Chapter 490: Teacher Chen's Buddhist Prayer Beads

Feng Minglong was a fascinating guy. He was an eyewitness to my broadcasts, a participant in them, and someone whose fate had been entirely altered by them.

He was supposed to be dead, yet here he was, alive. That alone made him useful.

I watched him stuff his face, my gaze perfectly calm. He acted like any ordinary person. Judging only by his daily behavior, you'd think he didn't have a scheming bone in his body—just another average citizen.

But if you thought about it carefully, you'd realize a thick fog shrouded Feng Minglong, one nobody could see through.

'I'll dig out your secrets one day,' I thought. Turning my attention away from Feng Minglong, I sat cross-legged on the bed and began practicing the Profound Truth Mental Method.

I sat quietly to meditate, but after more than ten minutes, I still couldn't settle in. Stray thoughts swirled in my head, and whenever my true qi circulated to my left arm, it hit a blockage.

'It must be because of the affliction poison.' The paper-tying craftsman on No-Lights Road had used silver needles to seal the affliction poison inside my left arm. Human true qi circulated in a loop, and a Major Heavenly Cycle inevitably had to pass through the left Shaoyang meridian. The affliction poison had completely blocked the path of my true qi.

'The affliction poison has invaded my meridians. If this keeps up, my entire arm might be crippled.' I tried mobilizing my true qi to force through the affliction poison, but the effect was minimal. I even nearly caused an accident while attacking the blocked apertures, narrowly avoiding internal injuries.

My merit was in the negative, and my karmic obstacles had reached a hundred thousand. The wronged souls of everyone who had died because of me seemed to be screaming in my head.

I usually didn't notice it much, but whenever I needed intense concentration to circulate my true qi, those ghastly things would manifest directly in my mind. It was incredibly vicious.

'The affliction poison is a ticking time bomb. I need to clear it out as soon as possible, but the root of the problem lies with these hundred thousand karmic obstacles. I have to find a way to earn my merit back.' I wasn't the type to give up easily, but staring down negative a hundred thousand merit still left me feeling profoundly powerless.

'Saving a life or helping someone enough to earn their deep, genuine gratitude only nets me a single point of merit. I'm in the hole for a hundred thousand! Am I supposed to dedicate the rest of my life to charity?' I sighed. Honestly, even if I spent my entire life doing good deeds, I could never accumulate a hundred thousand merit. The number was simply too astronomical; an ordinary sect wouldn't even be able to shoulder it.

'This isn't a Yellow Springs Token at all, it's a death warrant. It opens once a year, and the fallout from a single opening will probably take a century to erase.' Complaining wouldn't fix anything. Since my cultivation was going so poorly, I gave up on meditating altogether, pulled back the curtains, and looked out at the city.

Cars driving by, pedestrians walking along, people hurrying about their business—this ordinary, mundane life was actually quite nice.

About ten minutes later, the orderly came in to clear away the dishes. Having eaten my fill, I decided to empty my head. I completely relaxed my nerves, hugged my pillow, and drifted off into a pleasant sleep.

I opened my eyes to the fading light of dusk shining on my face. The wounds on my body had clearly improved. This astonishing recovery speed had to be tied to the Pagoda Wood Flower in my Liver Aperture.

Stretching, I sat up in bed, only to suddenly realize there was an old man in the room.

He was holding a book and dressed plainly, but he carried a natural air of tranquility. Even sitting there casually, he commanded attention.

"Elder Chen?" A sudden wave of guilt washed over me. Just at noon, I had been maliciously speculating about him, wondering if he harbored some unspeakable "fetish," and now here he was.

Wiping cold sweat from my forehead, I shot a glare at Feng Minglong. "Why didn't you wake me up when Elder Chen arrived?"

"I was going to," Feng Minglong said, looking inexplicably wronged. "But Elder Chen stopped me. He said you were a patient and needed your rest, so it was better to let you wake up naturally." It seemed that no matter what happened, he was always the one catching the blame.

"I told him not to disturb you. You're badly hurt, so just lie still and don't move around too much," Elder Chen said, closing his book and standing up.

Seeing Elder Chen approach, I quickly got out of bed. "You're too kind."

"It's nothing. I just happened to hear the hospital staff talking about a young man who kept ending up in here, more heavily injured with every visit. They said he rushed out before his last injuries were even fully healed and never followed his doctor's orders. I suspected it might be you, so I came to check." Elder Chen hadn't mentioned Ye Bing, but I wasn't an idiot. He was absolutely not the type to gossip idly. This was clearly a premeditated visit to butter me up. He wanted my help, but he was afraid I'd reject him outright and make things awkward, so he was beating around the bush.

