Chuyang immediately stopped.
Now, at the entrance to Little Cloud Temple, only Peng Laosan and I remained alive, along with the two ghosts, Chuyang and Red Cloud Daoist. The rest were corpses and pools of blood...
I stared at Red Cloud Daoist's flickering form and said, "Instead of following the righteous path, you chose to side with White Mist Mountain. Tell me—where is the demon behind you? What Sheep Sage?"
My tone was calm, but my eyes were filled with killing intent.
Having witnessed our methods, Red Cloud Daoist knew that if he did not cooperate, he would surely die at our hands.
"Ni Die, Mage Ni Die, you... you don't understand the hardships of small temples like ours. Especially... especially here on Five-Blossom Mountain..."
I did not interrupt him. I merely listened as he continued.
"There are six temples on Five-Blossom Mountain, all of them proper orthodox inheritances. Beyond it lies Crouching Ox Mountain, a true center of Daoist tradition, with even more temples.
"It is too hard, too hard, to gain a foothold among so many temples.
"Though I, Red Cloud Daoist, had some dealings with White Mist Mountain, my conscience is clear. I never cultivated any evil arts.
"I merely caught a few wandering ghosts for Sheep Sage of White Mist Mountain, trading them for spiritual herbs from the mountains to aid my cultivation.
"Only by doing so could we continue our lineage in this land of Daoist tradition.
"We never harmed a single ordinary person. Just look at the flourishing incense offerings of Little Cloud Temple, and you'll know our reputation."
This was similar to what Blackstone Daoist had said.
It seemed that part was true, since none of these Daoists had displayed any evil arts.
After hearing this, Chuyang cursed directly, "You never harmed anyone?