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The White Fox left.

Demonic beasts were inherently much stronger than humans, and it had received several days of meticulous care, recovering from its injuries not long after.

But it refused Yu Qi'an's invitation to stay.

The relationship between the White Fox and the master and disciple in the Virtuous Cloud Temple was, broadly speaking, a matter of shared incense offerings. On a smaller scale, it was merely a few chance encounters. Its willingness to risk its life to stop Li Chu that day had already been the utmost kindness.

To expect it to give up its freedom and recognize a master was nothing short of wishful thinking.

Wang Longqi even came by excitedly once, asking the White Fox if it wanted to follow him, deliberately exuding the stench of money.

But clearly, this tactic, which always worked on good girls, was not applicable to a good fox.

Without a word, the White Fox gave him a warm greeting.

It woke him up on the spot.

Life in the Virtuous Cloud Temple also became busy. Ever since Li Chu returned, pilgrims had been flocking to the temple every day.

Ninety percent of them were women.

The other ten percent, mostly men, were there to see Little Yue'er.

That's right, the Koi Girl now had her own group of supporters.

Besides her pure and lovely appearance, the main reason was that the local citizens were spreading the word that receiving a blessing from this little girl could make one's wishes come true.

A warning sign was also erected outside the Three Purities Hall: "Civilized incense burning, respect the Daoists. Touching is prohibited, violators will be fined."

This sign could indeed deter most of the pilgrims who came seeking blessings, but for the small minority of wealthy individuals, the warning of a fine was no different from a clearly marked price.

Some people still wanted to take the risk and get close to Li Chu.

At these times, he would often display his peak evasion skills and sternly warn them, "The Virtuous Cloud Temple is not above the law. Young lady, please speak and act with caution."

Surprisingly, the colder his attitude, the more infatuated those people became.

It was like some kind of legendary special constitution.

Li Chu was greatly perplexed.

The Abbot, Yu Qi'an, was also dispirited for a while at first, but there was nothing he could do. His old sisters who used to follow him had long passed their fanatical age.

The waves behind push the waves before, pushing the front waves onto the beach.

Sigh.

But he quickly emerged from his sadness, displaying the high caliber of a Daoist Temple's helmsman.

Daoist Yu erected a Pilgrim Leaderboard in the front courtyard of Virtuous Cloud Temple. It recorded the names of the ten pilgrims who donated the most incense money in a month.

The pilgrim ranked first would receive a free house call exorcism from Little Daoist Priest Li.

The other nine pilgrims would receive a specially made talisman of blessing.

Invisibly, this created an atmosphere where getting closer to the top rank meant loving Little Daoist Priest Li more deeply.

The pilgrims immediately went crazy.

The incense money the temple received in a day now exceeded that of the entire previous month.

Yu Qi'an's face beamed like a blooming chrysanthemum every day.

But Li Chu felt this wasn't quite right. They were, after all, a Daoist temple. They earned money by helping people resolve disasters, not by being a gathering place for literati and esteemed scholars...

Yu Qi'an seemed to see through his concerns and comforted him, saying:

"Disciple, times have changed."

"In our day, the strong spoke loudest, and the powerful were right. But it's not like that anymore. Where are there so many evil spirits for you to kill? The current martial world doesn't have so much clashing of swords and shadows. Whoever has more followers is in the right."

"Look at those Ancient Inheritances, Twelve Immortal Sects, and Hidden Families nowadays. Don't they all have to put forward 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, who is the most popular in Hangzhou Prefecture... These Young Heroes and fairies famous throughout the land often have tens of thousands of supporters, and wherever they go, the streets are emptied."

"Their sects also profit from them and try their best to maintain their image. Every time these World Walkers attend an Immortal Sect Grand Gathering, they have to specifically find people to design their entrance, wear clothes worth thousands of gold, and later find storytellers to spread their deeds throughout the land."

"Compared to them, our methods are just small potatoes. If we can use your fame to promote our Virtuous Cloud Temple, why not?"

Li Chu nodded. He understood the logic.

In fact, he was very familiar with this situation. In his previous life, it was the most normal celebrity-chasing behavior. He just didn't expect such a circle to have formed here so early.

Although he still felt it was strange to do this... he didn't raise any further objections.

Because they were giving him too much.

On a certain day in early autumn, a group of three people stepped onto the land of Yuhang Town.

Leading them was a burly man with golden hair and a beard. His hair was messy, and he was tall and imposing. His upper body was semi-naked, his muscular chest and knotted arms drawing frequent glances from passersby.

To his left was a lean and tall man. His appearance was sharp-featured and monkey-like, with a small black mustache on his lips. He had the kind of face that, at first glance, didn't look like a good person, but the more you looked, the more sinister he appeared.

And to his right was another eye-catching woman.

She wore a white cross-collar tunic dress, with an embroidered red bandeau underneath. A water-green ribbon tied her slender waist, giving her a lazy demeanor. What drew the most attention was her chest, which was prominently displayed, towering and magnificent.

She wore her hair in a double-bun coiffure. Her skin was like congealed fat, her eyes bright and clear. She was indeed a beauty with considerable qizhi. It was a pity that such a lovely face was always overlooked at first glance.

The blond, burly man looked at the bustling town ahead and said in a booming voice, "We've come on this trip. If we don't succeed in avenging Fifth Brother, we swear we won't return to the Azure Wing Tower!"

The tall, thin man said in a shrill voice, "Big Brother, keep your voice down. Soon, even the sesame seed cake vendors by the roadside will know we're here to avenge Fifth Brother."

The blond, burly man grunted, then said in a voice as low as he could manage, yet still booming, "Fifth Brother's mission was to assassinate the Yu Hang County Magistrate here. Killing a Mortal shouldn't have been a tricky job. But since people have failed repeatedly, it means that magistrate must have protection. As long as we continue to target this magistrate, we'll likely find the person who killed Fifth Brother!"

"Hey, Big Brother, don't be impatient. Have you forgotten how we discussed this when we arrived?" The tall, thin man quickly stopped him. "Didn't we agree to make a long-term plan?"

The blond, burly man frowned. "Then where do you suggest we plan long-term?"

"Fifth Brother's message said the Taoist priest was terrifying and warned us not to avenge him. Given Fifth Brother's temper, what does it mean when he says something like that? It means he was truly scared out of his wits! Since we've decided to come anyway, we obviously can't rush in blindly and get ourselves killed. Let's first investigate whether the Yu Hang County Magistrate has a Taoist priest protecting him. If so, what's their background? Then, we can plan our attack based on the opponent's cultivation realm, ensuring a swift kill! This is how revenge should be done, right?" the tall, thin man persuaded slowly.

The blond, burly man said heavily, "Alright, I'll listen to you for now."

Beside them, the White Clad Woman suddenly yawned languidly. The button on her bodice tightened abruptly, and the pedestrians by the roadside collectively gasped.

Itchy. Her nose was so itchy.

The woman felt the atmosphere around her was a bit strange. She casually narrowed her eyes and glanced around, curiously asking, "Huh? Why are people here bleeding from their noses?"

The tall, thin man covered his nose and said in a muffled voice, "Perhaps it's because autumn is here and the weather is dry? We should find a place to settle down first and make a long-term plan, a long-term plan."

The blond, burly man also covered his nose and said, "Okay, a long-term plan."

Thanks to "I Don't Believe Anyone Else Has Used This Name" for the hundred rewards.

This chapter took ages to publish. It was in the backend but didn't show up in the book. I just found out. So annoying.