Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

The White Lotus Sect master resolved the case of turning a person into a pig. Although the case ended smoothly in the end, Ren Yunzong had offended that branch of the White Lotus Sect.

Because of his highly recognizable features, it was easy for the White Lotus Sect members opposite him to cast spells on him. Although they were all minor tricks that didn't hurt much, they could still be quite annoying at times.

Like a mosquito buzzing around your ear as you fall asleep at night, it may not bite you, but the buzzing sound it makes while flying is constant.

"Crack!"

A bolt of lightning shot out, blasting apart the demons and ghosts hiding behind him who were trying to launch a sneak attack. The figures of the monsters behind him crumbled into pieces, turning into ashes and scattering in the wind. Ren Yunzong lowered his hand. He didn't know how many evil spirits had been summoned by the spell.

The other party probably wanted to kill him by casting a curse, or use such a threatening act to break down his psychological defenses, but in Ren Yunzong's eyes, this was no different from swatting a mosquito.

Perhaps the news of his suppression of that sorcerer had already spread. Apart from the one who was turned into a pig, that sorcerer had many disciples and possibly colleagues in other places. It wouldn't be surprising if believers who knew the inside story informed on him.

The opposing side knew that Ren Yunzong's strength was not something they could confront head-on, so they dared not fight him directly and only dared to use such small tricks as curses to harass him.

This method is indeed very effective against ordinary people. When they are sleeping or alone, there are always ferocious ghosts that come to frighten them. If ordinary people experience this for a long time, they will suffer from mental breakdown due to the harassment.

But these things were useless against Ren Yunzong. These so-called evil spirits were just paper tigers, illusions driven by magic, without even their own consciousness. He could scatter them all in an instant, just like swatting mosquitoes.

Aside from being a bit annoying, it doesn't cause him any harm, but the main thing is that it's annoying.

"The White Lotus Sect... never mind."

Looking at the ashes of the paper scattered in the wind, Ren Yunzong felt helpless. There were too many branches in the White Lotus Sect, and the composition of each faction was incredibly complicated. Even though he had offended the White Lotus Sect, he still didn't know which member of the "White Lotus Sect" had cursed him.

He was actually quite curious. He was clearly an unregistered resident from out of town, and local records showed no record of him. So how did the other side manage to cast the curse on him?

You can't exactly tell the demonic phantom you summoned to ignore everyone else and go straight to the Taoist priest in blue with the flute, can you? That would be a bit too hasty.

"Perhaps we should go to the nearby City God Temple and ask if there's a cure..."

"Help!"

Unable to pinpoint the source of the curse, and judging from the demons and monsters encountered in the past few days, there was more than one person behind it. Ren Yunzong was considering seeking help from the local gods and monsters when he suddenly heard someone calling for help.

Ignoring everything else, Ren Yunzong rushed towards the direction of the sound and saw two men on the riverbank, both in their prime. One was tightly pulling the other, and the man being pulled seemed to be possessed, rushing towards the river as if he wanted to jump in and commit suicide.

Although the one who jumped into the river behaved abnormally, appearing eager to jump in, his expression was one of fear and resistance. Those nearby could even hear him shouting, as if someone was trying to pull him into the river.

A dark figure loomed between the two as they struggled. Ren Yunzong secretly channeled his inner energy, and the figure gradually became clearer. It was an unremarkable, dark-skinned, and fat woman, exuding an evil aura. She was pulling the strangely behaving man along, trying to take him with her into the river.

"She's trying to pull me into the river! She's trying to pull me into the river! Help!"

Seeing who was behind it, Ren Yunzong made a hand seal, and a stream of fire flew towards the two people and the ghost who were struggling together. The flames hit the woman, and a terrible scream pierced the eardrums. The haunting ghost woman turned into a wisp of smoke and flew away.

As soon as the woman left, the side pulling the person into the river disappeared. The man pulling the person only saw a ball of fire flying towards him, followed by a terrifying scream, and then his grip loosened.

But because of the previous struggle, one side suddenly ran out of strength. Before they could react, they fell backward. Ren Yunzong flashed over, grabbed one person with each hand, and led them away from the riverbank.

As the woman screamed in pain, Ren Yunzong saw that her mouth was full of fangs, suggesting that the woman's appearance might just be a disguise.

Are you two alright?

Ren Yunzong helped the two people to the tree and let them sit against the trunk. The struggle had taken a long time, and the two were exhausted. If Ren Yunzong hadn't come soon, they might have been dragged into the water by the female ghost and drowned together.

"Finally up! Thank you, sir... Taoist priest?"

Wang Qihou's body had been controlled by the woman, and he was pulled to the shore by others, so he didn't expend much energy. Apart from looking a little haggard, he was fine.

