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

Li Hu suppressed the horror churning within him, temporarily restraining his murderous intent, and quietly looked inside.

It should have been impossible for Shui Sheng and the Red-Haired Taoist to appear here at the same time; these two were originally completely unrelated.

Li Hu guessed that something subtle must have happened in a way that he hadn't noticed.

Looking at Shui Sheng, he seemed much more hydrated, so he must have been doing well these days.

Judging from his attire, he seemed to have been taken in as a disciple by this red-haired Taoist priest, and should not have been mistreated.

After noticing these details, Li Hu calmed himself down and looked at the red-haired Taoist's actions to see how this person was exorcising demons and eliminating evil spirits.

The red-haired Taoist lit three incense sticks, bowed and worshipped to the east for a moment, then muttered incantations, took some incense ash from the incense burner, dipped it in water, and wrote and drew several edicts on Young Master Zhou's belly.

Then, he raised his palm like a knife and with a swift motion, sliced ​​open Master Zhou's belly.

Young Master Zhou immediately cried out in pain, his face contorted in a ferocious expression. Unfortunately, his limbs were bound to the table like a pig, and he couldn't struggle to move.

"Father, I'm going to die! This Taoist priest is going to kill me!" Young Master Zhou cried out.

But the red-haired Taoist slapped him across the face, saying, "Don't shout. If you startle the Five Ghosts, they'll steal your internal organs too."

Under the intimidation of the red-haired Taoist, Young Master Zhou became much more obedient.

Strangely enough, the wound on his abdomen was originally quite long, more than a foot long, but after the red-haired Taoist cut it open, not a single drop of blood came out, as if only a layer of paper had been cut.

Then the red-haired Taoist reached into his abdomen and groped around for a moment. Suddenly, his face twisted as if he had caught a mouse. With a forceful pull, he pulled out a small blue ghost and slammed it to the ground.

Snapped!

The little devil was about a foot tall, fat, bald, and had buck teeth. He was thrown around so hard he was dizzy and saw stars.

The little devil, upon seeing the light, immediately tried to escape. Seeing this, the red-haired Taoist shouted, "Yuehua, seize him!"

Shuisheng knew he was being called, so he found a wooden basin and, like catching a cricket, caught the blue-skinned little devil in one go.

The red-haired Taoist priest hadn't stopped there; he was still rummaging inside Young Master Zhou's belly.

"The five ghosts hid in different places: one in each of the large and small intestines, spleen, stomach, kidneys, gallbladder, and triple burner, so there should be five in total."

Then the red-haired Taoist closed his eyes and searched carefully inside. Before long, he caught five little devils of different colors, roughly threw them on the ground, and had Shui Sheng hold them down.

One each of blue, red, green, gold, and brown.

Those little devils all looked pretty much the same, about the size of babies, with all four limbs intact and high-pitched voices.

After capturing him, the red-haired Taoist took out a whisk, flicked it, and white silk threads drifted by, causing the long, narrow wound on Young Master Zhou's stomach to suddenly disappear.

"Moonlight, lift the lid, and they won't escape my grasp."

Shui Sheng nodded and lifted the wooden basins that were covering the little ghosts one by one. The colorful little ghosts inside hurriedly crawled out.

"Immortal, spare me! Immortal, spare me!" the little blue imp kowtowed.

"Fourth brother, so what if you die? Don't wag your tail and beg for mercy. I don't stoop to being that kind of pathetic person," the little red devil immediately scolded.

The other kids chimed in, some begging for mercy, some panicking, and some being defiant. It seemed that the five of them didn't have the same personality, each chattering away according to their own whims, and the kitchen immediately became noisy.

Seeing this, the red-haired Taoist frowned, and with a stomp of his foot, the little devils immediately quieted down.

"Who is the leader among you?" the red-haired Taoist asked.

After the question was asked, the little red imp stepped forward, clasped his hands in a gesture that resembled a human, but remained silent.

"You five are quite interesting, perfectly corresponding to the elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, born of heaven and earth, destined for calamity. How wonderful!" the red-haired Taoist sighed.

"Why do you choose to dwell in this child's belly?"

The red-haired Taoist priest had lost his previous imposing demeanor and instead appeared kind and approachable, as if he were talking to a child.

Li Hu had never seen a red-haired Taoist like this before. In the past, the red-haired Taoist was always shouting for battle and killing. This person today seemed rather strange.

Moreover, Li Hu had long ago hidden the bronze bell in the attic of his house, and sealed it with yellow mud, so no one would easily take it out and shake it.

With all these clues combined, Li Hu could only conclude that the red-haired Taoist in front of him had changed his ways.

