Both elderly nuns in their eighties had passed away.
Shui Miao’s divine sense detected their appearances. For two frail, emaciated old women, their wrinkled facial expressions looked somewhat strange—they were twisted together in a way that made it hard to tell whether they were smiling or in pain.
But just as Shui Miao was sensing them, two beams of golden light descended from the sky into the nunnery, shining upon the bodies of the two old nuns.
As Shui Miao stood there puzzled, he watched the spirits of the two old nuns separate from their corpses.
Their souls stared blankly at the golden light…
At that moment, a golden Buddha the size of a palm appeared within the golden light. Facing the two old nuns, it uttered a Buddhist chant: “Amitabha Buddha. I am the guide from the Western Paradise. You two have completed your cultivation and all worldly attachments have been severed. I have come especially to guide you to reincarnate in the Western Paradise. Now, you may choose whether to go or not.”
Upon hearing this, the nuns hurriedly returned the gesture with a bow.
“Senior sister, our karmic grudge with our disciple has been resolved, and we have passed away peacefully with smiles on our faces. I want to go to the Western Paradise. What about you?”
“Junior sister, I will go with you.”
“Good!”
After exchanging a few words, the two old nuns bid farewell. The tiny golden guide monk uttered “Well done, well done!” twice, then led the two nuns’ souls into the golden light, where they vanished.
“So they passed away peacefully with smiles on their faces!”
Shui Miao opened his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. He got out of the car and said to the old nun, “Master, there’s no need to be worried. I just sensed that your master and senior master’s souls were guided by a golden Buddha to the Western Paradise. Their karmic grudge with you has been resolved, and they passed away peacefully with smiles on their faces. So you can rest assured and just arrange their funeral.”
“Is that really true?” the old nun asked, somewhat disbelieving.
Shui Miao smiled slightly and nodded. “Of course it’s true. In fact, I have a deep connection with Buddhism. I would never disrespect it or speak falsely.”
“That’s right, Master. Shui Miao is an upright person with a compassionate heart. He would never say anything untrue,” Lin Xue added.
Chu Miaoyi also spoke up, “Master, you don’t need to be so upset. Your master and senior master were already very old. That they passed away peacefully with smiles on their faces is a blessing for them. You should feel happy for them.”
“Mm! Alright, I am happy, I am happy!”
Tears streamed down the old nun’s face. Deep in her heart, she felt a profound sense of guilt for not being able to properly care for her master while she was alive. Now that her master had passed, she would never have the chance again.
※※※
After saying their goodbyes to the old nun, Shui Miao and the two women sat silently in the car.
Once the car was on a smoother road, Lin Xue suddenly broke the silence: “By the way, Miaoyi, Shui, what do you think that Guo Jing, with all those gold bars, will do now? Even if he wants to abandon evil and become an honest official, he can’t just donate all that gold publicly, can he? Besides, the political world is so chaotic. It won’t be easy for him to remain clean.”
“It’s definitely not easy. Corrupt officials form a complex web, like an invisible giant spiderweb. To completely eradicate it is extremely difficult,” Chu Miaoyi shook her head, pessimistic about Guo Jing’s chances. “Shui Miao, what do you think about the murky world of politics?”
Faced with this complicated topic, Shui Miao sighed and said, “There’s always a distinction between yin and yang, and the human heart contains both good and evil. Greed or honesty is essentially the same principle—it all comes down to a single thought. But I believe the main reason people abandon their principles, engage in corruption and bribery, and commit immoral acts is because they lack firm beliefs and moral integrity.”
“Firm beliefs, right! How could I have overlooked that?” Chu Miaoyi suddenly understood, realizing the fundamental nature of human character.
Lin Xue clicked her tongue, “Unfortunately, there are too few people like you, Shui. If there were more like you, the world might have hope. Oh, Shui, what do you think about foreign religions like Christianity? I know we have Taoism and Buddhism in our country, but do you think Christianity is just made up?”
“I’ve thought about that too. I think it’s a mix of truth and fabrication, not entirely fictional. As to whether it’s real or not, we can only know after we personally witness it,” Shui Miao suddenly had an idea. “Actually, I’d like to visit a Christian church someday and see if there really are any Western deities there.”
