Chapter 343: Clues and Evidence

The village was still the same village that Shui Miao remembered.

The乱坟岗 was also just as it had always been.

Yet after arriving at the乱坟岗, Shui Miao spread out his spiritual senses, but could not detect a single ghost!

Could it really be possible that not a single ghost remained in this vast field of乱坟岗?

How could this be?

Had all the ghosts here been destroyed by powerful cultivators?

Instantly, an ominous feeling surged in Shui Miao’s heart. He thought that perhaps the moment he had first absorbed that wisp of yin energy, he had unknowingly become a pawn. Maybe everything that had happened since then had been part of a grand scheme!

But Shui Miao couldn’t understand—why would someone target him? He was just an ordinary person. What value could he possibly hold that someone would go to such lengths to manipulate him?

Or perhaps he was overthinking it?

Shui Miao felt deeply confused and lost, wandering aimlessly through the field of scattered graves.

After dozens of minutes, Shui Miao left the乱坟岗.

It was late at night, quiet and still. Shui Miao had originally planned to go into the city and find his grandfather at an underground casino to ask him about the乱坟岗 in the village.

As he walked, he suddenly noticed a shadow emerge from a nearby alley. The figure kept a distance of about ten meters, didn’t speak, and simply followed silently.

Using his spiritual sense, Shui Miao detected that the person was ordinary—just a homeless tramp wandering the streets.

“Do you want money?”

Shui Miao stopped and turned to face the tramp.

Ahead was a four-way intersection with a traffic light, which was currently red. The roads were nearly empty, with only the occasional taxi passing by. The tramp was ragged and dirty, his hair matted and face unclean. He pointed at his own nose, hesitantly asking, “Are… are you talking to me?”

“Is there anyone else behind me? You’ve been following me, so aren’t you just trying to rob me of my money?” Shui Miao suddenly smiled faintly and shook his head. “But too bad—I don’t have any money. If I did, it would just be an illusion I created.”

“No, no! You misunderstood! I’m not trying to rob you. It’s just that… you remind me of my son, so I followed you,” the tramp hurriedly explained, waving his hands.

Shui Miao paused slightly, looking at the tramp. Though they were over ten meters apart, he could still see a kind of simple sincerity in the man’s eyes.

“Do you have anywhere to go? Since we’ve met by fate, why don’t we walk together for a while? I’d like to hear about your son.”

For some reason, seeing the tramp’s innocent eyes, Shui Miao felt a pang of sympathy. Thinking of himself, aside from possessing some magical abilities and wearing slightly better clothes, he wasn’t much different from this tramp.

“Okay! Okay!”

The tramp smiled innocently and quickly walked closer to Shui Miao.

Standing in front of Shui Miao, the tramp stared at him for a moment before carefully asking, “You seem troubled? I noticed you were walking listlessly. Please don’t be thinking of doing anything reckless! You mustn’t give up on life. Even though I’m in such a miserable state, I still keep going. You mustn’t give up either!”

The tramp had been following Shui Miao because he sensed his deep worries and was afraid he might do something drastic.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Shui Miao could tell the tramp was genuinely concerned for him, and a warm feeling rose in his heart. “Don’t worry, I’m just thinking through a complicated issue. I’m not suicidal. Come on, since we’ve met by fate, let me treat you to something to eat.”

The tramp quickly waved his hands. “No, no! I don’t want to owe you anything. My master once told me that every action has a consequence. If I accept your kindness and can’t repay it, I’ll have to repay it double in my next life. I’m afraid I’ll still be a tramp in my next life, so forget it.”

“Karma…”

Shui Miao thought about the tramp’s words and found them deeply meaningful.

The tramp nodded. “Yes, karma. My master also said that today’s results come from past causes. The reason I’m a tramp now is because I committed grave sins in my past life. This life, I must live simply, do good deeds, and avoid evil, so that I can cultivate a good fate for the next life.”

“Your master must be a great monk. He’s amazing!”

Shui Miao felt that these words were profound. Though simple, they brought a sense of peace and calm.

“I suppose so. He lives at Jing’an Temple and must be nearly a hundred years old by now. He often comes out to sweep the streets before dawn, and he’s been very kind to us tramps, even giving us food sometimes.” The tramp paused. “But we know the other monks at the temple dislike us, so we don’t go there anymore to avoid troubling our master.”

There was a lot of information in the tramp’s words.

But what moved Shui Miao most was that this old monk, nearly a hundred years old, still swept the streets every day!

In his heart, Shui Miao was certain that this old monk must be a true master. He thought, instead of wandering aimlessly in confusion, perhaps he should go and seek the old monk’s guidance to help him resolve his doubts.

“Little brother, if you want to see my master, you’d better go now—he usually comes out to sweep early.” The tramp said this and turned to leave.

But Shui Miao rushed forward and grabbed his hand. “Don’t go! You’ve helped me find a path forward. I want to repay you. If you refuse, I won’t let go. Because I don’t want to owe you double in my next life either.”

