Chapter 133: Golden Toad

When Shui Miao met Xiao Liu and the others, he asked them to go assist Lin Xue.

Shortly after, Shui Miao walked alone further north for a while, circled around a wall eastward, and after more than a thousand meters, he arrived at the previous reed field. At a three-way intersection, he noticed a little boy with an unusually large mouth hiding in the reeds, peeking out curiously at him.

“Hey, Big Mouth Monster, why haven’t you come to greet our senior brother yet? If you don’t hurry up, we’ll beat you up together!” shouted the eldest of five young Taoist apprentices, beckoning at the big-mouthed boy with his finger.

The big-mouthed boy blinked his eyes slowly and then lumbered out from the reeds, asking in a muffled voice, “Senior Brother, when did we get another senior brother? Isn’t this the same person who came here last time?”

“You idiot! He was already our senior brother last time, you just didn’t know. Now that you do, you must come out and greet him whenever you see him, or else we’ll beat you every day!”

“Hehe, Big Mouth, aren’t you going to show some respect to our senior brother?”

“Yeah! Come on, you must spit out some treasures, right? You always like stealing treasures from others. You’re not even human, so you might as well give them all to our senior brother.”

“Right, right! Anyway, you have no use for them, so just hand them over.”

The five Taoist apprentices kept pushing and shoving the big-mouthed boy while each shouted demands at him.

Despite his simple and gullible nature, the big-mouthed boy didn’t seem the least bit annoyed as he was pushed around. He looked at Shui Miao and said in a muffled tone, “Senior Brother, I collect treasures to give to my master. My mom told me that I must collect many treasures before I can meet a good master. If you’re willing to be my master, I’ll give you all my treasures.”

“Brother, quickly agree! He has so many treasures!”

“Exactly, Brother! If you sell those treasures, you can rebuild our Taoist temple. His treasures are really valuable…”

“…”

The five apprentices excitedly urged Shui Miao to accept.

Shui Miao remained calm and squatted down to observe the big-mouthed boy. He looked almost like an ordinary child, just a bit chubby, with a pockmarked face and a mouth stretching all the way to his ears.

“Tell me, what kind of spirit are you?” Shui Miao politely asked.

“Haha! Brother, he’s not a spirit at all! He’s just a toad monster!”

“…”

Upon hearing this, the big-mouthed boy lowered his head, clearly feeling sad.

Shui Miao immediately addressed the five apprentices, “Don’t speak like that. We are cultivators; we should maintain a peaceful mind and treat others with humility. How can you mock others? Since you call me senior brother, from now on listen to me, work on improving yourselves, cultivate your mind and character, and only then will you make progress and enter the Dao earlier.”

Seeing Shui Miao’s serious demeanor, the five apprentices quieted down and lowered their heads.

“My mom told me that I’m not a toad monster. I am a spirit, and I have a beautiful name: Jin Chan Zi (Golden Toad Master). My mom also said that if someone says I’m a lovely spirit, I should accept him as my master and follow him forever.” As Jin Chan Zi spoke, he opened his mouth wide and spat out numerous treasures—gold and silver ornaments, jade articles, antiques, and more, an overwhelming variety that dazzled Shui Miao’s eyes.

His mouth had actually contained so many items!

Shui Miao immediately suspected they were illusions.

But in reality, they were all genuine treasures.

“So many… How did you get all these?” Shui Miao picked up a gold ingot and examined it. It looked exactly like the one he had discovered inside the copper coffin in the stone cave of the dry well. Shui Miao immediately suspected that Jin Chan Zi had sneaked into the dry well’s stone cave and swallowed the treasures inside the copper coffins, explaining why some coffins were empty.

“Master, this is only a small part. I can spit out even more!” Jin Chan Zi widened his eyes proudly, looking at Shui Miao.

The five apprentices became restless again and started talking all at once…

“Senior Brother, he goes everywhere. He takes treasures from coffins, which are the dead people’s money! He also takes gold and treasures from common households. No matter where there’s something valuable, he can effortlessly get it.”

“But I know, he’s afraid of being scolded. If someone yells at him, he obediently returns the items.”

“Yeah, yeah, Senior Brother! Last time when you came, it was him who made you lose your way. If you throw money on the ground, he’ll let you go. In fact, he’s quite mischievous!”

“Right! Because he always steals things and has a bad reputation, we don’t play with him anymore…”

“Big Mouth, from now on, if you follow our senior brother, you mustn’t steal recklessly and ruin our senior brother’s reputation!”

Each apprentice spoke in turn, finally helping Shui Miao understand why they all liked bullying the big-mouthed boy.

