Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 103 Invulnerable to swords and spears? Watch me chop off your nose with one sword! [Seeking monthly votes]

The stone statue in front of me is a little over a meter tall, with a kind expression, a typical image of the God of Fortune.

Zhou Yi stared at the stone statue, speechless for a long time.

I just muttered something casually in the Zhongtian Hall yesterday, and I didn't expect the stone statue to appear here today. This efficiency... Maybe I should put my bank card on the Ziwei Emperor's altar later and ask him to top it up?

But how did the statue that the Ziwei Emperor helped obtain end up in Little Penglai?
Zhou Yi suddenly thought of the female thief who rushed over last night with leftover rice, saying she wanted to give the evil monk Huifan a surprise. Could it be that she stole the local earth god statue that Huifan was consecrating today?
Don't tell me, it's really possible.

For others, a statue weighing one or two tons is impossible to move by hand, but this girl doesn't need to move it. As long as she touches the statue when she arrives, she can bring the statue across time and space to Hunyuan Palace.

Zhou Yi circled the statue, but found no inscriptions. He then slapped the statue, and in an instant, the entire statue was eroded by more than a thousand years of time.

The carving lines have become softer, and the surface is no longer smooth, but the charm of the deity is more obvious. His eyebrows are full of kindness, and people can't help but feel calm when they see him.

"Now that we have the idol, we don't need to worry about this anymore."

Zhou Yi planned to take some time to have Zhao Wei find a truck-mounted crane to transport the stone statue to Sanlizhuang.

The Stone Fairy has been wreaking havoc in that village for twenty or thirty years, creating a chaotic mess. It's time to send a real local deity to clean it up.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yi patted his forehead:
"Yesterday's felling of the mountain and destruction of the temple should have been a meritorious act, right?"

He excitedly returned to his room, took out his black notebook, flipped to the first page, and stared intently at the page. The merit points gradually appeared, and sure enough, there were new changes:

[Merit: 3.6 taels]

The special notes have also been updated:

[Crushing mountains and destroying temples, merit +5]

Demolishing a shady shrine with hardly any worshippers can earn you five coins of merit—that's a great deal! No wonder Zhang Daoling was granted the title of Celestial Master for destroying shady shrines in Shu during the Eastern Han Dynasty and restoring the orthodoxy of Taoism. The merit is indeed tempting.

I wonder if the new land temple will bring me merit. If so, I'll give some more so that my merit can break through the four taels mark.

From the perspective of accumulating merit, Shi Xiangu did make some contributions.

I wonder if her death will serve as a warning to other sorcerers and fortune tellers in the county. I hope these swindlers will restrain themselves, otherwise the temptation of merit is too great for me to resist!

While the Book of Changes laments, the world during the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty presented a completely different picture.

The Hu monk Huifan, who was in his forties, crawled out of the carriage. Several believers quickly knelt down to serve as a stool for him, so that he could easily get off the carriage.

When Hye-beom stepped over him, the believer who had been acting as a human stool was so moved that he burst into tears, while the other believers around him were filled with jealousy and envy.

Hui Fan swaggered to the front of the local temple, and the surrounding believers knelt down one after another. Even the guards maintaining order were followers of this evil monk.

Hui Fan now serves as the abbot of numerous temples and has been granted the titles of Silver-Green Grand Master of the Palace and Duke of Shangyong County. He holds a high position of power and influence in Chang'an.

He wouldn't normally get involved in such a trivial matter as the opening of a local temple, but now that Princess Taiping is preparing to launch an uprising, Huifan needs to set an example and help win over the hearts of the people. Once the great cause is accomplished, he will be qualified to serve as the Grand Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty.

The elaborate consecration ceremony was ready, but Huifan did not hold the ceremony directly. Instead, he used a melodious tone to tell the various legends about Princess Taiping receiving divine favor.

Clearly, this was to create momentum for Princess Taiping's ascension to the throne.

Seeing this scene, Granny Gongsun in the crowd couldn't help but mutter to herself:
"Little Taiping, little Taiping, you're so fond of those Western Region monks, aren't you afraid the Taoist priest will spank you? Oh right, since the Taoist priest can't come, let this auntie do it and teach you a good lesson, you naughty child who imitates Sister Meiniang in everything!"

After Huifan finished his sermon, he held a water bowl and sprinkled holy water on the believers around him, which was said to ward off disasters and bring longevity.

After a series of manipulative maneuvers, the believers were filled with fanaticism. Hui Fan stopped them at the right time and went to the front of the local temple to begin the consecration ceremony.

What he needs to do now is to incite the emotions of his followers, but not let them vent them.

On the day of action, we will ignite the hearts of these believers one by one, disrupt the normal order of Chang'an, seize Taiji Palace in the chaos, and create conditions for Princess Taiping to ascend to the throne.

An altar was set up in front of the land god temple. Hui Fan put his hands together and recited the consecration blessing he had prepared in advance.

However, he replaced some words.

For example, he changed the respectful title for the Earth God to the very contemptuous "Ercuo Xiaoshen" and even claimed that the Earth God was a sinner from the West who was only alive because he swore to guard the house of the Heavenly God for generations.

These words captivated the believers, but Granny Gongsun was not happy. If she weren't waiting to see a good show, she would have loved to stab the evil monk a few times on the spot.

