Listening to the Great Compassion Mantra, Becoming a Compassionate Otter

"I don't know how to explain this to you."

Fan Xinglai scratched his temples.

"What's so hard to explain?" Lin Songbao put down the wooden box. "Just say what you have to say. Did you do it, of course?"

Fan Xinglai quickly shook his head and denied it. "It wasn't me."

"That's good. You didn't do it, so how could Water Bro blame you?"

"Stop keeping me in suspense, or I'll dock your September pay!"

"No, no, no!" Fan Xinglai hurriedly exclaimed, chuckling, "Actually, it's the whole nest of rats you keep in the pond, sir..."

A mouse?

Lin Songbao glanced sideways.

Liang Qu's face darkened. "What rat? A flat-tailed one is a beaver, a thin-tailed one is River Otter. Are you from Pingyang?"

Fan Xinglai pondered for a moment, "Those are River Otter. A few days after you left, those guys were relatively well-behaved, but around September, those... cough, River Otter suddenly appeared in large numbers, more than ten in total!"

Judging from their appearance, they seemed to be from a different group. The leader had a scar on his face, was hairy, and looked very fierce.

The two litters of River Otter started fighting as soon as they met, and the fight was incredibly fierce! Even the one with the flat tail got beaten up. You didn't see it, sir, the whole pond was filled with River Otter blood!

The smell of blood wafted out, and people thought we were slaughtering a pig!

I was afraid something bad might happen, like something might River Otter, so I hurried to the West Wing to fetch a master...

Fan Xinglai stopped mid-sentence, and Lin Songbao continued, "And then? Was it resolved?"

"The matter is definitely resolved, but the resolution is rather strange. Hmm... Sir, you should go and see for yourself. They are all listening to the sutras in the West Wing today."

Listening to sutras?

Liang Qu heard a very abrupt word from Fan Xinglai's mouth. He put down Oolong and stepped through the covered walkway.

Fan Xinglai and Red Mountain came to the jujube tree in the courtyard to look around, while Lin Songbao stayed where he was and waited.

The Oolong that landed on the ground wagged its tail and followed eagerly.

The West Wing was wide open, with no obstruction to the view.

Liang Qu turned sideways from the covered walkway and peered diagonally through the doorpost. His eye twitched, and he suddenly understood what Fan Xinglai the strange thing.

The room was bright and clean.

The writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone were arranged separately, a teak bookshelf leaned against the window, and wisps of incense smoke drifted from an iron incense burner.

Old Monk wearing a patchwork Patch Robe sat cross-legged behind a table, turning his prayer beads and silently chanting sutras.

At this point, everything is normal.

But as the gaze passed over the long table, twelve clumps of cattails were arranged in three rows and four columns, neatly, and a group of unfamiliar River Otter that had never been seen before came into view.

Leading the group was a Scarface River Otter, sitting upright on a central cushion in the front row. It had somehow acquired half a yellow robe, which it used to cover half of its body, with a few brown hairs peeking out from the gaps.

Its eyes were closed, its claws were clasped together, and it remained motionless. Anyone who came would have to describe it as having a dignified and solemn appearance.

From the row with the Scarface onwards, the River Otter's size gradually decreases.

The fourth row was filled with a few little brats who showed no sign of solemnity, playing around and rolling around on the prayer mats.

Oolong lay back against Liang Qu's feet, scratching his neck with his hind legs, his garlic-clove-like hairs undulating like waves.

Liang Qu looked back at Fan Xinglai under the jujube tree, Fan Xinglai scratched his head.

West Wing, the chanting of scriptures abruptly stopped.

The Old Monk opened his eyes.

"Let's disperse."

The Scarface River Otter seemed to understand, rising and bowing upon hearing the words, followed closely by several Great River Otter beside it.

Only the Little River Otter in the last row were oblivious, still tearing at each other and fighting, letting out low growls.

The Great River Otter behind Scarface leaped out and struck with its paw. The Little River Otter immediately became docile and followed along, joining the queue.

So, the twelve River Otter, led by Scarface, lined up in a long, single file and stepped out of the side room one by one.

The Scarface River Otter saw Liang Qu standing in the veranda and clasped its paws in greeting.

