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"How can you be so poor..."

Following the direction the lamb pointed, Xu Guangkun strayed further and further off course.

In the end, even the stilted houses were gone, leaving only a few dilapidated thatched huts and tiled houses.

Xu Guangkun closed his eyes slightly in pain. "Which one?"

The lamb pointed to the right, and Xu Guangkun was about to take a step.

"You despicable heretical cultivator who created beasts!"

A loud shout, accompanied by a whooshing sound, rang out behind him.

Xu Guangkun suddenly turned around, only to see a wooden stick growing larger and larger in his eyes.

"Thump!"

.....

Xu Guangkun shoved the white-haired old man into the mud, looked him over for a while, and frowned.

He was old and frail, wearing a Taoist robe covered in patches.

He appeared out of nowhere, carrying a wooden stick, ready to launch a sneak attack. If he hadn't reacted quickly, he would probably be unconscious by now.

"Taoist priest, you..."

Before he could even ask a question, the old Taoist priest had already started cursing at him.

"Damn evil cultivator! How dare he violate human ethics and use that animal-creating technique? Doesn't he fear shortening his lifespan, diminishing his blessings, and even devouring his soul!" He shouted, "Senior brother! Aren't you going to help me instead of just standing by?"

Xu Guangkun was startled and stood up to look around. He then noticed a middle-aged man with a clear complexion, wearing a Taoist robe, standing not far away.

Xu Guangkun quickly took a few steps back, pulled out his pistol, and cocked it. "Where exactly are you Taoist priests from?"

The middle-aged Taoist priest glanced at the pistol for a moment, then said, "Don't panic, layman."

Then he flicked the whisk in his hand.

The whisk suddenly swelled in the wind, spreading to Xu Guangkun's front in the blink of an eye and enveloping the lamb.

Xu Guangkun reached out to snatch it, but the Taoist priest uttered another word.

"Certainly!"

Xu Guangkun could no longer move an inch and could only watch helplessly as the whisk led the lamb to the Taoist priest.

The Taoist priest examined the lamb for a while, then touched it with his fingertip, and then slid it down its head, back, and tail.

Xu Guangkun's eyes widened in fury.

I spent 110 points to rescue the sheep, and now it has to go through this!

But things didn't go as he expected. Wherever the Taoist's fingertips touched, only the skin opened, not the flesh torn, and not even a drop of blood splattered out. Only a layer of smooth and delicate skin was exposed.

The Taoist priest then grabbed the torn sheepskin and ripped it open, and a naked little girl rolled out of it.

.....

"Fortunately, the spell didn't last long, so it didn't have much of an effect." The middle-aged Taoist handed the girl to Xu Guangkun, who subconsciously reached out and realized that he could move his body again.

He took the little girl from him, took off his windbreaker and wrapped it around her body. "What's going on here? And who are you?"

"Let him explain to you." The middle-aged Taoist pointed to the old Taoist who had gotten up from the ground, then walked to the old Taoist's side and said coldly, "You can't even tell that the layman's aura is upright and peaceful? You've been cultivating Taoism for decades, but you've gone astray."

The old Taoist's face instantly turned bitter, his lips twitching as if he wanted to say something, but the middle-aged Taoist had already turned and left.

Xu Guangkun glanced at the middle-aged Taoist priest, then at the old Taoist priest who was already looking at him, his mind filled with questions.

Meanwhile, the old Taoist priest had calmed down and walked to Xu Guangkun's side: "Come with me."

.......

"This little girl went to play at the pier by herself and then disappeared. Her parents couldn't find her, and the authorities couldn't find her either. In desperation, they could only turn to the old Taoist priest. I followed her scent everywhere and that's how I met you."

As he spoke, the old Taoist led Xu Guangkun to a dilapidated house and knocked on the rickety wooden door.

The wooden door was opened shortly afterward, and a gaunt couple walked out.

By the light of the oil lamp inside, Xu Guangkun was able to see the scene clearly.

The walls were cracked, the bed frame had fallen off, and only a few tiles remained above the head.

To put it bluntly, even a mouse would shake its head if it came in.

"I have fulfilled my mission!" The old Taoist took the little girl from Xu Guangkun's hands and handed her to the couple.

The couple held their child, looking at him from left to right for a while, their eyes reddening. Suddenly, they knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"Thank you so much, Taoist priest, for saving my life."

As he spoke, the man took out a silver coin from his pocket and placed it in his palm. "I don't have much money left at home, just these few coins. I hope you won't find them too much, Taoist priest. I'm willing to set up a longevity tablet for you at home and sing your praises day and night."

The old Taoist priest quickly helped them up, then looked down at the silver coins in the man's palm. Some were covered in yellow mud, and some had their large portraits worn away; they were clearly the most treasured money in his chest.

He picked up the money in his hands. "There's no need to erect a monument to immortality; this is enough!"

Xu Guangkun grabbed his hand. "What are you doing?"

The old Taoist priest didn't explain, he just tugged at his sleeve.

Xu Guangkun stared at him for a while, but in the end he didn't say anything and let go.

"It's late, we won't bother you any longer." The old Taoist priest pulled Xu Guangkun away.

Just then, the little girl who hadn't cried or made a fuss climbed out of her parents' arms and said in a clear voice, "Big brother, thank you."

"It's nothing," Xu Guangkun waved his hand.

"Big brother, what's your name?" the little girl continued to ask.

"Xu Guangkun." Xu Guangkun rubbed her head, took out some silver and gold from his pocket and handed it to her, ignoring the couple who kept saying "No, no, no," and said, "You're not allowed to run around like that anymore, do you hear me?"

"it is good."

.....

Xu Guangkun and the old Taoist priest walked out of the house. Only when the family stopped seeing them off did Xu Guangkun's face turn cold: "What right do you have to take the money?"

"Our lineage has a set of rules: every action taken must be effective, and disobeying them is forbidden." The old Taoist took out the family's money and then pulled out a handful of silver dollars from his pocket.

He looked at the money in his hand, thought for a moment, then swiped out two-thirds of it. After hesitating again, he swiped a little more, took out a piece of cloth wrapped around it, and held up two fingers: "Here you go!"

Not long after.

"Squeak squeak squeak".

A squeaking sound followed, and a glossy-furred rat emerged from the shadows, standing upright.

The rat nodded human-like to the old Taoist priest, picked up the heavy cloth bag, and swayed back the way they had come.

Xu Guangkun had seen so many strange things today that he was almost numb to them.

He turned his gaze away from the rat and looked at the old Taoist priest.

The old Taoist priest now wore a bitter expression, staring at the three silver coins he had left in his palm and sighing.

"How can a Taoist priest who has achieved great success in his cultivation be so poor?" Xu Guangkun couldn't help but ask.

"You don't understand." The old Taoist shook his head, then asked, "By the way, where did you find this little girl?"

"Today I..."

Xu Guangkun recounted his experiences of the day in detail.

......

"You mean, you ventured into the Ghost Realm all by yourself?" The old Taoist priest looked utterly incredulous. He circled Xu Guangkun a few times. "That doesn't make sense. You look like a mortal from every angle!"

Xu Guangkun rolled his eyes and didn't reply.

"Incredible, incredible!" the old Taoist muttered for a while, then suddenly his eyes lit up as if he had just thought of something. "Young man, which sect or school do you belong to?"

.....