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

After hearing Li Sujin's words, Li Hu subconsciously felt a chill run down his spine.

The Queen Mother of the West, without my knowledge, has even infiltrated my home, and without me even realizing it.

At this point, Li Sujin continued, "I remember the monks in that temple told me that the Queen Mother of the West is an efficacious deity who oversees the fairies of Yaochi. If ordinary female believers worship her day and night, their dreams will come true. It is very effective."

"If a mortal woman is chosen by the Queen Mother of the West because of her sincerity, she may be selected as a fairy in the Jade Pool and will have the opportunity to ascend to heaven in the future."

At this point, Li Sujin frowned again, pondering:

"But it's strange, why would I need to ascend?"

"My husband has passed the imperial examination with flying colors and returned home in glory. If I were to ascend to immortality, wouldn't I be leaving him alone in the mortal realm?"

Li Sujin shook her head and thought carefully, "Strange, this doesn't seem like something I would do."

Li Hu roughly guessed why Su Jin had invited the Queen Mother of the West statue back then. However, due to the fact that her memories had been modified by Yuan Sou's cultivation technique, there seemed to be some logical cracks appearing in Li Su Jin's body.

Li Hu interrupted, saying, "Since that's the case, then we shouldn't worship this Queen Mother of the West anymore. We're living a happy life now, why would we need to pray to gods and Buddhas?"

"Yes." Li Sujin smiled and looked at Li Hu with gentle eyes.

"It's strange, really. The Queen Mother of the West should be a Taoist deity, but you say she was invited from a temple. Buddhism and Taoism are two separate religions, so it's rather odd."

Li Hu realized something was amiss, so he continued, "From which temple did you obtain this Queen Mother of the West?"

"Hmm... It's in the north of the city, there's a Ganyang Temple there. The temple is pitiful, it doesn't have many worshippers. I had to travel to all the temples, big and small, in the county to finally get it," Li Sujin replied.

Upon hearing this, Li Hu had a clue.

This temple distributes statues of the Queen Mother of the West to worshippers, which might be a breeding ground for such beliefs, and they might be infiltrating the Queen Mother of the West's faith into their own homes while they are away.

This matter has crossed Li Hu's bottom line.

He felt indebted to Su Jin and absolutely did not want her to come into contact with such demons and monsters.

Thinking about this, Li Hu became increasingly worried. In the end, he decided to go to the temple in person to take a look and give it a warning, so as not to leave any hidden dangers for Qingyuan County or his own family.

So Li Hu instructed his wife to put the statue away and not to take it out for worship again. Then he found a quiet place to do some divination.

"Brother, do you want me to continue investigating the matter of the Queen Mother of the West?"

"Would investigating the matter of the Queen Mother of the West help in finding the two corpses?"

Li Hu tossed the toss twice, and both times the result was heads, indicating his approval.

"In that case, I will make a trip to Ganyang Temple."

Li Hu accepted the copper coins, took his sword, and found the shortest route, asking for directions as he went. Finally, he arrived at the entrance of the temple.

Ganyang Temple wasn't very famous; Li Hu, a local, had never even heard of it, let alone knew the way.

There wasn't a single worshipper in front of the temple gate. Fallen leaves covered the ground, and a gust of wind blew by, making it chilly. There wasn't even a trace of the usual incense smell found in temples.

There was a tall incense burner in the courtyard, but the surroundings were empty; not a single monk could be seen.

Li Hu went inside and finally saw a young monk in the main hall. He looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, but he was sitting behind a small table on one side of the hall, skillfully and quickly counting the thin incense money with his abacus.

Upon seeing Li Hu enter, the little monk was initially startled, but then a smile spread across his face, and he scurried over.

"May I ask if you wish to draw lots or to perform Buddhist rituals?"

Li Hu glanced at him, saw that he was just a child, and didn't answer directly, but just waved his hand:

"Go and summon your abbot; I have something to ask him."

The young monk looked at Li Hu suspiciously, then shook his head and said, "The abbot is currently in seclusion in the back mountain meditating. May I ask who you are, and what brings you here?"

"I am the magistrate of Qingyuan County. Just call your abbot here," Li Hu replied casually.

The young monk's suspicious expression remained. Seeing Li Hu's unfriendly attitude, he quickly ran away, glancing back as he ran, appearing quite flustered.

Li Hu ignored all of this and simply sat down where the little monk had been counting money. He casually picked up the account book that the little monk had left behind and glanced at it.

The account book seemed to record the temple's revenue for the past six months, which amounted to a mere 120 taels of silver, a pitiful figure among the many temples in Qingyuan County.

Li Hu casually flipped through the pages and unexpectedly discovered Li Sujin's name.

The ledger records that Su Jin donated one hundred taels of silver to the temple three months ago.

"That spendthrift woman."

