The woman's beautiful eyes rolled, and though she had originally been a charming young matron, a trace of impish mischief suddenly showed on her face:
"My name is Tao Tao."
Her tone was light and lively, somewhat out of place.
But Shen Yi said nothing. He merely looked at Tao Tao and waited for her to continue.
"Longshu Temple is a temple that has only risen to prominence around Xiaoqing Town in recent years. They say it is very effective for those praying for children, though naturally, it also asks for plenty of incense money."
"I was traveling the martial world when I came here."
"The moment I heard of it, I sensed something fishy. So I disguised myself as a resentful married woman seeking a child. Heh, a sheep walking into the tiger's maw."
"During the day, I prayed to the gods and worshipped the Buddha in the main hall. The guest-receiving monk then had me stay overnight in the monks' quarters and copy scriptures to show my sincerity."
"When we ignorant women lit lamps and copied scriptures deep into the night, the drug hidden beforehand in the lamp oil, mixed with an aphrodisiac, began to take effect."
"In no more than the time it took to burn an incense stick, the women would lose consciousness."
"These labor-selling monks could then use the secret passage they had opened beforehand in the rooms to transport us one by one to the secret chamber beneath the main hall."
"And in the end, just as you saw earlier, the abbot and elders of Longshu Temple would wait their turns to give us children."
"Fortunately, this young lady's cultivation is profound."
"And I came prepared, so I did not fall for it."
Tao Tao shrugged:
"The only thing that surprised me was that I thought anyone bold enough to beguile people like this had to be martial artists."
"I was even prepared for a fierce battle. Who would have thought they were merely a few ordinary men whose lust had made them outrageously bold?"
She looked at the three naked monks.
Obvious disgust filled her eyes.
Shen Yi stroked his chin.
"Perhaps there are hidden figures behind them. Wake one up and ask; we'll know soon enough."
He walked over to the wall.
He grabbed one monk by the arm, exerted a little force, dragged him out of the wall, and casually tossed him onto the bed.
Shen Yi then used his scabbard to pick up the clothes scattered across the floor.
He covered the monk's lower body.
Finally, with a smack, he struck the monk across the face with the scabbard. A thread of inner force entered his body through his swollen cheek.
The monk immediately felt a searing pain.
He regained consciousness.
The pain helped him wake up quickly.
And remember what had happened.
When he opened his eyes, Tao Tao's seductive figure stood right before the bed. He was so frightened that he scrambled backward and toppled headfirst beneath the bed.
From close range, Shen Yi sensed him.
There was indeed no fluctuation of inner breath from the monk.
His body was heavy, his steps unsteady. He truly did not look like someone who had practiced martial arts.
"If you don't want to die."
"I ask, you answer."
"Tell the truth."
Shen Yi said bluntly.
His chilling tone, coupled with the fleeting killing intent, was like a blade held to the monk's throat.
The monk froze at once.
He had no idea where Shen Yi had sprung from, but he assumed he was an accomplice of the woman before him.
He cringed and hastily said:
"Young hero, young heroine."
"This lowly one and the others had eyes but failed to see Mount Tai. We offended you both. Please, be magnanimous and spare us."
Shen Yi said flatly:
"You lot!"
"Where did you get the dog's gall to use a temple for such filthy deeds? Confess everything!"
The monk repeatedly kowtowed to Shen Yi and Tao Tao, then tremblingly began to recount the tale.
The monks and their brothers had originally been villagers from a neighboring prefecture. The world was in chaos, bandits ran rampant, and their village had been destroyed by Black Wind Stronghold. Nearly everyone in the village had died, leaving only a scant few to become refugees. They had drifted east all the way to the outskirts of Xiaoqing Town.
They had originally planned to find some livelihood in Xiaoqing Town, but one night, by accident, they had stumbled into the ruined Longshu Temple.
At that time, only one frail, elderly monk remained in Longshu Temple. He took in the three starving men and gave them food.
The three monks were grateful to the old monk, so they stayed to care for him. As time passed, they simply shaved their heads and became his disciples.
The three were not the sort to sit idle and eat through their savings. After putting their heads together, they figured that since they had a temple and were monks now—
They might as well run the temple properly.
They remembered that there had been a very prosperous temple beside their village back home, one that could make a living entirely on incense money.
And Longshu Temple stood beside Xiaoqing Town. With so many people in Xiaoqing Town, it would surely be enough to support the four monks of the temple.
The monk swallowed. Looking at the expressionless Shen Yi and Tao Tao, who was studying him with scrutiny in her eyes, he continued in a low voice:
"At the time, the three of us thought it had promise, so we immediately got to work. First, we joined forces to renovate Longshu Temple. Then we went to nearby villages and talked a few villagers too poor to afford food into becoming monks at the temple."
"Next, we had to spread Longshu Temple's reputation throughout Xiaoqing Town. We kept spreading rumors in teahouses around Xiaoqing Town, saying that Longshu Temple outside the town was very efficacious."
"One person told ten, ten told a hundred. Once enough people heard it, someone was bound to believe it. Gradually, Longshu Temple began to attract worshippers."
And with the old monk, a genuine monk, holding the fort, the three fake monks were not afraid of being exposed.
Those who received guests received guests.
Those who guided visitors guided visitors.
As for preaching scriptures and expounding the Dharma, naturally they had a true Buddha who understood Buddhist teachings step forward. Longshu Temple's reputation gradually became real.
One day.
A woman came to the temple.
She had heard that Longshu Temple was very efficacious, and she had come to pray for a child.
At the time, the monks had not yet sunk to such depths. They had not even considered that praying for a child could mean more than praying to the clay and gilded statue upon the altar.
It could also mean praying to the robust monks in the temple.
The woman came to the three men.
Crying, she said that she only wanted to seek a child for one night. If she could not bear a child, her parents-in-law would drive her from her home.
The monk sighed.
"Such a request."
"How could we refuse?"
"Of course, we gladly accepted."
From that point on, it was as if a new door had opened onto the world for the three men. So being a monk came with such benefits.
They began looking forward to people coming to them to seek children.
Gradually, one after another.
More and more people came seeking children, and they grew less and less satisfied with waiting beneath a tree stump for rabbits. They wanted to take the initiative.
They spent a large sum of silver renovating the temple.
Taking advantage of the renovation, they secretly built an underground chamber beneath the main hall without the old monk's knowledge.
They also dug underground passages leading directly to the meditation rooms. With heavily dosed calming incense prepared by an apothecary and aphrodisiacs added in—
They began deceiving their guests.
And took up the business of defiling women's chastity.
The astonishing thing was that for more than a year, the three men had never been discovered, and more and more people came to pray for children.
The three of them had practically been grinning from ear to ear.
Until tonight.
The three men encountered Tao Tao, this heroine.
And Shen Yi, this killing star.
Only then was their business forcibly and completely brought to a halt.
Shen Yi said:
"Where is your master?"
"He's dead."
The monk explained:
"A year ago, Master sensed that his end was drawing near. He gathered the few of us and warned us to read more Buddhist scriptures, do good deeds, and accumulate virtue."
"Unfortunately, lust had clouded all our minds. After Master left, we had no restraints at all and only grew more excessive."
The monk sighed repeatedly.
"Too late for regret, too late for regret..."
Shen Yi and Tao Tao exchanged a glance, then looked again at the monk, who kept kowtowing and begging for mercy. Tao Tao could not help but sigh:
"The times make the man..."
But Shen Yi said flatly:
"I am more inclined to believe that their nature was evil from the start."
Before you continue