Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

When Yuan Wuxiang was about to give up, the small boat reached the shore. Because of their identities and appearances, they found a secluded place to disembark.

Although the boats are ordinary small boats, they can use their internal energy to propel themselves slightly on the water, ignoring the current and wind. Naturally, they don't need to worry about docking or mooring. Using internal energy to secure the boat is more effective than using an anchor, so the boat is impossible to lose.

After disembarking, Yuan Wuxiang leaned against a tree and retreated into his own world. He thought he could overcome seasickness, but unfortunately he failed. Maybe they should try a different strategy and just fly the boat across the water.

"Hey friend, how about trying another one?"

Juan Shoutian was still trying to feed Yuan Wuxiang the carrot in his hand.

"...I've already eaten three."

Where did you get so many carrots, and each one is so big? Are you really feeding him like a rabbit?

"Perhaps we can prepare some dehumidifying herbs, which should provide some relief."

Yuan Wuxiang felt that his previous seasickness was due to the waves at sea, and that he would be fine on the river. Juan Shoutian, however, insisted on his theory that it was due to the high humidity.

At present, it seems that Juan Shoutian's insights are slightly better. After all, the large ship has been replaced with a small ship, the sea surface has been replaced with a river surface, and the method of navigating the ship has been changed to use internal force instead of oars. Yuan Wuxiang is still seasick.

At that moment, a letter flew in from mid-air at great speed, with the implication of an arrow piercing the sky.

Judging by the speed and momentum alone, it would be hard for anyone to believe that what flew over was just an envelope. However, the two of them were already used to flying messages. Yuan Wuxiang was still upset when Juan Shoutian received the letter.

"The White Lotus Sect has been making some moves in the south, and Jian Feidao has advised us to be more careful."

"The White Lotus Sect..."

Yuan Wuxiang sat down against the tree trunk, holding a carrot that had been nibbled on. Although he complained that Juan Shoutian was feeding him like a rabbit, he eventually went along with the feeding and ate it.

"Is it only the White Lotus Sect involved, or are other people involved?"

If they are merely followers of the White Lotus sect, they don't need to worry too much, as local officials will organize suppression, unless they have already rebelled and harmed the common people.

"All."

The very existence of this letter speaks volumes.

But the idea of ​​local indigenous people causing trouble together with illegal immigrants, possibly with an undercover agent they sent to help them, is really strange.

Once Yuan Wuxiang had recovered, the two first replied to the letter promising to keep an eye out, and then went to other places. If using herbal dehumidifiers could really relieve seasickness, Yuan Wuxiang was happy to try it.

The place where the boats were moored was relatively remote, but not too remote. Most villages were located along the river, and if you walked a little further out, you could see signs of human habitation.

Soon they saw a teahouse built by the roadside in the distance. An old woman welcomed the scholars who were on their way inside. This was a perfectly normal thing to do, provided that the old woman was alright.

The two sides were far apart. Those under the teahouse could not see Juan Shoutian and Yuan Wuxiang, but they could see the people inside the teahouse. The old woman was very attentive and seemed to want to pull the scholars over herself, but when she was actually greeting people, she never left the shaded area of ​​the teahouse, as if she was afraid of the sun.

Looking up at the sky, it was already noon. The sun was indeed stronger today, but not to the point of being uncomfortable. Besides, the old woman gave off a strange feeling, not like a living person.

"Third Sister, bring me a cup of good tea!"

"coming!"

At this moment, several scholars had already sat down in the teahouse. The old woman called out happily, and the group could hear a young girl's voice responding.

Soon, a young girl came out carrying tea. She was about fourteen or fifteen years old, with an exceptionally beautiful face. She wore a lot of jewelry, including rings, earrings, bracelets, and hairpins, all of which were extremely bright and looked very valuable.

Upon seeing such a beautiful woman, the scholars were all stunned. Only one man, who had been observing his surroundings as he entered the teahouse, suddenly became incredibly sharp-eyed when the young woman brought out the tea, and then quickly lowered his head and stopped looking.

Ma Jiepu didn't travel with anyone at first; he just went wherever he felt like, occasionally meeting people on the same route, and if they hit it off, they would walk together for a while.

This time was no different. He happened to meet a group of scholars on their way. They mistook him for a scholar on his way as well. Seeing that Ma Jiepu looked young and had a good personality, they invited the young man to join them.

When they reached the vicinity of the teahouse, everyone except Ma Jiepu was already parched. Seeing the teahouse, they went over. They were all ordinary people and could not see the secrets inside the teahouse.

