My Lady Always Lacks Ambition
Chapter 163 - 162: Evil Buddha Appears, Let the Capable Suffer from Headaches

Chapter 163: Chapter 162: Evil Buddha Appears, Let the Capable Suffer from Headaches

Qi Qian pulled the reins as he exited the gates of Li City, looking back over his shoulder while still on horseback.

"Master?"

Qi Qian couldn’t quite put his finger on the feeling in his heart, an instinct told him that he shouldn’t have left without bidding farewell, and with this departure, it seemed as if some things would never be regained.

After a moment of silence, he lifted his whip and with a "ha" sound, spurred his horse forward, quickly disappearing into the night.

At that moment, Qin Liuxi came out of the Medicine House yawning and stretched languidly. Sensing something, she turned around the courtyard and indeed saw the male and female ghosts sucking in the Spiritual Energy of the courtyard as if they had found a long-sought-after rain.

Seeing Qin Liuxi, the two ghosts gathered their spirits and floated to her, respectfully greeting her: "My lord."

"Have you returned? How did it go?"

The female ghost said, "As per your instructions, we have reported everything we knew to the Qinglan Temple Master."

"What about that old coot of mine? Was he present?"

The male ghost replied: "Master Chi Yuan and the Qinglan Temple Master were together. When we arrived, they were enjoying a barbecue and drinking as if they were the best of brothers."

The female ghost shot him a glance: Aren’t you afraid that those two will come after you for snitching!

Qin Liuxi laughed sarcastically, "...Barbecue, heh."

I’m working myself to the bone, and that old coot is gorging on meat and swilling wine, how infuriating!

Seeing her sinister smile, the ghosts took a step back, maintaining a safe distance.

Qin Liuxi gritted her teeth and asked, "And then?"

"Upon learning the news, the Qinglan Temple Master performed a divination and, together with Master Chi Yuan, went to the Fenzi Territory. After a battle of wits, they indeed captured an Evil Path named Tianyi, who intended to practice the ghost-refining Evil Ghost Path."

"Tianyi?"

The male and female ghosts explained, "He was once a Daoist in the immensely popular Temple of the Common People fifty years ago, but somehow he fell into the Evil Path."

The Temple of the Common People, fifty years ago.

Qin Liuxi lightly tapped the Jade Gourd at her waist, quickly recalling every Daoist story, book, and tale she had heard over the years. The Temple of the Common People was said to be the foremost temple under the heavens, skilled in all the Xuanmen Five Skills, flourishing in incense offerings, and even trusted by the great-grandfather. He had even requested that the temple create a Longevity Pill and appointed the temple master at the time, Master Taiyi, as the National Guardian Immortal Master.

However, it was said that after Master Taiyi presented the Longevity Pill, it caused the great-grandfather to faint and not wake up. The Crown Prince at the time, who was the previous Emperor, ordered the army to surround the Temple of the Common People and slaughtered all the Daoists and laymen in the temple, branding them an Evil Sect and causing their overnight downfall.

At that time, there were over fifty Daoists in the Temple of the Common People; whether they were those within the temple or wandering outside, all were captured and executed without sparing even the Daoists under ten years of age.

Afterward, the great-grandfather passed away and the previous Emperor took the throne, harshly criticized the Taoist Sect for beguiling the people, causing everyone to fear openly seeking the Dao. The Temple of the Common People, the main culprit, became taboo to even mention. It was since then that the Mystic Sect fell into decline, temples either dwindled or outright closed and secularized, far from the thriving state of the Buddhist Sect.

Even after the previous Emperor passed away and the Holy Emperor ascended to the throne, while not utterly annihilating the Mystic Sect, the Mystic Sect still did not return to its past glory; the people of Da Feng believed more in Buddhism than in the Dao.

Qingping Temple was one of those that collapsed along with the Temple of the Common People, gradually languishing and finally closed for twenty years, until ten years ago when Master Chi Yuan took Qin Liuxi to reestablish Qingping Temple.

Thus, the reason why the reputation of Qingping Temple isn’t well-known and why Qin Liuxi, despite her capabilities, isn’t recognized by everyone, is due to the lessened state of the Mystic Sect compared to the Buddhist Sect, not to mention the reviving and rebuilding of Qingping Temple, where even the golden statue of the Grandmaster had not been established yet, right?

