Abbot Yuan Fang

Guangyi Commandery, Little Nanshan.

The mountains were verdant, the forests deep and serene. As evening approached, three riders broke the mountain's tranquility, startling birds and beasts along the path.

Beside the road, nestled within the shade of the trees, stood a small pavilion. It sheltered a stone tablet, its surface weathered by time, bearing the inscription "Nanshan Temple."

Song Yanqing, Xu Yitian, and Chen Guishuo reined in their horses. After a glance at the inscription confirmed they had arrived at the correct location, they looked up at the winding stone steps leading up the mountain. Through the dense foliage, a corner of a temple roof was visible, indicating the temple's position.

Song Yanqing gestured with his head. Xu Yitian spurred his horse, galloping up the stone steps, followed by Song Yanqing, and then Chen Guishuo.

At the mountain summit stood an ancient, picturesque temple, its environment tranquil. A young monk sweeping the ground by the entrance watched the three dismount. He stepped forward to greet them, saying, "Three benefactors, it is late. May I ask..."

Song Yanqing shot him a cold glance, utterly dismissive. He pushed the monk aside and strode through the temple gate. Xu Yitian and Chen Guishuo followed, leading their horses through the main entrance. The monk quickly dropped his broom and ran back to report.

Soon, over a dozen strong young monks rushed out, holding staffs in a line, blocking the three in the courtyard. Their monastic robes were washed thin and white, giving a rather shabby impression.

Song Yanqing reached into his money pouch, grabbed a handful of coins, and tossed them out. The coins clattered onto the ground at the monks' feet.

They were all gold coins, a considerable sum. The group of monks exchanged bewildered glances.

"Incense money! Prepare guest rooms for us, and feed our horses the finest fodder," Song Yanqing said casually.

"Ah, so you are pilgrims!" exclaimed a supervising monk from under the eaves of the main hall. He hurried over, waving to the warrior monks to lower their weapons, and personally welcomed Song Yanqing. "These are troubled times, with many bandits in the mountains. Seeing you force your way in with your horses, we mistook you for ruffians. A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. Please, come inside." He gestured for them to enter the living quarters.

Three horses were taken away to be tended to, while the warrior monks began picking up the gold coins from the ground.

"Are you the Abbot of this temple?" Song Yanqing asked as he walked along the covered walkways, his hands behind his back.

"No, no. This humble monk is Ru Hui, the Head Monk of the East Courtyard," Ru Hui replied politely, seemingly eager to curry favor with Song Yanqing as a benefactor.

Song Yanqing glanced at him sideways. "Have your Abbot come to see me."

Ru Hui shook his head. "Unfortunately, the Abbot is out visiting a friend and will not return until tomorrow!"

That night, Song Yanqing and his two companions stayed in the guest rooms.

The kitchen smoke from the temple's cookhouse had only recently died down when two young monks delivered their vegetarian meals.

The meals were set down, and the two young monks withdrew. Xu Yitian approached the table and looked at the dishes – a pot of vegetable and rice porridge, simple enough.

Xu Yitian took out a small porcelain bottle and sprinkled some white powder into the porridge, stirring it with his spoon. His expression quickly changed. The porridge had turned a dark color. He turned back and softly called out, "Senior Brother!"

Song Yanqing and Chen Guishuo came closer and their expressions changed as well. The porridge was poisoned! Fortunately, they had checked it. Who knew what might have happened otherwise? They couldn't believe that such a seemingly reputable temple would stoop to such a thing.

"A bunch of thieving monks!" Chen Guishuo gritted his teeth and turned to confront them.

Song Yanqing, however, grabbed his arm, pulled him closer, and the two of them put their heads together and whispered.

Afterward, Xu Yitian took the pot of porridge to a corner to dispose of it. He made minor adjustments to the items on the table, and then the three of them exchanged nods before sequentially collapsing onto the ground, motionless.

Less than half an hour later, a gap in a corner window was pried open, and an eye peered into the room before disappearing.

Shortly after, the sound of footsteps approached from outside. The door was pushed open, and two warrior monks entered, followed by an old monk in a kasaya. He was not tall, slender, and slightly stooped, with dark skin, a long white beard, and piercing eyes. This was the Abbot of Nanshan Temple, Yuan Fang.

Several more warrior monks followed, with the East Courtyard Head Monk, Ru Hui, on the old monk's left, and the West Courtyard Head Monk, Ru Ming, on his right.

A disciple held up an empty pot and showed it to them, saying, "They ate it all."

Looking at the figures lying on the ground, the West Courtyard Head Monk, Ru Ming, clasped his hands together and sighed, "Sin, sin. Abbot, we have committed murder again!"

Abbot Yuan Fang sighed. "The world is so chaotic, the people are suffering, and cannot even take care of themselves. Who will donate incense money anymore? Nanshan Temple is far from the city, located deep in the mountains. If we don't find ways, where will the incense money come from? If everyone cannot even eat, and people disappear, we will all disperse. How can we talk about revitalizing Nanshan Temple? Give me a few more years, and once I have saved enough money, I will build a grand temple in the city to fulfill the former Abbot's wish. Then, we will have incense money coming in every day, and we won't have to do this anymore."

"Sighs!" Several sighs echoed among the monks.

Ru Hui waved his hand, signaling for several warrior monks to search the bodies of the three on the ground.

Suddenly, an unforeseen event occurred. A warrior monk cried out in pain as Xu Yitian kicked him flying, knocking over several others.

Song Yanqing also rose abruptly, grabbing a warrior monk by the neck. He sneered, "What a bunch of greedy, murderous monks!" With a twist, he snapped the monk's neck, killing him instantly. He then reached back, drawing the precious sword that was placed behind him, and it slid into his hand.

