Squire Li looked tormented, struggling with his emotions. Watching his son suffer under the torment of a karmic tumor was like a knife to his heart. Determined, he looked at his wife and commanded, "Wife, you and Ah Fu, along with everyone else, leave the room. Guard the door and do not let anyone enter without my permission!"
"What is there that I can't hear?" Lady Li protested, refusing to leave.
Squire Li roared, "We don't have time for this! Stop acting so petty!"
At his signal, Ah Fu and another servant grabbed Lady Li and escorted her out. She left, fuming, and yelled from the courtyard, "Li Fugui! I carry your child, and you treat me like this?! Why should we care about that dead woman's son? Isn't the child I carry your child, too?"
Inside the room, Squire Li turned to Ethan Shu with a bitter smile. "Saint Monk, I apologize for my wife's behavior."
Ethan Shu held his hands in a prayer gesture and replied, "Amitabha. Every family has its difficult scriptures to recite. Speak freely; this humble monk will listen."
Squire Li gazed out the window, his eyes filled with the pain of old memories surfacing. In a low voice, he began, "I once thought I could bury this sordid secret forever. But as they say, karma never forgets. Retribution is inevitable."
Ethan Shu listened patiently as Squire Li continued, "In my youth, I lived in a time of war and turmoil. The people suffered, and I... I became a bandit."
He paused, ashamed, then added quickly, "But I never killed anyone!"
Ethan Shu scoffed. "Did your companions abstain from bloodshed? Did they have clean hands?"
Squire Li fell silent, and Ethan Shu continued, "A bandit who does not kill is still a bandit. You were not robbing to help the poor, but merely joining forces with killers. You thought yourself pure amid the filth, but in truth, you were deceiving yourself."
Squire Li's face turned pale as Ethan Shu's words shattered his long-held self-justifications. Remorse filled his eyes, especially as he looked at his suffering son.
"This karmic tumor should have grown in me!" he cried.
"Amitabha," Ethan Shu said softly. "Please continue."
Squire Li choked back his emotions. "Later, I met a high monk who enlightened me. I abandoned my life of crime and used my savings to start a business here in Qingyu Town."
"Do you know why that monk chose to enlighten you?" Ethan Shu asked, his gaze deep.
Squire Li shook his head, bewildered.
Ethan Shu's brow split open, revealing his Brahmic Eye, glowing with radiant golden light. In that instant, he saw through Squire Li's karmic threads, past and future.
"It was because you are a 'Nine-Lifetimes Virtuous Man.'"
"A Nine-Lifetimes Virtuous Man?" Squire Li gasped.
Ethan Shu continued, "You were destined to complete ten lifetimes of virtue. In your next life, you would have been reborn as a great Buddhist master, achieving enlightenment. But someone was envious of your soul and disrupted your karma."
"What?" Squire Li stammered. "Saint Monk, who ruined my karma and destroyed my merit?"
Ethan Shu glanced at Li Moxuan, still thrashing wildly. "It was the one who transferred the karmic tumor to your son."
Looking around the room, he asked, "Who set up the Five Ghosts of Wealth formation here?"
Squire Li's face showed surprise. "Saint Monk, you recognize the Five Ghosts of Wealth formation?"
"Buddhism and Daoism lead to the same end," Ethan Shu replied calmly. "Your estate is infested with five evil spirits. How could I not recognize it?"
"Five spirits in my home?!" Squire Li stumbled back in horror, knocking over a small table behind him.
"Surprised?" Ethan Shu's gaze hardened. "Why do you think Qingyu Town is plagued with demonic energy and frequent disappearances? It's because of the five ghosts hiding in your home. By borrowing their wealth-bringing power, you've accumulated wealth while also taking on the karma of their evil deeds. The heavens regard you as their keeper, so all their karmic burdens have been transferred to you."
"With your past as a bandit adding to it, it's no wonder the karmic tumor appeared!"
"No… how could this… how could this happen?" Squire Li stammered, stepping back, each word from Ethan Shu cutting into him like a blade.
But Ethan Shu wasn't finished.
"As a Nine-Lifetimes Virtuous Man, you're naturally protected by your past merits, making it difficult for a karmic tumor to form in you."
"However, the one who advised you to create the Five Ghosts of Wealth formation used a small trick to transfer the karmic tumor to your closest kin," he said, pointing at the suffering Li Moxuan.
Squire Li's face turned ashen. "Daoist Master Kuxuan told me the Five Ghosts of Wealth formation was harmless…"
Ethan Shu snorted. "In the normal Five Ghosts of Wealth formation, one summons five Yin Generals to slightly improve fortune, which is relatively harmless."
"But this Kuxuan summoned five evil spirits. Do you still think it's harmless?"
Realizing the full extent of his error, Squire Li collapsed to his knees, sobbing and banging his head on the floor.
"Please, Saint Monk, save my son! He is innocent of my sins!"
"We'll first deal with the five evil spirits!"
Ethan Shu's eyes gleamed as he scanned the room, his aura radiating like a god inspecting the heavens.
"Five petty spirits, bold enough to remain in my presence? How daring!".。
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]