It was also due to the collected incense money that was not only spent on the repairs of the temple but also on charity to accumulate merit that led to a slight increase in spiritual offerings.

Recalling the hardships of the last ten years of managing the temple’s infrastructure, Qin Liuxi herself could hardly restrain a sigh of bitter tears; it was indeed difficult!

"Could it be that this practitioner of the Evil Ghost Path intends to vindicate the Temple of the Common People?" Qin Liuxi said.

The Temple of the Common People was of the Righteous Path, but with this practitioner of the Evil Path claiming to be one of its Daoists, wasn’t that blackening its name and solidifying its reputation as an Evil Sect?

"The servant also observed from afar. This Evil Path practitioner accused the Qi Imperial Family of being inherently corrupt, calling white black. He said that although the Longevity Pill his master offered couldn’t grant eternal life, its efficacy in extending life was absolute, and it was the Imperial Family that had tampered with it. He claimed they falsely blackened the name of the Temple of the Common People, so he might as well turn it into an actual Evil Sect and throw the Qi territory into chaos."

Qin Liuxi uttered an "Oh": "What did the two temple masters say?"

"The Qinglan Temple Master wanted to persuade him to surrender, but the Zhengyi offered his soul at the hour of the rat under the full moon."

Qin Liuxi frowned, that’s quite resolute, but who was the sacrifice for?

She had a bad feeling about this.

Ah, what a headache!

Forget it, she knew nothing; let the two temple masters worry about it. After all, the meat is delicious, and the wine is good!

Qin Liuxi immediately waved her hand: "Alright, if that Evil Path is dead, so be it, be gone."

"Yes." Before the male ghost left, he added, "Master, Master Chi Yuan has a message for you."

"Speak."

The male ghost cleared his throat and pointed at Qin Liuxi: "Evil disciple, your master is outside slaying evil and upholding the righteous path. You should work hard to earn incense money, no slacking off, or your master may never return!"

Qin Liuxi’s face darkened.

As soon as the male ghost finished speaking, he bowed his hands and vanished like a wisp, not wanting to get burned by his master’s fiery temper that might singe his fragile soul!

Qin Liuxi huffed heavily, flicked her sleeve, and returned to the Medicine House.

Far away at Qinglan Temple, Master Chi Yuan sneezed twice, dug his ear, flicked his finger, and a piece of earwax popped out.

The Qinglan Temple Master could hardly bear to look, saying, "How can you be so crude, how did little Xi tolerate you for ten years?"

Master Chi Yuan just laughed heartily: "Naturally, I softened her with my affectionate fatherly love."

The Qinglan Temple Master managed not to roll his eyes and said, "Back to the important matter, Zhengyi’s soul indeed cannot be found, and we have no idea who he sacrificed himself to."

Master Chi Yuan: "I will ask."

The Qinglan Temple Master frowned: "Better let me do it, your body can’t take it."

"It’s fine, I have more endurance than you when it comes to this Taoism."

Master Chi Yuan had already stood up, twisted incense in front of the Grandmaster, started the altar and chanted the Gang Step and the cleansing Divine Spell, bit his fingertip to draw a Divine Inquiry Talisman, pinched a mantra and burned the talisman, then sat down cross-legged, eyes tightly shut, hands forming complex spell gestures.

"Lingbao Tianzun, stabilize my form, my disciple’s soul, the five viscera and Xuanming..."

The spell chanted from his mouth brought forth a wind, forming a tiny vortex.

When the incense burned out, Master Chi Yuan opened his eyes, spat out a mouthful of blood, his aged body leaning.

The Qinglan Temple Master immediately went to support him, stuffing an Elixir Pill into his mouth, showing concern: "How are you, I told you not to overdo it."

But Master Chi Yuan grabbed his hand, eyes bloodshot: "It’s him!"

Si Luo.

The Evil Ghost who escaped from the Nine Netherworld, also the reincarnation of the Evil Buddha.

The Qinglan Temple Master pursed his lips.

Thud, a solemn bell rang out.

Far away at the thousand-year-old temple on Heavenly Mountain, a young Buddha’s son walked out of the ancient temple, gazing toward the starless dark night sky to the north. The Evil Buddha reappears in the world; will it ever be peaceful again?

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