Unexpected Gains

The young monk bowed slightly, chanted a Buddhist invocation, and spoke.

"The Abbot is currently in his meditation room, but..."

The words that usually followed were excuses like "his devotions are not yet finished," "he has guests," or "he is not seeing outsiders."

Every day, tens of thousands of tourists visit Wood Buddha Temple to burn incense and pray.

There are no shortage of people who wish to see the Abbot, but as the administrator of the temple, he naturally cannot see just anyone.

It all depends on "fate."

"I must trouble you to pass on a message, little master."

Hu Long naturally understood this point.

"I am willing to donate one hundred thousand in incense money to this precious temple; I only ask that the Great Master Abbot spare a moment to resolve a speck of dust and confusion in my heart."

Hu Long said the words "one hundred thousand" as if they were nothing.

Yet, to the ears of the Guest-Reception Monk, his fingers, which were twisting his prayer beads, paused imperceptibly.

He pressed his palms together once more, and this time, the arc of his bow was slightly deeper than before.

"Amitabha. Your benevolence, benefactor, is of immeasurable merit."

He turned to the side, leading Hu Long toward a corridor behind the hall that was half-hidden by curtains.

At the same time, he lowered his voice, yet clearly delivered the second half of his sentence into Hu Long's ear.

"The Abbot often says that for those with fate, time is no object. Benefactor, please follow me this way."

Hearing this, Hu Long nodded slightly, his face showing no surprise, and he stepped forward to follow.

True Buddhas may be able to achieve a state of having no desires or cravings, but monks are not necessarily the same.

Because monks are, after all, human; even though they reside within the gates of Buddhism, they still struggle to shed their human nature.

While there are a few high-ranking monks of great virtue whose thoughts are selfless, they are, in the end, as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

The vast majority of monks are still the same as ordinary people, possessing ordinary joys, angers, sorrows, and delights, as well as desires.

This principle holds true everywhere.

As the two moved away, the recorded chanting in the Mahavira Hall continued to hum as before, and the blue smoke from the incense burner rose straight up, merging into the mist that filled the hall, until one could no longer tell them apart.

Below, tourists knelt on prayer mats, earnestly praying for their own wishes.

This was a small meditation room with simple furnishings.

On the front wall hung a massive Buddhist invocation in black characters against a bright yellow background, solemn and majestic.

Below it, a middle-aged monk with a plump figure and fair complexion sat upright on a prayer mat, eyes closed in quiet contemplation.

"This is our Abbot, Zen Master Shan Kong."

The Guest-Reception Monk who had led the way reported softly:

"Abbot, this benefactor wishes to donate one hundred thousand in incense money and requests your guidance to resolve his confusion."

Hearing this, the monk who had appeared to be in deep meditation slowly opened his eyes.

"Amitabha. Great Master Abbot, please, you must help me!"

Hu Long pressed his palms together and piously chanted a Buddhist invocation, appearing exactly like a devout believer in the Dharma.

He then took two quick steps forward, bowed, and grasped the other man's hands, his actions earnest.

This sudden intimacy startled Zen Master Shan Kong, who instinctively wanted to pull his hands away.

But Hu Long had already let go a step earlier.

"My apologies, I was a bit agitated... I hope the Abbot will not take offense."

He pressed his palms together in apology, his tone sincere.

Shan Kong's lips moved, but he ultimately said nothing.

Looking up, he saw that the man was dressed decently and carried an extraordinary air; he was clearly a person of fate with a generous offering.

Monks cultivate wide-reaching karmic connections, so there was no need to be overly rigid about formalities.

He smoothed his brow and said slowly:

"Amitabha. Benefactor, whatever weighs on your heart, feel free to speak."

Ten minutes later.

Hu Long left the meditation room.

He casually shoved the Peace Amulet the other had gifted him into his pocket.

His brows were slightly furrowed.

A flash of disappointment crossed his eyes.

Through the tests he had just conducted using the panel, he discovered that neither these ordinary monks nor even the abbot, who looked every bit the enlightened master, were anything more than ordinary people.

