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

Hearing that the teacher in front of him was actually a high-ranking official of the fourth rank, Li Hu was slightly surprised. However, upon closer reflection, it was not unusual for an academy like this to have an official.

"Greetings, junior." Li Hu said, clasping his hands in greeting.

The Master chuckled, waved his hand, and continued, "Young hero, you have mistakenly entered this place and suffered this humiliation for no reason. In truth, this matter is our fault."

He waved his hand, and a window in the distant library suddenly opened, from which a book with a dark red cover flew out and headed towards the Drum Tower.

Before long, the teacher had it firmly in his hand.

"This book is called 'The True Explanation of the Three Corpses,' and it is a rare and unique copy in my library. There is only one copy in the world. I will give it to you as an apology. Please accept it."

Li Hu took the book and quickly flipped through it by the dim moonlight. To his surprise, he discovered that it was actually a cultivation technique that recorded the characteristics, abilities, and cultivation methods of the Three Corpses.

This was indeed a godsend for Li Hu, who was still confused after becoming an evil spirit.

"Thank you, Master," Li Hu said, clasping his hands in thanks.

"It's getting late," the Master said with a smile, stroking his beard. "If you have nothing else to do, young hero, please leave. The quarters are simple, so I won't keep you here to rest."

"This place is a quiet place for studying. If you wish to pursue fame and fortune in the future, you can come here and discuss studies with me."

"Haha, this junior takes his leave."

Li Hu bowed and then left from the Drum Tower.

It wasn't until he left the gate of Xiazhu Academy that Li Hu truly felt like he had survived a disaster. Although he hadn't experienced any life-or-death crises in the past few days, he had indeed been under considerable pressure.

Li Hu stormed out and returned to the mountaintop where he had parted ways with the others.

"Hey! Tiger, you're finally back!" Yuan Sou was overjoyed to see Li Hu and ran over with a sheepish grin, rubbing Li Hu's back and shoulders.

"Tiger, have you had a good time at Xiazhu Academy these past few days?" Yuan Sou asked with a smile.

"He was quite frightened," Li Hu said calmly.

"Oh? What's with the word 'fright'?" Old Yuan asked again.

At this point, Li Hu recounted his experiences over the past two days. When he described the most thrilling parts, Chi Yue would cover her mouth with her hand, as if she were there herself.

After all this was said, everyone realized that Chi Yue's guess was absolutely correct. On the contrary, Yuan Sou was overconfident and kept regretting it. If he had persisted a little longer, perhaps Li Hu could have come out sooner.

"I am ashamed, I am ashamed."

Old Yuan chuckled awkwardly and said respectfully, "Tiger Lord is a lucky man. Even if something unforeseen happens at the academy, Jian Gang will not stand idly by."

Li Hu ignored them, turned his back to the crowd, faced the academy, pondered for a moment, then turned to the crowd and asked:

"What time period is the Huaiyuan era?"

He remembered that when the teacher introduced himself, he claimed to be a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) from the Huaiyuan era, but he suddenly couldn't recall when Huaiyuan was the reign title. Li Hu only knew that the reign title of the most recent emperor was Weilin.

"Huaiyuan?" Old Yuan was somewhat surprised. "That was the reign title used by Emperor Quanzong four hundred years ago."

Hiss... Li Hu was somewhat surprised. This teacher was probably the biggest evil spirit in Xiazhu Academy, and had been around for four hundred years. Among his group, the one who had lived the longest was probably Qi Yuehong, a three-hundred-year-old guy.

"Then, have you ever heard of Yin Zhi?" Li Hu inquired about the master's name again.

"Hmm..." Old Yuan scratched his head, racking his brains for a long time but still couldn't remember who this person was.

"But is that Yin Zhi, the fourth-rank remonstrating official?" Wong Tai Sin asked at this moment.

"Exactly!"

"It's a long story," Huang Daxian said with a smile. "This person was also the first Confucian immortal in our Great Tang Dynasty."

"It is said that in the third year of Huaiyuan, Yin Zhi became the top scholar in the imperial examination. Emperor Quanzong bestowed upon him the title of Grand Master of Remonstrance, and he became an official in charge of remonstrance."

"Unfortunately, this man was too upright and argued with Quan Zong during court assemblies many times, even pointing his finger at the emperor and cursing him on the spot."

"Oh? He truly is a remarkable person," Li Hu said.

"This is not the most commendable thing about his life. It is said that in the fourth year of Huaiyuan, he suggested to Emperor Quanzong to change the scope of the imperial examination, so that the emperor would personally ask the candidates questions, so as to comprehensively judge a candidate's spirit and ability, rather than just relying on the written test scores, thus giving those scholars who have spent their lives studying books a chance to reduce their burden."

