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

"No, no, you mustn't!"

Master Zhou finally understood that this hotheaded seventh-rank official was new to the area and probably knew nothing. He was also completely unsympathetic. He quickly reached out to stop him, trying to take the vase back from Yuan Sou, but Qi Yuehong coldly pushed him away.

"I'm taking this tax money with me no matter what."

"Whether it's grain, money, or other valuables, you have to give me the full amount and bring it out."

After searching around, Li Hu found no trace of the black aura. He then went to the main seat in the hall, crossed his legs, and casually picked up a bowl of tea to taste.

"This...this..."

Master Zhou was so shocked by Li Hu's words that he immediately deflated.

Although he has some connections in the capital, given Li Hu's imposing manner, even distant resources from the capital can't quench his immediate thirst.

"Even the wicked need another wicked person to teach them a lesson," Master Zhou sighed and honestly confessed, "This... my family really has no surplus grain. I was even planning to sell these vases in a while. Business is bad right now, and our family's funds are tight..."

"Hey!" Before Master Zhou could come up with any more explanation, Li Hu interrupted him forcefully.

"Don't think I'm from out of town, sir. I've known since I was a child that you're the richest man in Qingyuan County, stingy with the locals, how could you be broke?"

Master Zhou sighed and frowned, saying, "I know we're from the same hometown. I even went to congratulate you when you passed the imperial examination."

"I really can't hide it from you. My son has been eating a huge appetite lately. He can eat over a hundred pounds of rice in one meal. He's eaten up all the food and money we have at home. Otherwise, I wouldn't care about this little vase."

"You ate over a hundred catties of rice in one meal?" Wong Tai Sin exclaimed in surprise. "Don't lie to me, sir. An ordinary person is considered to have a good appetite if they can eat three catties of rice. Over a hundred catties of raw rice, when cooked into cooked rice, would probably weigh more than two hundred catties."

"If someone actually ate it, how could they still be alive?"

Upon hearing this, Master Zhou frowned, offered no further explanation, and waved his hand while bowing, saying, "You may follow me."

The group exchanged glances and then followed Master Zhou to the kitchen.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw a well-dressed young man inside, but his chest was open, revealing a large belly.

Li Hu recognized him; this was indeed the son of the Zhou family.

The young man was so thin he was practically skin and bones, especially his legs, which were thinner than Li Hu's arms. But his large belly bulged out strangely, making him look like a starving ghost.

The man was hunched over a basket of rice, stuffing uncooked rice into his mouth. Seeing Master Zhou enter, he said in a tearful voice:

"Dad! I'm so hungry."

While speaking, Young Master Zhou kept stuffing raw rice into his mouth, which made his speech a little unclear.

"Alright, alright, we've given you all the rice in the house. Even if you're starving, there's nothing I can do!"

Master Zhou said with great distress, "Your Excellency, look at my son's appetite. We can't even cook enough with our five pots. We can only make do with raw rice to fill our stomachs. We really don't have much food left. All our extra money has been used to buy grain."

Even so, it probably won't last much longer; that kid has eaten up all the family's money!

Upon seeing this, Li Hu frowned slightly. There was clearly something strange about Young Master Zhou.

Seeing this, Yuan Sou scratched his head. Under Zhou Yuanwai's suspicious gaze, he stepped forward, reached out and tapped Zhou Gongzi's exposed belly, and put his ear close to listen.

Before long, Old Man Yuan got up and kept sighing.

"Master, have you discovered something?" Upon seeing this, Master Zhou quickly stepped forward and asked.

"Master Zhou, you must have noticed it yourself, your son is probably possessed by an evil spirit," Yuan Sou said in a deep voice.

"Possessed by an evil spirit?"

Master Zhou's face instantly tensed. He clasped his hands in a fist salute, and even his tone became respectful as he bowed to Old Man Yuan, saying, "May I ask, Master, is there any way to save my son?"

"This is the Five Ghosts Moving Technique. There is a little ghost living in your son's stomach. No matter how much your young master eats, this ghost will take it away."

Old Man Yuan stroked his beard and said, "That's why your young master, despite eating the food of over a hundred people, is still skin and bones and starving."

Li Hu and the others didn't know whether what Yuan Sou said was true or false, but Master Zhou clearly believed it.

He immediately burst into tears, his face filled with terror, and knelt before Master Yuan, pleading, "Please, Master, save my son!"

