Apprenticing the Living Buddha

"System, you know what I'm going to do next, right?"

"..."

A calculator interface appeared on the phone screen at just the right time. An Yang tapped on it a few times and frowned.

"Two months! That's so long..."

"It looks like I can prepare properly."

An Yang took a deep breath and fell into deep thought.

The place An Yang rented was already close to the suburbs, belonging to the cheapest area for rent on the edge of Jinguan City. Not far outside the suburbs, there was a very nice park, and beside the park was a series of villa areas. Due to its remote location and sparse surrounding habitation, the entire park appeared very quiet.

Setting out early in the morning facing the rising sun without eating breakfast, he arrived at the park, found a secluded and deserted forest path, laid down a newspaper to sit cross-legged on a bench, and began practicing the Kunlun Art.

He wasn't worried about others discovering anything. These days, with a forest this big, you got all kinds of birds, and there were plenty of young people with nothing to do all day thinking wild thoughts and getting up to strange things. As for the strange looks from others, he wouldn't care at all.

He didn't know them anyway.

Otherwise, why run this far!

Not long after sitting down and regulating his breath, feeling refreshed, An Yang realized how truly quiet it was here, and the air was countless times better than in the residential building, making it very suitable for quiet cultivation.

After a long time, the scorching sunlight shot through the gaps in the forest onto his face, and the noisy sound of cicadas echoed all around. Realizing it was almost noon, he couldn't help standing up to stretch, then walked out of the forest while looking around.

At this moment, all his limbs and bones felt as if they had opened up, and the weakness and powerlessness after tossing and turning all night with Nie Xiaoqian vanished into thin air!

An old man sat on a bench outside the forest, occasionally raising his head to look at him with a rather strange gaze.

An Yang ignored him and walked out of the park in a few strides.

After lunch, he contacted a curtain shop and installed black, opaque curtains throughout the entire house. For safety, he used two layers—an embedded layer and an external hanging layer.

It wasn't just the windows, but also the exhaust fan and air conditioner vents; he didn't miss a single place connected to the outside world, striving not to let a single ray of light filter through.

The worker was very nimble and installed all the curtains within two hours, though his expression was somewhat strange when he left.

An Yang rubbed his nose, knowing well in his heart that a normal person wouldn't block out all external light sources in their house.

In the afternoon, Ji Weiwei arrived.

An Yang heard the rustling sound outside the door, shortly followed by the sound of a key turning. With a click, the door swung open.

"You actually didn't open the door for me. Don't tell me you're not home again..."

Stepping into the room, she shivered violently. "Hiss, this old lady isn't running into a ghost, is she? Why is it so pitch black! And it's broad daylight!"

A figure appeared ahead, giving her a start!

Snap!

The lights turned on, flooding the room with brightness, and An Yang's figure appeared before her!

"An Yang, you almost scared me to death!"

An Yang looked at her holding a plastic bag, in which a small folding stool was faintly visible, and asked with surprise, "What are you doing?"

"Looking for you!"

"Why did you bring a stool to look for me?"

Ji Weiwei said with a straight face, "To get the key! The eaves of your door are so high, how am I supposed to reach it without a stool!"

An Yang was speechless. "Whose door eaves aren't this high? It's clearly just that you're too short. If doors were as short as you, how would someone like me even get in?"

Ji Weiwei blurted out, "Bend over, duh."

"..."

"Hey, it's not like I wasn't worried you wouldn't be home. It's impossible for me to wait outside empty-handed, right? You ask too many questions. I haven't even asked you yet—since you're home, why didn't you open the door for me?"

"Open the door... but you're supposed to knock."

Ji Weiwei looked a little awkward, took a pair of pink slide sandals from the shoe cabinet, deftly changed into them, and then walked into the house, looking left and right. "An Yang, what are you doing, making a perfectly good apartment look so spooky!"

An Yang was silent for a moment and said, "I caught a skin disease and can't stand the sunlight, or my whole body gets terribly uncomfortable."

"Ah?"

Ji Weiwei subconsciously took a step back, maintaining a distance from him.

"It's not contagious, is it?"

An Yang looked at her with a dark face and a head full of black lines, then suddenly relented. "Alright, actually, I'm raising a female ghost in my room, and I'm afraid the sunlight will hurt her."

Ji Weiwei nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I think so too!"

Leaving An Yang with a aching sensation, fluttering in the wind.

"Speaking of which, didn't your parents force you to go on a blind date again?"

"What, are you that scared of this goddess coming over to sleep?" Ji Weiwei cast a sideways glance at him. "Relax, this goddess is here to treat you to dinner today, since I happen to have a day off."

An Yang was drinking water from a cup when he heard this. He swept his gaze down at her from above and said indifferently, "A goddess? Is there any goddess as flat-chested as you?"

Ji Weiwei's expression instantly turned fierce. She puffed out her chest, but quickly deflated, muttering, "What do you know? Concentrated things are always the essence!"

An Yang almost spat out his water.

Ji Weiwei said, "Alright, alright, hurry up and spruce yourself up to accompany this goddess out for dinner."

An Yang said with a vigilant look, "What's there to spruce up just to go out to eat with you? You aren't tricking me into going to some gathering, are you?"