The skills they excelled in were nothing more than health-maintenance exercises, funeral rites, and the like.

These were all mundane skills, possessing no extraordinary power whatsoever.

The abbot didn't even have a single skill at the "proficient" level; he was practically useless.

He had no idea how the man had even become an abbot.

However, even though he hadn't obtained what he wanted, Hu Long still donated one hundred thousand in incense money.

After all, if eerie, ghostly figures could exist, it wasn't impossible that some kind of Buddha might exist as well.

If he were caught lying and some sort of divine punishment were brought down upon him, he couldn't afford to bear it right now.

Of course, the most important point was that he wasn't lacking money at all.

Yesterday, He Yanling had shoved a bank card into his hand containing three million.

So, one hundred thousand was just a drop in the bucket to him; it meant nothing.

Having gained nothing, Hu Long didn't linger any longer and turned to leave.

To accommodate tourists, Wood Buddha Temple had two paths—one left and one right—one for entering and one for exiting.

At this moment, Hu Long followed the exit signs, moving forward along with the other tourists.

However, halfway there, his footsteps suddenly came to a halt.

The reason for this was that a line of silver text was rapidly fading away before his eyes.

<strong>[Source Value +0.01 wisp]</strong>

"Source Value?"

Hu Long raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

He glanced around. Although it was a clear day, the hour was still early; the sky had just brightened, and the sun had not yet fully risen.

Furthermore, the section of the path where he stood was shaded by trees, blocking out all sunlight. By all logic, his Source Value shouldn't have increased.

Yet, it had increased, which was clearly abnormal.

He suddenly grew thoughtful and turned to look at his surroundings.

On one side of him was the temple wall, and on the other was a mottled, undulating rock face carved with niches of varying sizes.

Inside them sat wooden Buddha statues of different forms: Bodhisattvas with lowered brows, solemn Buddhas, and stern Arhats.

Occasionally, a few scattered tourists would stop before a statue, press their palms together in silent prayer, and then quietly move on after a moment.

After a brief thought, he tentatively walked toward the statue directly facing him.

It was a three-meter-tall wooden statue of a Bodhisattva with a kind and gentle expression.

Its hand was held in a mudra, and it stood smiling upon a lotus pedestal, which bore traces of black charring.

However, if one looked closely, they would notice that the statue seemed somewhat unnatural, as if its body were too new.

<strong>[Source Value +0.01 wisp]</strong>

Suddenly, the familiar text appeared once again.

"Is it really related to this Bodhisattva?"

A strange glint flashed in Hu Long's eyes.

He quickened his pace and walked forward.

By the time he reached the front of the wooden Bodhisattva statue, his Source Value had increased by a total of 0.03 wisps.

This was already equivalent to three hours of sunbathing.

At this very moment, he could confirm that the source of the Source Value was inextricably linked to this wooden Bodhisattva statue before him.

He paused for a moment.

He noticed that the Source Value had stopped increasing.

It was as if everything he had just seen was merely an illusion.

Yet, the numerical increase in the Source Value column clearly reminded Hu Long that all of this was real.

"Could it be that physical contact is required?"

Thinking of this.

He stepped closer and reached out to touch the Lotus Stone Platform.

Perhaps because the Buddha statues here were all newly carved wood rather than the ancient relics enshrined in the main hall, there were no protective railings around them, only a "Please Do Not Touch" sign standing nearby.

However, Hu Long still saw many tourists reaching out to touch them.

"The 'Do Not Touch' sign is over there; there isn't one here."

He muttered to himself, and his hand followed suit, landing upon it.

Yet, there was still no prompt regarding the Source Value.

Nevertheless, Hu Long was not quite ready to give up.

He moved his palm around, feeling the surface.

Unfortunately, there was still no reaction, but just as Hu Long was about to pull his hand away.

Suddenly, lines of text began to emerge before his eyes.

[Source Value +0.01 wisp]

[Source Value +0.01 wisp]

[Source Value +0.01 wisp]