Learn one small skill every day

Chapter Thirty-One: The Buddha No Longer Exists

As the convoy slowly approached the Buddhist temple, Bai Miao saw Chen Dalong kneeling in front of the temple gate, his hands clasped together, bowing and muttering something in a low voice.

"Buddha no longer exists..."

"What do you mean? Explain yourself more clearly?"

Bai Miao tried to pull Chen Dalong up from the ground, but Chen Dalong roughly shook off his arm and pointed to the empty sky: "Look, this Buddhist temple is empty! The Buddha who guarded this place has left! We can't rest here tonight!"

Bai Miao stared at the tightly closed temple gate, completely baffled as to how Chen Dalong knew from a great distance that there was no one inside.

"Why are you making such a racket outside, benefactor?"

However, not long after Chen Dalong shouted, the dark red gate slowly opened, and an old monk wearing a kasaya walked out of the temple.

"Look, there's someone inside."

"No, no, no, I have passed through this place many times over the years. I clearly remember that the Buddhist temple used to be filled with golden light and majestic statues, unlike today which is filled with death!"

Bai Miao swallowed hard, thinking to himself, "Saying such things in front of someone else's Buddhist temple, aren't you afraid this monk will tear you apart?"

Moreover, who can understand the situation of Buddha disappearing?

Upon hearing Chen Dalong's words, the old monk not only did not become angry, but instead put his hands together and bowed to Chen Dalong: "Amitabha, this benefactor seems to have an affinity with Buddhism. My Dharma name is now Beifeng. The other day, a Buddha statue in the temple disappeared. The rest of my fellow monks went out to search for the missing statue, leaving me alone to guard the temple. No evil spirits have appeared. It is getting late. If you don't mind, please come to the temple to rest for a while."

Bai Miao looked into the temple and found that the ground inside was very clean. It seemed that even though there was only one old monk, he had kept the place in good order.

"Master, why are you the one left to guard the temple?"

Bai Miao stepped forward and asked.

The monk Beifeng simply smiled faintly: "Your question is flawed. There must be a monk to guard the temple, and there will always be a monk to meet you today. Why can't that monk be me?"

"Amitabha Buddha... This is due to karmic conditions."

That's actually pretty... philosophical.

"Xiaolong, you walk a lot, what do you think?"

The coachmen had traveled all over the country, and Bai Miao felt that these coachmen who accompanied the group were the second level of protected individuals in this instance.

Without a coachman, there was naturally no way to travel to Dashang.

“Esteemed benefactor, the road at night is not easy to travel. Why not wait until dawn to set off? I have some vegetarian food here that you can eat.”

The monk Beifeng looked at Chen Dalong and offered some words of advice.

“There are no villages within twenty miles, and camping in the wild could easily lead to encountering wandering spirits… But there are no Buddhist temples here, and I’m really uneasy about it…”

You have to choose one in a relationship, right?

Bai Miao had no choice but to use his pathfinding skill.

Even if I have to spin around in front of this group of people, or walk forward with my eyes closed like an idiot, there's no other way.

Bai Miao took a few steps forward, opened his eyes again, and found himself already inside the temple.

Believe in your skills.

"I will stay at the temple tonight, Master. Please forgive me for disturbing you."

"It's alright, it's alright." Monk Beifeng simply smiled, seemingly quite pleased that someone could stay there.

The other eunuchs and palace maids also showed expressions of relief when they heard that they didn't have to continue their journey.

The road was already difficult to travel, and if they had to continue in the dark, it would have been the death of them.

After entering the temple, Ji Shaoqing ignored the monk Beifeng's advice and insisted on offering incense to the temple.

"Benefactor! Benefactor! There's no need for this. The Buddha statue has already been stolen; how dare our humble temple accept any more offerings?"

"My father told me that if I enter a Buddhist temple or Taoist monastery, I must leave a stick of incense for them, no matter what, little Dingzi!"

"The slave is here!"

"Bring incense!"

"Yes!"

Ji Shaoqing took the lit incense, first took a step back with his right leg, then straightened his upper body, bowed three times, and inserted the incense into the copper basin.

The wisps of smoke drifted slowly into the sky, but Bai Miao suddenly shivered.

It seems that something in the sky did gently inhale a mouthful of the incense that floated up just now?

Bai Miao's mental strength is now far beyond that of ordinary people, which allows him to sense many things that ordinary people cannot.

Or perhaps it's just an intuition.

That's really weird.

Bai Miao only said it silently in his heart.

After what happened to Blood Eye, Bai Miao no longer dared to look up at the sky.

The sky darkened around 4:30 pm today, a little earlier than yesterday.

The old monk went to cook vegetarian food for everyone with a smile, and the group of people sat in the monks' dining hall, waiting in silence.

