Chapter 2: The Young Man’s First Wooden Fish
“What kind of monster are you? Your words are so damn hurtful.”
Jiang Ce’s original admiration for the monk’s handsome moves instantly turned into disdain. His master had said that cultivating Buddhism was most importantly about cultivating the heart. A monk who attacked others right upon opening his mouth definitely wasn’t a proper monk.
“How bold! You still… Wait a moment.”
The monk pointed at Jiang Ce, originally preparing to throw out a couple of harsh words and then find a chance to run away, but then he noticed something off. Although this young man in front of him was covered in the sinister aura unique to ghosts and monsters, upon closer inspection, he clearly was just a living person.
Having traveled far and wide for so many years, he had seen plenty of terrifying ghosts and monsters. He had even luckily glimpsed one or two fierce fiends by chance, but none of their auras were as pure and evil as this person’s in front of him. This made him have to suspect whether this guy in front of him had unintentionally come into contact with something, or if he was actually a fierce fiend exaggerated enough to fool his own perception?
The monk carefully examined Jiang Ce. The latter felt uncomfortable being stared at and couldn’t help asking, “What kind of look is that in your eyes? Are you cultivating the Buddha of Bliss?”
“I bliss you… Amitabha, this benefactor, I see your philtrum is dark. Have you recently been tainted by something… uh, not very good?”
The monk was extremely tactful, afraid that Jiang Ce might be some existence beyond his imagination. If he said the wrong thing and offended him, he nervously probed.
“If you put it that way…” Jiang Ce thought for a moment, naturally sat back down on the grave mound, picked up another banana, peeled it, and started eating. This made the monk’s eyelids twitch: “Recently I’ve indeed run into a villain. Work is not going smoothly, colleagues don’t like me, interpersonal relationships are a mess.”
Jiang Ce sighed, his words full of bitterness: “An adult’s breakdown often happens in an instant. If it weren’t for really being unable to endure it anymore, who would come to a grave mound in the middle of the night to steal offerings?”
The monk glanced with his peripheral vision at the banana peel casually thrown on the ground and thought to himself, even if unable to endure it, a normal person wouldn’t do something like this, right?
However, the trivial matters in Jiang Ce’s mouth still made him slightly relax his vigilance. No matter how he looked at it, the other party was just an ordinary person.
But to be safe, he further probed: “Do you know that the one just now was a ghost?”
“I know.” Jiang Ce replied without thinking.
“Oh?” The monk’s gaze sharpened instantly.
But Jiang Ce’s reason was beyond his expectation: “If it were a person, being taken into such a small Vajra Bowl like that, how could they bear it?”
“Uh, that’s true, but you don’t seem surprised at all?”
Jiang Ce stared at the wooden fish in the monk’s hand, as if recalling something: “Once I was also a carefree young monk, living days of romance and sensual pleasures.”
“Is that the kind of life a monk should live?!”
Jiang Ce glared at him and continued: “What I mean is, I used to be a monk too. My master clearly told me that there are ghosts in the world. I even followed my master to perform Buddhist rituals for people, so unlike ordinary people, I’m not ignorant. I’ve seen the world.”
The monk put his hands together, chanted a Buddhist chant, and was almost certain: this was some unlucky person who had unknowingly been tainted by great terror.
However, to encounter such an existence and still survive meant he must also be someone with great fortune.
At this moment, his mind turned, and he asked nonchalantly:
“You say you were a monk. Do you know how to strike the wooden fish? Do you know how to chant Buddhist scriptures?”
Jiang Ce nodded, then the monk handed him the wooden fish in his hand, wanting to test his background.
Upon taking the wooden fish, Jiang Ce’s entire demeanor changed instantly, truly having a bit of that solemn and dignified Buddhist charm, making the monk nod secretly.
Indeed a person of the Buddhist Sect.
Jiang Ce recalled that the sutra the monk had just chanted while delivering the woman was the Ksitigarbha Sutra. Delivering while also accumulating merit for himself and gaining the fortune of heavenly beings, he naturally began chanting this sutra that he had copied countless times under his master’s supervision.