Finally, the official ceremony of the consecration took place—the unveiling. As a grassroots deity closely related to the people, and with the concept of the state in his heart, the Earth God statue is covered with straw before consecration to prevent the divinity within the statue from dissipating.

After praising himself for a while, Huifan strode over to the pile of straw and said in a disdainful tone:
"You little deity, to have me personally perform the consecration ceremony is a blessing and good fortune from your past life... Huh?"

He casually ruffled the straw, only to find his hand suddenly light; his hand, which was about to touch the statue, found nothing.

Hye-beom was somewhat surprised. He rummaged around again, but this time he still didn't touch any stones, only smooth silk.

He couldn't hold back any longer. With a tug, all the straw was pulled away, revealing what was inside the silk cloth... There was no stone statue, only an empty frame bound together with wood.

Upon seeing this, the two temple keepers knelt down with a thud. Yesterday, they watched the statue being moved in and even covered it with yellow silk and straw by hand. How could it be gone today?

The onlookers were all speechless, not knowing what to say.

Hui Fan racked his brains, just about to come up with another excuse, when Granny Gongsun seized the opportunity and loudly accused him:
"You barbarian monk, you just insulted the Chinese God of Fortune and Virtue. Now that the deity is angry and has left, why don't you kneel down and beg for forgiveness?!"

Gongsun Da Niang was not only a master swordswoman, but also had a beautiful voice. Her voice was clear and melodious with a strong penetrating power. Not only could the people around the Earth God Temple hear it, but even the people in the post station could hear it clearly.

These words made both temple keeper look up at the same time.

Losing a deity statue is a serious crime, and the two have already prepared for exile... But if the statue was driven away by Hye-bum, then it has nothing to do with us!
When Hui Fan heard what Gongsun Da Niang said, he was about to refute the idea that there was such a thing as a god in the world, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.

Because once he says there are no gods in the world, all his manipulative rhetoric becomes a joke, and the gods he just mentioned are just contradicting himself.

If he admits the existence of gods, then he would have to kneel before the statue of the local earth god to beg for forgiveness... Now he's stuck on both ends!

In order to get rid of this trouble as soon as possible, Hui Fan pointed at Granny Gongsun:
"Did you, you ignorant brat, hide the idol? As the Holy Messenger of Heaven, I have been invulnerable to swords and spears since childhood, and I am not afraid of the cold or heat. Show me what tricks you have!"

He planned to find a weakness and have the guards arrest Gongsun Da Niang. With his status as a Silver-ranking Grand Master of the Palace, dealing with a mere woman would be a piece of cake.

Lady Gongsun had been waiting for him to say that he was invulnerable to swords and spears, and she confirmed it again with a smile:
"Is it truly invulnerable to swords and spears?"

Hui Fan puts his hands together in prayer position:

"Of course!"

Gongsun Da Niang walked up to him without hesitation. She gripped the hilt of her sword with her right hand, drew the sword with a clang, and the tip of the sword flashed past Hui Fan like a streak of light before she quickly sheathed it.

The whole process was completed in the blink of an eye; those around didn't even see Gongsun Da Niang draw her sword.

But Hye-beom saw it, and not only saw it, he also clearly felt a cold sensation on his nose. He instinctively touched it and found his hand covered in blood. His proud nose had been sliced ​​off.
"what--"

Hui Fan was both shocked and furious. He had never expected the red-clad woman's sword to be so fast. If it were to slash his neck, the consequences would be unimaginable.

He roared hysterically:
"I am the Silver-Blue Grand Master of Ceremonies, personally appointed by the late Emperor. Guards, why haven't you seized this traitor yet?"

At this command, the surrounding monks and soldiers really intended to capture Gongsun Da Niang in one fell swoop.

But before these people could make a move, the sound of rhythmic hoofbeats came from not far away, and a troop of fully armed cavalrymen emerged from the post station.

As the most elite cavalry of the Tang Dynasty, they were fully armored, both men and horses, and were completely protected from head to toe.

As soon as the armored cavalry appeared, everyone fell silent.

The soldiers withdrew in an orderly fashion, pretending to be dead against the wall; the monks quickly retreated to the carriage, chanting Buddhist prayers to show they were uninvolved; the believers, though rather fanatical, were not stupid and slunk away from the local temple.

Hui Fan covered his bleeding nose with one hand, wanting to say something, but seeing the approaching armored cavalry, he couldn't utter a word. Just as he was about to pick up the half of his nose from the ground, Gongsun Da Niang stomped it to pieces.

"Bullshit about being invulnerable to swords and spears! You wicked monk, if you dare to slander the immortals of China again, this fairy will cut off more than just your dog nose!"

After saying that, she picked up her sword and, like a hermit, walked back to the inn with light steps, seemingly oblivious to everyone around her, leaving the cleanup to Wanqi.

The moment she stepped inside, the girl couldn't hold back anymore and reverted to her wild, unruly self.

"Haha, it feels so good to hit and run! No, I need to quickly come up with an opening poem. It just feels like something's missing without one... Brother Li Bai, hurry up and come! You recite the poem and I'll kill the enemy. Clear division of labor!"

While she was happily imagining the future, inside the Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi held a black notebook, his face full of doubt:

"How come Aunt Gongsun's merits have increased again in the blink of an eye? Could this girl have really orchestrated some kind of assassination plot against a treacherous official in the Kaiyuan World?"

(End of this chapter)