Chapter 56

As the young monk, whose fake eyebrows and beard had been torn off by Ouyang Qing, was struck and sent flying, he suddenly turned in mid-air and kicked the ship's railing with great force.

It was as if he had suddenly taken flight like a large bird, leaping over six or seven meters. Just when it seemed he had nowhere to gain more momentum, his left foot suddenly stepped on his right foot, allowing him to gain more force and fly another six or seven meters!

By this time, the junk had already entered the Poyang Lake waters. There were a few small fishing boats on the waterway. The young monk landed on one of the boats, gained more momentum, and flew another six or seven meters. He continued to use the nearby fishing boats to gain momentum, and finally, with one last step, he landed on the shore like a large bird.

"This man's internal strength is second-rate, but his lightness skill is top-notch." Su Peng, seeing this, couldn't help but admire the monk's lightness skill.

The young monk landed on the shore, turned back, and glared at the people on the junk with hatred. Then, he quickly leaped away, leaving the shore.

The group of wealthy merchants on the ship were stunned by this scene and didn't know how to react.

"Hmph! One ran away, but there's still another!" Ouyang Qing coldly snorted, took a few steps forward, and grabbed the wealthy merchant who had led the fundraising and was just knocked down on the deck. The 'wealthy merchant' immediately rolled his eyes and struggled, trying to grab the railing to jump off the ship and escape.

"Come back!" Ouyang Qing, being who he was, naturally wouldn't let this person escape. He pressed him to the ground and, without a word, slapped him six times!

Each slap carried internal strength, and the 'leading wealthy merchant' immediately spat out blood, his face swollen, and half his teeth were knocked out.

"I'm asking you a question. It's best if you tell the truth. Of course, you can lie, but I'm looking forward to that." Ouyang Qing showed a sinister smile, and the 'wealthy merchant' immediately wilted, only mechanically nodding.

...

A moment later, Ouyang Qing had learned the general story from the 'wealthy merchant.'

It turned out that the 'White Eyebrow Zen Master,' the 'wealthy merchant,' and the sharp-nosed, monkey-faced fish vendor they had met in the coastal city were a group of swindlers. The leader was the young monk who had escaped.

The monk, who seemed to have always used his secular name, was called Yao Tong. He had some martial arts skills. The 'wealthy merchant' was originally a swindler active in a nearby state, but after a dispute over the division of loot with his accomplices, he narrowly escaped being killed. He fled to avoid trouble and wandered around, using small swindles. Once, he accidentally swindled Yao Tong, who was disguised as a monk. Yao Tong recognized him but didn't report him to the authorities. Instead, they talked, and the 'wealthy merchant' discovered that Yao Tong was also a swindler. They hit it off and decided to come to the coastal city for a big scam.

The sharp-nosed, monkey-faced fish vendor was a servant-like figure brought by Yao Tong. It was unknown what means Yao Tong used to control him, but the vendor seemed very loyal to the fake monk Yao Tong. When they were near Tengzhou's coastal city, they saw someone selling turtles, and Yao Tong came up with the idea for the scam.

They used various methods to make the 'wealthy merchant' appear as a merchant from another county. Through acting and a few days of generous spending, they gained the trust of the real wealthy merchants in the coastal city. Then, they introduced Yao Tong, disguised as a Zen Master from Dakuang Temple, to carry out the scam.

The sharp-nosed, monkey-faced vendor, after obtaining the gold, would take another boat to Poyang Lake to split the loot. Yao Tong had some means to control the vendor and was confident he wouldn't run off with the gold.

...

After understanding the whole story, the wealthy merchants were all frustrated and angry.

"This person is yours. Whether you take him to the authorities or drown him in the river, it's up to you. I don't care." After learning the details, Ouyang Qing lost interest in the swindler, who had no martial arts skills, and kicked him before speaking to the wealthy merchants.

The wealthy merchants, hearing this, became agitated and rushed forward to angrily beat the swindler.

Su Peng watched the wealthy merchants, knowing that with so many people on the ship, they wouldn't really drown the swindler. At most, they would beat him up and send him to the authorities. He didn't care much about this person who had no martial arts skills.