After the red-haired Taoist asked a question, the red-skinned imp was still unwilling to answer. At this moment, the relatively gentler brown-skinned imp stepped forward and respectfully replied:

"Reporting to the Immortal, we are acting on the orders of the Queen Mother of the West to move the grain from Master Zhou's house to relieve the disaster victims."

"Oh?" The red-haired Taoist raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

"Since you are doing good on behalf of Heaven, I can spare your lives."

The red-haired Taoist frowned in thought, then stretched out his right hand and calculated for a moment before finally smoothing his sleeves and saying, "You may all disperse. Do not do anything bad in the future, or I will not let you off lightly."

"Yes! Thank you for sparing our lives, Immortal! We admit defeat today!" The brown-skinned imp kowtowed repeatedly, his face beaming with joy.

The others kept bowing and making obeisance, but the little red imp still looked resentful. In the end, he was dragged away by the little brown imp.

The five little devils rolled around in the kitchen like balls, then climbed into the stove and disappeared with a rustling sound down the chimney.

"Master! Master!"

Master Zhou was very dissatisfied with this outcome. He came in and shouted, "They made my son suffer so much, why did you let them leave?"

"Now that we've caught him, we should eliminate him as quickly as possible!"

"Heaven cherishes life, and although I am an official in the Ghost Suppression Division, I cannot exorcise every evil spirit," the red-haired Taoist stroked his long beard, then turned to Zhou Yuanwai with a fierce glint in his eyes.

"Let me ask you this: since it is the Jade Pool Mother of Baiyujing who wants to harm you, what bad things have you done to deserve this?"

"Ah? Something bad has happened?" Master Zhou scratched his head, looking suspicious.

"The laws of the Tang Dynasty are strict. I, a person of such standing, have always acted in accordance with the law. Where have I ever done anything wrong?"

"Everything has a cause and an effect. Although I saved your son, I also drove away these little devils and ruined the Queen Mother of the West's good deed. I will inevitably bear the consequences for this."

The red-haired Taoist sighed, "I'm afraid we will surely face calamity in the future."

Upon hearing this, Master Zhou laughed heartily and said, "Then you must have worked very hard, Master."

"Come, I've heard that you cultivate your mind, not your speech, so I've prepared a feast for you. Let me treat you well as a gesture of hospitality!"

As Master Zhou spoke, he gestured for the red-haired Taoist to proceed.

Afterwards, the red-haired Taoist followed Zhou Yuan out of the kitchen. Before leaving, he exchanged a glance with Li Hu, then suddenly stopped, bowed slightly to Li Hu, and politely said:

"This humble Taoist bows in reverence."

The red-haired Taoist nodded slightly to Li Hu with a smile, as if they were just acquaintances greeting each other, as if they had never met before and had no grudges against each other.

"Master, your skills are truly remarkable," Li Hu said, clasping his hands in a fist salute.

If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move either. So Li Hu pretended that they had just met but he felt a sense of admiration.

The red-haired Taoist then left and entered the main hall with Master Zhou.

Servants came and went in the courtyard, and maids kept bringing wine and dishes into the main hall. To celebrate Young Master Zhou's release from the clutches of evil spirits, the Zhou family mansion was filled with a festive atmosphere.

However, no one paid any attention to Li Hu. He was deliberately ignored by Master Zhou, who only invited the Red-Haired Taoist and Shui Sheng in alone.

Li Hu didn't stand on ceremony and kicked open the lobby door, barging inside.

"Congratulations, Master Zhou," Li Hu said with a smile, cupping his hands in greeting.

"What are you doing here? I didn't invite you." Master Zhou frowned and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "Get out quickly, don't disturb the master's enjoyment of the meal."

"Hey!" To everyone's surprise, the red-haired Taoist priest intervened.

"Since this person is an official, how can we neglect him? Why don't we dine with him? Surely the Zhou family isn't short of food these days?"

"Then I'll listen to the master," Master Zhou hummed.

Li Hu stood at the door the whole time, refusing to go in no matter what the two talked about.

He stood there smiling and looking around the hall without moving an inch, which left Master Zhou completely bewildered.

"Since it's a third-rank official who invited a lowly seventh-rank county magistrate like yourself, why don't you come and thank the master?" Master Zhou asked suspiciously.

Just then, Yuan Sou and Huang Daxian hurried through the winding corridor outside and came to Li Hu's side, handing him a stack of papers.

"Master Tiger, you've kept us waiting. As you instructed, all the land deeds for the Zhou family are here," Old Man Yuan said, presenting the stack of papers with both hands.

Li Hu remained expressionless, took the stack of papers, and began to count them.

"You, you..."

Master Zhou was stunned for a moment, and after realizing what had happened, he flew into a rage.

"Who gave you the audacity to steal my Zhou family's land deed!"

