If the sect doesn't accept geniuses, they will become giants once they leave?

Chapter 13: Serving Buddha
When Li Yanmo left Luoyang Town, he happened to meet a group of merchants who were returning in a mess. Their horses were lost, the mud on their shoes had frozen, and their faces were pale, as if they had just returned from the gates of hell.

Li Yanmo immediately stepped forward to ask, and used his heat to warm up the frightened vendors, who then told him the story.

It turned out that they tried to take a shortcut and took a road that passed a Taoist temple, thinking that they might be able to avoid the tiger monster by borrowing the power of the Three Pure Ones clay statues in the temple, but they didn't expect that the tiger monster would actually occupy the Taoist temple directly. They lost all their goods and barely ran back, but another group of people who came from Risheng City were not so lucky.

Even the person was taken away on the spot as a carriage, and he must have become food for the tiger demon.

When the vendors heard that Li Yanmo wanted to get rid of the tiger demon, they were all shocked and hurriedly tried to persuade him.

Some said that the tiger monster had a big belly and a round waist, just like a tiger general. Others said that the tiger monster had teeth as sharp as axes and used a piece of wood as thick as a bowl to pick its teeth.

These were not so complicated, but when a wine merchant began to describe it, Li Yanmo felt that the problem was not simple.

"That tiger demon is very evil! It wears a cassock, holds a demon-slaying stick, and keeps saying 'Shan Zai' all the time!"

As soon as the wine merchant finished his description, the other vendors became unhappy.

"Nonsense! How dare a demon wear a monk's robe?"

"You must have had too much to drink! You saw it wrong!"

"That's right, you reek of alcohol now!"

Li Yanmo sniffed and found that the wine merchant indeed smelled of alcohol.

The wine merchant blushed, "I didn't drink! The tiger demon broke a few jars of wine, and I accidentally fell into them!"

Seeing the vendors arguing non-stop, Li Yanmo withdrew the heat he was emitting. A gust of cold wind blew down, and the vendors calmed down instantly. They rubbed their arms and went back home.

Li Yanmo took a look at the legs and feet of the vendors and then followed the footprints on the ground.

After running for more than ten miles, Li Yanmo finally saw the Taoist temple that the merchant had mentioned.

This Taoist temple had long been abandoned and in ruins, with both sides buried in snow, but the main entrance was clean and even had small flowers growing on it. As soon as Li Yanmo approached the door, he heard a strong voice.

"When Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva practiced the profound Prajnaparamita, he saw that the five aggregates were empty and was able to transcend all suffering—"

Inside the Taoist temple, the altar where the clay statues of the Three Pure Ones should have been placed was occupied by a tiger demon wearing a cassock and with Buddhist beads hanging around its neck. Under the altar, a group of people were kneeling on cushions with their hands clasped together, like devout believers, but their trembling shoulders revealed their true thoughts.

And the one who was chanting the scriptures was the tiger demon.

Every time the tiger demon recited a sentence, the person on the cushion would follow suit.

As if his mouth was dry from chanting, the tiger demon raised his hand sideways and grabbed a squeaking piglet, put it to his mouth, and squeezed it hard. The piglet was crushed like jelly. The tiger demon stretched out his tongue and licked it hard, then rolled all the blood mud into his mouth.

The people kneeling on the cushions chanting scriptures trembled all, chanting louder and more devoutly, for fear that the tiger demon would be displeased and crush them like piglets.

Li Yanmo narrowed his eyes and found that every person on the cushion was emitting a wisp of gold mixed with black. As those people chanted diligently, the strange energy gathered on the tiger demon and established some kind of connection with the tiger demon.

Being an accomplice to the tiger? Is this tiger demon cultivating its own accomplices?!

Li Yanmo guessed a possibility, but when he thought about the tiger demon using Buddhist teachings to refine ghosts in the Taoist temple, Li Yanmo felt strange.

"Donor, if you also want to understand the mysteries of Buddhism, why don't you take a closer look?"

At this moment, the tiger demon suddenly raised his head, looking as if smiling.

Seeing that the other party had discovered his whereabouts, Li Yanmo no longer hid, but walked out openly. "This is the first time I have seen a monk drinking and eating meat."

Li Yanmo glanced at one side of the altar, where there were several jars with the word "wine" on them.

"Donor, have you ever heard that wine and meat pass through the intestines, but the Buddha remains in the heart?"

The tiger demon shook his head, stood up, and with his right hand, he grabbed a stick that was stained with evil spirits and lifted it up.

"Donor, you seem to be a Taoist. You come here and interrupt me from saving all living beings. Are you trying to stir up a conflict between Taoism and Buddhism?"

It is clearly a tiger demon, but it speaks in a very coherent way. If it weren't for the blood and flesh on the corners of its mouth, it would really look like an enlightened monk.

But these tactics seemed to be working. Li Yanmo could sense a mysterious force pressing down on his shoulders. If he couldn't verbally refute the tiger demon, he would be permanently affected by this force.

Seeing Li Yanmo's puzzled expression, the tiger demon immediately understood the situation and stroked his tiger whiskers proudly, "Is this your first time out of the mountains, benefactor?"

Li Yanmo didn't say anything, so the tiger demon took it as it was and continued speaking like a kind teacher.

"The righteousness of heaven and earth is everywhere, and every word and action can mobilize this righteousness of heaven and earth. As the saying goes, evil cannot defeat good. Once you enter the evil path, you will naturally be suppressed by the righteousness of heaven and earth—"

At this moment, a squinty-eyed young man kneeling on the mat suddenly clenched his fists, and as if he had made up his mind, he stood up and shouted in the direction of Li Yanmo, "This Immortal! You can't listen to this anymore! He wants to teach you a lesson and let the righteousness of heaven and earth suppress your cultivation!"

The tiger demon didn't get angry when the squinty-eyed young man shouted like that. Instead, the couple on both sides of the young man, who looked somewhat similar to the young man, changed their expressions drastically. One of them held the young man down, and the other kowtowed towards the tiger demon.

"Tiger Arhat, my son was just confused for a moment!"

The tiger demon raised his hand and waved, "It's okay, Buddha has mercy on me——"

Li Yanmo seemed to be lost in thought. "So that's how it is. If I receive your kindness but then attack you, my heart will inevitably be infected with evil spirits and suppressed by the righteousness of heaven and earth."

"And beasts like you have no bottom line and don't even think they are doing evil."

The tiger demon's expression changed slightly, and a hint of anger flashed in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it. "Well, if you believe that I am doing evil, you can call them. If any of them are willing to go with you, I will not stop them."

As the tiger demon said this, he generously moved aside.

But those who were kneeling on the mats dared not move. They knelt down in the direction of the tiger demon, crying and laughing. The young man's parents were particularly excited.

"Donor, it seems that you have come to the wrong place."

Li Yanmo didn't say anything, his eyes gradually turned red. Seeing this, the tiger demon first glanced at Li Yanmo's hands, and seeing that there was no sign of any magic spell, he became proud.

What it likes to watch most is those chivalrous monks being speechless by it, and being suppressed by the righteousness of heaven and earth, unable to exert their true strength.

"Are you so angry, benefactor? It seems that your cultivation is not good enough. Otherwise, why don't you sit here and chant with me--"

Before the tiger demon finished speaking, two beams of scorching red light passed through its throat, leaving two charred holes in the wall.

Li Yanmo raised his hand to wipe away the white smoke from his eyes and said coldly.

"I'm too lazy to reason with you. You don't deserve to hear it."

The righteous energy of heaven and earth that suppressed Li Yanmo disappeared in an instant.

(End of this chapter)