Ji Shaoqing rested his chin on his hand, his expression full of impatience, while Zhao Mengsheng cast a wronged look at Bai Miao from afar.

"Ugh, I really don't want to be with these two..."

“You’re a woman, you can’t expect Ji Shaoqing to let a few grown men like us guard her closely, can you?”

"But she wasn't like that in the car."

"There was a curtain separating the two people in the car."

"I'm so tired... I feel like I'd rather do a few more math practice tests... Oh, please don't ask who I am."

Bai Miao found Zhao Mengsheng's way of speaking quite amusing.

"The vegetarian meal has arrived."

The monk Beifeng came out of the kitchen carrying a large bucket of green vegetables and a large bucket of clean white rice.

This power...

Bai Miao and Wang Tan exchanged a glance, and the latter shook his head, indicating that even with his current strength of 7 points, he could not do it so easily.

In other words, this monk with the sorrowful wind likely has a power level of 10 points, or even more.

Bai Miao ate some vegetables and rice in small bites.

Currently, only I can truly test the poison myself.

If there really is a deadly poison in it, Bai Miao can vomit everything he ate by regurgitation, and then drink blood vials to prolong his life.

If anyone else were to be poisoned, they would almost certainly die.

Bai Miao could certainly force others to test the poison, but that would affect his prestige within the team later on.

No one dared to trust a captain who casually allowed people to test drugs.

Of course, it's even more impossible to let the horse test the poison; if the horse dies, who will pull the cart?

Bai Miao somewhat regretted not bringing the dog from the post station with him.

Next time I come across a village, I must buy a dog to take with me. In the future, if I encounter anything unfamiliar, I'll let the dog eat it first.

After eating, Bai Miao carefully checked his condition to make sure he hadn't suffered any negative effects before letting the eunuchs and palace maids eat.

Ji Shaoqing didn't seem to have the habit of eating dinner. In the morning, while it was still light, she only ate some fruit in the car, and at noon she ate some dry food.

People will always look for food when they are hungry, so Bai Miao didn't care whether she ate or not.

After a few days of fasting, you'll be able to eat anything.

While everyone was eating, the old monk thoughtfully boiled some hot water again: "You must all be covered in dust from your journey. If you don't mind, you can use this hot water to wash your body."

Ji Shaoqing's eyes lit up, and she pointed at Lin Yu and Zhao Mengsheng: "You two, come with me to take a bath. I want to have a good wash."

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Art of Qi Observation

"Master, would you mind coming over for a chat?"

Bai Miao told Zhang Peng and Wang Tan to stand guard at the bathroom entrance, while he went to chat with the monk Beifeng to see if he could get some information about the background of this world.

“Amitabha, it is of great pleasure that you are willing to listen to my teachings.”

The monk Beifeng chuckled and brought over a prayer mat, gesturing for Bai Miao to sit down.

Bai Miao did not sit on the prayer mat, but instead sat cross-legged on the ground.

“Master, how big was the stolen Buddha statue? There is no one in the surrounding area for more than 20 miles. Who would steal the Buddha statue? The Goddess is going home to visit her family. If I hear any news along the way, I will write back to inform her as a token of my gratitude today.”

“You are truly kind-hearted, benefactor.” Monk Beifeng put his hands together and said, “The Buddha statue is the size of a person. As for who stole it, this old monk does not know.”

"Benefactor, I can see that your mind is not at peace; are you troubled by something?"

“That’s right. Ever since I set off, I’ve had a feeling that this journey will not be peaceful. Master, do you have a way to resolve this? Or can you answer my question: why has Qingqiu begun to be in turmoil?”

The monk with the sorrowful wind lowered his eyelids, a faint smile on his face: "Benefactor, you are attached to appearances. Have you truly encountered any danger on your journey?"

"Naturally, several people were killed when the blood-red eyes appeared in the sky as they left the city."

"Amitabha..." Upon hearing that someone had tragically died, the monk Beifeng began chanting the Buddha's name.

However, he then changed his tone: "No, no, the calamity of the Blood Eyes is not man-made, but rather a violation of the laws of Heaven, a natural disaster."

Why does the Way of Heaven suffer loss?

The monk Beifeng gave Bai Miao a meaningful look: "What have you been studying, benefactor?"

"what?"

"Since you are a member of the Qingqiu Demon Suppression Division, you must have some skills to protect yourself. May I ask whether you studied under a military strategist or a legalist?"

Bai Miao shook his head: "No, my ancestors were in the funeral industry."

This is obviously nonsense.

"It seems you have encountered much death. Have you ever considered what it would be like if there were no more deaths?"

Bai Miao couldn't keep up with the monk's train of thought and said rather helplessly, "Master, can you be more direct? I'm not very well-educated; I can barely write my own name."