The red-haired Taoist also noticed this scene, but he just continued to eat and drink, ignoring it and acting as if he was just watching from the sidelines.

"Tiger, I've taken stock of it all. The Zhou family owned 3,500 mu of land the year before last, it increased to 3,820 mu last year, and this year it has a total of 4,500 mu."

Li Hu nodded, then suddenly fixed his gaze on Master Zhou's eyes and said:

"Master Zhou's family is vast and powerful, truly deserving of being the richest man in Qingyuan County. But why does the amount on these land deeds seem to be much less than what's registered in our yamen's register?"

Upon hearing this, Master Zhou's face turned completely red, whether from anger or fear, it was unclear.

Li Hu no longer held back; it was time for a reckoning.

"Guards!" Li Hu said softly. "Master Zhou has been deceiving the court by concealing land taxes, evading taxes, and failing to register his land. He has also been making excuses and resisting tax payment. Now, according to the law..."

"All land and grain were confiscated by the government, with the yamen (government office) acting as the escort and collectors, and the property was searched as a warning to replenish the county treasury."

"yes!"

Ji Heng was already waiting behind Li Hu, and bowed to accept the order.

"You...you...which law of our Great Tang Dynasty stipulates that tax evasion warrants the confiscation of all land?"

Master Zhou's pupils constricted. He had thought Li Hu was just a reckless brute, but he hadn't expected him to be this reckless.

"Since I am the local official, I am the one who calls the shots. Men, seize him!" Li Hu waved his hand, and Yuan Sou stepped forward with a smile, quickly pinning Zhou Yuanwai to the ground and dragging him away.

As he was leaving, Master Zhou continued to wail and vowed to kill Li Hu.

Li Hu, however, was too lazy to pay attention. He handed the stack of land deeds to Huang Daxian and instructed him:

"You take stock, conduct a field survey, and distribute the land to the Zhou family's tenant farmers according to its quality. If there are any surpluses, you can also distribute them to those in the county who have hands and feet but no land."

"Then I will use my official seal to draft a new land deed, instructing those people to cultivate the land diligently and pay taxes for three years as agreed, after which the land will belong to them completely."

"Brother Li is brilliant." Wong Tai Sin was overjoyed, cupped his hands in greeting, and prepared to leave.

But noticing the red-haired Taoist priest still eating and drinking at the table, Wong Tai Sin felt a little uneasy and couldn't help but worry, "Brother Li, you..."

"You can go out now, I'll handle things here," Li Hu said, waving his hand before the other could finish speaking.

Wong Tai Sin nodded in agreement and left.

So only Li Hu, the Red-Haired Taoist, and his disciple remained in the main hall.

Li Hu silently walked to the opposite side of the red-haired Taoist, slowly poured himself a cup of wine, and drank it down in one gulp.

Even at this point, the red-haired Taoist was still enjoying his meal. It seemed that he had never eaten anything good while traveling around. He only glanced at Li Hu from time to time, and he seemed very relaxed.

As for Shui Sheng, there's no need to say more; his appetite is even worse than that of the Red-Haired Taoist.

"May I ask your honorable name, Master?" After drinking a cup of wine, Li Hu still asked the question knowing the answer, and clasped his hands in greeting.

"No need for formalities," the red-haired Taoist said, swallowing a mouthful of wine and meat before laughing heartily.

"My secular name is Zongshanyue, and my Taoist name is Mingxin. Official positions and status are all external things and not worth mentioning."

"This humble Taoist..." Li Hu pondered these words carefully and could roughly determine that the red-haired Taoist in front of him was not the same person as the one who had died twice before.

If it were that person before, he would have called himself "Master Dao" and boasted about his status to everyone he met. He was nowhere near as humble and elegant as the person in front of him.

"I am Li Fengcong, the magistrate of Qingyuan County. I greet you, Master," Li Hu said, bowing.

"No problem, no problem."

Zong Shanyue laughed and continued, "The county magistrate was very pleased just now. I knew that this rich man's behavior must be improper, otherwise he wouldn't be haunted by evil spirits. But as a mere nominal official, I have no reason to deal with this rich man."

"On behalf of the people of Qingyuan, I thank the magistrate," Zong Shanyue said, raising his cup to Li Hu from afar.

Li Hu returned the toast, tilting his head back and drinking it all in one gulp.

"That's great! That's great!" Zong Shanyue exclaimed, intrigued.

"Lord Li must be a very open and honest person."

Li Hu was about to wave his hand modestly when Zong Shanyue suddenly turned serious, staring intently at Li Hu and asking,

"But there is one thing I don't know: why did Lord Li suddenly reveal murderous intent when we first met in the kitchen, only to restrain himself in an instant?"

"Could it be that I have seen you before? Or offended you? I cannot recall at all."