Only Ma Jiepu, who was not human but a fox spirit who traveled and cultivated himself, sensed something was wrong when the old woman was calling people in the shed.

The other party was not human, including the young girl who came out to serve tea.

The tea the young girl brought was incredibly fragrant; one whiff was enough to tell it was excellent tea. Several scholars began to praise it, but Ma Jiepu's expression immediately changed upon smelling it.

"boom!"

"Don't drink it!"

First came the sound of a teacup slamming against the table, followed by Ma Jiepu's shout, which startled everyone in the teahouse.

From the moment they met on the way here until now, Ma Jiepu had always been seen as a gentle and talkative person by the scholars. In their eyes, this young man was good-looking and had a good temper. The atmosphere was cheerful all the way, but when he suddenly started a fight, his expression was so serious that it startled them all and they all looked at him.

"Brother Ma, what's going on...?"

"You two evil spirits, how dare you poison people here!"

The teacup contained not tea at all, but poison. Ma Jiepu originally thought that if it was just two ghosts pretending to be human, he would turn a blind eye. After all, some people do not want to enter the cycle of reincarnation after death and will pretend to be alive and imitate the lives of the living.

Ma Jiepu wouldn't care whether someone was a demon or a ghost; he was just a fox spirit wandering the human world and didn't have much right to interfere in other people's lives.

But if someone tries to harm him in front of him, sorry, he'll have to play the role of a chivalrous hero and teach the guy in front of him a lesson.

"What is this young master saying? Ah!"

Before the girl, called Third Sister, could say anything more, Ma Jiepu grabbed her arm. He had no mercy on such a wicked ghost who could harm people.

From stopping the others from drinking tea to suddenly getting up and grabbing Third Sister, Ma Jiepu's movements were extremely fast. The scholars hadn't even reacted to the shout he had just given them.

"I've heard that there are water monsters harming people here, and it seems that you are the ones."

Ma Jiepu had never actually seen water hyacinth. This plant grows in a very small area, only in the local area. Although he had some knowledge of medicine, he would not specifically study poisons.

But it doesn't matter if he doesn't recognize it. He has a keen sense of smell and some expertise. He may not recognize the water hyacinth, but he can tell that the contents of the teacup are poisonous.

Having said all that, the old woman and Third Sister knew their scheme had been exposed. Even the Water Demon knew about it, so there was no point in trying to deny it anymore. This young man was clearly not someone to be trifled with.

What a blunder! They thought they were just a few passing scholars, but they didn't expect there to be another variable among them.

San Niang tried to pull her arm away from Ma Jiepu's grasp, but found that she couldn't break free no matter what she did. She had long since become a ghost, yet this young man opposite her could capture her so easily. She was directly captured and could not escape.

The old woman stood on the perimeter. Seeing that Third Sister had been captured, and knowing that the other side was no pushover, she looked at the sun outside. Rather than be captured, she thought it would be better to rush out and find a place to hide. The brief exposure to the sun wouldn't matter.

Just as the escape was about to begin, another obstacle blocked her way. The old woman was about to rush out when she bumped into a golden figure, brighter than the sun in the sky, which blocked her back.

Hearing the old woman's scream, the people in the teahouse looked outside and saw a man dressed entirely in gold walk into the teahouse, blocking the old woman's escape route. The old woman seemed even more afraid of him than of Ma Jiepu.

"There is indeed a problem here."

Another white-haired head peeked out from behind, and Yuan Wuxiang also entered the teahouse. The two were so dazzling that they attracted everyone's attention as soon as they entered.

From the moment they realized something was wrong with the old woman, they quickened their pace. They heard everything Ma Jiepu said clearly, and their actions in blocking the old woman were intentional.

It turns out that the Water Demon was the culprit, so the tea in this cup must be tea brewed with Water Demon grass.

While everyone was still stunned, Ma Jiepu didn't dawdle. He quickly pulled out a red rope from his waist, muttered a few words, and the red rope automatically lengthened, binding the Third Sister and the old woman tightly.

At this point, the scholars were still completely oblivious. It's no wonder, though; this series of unexpected events happened so fast that they knew nothing. The teahouse, where they were supposed to be drinking tea, had turned into a ghost-hunting scene.

After ensuring that the two water monsters could not break free, Ma Jiepu first looked at the two people who had just entered. After receiving their tacit approval, he turned back to explain to the scholars.

The so-called "water ghost" is someone who ate water grass and died from poisoning. Such a ghost cannot enter the cycle of reincarnation. If it wants to be freed, it must make someone else eat water grass and make that person its substitute.