Next to the wealthy merchants, Huo Sijie, the young hero who had donated ten taels of gold for charity, was red-faced, thinking that he had been swindled at the beginning of his journey. If this news spread, it would be a laughingstock. His actions now seemed foolish, as if he had been slapped in the face. He was full of hatred, not knowing how to vent his anger. He wanted to join in the beating to avenge his ten taels of gold, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Seeing Su Peng seemingly looking at him, Huo Sijie coldly snorted and left, giving Su Peng a glance full of resentment.

Su Peng smiled slightly, thinking that people might not hate those who deceived them, but they would hate those who exposed their foolishness. Huo Sijie was taking out his anger on him.

"Socrates died this way..." Su Peng thought to himself sarcastically but didn't pay attention to Huo Sijie.

"A pity I didn't have a knife. Otherwise, I could have cut that fake monk in half just now." Ouyang Qing, feeling a bit regretful, rubbed his wrist and said.

"That fake monk, although not very skilled in martial arts, has top-notch lightness skills. He shouldn't be unknown in the martial world. Perhaps he has a name. Have you heard of him, Brother Ouyang?" Su Peng stepped forward and asked Ouyang Qing.

Ouyang Qing shook his head slightly, seemingly unaware. At this moment, Fu Yi, who had been watching, suddenly walked over and said, "Seeing this person just now reminded me of a case I heard about a few years ago when I was traveling near Futu Mountain and Dakuang Temple."

"Oh? Mr. Fu, do you know this person?" Su Peng asked, looking at Fu Yi.

"Yes... About four years ago, I was traveling near Futu Mountain and saw a wanted poster at the foot of the mountain. The authorities were searching for a monk named Yuan Tong. I was quite curious. Although I'm not a martial artist, I had heard of the reputation of Dakuang Temple on Futu Mountain. In the Futu Mountain area, the authorities usually gave the temple a lot of leeway. Why would they be searching for a monk from the temple? I inquired and learned some details."

"I happened to meet a purchasing monk from Dakuang Temple and treated him to a fine vegetarian meal, from which I learned that Yuan Tong was originally a frivolous young man from near the foot of Futu Mountain. His parents died early, and he squandered his family's wealth in a few years. Desperate, he sold his house, bribed a senior monk at Dakuang Temple, and joined the temple as a novice. He was not allowed to practice martial arts, but the senior monk, seeing his cleverness, made him a guest monk. Yuan Tong was cunning and sweet-talking, and he secretly observed his senior brothers practicing martial arts. In a few years, he secretly learned a set of martial arts skills without being discovered by the temple. However, he got into a dispute with some new martial monks and severely injured them. The temple's disciplinary committee found out and decided to cripple his martial arts skills."

"But who would have thought, Yuan Tong suddenly offered 200 taels of gold, claiming it was a legacy from his deceased uncle, to contribute to the temple and compensate the injured monks, asking the disciplinary committee not to cripple his martial arts skills and to make him an external disciple of the temple. The disciplinary committee, considering he was a Dakuang Temple member and had only learned basic martial arts, and his 200 taels of gold showed sincerity, only gave him thirty lashes and let him off. A few days later, they formally ordained him and gave him the dharma name Yuan Tong. But who would have thought..."

"Who would have thought what?" Ouyang Qing asked, intrigued.

"Who would have thought that less than ten days after his ordination, the authorities at the foot of Futu Mountain received a report accusing a wealthy man's new wife of poisoning her husband with arsenic. The county official caught the woman, tortured her, and she confessed. It turned out that when she and her wealthy husband visited Futu Mountain to pray, she saw the guest monk, who was handsome, and they started an affair. Later, when the affair was hot, the guest monk said he was in trouble and needed 200 taels of gold to save himself, threatening her with the affair. The woman, in a panic and with no money, was persuaded by the guest monk to poison her elderly husband and gave her arsenic. The woman did it... and the guest monk was none other than Yuan Tong."

"Heh... I said Dakuang Temple is just a den of filth, harboring a bunch of gold-loving, woman-chasing scoundrels!" Ouyang Qing couldn't help but sneer, showing his deep prejudice against Buddhism and Taoism, and his joy at anything that damaged Dakuang Temple's reputation.

Fu Yi didn't respond, just smiled and continued, "After the case, the authorities, after much deliberation, still went to Dakuang Temple to demand the monk. It's said that even the abbot was involved, but when they tried to arrest Yuan Tong, he was nowhere to be found... Yuan Tong was slippery and had fled as soon as he heard the news."

"This case damaged Dakuang Temple's reputation, and after a while, it was settled. When I left Futu Mountain, the wanted poster and the description had already been removed. But just now, when I saw the monk who escaped, I noticed he was about 70% similar to the Yuan Tong in the wanted poster."

"It's him!" Ouyang Qing suddenly said loudly, as if remembering something. "A few years ago in Kaifeng, I heard some martial artists say that a few monks from Dakuang Temple came to Kaifeng, searching for a Dakuang Temple renegade named something 'Tong,' who had broken the rules, but the details were vague. My friend, not fooled by the Dakuang Temple monks, found out that a lecherous monk had been preying on young women in the Kaifeng area, leaving some gold after each crime. Just as they were about to investigate, the monk seemed to sense the wind and fled from Kaifeng. I remember this, and now I think it might be this Yuan Tong. He must have had some extraordinary encounter and learned top-notch lightness skills, making him hard to catch."

Su Peng nodded, forming a preliminary impression of Dakuang Temple. Although it was a leading righteous sect, it seemed to have some dark spots under its illustrious name.

As he was thinking, Su Peng noticed the sailors on the junk lowering the sails, indicating they had reached a nearby lakeside town...

In less than twenty minutes, the junk docked at a town on the shores of Poyang Lake, and they began unloading some cargo. The ship would not depart until the next morning, and some of the passengers went ashore to eat and wander around the town.

Su Peng and the other two watched the group of wealthy merchants take the swindler to the authorities. Fu Yi suggested that the ship was quite boring and proposed going ashore for a walk. If they could find an inn on land to stay the night, it would be more comfortable than sleeping on the ship.

Ouyang Qing had no objections, and Su Peng, who was about to log off, didn't care where he stayed. But seeing the other two were enthusiastic, he didn't want to seem special and joined them ashore. After walking for a while, they found a decent-looking inn and restaurant, booked rooms, and ordered a table of food downstairs.

While eating, Huo Sijie and his group also came to the inn and restaurant. Seeing Su Peng, Huo Sijie coldly snorted, didn't speak, and went to check their rooms. A while later, the group came down to eat.

Su Peng ignored them and continued drinking and eating with Fu Yi and Ouyang Qing. At this moment, a group of people who looked like constables entered the restaurant.

The leader was a girl of about sixteen or seventeen, wearing a light yellow dress, with a handsome and heroic appearance.

She led several constables into the restaurant, looked around, and said loudly, "Friends, I have something to tell you. Recently, the Poyang Lake area has been unsafe. A notorious bandit has appeared, not only preying on beautiful women but also robbing and killing wealthy merchants. Today, a victim reported that his daughter had gone missing, possibly taken by this bandit. I urge all of you with female family members to be cautious and protect your belongings. If you see any suspicious individuals, please report to the authorities."

"What? The Poyang Lake area is so unsafe?"

"A bandit... I need to tell my wife to be careful."

"Ha, your wife is like a tigress. The bandit wouldn't be interested in her."

Hearing the girl's words, the restaurant was in an uproar.

Huo Sijie and his group were particularly agitated.

"Did you hear that? A notorious bandit has appeared in the Poyang Lake area. As righteous martial artists, how can we stand by? Huo Sijie, should we assist the local authorities in investigating this case?" one of the young heroes asked Huo Sijie, his face flushed with excitement. Catching a lecherous bandit was the fastest way for a young hero to gain fame.

"We should do just that!" Huo Sijie was also excited. "If we all go, it will be slow. We should split into groups and investigate separately."

"Good idea." The group of young heroes and heroines all agreed and split into several groups to investigate the bandit.

Su Peng and the other two were not interested. Su Peng, seeing that he was almost done eating and hadn't eaten in the real world, said, "I'm a bit tired. I'll go rest."

Fu Yi and Ouyang Qing nodded and said goodbye. Su Peng went to the back courtyard of the inn, entered his room, and logged off.

After logging out, Su Peng went to the dining room, ate dinner, and rested for about thirty or forty minutes. Thinking it was still early and he didn't need to sleep yet, he decided to go back online and practice his internal skills for a while.

With this thought, Su Peng returned to the computer room and logged back into the game.

After entering the game, Su Peng appeared in the window of a small building in the back courtyard of the Poyang Lake inn. He turned around, intending to sit and practice his internal skills, but he froze.

There was a woman on the bed.

What he saw was the woman's bare, white buttocks...

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