Li Hu shook his head with a wry smile. Although he was not short of money now, he still felt it was not worth spending so much on these monsters and demons.

Li Hu waited for a long time, but the little monk didn't come back. The surroundings were quiet, and Li Hu didn't see another monk.

It was as if the little monk had forgotten about Li Hu; no one knew whether he had gone to inform the abbot or not, leaving Li Hu alone here.

Li Hu wasn't annoyed. He figured he could run away from the monk, but he couldn't hide from the temple. So he simply sat cross-legged and waited quietly.

Suddenly, Li Hu noticed that many of the gods and Buddhas covered in gold powder in the hall seemed to be acting strangely.

This place enshrines a total of eighteen Arhats, seven Bodhisattvas, and three Buddhas.

But at some point, the eyes of the three Buddhas, which were originally half-open and half-closed as if they could not bear to see the suffering of the world, suddenly opened wide in anger. And when Li Hu noticed this, those eyes suddenly turned to him and met his gaze.

As Li Hu stared intently into the eyes of those gods and Buddhas, those eyes were also staring intently into Li Hu.

"How dare you, you wicked spirit, trespass into my sacred hall?!"

Suddenly, the tall Shakyamuni statue at the head spoke in human language.

Li Hu knew something was wrong; this temple was so sinister. Sensing the malevolent intent emanating from him, Li Hu immediately drew his sword and shouted:

"Li has no ill intentions in coming here. He only wishes to see the abbot and ask a few questions."

Li Hu loudly stated his purpose, not wanting to get involved in an unknown struggle, but those gods and Buddhas were relentless.

All the golden Arhats, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas in the temple came to life. They no longer merely stared intently at Li Hu, but turned their heads in unison, raised their magical weapons, and aimed them at Li Hu.

Seeing that the negotiations had failed, Li Hu frowned and immediately went into battle mode.

The golden Arhats on both sides moved first. They somersaulted off their seats, holding vajras, iron bowls, and tin staffs, and smashed them down on Li Hu.

Seeing that the attacks were all physical, Li Hu breathed a sigh of relief and felt at ease.

Li Hu had nothing to fear from these strange gods and Buddhas as long as they dared to fight with their swords.

He wielded his longsword, making himself completely impenetrable. He only had a few opportunities to strike before sending seven or eight of the eighteen Arhats flying.

Seeing that something was wrong, the Shakyamuni Buddha suddenly frowned, picked up the wooden fish in front of him, and began to tap and strike it.

Thump thump thump... thump thump...

He also began reciting the scripture: "When Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva was practicing the profound Prajnaparamita, he perceived that the five aggregates are all empty..."

The scriptures, rendered as a long string of visible golden characters, floated from the mouth of Shakyamuni, like hemp ropes, converging on Li Hu from all directions.

Li Hu realized something was wrong and quickly spun around to avoid it, stepping over the heads of the group of Arhats and arriving on the roof beam.

But it wasn't just Shakyamuni who was chanting sutras; the Buddhas Dipankara and Maitreya beside him were also chanting some incoherent sutras, all of which transformed into long golden strips that surrounded Li Hu.

Li Hu had no way to avoid it. He was too busy with his sword, so he only managed to reach out and block a scripture that was approaching him. The slight touch made him feel as if he had been struck by lightning, and his whole body went numb.

The remaining Arhats also jumped onto the roof beams, and for a moment the entire Mahavira Hall seemed to be filled with murderous intent.

The group of Arhats used their treasures and, after several attempts, finally subdued Li Hu, pinning him firmly in front of Shakyamuni.

"Amitabha!"

Suddenly, an old monk emerged from behind Shakyamuni, wearing a tattered robe, and jumped down from the altar.

As the old monk left, the enormous golden Shakyamuni statue seemed like a puppet that had lost its control; all its movements suddenly stopped, and it remained stiffly in an uncomfortable posture.

The old monk slowly approached, and Li Hu struggled incessantly, but his entire body was tightly bound by the long scroll of scriptures.

"A single thought of anger can burn down a forest of merit; please calm your anger, benefactor."

The old monk, holding prayer beads, chanted softly, "I am unworthy, but as the abbot of Ganyang Temple, I am willing to ordain you to help you overcome your calamities. Please, benefactor, obediently convert to Buddhism and do not harbor any more anger."

The old monk produced a bowl filled with water and a razor from somewhere, came up behind Li Hu, and said with a frown:

"Please do not struggle, benefactor. This razor is sharp; it is best to avoid drawing blood."

After saying that, the scriptures binding Li Hu tightened even more, leaving him no room to struggle.

"The first strike severs all evil!"

The old monk reached out and used a razor to shave a section of Li Hu's hair off his scalp.

"The second path is to diligently cultivate all good deeds."