“Great idea! Let’s go now!”
Lin Xue was thrilled and slammed her foot on the accelerator, speeding up.
The two elderly nuns in their eighties and nineties had both passed away.
Shui Miao sensed their appearances through his spiritual awareness. For two emaciated old women, their wrinkled facial expressions were indeed somewhat peculiar—contorted and tangled, making it unclear whether they were smiling or grieving.
Just as Shui Miao was sensing this, two beams of golden light descended upon the bodies of the elderly nuns inside the nunnery.
As Shui Miao wondered what was happening, he saw the souls of the two elderly nuns separate from their bodies.
Their souls stared blankly at the golden light…
At that moment, a golden Buddha, about the size of a palm, appeared within the golden light. He chanted a Buddhist invocation to the two elderly nuns: “Amitabha. I am the guiding monk from the Buddhist Pure Land. Both of you have attained perfection in your cultivation and resolved all worldly attachments. I am here to guide you to the Buddhist Pure Land for reincarnation. You may now choose whether to go or not.”
Hearing this, the elderly nuns quickly returned the greeting.
“Elder Sister, our karmic grievances with our disciples have been resolved, and we can depart with a smile. I wish to go to the Buddhist Pure Land. What about you?”
“Younger Sister, I will go with you.”
“Very well!”
After a brief exchange between the two elderly nuns, the small golden guiding monk chanted “Well done, well done” twice and led their souls away, disappearing into the golden light.
“So they departed with a smile!”
Shui Miao opened his eyes, breathed a sigh of relief, and stepped out of the car to say to the elderly nun: “Master, there’s no need to worry. I just sensed that the souls of your master and senior sister were guided to the Buddhist Pure Land by a golden guiding monk. They have resolved their karmic grievances with you and departed with a smile. You can set your mind at ease and simply arrange for their burial.”
“Is that really true?” The elderly nun could hardly believe it.
Shui Miao smiled slightly and nodded. “Of course it’s true. In fact, I also have a strong connection with Buddhism. I would never disrespect it or speak recklessly.”
“That’s right, Master. Shui Miao is an upright person with a bodhisattva’s heart. He would never make things up,” Lin Xue added.
Chu Miaoyi also spoke up: “Master, you shouldn’t be too worried. Your master and senior sister were already very old. Being able to depart with a smile is a blessing. You should be happy for them.”
“Yes! Okay, I am happy, I am happy!”
Tears streamed down the elderly nun’s face as she deeply blamed herself in her heart for not having properly honored her master. Now that her master was gone, she had missed her chance.
※※※
After bidding farewell to the elderly nun, the three of them sat in the car in silence.
Once the car was on the main road, Lin Xue suddenly broke the silence: “By the way, Miaoyi, Little Shui, what do you think Guo Jing will do with all those gold bars? Even if he wants to turn over a new leaf and become an honest official, he can’t just donate all those gold bars, can he? Besides, the official world is so corrupt. If he wants to be an honest official, it probably won’t be easy, right?”
“Indeed, it won’t be easy. The network of corrupt officials is intricate, like a huge, invisible spider web. Completely cleaning it up would be extremely difficult,” Chu Miaoyi shook her head, not holding out much hope for Guo Jing. “Shui Miao, what do you think about the right and wrong in the official world?”
Mentioning this complex topic, Shui Miao couldn’t help but sigh. “Naturally, there are distinctions between light and dark, and human hearts harbor both good and evil thoughts. Corruption and integrity are essentially a matter of a single thought, much like good and evil. But I believe that people abandon their principles, engage in corruption and bribery, and commit unethical acts primarily because they lack firm beliefs and have a deficiency in morality.”
“Firm beliefs! That’s right! Why didn’t I think of that?” Chu Miaoyi suddenly saw the light, instantly grasping the fundamental aspect of human nature.
Lin Xue smacked her lips. “It’s a pity there are so few people like you, Little Shui. If there were more like you, the world would be saved. By the way, Little Shui, do you think foreign religions like Christianity are real? I only know about Taoism and Buddhism in our country. Could Christianity be entirely fabricated?”
