How did I, who just ascended to heaven, become an evil spirit?

He and Yan Yang reunited with Qi Yuehong and the others shortly afterward.

The area affected by the rain was not large, seemingly limited to the area of ​​Zhongzhou City. By the time they arrived at the bamboo forest Taoist temple area, the ground was already clean.

However, the group in the bamboo forest had also seen the commotion in Zhongzhou City from afar, and they already knew the general outline of what had happened.

"Master Tiger, are you alright? Did the Valley Immortal hurt you?" Yuan Sou asked eagerly as soon as he saw Li Hu return.

"Why did the Valley Immortal hurt me?"

Li Hu answered casually while his eyes darted around.

Soon, Li Hu discovered a mountain spring behind the dilapidated Taoist temple.

Li Hu felt that for Huang Daxian, this black bean, to be revived, he needed to find a place with soil and water, all of which were closely related to his identity as a valley cultivator.

Li Hu carefully buried the black bean by the mountain spring, poured some spring water on it, and quietly observed it.

The group of six gathered around the small mound, all six pairs of eyes fixed on it, not daring to even breathe loudly.

Before long, a wisp of black smoke rose from the small mound of earth, and the mound was quickly pushed open, revealing a tender sprout.

"Hey! Wong Tai Sin has appeared!"

Old Yuan shouted excitedly, but Li Hu pressed his head down, making him suppress his excitement.

Li Hu knew he had guessed everything correctly.

Whether Wong Tai Sin can be resurrected depends entirely on what happens next.

The tender buds grew rapidly and quickly, reaching half a foot in height in no time. They sprouted more branches, and the leaves opened and closed as if Huang Daxian (a deity associated with immortality) was waving his hand in place.

This mountain spring has a considerable amount of water; it originally flowed far out, forming a stream outside the Taoist temple.

But in just a short while, the bean sprouts completely drained the stream, leaving only a few small fish fry thrashing about in the exposed riverbed.

The bean sprouts, having drunk their fill of water, are still growing rapidly, but the trajectory of their branches is different from that of ordinary black beans; the branches and leaves curl up to form a green vine ball.

The vine balls bloom and bear fruit in the blink of an eye, then bloom and bear fruit again, back and forth.

If Li Hu hadn't been watching closely, one would have thought that many years had passed in that instant.

The bean pods spread a thin layer on the ground, and soon the clump of vines stopped growing.

The group waited quietly nearby, all wondering if Wong Tai Sin was about to appear.

Time dragged on until late at night. Yuan Sou, an impatient man, couldn't take it anymore. After his excitement subsided, he went to the Taoist temple to rest, while the others went about their own business. Only Li Hu stayed by the rattan ball.

Midnight.

As the rattan balls gradually withered and turned yellow, Li Hu's heart leaped into his throat.

One quarter past midnight.

The last batch of pods from the rattan ball fell to the ground, ceased to grow, and the branches and leaves withered.

The second quarter of the hour of Zi (11:45 PM).

Some of the rattan ball's branches had completely dried up and even broken off and fallen to the ground.

The third quarter of the hour of Zi (11:45 PM).

Li Hu stared at the lifeless rattan ball, which had become completely still. He reached out and pried it open, revealing a two-hundred-pound weasel inside.

Wong Tai Sin was fast asleep in the rattan ball, completely naked, his plump figure unchanged from before, even with smoother skin, and the scars on his hands from years of cooking had all disappeared.

However, his entire body inexplicably exuded a fierce aura, like a spider lily growing from a pool of blood, exceptionally alluring.

"Hey, Brother Huang?"

Li Hu nudged Huang Daxian, and when he didn't react, he slapped him again.

"Hmm? What is it?"

Huang Daxian was suddenly jolted awake. He looked around in a daze before finally fixing his gaze on Li Hu's face.

"Brother...who are you?"

"My name is Huang Hu, and I am your father, do you know that?" Li Hu said.

Wong Tai Sin nodded belatedly, his eyes showing some confusion, before he seemed to remember something.

"Harmful."

He shoved Li Hu aside and gave an awkward laugh.

It's normal to be a little sluggish after recovering from COVID-19.

Seeing that his thoughts had returned to normal, Li Hu, having gone through this process, stopped talking and simply stayed quietly by his side, waiting for Huang Daxian to process the situation on his own.

Huang Daxian looked at his brand new body, then at the palms and backs of his hands, frowned, and looked somewhat lost and forlorn.

"You are now an evil spirit, just like us."

Li Hu patted Huang Daxian on the shoulder and said, "This world is in a state of constant purity and turbidity. The immortal Huang Mingzi has already ascended to heaven on a crane, and the turbid energy he left behind has transformed into you."

Wong Tai Sin was still puzzled, so Li Hu painstakingly explained it again.

Yuan Sou, Wu Chang, and Hua Zhi Shu were also attracted by the commotion and came over together, offering their explanations. Only then was the logic behind this change clarified.

