Stop it, Taoist, Your Fight almost Ruins the DAO!

With sudden pressure, he intended to observe the reactions of the two under the ferocity of a sudden storm.

Upon hearing this, the young monk's face changed dramatically.

"Yi Taoist has arrived, and my senior brother has received him with all due courtesy, going out to welcome him from afar. Why do you press so aggressively, as if interrogating a criminal?"

Yi Chen's mouth split into a wide grin, his eyebrows arching.

At once, Miao Zi seemed to catch the insinuation, scurrying to the young monk's side to sniff him and even reached out a paw to scratch off a strip of cloth from his garment.

"You..." The young monk's face went through another transformation.

"Where have you been these past few days, master?" Yi Chen took another step forward, and as the setting sun bathed him in light, his shadow enveloped the young monk.

"There's no point in talking if we don't see eye to eye. Brother, let's go." The young monk gestured for Han Shan to enter the temple, but his senior brother stopped him, a large hand resting on his shoulder to halt him.

"Will the master come clean, or shall we revisit the old haunts together?" Yi Chen, instead of being relentless, now wore a leisurely expression.

"Yi Taoist would not visit the temple without good reason. Master Han Shan and my disciple Bu Zhong will accompany you," Master Han Shan said with hands clasped in a mournful expression.

Yi Chen stared at Han Shan silently for a good while without speaking, then signaled to Little Miao and leaped into the air.

"Alright, my girl, it's all on you to turn the tables now. Don't let me down," Yi Chen communicated with Little Miao through eye contact, and she responded with an affirmative expression.

As if to say she might not be cut out for fights, but what did Little Miao have to fear when it came to tracking and tracing?

"Junior brother, let us go with Yi Taoist. As monks, controlling anger is the most basic training. Have you forgotten the teachings of our master?" Han Shan patted Bu Zhong's shoulder, then led his junior brother closely behind them.

Finally, the four of them landed in front of a stupa.

The place was shrouded in mist, clearly protected by a formation, and Little Miao indicated that the scent trail ended abruptly here.

"Master, what is this place?"

"This is where the past abbots of Han Shan Temple are buried. We laid down a formation to prevent others from intruding and disturbing the resting souls of our ancestors," replied the master.

"May I enter to pay tribute with three sticks of incense?" Yi Chen's eyes suddenly became dangerous. Experience tales at empire

"Yi Chengzi, your arrogance knows no bounds!"

"It is permissible," said Han Shan and Bu Zhong in unison.

In the empty crypt, Yi Chen and his companion exchanged glances. The young monk had reacted so abnormally; Yi Chen had thought he had touched a nerve, but the outcome was unexpected.

"Yi Taoist, this place is where the ancestors of Han Shan Temple rest in peace. There is nothing in our temple we cannot speak of. Do you have any other questions?"

"Master, forgive my intrusion. I'll return another day to apologize for the inconvenience." Yi Chen touched his nose, picked Little Miao up by the scruff of her neck, and turned to leave.

By the time the four returned to Han Shan Temple's gates, the moon was high in the sky.

"Taoist Yi, walk slowly!" said Master Han Shan, still bearing his mournful expression.

"Could it be that my tone was too aggressive, provoking that young monk?"

"Was Han Shan Temple merely a coincidence in this chain of events, and I mistook it for something more?"

Amidst his doubts, Yi Chen gestured to Prefect Yuan and his men to hurry in the direction of Ping'an County.

A hint of jest appeared in Prefect Yuan's eyes, then quickly disappeared as the moonlight stretched their shadows long.

The temple doors closed.

Inside the grand hall of Han Shan Temple.

Just as Bu Zhong was about to speak, a heavy slap hit his face.

"Teach—" Another hefty slap struck his face.

More than ten minutes later, after Master Han Shan had exhausted his anger, the young monk's teeth were scattered and his face swollen like a pig's head.

It was then that Master Han Shan finally spoke.

"Evildoer, these days I've noticed your unease and sneaky movements. Yesterday, I followed you to the ancestral stupa and discovered your misdeed."

"Had I not dealt with the tracks myself, you would have been beyond saving today. Yi Chengzi's cultivation is profound; my old friend Bai Yunzi once drunkenly praised his disciple as having the bearing of a true immortal, and he spoke the truth!"

"I hinted to you repeatedly today, hoping you would confess and repent on your own, but you persisted in playing dumb. Yi Chengzi must have sensed your actions. Are you trying to bring your senior brother heartache by not confessing now?"

"What evil has possessed you? What could drive you to such an outrage in the ancestral crypt? What else have you done while I was in seclusion?"

Master Han Shan, enraged, slapped his disciple again, propelling him against a beam.

He took a step forward, grabbed Bu Zhong by his collar, his eyes bloodshot and his gaunt hand trembling slightly. His normally straight back was now hunched.

Bu Zhong was the last disciple taken by his master in his later years, found one snowy night placed in front of Han Shan Temple's ancient bell. With the master frequently in seclusion or traveling, Han Shan practically raised Bu Zhong himself.

Though known as 'senior brother,' he was effectively 'father.'

The previous night he had smeared secret incense on his junior brother's robes, pretending to be in seclusion, but actually tracking him. Seeing Bu Zhong disappear into the ancestral stupa, he did not burst in after him. Only after his junior brother left did he enter and discover a scene that made his vision blacken.

In the ancestral crypt, seventy-two corpses were arrayed in bizarre patterns, exuding malevolence and resentment, and the dripping water inside the crypt turned to ice, the evil spirits contained by the formation, thus not apparent from outside.

In his confusion, he cleared all evidence, cremated the bodies, and dispelled the malevolent energies with his Buddha's power before returning.

During the day, he hinted many times to his junior brother, discussing Buddhism in the hopes that he would admit his wrongdoing. Yet his brother feigned ignorance, leading to Yi Chen's visit.