The White Fox left.
A demon's physique was far stronger than a human's to begin with, and after several days of careful care, her injuries soon healed.
But she refused Yu Qi'an's invitation to stay.
The White Fox's connection with the master and disciple of Virtuous Cloud Temple could be called a bond of incense offerings if one wanted to make it sound grand; put plainly, they had only met a few times. Her willingness to risk herself and stop Li Chu that day had already been the utmost of benevolence and righteousness.
Wanting her to give up her freedom and acknowledge a master was simply wishful thinking.
Wang Longqi had come by once in high spirits and asked whether the White Fox wanted to follow him, deliberately flaunting the reek of wealth all over himself.
But clearly, this tried-and-true move on good girls did not work on good foxes.
Without another word, the White Fox gave him a hot spray.
It woke him right up on the spot.
Life at Virtuous Cloud Temple grew busy as well. Ever since Li Chu's return, pilgrims had crowded through the gates every day.
Ninety percent of them were women.
Most of the remaining men had come to see Little Yue'er.
That's right, the Koi Girl now had a group of supporters of her own.
Besides her pure and lovely appearance, the main reason was that the local people had been spreading word that receiving a blessing from the little girl would make one's wishes come true.
A warning sign had also been erected outside the Three Purities Hall—Offer incense civilly. Respect the Daoists. Touching prohibited. Violators will be fined.
The sign could indeed warn off most pilgrims who came after hearing of them, but to a small number of people with money to burn, a fine was no different from a clearly marked price.
There were still people willing to take the risk and get close to Li Chu.
At times like that, he would usually display footwork with evasion maxed out, then sternly warn them, "Virtuous Cloud Temple is not beyond the law. This lady, please watch your words and conduct."
Surprisingly, the colder his attitude was, the more obsessed those people became.
As though he possessed some legendary special constitution.
Li Chu was deeply puzzled.
Temple Master Yu Qi'an was dejected for quite some time at first, but there was nothing he could do. Those old sisters who had once followed him had already passed the age of fervor.
The waves behind pushed the waves before, knocking the earlier waves onto the beach.
Alas.
But he quickly pulled himself out of his grief and demonstrated the exceptional caliber of someone steering a Daoist temple.
In the front courtyard of Virtuous Cloud Temple, Daoist Yu set up a Pilgrim Leaderboard that recorded the names of the ten pilgrims who donated the most incense offerings each month.
The pilgrim ranked first would receive one free house call from Little Daoist Priest Li to banish evil spirits.
The other nine pilgrims would receive a specially made consecrated talisman.
Invisibly, it created an atmosphere where the closer one was to the top, the deeper one's love for Little Daoist Priest Li was.
The pilgrims immediately went mad.
The incense offerings the temple received in a single day now exceeded what it had received in an entire month before.
Yu Qi'an's face bloomed like an open chrysanthemum every day.
Yet Li Chu felt this was somewhat inappropriate. After all, they were a Daoist temple. They earned money by helping people avert calamities, not by serving as some gathering place for literati and esteemed scholars...
Yu Qi'an seemed to see the concern in his heart, so he comforted him.
"Disciple, times have changed."
"In our day, whoever had the bigger fists spoke louder, and whoever was stronger was right. But not anymore. Where are there so many Evil Spirits for you to kill? Today's jianghu no longer has so much flashing steel and spilling blood. Whoever has more supporters holds the reason."
"Look at those Ancient Inheritances, the Twelve Immortal Sects, and hidden clans these days. Aren't they all putting forth a few representative World Walkers?"
"Like Zhan Yunting of the Divine Firmament Sect, Qing Jianling of the Cold Moon Sect, and Zhan Liuming of Facing Heaven Pavilion, the hottest figure in Hangzhou Prefecture... Young Heroes and immortal maidens renowned across the land like them often have tens of thousands of supporters alone. Wherever they go, ten thousand people empty the streets."
