Starting from the Tiger Demon Yaksha, the demon immortality

Chapter 178, Chapter 177: The Evil Monk
Zhang Chuyi lay sprawled in the mud, watching his wife being dragged along, his whole body aching as if it were about to fall apart.

However, none of all these pains could compare to the inner rage and anxiety that made the blood thirst and the heart feel as if it were about to burst.

But amidst the anger, there was also a sense of bewilderment within.

why?

Didn't Buddha say that we should be compassionate and do good deeds so that we can be reborn in the Pure Land in the next life?

But these wicked monks, who were even disciples of the Buddha, knelt on prayer mats every day, watched over by the Bodhisattva's gaze.

Why do they lend money at exorbitant interest rates?

Why exploit others by extracting interest in order to seize their land?

Not content with just taking the land, they also wanted to hold various extremely expensive religious ceremonies.

He claimed that he couldn't come up with the money in the short term, so he wanted to take his wife away and turn her into a "resident slave" of the temple.

Aren't they afraid of going to hell?
"Aren't you afraid of going to hell?!"

Zhang Chu's eyes were bloodshot, he was breathing heavily, and he roared hoarsely, but all he got in return was a cold laugh from those few green-skinned monks.

"Going to hell? I chant scriptures and make offerings to Buddha every day, how could I go to hell?"

"On the contrary, it is you, Elder Zhixin, who kindly organized the Dharma assembly to pray for your well-being and to ward off disasters."

"But you keep making excuses and won't even pay five coins, yet you want to enjoy the good fortune that other villagers have begged for for nothing?"

"Dream on! If you can't come up with the money, I'll send your wife to a temple to make offerings to Buddha and clean the halls. She'll naturally come back in a month or two."

"Fuck your mother's fart!"

Anger nearly overwhelmed Zhang Chuyi's reason. He was naive, but not stupid.

There were other families in the village who couldn't repay their loan shark debts and had to send their wives and daughters to work at the temple, but none of them ever came back.

Does the outcome need further explanation?

"You ungrateful bastard."

The leading monk's face darkened, and he clenched his fist, which was as big as a vinegar bowl, as he walked over step by step.

Zhang Chuyi had already been beaten, and his bones felt like they were falling apart, so he couldn't muster any strength at all.

Before I knew it, the other person had already brought me up.

“This world is full of man-eating demons. Without our Hongfu Temple, you villagers would have died long ago.”

"You refuse to make offerings? Then you shall go to hell!"

Even though Zhang Chuyi was furious, he couldn't help but close his eyes the moment the shadow of the fist approached.

His fist pierced the air with a sharp crack. But he felt no pain; instead, he felt a warm, foul-smelling liquid splash on his face, and his grip on his hand loosened.

Boom!
Zhang Chu's body slammed into the muddy ground, and he saw stars, unable to see anything clearly.

In a daze, I only heard my wife's anxious and frightened shouts coming from afar, and for a moment I was completely at a loss.

What happened?
"If you don't make offerings to monks, you'll go to hell? I suppose the entire Hongfu Temple is full of living Arhats?"

Li Cunxiao walked over, tossing a few thumb-sized stones in his hand. He had a smile on his face, but his eyes were as cold as ice, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

"Hero, spare your life!"

The remaining three monks' knees buckled and they knelt on the ground, their faces filled with such fear and despair that it seemed as if the fear and despair were about to leap off their cheeks.

What did they see?
The answer was that they saw nothing, and didn't even hear a sound. The instructor, who usually relied on his physical strength and loved to show off among the monks, had his head blown off and became a headless corpse.

The person before them was like a ghost; they had no idea when he appeared. He was definitely a master!
“Great hero, things are not as you see them. This person... this person owes the temple interest and has no money to pay back the debt.”

"We just want his wife to work to pay off the debt. Paying back debts is a matter of course, he..."

The three men were talking incoherently, each speaking their own words. Li Cunxiao ignored them, waved his hand, and three pebbles flew out as afterimages.

The next moment, the pebble, enveloped in Flame Demon True Qi, easily pierced through the knees of the three men, causing blood and bone fragments to explode instantly. Overwhelmed by the intense pain, all three fell silent and fainted from the agony.

"I heard them just now talking about the Dharma assembly. When and where will it be held? Will Elder Zhixin also be attending?"

Zhang Chuyi looked at the man in the bamboo hat who stood ten steps in front of him, and then glanced at the headless corpse and the three martial monks who had fainted from pain. He was still in a daze.

It wasn't until Li Cunxiao questioned him that he snapped out of his daze, feeling a sense of relief that quickly turned to fear, driving him to shield his wife behind him as he swallowed hard.

"The Dharma assembly will be presided over by Elder Zhixin and will be held tomorrow morning."

"Because the autumn harvest is approaching, demons are appearing frequently. So Hongfu Temple said it would hold a ritual to cleanse the impurities so that the demons would leave."

"However, when holding a Dharma assembly, the villagers all have to pay a ritual fee; otherwise, it is considered disrespectful to the Buddha."

As Li Cunxiao listened to Zhang Chuyi's narration, he initially answered his own questions, but the conversation veered off course as Zhang began to complain to him.

He wanted to interrupt, but as he listened, he remained silent.

The information provided by the other party basically matched what the Buddhist elder had told them.

This Elder Zhixin, or Abbot Zhixin, is the head of Hongfu Temple.

The reason it was called that was because the temple was essentially a den of monk bandits.

They chant Amitabha Buddha's name while secretly committing acts that incur divine and human wrath, forcing innocent women into prostitution.

Buddhist pawnshops, longevity pawnshops, and usurious lending are all considered traditional skills.

But if they have both military power and control over the faith, how can they possibly have enough money?

They forcibly seized land, forced people to build Buddhist temples without compensation, fabricated false scriptures, and used Buddhist teachings to coerce and mislead the ignorant.

These people have almost completely exploited and possessed the common people, both spiritually and physically, leaving them with no freedom or respite whatsoever.

It was less a temple and more like a small imperial court, with the abbot being the local emperor.

The magistrate of Gu County was wary of Zhixin's military strength and only cared about collecting taxes. As long as he could get money and grain on time, what did it matter if he contracted the taxes to Hongfu Temple?

The latter even collects taxes faster and more punctually.

The chaos at Hongfu Temple is merely a microcosm of local separatism.

"This is medicine for your injuries. Take it and then find a place to hide with your wife."

Seeing that Zhang Chuyi was getting more and more agitated and even a little out of breath, Li Cunxiao simply interrupted him and handed him a Qi and Blood Pill.

With a whistle, the red-skinned horse came running over from not far away.

Zhang Chuyi and his wife got up somewhat anxiously, watching as the other person mounted their horse:

"Great hero, Elder Zhixin has evening prayers every day at dusk, and all the monks in the temple are on the mountain at that time. If you go alone..."

"Everyone here?"

Li Cunxiao smiled, spurred his horse, and the red steed shot off like lightning.

"It's good that they're all here. I'll take pity on them and send them all to the Western Paradise!"

(End of this chapter)