The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 54 This humble monk, Fahai, will only kill, not save!

When the shopkeeper happily brought out the freshly cooked Qingzhou noodles...

His expression changed, for he was shocked to see the soldiers beating up two or three passersby on the roadside.

The soldier's fist, as big as a clay pot, kept falling, making the opponent cry out and beg for mercy.

This frightened the shopkeeper, who quickly turned to the leading general and asked:
"Sir, what... what is this?"

After glancing back, the general said to the shopkeeper:

"The shopkeeper doesn't need to pay attention to it."

The shopkeeper wanted to settle things peacefully, since he couldn't afford to offend the military.

But when I think about how I was given good karma by a living Buddha during the day, how could I forget my roots so soon?
So he gritted his teeth and said:

"Sir, consider these noodles a small token of our appreciation to you all, so please ask those men to stop!"

The general sighed and said:
"Kindness doesn't always bring good results, shopkeeper!"

The shopkeeper, carrying a tray, pleaded:

"These people are just passersby, and now that the drums of war have passed, they can't even get into Qingzhou City. How much worse can things get?"

"Fine, since you've pleaded for me, shopkeeper, then let it go."

The general shook his head and then beckoned to the soldiers, saying:

"Alright, let them go this time. Come and eat some noodles, then we can get going."

The soldiers immediately stopped fighting, and before leaving, they even brandished their fists at the passersby in a show of defiance.

The other person was so frightened that they quickly huddled together and shrank back.

The shop owner saw all of this, but something just didn't feel right.

However, compared to those, these soldiers were obviously more important, so after serving them noodles according to their numbers, he carefully stood aside to serve them.

As he looked around, the shopkeeper quickly bowed and smiled apologetically:
"Oh dear, I almost forgot to light the lamps for you gentlemen. I'll go and make up for it right away."

This was meant well, but then the general suddenly shouted:
"No!"

"What's wrong, sir?"

The general wanted to explain, but after glancing at the shopkeeper standing unharmed in the lamplight, he swallowed his words and simply mumbled:
"You don't need to worry about it, this is fine. You don't need to come any closer, just stand there. If you don't like it, you can go sit in the inner room."

The shopkeeper found it increasingly strange, but still dared not ask.

All I could do was smile and nod.

After the group of soldiers finished eating...

The leading general called out to his comrades, and after each of them searched their pockets for a while, they managed to scrape together a dozen or so copper coins.

They did not step forward; instead, the general arranged them one by one on the table.

"Sorry, this is all we have."

The shopkeeper quickly said:

"Sir, look at what you're saying! Didn't I already tell you? This is all a small token of our respect to you all!"

The general shook his head and said:

"If a wish is fulfilled, there should naturally be a reward; there is no such thing as eating for free."

After saying that, he got up to leave.

The other soldiers were the same, but after the general glanced at the few guys who were still huddled by the roadside...

He still couldn't help but tell the shopkeeper:
"Shopkeeper, I've seen you clearly now. You're a kind person who has benefited from the Buddha's light and received the teachings of Buddhism. That's why we've met. This shouldn't have happened, but since we've actually met, although I shouldn't say too much lest I scare you, I'll still give you a few words of advice."

He pointed to the group of passersby huddled together and said:

“We’ve already dealt with those guys. They won’t dare come any closer. Don’t worry about them. Just go back to your room and rest.”

That's all I have to say. You must remember this, or you might get scared out of your wits!

The shopkeeper, bewildered, could only nod blankly.

Junhan and his party said no more and left in silence.

Without starting the fire, they headed towards Qingzhou in the deep of night.

"Strange, really strange."

After muttering a few words, the shopkeeper shook his head and stepped forward to collect the dozen or so copper coins.

This amount of money is obviously not enough compared to so many bowls of noodles, but the officer is willing to pay, so what more could you want?
At least they didn't beat him up like those unfortunate passersby.

But then his gaze fell on the few passersby who were still huddled on the ground.

The shopkeeper, feeling a pang of pity, waved again and said:

"Come, come, sit down. I won't charge you. While the fire is still burning, I'll make you another bowl of noodles."

The passersby exchanged glances and then asked incredulously:

"You really want us to come here?"

"Of course, are you still afraid? What are you afraid of? Those soldiers are all gone!"

Those soldiers had all left, and that sentence instantly emboldened them.

So they all stepped forward, and after the first person carefully sat down on the bench, seeing that nothing was wrong, they all revealed a sinister smile that made the shopkeeper feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Hey, waiter, bring the food! Bring the food!"

"Hey, you guys. Forget it."

The shop owner wanted to say that they were being a bit dishonest, but when he thought about how badly they had been beaten before, he swallowed his words.

He then went to the inner room to cook noodles for them. But this time, even though there were only three of them, they ate more than the dozen or so soldiers.