"I'm sorry to worry you. It's just some flesh wounds, nothing serious."

"That's good." Elder Chen gave a gentle smile. He made a bit more small talk before finally bringing up Ye Bing. Very delicately, he informed me that Ye Bing's vital signs were steadily failing, and she likely wouldn't hold on much longer.

As soon as he finished speaking, a heavy silence filled the room. Tie Ningxiang had already told me about Ye Bing's specific condition, and honestly, I was torn.

"Oh, by the way, Little Gao, that string of Buddhist Prayer Beads I gave you—are you wearing it? Those Buddhist Prayer Beads aren't anything expensive, but they've been with me for many years. I've always felt they brought me good luck. If you believe in that sort of thing, you might want to try putting them on." Elder Chen sounded like he was just speaking casually, but to my ears, his words carried a highly unusual underlying meaning.

'Are these Buddhist Prayer Beads really that miraculous?' Elder Chen had said the exact same thing during our first meeting. This was the second time. For him to repeatedly emphasize the Buddhist Prayer Beads like this... Did that Buddhist Prayer Bead Bracelet really have some hidden effect?

I took the Buddhist Prayer Bead Bracelet out of my pants pocket and slipped it onto my wrist right in front of Elder Chen. Strangely enough, it hadn't been on for long before the stray thoughts in my head vanished completely. My spirit platform became clear and empty, as if it had been purified by the light of Buddha.

"This..." In disbelief, I took it off, then slipped it back on. After testing it repeatedly, I realized the truth. These Buddhist Prayer Beads might look ordinary, but they were actually a supreme Buddhist treasure!

"Elder Chen, these Buddhist Prayer Beads are too precious. I can't accept them." I hadn't known it before, but now that I was entangled by a hundred thousand karmic obstacles, I finally realized how precious this item was. With this string of Buddhist Prayer Beads, I could continue my cultivation without constantly suffering the torturous distractions of my karmic obstacles.

"Keep them," the old man said. "As I said before, this is compensation to you on Ye Bing's behalf." He hadn't said a single word about asking me to save Ye Bing, but now that things had reached this point, my own conscience would start eating at me if I didn't show some willingness to help.

To secure the Underworld Live Show's help, I had agreed to wipe out an entire sect. Now that Elder Chen had offered such timely assistance by giving me this supreme treasure, how could I remain indifferent?

"Teacher Chen, Ye Bing's condition is incredibly complex," I said honestly. "I wouldn't dare make you any promises."

"Actually, I understand," Teacher Chen replied. "When even the best doctors in the province are helpless, it's just my own stubbornness." He held his book. Despite his advanced years, he didn't give off any feeling of frailty. Looking at him felt like gazing into the ocean on a spring day—deep, tranquil, and seemingly capable of embracing everything.

"Don't say that. How about this—once my injuries are a little more stable tomorrow, I'll go take a look at her. As for whether I can actually wake her up, I can only promise to do my best." I hated owing debts. Since I had accepted Teacher Chen's Buddhist Prayer Beads, what was the harm in helping him out this once?

"You agreed? That's wonderful. I'll go have the doctors make the arrangements so they can coordinate with your treatment." Elder Chen said a few more words before striding out of the room, a faint smile seeming to touch his face.

"What a nice old gentleman," Feng Minglong remarked sincerely.

"Compared to the people who spend money on charity, pose for photos with kids in the mountains, and then immediately run back to a five-star hotel to take eight showers, he really is good," I nodded and said casually.

Seeing my serious expression, Feng Minglong was momentarily speechless. "You really have a mean mouth."

"Knowing a person's face does not mean knowing their heart. I can't see through Teacher Chen. He seems completely flawless, without a single weakness. Whenever I'm with him, I get a weird feeling," I muttered to myself, my brows deeply furrowed.

"What kind of feeling?" Feng Minglong asked, leaning against the edge of the bed as he lifted the teapot to pour himself a cup of hot water.

"Fear? Terror? Disgust?" I racked my brain trying to find a more fitting word. "This old man is like a deity walking in the human world. That's right, he's like a false god..."

"Crash!" The teacup dropped, spilling boiling water across the floor. Feng Minglong yelped as the scalding water splashed him, completely missing my final sentence.