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

Chapter 56 Nighttime Awakening, Buddhist Treasures Presented

Du Yuan was deep in thought.

The shopkeeper hurriedly asked in a low voice:

"Living Buddha, and what else?"

Du Yuan suddenly stopped halfway through her sentence, and the shopkeeper was really getting anxious.

Upon hearing this, Du Yuan, regaining her composure, put down the porcelain bowl in her hand and smiled:
"Shopkeeper, you were able to see the returning ghost soldiers because you had accumulated a lot of good fortune. In addition, they also wanted to taste the hometown noodles one last time. Therefore, by chance, you were able to meet each other and achieve mutual benefit."

"Mutual, mutual success?"

The shopkeepers understood the first few sentences, but not the last one.

Du Yuan smiled and pointed to his arms, saying:
"Look what you're holding in your arms!"

When the shopkeeper came, Du Yuan noticed that the shopkeeper was carrying something extraordinary.

"In my arms?"

What could I possibly have in my arms?
As the shopkeeper strangely reached into his pocket, he immediately changed color and pulled out more than a dozen copper coins from his pocket.

"This, what is this?"

"Have you forgotten that the soldiers collected more than a dozen copper coins for you last night?"

As soon as Du Yuan pointed it out, the shopkeeper felt a chill run down his spine.

That's money for the dead!
In a panic, he hurriedly pushed the dozen or so paper coins toward Du Yuan, saying:

“Living Buddha, please have mercy and accept these. I... I dare not take them! I'm extremely timid!”

Du Yuan chuckled and said:
"This is good stuff!"

"Good stuff? Living Buddha, are you joking with me? This, this is..."

Speaking of this, the shopkeeper, much like the residents of Qiaoshui Town, whispered to Du Yuan:

"This is money for the dead, Living Buddha! How could I dare to accept it!"

Du Yuan shook her head and pushed the thing back, saying:
"This is a good deed done in secret!"

This was the first time Du Yuan had ever seen such cardboard coins, though he had seen similar things before.

That's in the Qian family's old house!
The Qian family's ancestors for twelve generations accumulated a great deal of good fortune for their descendants through virtuous deeds.

The fact that the Qian family had accumulated twelve generations of good fortune and that Qian Youcai had suddenly realized his mistake were also the reasons why Du Yuan always wanted to help the Qian family.

Doing good deeds without receiving any reward. Du Yuan didn't want this kind of thing to be so common in reality.

After all, good people really suffer too much...

Besides, the Qian family has only lost their morals. If a few more words can bring them back to their senses, that would be far better than watching them sink into depravity.

Furthermore, the blessings and good fortune that Du Yuan saw surrounding Qian Youcai in the Qian family ancestral hall that day are exactly the same as those surrounding this paper copper coin today.

However, this can obviously be freely transferred; whoever has it owns it.

The one belonging to the Qian family, on the other hand, is clearly exclusive to the Qian family descendants, and it is difficult for others to obtain it.

"That's amazing?"

Du Yuan nodded and then jokingly asked:

"Then, are you still going to give it to me now?"

This was originally just a joke, but Du Yuan was taken aback when the other person pushed all of the dozen or so copper coins in front of her without even thinking:
"Without your help, Living Buddha, I would have been killed last night, so of course it's all yours!"

Du Yuan hurriedly declined with a smile:

"Hey, I was just joking, don't take it seriously. This is the good karma you've accumulated, how can you give it to me?"

The shop owner still insists:

“Living Buddha, I am just an ordinary person with nothing of value. Now that I have finally acquired some extraordinary treasures, I naturally want to use them to repay your life-saving grace. You cannot expect me to be ungrateful!”

After saying that, the shopkeeper smiled sheepishly and said:
"And then there's the Living Buddha. Do you think I can keep this treasure?"

The porcelain bowl was still in front of Du Yuan, and the shopkeeper was staring at it longingly. Since she hadn't encountered these things because of running into a living Buddha, it was naturally better to have a treasure at home to ward off evil spirits!
Du Yuan glanced at the porcelain bowl the shopkeeper had been longing for and chuckled.

"Alright, alright, I'll accept it. As for this bowl, it was originally yours, so of course you should take it back!"

