The hotel owners are a couple in their fifties. When they saw us walking in, they quickly said hello.
"Guest, please take a seat!"
There were more than a dozen empty seats in the hotel lobby. Although it was already dinner time, not a single customer could be seen, making everyone look deserted.
After a day of traveling, our stomachs were already growling with hunger, so we ordered some special farm snacks and planned to go up the mountain after eating.
The food and wine were quickly served, and we started eating and drinking, while the boss and his wife stood aside to serve at any time.
"Honey boss, I see you don't have many tourists here. It shouldn't be easy to run such a hotel, right?"
I had nothing to say, so I asked the boss casually.
"Hey, isn't it? After this year, let alone making money, we can't bear just the tribute."
The landlady stood aside and said with a sad face.
"Pay tribute to whom?"
I keenly caught a key word and asked the boss.
"This is the sanctuary of the Shangqing sect. Are there any robbers?"
"Who else could it be? It's..."
The proprietress was about to blurt out, but the male host next to her covered her mouth and glared at her fiercely.
"Guests, my wife just said nonsense. We don't need to pay tribute to anyone. You have misunderstood..."
The landlady also reacted and quickly said: "Yes, yes, I was just joking. With the protection of the Shangqing sect, our life is good..."
Naturally, the change in the attitude of this couple could not escape our eyes. Just seeing their silent expressions, I did not ask any further questions. I just looked at each other and continued eating and drinking with Lonnie.
At this moment, with the sound of chaotic footsteps, a dozen people wearing Taoist robes broke in.
Although these people were wearing Taoist robes, they all had fierce looks and were holding long swords. They did not look like good people.
The leader was a middle-aged Taoist priest with a full beard. After walking in, he folded his arms and assumed a arrogant posture.
When the shop owner and his wife saw this group of people, their faces suddenly turned pale, and they quickly put on a smile and greeted them.
"Oh, Third Chief, how come you have time to come to my shop?"
The middle-aged Taoist priest said coldly: "Of course we are here to collect grain this time. Boss Gao, are you ready?"
The store owner immediately looked embarrassed: "Sir, business is difficult this year, and the harvest is not good. We have been patching things together these days, and we are still short of 100 kilograms of flour..."
"Look, can we collect less grain this time?"
When the middle-aged Taoist priest heard this, his face suddenly turned cold.
"Take less, who do you think you are?"
"If I charge you less, others will also charge less when they see it. If this continues, are you going to let us drink from the northwest wind?"
"Don't forget, if it weren't for the protection of our Shangqing faction, you wouldn't even have a chance to stay in the village!"
When the boss heard this, he was frightened and said quickly: "Third Taoist Master, what you said is absolutely true. If it hadn't been for the protection of the Shangqing sect over the years, we would have been killed by those powerful ghosts long ago. We would not be here today..."
"It's just that this time, we are really in some difficulties, please be tolerant..."
The middle-aged Taoist priest waved his hands impatiently and said: "Boss Gao, it's not that I don't want to tolerate you, it's because there are rules from above, and we only act according to the rules, so you can't blame others."
"Brothers, since Boss Gao can't provide food, let's do it ourselves and have enough food and clothing!"
"Everyone, take a look. If there is anything valuable in this store that can be worth the one hundred kilograms of grain, take it away with me!"
"yes!"
When other Taoist priests heard this, they stepped forward one after another and started rummaging through boxes and cabinets in the hall.
"You can't do this, stop it!"
Seeing this, the proprietress hurriedly stepped forward to stop her, but was pushed to the ground by one of the Taoist priests, unable to get up for a long time.
The couple looked helpless and could only hug their heads and cry.
At the same time, Lonnie, Bai Ze, An Jingjing and I were sitting in the corner of the hall and witnessed the whole process.
The barbaric behavior of these Taoist priests made my teeth itch. Bai Ze and others also clenched their fists, and their eyes almost burst out with fire.
However, at my signal, several people remained silent and did not take action immediately.
At this time, a Taoist priest just found a large piece of bacon from the kitchen and passed us holding it.
I quietly stretched out a leg and crossed it in front of him.
The Taoist priest didn't pay attention at all, and immediately stumbled, causing a dog to chew on the mud.
"Ouch!"
The Taoist priest screamed in pain, and the bacon in his hand rolled to the ground, instantly attracting the attention of everyone around him.
"Boy, you are looking for death!"
The Taoist priest lost face, got up from the ground, shouted, raised his sword, and charged towards me angrily.
I dodged and avoided the Taoist priest's attack. I picked up Maoxuewang on the table and clasped it directly on the Taoist priest's forehead.
"ah!"
The Taoist priest suddenly let out a wail and fell to the ground rolling back and forth.
The one I wanted for Maoxuewang was very spicy. The soup was filled with chili peppers and just stuck on my head. That was no joke!
In an instant, all the Taoist priests drew their swords and gathered around our table.
"Boy, who are you?"
The middle-aged Taoist priest raised his eyebrows coldly, pointed at me and asked sternly.
"I'm just an ordinary diner. Are you blind?"
I said coldly: "The Shangqing sect is the orthodox Taoist sect. As Shangqing disciples, you don't want to protect the people in the area, but instead openly rob. What is the difference between this kind of behavior and bandits?"
The middle-aged Taoist priest was furious: "Boy, it's not your turn to point fingers at our Shangqing sect!"
"Now you guys, kneel down and apologize to me. I can also consider letting you leave alive. Otherwise... don't blame me for being rude!"
"Oh, really?"
I raised my eyebrows and said with a hint of playfulness: "If I don't agree, what can you do?"
The middle-aged Taoist priest's pupils shrank: "Since you are acting like this and dare to offend my Supreme Heavenly Power, I will send you on your way!"
Uh-huh!
As soon as he finished speaking, the dozen Taoist priests simultaneously wielded their swords and stabbed at us.
I slammed the table and gave the order to take action.
Lonnie, Bai Ze, and An Jingjing were already furious at these bandit-like Taoist warriors. After hearing my instructions, they jumped up and took action instantly.
Bang, bang, bang!
Following a burst of miserable howls, within a moment, the dozen or so disciples of the Shangqing Sect fell to the ground one after another, lying in a mess, unable to even stand up.
Although these Taoist priests are good in strength, it can be seen that they are just entry-level disciples of the Shangqing Sect. How can they be our opponents?