“I’ve thought about that too. I feel it’s a mix of truth and falsehood, not entirely fabricated. As for whether it’s real or not, we’d have to see it with our own eyes to know.” Shui Miao suddenly had a whimsical idea. “Actually, I’d like to visit a Christian church someday and see if there are any Western deities there.”
“Great idea! Let’s go now!” Lin Xue exclaimed excitedly, stepping on the accelerator and speeding up.
Shui Miao was slightly startled. Lin Xue truly acted on her every whim. It seemed he would have to be more cautious with his words in the future. If he mentioned something, she would immediately want to try it, and that could lead to quite a bit of trouble. It wasn’t that Shui Miao was opposed to trying new things, but he had been continuously depleting his immortal energy lately. The reserves within his body were dwindling, and the loss was severe. The Gate of Heaven in his mental realm was sealed shut, leaving him with no way to replenish his immortal energy. If this continued, he would soon exhaust his energy and become an ordinary person. What would he do if he encountered trouble then?
So, Shui Miao had no choice but to take it easy.
After a moment, Shui Miao sat in the car and pondered. He now had two paths ahead. One was to break the seal on the Gate of Heaven in his mental realm to obtain a large amount of immortal energy and continue cultivating. However, he had caused trouble in the immortal realm, and if he attracted pursuit by enemies from there, the consequences would be dire. The other path was to find a way to unlock the other three stone tablets in his mental realm to grow stronger.
According to the middle-aged scholar, it would take several decades to comprehend and unlock the five stone tablets.
The stone tablet of Feng Shui had been unlocked naturally.
But unlocking the stone tablet of the Natural Path had been somewhat of a fluke.
“Unlocking the stone tablet of the Natural Path took me half a year and subjected me to immense physical suffering, nearly costing me my life. If I were to attempt unlocking the stone tablet of the Defensive Path now… I’d better wait. If I fail, my life would be completely over.” After weighing his options, Shui Miao decided to let things take their natural course for now. After all, he had only been cultivating for a short time and had plenty of time ahead.
Seeing Shui Miao deep in thought, Lin Xue and Chu Miaoyi consciously avoided disturbing him.
But it wasn’t long before the car came to a stop.
Lin Xue pointed outside the car and smiled at Shui Miao. “Little Shui, this is the largest church in Huanghai City. I heard that during worship services, tens of thousands of Christians gather here. Why don’t you use your super divine power to sense what kind of deity resides here?”
“Sister Lin, you really have quite the imagination. I think there definitely aren’t any Western deities here. Even if there were, they’d probably be Eastern deities,” Chu Miaoyi said with a light laugh. “Hehe, this is our territory, after all.”
Lin Xue stroked her chin and nodded. “Hmm, that makes sense. Our deities are just managing the brand, hehe…”
Lin Xue and Chu Miaoyi acted like two little girls who hadn’t quite grown up, full of playfulness.
“Alright, quiet down for a moment. Let me try to sense it…”
Shui Miao looked at the church with reverence, closed his eyes, focused his mind, and extended his spiritual awareness…
The church covered more than ten acres of land and was built on a grand and imposing scale.
However, it wasn’t a Sunday, so the church doors were closed, and not a single person was in sight.
Shui Miao had only been sensing for a short while when he suddenly furrowed his brow deeply and blurted out, “How could this be?”
Therefore, Shui Miao had to be cautious.
The two elderly nuns in their eighties and nineties had both passed away.
Shui Miao sensed their appearances through his divine consciousness. For two emaciated old women, their wrinkled facial expressions were indeed somewhat peculiar—all contorted, making it unclear whether they were smiling or grieving.
Just as Shui Miao was sensing this, two beams of golden light descended upon the bodies of the elderly nuns inside the nunnery.
As Shui Miao wondered what was happening, he saw the souls of the two elderly nuns separate from their bodies.
Their souls stared blankly at the golden light…
At that moment, a golden Buddha, about the size of a palm, appeared within the golden light. He chanted a Buddhist invocation to the two elderly nuns: “Amitabha. I am the guiding monk from the Buddhist Pure Land. The two of you have completed your cultivation and resolved all worldly attachments. I am here to guide you to the Pure Land for reincarnation. You may now choose whether to go to the Pure Land or not.”