"Hehe, I see. What a wonderful principle of Yin and Yang, maintaining the balance between purity and turbidity," Wong Tai Sin said with a self-deprecating laugh.

"Now that things have come to this, what are your plans for the future, Brother Huang?" Li Hu asked.

"We don't know yet." Wong Tai Sin sighed, his face full of dejection.

"Brother Huang, you'd better figure this out as soon as possible. It's getting late, and I'm afraid that Valley Immortal will be after you," Li Hu said worriedly.

Why?

"This immortal and evil spirit are two sides of the same coin. If the immortal kills the evil spirit and eliminates this wisp of turbid energy, he can refine his immortal techniques and advance further beyond the Jade Capital. Therefore, your greatest crisis now is actually your own ascension to immortality."

Li Hu paused, then said, "But if you can kill the immortal..."

"You can roam freely across the five lakes and four seas, the eight wastelands and nine lands, and even live forever, which is comparable to becoming an immortal."

Wong Tai Sin nodded, already fully aware of the current situation.

He smiled with relief: "It's alright. I cultivate immortality only for a world where there is a bountiful harvest and everyone has enough to eat."

"Now that I have become an evil spirit, it is probably impossible for me to realize this dream. If the Valley Immortal shares the same idea as me, killing me will allow him to refine his immortal techniques and surely better bless the world with favorable weather and abundant harvests year after year."

"If that's the case, what harm would it do to kill me?"

When he said those last words, he was completely relaxed, lounging lazily in the rattan ball, as if he didn't care about his own life at all.

"Master Huang is something else!"

Upon hearing this, Old Man Yuan was already weeping uncontrollably, his face filled with admiration.

"I've cultivated for so many years, yet I can't understand life and death like Master Huang. It's truly a waste of my cultivation!"

Old Man Yuan sobbed for a while, looked at Huang Daxian, and then said:

"But now Master Huang has nowhere to go. The red-haired Taoist in the city has already beheaded you. Huang Mingzi is dead in the hearts of the people in the city."

"I think it's best not to go back to Zhongzhou City," Yuan Sou sighed in the end.

Li Hu blinked, knowing that Yuan Sou hoped that Huang Daxian would go to Blackwater Mountain with his group, so he replied, "Brother Huang, why don't you come with us? I've heard that there's an old fortune-telling ape on Blackwater Mountain whose divination can communicate with the gods."

"We are going to Blackwater Mountain because we have a question we would like to ask that fortune-telling monkey."

"Brother Huang, why don't we go with you and find that fortune teller to tell us about this person's fate and future prospects? These are trivial matters, but when will the common people be able to eat their fill? When will the world be at peace? When will people not pick up lost items on the road and not lock their doors at night? These are truly questions worth considering."

Li Hu, catering to Huang Daxian's interests, steered the conversation towards grand narratives. Sure enough, upon hearing this, Huang Daxian's eyes gradually lit up.

"Let's not talk about that anymore."

Qi Yuehong walked over with an icy expression, interrupting everyone's conversation, and tossed a blue robe he usually wore to Huang Daxian.

"Hurry up and put your clothes on, you look awful."

Seeing this, everyone looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Li Hu knew that Huang Daxian had been dealt with, and that he would have another companion on the road. He figured that Huang Daxian, who had just been exorcised, wouldn't just crash into the chaos of the world and die. So, he got up with satisfaction, prepared to pack his things, and set off again.

But just then, from the direction of Zhongzhou City in the distance, came the sound of a howling wind.

Li Hu leaped onto a tree branch and looked around. He saw the red-haired Taoist priest with disheveled hair and a bare upper body, holding his golden sword, coming towards him with the wind.

His aura was overwhelming. All the parts that Li Hu had injured were sealed with talismans. His eyes were seven parts madness and three parts hatred. The bamboo forest swayed as he passed by.

"Exorcise the evil spirits completely! Exorcise the evil spirits completely! Exorcise the evil spirits completely!!"

The red-haired Taoist was muttering strange words, his aura was menacing, his only remaining eye was bloodshot, and he seemed to have gone mad, as if he had been possessed by a demon.

Li Hu knew the visitors meant no harm, and called out loudly from afar:

"You damned scoundrel! I have no grudge against you, so why do you keep coming to provoke me?!"

"The Ghost Suppression Division is dedicated to eliminating demons and protecting the righteous path. How could we not kill you?!" The red-haired Taoist stared at Li Hu with his only remaining eye, looking as if he wished he could devour him alive.

Li Hu felt a little strange.

Logically speaking, this red-haired Taoist should have been his defeated opponent long ago, so I don't know why he dared to come to challenge me alone.

"What's the background of this Ghost Suppression Division?" Li Hu asked the group behind him.

"Tiger Master... this..." Old Man Yuan stammered. As the most knowledgeable storyteller in the team, he couldn't even give a coherent answer.

