Dao Cheng Gui Xian

Chapter 26 Punishment and Testing
Before dark

Li Wushou returned to the Three Immortals Pavilion with bags and bags of food.

From then on, the ten taels of silver he had were all gone.

Chen Gou'er, who had been sleeping all day, saw so much food and immediately declared that he wouldn't sleep tonight and would eat it all up.

The old beggar didn't say anything, but his bottom, which had been sitting on the bench, never got up again.

Li Wushou lit incense, and the three of them sat around the square table, enjoying their meal.

During this time, Li Wushou talked about the investigation conducted by Xuefo Temple that day. The old beggar listened carefully and then had similar thoughts to Li Wushou. Even if Xuefo Temple knew that there was someone else yesterday, they would not be able to trace it back to Li Wushou.

However, the old beggar was not as optimistic as Li Wushou.

The old beggar, having lived for so many years, has always viewed human nature with the utmost malice.

Only in this way can we avoid being shocked by the evil in human nature, and even be pleasantly surprised by a little bit of goodness.

Blood Buddha Temple was indeed unable to pinpoint Li Wushou, but if they were certain that something went wrong during the time Li Erniu and Huang Dabing went to the Ren family compound after meeting up, or if a third person had infiltrated the area.

Then, without needing to confirm who it is, killing everyone within the area covered during this period can also force out the person behind it.

If Blood Buddha Temple truly suspects this and genuinely wants to force out the person behind it, the old beggar has no doubt that they would do such a thing!
They wouldn't even blink. The old beggar had seen things even more ruthless than this. This was nothing compared to what he had seen before.

So when the old beggar told Li Wushou what was on his mind, Li Wushou's good mood vanished instantly.

Even the roast chicken in my hand doesn't seem so appetizing anymore.

Chen Gou'er was oblivious to what the two were saying from the beginning, and kept stuffing food into his mouth.

Seeing that Li Wushou was holding the roast chicken but not putting it in his mouth, instead picking at a leg and a wing, by the time Li Wushou finished his contemplation, the roast chicken in his hand was already just a skeleton.

Is there any way to make up for it now?

Li Wushou was not afraid of the Blood Buddha Temple killing people. People were dying every day in this huge Wufang City, let alone in the South City.
But Li Wushou disliked the Blood Buddha Temple killing people because of him, which made him somewhat uncomfortable.

The old beggar had just finished eating a suckling pig's leg when he heard Li Wushou ask him this question. Without even looking up, he replied.

"The Blood-Stained Buddhist Temple is benevolent?"

Li Wushou rolled his eyes.

"Then we might as well bet that Chen Gou'er won't bite!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Chen Gou'er bit his arm, his greasy mouth smearing all over Li Wushou's only linen shirt.

After waiting for a while without getting a reply from the old beggar, Li Wushou looked at the old beggar and saw that the man was eating chicken in his left hand and duck in his right hand, eating very happily.

Li Wushou instantly realized what was happening!
Is this old beggar deliberately saying this to distract me so I can eat more?

Li Wushou snatched the half-eaten roast suckling pig from the old beggar and rejoined the fight.

The three of them, who had originally planned to eat all night, finished their meal shortly after midnight after getting carried away with their food.

The three of them eventually lay back down on the bed and began to digest their food.

As the old beggar picked his teeth, he said to Li Wushou, "Nobody knows whether the Blood Buddha Temple will do such a thing. To avoid any accidents, it's best to take the initiative."

Li Wushou sat up in bed, and Chen Gou'er also became interested.

"Old man, want to take down the monks of Blood Buddha Temple?"

The old beggar glared at Chen Gou'er with annoyance.

"You're not even fully grown yet, what are you doing!"

Chen Gou'er scoffed: "Then what the hell are you talking about, taking the initiative?"

The old beggar ignored Chen Gou'er and gave Li Wushou's shoulder a meaningful look.