However, Shui Miao felt he had struck gold. Just imagine, with Jin Chan Zi around, wouldn’t he become rich beyond imagination? Taking him near ancient tombs, he wouldn’t even need to lift a finger—Jin Chan Zi could loot all the treasures inside. Once that happened, would he still need to rack his brains to earn money? Without financial worries, he could focus on cultivation and devote himself entirely to improving his cultivation level, completely opening the heavenly gate in his realm! Just how powerful would he become after fully opening the heavenly gate?

Shui Miao’s heart brimmed with excitement. He never expected such fortune—to become the master of Jin Chan Zi.

“Alright, just don’t steal from poor, struggling people anymore,” Shui Miao said cheerfully as he patted Jin Chan Zi’s head. Jin Chan Zi then retrieved a copper coin from beneath his tongue and handed it to Shui Miao. “Master, this coin was in my mouth when I was born. Carry it with you, and if you want to find me, I’ll sense it. If you’re not too far away, I’ll quickly come to you.”

“Uh… okay, okay!”

Shui Miao examined the copper coin hidden under Jin Chan Zi’s tongue. It was different from ordinary coins, thicker, with different inscriptions. Normal coins usually bore words like “Tong Bao” or “Yuan Nian,” but this coin was directly engraved with the words “Jin Chan Zi.” As Shui Miao held it, he sensed with his mind and found the coin extremely unique. It didn’t belong to any of the five elements’ energies, yet holding it gave him a very comfortable and mysterious feeling.

“Master, you can also drip your blood on it. Then you can freely use the treasures inside.”

Jin Chan Zi and the copper coin were intrinsically linked. As Shui Miao touched the coin with his spiritual power, Jin Chan Zi felt a shock, realizing Shui Miao’s profound cultivation, so he willingly revealed the coin’s secret. However, if Shui Miao dripped his blood on the coin to claim ownership, Jin Chan Zi would take the opportunity to absorb Shui Miao’s spiritual energy. Thus, although Shui Miao gained Jin Chan Zi, he would suffer a significant loss by supplying his spiritual energy, a classic case of gaining one thing while losing another.

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” Shui Miao realized with regret after sensing his spiritual energy draining away upon dripping his blood.

Urged by the apprentices, Shui Miao had Jin Chan Zi retrieve the treasures and then headed to Lingyin Temple.

Actually, Lingyin Temple didn’t physically exist—it was an illusion created by the Taoist Sage within the temple.

As Shui Miao entered the temple, he saw a room full of Taoist priests welcoming him. After some conversation, he learned that these old ghosts, who had existed for over a hundred years, were treating him so politely for a specific purpose.

The reconstruction of Lingyin Temple required setting up a spirit tablet, inscribed with the names of past abbots for worshippers to offer incense and pay homage.

Their politeness toward Shui Miao was merely to ask him to engrave their Taoist titles on the spirit tablet.

This was a trivial matter for Shui Miao. Upon his agreement, the Taoist priests thanked him and left one by one. Finally, the Taoist Sage suddenly appeared. Sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion, he immediately ordered the five apprentices to go outside and guard the door, forbidding anyone from approaching. Seeing the Sage’s mysterious demeanor, Shui Miao dared not be careless and quickly bowed respectfully, “Honored Sage, please allow me to…”

“No need, no need!”

The Taoist Sage smiled and interrupted Shui Miao, looking at him kindly. “I underestimated you. With your current cultivation level, you’re no longer suitable to be my disciple. How about we become sworn brothers instead?”

The Sage appeared very kind and spoke solemnly, clearly not joking.

Shui Miao was greatly surprised. “How honored I am! How dare I…”

“No, no, you don’t understand. In the eyes of cultivators, age doesn’t matter—only cultivation does. I was also a rare prodigy in my time, but I didn’t have your good fortune. At your young age, you’ve already developed spiritual power. With such cultivation, you will surely ascend to immortality in broad daylight and join the ranks of immortals! It’s actually an honor for me to become your sworn brother!” The Sage spoke calmly and eloquently.

Shui Miao was astonished that the Sage held him in such high regard. Yet deep down, he felt suspicious. Why would the Sage value him so much? As he pondered, the Sage transformed his appearance into that of a young man roughly Shui Miao’s age—handsome and dashing. Smiling, he stood up and bowed to Shui Miao, saying, “Before I entered the Dao, my surname was Zhang, and my given name was Yuan. Today, I’ll take the liberty of being your elder brother. How about you, Shui Miao, as my younger brother?”

“Alright… honored, Elder Brother Zhang Yuan…”

Shui Miao felt nervous and doubtful inside. He had always believed that there was no such thing as a free lunch or an unexpected windfall. The more favorably the Sage treated him, the more uneasy he felt. What did the Sage really want? Could it be that he wanted Shui Miao to supply him with spiritual energy for his cultivation?

At this point, Shui Miao no longer cared about gold or treasures. His spiritual energy was already in a precarious state, and he was unwilling to share even the slightest bit with anyone else.