"Unfortunately, Kwon Jong was lazy and negligent in his duties, and did not adopt this approach."

"Perhaps due to years of accumulated disappointment, he clashed with Emperor Quanzong at a court assembly and was forced to throw himself into a pillar and die on the spot in the Golden Palace."

"Fortunately, he achieved immortality through corpse liberation, similar to me. After accumulating merit, he finally ascended to become a Confucian immortal."

Hearing this, Li Hu roughly understood that this academy was probably built by Yin Zhi, the one who transformed evil spirits. No wonder he always seemed to have a strong sense of righteousness when teaching, unlike the typical pedantic scholars who were blindly loyal and filial.

"That's excellent."

Li Hu sighed deeply, and the last doubt in his heart was resolved.

"Let's go, let's hit the road."

……

The Blackwater Mountain region is a place of beautiful mountains and rivers, exactly as described by Yuan Sou.

So much so that everyone feels a sense of familiarity when they look at this place.

After traveling only a hundred or two miles, the group arrived at this place, where a magnificent waterfall cascaded down from the mountain stream, forming a curtain of water that covered the entrance to the cave halfway up the mountain. That was where the Divination Monkey lived.

Below the mountain stream lies a pitch-black abyss.

"As the saying goes, clear water is shallow, green water is deep, and black water is abyss. That's how Blackwater Mountain got its name," Old Yuan explained as he led the way.

"Come, come, let me, Old Man Yuan, show you some hospitality as the host today!"

With one hand holding the gift for his grandfather and the other hand holding Li Hu's hand, he found a small path and entered the cave from the mountainside.

Li Hu could tell that Yuan Sou was a little nervous at this moment, which was why he was standing very close to him—a subconscious reaction.

At this moment, large beads of sweat were sliding down Yuan Sou's forehead. Seeing his strange appearance, Huang Daxian couldn't help but joke:

"Now that we're home, why am I even more scared than if I'd run into that red-haired Taoist priest?"

"Oh dear!" Old Yuan's voice trembled with nervousness. "It's been so many years since I've seen Grandpa. I wonder if he's been consulting fortune tellers lately, and if he knows I'm back."

"Everyone, please remember to put in a good word for me with my grandfather when the time comes."

Old Yuan smiled awkwardly, said nothing more, and continued to lead everyone inside.

The cave is winding and twisting, and it's also home to many mosquitoes; the environment isn't very good.

The group walked for about half an incense stick's time, but still hadn't reached that place.

Chi Yue felt the place growing increasingly dark, so dark she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. She asked fearfully, "This cave is winding and twisting. The old man has lived here in seclusion for so long, does he really remember the years?"

Perhaps feeling that she hadn't expressed herself well enough, Chi Yue tentatively added, "Anyway, if I were to live in this cave, I'd probably go crazy in just two or three days, let alone a hundred years."

"The old man has lived here for so long; perhaps his mind has been damaged from years of seclusion?"

"Pah, pah, pah! You jinx, don't say such things, we're almost there!" Yuan Sou didn't scold Chi Yue for her nonsense anymore, but just made a quiet gesture to be quiet, then raised the torch and walked deeper into the area.

However, everyone noticed that Old Yuan was trembling all over, and even the torches he had lit were swaying.

Everyone felt that Yuan Sou's behavior was a bit strange, but since the old man might appear at any time, they didn't say anything more and could only continue to follow Yuan Sou inside.

The cave went deeper and deeper, and the path became wider and wider.

Finally, the group reached the end and looked up to see the sky, which connected to the ground, but the walls were smooth and they couldn't climb up.

At the end of the cave was a damp sinkhole, with a shallow layer of water on the ground and even some vegetation growing there.

In the sunniest spot, a large banyan tree grew crookedly, though it looked withered and yellowish, as if it were about to die.

"Who has overstepped their bounds?"

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through the depths of the cave, accompanied by a foul stench. A giant white ape, three meters tall, leaped out from the banyan tree and slammed its fists into the ground, causing a lot of stone chips to fall from the cave walls.

The giant ape was extremely ugly, with a large white film in one eye and a bright red eye in the other. It had many scars all over its body, and its fur was covered in patches of baldness.

Old Yuan looked closely, then his face lit up with joy, and he shouted, "It's me, Grandpa! It's me, your grandson Monkey!"

Unfortunately, the three-foot-tall divination ape frowned, sniffed in the direction of the crowd, and suddenly muttered, "Hallucination, another hallucination!"

Old Yuan looked quite distressed, but before confirming it was safe, he dared not rush forward, and could only shout from afar:

"Oh, Grandpa! What a hallucination! I'm real!"

"Stop spouting nonsense! Whether you are true or false, let's see who is stronger!"