"Their sects profit from them too, and do everything possible to uphold their image. Whenever these World Walkers attend an Immortal Sect Grand Gathering, they specifically hire people to design their entrance, wear clothes worth a fortune, then have Storytellers spread their exploits all across He Luo afterward."
"Compared to them, what we're doing is only small-time play. If we can use your fame to promote our Virtuous Cloud Temple, why not?"
Li Chu nodded. He understood all the reasoning.
In fact, he was very familiar with this sort of thing. It was nothing more than ordinary idol worship in his previous life; he simply had not expected such a circle to have formed here so early.
Though he still found it rather strange... he raised no further objections.
Because they were giving far too much.
One day in early autumn, a group of three stepped onto the land of Yuhang Town.
At their head was a burly man with golden hair and a tangled beard. His hair was wild and fluffy, his body tall and imposing, his upper body half-bare. His powerful chest and knotted arms drew frequent sidelong glances from passersby.
To his left stood a lean, tall man with sharp cheeks and a monkey's face, two tiny black mustaches at the corners of his lips. He had the kind of face that did not look like a good person at first glance, but looked more villainous the longer one looked.
And to the right was another eye-catching woman.
She wore a white cross-collar ruqun dress, with an embroidered red chest wrap beneath it and a watery green silk sash cinching her slender waist. Her bearing was languid. Most eye-catching of all was her chest, rising in towering, majestic splendor.
Her hair was arranged into twin flower-cloud buns, her skin as smooth as congealed cream, and her eyes softly bright. She was quite a beauty of elegant temperament. Unfortunately, with such a lovely face, people always overlooked it at first sight.
Looking at the bustling town ahead, the golden-haired strongman declared in a booming voice, "If we do not avenge Fifth Brother on this journey, we swear never to return to Azure Wing Tower!"
The lean, tall man said in a shrill voice, "Big brother, keep it down. At this rate, even the sesame flatbread vendors by the roadside will know we came to avenge Fifth Brother."
The golden-haired strongman grunted, then said in a voice he tried to lower but that remained booming, "Fifth Brother's mission was to assassinate the Yu Hang County Magistrate here. Killing a mortal should not have been a difficult job. But since people have failed one after another, it means someone must be protecting that County Magistrate. If we keep going after him, there's an eighty-percent chance we'll find the person who killed Fifth Brother!"
"Hey, Big Brother, hold your horses. Have you forgotten what we discussed before coming?" The lean, tall man hurriedly stopped him. "Didn't we agree to make long-term plans?"
The golden-haired strongman frowned. "Then tell me, where is this long?"
"The message Fifth Brother sent back said that the Daoist was terrifying and told us not to avenge him. Given Fifth Brother's temperament, what does it mean for him to say something like that? He was truly scared out of his wits! Since we still decided to come, of course we cannot rush in carelessly and throw our lives away. First, we investigate whether there really is a Daoist protecting the Yu Hang County Magistrate, and if so, what his background is. Then we plan our move according to his cultivation realm and ensure a single fatal strike! That is what revenge should look like, right?" the lean, tall man patiently persuaded him.
The golden-haired strongman said heavily, "Fine. We'll listen to you first."
The White Clad Woman beside them suddenly yawned lazily. The button on her chest wrap abruptly tightened, and all the pedestrians by the roadside sucked in a breath.
Itchy. Their noses were so itchy.
The woman found the atmosphere around her rather strange. She casually narrowed her eyes and glanced around, asking curiously, "Eh? Why is everyone here bleeding from the nose?"
Covering his nose, the lean, tall man replied in a muffled voice, "Perhaps the weather has been dry since autumn began? Let's find somewhere to settle down first, then make long-term plans. Long-term plans."
The golden-haired strongman covered his nose as well and said, "Fine. Long-term plans."
Thanks to "I Don't Believe Someone Is Already Using This Name" for the hundred reward.
This chapter had been posted for half the day and somehow still did not go out. It was in the backend but did not show up in the book. I only just discovered it—so frustrating.
Before you continue