Similar to the rules of water ghosts, the victim eventually becomes the perpetrator, repeating the cycle over and over again.

The conspiracy was exposed, and the fragrance in the teacups turned into a strange smell. Yuan Wuxiang picked up one of the cups and looked at the tea dregs at the bottom, which were the specially treated water hyacinth.

"...Didn't you find anything?"

Yuan Wuxiang looked at the scholars who had learned the truth and were now filled with lingering fear. No matter how you looked at it, there was something wrong with this teahouse in every way. How come, apart from Ma Jiepu, who was not human, none of these people noticed anything amiss?

"...What did you find?"

Looking at Yuan Wuxiang, who was dressed in silver and seemed otherworldly, the scholars were somewhat intimidated, but since he had asked them a question, they responded out of courtesy.

"This girl."

Yuan Wuxiang gestured for them to look at San Niang.

"Does it look a lot like someone selling tea by the roadside?"

Putting aside her stunning beauty, just look at this girl's clothes and attire—those expensive jewelry and brightly colored dresses. She's clearly a pampered rich young lady, yet she's at a roadside tea stall, serving tea and water to people. Something seems off about her.

This isn't a puppet show, so surely no one would be dressed up in fancy clothes while fighting or working, right? Except for gods.

"..."

The scholars didn't know how to answer. They felt it would be embarrassing to admit that they only remembered looking at the beautiful women and had completely forgotten the peacekeeping aspect of the situation.

"Didn't we talk about this before? You wouldn't find pretty girls in the middle of nowhere. Didn't you guys listen at all?"

Ma Jiepu demonstrated some strange skills, but he did not reveal his true identity. He only said that he had traveled for many years and learned a lot of self-defense techniques from Taoist monks.

Therefore, his current identity is still that of a "person".

Before coming here, Ma Jiepu and several scholars talked about many interesting stories to keep themselves entertained on the journey, including many examples of monsters transforming into beautiful women to seduce people.

In Ma Jiepu's view, it was very necessary to tell them these things. He himself was a fox spirit, and he had seen and known a lot. Scholars were indeed prone to being harmed by monsters. He did not know the specific reasons, but there was such a pattern.

They initially traveled together because these scholars saw that Ma Jiepu was a young boy traveling alone and were worried that he might encounter danger due to his young age, so they invited him to travel with them. In short, they were good people.

Then danger did indeed arise, but it wasn't that the scholars helped Ma Jiepu; rather, it was Ma Jiepu who protected the scholars.

Unexpectedly, none of these people listened to his earnest advice on the way. As soon as Third Sister came out, they were stunned. They didn't even glance at the tea before taking it and putting it in their mouths. Why was he so quick? Wasn't it because he was afraid that if he called out too late, someone would suffer?

Water hyacinth is an extremely rare poison. Ma Jiepu only heard about water hyacinth and water hyacinth ghost after he arrived here. He only heard about its toxicity and how the water hyacinth ghost harmed people from others. As for whether it could save people, he did not know yet, nor did he know whether the special medicines he brought could save people who had eaten water hyacinth.

It was indeed his carelessness this time. The scholars obediently accepted the scolding and promised Ma Jiepu that they would not do it again. Only then did Ma Jiepu turn back to find the two people who had helped him stop the old woman.

"I am Ma Jiepu, and I greet you both."

"...Not really."

Although they were prepared, they still paused for a moment when the word "senior" reached their ears. They knew it, but hearing it still felt strange.

"We're just passing by, don't worry about it."

Just as they wouldn't expose Ma Jiepu's identity as a fox spirit, Ma Jiepu wouldn't delve too deeply into the identities of the two, even though their appearances were somewhat too striking.

Especially when Juan Shoutian first appeared, a dazzling golden light suddenly entered the somewhat gloomy teahouse, and he almost thought that the Golden Crow had flown in.

However, Ma Jiepu was well-informed and had seen similar extraordinary people before, all with unusual hair and exceptionally good looks. But these two were just too dazzling.

The most important thing right now is how to deal with the Water Demons, but this is a really difficult problem, and Ma Jiepu has no idea how to solve it.

As mentioned before, the Water Demon is someone who was poisoned to death by eating Water Demon grass. In order to be freed, the previous Water Demon will deliberately trick innocent people into eating Water Demon grass, and then the scapegoat who was killed will repeat this process, endlessly.

The old woman and the third sister-in-law were the same; they had both been victims, and now they had become perpetrators.

Even though it wasn't long after the Third Sister became a Water Demon, if you question her carefully, you can find her former home and parents.