Tie Banxian didn’t expect Qin Liuxi to invite him to Qingping Temple to take up a position as a Daoist. To be honest, all of his so-called skills were learned from following an old Taoist when he was in his twenties, making him something of a mid-career Daoist learner, and they weren’t even refined.
His area of expertise was conducting rituals because he had done plenty with traveling Taoists. As for reading faces, palms, and fortune-telling, he mainly relied on observation and guessing – sometimes inaccurately at that.
Tie Banxian never dared to truly consider himself a Daoist of any reputable sect. After the old Taoist ascended to heaven, he started working independently as a wandering Taoist without a fixed abode.
He knew about Qingping Temple—its peace charms were reputed to be very potent lately, which made their incense offering business thrive. Just some time ago, he had set up a stall at the foot of Qingping Temple, selling one or two peace charms.
Of course, he managed to sell them by taking advantage of Qingping Temple’s reputation, saying that they were drawn by the Daoists from inside the temple and were identical.
Plainly put, it was a scam.
Now, the legit Daoist from Qingping Temple was standing right in front of him, even inviting him to take up a position there. To be honest, Tie Banxian felt a bit guilty and didn’t dare to meet Qin Liuxi’s gaze, fearing she would discover his misdeeds.
"I’m just a charlatan, how could I possibly catch the eyes of a Master like you," Tie Banxian said cautiously as he probed, fearing Qin Liuxi intended to trap him.
"You’re poor, have nothing, and your skills are mediocre, indeed not enough to impress me," replied Qin Liuxi.
"As long as you can perform rituals, that’s good enough," Qin Liuxi said. "Let’s go, we’ll head up the mountain together."
Tie Banxian wanted to refuse, but considering he had nowhere else to go, and thinking about the reputation of Qingping Temple, why not go have a look?
Once he went, he never left again.
After burying Old Man Guan’s ashes jar, Qin Liuxi entered the Daoist Temple, wrote another spiritual tablet, and placed it along with several others she had kept at the Coffin Shop, in the Rebirth Hall.
"The whole family, together, for better or for worse." She looked at the several spiritual tablets, sighed lightly, pinched an incense stick to light, and placed it.
Tie Banxian looked at the small Rebirth Hall, with numerous spiritual tablets on the shelves, and listened to Chen Pi’s explanations. These belonged to the deceased who had no one to pay tribute to them, taken care of by the temple with offerings and prayers.
Qingping Temple, so considerably kind.
Tie Banxian thought he should also place the old Taoist’s spiritual tablet here, then he would have a permanent place in the future.
Qin Liuxi brought Tie Banxian to find Qing Yuan, who was busy at the time. Seeing her arrive was like seeing a godsend assistant.
"You’ve arrived right on time, we have devotees in the main hall requesting... Eh, who is this Daoist?" When Qing Yuan saw Tie Banxian, he looked him up and down before asking: "A fellow practitioner?"
Tie Banxian gave a wry smile: "A half-baked Daoist, greetings to you, brother."
"Met a charlatan yesterday, who ended up conning his way to me," Qin Liuxi explained Tie Banxian’s background to Qing Yuan. "He can conduct rituals, if there’s anything of that sort, assign it to him. He can also help out with regular tasks."
Hearing that Tie Banxian managed to con his way to Qin Liuxi, Qing Yuan felt a bit sympathetic—as if Tie Banxian couldn’t see where he was stepping and got caught by the little ancestor.
"What’s your name?" Qin Liuxi asked him again.
Tie Banxian said: "My secular name is Tie Youcheng. I followed a traveling Taoist to learn the craft; he gave me the Daoist name Wuwei."
Chen Pi, listening on the side, disdainfully said: "Your name is Wuwei, so why do you still call yourself Demi Immortal?"
Tie Banxian chuckled: "You don’t understand, it’s just to make swindling—no, I mean, to make traveling through the Martial World more awe-inspiring and mysterious, easier to gain trust from people."
Chen Pi: Can you still see my eyeballs rolling?