Stop it, Taoist, Your Fight almost Ruins the DAO!

"Look, look, little master, you've been corrupted by evil. The wicked man tried to reason with you, but you've harbored thoughts of violence. Once such thoughts arise, you stray far from Buddha," Yi Chen continued to joke, now actually beginning to miss the two little ones, Qing Feng and Ming Yue.

"Then how do you explain deceiving people? You deceived those rich landlords, performing tricks to swindle them out of money, you must admit that," the young novice monk said anxiously.

"My mother, the Buddhists have dug up such dirt on Taoist masters?" Yi Chen ranted in his mind, but outwardly, he remained unfazed, "Yeah, I did deceive them."

"Good, you admit that you deceive people, you're indeed a wicked man," the young novice monk said excitedly, as if he had caught Yi Chen in a weak spot.

"Little master, your karmic obstacles are too deep. Without knowing the full story and the cause and effect, you've developed anger and passed rash judgments,

I deceived them because the rent they charged was too high, and the tenant farmers couldn't afford medical treatment when they fell ill."

"Think about it, your Buddhist teaching says saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-tiered stupa. By saving the pillar of a tenant farmer's family, isn't it like saving three lives, thus creating a merit bigger than twenty-one stupas? How much merit does deceiving people even reduce? With addition and subtraction, my merits have greatly increased."

"The silver we got—part goes to the tenant farmers for medical bills, I take part for food and drink, and Daozun gets a share for incense money. We all have a beautiful future ahead, so this isn't deception, I'm spreading positive energy," Yi Chen said with a face full of pride.

With a wail, the young novice monk cried, his brain unable to process the situation.

Just then, Shen Hui approached Yi Chen speechlessly.

"Brother, he makes so much sense, help me talk to him~" the young novice monk tugged at Shen Hui's sleeve, his eyes red, as he was utterly confused by Yi Chen's bizarre logic of merit.

Buddhist Disciple: "....." Speechless.

He had been unaware, and his young disciple had run to argue with Yi Chen in an attempt to find favor for him. However, he had not expected some people to be so cruel as to even bully a child.

...

...

"Gentlemen, ahead is the Eight Immortals Inn. Why don't we stop there to gather some news?" On the road up the Cangwu Mountain, a group of seven people hurried along.

This group of seven was none other than Yi Chen and his companions.

Among the team, the three men from the Chiyun Army division were stout middle-aged men with a simple appearance, but their eyes sparkled with cunning, clearly capable individuals.

A scholar dressed as a member of the Cui family constantly hovered around Qian Yueru, striking up conversations, seemingly quite interested in her, and appeared to want an older man to charm a younger woman.

The seven of them had all taken a Seven Day Change of Sky Pill, each having changed their appearances and concealed their auras, heading for the Yin Mountain Sky Fiend King's stronghold to 'congratulate him on his birthday'."

Hearing Yi Chen's suggestion, the group exchanged glances and unanimously agreed.

Since they were not far from the Sky Fiend King's stronghold, resting for a while and gathering information seemed like a good idea.

An old and tattered flag of the Eight Immortals Inn fluttered in the mountain breeze.

Yi Chen pushed open the door of the Eight Immortals Inn, and a foul stench hit them, causing the seven of them to frown.

The entire inn was practically full, a mixture of all sorts of creatures.

Many of the people from the evil path had looks that weren't exactly easy on the eyes, to put it mildly, they were somewhat in human shape, and there were even a few whose transformations were incomplete, sporting animal heads.

But this was normal, for practitioners of the evil path often suffered from backlash due to flaws in their cultivation techniques, leading to excruciating pain; or because of long-term exposure to evil and dark energies, their features became distorted.

The evil path offers quick success, but at a price.

Some didn't even have complete legacies, having to grope their way along, adding to the techniques themselves. Without proper guidance, the trials they faced were known only to themselves.

Compared to the patrons of the inn, the leader of the Yin Mountain Seven Fiends that Yi Chen had transformed into actually seemed a bit more valiant and extraordinary.

"Yo, you all look unfamiliar here, are you also here to attend the Ghost King's birthday celebrations?" A voluptuous woman with an exaggerated sway in her hips approached, reaching out with her fair hand to touch Yi Chen's chest.

"This... this gentleman has such strong pectoral muscles, truly... powerful and forceful."

"How about we chat more in the backyard?" The woman licked her red lips, her eyes shimmering as if they could drip water.

Yi Chen wasn't annoyed and casually patted the woman's backside: "Mrs. Qing is joking. You're the wife of the Ghost King's military advisor, how dare I tread on your bed, just bring some small dishes for us brothers, that will do."

"Just don't try to fool us with fake meat~ I'm an expert, one bite and I'll taste that exotic flavor," Yi Chen said.

Mrs. Qing rolled her eyes at Yi Chen and swayed off to busy herself in the backyard.

Naturally, before setting off, they had all thoroughly looked into the background information; the Eight Immortals Inn was run by the mistress of the Ghost King's strategizing lackey, with no competition within a hundred miles. Anyone who dared to open a shop nearby was asking to be turned into a roast pork bun.

"What are you all looking at me for? Let's go, take a seat, I'm exhausted." By now, Shen Hui and the others were all staring at Yi Chen in shock, their expressions varying degrees of strange.

Damn it, how could he be so familiar with this? Is he really a Taoist and not someone from the underworld?
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The same thought appeared in everyone's mind.

The way Yi Chen had slapped Mrs. Qing's backside was as smooth as a natural reflex, a level of skill that couldn't be mastered without spending at least a decade soaking up the atmosphere of such places.

The group filed in and took their seats, surrounded by the evil path followers. The man from the Cui family was visibly tense and nervous.

Soon, the dishes Yi Chen had ordered were served. The inn was truly a den of thieves, charging outrageous prices like ten silver taels for a plate of peanuts. Just seven simple dishes cost Yi Chen two small yellow croaker fish.