The restaurant had already served the food four or five times, and they were still shouting:

"Keep going!"

Seeing that the last bit of noodles had been eaten, the shopkeeper said, slightly annoyed:
"No more, no more!"

But they were displeased upon hearing this:
"That's it? We don't care about that, you have to go again!"

"Hey, I wanted to say this before, you guys are just freeloaders, how dare you boss people around like that?"

Anyone with a modicum of self-respect would have been too embarrassed to say anything after hearing this, but they only intensified their rebukes:
"We're only eating your noodles out of politeness. If you don't serve us anything else, don't blame us for turning against you!"

"Do you think I'm afraid of a few of you?!"

The shopkeeper ripped off his headscarf and pulled out a long iron-clad stick from behind the counter.

This is something he usually keeps for self-defense; he never expected to actually use it today!

"Oh ho, a martial arts expert?"

The three men, however, were not afraid at all; instead, they all laughed.

Do you really think I wouldn't dare to hit you?

Enraged, the shopkeeper grabbed a long iron rod and was about to beat the bastards.

But after taking only a few steps, the shopkeeper froze in shock.

Because he clearly saw those three people actually lift their feet off the ground and float in the air right in front of him!
"You, all of you?!"

The three men smiled sinisterly and said:

"Still don't understand? Shall I remind you?"

"Coming in the dead of night, without lighting a fire or a lamp, yet somehow able to see the road, and looking so human, what do you think we are?"

"You, you guys are ghosts?!"

With a clatter, in his panic, the shopkeeper's long stick fell to the ground along with him.

"You can't hurt me! I just helped you and gave you food!"

"Too late, now we want to taste human flesh too! By the way, why don't we take those few copper coins of yours?"

They didn't originally intend to eat people, but the more they looked at the restaurant, the more delicious it seemed.

It made their stomachs rumble, so much so that no amount of noodles was enough to fill them up!

Moreover, they were also eyeing the dozen or so copper coins given by the soldiers.

They didn't know why their dead bodies wanted copper coins, but they just thought they were nice and wanted them!
'Copper coins?!'

The shopkeeper, who was initially terrified, suddenly remembered that the two copper coins he had received from the Living Buddha during the day were still pressed on the eaves of the door.

Upon realizing this, the shopkeeper, his blood boiling with courage, suddenly shouted and grabbed a long iron-clad stick from beside him, throwing it at the other man.

The long stick that could be used to strike the porcelain bowls on the table passed straight through the three objects without having any effect.

Without thinking twice, the shopkeeper, taking advantage of the fact that the other party was attracted by this, quickly got up from the ground and tried to run into the inner room.

But while he was fast, they were even faster. Before the shopkeeper could even reach the door, the three creatures had already flown in front of him, blocking the entrance to the inner room.

"Oh, trying to run? You think you can outrun us?"

Looking at the three filthy things that had blocked their last chance of survival.

The shop owner closed his eyes in deep regret.

Why didn't I listen to that soldier's kind advice!

"His heart and soul belong to me!"

"Then I want his eyeballs!"

"I'll eat the tongue then! I've never eaten a human tongue before!"

The three men stood in front of the shopkeeper, laughing and joking, discussing how to divide the spoils, as if they had everything under control.

The shopkeeper was terrified and was closing his eyes, waiting for his death.

The shopkeeper suddenly heard the three things utter a shrill scream.

"What's this?!"

"It's so hot, so hot! I'm melting, I'm melting!"

"Spare me! Spare me! I'll never do it again!!!"

He opened his eyes in astonishment and saw that the porcelain bowl he had been keeping at the highest point in the inner room had suddenly flown into the air.

The rim of the bowl was perfectly aligned with the three malevolent spirits. A gentle yet overwhelming golden light suddenly shone from the bowl, illuminating the entire inner room!

Immediately, the shopkeeper saw that the bowl had become the mouth of a fierce Vajra! With a stern shout, the Buddha's light shone brightly, and the three things were like snow being poured on boiling water. They didn't even have time to let out a scream or two before they were violently twisted, deformed, and disintegrated in the brilliant Buddha's light!
It was truly awe-inspiring and incredibly magical!

Once the evil spirits disappeared, the porcelain bowl, which had been radiating Buddha light, returned to its original position as if nothing had happened.

The shop owner was left standing there, completely bewildered.

It's as if everything just now was merely an illusion.

After a long while, the shopkeeper hurriedly got up and ran into the inner room, holding the porcelain bowl to his chest and staring intently at his surroundings.

He made up his mind that as soon as it was light, he would go into the city to find the Living Buddha.

What he didn't know was that as he passed over the two copper coins pressed against the eaves, the dozen or so copper coins given to him by the soldiers in his pocket turned into slightly larger pieces of hard paper money.

(End of this chapter)