After reciting the prayer, the abbot scraped his neck again, his eyes filled with compassion.

Seeing his hair falling out, Li Hu panicked and roared:

"Li Hu!! How long are you going to keep watching, you bastard?!"

As soon as Li Hu finished speaking, a sword aura rose from the horizon, slowly approaching as if it were enjoying watching a show.

The sword energy swept through, cleaving away all the beams and tiles of the main hall. It was like a fierce downpour. Before long, only four pillars remained of the hall where everyone was, crooked and twisted, completely unrecognizable as a building.

Upon witnessing this horrifying scene, the old monk hurriedly dodged, and the surrounding Arhats also raised their magical treasures to shield the abbot from the falling tiles.

The sword energy did not harm anyone, but only destroyed the building. Then, another fierce sword energy slashed down at the abbot's feet, as if to show off, cutting extremely deep and wide.

The abbot's legs suddenly went weak, and he kept chanting Buddhist mantras to comfort himself.

At the same time, the scriptures binding Li Hu were also severed by the sword energy. Li Hu angrily got up from the ground, grabbed the old monk by the collar, and shouted:

"You bald thief, why are you cutting my hair!"

"This old monk...this old monk knows his mistake. I didn't know that the Venerable One was a disciple of an immortal. I deserve to die. I'm so sorry!" the abbot apologized repeatedly.

Seeing his appearance, Li Hu was both amused and annoyed. He touched the half-missing part of his head, and finally suppressed his anger for the time being, asking:

"Are you the abbot of this place?"

"Indeed! Indeed, this old monk." The abbot finally began to speak to Li Hu in human language.

"Let me ask you this: a few days ago, a female benefactor named Li Sujin came to your temple to worship Buddha. Why did you give her a statue of the Queen Mother of the West?" Li Hu grabbed the abbot by the collar, pulled him up, and asked.

"Well...it's a long story."

"That benefactor was the wife of a sword cultivator who ascended to immortality in Qingyuan County a few days ago. This sword immortal ascended to immortality, but left this female benefactor alone in the mortal world and never returned."

"The female benefactor was disheartened and wanted to come to my temple to be ordained as a nun, but... but my temple is full of men, so it is inconvenient to take in a nun."

"Moreover, we Buddhists don't easily persuade people to become nuns. I could tell that the female benefactor's karmic entanglements were not yet over, so I kindly persuaded her and gave her a statue of the Queen Mother of the West."

"The Queen Mother of the West oversees all the fairies in the Jade Pool. If they sincerely worship her, they might be able to ascend to the Jade Capital and become a fairy of the lowest rank in the celestial class. This would also allow the couple to meet in the Jade Capital."

"The female benefactor was very generous; she offered one hundred taels of silver and then left."

"As for the rest, I really know nothing about it." The abbot waved his hands repeatedly, explaining the situation in one breath, and then carefully observed Li Hu's attitude.

Seeing Li Hu's imposing presence and the sword aura that had just passed through him, he became suspicious.

"Could it be... could it be that you, benefactor, are...?"

Li Hu loosened the abbot's collar and stared at him coldly.

After a long silence, the abbot sighed and said:

"Madam Li is dignified, virtuous, knowledgeable, and reasonable. When she first came to my Ganyang Temple, she was thin and her eyes were red from crying. She must be a devoted lover. If you have nothing else to do, you might as well go back and explain things to your husband, so that you can live in harmony and mutual respect in the future."

After hearing all this, Li Hu felt a little irritated and waved his hand, saying, "Let's not talk about that anymore. Let me ask you another question: how come there's a statue of the Queen Mother of the West in your Buddhist temple?"

"this……"

The abbot stammered, but finally explained, "The temple is short of funds and lacks revenue. Worshippers come here with something in mind, so of course they want to pray to the most efficacious one."

Li Hu found his reasoning absurd, yet for a moment he couldn't refute it.

"Please, sir, spare my life!" the abbot suddenly knelt down and begged for mercy.

Seeing that he had achieved his goal, Li Hu pondered for a moment, then looked at the group of Arhats and Bodhisattvas who were frozen in place and said:

"I will send people to demolish this temple. Whether you return to secular life or leave Qingyuan, I will come back in a few days. If you are still reluctant to leave and greedy for money, and your six senses are not pure, my sword will not spare you!"

After Li Hu finished speaking, the Arhats and Bodhisattvas around him kept kowtowing and thanking him for sparing their lives.

Li Hu glanced at the disheveled abbot and wanted to ask a few more questions about the Queen Mother of the West, but for some reason, he lost the will to continue. All he could think about was the image of his thin wife from three months ago when he came here.

Li Hu really didn't expect that his ascension would be no different from being separated from the heavens forever for Li Sujin, and the blow would be so great.

It was because she missed Li Hu so much that she got involved with these things.