Upon hearing this, the elderly nuns quickly returned the greeting.
“Elder Sister, our karmic grievances with our disciples have been resolved, and we have achieved a smiling death. I wish to go to the Pure Land. What about you?”
“Junior Sister, I will go with you.”
“Good!”
After the two elderly nuns exchanged a few words, the small golden guiding monk chanted “Well done, well done” twice and then led their souls away, disappearing into the golden light.
“So it was a smiling death after all!”
Shui Miao opened his eyes, breathed a sigh of relief, got out of the car, and said to the elderly nun, “Master, there’s no need to be nervous. I just sensed that the souls of your master and senior sister were taken to the Buddhist Pure Land by a golden guiding monk. They have resolved their karmic grievances with you and passed away with a smile. So you can set your mind at ease and simply arrange for their burial.”
“Is that really true?” The elderly nun could hardly believe it.
Shui Miao smiled slightly and nodded. “Of course it’s true. In fact, I also have a strong connection with Buddhism. I would not disrespect it or speak recklessly.”
“That’s right, Master. Shui Miao is an upright person with a bodhisattva’s heart. He would never say such things lightly,” Lin Xue added.
Chu Miaoyi also spoke up: “Master, you shouldn’t be too tense. Your master and senior sister were already very old. For them to pass away with a smile is a blessing. You should be happy for them.”
“Yes! Good, I am happy, I am happy!” Tears streamed down the elderly nun’s face as she deeply blamed herself in her heart for not having properly honored her master. Now that her master was gone, she had missed her chance.
※※※
After bidding farewell to the elderly nun, Shui Miao and the two women sat in the car in silence.
Once the car was on the main road, Lin Xue suddenly broke the silence: “By the way, Miaoyi, Xiao Shui, what do you think Guo Jing will do with all those gold bars? Even if he wants to turn over a new leaf and become an honest official from now on, he can’t just take so many gold bars and donate them casually, right? Besides, the official world is so corrupt. If he wants to be an honest official, it probably won’t be easy, right?”
“Indeed, it won’t be easy. The network of corrupt officials is intricate, like a huge, invisible spiderweb. Trying to clean it up completely would be extremely difficult.” Chu Miaoyi shook her head, not holding out much hope for Guo Jing. “Shui Miao, what’s your take on the right and wrong in the official world?”
Mentioning the complex topic of the official world, Shui Miao couldn’t help but sigh. “Naturally, there are distinctions between light and dark, and human hearts harbor both good and evil thoughts. Corruption and integrity are essentially the same as good and evil—it all comes down to a single thought. But I believe that the reason people abandon their principles, engage in corruption and bribery, and do things that violate morality is mainly due to their lack of firm faith and a deficiency in moral values.”
“Firm faith—that’s right! Why didn’t I think of that?” Chu Miaoyi suddenly saw the light, instantly grasping the fundamental aspect of human nature.
Lin Xue smacked her lips. “It’s a pity there are so few people like you, Xiao Shui. If there were more like you, the world might have a chance. By the way, Xiao Shui, do you think foreign religions like Christianity are real? I only know about Taoism and Buddhism in our country. Could the whole Christian doctrine be made up?”
“I’ve thought about that too. I feel it’s a mix of truth and falsehood, not entirely fabricated. As for whether it’s real or not, we’d have to see it with our own eyes to know.” Shui Miao suddenly had a whimsical idea. “Actually, I’d like to visit a Christian church someday and see if there are any Western deities there.”
“Great idea! Let’s go now!” Lin Xue was so excited that she stomped on the accelerator, speeding up the car.
Shui Miao was startled. Lin Xue truly acted on every whim that crossed her mind. It seemed he would have to be more cautious with his words in the future. If he mentioned something, she would immediately want to give it a try, and that could indeed become quite troublesome. It wasn’t that Shui Miao was averse to trying new things, but he had been continuously depleting his immortal energy lately. The reserves within his body were dwindling, and the loss was severe. The Heavenly Gate in his mental realm was tightly sealed, preventing him from replenishing his immortal energy. If this persisted, he would soon exhaust his energy and revert to being an ordinary person. What would he do if he encountered trouble then?