The monk’s eyes lit up. He hadn’t expected that on this trip wandering outside, he would really pick up a good seedling. The fluency of this chanting and the Buddhist charm were enough to make many old monks who had been in the sect for years feel inferior.
How could such a seedling have returned to secular life? Could it be that his previous master lacked the cultivation or had poor judgment?
If properly cultivated, in time, he might not be unable to become a pillar among the gatekeepers.
Just as he was delighted at the discovery and had the idea of taking him as a disciple, he suddenly noticed the surrounding environment becoming somewhat chilling.
Looking up again, he saw that at some unknown time, hundreds of large and small grave mounds around them each had a ghost standing on it, approaching with Jiang Ce at the center.
Though they were just the lowest-level ghosts, they were too numerous.
Most of these ghosts had been harmed by that woman before, their souls damaged and incomplete, some even just remnants floating in the air, eerie yet somewhat comical. This scene of a hundred ghosts walking at night was something even the monk had never seen. His first reaction was that it was ridiculous—ordinary ghosts shouldn’t be able to appear on their own like this.
And his second reaction was danger in big letters!
But the monk wasn’t panicked. Though he didn’t know the reason, mere ordinary ghosts, no matter how numerous, couldn’t shake him in the slightest. This was the pride of being a Heaven-Reaching Dharma Master.
But just as he was preparing to act, to put on a big show in front of Jiang Ce and trick him into going back to the mountain with him to cultivate immortality, the ghosts suddenly stopped in their tracks.
It turned out that at some point, Jiang Ce had stopped chanting.
He looked at the ghosts glaring covetously, layer upon layer, and silently zoned out.
“Amitabha!” The monk chanted a Buddhist chant and said loudly: “Don’t be afraid! With this monk here, no one can harm you in the slightest!”
But Jiang Ce seemed not to hear him at all, muttering to himself: “Seeing everyone so resilient in spirit despite your broken bodies, still coming out to make trouble even when incomplete, I suddenly feel that the hardships life has given me are nothing at all. Especially that one with the long legs, not sure if big brother or big sister, thank you. Seeing you suddenly gives me a sense of superiority.”
The monk turned his head, looking at Jiang Ce doubtfully, as if to say, do you want to hear what you’re saying?
But before he could speak, Jiang Ce struck the wooden fish again.
“In this scene, inspired, I want to sing a song to thank everyone for the inspiration you’ve given me.”
“Here’s a song ‘Kill That SJZ Person’ for everyone. This is the first SJZ person I’ve killed this year. Hope you like it.”
The monk hadn’t reacted yet, but the wooden fish he used to suppress monsters and exorcise demons had turned into a drum in Jiang Ce’s hands.
Accompanied by a dull beat, Jiang Ce actually started singing.
The monk’s eyelids twitched wildly. Setting aside this guy’s heaven-defying thought process, the singing was really damn awful!
But while the monk found the demonic sound piercing to the ears, the ghosts seemed to have received salvation. The graveyard, originally filled with malice, soon overflowed with a harmonious atmosphere.
In the monk’s eyes, golden aura surged from the ghosts’ foreheads, gathering toward Jiang Ce.
Merit!
The monk’s eyes widened. He had painstakingly delivered vengeful spirits all day, even just now delivering a fierce ghost, and in the end, it wasn’t even a tenth of the merit from one song?
Was moving bricks really not as good as being an idol star?
The song ended, but Jiang Ce was still not satisfied, and the ghosts in the graveyard lingered unwilling to leave.
“Disperse.”
Jiang Ce waved his hand, and the ghosts really gradually faded and disappeared in place.
Turning his head again, the monk had his back to him, slightly raising his head, gazing at the sky, his expression unreadable.
“Do you often do things like this?”
Jiang Ce pursed his lips. Why did this monk love to act cool so much?
He put his hand on the monk’s shoulder and forcibly turned him around.
“Eh?” Accompanied by the monk’s startled exclamation, Jiang Ce answered seriously:
“This is the first time I’ve done something like this.”
The monk narrowed his eyes slightly, as if trying to see through Jiang Ce’s depths.
“Before, I always played the suona.”