He witnessed the woman who had been tormenting him being struck by a streak of fire, and knew that a master had intervened. When the other person helped him up earlier, he had only seen her light blue clothes, but now that he looked up and saw her face, he almost didn't know how to address her.

He looks like a Taoist priest, probably a Taoist master... So young and good-looking, when I looked up I almost thought I had drowned and gone to see the immortals.

"It's good that you're alright. You two should rest now."

Upon making eye contact with the other person, Ren Yunzong noticed that the man's face was dark, clearly indicating that he was possessed by evil spirits. Judging from his haggard appearance, he had probably been tormented for a long time.

While they were struggling on the riverbank, the two people and the ghost were entangled together. Ren Yunzong was afraid of accidentally hurting someone, so he didn't dare to use any more powerful spells. He just flicked a spark at her. The female ghost screamed shrilly, but she wasn't seriously injured and would be back soon.

Before that, he wanted to ask the other party what had happened, and if necessary, he could help get rid of the evil spirit completely.

"Old Li, have you found Scholar Wang?"

Shouts came from afar, and a woodcutter-looking man came over. When he saw Ren Yunzong, he looked surprised and looked back, thinking he had taken the wrong path.

"Uncle, we're here."

Wang Qi, who was sitting on the ground, raised his hand to draw the other person's attention back. The woodcutter breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that both of them were alright. Then he looked at Ren Yunzong. This person's style was too different, and he was a little afraid to approach him.

"This humble Taoist follows the clouds."

Seeing that the other party was afraid of him, Ren Yunzong took the initiative to introduce himself and gave up his place.

After several blunders, Ren Yunzong realized that ordinary people were not literate and their punctuation was different. Introducing someone with their title would first fail to make them remember it, and then they would wonder if his name really had that many characters. It was better to simplify it and just say his given name.

"If it weren't for this Taoist priest, you would probably have had to search for Brother Li and me in the river."

The man called Brother Li had also rested by now. He didn't see the ghost that dragged people into the water, but he could clearly see the stream of fire that had saved their lives.

"This can't go on forever. Why don't we look for someone else? You're a scholar, after all. You can't just keep dragging this on."

The woodcutter walked over, clearly unfazed by such occurrences.

"Uncle, you know perfectly well how many people we've contacted, and it's still the same."

Upon hearing this, Ren Yunzong's gaze swept over his surroundings and returned to Wang Qihou. The man looked haggard and was not dressed like a scholar; from his appearance, one could not tell that he was a scholar at all.

I don't know if it's always been like this, or if I've been tormented by this.

Ren Yunzong followed the three back to the village. Perhaps it was the sense of security he felt after saving the two, or perhaps it was because his identity as a Taoist priest suited him perfectly. Before Ren Yunzong could ask, Wang Qihou took the initiative to tell him about his experience.

One day, Wang Qihou was studying at home when she saw a dark-skinned, fat, and unattractive woman walk in. The woman ignored the door and sat directly on her bed. Wang Qihou tried to drive her away, but the woman refused to move.

From then on, he would always see that woman at home. Knowing that she had come to him saying that he was possessed by a ghost, Wang Qihou deliberately ignored her and kept doing his own thing. His attitude angered the woman, who rushed over and slapped him. Although the slaps were loud, the person in question didn't feel much pain.

Then, Wang Qihou's miserable days began. The woman began to harass and torment him. First, she tied a rope to the roof beam, and then she grabbed Wang Qihou's hair and made him hang himself. To onlookers, it looked like he was hanging in mid-air, his feet not touching the ground but not quite dead.

Later, he was even dragged to jump into the river. His body was out of control and he was about to jump into the river. Fortunately, someone saw him and pulled him back. At first, it was just a small river in the village, then a well, and then a larger river further away. Wang Qi was forced to develop madness in front of others.

Seeing that someone was helping her, the woman began to escalate her actions. Similar scenes became more and more frequent, eventually happening every day. She was tormented in every way. Her family tried countless methods, including consulting shamans and getting medicine, but nothing worked.

Tortured like this, Wang Qihou could no longer study or do any work. He could only fight against the woman every day, thinking about how to drive her away.

"What about temples and Taoist monasteries?"

Ren Yunzong felt that the woman wasn't that powerful. Even if she was a vengeful ghost, someone with real Taoist skills should be able to deal with her.

“There’s none near the village, and I don’t dare go any further. That female ghost keeps haunting me. If no one is watching me, she’ll drag me to my death. I don’t dare go far at all.”

Knowing that someone would help them, the other party started targeting increasingly remote locations. Today was no exception; Wang Qihou was dragged onto a mountain path to drown himself. If it weren't for two people who noticed something was wrong with him from afar and knew about his family situation and came looking for him, things would have really been in trouble this time.

