How to become a Taoist priest starting from a brothel

"I told you, I don't want you to come back, but you insisted on coming back!" A voice filled with obvious anger and rejection rang out.

"That's right, that's right. Hey Ming, you should think about us too. If outsiders find out, how will we live in this area in the future?"

"Ming-ge, you should leave quickly, while the night is still dark."

"Yes, you should go now."

"Let's go, let's go! Li Hong'an, aren't you going to see your brother off yet!"

The murmurs grew louder, and Liu Yin and the others understood the gist of it: someone wanted to return to the village but was not accepted by the villagers, so they were trying to drive him away.

Listening more closely to the sobbing sounds inside, they were high-pitched but not harsh, instead carrying a touch of coquettishness.

"Are you really going to drive a girl away like that?" Wang Wenjun asked, frowning and somewhat puzzled.

"She's a woman who married out of the country," Tao Boyi and the others seemed to take it all in stride.

Liu Yin raised her eyebrows but said nothing. She didn't think the person crying inside was what the students thought.

"Who are you!" The tightly packed crowd parted to make a small exit, and everyone turned their attention to Liu Yin and her companions.

"Excuse me, I am Cui Jingyou, who is staying here with my students today. I was just about to go to bed when I heard crying, so I got up with my students to investigate." Liu Yin introduced herself politely with a cupped hand.

The villagers stared at Liu Yin and her group with wariness and suspicion, and no one spoke.

"Mr. Cui, why are you here with students?" At this moment, an elderly man, over fifty years old, walked quickly from the depths of the crowd.

"Village Chief," Liu Yin said with a smile, explaining the reason again.

The village chief patted his forehead sheepishly and said, "I'm so sorry, there were some trivial matters in the village. I didn't expect to disturb you gentlemen."

He then introduced them to the villagers again: "These are Mr. Cui and his students who came here for study. They're nothing special."

Seeing the village chief say this, the crowd slowly withdrew their wary gazes and continued to look at the people who were surrounded.

Through the small gap, Liu Yin and the others saw that the person being surrounded was a man who looked no more than eighteen or nineteen years old.

man!?

The group was all astonished.

The village chief was about to persuade them to leave when he noticed that they were looking ahead. Following their gaze, he realized that what the villagers had been trying so hard to hide had already been exposed to everyone.

His face turned green, but he didn't say anything. He just smiled and said politely, "Sir, why don't you take your student back to rest? It's getting late."

Liu Yin smiled and said, "It's alright. I was just taking my students on a study tour to broaden their horizons. If the village chief can let my students learn about it as well, it would be a good deed."

Before the village chief could refuse, she continued, "I wonder if the villagers can read agricultural books now? If not, I can stay here for a few more days and teach the villagers with my students."

After hearing these words, what could the village chief say? He could only turn to look at the other man behind him.

The man was tall and strong, with a rather fierce appearance. When he saw the village chief turn to look at him, he frowned, glanced back, and was about to refuse.

The village chief understood his meaning, quickly stepped forward, and whispered a few words in his ear.

The burly man then took a deep look at Liu Yin and the others, nodded silently, and stepped aside to clear the scene behind him.

The villagers overheard the conversation and, without hesitation, made way for Liu Yin and her students to watch.

Of course, when they saw that there seemed to be several girls among the students, a strange look flashed in everyone's eyes.

That expression made Wang Wenjun and the other girls feel uneasy.

This feeling made Liu Yin realize it instantly, and she paused and stopped in her tracks.

The village chief looked over with some confusion.

Liu Yin returned the smile and gave Tao Boyi and the others a wink.

The group instantly understood and had the girls flank around the perimeter, effectively trapping them inside.

Liu Yin didn't pay attention to the students' actions. After all, she believed that the children weren't stupid and would be on guard after her warning.

"Waaah, brother, please, please!" The man surrounded by others was wearing a rather thin garment. The style of the garment was somewhat strange, slightly different from the men's robes that were popular at the time. It was pinched at the waist, making him look more charming than ordinary clothes.

He sat slumped on the ground, his light-colored robes covered in mud. In the moonlight and candlelight, he looked disheveled and terrifying, like black, bottomless eyes appearing on a blank sheet of paper, coldly watching the world.

The man covered his face with a handkerchief and cried bitterly, his sobs filled with broken and indistinct pleas.

Judging from his posture and the fact that his hairstyle was different from the current elaborate styles, Liu Yin had already guessed the man's identity.

The children behind them, especially the boys, already had an understanding look in their eyes, some of the more knowledgeable ones.

As for the girls, their original living environment was much simpler, and they didn't know much about these people. At this moment, they held each other's hands and exchanged glances.

Tao Boyi and the others were afraid that if they spoke out, they would incur the wrath of the villagers, since it was clear that these villagers wanted to keep these things completely a secret. So they coughed a few times and gestured to the girls.

The village chief seemed unconcerned about the reactions of Liu Yin and her apprentices, instead turning his attention to the man who had collapsed to the ground and was pleading for mercy.

“Brother Ming, I said, no!” The village chief’s face looked rather harsh in the candlelight. “There’s no such rule in the village.”

The man addressed as Brother Ming paused, straightened his clothes, and then respectfully kowtowed to the village chief again: "Brother Ming knows that this matter has been difficult for the village chief and all the uncles, but Brother Ming is now all alone and has nowhere to stay. I only beg you uncles to give me a place to shelter from the wind and rain, for the sake of being of the same clan. At least... at least, when Brother Ming has a place to go."

He spoke with such bitterness, yet the villagers remained unmoved. It was clear that Ming had said the same thing before Liu Yin and her group arrived, and judging from the villagers' attitude, it was obviously not going to work now.

really.

“No, Ming-ge, we said no. Someone like you coming in will ruin the village’s feng shui.” Another old man, who looked to be in his sixties or seventies, snorted and refused.

Ming let out a soft breath, looked around, and seeing that no one seemed moved, and considering that he had been pleading for so long without receiving any leniency, a look of utter despair appeared on his face.

"Brother Ming, don't blame us for being heartless. This is the village rule, it's been like this for so many years, it's never changed, and we won't make any exceptions for you. You should leave now," the village chief reminded Brother Ming.

Ming looked at everyone in despair, slowly got up from the ground, patted the dirt off his body, and then carefully wiped himself with a handkerchief.

Only when he looked up at the crowd did the despair in his eyes slowly transform into unspeakable anger amidst their indifference.