"It's one of the four agencies directly under the imperial court responsible for maintaining the balance between the pure and the impure: the Celestial Surveillance Bureau, the Demon Extermination Bureau, the Ghost Suppression Bureau, and the Immortal Slaying Bureau," Yan Yang, who had remained silent the whole way, said.

"They will decide whether to deal with evil spirits or immortals based on the total amount of pure and impure energy between heaven and earth, in order to maintain the balance between these two forces."

"They even dare to deal with immortals?" Old Yuan asked in surprise.

"That's all I know. It's a miracle that the old emperor has survived to this day, since he wants to control everything." Yan Yang's words showed no respect for the court and made no attempt to hide his mockery of these institutions.

As they were talking, the mad, red-haired Taoist priest rushed up to them.

Li Hu drew his sword and, in just one exchange, severed the head of the red-haired Taoist.

The severed head, with its loose, reddish-brown hair, rolled to the ground, and Li Hu didn't even bother to glance at it.

"Let's go. Now that this matter is settled, it would be best if we went to Blackwater Mountain as soon as possible," Li Hu said, turning around.

But just as he returned the longsword to Yan Yang, the red-haired Taoist's corpse began to rustle and make strange, terrifying noises.

The headless corpse twitched on the ground, then suddenly sprang to its feet, waving its long sleeves to cover the bowl-sized scar on its shoulder, as if ashamed to be seen.

Everyone was incredulous and terrified at the sight, except for Li Hu, who stood at the front, carefully examining the scene.

The headless corpse of the red-haired Taoist mysteriously bent its legs and hunched its back, its shoulders trembled, and suddenly it lowered its sleeves.

A brand new head suddenly appeared inside.

The head was intact, although there was a wound left around the right eye, which Li Hu had cleaved in the alchemy furnace. But the joint on the neck was smooth and clean, as if it had never been broken.

The newly grown head revealed a sinister smile, staring intently at Li Hu.

"This..." Old Yuan trembled, picked up the flower rat, and hid at the back of the group, not daring to make another sound.

"I've been slaying ghosts for forty years, and this is the first time I've been this disheveled!"

The red-haired Taoist stood still, touched his neck, and then raised his sword again and charged forward.

Li Hu immediately met the attack, his true energy flowing through his entire body, producing a sound that made one's eardrums ache every time metal clashed.

The two exchanged blows for five rounds, but Li Hu was surprised to find that the red-haired Taoist's sword strikes and techniques were much more powerful and sharp than before. Some of the low-level flaws that had repeatedly appeared were no longer there, as if he had become a different person.

"I heard that three months ago, a sword cultivator in Dengzhou ascended to immortality amidst a sky full of rosy light and the resounding of ten thousand swords."

While staring menacingly at Li Hu, the red-haired Taoist used his longsword to parry Li Hu's attacks. As he spoke, he even slowly stopped attacking Li Hu.

"Judging from your youthful appearance, you must be the incarnation of the Sword Immortal. Am I right, Li Fengcong?"

The red-haired Taoist accurately pronounced Li Hu's surname and courtesy name, which made Li Hu's heart skip a beat.

"You truly live up to your title of Sword Immortal Incarnate. Today, I am indeed powerless to defeat you, but your attempt to escape is nothing but wishful thinking!!"

The red-haired Taoist shouted, his muscles bulging beneath his aged skin, and the talismans pasted all over his body faintly glowed. In the blink of an eye, after dozens of rounds, although Li Hu had the upper hand in every round, he was unable to hurt the red-haired Taoist in the slightest.

Judging from the crazy appearance of the red-haired Taoist, he seemed to intend to wear Li Hu down here.

"snort!"

Qi Yuehong took out a Moon Pearl and floated out from the group. He held it up with one hand, and the Moon Pearl in his hand suddenly enlarged to a foot wide, as if he were holding up the moon.

"That scoundrel is full of empty boasts. With the two of us attacking together, let's see how many times you can resurrect!"

Having said that, the Moon Pearl in Qi Yuehong's hand suddenly shone brightly, sending a beam of moonlight shooting towards the red-haired Taoist.

The red-haired Taoist suddenly felt cold all over, and frost formed on the places where he was sweating. Small ice crystals fell from his body as he moved.

The red-haired Taoist had probably dealt with such underhanded tricks before, and his eyes widened in surprise. In an instant, Li Hu seized the opportunity and swiftly slashed his longsword towards the Taoist's neck.

This time, the attack succeeded, and with one sword stroke, the red-haired Taoist's head was severed once again.

Having learned from his previous experience, Li Hu knew that the Red-Haired Taoist was not dead.

Taking advantage of the moment when he lost his head and senses, a series of swift attacks followed.

Unexpectedly, the red-haired Taoist reached out and grabbed the severed head that had just fallen, then turned his face toward Li Hu and stared intently at his every move.