Chapter 140: A Daoist Priest with Principles

The sound of splashing water coming from the fish tank in the living room made Li Changluo's heart skip a beat...

A monster? It's back already?

Li Changluo drew his fruit knife. He gripped the hilt tightly and exerted force, causing a wisp of black flame to slowly emerge along the blade...

He raised the fruit knife and walked step by step, cautiously, toward the fish tank...

However...

When he saw the scene before him, he was completely stunned...

Inside the fish tank, a dark shadow was thrashing about...

Li Changluo turned on his phone's flashlight and shone it inside...

Heiwa had burrowed into the fish tank and transformed into his true monster form...

A hamster and an arowana were engaged in a life-and-death struggle inside the fish tank...

What was utterly humiliating was that Heiwa, a dignified hamster demon, was actually being pinned down and thrashed by the arowana in the fish tank...

Pressed against the glass of the fish tank, he continuously cast pleading looks for help toward Li Changluo, who was watching from outside...

Li Changluo kept slapping his own forehead...

Damn it, maybe I shouldn't save him after all...

With this kind of intelligence, if he went out into the world, he probably wouldn't survive the first three chapters...

"Li, I was just engaging in fish-water revelry with this fish. How could you just stand by and watch indifferently?"

When Li Changluo fished Heiwa out of the fish tank, Heiwa was soaked from head to toe. He collapsed limply onto the floor and bombarded Li Changluo with complaints...

"That's called watching from the sidelines. Please, stop abusing idioms like that, and besides..."

"Besides what?"

"Even if you were having fish-water revelry, you aren't even of the same species..."

"..."

"And also, when I called out to you just now, where on earth did you run off to?"

Li Changluo asked Heiwa with genuine curiosity, because he had indeed woken him up earlier to chase after that pair of shoes, but as the chase went on, Heiwa had somehow vanished...

Having a useless teammate like this was truly a headache...

It was just like an ADC meticulously calculating a fancy combo to take down the two enemies hiding in the bush, only to charge in and realize...

Damn it...

Their own support was missing...

How infuriating was that?

"I heard you yelling, so I rushed out immediately to fight the monster..."

Heiwa said, pointing at the arowana in the fish tank.

"You damn glutton, you were just drooling over the arowana's body, weren't you?"

Li Changluo finally saw right through the foodie's true intentions...

In his eyes...

As long as it was delicious...

Was everything a monster?

"How could that be? Li, you have no evidence, you can't just make baseless accusations..."

"This arowana is no ordinary ornamental fish; it's a heinous fish demon. I sensed it was suspicious the moment I walked in. Look, even an experienced demon like me with over twenty points of demonic power was no match for it. Can you still say it's not a monster?"

"If I weren't so clumsy at fighting in the water, I could have gone another three hundred rounds with it."

Heiwa grabbed a rag to wipe his reggae dreadlocks. He glared indignantly at the arowana in the fish tank and couldn't help...

swallowing hard again.

"..."

Heiwa delivered his lines with such a straight face that Li Changluo almost believed him.

Early the next morning...

Mr. Zhang had prepared breakfast for Heiwa and Li Changluo bright and early...

However, none of the other members of Mr. Zhang's family were seen coming down for breakfast this morning.

Still, the old man had gotten up at the crack of dawn. Seeing that his fish tank was missing a significant amount of water, he stood before it, earnestly trying to figure out why...

From time to time, he would glance suspiciously at Li Changluo and Heiwa...

"Master, please accept this small token of appreciation. Consider it the payment for bringing you here this time..."

There were still a few scratch marks around the corner of Mr. Zhang's eye. He pulled out a thick wad of cash and placed it in front of Li Changluo.

Realizing Li Changluo was looking, he awkwardly tried to block it with his hand...

"What is the meaning of this?"

Li Changluo snatched up the wad of cash and began licking his thumb to count the bills with the demeanor of a wealthy provincial landlord...

"Master, as you know, my wife dislikes strangers and doesn't believe in exorcisms. Since both of you masters possess boundless magical powers, and that monster has been intimidated by you, I presume it wouldn't dare to come back and cause trouble again..."

Mr. Zhang spoke with extreme caution, observing Li Changluo's expression and trying his best to cater to the other's temperament.

Li Changluo felt that the man before him was a lot like a white lotus—both of them desperately tried to project the image of a good person...

Yet, compared to the murderous gentleness hidden beneath the surface of a white lotus...

Mr. Zhang's behavior was smooth and tactful at best, and utterly servile at worst...

Always trying to please others, doing his utmost to keep everyone happy, even if he were slapped in the face...

He would probably still turn around and ask the assailant, "Did that hurt your hand?"

A classic people-pleasing personality...

Of course, one couldn't entirely blame Mr. Zhang. As a man who married into his wife's family, his status in this household could arguably be said to be even lower than that of the family's maid...

He had no choice but to try his absolute best to satisfy everyone...

However, this kind of people-pleasing personality was actually like an active volcano—peaceful most of the time, but when it finally erupted, it could lead to utter catastrophe...

"Does this mean you want us to get lost?

"Mr. Zhang, are you insulting us? The likes of us purge demons and defend the Dao, upholding justice in the human world—do we do it for this mere handful of stinking money?

"As long as demons run amok here, we will never sit idly by...

"Ah, this room is reeking of mundane greed, staining the pure hearts we hold for sweeping away the evil spirits of this world...

"As the saying goes, until hell is emptied, I vow not to attain Buddhahood..."

...

Li Changluo instantly got into character, righteously rebuking Mr. Zhang for his behavior...

Even Heiwa, who always considered him despicable and shameless, was nearly moved to tears by this passionate and stirring speech...

Only...

Given his poor foundation in Chinese culture, even he could tell that this saying had not a damn thing to do with a Taoist priest. Weren't Buddhists monks...

"Well, though that may be, we can still understand Mr. Zhang's great and merciful heart. All living things possess a spirit; even a monster is a life after all...

"Since you have the heart to spare that evil creature, I suppose it's its good fortune, and we cannot go against the mandate of heaven."

Li Changluo gazed deeply at Mr. Zhang and...

another wad of cash in Mr. Zhang's hand.

Then, he nonchalantly accepted the second stack of money from Mr. Zhang's hand and swiftly stuffed it into his pocket.

Heiwa was completely dumbfounded. Didn't he just say the room reeked of mundane greed? Didn't he just vow to eliminate demons and uphold justice? How was he bought off by money just like that?

Pfft, utterly shameless, I despise you...

"Master, won't you have some breakfast before you leave?"

Seeing Li Changluo pocket the money and prepare to leave, Mr. Zhang tried to persuade him to stay for a meal.

"Ah, we cultivators cannot afford to live in comfort. Going hungry is also a form of cultivation. Have you ever heard of the Inedia phase, Mr. Zhang?"

Li Changluo patted the money in his pocket and cast another glance at the soybean milk and fried dough sticks on the table.

"Understood, masters are naturally beyond worldly beings. Shall I see you out?"

Mr. Zhang politely buttered up Li Changluo...

It truly gave one the uncanny feeling that it was easy to invite a deity, but hard to send them away.