“…”

The tramp was taken aback, not expecting Shui Miao to catch on so quickly.

Shui Miao took the tramp to the front of a grand hotel.

Seeing that Shui Miao was about to take him inside to eat and drink, the tramp stopped abruptly and pulled his hand away.

“Little brother, I appreciate your kindness, but please don’t bring me to a place like this. I’m a Buddhist. If I eat and drink here, my soul will be tainted. If you really want to treat me, just give me one yuan. Later, I can buy a steamed bun for myself.”

“One yuan!”

Shui Miao was deeply moved, feeling admiration for the tramp’s integrity.

But in truth, Shui Miao didn’t have a single coin of real money on him.

He didn’t want to give the tramp illusory money, so he suggested, “How about this—we go to Jing’an Temple together first. Once we see your master, I can help you earn money by doing feng shui work, and then we can eat as many buns as you want. How does that sound?”

“Oh no, little brother, really, it’s not necessary! I didn’t help you with much—just said a few words. If we’re destined to meet again, we will…”

The tramp tried to leave, clearly reluctant to return to Jing’an Temple.

Shui Miao guessed the tramp’s reluctance was due to being driven away by the harsh monks there before.

“Alright then. I’ll come find you later.”

Shui Miao took a deep breath. After all, with his spiritual sense, finding the tramp again wouldn’t be difficult.

※※※

Jing’an Temple was located by the riverside of Zhonghai River. It was an ancient temple covering over ten acres, with a history spanning hundreds of years.

The temple was prosperous with incense offerings, and filled with many monks.

It was just past five in the morning when two young monks, around eighteen or nineteen years old, began sweeping the temple grounds.

Shui Miao arrived at the temple but didn’t see the old monk. He approached one of the young monks and asked, “Excuse me, master, is there an elderly monk here who is nearly a hundred years old and sometimes comes out to sweep in the morning?”

Seeing that Shui Miao had an unusual aura, the young monk nodded and replied, “You must be referring to Master Lianghai. He’s been unwell these past few days and has been resting in bed.”

Smiling, Shui Miao said, “Master, I’ll be straightforward. I’m actually a cultivator, and I wish to meet Master Lianghai to seek his guidance on some doubts I have. Would you be so kind as to introduce me?”

“No way. Xiao Zhuo, you can’t make me do all the sweeping alone!” Upon hearing Shui Miao’s request, the other young monk immediately protested, “How about I accompany this layperson to see the master, and Xiao Zhuo can stay here and sweep?”

“You wish, Xiao Chunzi! Always trying to get the good stuff!” Xiao Zhuo snapped back.

Just then, as Xiao Zhuo finished speaking, a sudden gust of wind swept across the temple grounds. It came quickly and vanished just as fast, leaving the entire area spotlessly clean in an instant!

“Hehe, how about you both help me introduce myself?”

Shui Miao secretly withdrew his control over the wind’s essence.

The two young monks stared at each other in disbelief. Xiao Zhuo asked nervously, “Dao brother, was that your magic?”

Shui Miao shook his head and walked toward the temple, saying, “Perhaps it was just the heavens helping me. A coincidence, nothing more.”

“How could it be such a perfect coincidence?”

Xiao Chunzi didn’t believe him.

Xiao Zhuo also felt something was off. “Dao brother, you look quite noble. Are you perhaps a high-level cultivator who has returned to youth?”

Shui Miao shook his head again, continuing forward while spreading his spiritual sense to locate the old monk. He added, “Maybe it’s about to rain. The weather is changing.”

As soon as he said that, he suddenly stopped, his brows furrowed tightly.

Because he had sensed something unusual about the temple’s feng shui.

The temple’s high walls formed the shape of a giant gourd. Outside the walls grew towering trees of various species, but inside, there wasn’t a single tree—only small potted plants. However, each main hall had carefully arranged elements forming small cycles of the five elements, with five such arrangements in total throughout the temple. The entire temple radiated a yang energy, harmonizing with the yin energy rising from the underground water veins, creating a perfect balance of yin and yang, and embodying the profound symbolism of a gourd containing the entire universe.

Yet upon closer inspection, Shui Miao noticed an imbalance in the northeast hall, where yin energy was unusually strong, and yang energy was weak.

Seeing Shui Miao suddenly stop and look so serious, the two young monks grew nervous, glancing at each other without speaking.

Suddenly, Shui Miao pointed toward the northeast and urgently asked, “Is that the Shunxin Hall? Is that where Master Lianghai resides?”

“How… how did you know that?” Xiao Chunzi stared at Shui Miao in shock.

“Master Lianghai is in grave danger…”

Shui Miao immediately sprinted forward. Just moments ago, he had sensed two figures emerging from underground—resembling the ox-headed and horse-faced guardians of the underworld. One of them, the horse-faced one, had placed a thick black chain around Master Lianghai’s neck…