A man in Fujian, China got revenge on a monk who slept with his wife by filming the illicit deed and using it as blackmail material, several Chinese media outlets reported.

The monk, Zhang, is an abbot at a reputable Buddhist temple in Pujiang country in Chengdu.

The man was later exposed by the monk himself, who decided to report the blackmail and take the couple down with him.

The couple, Qian and Cai, is accused of extortion with the trial taking place in Mingshan, Sichuan province, China Daily reported.

Qian was believed to have played the primary role as the principle offender, while Cai played a minor role as an accomplice, Global Times reported.

Secret affair

The monk first met the married woman, Cai, who is an online livestream anchor, at a live-streaming event selling mahogany furniture in 2020, according to Weibo.

The two began a secret affair in February 2021.

Cai would travel to Chengdu, where she would have sex in a hotel with the monk.

Their meetings were eventually discovered by Cai's husband, Qian.

Instead of confronting his wife, however, the man decided to rope her into laying a trap for her forbidden lover.

Set a trap

Cai was coaxed into luring Zhang to a hot spring resort in Fujian on Apr. 23, 2021.

There, they would engage in sexual activities while her husband hid and filmed them, reported South China Morning Post.

Qian then used the footage to blackmail the monk multiple times.

Zhang initially forked out RMB2 million (S$371,877), of which half the value came in the form of mahogany furniture, reported the regional news media.

He subsequently agreed to further pay Qian RMB3.2 million split into three payments.

But the monk soon had enough of being enslaved to the incriminating footage.

He reported the case to the authorities.

Monk makes report

Zhang has since been suspended from his post while the couple are facing extortion charges, said South China Morning Post.

As a member of the 13th Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a top political advisory body representing the religious community, Zhang's prominence has sparked mass outrage over the ethics of religious leads.

An investigation into the potential misuse of temple donations is said to be underway.

Still, it appears that the temple's intervention isn't enough to quell the harsh criticisms of the public.

"A monk with unclean senses, an unfaithful wife and a husband with malicious intent. It sounds like a fictional plot. Art originates from life, and reality is even more dramatic. It’s truly absurd," one person opined online.

Top images via Weibo