"When I saw Brother Wang, he was already halfway into the river. Luckily, I'm naturally strong and was able to pull him out a few times."

Now everyone in the village knows that Wang Qihou is possessed by a ghost. He is usually an honest and kind man, and also a rare scholar in the village. Everyone would go over to help him when they saw him suddenly having a fit of madness. But as time goes on, the ghost becomes more and more cunning, and everyone is almost at their wits' end.

Have you offended anyone?

The ghost that keeps bothering a person is a scourge, because the two sides have a grudge. For example, Ren Yunzong has a grudge against the White Lotus Sect, and occasionally he is harassed by ghosts and monsters summoned by various sorcerers of the White Lotus Sect.

“Wang Xiucai is one of the best people in the village; he has never offended anyone.”

"I had never seen that woman before, and I had no idea how she came to my house."

"When the female ghost screamed, I saw that her mouth was full of fangs, so this woman's appearance is probably not real."

Wang Qihou probably never actually saw the woman, because the woman's appearance was also fake; it was likely a deception tactic.

"If you don't mind, you can let me follow you. We can't ignore the evil spirits that are harming people."

"really?"

This was someone who could easily drive away a female ghost. Wang Qihou was secretly excited. After being tormented for so long, this was the first time he had seen someone who could overpower a female ghost, and the other party even said he was willing to help.

With the help of this seemingly divine Taoist priest, Wang Qihou felt that his future had regained some hope.

"Really... get up, you don't need to kneel."

Ren Yunzong quickly pulled the person up. He had experienced this situation many times before, ever since the one who was turned into a pig and then saved. Ren Yunzong was now very skilled at this situation and could pull people up before they completely knelt down.

Anyway, when it comes to strength, few people can beat him. He doesn't know why these people kneel down so easily. He's just a cultivator, not a real god. Sometimes, Ren Yunzong wonders if the other party really mistook him for Han Xiangzi and that's why they knelt down.

"Ah good."

He knew that Ren Yunzong was strong. When the two of them fell backward without the female ghost pulling them, it was the other party who helped them. But he didn't expect the other party to be so strong. He pulled him up with one hand, and it didn't seem to take any effort. It was easier than lifting a child.

Wang Qihou was a little dazed and his emotions were stuck. Before he could continue speaking, he saw a dark figure flying towards him from behind Ren Yunzong.

"Taoist Master, there's someone behind you!"

At first glance, he thought it was the woman who had been harassing and tormenting him who had returned, but upon closer inspection, it was a creature emitting black smoke and resembling a demon. Compared to this creature, the dark and fat woman actually looked somewhat more pleasing to the eye.

The other two couldn't see the yaksha flying from behind, but seeing Wang Qihou's terrified expression as he pointed behind Ren Yunzong, they knew something was coming. For a moment, Ren Yunzong, the target, was surprisingly the calmest of the four.

Ren Yunzong had already noticed what was behind him. He tilted his head slightly to the side, then raised his hand, holding a yellow talisman covered in talismans between two fingers.

With a "whoosh," the yellow talisman flew backward and landed squarely on the face of the attacking Yaksha. The Yaksha, which had been coming at a fierce speed, turned into a ball of fire in the next second and quickly burned away, turning into ashes.

If the female ghost hadn't been so close to the two ordinary people, Ren Yunzong would have used this type of talisman to burn them half to death.

“I had a feud with a sorcerer from a certain cult and have been harassed recently, but there’s no need to be afraid; these things can’t harm me.”

Seeing Wang Qihou's incredulous expression and his raised hand not yet pointing, Ren Yunzong assumed that the other party was frightened by the sudden situation just now. Considering that the other party had been entangled and tormented for so long, he would be more sensitive to similar things, so he spoke up to explain.

"...Ahaha, is that so..."

He was being tormented by an unknown female ghost, his spirit broken and exhausted, while his opponent was attacked by a suddenly appearing yaksha, who burned him to ashes with a single talisman. The contrast between the two left Wang Qi with mixed feelings.

But this also proves Ren Yunzong's strength. With him, Wang Qihou was finally able to get rid of that female ghost.

"Cult... Uncle, there seems to be a cult around here called something like White Lotus, right?"

The two remaining ordinary people who couldn't see the ghosts began to whisper among themselves after hearing Ren Yunzong's explanation.

"The White Lotus Sect, right? There seem to be several, and everyone teaches like that... Wasn't there a story about Han Xiangzi appearing and fighting a giant a while ago?"

"That is me, and has nothing to do with that person."

If this continues, Ren Yunzong is afraid he'll have to call out the real person.

"Heh, you heard that, haha."

The two believed their voices were very similar, but Wang Qihou didn't hear anything.

"Yes, I heard it with both ears."