"I really have no way to save your son. I've only heard of this strange and evil art. You'll need to find another expert to help you."

Old Yuan looked helpless and kept shaking his head and sighing.

Master Zhou, nicknamed "Zhou the Skinflint," didn't have a good reputation in Li Hu's eyes either. Seeing this, Li Hu was too lazy to make a move, and only coughed twice, saying, "Master Zhou, don't think that just because your son is possessed, you don't need to pay taxes. It's not even certain whether your son is possessed. Do you expect me to tell His Majesty with such a reason?"

Li Hu waved his sleeve and said, "You'll have to figure this out yourself. I'll send someone to collect the money tomorrow."

"If you don't have money, take grain. If you don't have grain either, take some other things. If all else fails, your property and land should be enough to pay the taxes."

"Are you trying to force me to my death?" Master Zhou shouted angrily at Li Hu upon seeing this.

"If I don't pay taxes, you can't do anything to me. Believe me, I can remove your official position with just a letter!"

"Li doesn't care."

Li Hu left only one sentence before turning to leave.

Just then, several servants rushed in, and upon seeing Master Zhou, they loudly reported:

"Master! Master, we've found the rice that the young master ate!"

This statement seemed nonsensical, and these servants, whether possessed by some evil spirit, were so certain of it. Intrigued, Li Hu asked:

"Where did you find it? And how can you be sure it's your rice?"

The servants looked Li Hu up and down suspiciously. After observing that his official robes indicated he was only a seventh-rank official, they ignored him and went to Master Zhou to ask for his opinion.

"Just say it straight, this person can't cause any trouble," Master Zhou said, waving his hand.

"Yes." The servant nodded and continued.

"Some of our rice is specially supplied Wuchang rice. I wonder if you remember, sir? We used to eat this kind of rice every day."

Master Zhou nodded, and the servant continued, "This kind of rice is extremely rare and expensive. Only our family in the entire Qingyuan County can afford it. These days, the young master has been eating it all by himself."

"But this morning, we also found this kind of rice at our tenant farmer's house."

"I asked them how they got here, but none of them answered. It's obvious they're up to something, sir."

"I don't know what kind of evil magic this is, but it must be something the young master ate that ended up in the tenant farmers' fields. The rice there is all broken and mushy; it's obviously been bitten!"

"this……"

Master Zhou frowned and pondered for a moment, then approached Old Man Yuan. "What do you think, Master? Could this be some kind of Five Ghosts Transporting Technique, used to move things there?"

Old Yuan remained silent, stroked his beard, and looked at Li Hu, seeking his opinion with his eyes.

Since things had come to this point, Old Man Yuan couldn't just casually respond.

Li Hu grinned and, feigning politeness, cupped his hands to Master Zhou, saying, "I do know a few experts who can exorcise demons and evil spirits. Why don't you take us to see them? If this is true, I can invite those people to treat your son."

Master Zhou looked Li Hu up and down suspiciously for a moment, then nodded and said:

"Well, that's the only way."

Led by the servants, the group then traveled through several streets and alleys before arriving at a few dilapidated farmhouses on the outskirts of Qingyuan County.

"These are the houses, all of them have Wuchang rice," the servant said angrily, pointing.

Upon hearing this, Li Hu left the others behind, found the nearest house, knocked on the door, and went inside.

The space inside wasn't large, and it was mostly occupied by tenant farmers from the Zhou family. They were lucky to have enough to eat, and the furnishings were extremely simple. When a tenant farmer couple saw Li Hu, dressed in official robes, walk in, they immediately became a little nervous.

"We were unaware of your arrival, sir. Please forgive us." The man from the couple stepped forward, unsure how to address the official, and stammered somewhat.

"What brings you here, sir?"

Li Hu ignored his question and went straight to the rice jar, lifting the lid. Sure enough, it was full of rice.

Li Hu grabbed a handful of rice and examined it closely for a moment, discovering that it was indeed top-quality rice that ordinary families certainly couldn't afford.

"Let me ask you, where did you get this rice from?" Li Hu asked kindly.

"Sir... sir, rice grows from the ground, of course. This is our family's rice." The man's face flushed red as he chuckled.

Li Hu stared into his eyes and smiled, "Don't think I can't tell the difference between grains. Tell me honestly, who gave you this rice and taught you to talk like this?"

"Sir, this is indeed my family's rice!" The man knelt down immediately, looking completely unfazed.