Ignoring everything else, the divination ape reached out and formed a magic seal, chanting, "As heaven maintains vigor through movement, a gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement!"

Then he threw a punch at the air in front of him from a distance.

Despite being several feet apart, everyone was inexplicably struck by a powerful blast, as if an invisible fist whirlwind was blowing through the air. They lost their footing and were all thrown several meters away in a disheveled state.

Only Li Hu remained standing at the front. He waved his hand to brush away the dust in front of him, then politely clasped his hands in a fist and said:

"Senior, we have come here only to pay a visit and have no ill intentions."

But the mighty divination ape seemed not to hear anything. His hand seals remained unchanged as he slammed his palm on the ground, chanting, "The earth's nature is receptive; the superior man, in accordance with this, carries all things with virtue!"

Then the entire cave began to tremble and a crack suddenly appeared on the ground, spreading outwards from where the divination monkey was.

Li Hu dodged, and was about to speak again when Qi Yuehong interrupted him, saying:

"You old scoundrel, how dare you be so unreasonable! Do you really think I won't fight back?"

Hearing Qi Yuehong's outspokenness, Old Man Yuan quickly stepped forward to comfort her:

"Commander, Commander, please calm down, this..."

Before Old Man Yuan could finish speaking, the divination monkey clasped his hands together and recited, "Following the wind, the superior man acts accordingly!"

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept across the field, clearing a path and blowing Yuan Sou and the others to the ground, leaving them in a sorry state.

This divination monkey's every word and move was powerful and unpredictable.

Li Hu's inner energy surged, so he was fine. He just frowned, clasped his hands, and said again, "Senior, please rest. If this continues, Old Man Yuan may die."

"Who is Yuan Sou? He's dead, so what? What does it have to do with me!"

The divination ape finally answered, but its attack didn't falter, and it said again:

"When thunder roars, a wise man should be filled with fear and self-reflection!"

Suddenly, the white fur of the divination ape crackled, and purple lightning burst forth from its entire body.

Seemingly realizing that Li Hu was the most unfathomable one among the group, he channeled the lightning to his right hand and threw it at Li Hu from afar.

Then a ball of lightning flashing purple light flew towards Li Hu, crackling as it ionized the air.

Li Hu didn't draw his sword to fight back, but simply dodged away.

Li Hu was at a loss. He didn't know what was wrong with the old ape. Since it was conscious and could talk, why was it acting like it had seen some enemy, going crazy and fighting wildly?

"Goodness is like water; a wise person plans ahead before undertaking any task!"

As soon as the ape finished speaking, the thin layer of water on the ground suddenly surged up, and everyone except Li Hu, who was firmly rooted to the spot, was thrown out and soaked to the bone.

Yuan Sou rolled twice on the ground, and was forced to the exit of the sinkhole.

Looking at the cave behind him, Yuan Sou struggled to his feet and began to consider retreating.

"Tiger Lord, Commander! Why don't we leave first and let my grandfather calm down here for a while? We can come back another time!"

He waved frantically at Li Hu, looking as if he had just been pulled out of the water, his face filled with apology and fear.

After thinking it over, Li Hu realized that given the attitude of the fortune teller, he had no choice but to leave. After all, it was a visit, and it would be impolite to draw his sword and draw blood.

So Li Hu left the sinkhole and returned to the cave path he had just been in.

The divination ape, however, seemed trapped under the banyan tree and did not pursue them further. It waited until the group had gone far away before returning to the canopy to hide itself again.

The group first spread out, and then Yuan Sou, who was running around in a panic, was pulled back by Chi Yue.

"Hey! What's wrong with your grandpa? Did I just guess wrong about him and he actually has mental problems?!"

Old Yuan wanted to argue a bit more, but the evidence before him was irrefutable, leaving no room for sophistry. So he scratched his head and said with a wry smile, "It's been over a hundred years since I last saw you. I... I didn't know either."

Everyone looked at each other, unable to come up with any solutions.

Old Yuan sighed, paused for a moment, and then said, "Grandpa has lived in this secluded cave for a long time. It's normal that his temperament has changed drastically, if not damaged."

"This secluded mountain cave is usually deserted. Perhaps it was startled and stressed by seeing too many of us that it reacted this way."

"I...I..." Old Yuan hesitated for a moment, but still mustered his courage and said,

"How about this, I'll go in alone first. After all, he's my grandfather, he can't possibly kill me. If I'm alone, he won't be easily stressed."

"No," Li Hu shook his head, pondered for a moment, and said.

"Old Yuan, you've been acting rather unnaturally along the way. I have a feeling you're hiding something from us."

"If it's inconvenient for you to say it, then I'll have to go with you, so that you won't have to fight each other."