So, Shui Miao had no choice but to take it easy.
After a moment, Shui Miao sat in the car and pondered. He now had two paths ahead. One was to break the seal on the Heavenly Gate in his mental realm to obtain a large amount of immortal energy and continue cultivating. However, he had caused trouble in the immortal realm, and if he attracted pursuit by enemies from there, the consequences would be dire. The other path was to find a way to unlock the other three stone tablets in his mental realm to grow stronger.
According to the middle-aged scholar, it would take several decades to comprehend and unlock the five stone tablets.
The unlocking of the Feng Shui stone tablet had happened naturally.
But unlocking the Nature stone tablet had been somewhat of a fluke.
“Unlocking the Nature stone tablet took me half a year and subjected me to immense physical suffering, nearly costing me my life. If I try to tackle the Defense stone tablet now… forget it, I’d better wait. If I fail, my life would be completely over.” After weighing his options, Shui Miao decided to take things as they came for now. After all, he had only been cultivating for a short time and had plenty of time ahead.
Seeing Shui Miao deep in thought, Lin Xue and Chu Miaoyi consciously avoided disturbing him.
But it wasn’t long before the car came to a stop.
Lin Xue pointed outside the car and smiled at Shui Miao. “Xiao Shui, this is the largest church in Huanghai City. I heard that on worship days, tens of thousands of Christians gather here. Why don’t you use your super divine power to sense what kind of deity resides here?”
“Sister Lin, you really have quite the imagination. Personally, I don’t think there are any Western deities here. Even if there were, they’d probably be Eastern deities,” Chu Miaoyi said with a light laugh. “Hehe, this is our territory, after all.”
Lin Xue stroked her chin and nodded. “Hmm, that makes sense. Our deities are just managing the brand, hehe…”
Lin Xue and Chu Miaoyi acted like two little girls who hadn’t grown up, full of playfulness.
“Alright, quiet down for a moment. Let me try to sense it…” Shui Miao looked at the church with reverence, closed his eyes, focused his mind, and extended his divine consciousness…
The church covered more than ten acres of land and was built on a grand, imposing scale.
However, it wasn’t a Sunday, so the church doors were closed, and not a single person was in sight.
Shui Miao had only been sensing for a short while when he suddenly furrowed his brow deeply and blurted out, “How could this be?”
According to the middle-aged scholar, it would take decades to fully understand and unlock all five stone tablets.
The Feng Shui stone tablet had been unlocked naturally.
As for the Natural Dao stone tablet, he had unlocked it somewhat by sheer luck.
“It took me half a year to unlock the Natural Dao stone, enduring immense physical pain and nearly costing me my life. If I attempt the Defense Dao stone now… maybe I should wait a bit longer. If I fail, I might lose my life completely,” Shui Miao thought for a moment and decided it was better to take things as they came. After all, he had only been cultivating for a short time and had plenty of time ahead.
Seeing Shui Miao deep in thought, Lin Xue and Chu Miaoyi wisely refrained from disturbing him.
But not long after, the car came to a stop.
Lin Xue pointed outside and smiled at Shui Miao. “Shui, this is the biggest church in our city, Huanghai. They say on Sundays thousands of Christians come here. Use your amazing divine power to sense what kind of divine beings might reside here.”
“Lin Jie, you really think of everything. I think there’s definitely no Western god here. Even if there were, it would probably be one of our Eastern deities,” Chu Miaoyi laughed lightly. “Hehe, this is our territory.”
Lin Xue nodded thoughtfully, stroking her chin. “Hmm, that makes sense. Our gods are just handling the brand as agents, hehe…”
Lin Xue and Chu Miaoyi acted like two young girls who hadn’t grown up yet, full of playful energy.
“Alright, you two be quiet for a moment. Let me try sensing it…”
Shui Miao looked at the church respectfully, closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and extended his spiritual awareness…
The church covered more than ten acres and was grand and magnificent in scale.
But today wasn’t Sunday, and the church doors were tightly shut, with not a single person in sight.
Shui Miao had barely started sensing when he suddenly furrowed his brows and muttered, “How can this be?”
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