Three beams of sword light erupted. The group of warrior monks swung their wooden staffs to defend themselves, but they were no match. In an instant, they were cut down, their bodies mangled, and screams filled the air. The remaining monks, terrified, retreated in disarray. Only Abbot Yuan Fang remained, wielding his staff, clashing it with a ringing sound, covering the monks' retreat. A faint demonic energy emanated from him.

"So you're a demon!" Song Yanqing sneered and brought down his sword with a fierce slash. Yuan Fang blocked with his staff, sending a numbing sensation up Song Yanqing's arm.

Yuan Fang was clearly no match for Song Yanqing and the others. Any one of them could have easily overpowered him. Besides his astonishing brute strength, his cultivation was indeed lacking.

What surprised the three was that Yuan Fang had taken several sword strikes, his clothes torn to shreds, yet the sword edges seemed unable to wound him. It was as if he wore some protective treasure armor, otherwise, his life would have been forfeit long ago. From the rips in his clothes, some furry material was exposed, and the sword edges made a metallic scraping sound as they passed over it.

However, the three soon discovered Yuan Fang's weakness. Slashes were ineffective; only thrusts could pierce Yuan Fang's flesh. Even though Yuan Fang had thick skin and repeatedly dodged vital points, he was starting to falter after several sword strikes, blood dripping as he dodged.

As they fought their way into the courtyard, Song Yanqing raised his hand slightly, signaling. Xu Yitian and Chen Guishuo ceased their attacks. The three formed a pincer formation, surrounding Yuan Fang, who was in a sorry state and looked terrified.

It seemed all the monks of the temple had appeared. Besides the dozen or so who had just been killed by Song Yanqing and his companions, there were about twenty more monks present, holding weapons and looking terrified. They had witnessed the prowess of Song Yanqing and his group and dared not approach, yet they were unwilling to abandon Yuan Fang and flee.

Yuan Fang, dripping blood, panted heavily, holding his staff horizontally as he slowly circled, warily watching the three.

"Do you want to die or live?" Song Yanqing asked calmly.

Yuan Fang gritted his teeth. "If I say I want to live, will you let me go?"

Song Yanqing replied, "Of course not. If you want to live, serve me. As long as you obey, I will help you realize your wish to build a temple in the city, and even get you an official identity from the court. Otherwise, no matter where you, a demon, run, your life will be in danger. Those cultivators who hunt demons will not let you off easily!" He flipped his hand, revealing a token.

The character 'Xing' on the token made Yuan Fang's pupils contract...

A moment later, the monks, feeling a sense of shared misfortune, began to clear away the bodies of their comrades. Song Yanqing and his group went to another clean guest room.

In the guest room, in front of Song Yanqing and the others, Yuan Fang had his wounds bandaged. He dismissed his disciples. The golden fur all over his body was clearly visible to Song Yanqing and the others. It turned out he was a demon who hadn't fully transformed, unable to fully humanize himself.

Watching Yuan Fang put on his clothes again, Song Yanqing asked curiously, "As far as I know, this Nanshan Temple has been around for some time. How could a group of monks let a demon like you be the Abbot?" He had confirmed during their brief fight that the other monks were genuine humans. It was strange that the Abbot was a demon.

With a wry smile, Yuan Fang said, "Actually, I'm not Abbot Yuan Fang..."

After he finished telling his story, Song Yanqing and the others finally understood. The real Abbot Yuan Fang had passed away two years ago. This "Abbot" was actually a bear that the monks of Nanshan Temple had found and adopted from the mountains two hundred years ago. Perhaps due to constantly hearing Buddhist teachings, it had gradually gained sentience, comprehended a method for absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and slowly cultivated its power. It had been cultivating in the mountains ever since. When it had gained enough cultivation to shapeshift, it used Abbot Yuan Fang as its model, thus taking on his appearance. However, its cultivation was still insufficient, and its shapeshifting was incomplete, requiring further progress.

As he said, the world was too chaotic, and it was very difficult to maintain Nanshan Temple. When Abbot Yuan Fang was still alive, it was this "Abbot" who constantly procured resources from the outside to support the temple, allowing Nanshan Temple to barely stay afloat. When Abbot Yuan Fang passed away, he did not wish for Nanshan Temple to collapse and entrusted it to him. However, in order to fulfill Abbot Yuan Fang's dying wish, he began to lead a group of monks in engaging in illicit activities. Not only did they commit murder for wealth within the temple, but they also led the Nanshan Temple monks to ambush travelers on the roadside for robbery. However, some monks, who had been silently supported by the resources he procured, could handle it, but they couldn't stomach personally engaging in such acts. What would it mean for Buddhist disciples to rob others? Many left, and fewer than half of the original hundred people remained. As a result, this latest act of murder for wealth fell into Song Yanqing's hands.

"I've actually done quite a few good deeds. The groups of bandits lurking in the nearby mountains have all been secretly cleared out by me and the disciples of Nanshan Temple. We sweep them out as soon as they appear. Those bandits are detestable; they rob anyone they see and abduct women back to their mountain strongholds. We're different; we only rob the rich and never harm the poor. When we have a good haul, we occasionally go to nearby villages to distribute some grain. You can ask around if you don't believe me. Since I became the Abbot, the nearby villages no longer have to worry about bandits; they can even leave their doors unlocked at night. Although they don't know that Nanshan Temple solved their problems, they only speak well of Nanshan Temple and never say a bad word. Nanshan Temple's reputation in the vicinity is absolutely fine!" Yuan Fang emphasized this point, intending to prove that he was actually a good person.

After listening, Song Yanqing and the other two were stunned. They were amazed by this Abbot; he wasn't a temple Abbot at all, but a gang leader!