I planted the spiritual roots for my people, and they bestowed upon me a body inscribed with incense

Upon arriving at the main hall, Li Yuan looked around and discovered two other people who looked just like him. However, both of them were already bewitched and kowtowed before offering up all their money.

Li Yuan saw the smiles on their faces; it seemed they had both gotten what they wanted. After guiding Li Yuan to his seat, the monk observed him for a while, and, confirming that he had fallen for the trap, slowly said:

"Esteemed benefactor, is there something weighing on your mind that you wish to resolve here? Why not tell the Buddha your concerns, so that the Buddha may offer guidance?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan couldn't help but feel a mischievous glint in his eyes. Then, with a blank stare, he slowly spoke:

"Three years ago, my brothers and I robbed a wealthy merchant. We only intended to steal a little money, but we accidentally killed the merchant. After that, my brothers and I decided to go all the way and steal all of the merchant's assets."

"But before I could even rejoice, my brothers and I started fighting amongst ourselves over the ten thousand taels of silver. In the end, I killed them all and took all the ten thousand taels of silver for myself."

"But as time slowly passed, I not only did not forget this matter, but I would dream of my dead brothers from time to time."

Upon hearing this, the monk slowly said:

"Benefactor, that is the trouble caused by those ill-gotten gains. You only need to give that money to Buddha for salvation, and your sins will be absolved."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan said hastily:

"I'll pay, I'll pay, the money is in my pocket..." Li Yuan pretended to faint before he could finish speaking.

The monk, who was about to hear the answer, became anxious and quickly stepped forward to help Li Yuan up, then called out to Li Yuan.

Seeing that Li Yuan remained unresponsive, the monk looked puzzled:

"Something's not right. Could it be that the medicine's effects have become too strong?" He then ordered someone to carry Li Yuan into the meditation room in the main hall.

At the same time, the monk slowly walked towards a meditation room inside the main hall.

"Master, this man possesses an extremely strong aura of malevolence, perfectly matching your requirements," the monk said slowly to the seated Master.

Upon hearing this, the Zen master, whose face was kind but whose eyes were somewhat fierce, slowly spoke.

"Once this matter is settled, you will be allowed to go home to visit your family for one month."

Upon hearing this, the monk immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times.

"Thank you, Zen Master. Thank you, Zen Master."

Seeing that no one was in the meditation room, Li Yuan got up and stopped pretending to be asleep. He stood up and started to observe everything in the meditation room. Before he could go out, he heard footsteps outside the courtyard and quickly lay back down on the bed.

Under Li Yuan's perception, the door to the meditation room opened, and three monks slowly entered. Looking at the unconscious Li Yuan, one of them called out, and the other two carried Li Yuan out of the meditation room.

After the two men carried Li Yuan to a small hill in the backyard of the temple, one of them turned a handle, and a stone door slowly opened on the hill.

The three men then carried Li Yuan toward the stone gate. They initially thought the temple was just a scam, but when they saw the stone gate slowly opening, Li Yuan immediately realized something was wrong.

Sure enough, upon entering, Li Yuan first found some bloodstained clothing. As he walked further in, he discovered that the place resembled a prison, filled with many people.

There were women, men, and even children among them.

Li Yuan was lucky; he was locked in a relatively clean cell. Not long after being locked up, Li Yuan slowly woke up.

At the same time, one of the other two men in the cell, a tall, emaciated man, saw Li Yuan wake up and spoke to him:

"Young master, which family's young master are you? You don't look like a wealthy person. Why are you locked up here?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan slowly said:

"You're hardly a young master; you've only made a small fortune. And how did you end up locked up here? It seems you're no ordinary person, brother?"

Upon hearing this, the tall, thin man slowly said:

"These bastards! I was just passing through and stopped to burn incense, but because I spent a bit too much, these bald monks have been locking me up ever since. Sigh..."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan was somewhat curious, and then slowly said:

"What are those bald monks keeping you locked up for? They might as well just kill you. Keeping you alive is just a waste of food."

Upon hearing this, the tall, thin man waved his hand.

"I've already written home and asked my family to send them no less than five hundred taels of silver. If it weren't for those five hundred taels, I'd probably be living in that stinking ditch right now." He then pointed to a ditch that looked utterly disgusting.

Li Yuan looked in the direction it pointed and found that there were indeed about ten people living inside, each of them covered in something yellow and black.

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan frowned.

"Your family members are sending money here, so why don't you report it to the authorities?" Upon hearing this, the tall, thin man slowly said:

"Report to the authorities? Hahaha, not to mention that the location of the money payment is different each time, as long as a family member reports to the authorities, once the people here find out, they will be beaten at best, their tongues will be cut out at worst, and many people will even be dismembered."

After saying that, he pointed to another person in the same room. "See? This is what happens."

Li Yuan looked in the direction the man was pointing, and realized that no wonder the man hadn't spoken earlier; he had lost his tongue.

Now Li Yuan understood what this temple did: human trafficking, extortion, murder, and dismemberment.

Knowing this, Li Yuan saw no need to stay any longer. He stood up and sent a burst of magical power toward the lock of the cell.

With a bang, the copper lock was shattered by the magic power Li Yuan unleashed. Shaking off the filth, Li Yuan slowly walked out of the cell.

The two men in the cell were stunned at first, then the tall, thin man revealed a knowing smile, and seeing that he was about to leave, he quickly said:

"Brother, you have a good strategy. If we join forces, our chances of getting out of here are much greater." Seeing that Li Yuan didn't speak, he quickly followed in Li Yuan's footsteps.

Li Yuan ignored the tall, thin man and continued walking towards the guard post.

The guards at the cave entrance had clearly heard the commotion. As soon as they entered, they saw Li Yuan walking out and assumed he had managed to escape. They immediately shouted at Li Yuan:

"Go back." As he spoke, the monk's staff flew towards Li Yuan.

With a wave of his hand, Li Yuan unleashed several powerful bursts of magical energy, causing the heads of several people to explode one after another. These monks, who were not even martial artists, had never seen such a scene before, and their heads exploded one after another.

The tall, thin man wasn't afraid; instead, a bloodthirsty excitement crept across his lips, and the previously noisy crowd in the cell gradually quieted down.

Li Yuan turned and glanced at the tall, thin man, then slowly said;

"Didn't you say you wanted to join forces? Hurry up and follow me." After saying that, Li Yuan turned around and walked towards the closed stone door above.

Upon hearing this, the tall, thin man remained silent, picked up a monk's staff, and followed Li Yuan.

The stone door was quite thick. Not wanting to waste his magic power, Li Yuan took out a long sword from his storage bag and cleaved the stone door open. Li Yuan returned to the ground.

The commotion in the temple attracted the attention of many people, and soon a large number of monks gathered around, including the Zen master.

Clearly, the group was led by the Zen master, who seemed to have realized Li Yuan's unusual nature and feared that letting him go might cause trouble. He then addressed the monks:

"No need to capture, just kill them."