"Since the Blood Buddha Temple wants to investigate, they might as well reveal their secrets!"

Li Wushou was taken aback at first, then suddenly realized.

"This is indeed a good banner, we can just use it." Chen Gou'er was confused, then covered his head with the blanket and shouted.

"Go to sleep, go to sleep, this is so annoying!"

……

Around noon on the second day

Li Wushou and the other two, who had eaten half the night before, were still sleeping.

"Bang Bang Bang~"

A familiar knock sounded, and Li Wushou put on his hempen clothes and opened the door. To Li Wushou's surprise, it was Huang Dabing who knocked.

"Good morning, Big Pancake Bro!"

Li Wushou greeted him politely, but Huang Dabing was speechless. It was already noon, and he was still early?
However, after surviving the ordeal yesterday and calming down overnight, Huang Dabing was in a good mood.

He nodded in response, then said to Li Wushou, "This afternoon, the entire corpse-moving team will be gathering at the Blood Buddha Temple. Captain Li asked me to let you know so you won't be late!"

Having delivered the message, he turned to leave, but then, as if remembering something, he added another sentence:
"You know about what happened at the Ren family compound. The Blood Buddha Temple lost so many eyes, they must be furious. Don't get involved."

Li Wushou was slightly taken aback, somewhat surprised by Huang Dabing's words.

"Thank you, Brother Pancake, I understand. It's almost lunchtime. Why don't you stay for dinner? Old Beggar and Chen Gou'er haven't gotten up yet, and we haven't eaten either."

Upon hearing this, Huang Dabing's lips twitched. His initial intention to befriend Huang Dabing vanished instantly. He waved his hand and turned to leave.

……

Huang Dabing didn't stay for dinner, so Li Wushou didn't eat either.

It wasn't that he didn't want to eat, but that there was nothing left to eat.

We arrived early in the afternoon at the central location of the South City, where the Blood Buddha Temple was stationed.

Originally, this was an ancestral hall. After the family there died out, it was requisitioned by the Blood Buddha Temple as a temporary residence.

Unlike other temples, Blood Buddha Temple does not consume incense or require offerings from the public; they have their own incense offerings.

From afar, thick smoke could be seen billowing from the direction of the ancestral hall; the bodies brought there by the corpse-carrying team were being burned.

The smoke from burning corpses is much stronger than that from incense.

As a corpse mover, Li Wushou was naturally very familiar with the location, but today he wanted to enter through the main gate, not the back gate he usually used when moving corpses.

After identifying himself, Li Wushou entered the ancestral hall and headed towards the courtyard of the corpse-moving team.

Li Erniu and Huang Dabing were standing anxiously outside the courtyard talking when they saw Li Wushou approaching. They greeted him and continued their conversation without any attempt to hide their conversation.

"So, the Blood Buddha Temple is going to revoke the privilege of not planting facial features on the corpse-moving teams this time?"

Huang Dabing's good mood from the morning vanished without a trace, or more precisely, it vanished the moment Li Wushou invited him, the old beggar, and Chen Gou'er to have lunch together.

Li Erniu nodded helplessly; the news was like a bolt from the blue for him.

Risking their lives to make a living in the corpse-moving team, they weren't doing it for a few dozen copper coins; they were just trying to avoid having to feed flesh and blood.

At the same time, Li Erniu also knew that this was a punishment for the major incident that happened in the Ren family compound the night before last!
Although the corpse-moving team wasn't to blame, they just happened to be there and got into trouble.

Li Erniu didn't even dare to beg for mercy, because he was still alive. If he really angered the Blood Buddha Temple, it wouldn't be as simple as just getting an eye transplant.

I just hope that the cancellation of this privilege is time-limited; otherwise, everyone will be left with no way to survive, just like everyone else.

Li Wushou listened for a while, and his opinion differed from Li Erniu's.

He didn't see this as punishment, but rather as a test!
---

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(End of this chapter)