"Oh, thank you, Living Buddha! Thank you, Living Buddha!" ​​The shopkeeper hurriedly hugged the porcelain bowl to his chest. Du Yuan also took out her small seal and lightly touched the dozen or so copper coins on the cardboard, then put them into the seal.

The shopkeeper was once again amazed by this.

He thought to himself, "No wonder he's a living Buddha! Where in the mortal world have I ever seen such methods?"
Hmm, even the Emperor might not have seen it before!

Upon thinking about this, the shopkeeper immediately felt his back straighten out unconsciously.

I looked at the shopkeeper, who seemed quite pleased with himself, as if he had thought of something.

Du Yuan suddenly had a plan.

He hesitated for a moment, then looked up at the shopkeeper, his tone slow and deliberate:

"Shopkeeper, I have something to discuss with you. Whether you are willing or not is entirely up to you."

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper hurriedly straightened his clothes and hat, and respectfully bowed, saying:
"Living Buddha, please give your orders!"

Du Yuan's gaze was deep as she slowly said:

"Have you ever thought about making this a regular nighttime business?"

Ghostly soldiers march at night, and spirits cause disturbances—once this precedent is set, Du Yuan knows perfectly well that the night roads here will never be peaceful again. Rather than let the shopkeepers live in constant fear, it's better to just keep going.

In this way, the shopkeeper can accumulate some good karma, and he can also let those demons who are obviously stronger than ordinary people know that he still exists.

"Of course, if you don't want to, I also have ways to help you stop having trouble sleeping at night."

In Du Yuan's view, this was a win-win solution, but if the other party was unwilling, Du Yuan would naturally not force him, and would do her best to help him.

The shopkeeper remained silent for a long time before finally raising his head, his eyes filled with deep confusion and a barely perceptible hint of inquiry, and hesitantly spoke:
"Living Buddha, I dare to ask, among the wandering spirits in this world, are the pitiful more or the hateful more?"

His mind was racing: those soldiers looked fierce, yet they gave him money for good deeds, drove away evil spirits for him, and offered him kind advice.

The three evil spirits, at first glance, appeared pitiful and helpless, but inwardly harbored malicious intentions and were extremely vicious.

Du Yuan thought about this question carefully for a long time before answering:

"In the end, they are just a group of pitiful people, each with their own difficulties."

The soldiers, the ancestors of the Qian family, and even Zhou Dahe and the original horse demon were not evil spirits.

As for the snake demon, the spirit pearl, and the demon wolf, they were clearly under the control of others.

After receiving the Living Buddha's reply, the shopkeeper took a deep breath and bowed:

"That Living Buddha, I am willing!"

Du Yuan laughed:

"Are you really willing?"

"really!"

The shopkeeper gritted his teeth and agreed, but his feigned composure vanished in an instant; his voice trembled, almost pleading with a sob:

"It's because the Living Buddha is compassionate! Please have some mercy and help this wicked person! I... I'm really terrified!"

Du Yuan nodded slightly, her gaze falling on the porcelain bowl, her tone calm:
"Since I was the one who suggested it, it's only right that I help you make it perfect!"

"Here, give me the bowl."

The shopkeeper, feeling as if he had been granted a pardon, hurriedly presented the porcelain bowl to Du Yuan.

Du Yuan took the bowl, his fingertips gently tracing the rim, as if weighing a cause and effect. He looked up at the shopkeeper, a slight smile playing on his lips:
"Our connection is formed by this object, so let us use it to perform a ritual today, shall we?"

"Yes, yes, we'll do as you say, Living Buddha!"

The shop owner was, of course, more than happy to oblige.

Du Yuan said no more, stared intently at the porcelain bowl for a moment, then reached out and took out a small piece of temple tile fragment from the small seal at her waist.

With a slight movement of her fingertips, the roof tile was crushed into powder in her palm. Then, using her finger as a brush, she dipped it into the powder, imbued with the weight of time and spirit, and steadily wrote five ancient yet powerful characters on the bottom of the bowl—

Prajnaparamita!
At this point, the Buddha Jewel is complete!
After examining it for a moment and confirming that there were no further flaws, