Chapter 95

The evil spirits were forced back to the foot of the mountain, only to be recalled by Jiulong's followers, whose location remained unknown.

Therefore, when Ke Xingzhou and the others climbed the mountain, they didn't face much resistance. The biggest issue they encountered came from the followers climbing the mountain.

The followers who were lined up on the stairs were initially just dissatisfied with their act of cutting in line. Upon seeing the Taoist priests following Ke Xingzhou, they immediately became wary, their gazes turning unfriendly: "Where are you Taoists from? What are you here for?"

Their tone was filled with suspicion, making the Taoists feel uneasy.

Over the years, the Southwestern Taoist Association had considered ways to expel Jiulong, but by the time Jiulong Temple entered their radar, it had already gained a loyal following.

They were just a Taoist association and couldn't find evidence of any illegal activities, so they could only gently persuade the followers to distance themselves from Jiulong Temple.

However, those followers had been brainwashed so thoroughly that they didn't listen to the local Taoist association's advice. Instead, they reported their own Taoists for promoting feudal superstitions.

Naturally, the local police wouldn't arrest anyone, but this had become a repetitive issue, and members of the local Taoist association were starting to feel weary.

Earlier, when the Taoists from the Southwestern Taoist Association attended a ceremony and complained to them, they had trouble understanding their pain. Now, they could deeply empathize—after all, their own temple's followers didn't even actively defend them this way!

What qualifications did an evil cult have to achieve such loyalty?

Followers of Jiulong Temple, however, firmly believed in their temple, even thinking that other Taoist temples were uniting to exclude and suppress Jiulong out of envy.

Seeing the increasingly suspicious expressions of the followers, with a subtle hint that they might unite and attack, the Taoists' faces tightened, and they quickly realized that this was the second hurdle set by Jiulong.

No wonder, when they had just arrived at the foot of Insect Mountain, Jiulong had recalled the evil spirits.

Initially, they thought Jiulong didn't want to reveal its evil nature to its followers. But now, seeing their followers' attitudes, they realized Jiulong believed that with these followers present, there was no need for the evil spirits anymore!

For some unknown reason, there seemed to be unusually many followers at Insect Mountain today. Just a quick glance showed over a hundred people, including quite a few elderly individuals.

With so many people, if things turned violent, the consequences of someone losing their footing and rolling down the mountain would be unimaginable!

The Taoists' expressions became tense as they quickly brainstormed strategies on how to avoid harming innocent bystanders and still find a way to push through the crowd and ascend Insect Mountain.

The followers also appeared tense, thinking to themselves that if these Taoists were truly up to no good, they would not allow them to ascend the mountain and disrupt the ritual.

As the atmosphere between the two sides became increasingly tense, suddenly, an untimely hand was raised from the crowd.

Zhu Chu's phone was bombarded with message notifications. After sorting through the situation, he looked up from his phone and heard the followers' question. With his mind full of trending topics, he answered without thinking: "We are here to exchange Taoist techniques with Jiulong Temple."

The followers paused: "Huh?"

They hesitated and looked at the Taoists' dark expressions: "Really?"The Taoists paused for a moment, thinking that the Taoist techniques they had learned at the temple weren't just about chanting spells and drawing talismans; they also included various methods for strengthening the body, which were certainly no less impressive. When Taoists fought, saying it was to exchange Taoist techniques wasn't wrong.

They slowly nodded in agreement.

Only then did the followers lower their guard and, with a sound of "ah," they returned to their positions in the line.

Some more straightforward followers even complained: "If you came to exchange techniques, why didn't you say so earlier? Hurry up and go up, or you’ll miss the program."

... Program?

The Taoists were puzzled but didn't ask. Regardless of what Jiulong was planning to do today, they wouldn’t let it go as planned, so it didn’t matter whether they asked or not.

Zhu Chu, however, didn’t have that mindset.

"What program? Does Jiulong Temple allow performances?" He grabbed a young man who looked familiar and asked, "Are you here to watch a program? Then why weren’t you in line? Why did you single us out?"

There were indeed quite a few elderly people who weren’t in line and were walking straight up.

The followers were warm and explained, "Those are Jiulong Temple’s loyal followers. Did you see the Jiulong emblem on their clothes? That’s a mark the temple master blessed them with. Jiulong Temple treats its followers well, so they can enter early."

Then he asked curiously, "Aren't you here for the pre-ceremony program?"

Zhu Chu was stunned. "What ceremony?"

"Of course, the annual sacrificial ceremony!" The young man replied. "The Jiulong God has protected us for an entire year, don’t we need to properly pay our respects?"

"Sacrificial ceremony!" The Taoists' faces all changed at once. "Such activities have long been prohibited unless reported to the police. They actually dare to hold it so openly!"

One Taoist even directly questioned the follower, "Why are they asking you to come over for a sacrificial ceremony? Summoning so many people, could it be a human sacrifice?!"

The Taoists looked at each other, unable to suppress their growing fear.

Human sacrifice was a practice that likely began in the Shang Dynasty, where living humans were used instead of livestock to worship ancestors or deities. This brutal act had rarely been seen after the Zhou Dynasty, and it was completely unthinkable in modern society—unless it was an evil cult.

Jiulong raised so many evil spirits, and they had been wondering how they could still have such great strength after being cracked down on so many times. Now, it seemed that the real goal of Jiulong wasn’t to spread its teachings domestically, but to take the souls of these innocent followers!

If that was true, the mountain had probably already set up a soul extraction formation!

The Taoists' faces all changed drastically. However, Ke Xingzhou glanced up at the mountain and didn’t notice any signs of such a formation.

Just as he was about to speak, one of the Taoists had already dialed the police, speaking seriously into the phone: "Officer, I need to report! There is an evil cult that plans to harm living beings!"

At this moment, the follower explaining things gave them a strange look: "What are you talking about? Human sacrifice is so terrifying, how could Jiulong Temple possibly do that? It’s just a normal ceremony, using pig heads, ox heads, and such for sacrifices, and then performing a program and handing out gifts. Last year, they even gave gifts to the followers who attended!"

The surrounding followers nodded eagerly, with expressions of longing: "They gave us 200 yuan red envelopes, and some people even won smartphones worth ten thousand yuan! I’ve been praying to the gods for a long time, just hoping I’d be lucky in the lottery today!"

The Taoists: "……???"

The officer on the other end of the line immediately became alert when he heard "evil cult" and anxiously asked: "What living beings are they planning to harm, and where? Please describe the crime, evidence, and location, and we’ll arrange for personnel to go there immediately..."

Facing the intense gaze of the Jiulong followers, the Taoist who had called the police fell silent for a moment: "The living beings they’re planning to harm... are pigs, oxen, and sheep."

The operator: "…………"

"Click," the phone was abruptly hung up.The main building of the Nine-Headed Dragon Temple begins halfway up Insect Mountain and stretches all the way to the mountain's peak. Though it's only a small mountain at a few hundred meters above sea level, compared to other Taoist temples, its scale is quite impressive.

Not just the Taoist priests from Jiangcheng, but even the masters and disciples of the Xianyao Sect, who had an entire filming base as their temple, couldn't help but feel envious upon seeing this magnificent complex.

Zhu Chu: "Master, did you see that?"

Ke Xingzhou nodded.

Back in the day, their Xianyao Sect had a similarly grand temple. However, the master couldn't maintain it alone, and many of the buildings were abandoned. Later, the Cultural Tourism Bureau treated it as an unclaimed ruin and developed it into a Taoist cultural tourism experience base.

The bitterness of it all had never really crossed Ke Xingzhou's mind, but looking at the Nine-Headed Dragon Temple now, he suddenly recalled the days when he studied with his master at the temple.

He sighed: "This is the scale a proper Taoist temple should have."

Taoist priests who didn’t have such large temples: "…"

The Nine-Headed Dragon Temple had been entrenched in the southwest for a long time, and before it entered the country, no one knew how long it had been moving along the border or how many ignorant followers it had brainwashed. By the time Ke Xingzhou and his group arrived at the square in front of the hall, a large crowd of believers had already gathered. The incense burner in the center of the square was emitting thick white smoke, and the incense was burning strong—it was incredibly lively.

The scene was even more grand than many proper Taoist temples, making the Taoist priests present feel a deep sense of sorrow. Before their tears could even fall, some kind-hearted followers handed incense sticks to a few people from the Xianyao Sect.

Even the stoic Xiang Ting, whose face was cold and scarred, received three sticks.

The follower, with a kind smile, reminded them: "Hurry up and offer your incense. Afterward, you'll get a lottery ticket to participate in the draw. If you don’t offer incense, you won't get a ticket!"

The Taoist priests: "…"

This situation was already hard to comprehend. Who would have known that Taoist Priest Ke and his senior disciple from Xianyao Sect, after looking at the incense in their hands and exchanging a glance, actually walked toward the incense burner.

Zhu Chu even called to his junior: "Junior! Come here! With your good luck, you're sure to win a phone!"

The Taoist priests: "…………"

They carefully placed the incense in the burner, then took the numbered lottery tickets from the hand of the stern-looking evil Taoist nearby and returned.

Facing the Taoist priests' unspoken expressions, Ke Xingzhou paused and put the three tickets into his pocket. Zhu Chu, on the other hand, had somehow found another incense stick and started distributing it: "Follow the official account of the Xianyao Sect and get free incense!"

The Taoist priests: "………………"

The Taoist priests, who had been constantly taken aback by bizarre actions, could no longer hold back. Someone asked Xiang Ting: "Mr. Xiang, what is Taoist Priest Ke's disciple doing?"

Xiang Ting remained silent for a long time, struggling to maintain his neutral expression: "…Developing followers."

The Taoist priests: "?"

So, this is how the Taoist temples in the capital develop followers!

Why wasn't this mentioned to them last year at the Dharma meeting?!