yun was merely a slightly older girl, nothing to fear. She stared at Pan Yun's attire. "Where did you hide the money? That's my son's hard-earned money from treating patients."

Pan Yun: "Who said that's your son's money? It's mine. My third junior nephew is returning it to me."

"You say it's yours? That's not logical. Tell me—why would he borrow so much from you?"

Pan Yun began counting on her fingers. "There are many reasons. The sect provides his food and lodging, teaches him medicine. When he falls ill, ordinary herbs are free—but expensive ones? Can we really have the sect pay out of pocket?"

"Over the years, he's had several serious illnesses requiring precious herbs. He didn't ask his family for money, so he borrowed from me. That's how this debt piled up."

"Lies! When you took the child away, you swore you'd treat him like your own! Why should he pay for his own medicine?!"

Wang Cong stepped in front of Pan Yun. "Auntie, when Third Master brought Third Brother back to the sect, he did say that. But later, you refused to let him become a full disciple—you insisted he was your only son, that his maternal lineage mustn't be cut off. You made such a fuss we had to let him go. That's why Father relented and allowed Master to take him as a registered disciple instead of letting Third Master take him as a direct disciple. Originally, Third Brother and Third Master were kin, and he had talent in Dao medicine—we intended for him to inherit the Alchemy Dao. But you refused, so the matter was dropped."

"Since he's only a registered disciple, he's not like us. Major expenses must be borne by himself."

"You're lying! When you took him away, you never said he'd have to pay for himself! If you'd told me that, I'd never have sent my child to your sect as a servant!"

Seeing Tao Fu stay silent, Tao Mu shoved him forward. "Say something! Are you even a man? Your son's colluding with outsiders to cheat your own family—and you won't even speak up?!"

Seeing Miao Zhen rolled up her sleeves, placed her hands on her hips. "Don't slander us. How are we cheating you? Do you think your child grew by standing in the wind, mouth open to the northwest?"

"Besides, Tao Good Person—what should he say? He wasn't raised by you. He was raised by Senior Brother and Third Master."

Seeing Miao He: "Exactly! Even his own father did nothing—what about you, a stepmother?!"

Pan Yun added: "A cruel stepmother."

She glanced at Tao Fu, shook her head, and sighed. "A father who is neither kind nor righteous—once a stepmother arrives, he becomes a stepfather. He mistreats his son and blames everything on his wife. Alas, the world declines, morals decay."

Tao Fu's face flushed crimson. He shoved his wife away, roaring: "Stop it! I told you long ago to clean out the first room in the east wing for the child. You kept delaying—delaying, delaying—until now, forcing him to sleep in the cowshed. Now you're complaining? Sanlang was injured—he raised Yanbai. Let Yanbai serve him—what's wrong with that?!"

"Exactly! What's wrong?!" Pan Yun intoned dramatically. "Debts must be repaid—that's natural law. What's wrong with me asking Tao Yanbai to repay me?"

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"Exactly! What's wrong?!" Seeing Miao Zhen said. "Your family should pay this debt on behalf of Third Brother."

Tao Fu and Tao Mu turned ashen and fell silent.

Seeing Miao He: "Won't pay? Then the day Third Brother leaves the sect is the day he becomes my junior aunt's laborer. Don't regret it later!"

Wang Cong and Tao Yanbai hid to the side, watching as the three chattered incessantly—sometimes subtly accusing Tao Mu of mistreating her stepson, sometimes openly condemning Tao Fu for favoritism, calling him an unworthy father…

Until Tao Fu and Tao Mu were left pale and speechless.

And yet, seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He standing before Pan Yun—who, as Tao Yanbai's junior aunt, despite her youth, held genuine authority to defend him.

Tao Mu opened her mouth: "How does your sect raise children…"

Pan Yun immediately cut in: "Our sect's children learn the classics, histories, and philosophical texts from childhood. Even if we teach poorly, we still instill basic principles. But you—do you even know what Dao is? What is reason?"

Pan Yun turned directly to Tao Fu. "Do you and your wife have any reason to treat your eldest son this way?"

Tao Fu looked pained, stamped his foot. "I left all household matters to her. I trusted her—I never imagined she secretly mistreated Yanbai. This child never complained…"

Pan Yun looked at Tao Mu with a face full of sympathy. "Did you hear that? Your husband here—his eyes are blind, his ears are deaf, and his heart is cruel too. He said it's all your fault!"

Tao Fu: …

Tao Mu glared at Tao Fu. "Now you're blaming everything on me? The family had no house to live in, and letting him stay in the cow shed—that was agreed to by you too."

Tao Fu lost face badly in front of outsiders. Furious, he raised his hand to hit her. Pan Yun frowned, reached out, grabbed his arm, and flung it aside, displeased. "If we're talking, then talk. You can't just lose your temper and start hitting people when you can't win the argument, can you?"

Tao Fu hurriedly cried out, "Wronged! Little Xiao Shishu, I really couldn't stand her twisting the truth. I did agree to move Yan Bai's bed into the cow shed, but what I meant was to lead the cow out, lay down a layer of earth inside, tamp it firm—it'd be just like a new house."

"Go on, lead it out then, lead it out!" Tao Mu covered her face and wailed. "It's not like you haven't tried before. In the end, didn't you just lead the cow right back? Since winter began, two cows have gone missing from three villages. Our courtyard wall—anyone can climb right over it. If we don't tie the cow up in the cow shed and leave it in the yard, we won't even know when someone steals it."

"This was your idea. You were the one who led the cow back. And now you blame me—have you no shame?"

Seeing the husband and wife successfully start arguing, Pan Yun immediately stepped back, and together with Miao Zhen, tactfully withdrew having accomplished their goal.

Tao Yan Bai considerately poured each of them a bowl of tea.

Pan Yun's throat was sore from shouting. She drained hers in one gulp and said, "It wasn't that hard, was it? And that's it?"

Wang Cong said helplessly, "Little Xiao Shishu, we came just to bring Third Junior Brother home. It wasn't hard to begin with. Even without you here, I could've brought him back. What's hard is you wanting to snatch Third Junior Brother away to the Daoist temple."

Miao Zhen: "Can't we snatch him?"

Good night.

(End of chapter)