The Yaoyao Pot obtained from the demon refiner was a peerless treasure passed down through generations. Yan Shouyi had stored it away for a while and only now remembered it.
“The second choice is to enter the Yaoyao Pot and obey my commands from now on,” Yan Shouyi said.
The abbot hesitated little. Entering the Yaoyao Pot meant losing freedom, but not complete freedom. It was infinitely better than having his soul scattered.
Thus, the abbot immediately agreed, "No problem, I swear to be loyal!"
Yan Shouyi nodded and performed a ritual to directly take the tree demon abbot into the Yaoyao Pot.
The abbot’s massive body turned into a wisp of green smoke and drilled into the Yaoyao Pot. All that remained in the backyard was a large pit and the ruins of collapsed houses.
As the abbot disappeared, a trace of true dragon purple energy was nurtured and entered Yan Shouyi’s body.
This signified that he had performed another good deed.
The true dragon purple energy served as a standard to judge whether a person was more good than evil, or evil than good.
If Yan Shouyi resolved a matter and gained true dragon purple energy, it meant he had done the right thing, eliminating an evil person.
Conversely, if he lost a portion of true dragon purple energy, it meant he had erred, having mistakenly killed someone who was good in a certain sense.
It was a pity that this method of judging a person’s goodness or wickedness could only be ascertained after their death; otherwise, it would have saved Yan Shouyi a lot of trouble.
After taking in the abbot, Yan Shouyi noticed that Abbot Haixin seemed to have something to say.
He guessed that Abbot Haixin was still worried about the issues concerning his senior brother from Zhengde Temple.
So he asked, "When will my senior brother from Zhengde Temple arrive?"
As the saying goes, to help others completely, one must see them through. Yan Shouyi did not want to leave Abbot Haixin with a mess. Even if he dealt with the abbot, harming Haixin would render the entire endeavor meaningless.
Seeing that Yan Shouyi intended to act, Abbot Haixin and his two disciples were overjoyed.
"Tonight! Tonight!" Abbot Haixin said.
Yan Shouyi hesitated for a moment.
Waiting here for a night would undoubtedly slow down his own schedule, but since things had come to this, he couldn't abandon them.
Therefore, he said, "Find a room for yourselves and let me and my friend rest. When my senior brother from Zhengde Temple arrives tonight, I will deal with him."
"Amitabha, thank you, esteemed one!"
...
Due to the abbot’s extensive embezzlement, the environment of Side Temple had indeed improved considerably.
Abbot Haixin had his disciples tidy up two of the cleanest rooms for Yan Shouyi and Brother Yang to stay in.
As for Brother Yang, he had been somewhat disoriented by the abbot’s deception and was still sleeping.
Yan Shouyi had no intention of waking him up, planning to do so only after dealing with the senior brother from Zhengde Temple that night, so they could be on their way.
From Abbot Haixin, Yan Shouyi learned more information about Zhengde Temple.
The abbot's senior brother was the chief instructor of Zhengde Temple, bearing the Dharma name Ranan.
Twenty years ago, when Qianlu Town was suffering from a famine, Ranan had come to Side Temple to aid the disaster victims. However, upon discovering a thousand-year-old ancient tree in Side Temple, he stole a relic from a high monk at Zhengde Temple, used it to enlighten the tree demon, and made it the abbot of Side Temple.
At first, the tree demon abbot behaved well, even occasionally using magic to care for the people of Qianlu Town.
A few years later, Ranan visited Side Temple again. This time, Ranan seemed to have undergone some change; he was in desperate need of money.
The tree demon abbot believed Ranan had bestowed great kindness upon him, so he unconditionally assisted Ranan. From then on, the tree demon abbot began demanding that Abbot Haixin and others cheat passing pilgrims.
The abbot gradually lost himself, indulged in his depravity, and became what he was now.
It was worth noting that twenty years ago, the tree demon abbot was still a handsome young novice monk!
After gathering information, Yan Shouyi felt perplexed.
Ranan's willingness to help disaster victims twenty years ago suggested that his nature was not inherently bad… but why, a few years later, did he become greedy and demand that Side Temple amass wealth for him?
What had caused Ranan’s personality to change so drastically?
With such questions, Yan Shouyi ate the vegetarian meal at Side Temple.
The rain continued to fall incessantly, and time flew by until nightfall.
The rhythmic sound of wooden fish echoed in the temple; it was Abbot Haixin leading his disciples in meditation and chanting scriptures.
Bored, Yan Shouyi took out the Yaoyao Pot in his room and played with it, thinking he might as well give it to Xiao Long. After all, Xiao Long had been with him for so long but had never made much progress in his true abilities.
However, Xiao Long was good at socializing and might be able to befriend the monsters inside the Yaoyao Pot. Then, he wouldn't need to act himself, but could simply rely on the power of the monsters within the Yaoyao Pot.
As Yan Shouyi was contemplating, he keenly sensed footsteps outside Side Temple.
The arrival was solitary, suggesting that Ranan had not brought any helpers, or perhaps he knew that the matters between him and the tree demon should not be known by more people.
The sound of the wooden fish indeed ceased. Yan Shouyi took a deep breath and got off the bed.
"Where is my junior brother?"
An unfamiliar voice came from outside the courtyard, followed by a bald warrior monk rushing in.
Abbot Haixin followed silently, but deliberately kept his distance from Ranan.
As Ranan entered the courtyard, his eyes immediately fell upon the collapsed house and the messy yard. His expression abruptly darkened.
"What have you done to my junior brother?!" Ranan turned and shouted.
At the same time, Yan Shouyi, holding the Ancestral Dragon Sword, burst out of the room!
Seeing this, Abbot Haixin quickly led his disciples into hiding.
Ranan sensed the killing intent. As he turned, he clasped his hands together, and his entire body was instantly enveloped in golden Buddhist light!
Yan Shouyi was accustomed to Buddhist golden bodies; he had even broken through the golden body of an Asura!
He paid no heed to Ranan's mere golden body!
With a downward slash, Ranan, bare-handed, could only block with his arms.
However, his pride-inducing Buddhist golden body was shattered by Yan Shouyi in just one encounter!
The moment the Ancestral Dragon Sword made contact with Ranan's arms, the Buddhist golden body shattered, and the force of the Ancestral Dragon Sword, undiminished, directly severed Ranan's arms!
Ranan cried out in pain, his face as pale as paper.
He knew he had encountered someone he could not handle, so without any hesitation, he turned and fled outside!
"Can you escape?"
Yan Shouyi let out a cold snort and pursued him, kicking out and breaking Ranan's leg bone!
With a thud, Ranan fell directly to the ground, writhing in pain and unable to get up for a long time.
The severed ends of his arms continued to bleed.
In the eyes of Abbot Haixin and his disciples, Ranan, who was as powerful as a living Buddha, appeared as weak as a chicken before Yan Shouyi.
This scene greatly shocked Abbot Haixin. For a fleeting moment, he was intensely curious about Yan Shouyi's identity.
But it was only for a moment. The last person who knew Yan Shouyi's identity was the tree demon abbot, and the abbot had almost gone to the Western Paradise. Abbot Haixin did not wish to attain nirvana so soon.