The Great River Otter followed suit, Little River Otter wiggled its paws, accidentally tripped over the threshold, rolled twice, and hurriedly caught up with the group.

Lin Songbao, standing beneath the hanging flower gate, stared in disbelief, wondering if he hadn't woken up yet.

What's going on? Am I hallucinating in the middle of the day?

What did I see?

Not to mention Lin Songbao, even Liang Qu himself was confused about the situation. He had never seen those River Otter before and didn't know where they came from.

Liang Qu knocked on the door. "Master?"

"Please come in, Benefactor."

Liang Qu stepped in, looked around, moved a stool over from the side, sat down in front of the Old Monk, and joked.

"Master, what's going on? Have those River Otter converted to Buddhism?"

The Old Monk took out some tea leaves from the bookshelf and brewed a cup of tea for Liang Qu.

Liang Qu hurriedly got up to take it and listened to the Old Monk sit down and speak.

"That day, Xinglai Xing Lai to me and said that there was a group of rats fighting fiercely in the pond. I went over to take a look and saw that they were two groups of River Otter. I recited a section of the Great Compassion Mantra for them."

The leader of the River Otter was quite intelligent; its murderous intent vanished instantly. From then on, it donned a yellow robe and led its relatives to listen to the sutras daily. It even learned a set of "Arhat Fist," which I modified into "Arhat Claw."

Liang Qu's lips twitched as he listened.

Perfected Elephant Grandmaster recited the Spirit Monster Great Compassion Mantra for a mindless spirit and transmitted the Arhat Claw technique...

River Otter are inherently fierce creatures, rogues of the river; this is a perfect remedy, truly curing the disease.

I wonder how things are going at your pond? "Benefactor returned from controlling the floods? Judging by the time, it's earlier than I expected."

Liang Qu put down his teacup and said, "It wasn't too serious. It was a flood, but there was almost no outbreak of disease. In addition, it was managed properly, and the source was contained. The flood began to recede in early September."

For the next two weeks, the River Conservancy Office mostly focused on resettling disaster victims, procuring supplies, and building dikes. The cause of the dike breach... no, it should be said, the process of arresting the criminals was quite bizarre.

"Excellent, excellent." The Old Monk put his hands together in prayer, then asked, "What strange cause is this?"

Cheng Chong's case must be publicly tried and beheaded to appease public anger. Liang Qu had nothing to hide, so he told the whole story, including the physical evidence found on the embankment.

"Cheng Chong admitted it himself, and the accounts corroborated this, along with the plant roots growing from the dam's stone blocks, so it's a done deal."

Unexpectedly, the Old Monk frowned and remained silent.

Liang Qu, puzzled, asked, "Master, why are you frowning? Is something wrong? I am a novice with little knowledge, and this is the first time I have done this. If there are any mistakes, I hope you will not hesitate to teach me."

The Old Monk was not only a formidable martial artist, but also Former Dynasty Graduate. Liang Qu dared not be careless.

"It's not so much about giving instruction, nor is there anything wrong with it," the Old Monk shook his head. "It's just that based on what you've said and the events leading up to it, I'm reminded of some old acquaintances..."

"An old friend?" Liang Qu didn't know much about the Old Monk's past. The only Old Monk he knew was the Daoist priest of Louguan Platform. But seeing that the Old Monk didn't reminisce at all when he spoke, and his face was calm, he boldly guessed, "The Heretical Monk that Master mentioned before?"

"Exactly."

"The dam collapse was caused by the Heretical Monk!?"

Liang Qu always believed that Cheng Chong's behavior was rather abnormal.

Unfortunately, the Three Laws Department Three Laws Department could not find the cause, and they were helpless. He was even more powerless, but unexpectedly, the Old Monk had a turning point.

Unexpectedly, the Old Monk shook his head.

"I have never witnessed the breach of the dike with my own eyes. Without any evidence, how can I deduce the real culprit?"

This old monk merely feels that human destruction of dikes is a heinous act, extremely rare except for the destruction of nations and conquests. For such behavior to occur in a prosperous era is quite similar to the common methods used by the Snow Mountain Cult to collect Calamity Qi and Calamity Qi.

"Calamity Qi, Calamity Qi?"