"The man who delivered the rice robbed the rich to help the poor and was a chivalrous hero. I want to know who he is so that I can befriend such a person. I certainly won't make things difficult for him," Li Hu advised kindly.

This time, however, the man simply stopped talking and kept banging his head on the ground without uttering a single word.

Li Hu knew that if he didn't resort to violence, he probably wouldn't get any information out of the tenant farmer's house. He sighed and left.

After searching around, Li Hu found that the same situation existed in the surrounding area.

The rice was good rice, but no one could be found out about it; it was as if there was no such person at all.

"Give it to me! Give it to me! This is my family's rice!"

Li Hu saw from afar that the servants had already started to rob, dragging rice sacks out of the tenant farmers' houses and arguing with them.

Seeing this, Li Hu didn't waste any words. He kicked a pebble, which made the leading servant cough up blood.

"Since Master Zhou is from a wealthy family, he should act like a great man. The laws of our Great Tang Dynasty are here. How can we forcibly rob ordinary people?" Li Hu said with a forced smile.

"You scoundrel, do you really not want this official position anymore?!"

Upon seeing this, Master Zhou cursed, "You scoundrel! This is clearly my family's rice!"

Li Hu shook his head: "I will decide right and wrong. Master Zhou, you may go back first. I will come to your house to exorcise the evil spirit after I find the person who delivered the rice."

When Master Zhou heard Li Hu's explanation, he lost his temper. Recalling Li Hu's action of kicking the stone just now, he gradually felt more and more frightened.

"Then I'll wait!" Master Zhou said, his words sounding fierce but his heart was weak. He then ordered his men to drag the injured servant away in a sorry state.

Seeing that no one was around, Yuan Sou ran over to Li Hu and said:

"Tiger, I'm not lying about this. There really is an evil spirit causing trouble."

"I know." Li Hu nodded. "We still need to investigate this lead. Since the kid took the rice, he will definitely send more. We should stake out some poor people's houses and we'll find the rice delivery guy."

"If Tiger Lord finds the person, does he intend to..." Old Yuan asked suspiciously.

"It's just a matter of getting to know each other."

Li Hu said, "I was born and raised here and I didn't know there was such an extraordinary person. After I get to know him, I can ask him about the other two corpses. Since he has such abilities, he might know something about what happened after I ascended to heaven."

So Li Hu asked someone to tell Li Sujin that he wouldn't be going home for dinner that night, and then found a poor farmhouse and stayed there.

night.

It was around 2 AM, around the fourth watch of the night.

Li Hu finally spotted a person who looked suspicious.

The man was dressed in black, his face covered by a black cloth. He moved swiftly, carrying several bags of rice on his back, and wandered around the farmhouses.

As he passed each house, he would reach in and toss in a bag of rice without saying a word, then walk away.

This person appears to be exactly the one Li Hu is looking for.

Li Hu thought to himself that he was lucky. After the man finished delivering the rice on his back, he quietly followed him.

"Hold on, brave warrior!" Li Hu shouted from afar.

"Wait a moment, brave warrior! I have something I'd like to say to you."

Before anyone knew it, the man vanished in a few quick movements. Then Li Hu felt a gust of wind behind him, so he drew his sword and turned around, just in time to block the dagger that the man was thrusting at him.

"I have no intention of fighting you. Would you mind finding a place for us to sit down and talk?"

"You corrupt official! How dare you aid and abet evil!" the man in black cursed under his breath, his dagger still flashing with fierce attacks as he stabbed several more times.

Li Hu easily blocked it and smiled:

"Wrong!"

"Now that I have returned, King Zhou will no longer exist here!"

"I also grew up here. Brave warrior, why don't you take off your mask? We might know each other." Li Hu chuckled, found an opening in the man in black, and slashed off his mask with his sword.

As the black cloth fell away, Li Hu stared at the face of the person in front of him and suddenly felt that it was somewhat familiar.

Isn't this just my own face?

Li Hu was initially terrified, but his fear quickly turned to joy.

Could it be that Peng Zhi and Peng Qiao were resurrected and that's why they appeared in front of me?

With a slap of his longsword, Li Hu knocked the man's dagger to the ground, and a sense of unease crept into his mind.

Wait a minute, if it really is me, how come my kung fu is so bad?

So Li Hu sheathed his sword and tentatively asked, "Are you Peng Zhi or Peng Qiao?"