"You read too much novels. A gathering? Do you want to pretend to be this goddess's boyfriend again? If you're not getting dressed up, then you might as well just go out in your slide sandals."

"..."

"Oh right, will your AIDS affect you when you go out?"

"Get fucked!"

After having food at a food stall with Ji Weiwei and sending her back home, An Yang was surprised to discover that her parents had actually arrived!

It was a good thing he hadn't worn his slide sandals!

Feeling somewhat awkward, An Yang stood at the door and greeted Ji Weiwei's parents. Sensing that he wasn't very welcome, he shrugged and took his leave, thinking to himself that he wasn't even hitting on their daughter, so why did he have to endure their dirty looks every time!

Ji Weiwei chewed her gum unconcernedly. Looking at her parents' gloomy faces, she actually waved goodbye to An Yang. "They're leaving in a few days. Remember to come over and hang out often."

An Yang was stunned for a moment, suddenly understanding Ji Weiwei's intentions, and couldn't help shaking his head with a bitter smile.

"This girl..."

When he returned home, Nie Xiaoqian was already curled up on the sofa watching TV. Her slender figure was endearing, and her plump, long legs were blindingly white. She seemed to really like this posture, but she didn't realize how bewitching she looked doing it.

An Yang sat on the sofa. She hurriedly put down the remote control, came over to massage his shoulders, and pointed around. "An Yang, you're back. Did you set up these curtains?"

"Yeah, that way you can come out for some air during the day too."

Nie Xiaoqian gave An Yang a gentle kiss, leaned close to his ear, and whispered softly, "Thank you, hubby An Yang."

An Yang pulled her slender waist into his embrace, sliding his hand down to stroke her perky, springy curves, and said, "How are you going to thank me?"

Nie Xiaoqian pushed him away and said shyly, "No way, you only ever think of improper things all day long. If this goes on, your body won't be able to take it."

An Yang rubbed his nose. He indeed felt that he had been a bit weak lately, with his palms always cold and sweating. It seemed he needed to ramp up the intensity of his Kunlun Art cultivation.

"You only have yourself to blame for being so pretty, born with a seductive charm."

Nie Xiaoqian lowered her head and said, "I'll massage your shoulders to help you relax, but you're not allowed to mess around."

An Yang agreed with a smile; he wasn't in a rush anyway.

At night, the winds blew and the rain poured as usual. Nie Xiaoqian was, after all, a purely classical woman; no matter how worried she was about his health, she couldn't refuse his requests.

When waking up in the early morning, An Yang could always find that his complexion had grown a bit paler. Therefore, he ran to the park even more diligently, spending a vast amount of time every day on the Kunlun Art.

A week later, he discovered that his physique had increased by 0.1, reaching 2.3. This was undoubtedly an unexpected pleasant surprise.

Correspondingly, the number of people in the park who noticed his bizarre behavior increased. Most of them were retired old men and women, along with a few young men and women, and they frequently cast curious gazes his way. The quiet forest path was no longer all that quiet.

Until one day, a twitchy old man scurried over and asked him, "Young man, what kind of discipline are you practicing here?"

An Yang paused and smiled helplessly. "No discipline at all, I'm just bored sitting here messing around, contemplating life."

The old man looked at him with disbelief. "Don't think I don't know. I've been watching you for several days now. You come every day, and you sit here for the better part of the day. Did you take some Living Buddha as your master? As it happens, this older brother here has also wanted to believe in Buddhism lately. How about it, give me a name and introduce me?"

Older brother...!

An Yang looked at the man's gray hair and beard, his high-end, expensive-looking clothing, and his sharp, eager gaze, and couldn't help feeling a headache coming on.

Are these rich people really this bored!

"...Mister, you're overthinking it. I'm just messing around for fun."

To his surprise, the more he denied it, the less the old man believed him, saying with curious interest, "You can't even say, huh? Could it be the Tibetan Esoteric Sect?"

The corner of An Yang's twitched. He actually knew that it was quite popular in upper-class society to apprentice under Living Buddhas, Qigong Masters, and other "high-level masters"—especially Living Buddhas recognized by orthodox Tibetan Buddhism, who could practically recruit a large group of lay disciples from upper-class society with ease—but this old man was acting a bit too neurotic.

He simply closed his eyes and ignored him.

The old man continued to nag in his ear, "Young man, what are you doing sitting here? Is this some kind of test given to you by the Living Buddha?"

An Yang took a deep breath and ignored him.

The old man kept talking to himself, "Ah, I figured as much. I heard from Old Qin that Living Buddhas have very strict requirements for accepting disciples; not only do you have to donate huge sums of charity money, but you also have to be tested in character."

An Yang opened his eyes and looked helplessly at this old man who clearly had too much time on his hands. "Mister, what on earth do you want?"

Only then did the old man realize his mistake and slap his head. "Right, right, right, I shouldn't disturb you. It would be a crime if I delayed little brother here from becoming a disciple of the Living Buddha. I'll just ask one question and leave."

Seeing that he was an elderly man, An Yang said helplessly, "Ask away, but don't ask me what discipline I'm practicing."

"I won't, I won't!" the old man promised, leaning in close and winking repeatedly. "Which Living Buddha did you apprentice under, and how much charity money did you donate when you kowtowed to your master? This older brother wants to see if I can scrape it together."

An Yang: "..."