We bear people have power

Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, Xieyue Sanxing Cave, a guest came from the clouds, an old Taoist priest sat inside.

There were no pleasantries, and the old Taoist didn't even open his eyes, only saying indifferently, "That merit task, did you tamper with it? Are you trying to steal my disciple?"

The visitor, hidden in the clouds and mist, whose face was obscured, replied, "My Buddhist roots are deeply planted; even without guidance, I am destined to enter the Buddhist order."

“I don’t think so. Buddhism places the greatest emphasis on cause and effect. But this little fellow doesn’t concern himself with any cause and effect, and acts as he pleases. He can never become a Buddha,” the old Taoist retorted.

"It is also acceptable to become a Bodhisattva if you cannot become a Buddha."

"Have you no shame?" the old Taoist priest said disdainfully.

"What use is shame if one is thinking of all living beings?"

"Is this why you stole my apprentice twice?" the old Taoist priest cursed.

"How can you call it robbery when it's a matter of mutual consent?"

"If I were half as shameless as you, Fangcun Mountain wouldn't be so sparsely populated."

"It would be good to take on more apprentices."

This meant he would continue to poach people from his job, which infuriated the old Taoist priest, who responded with just one word: "Get lost!"

The sound was as loud as a great bell, piercing through thousands of miles of time and space, and resounding throughout the blessed land of Lingshan.

Countless pavilions, towers, temples, and monasteries were reduced to dust by this furious shout, but the creatures on Mount Ling were unharmed. Mount Ling was thrown into chaos for a time, until the Buddha pointed a flower and restored everything to normal.

Guan Bo was unaware of all this; he was currently preoccupied with a crucial question—does a wicked person deserve forgiveness if they repent?

He was ultimately not a philosopher, and couldn't figure out the boundary between good and evil.

Yongxin sincerely repented, not only confessing his mistakes to the tenant farmers and monks, but also distributing all the money he had amassed over the years, so that the widowed, orphaned, and lonely people in Baolin Temple could enjoy peace.

Seeing Yongxin's utter devotion as he plowed and turned the soil for the lonely old man, Guan Bo could no longer muster any murderous intent.

But compared to Yung-hsin, there is another culprit who still needs to be dealt with.

Baolin Temple has thousands of monks and tens of thousands of tenant farmers who rely on the temple's land for their livelihood, all of whom suffer greatly from the abbot's oppression. This time, the abbot even secretly instigated Yongxin to kill Guan Bo, who had saved Baolin Temple, to silence him.

As Yongxin reformed his ways, the matter naturally came to light.

However, this man was far more shrewd than Yongxin. After Yongxin's assassination attempt failed, he immediately packed his valuables and fled with a few trusted followers. Guan Bo didn't bother to pursue him and also refused the monks' suggestion to appoint him as abbot.

"Are you kidding me? I still want to date." Guan Bo took this issue quite seriously.

Guan Bo refused the position of abbot, and the group of monks couldn't find anyone who could command respect, so they pushed that Vajra monk into the position. Oh, now he should probably be called Abbot Wolverine.

With Wolverine and Yongxin's testimonies, everyone believed that Guan Bo was the reincarnation of a Bodhisattva, the true form of Buddha, and certainly not an ordinary mortal. Therefore, Wolverine, who received the name bestowed upon him by Guan Bo, was naturally the best candidate to become the abbot.

As for Yongxin, before he could atone for his sins, he could only be a sweeping monk. However, judging from his contented appearance, he seemed to be even happier than the previous leader of the martial monks.

Guan Bo was helpless; he let them do whatever they wanted. He had a much more important matter to attend to: food!

Ever since being woken up by Wolverine's lump of fried noodles, Guan Bo had felt hungry. And it got worse every day, to the point where he almost thought of anything as food.

All the cooks available at Baolin Temple were busy preparing food for dozens of people for Guan Bo every day.

What puzzled Guan Bo even more was that these things went down his throat whole, but it was as if something had stolen them away. He didn't feel full, but he kept burping after eating them.

Each time Guan Bo ate, he would exhale a large mouthful of foul air. Then, he noticed that the three lines—red, blue, and green—began to grow continuously. If this represented his three attributes—vitality, energy, and spirit—then it meant that Guan Bo could level up by constantly eating.

"The person who designed this system must be a foodie." Guan Bo swallowed most of a vegetable bun with a rather helpless expression.

However, even this daily binge eating only left Guan Bo feeling half full; ordinary food was no longer enough to satisfy his appetite. Moreover, Baolin Temple was also becoming somewhat overburdened.

Although they were given the title of Bodhisattva, and the monks were willing to risk their lives to worship the Bodhisattva, they didn't see anything wrong with eating more. But Guan Bo couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand having the monks busy cooking and serving food all day while he just ate and waited to die.

“It’s time to leave.” Guan Bo chose a dark and windy night, and without saying goodbye to anyone, he took only his halberd and left Baolin Temple.

These past few days, Guan Bo had been eating a lot, and his strength had been increasing day by day. The halberd, which was somewhat light before, now felt like straw in his hands, and he could hardly feel it anymore. But it was still his first weapon used to kill on the battlefield, so Guan Bo carried it with him as a keepsake.

After leaving Baolin Temple, Guan Bo headed east. He inquired and learned that there was a flat-topped mountain not far away where mountain hermits often found medicinal herbs like ginseng. However, recently a monster had been appearing there, and it was said to eat people, so no one dared to go up the mountain anymore.

Guan Bo thought to himself that ginseng must have more spiritual energy than ordinary rice and flour, so eating it should relieve his hunger a little. Besides, monsters might not be a match for the halberd in his hand, and he might even be able to slay demons and add some merit to his life.

This strange system gave me six points of merit, but I don't know what it's for.

"Could you at least provide an instruction manual?!" Guan Bo said helplessly.

Although he didn't understand the effect, Guan Bo vaguely felt that he should accumulate more knowledge, which might come in handy for some important event in the future.

Lost in thought as he walked, Guan Bo's stomach soon started growling again. The ten steamed buns, seven bowls of vegetarian noodles, and a acre of vegetables he had eaten before leaving vanished into his stomach like smoke.

Strangely enough, lately he's been taking in a lot of food but not giving it out, at most burping a few times. You'd think he was constipated.

"Why do I feel like a mythical creature that only eats and doesn't poop? Not gaining weight is a blessing, but what's the point of never being able to eat my fill?" Guan Bo sighed and strode westward.

I thought that going down the mountain late at night, I wouldn't encounter anyone.

Unexpectedly, after walking less than ten miles, they saw a ball of fire in the distance, and the air was filled with the aroma of meat.

"I'm lucky to have a barbecue party in the middle of the night." Guan Bo's mouth was practically watering, but he didn't care about anything else and headed straight for the fire.

But upon closer inspection, Guan Bo felt a surge of rage rise to his head. These people weren't burning prey, but living people.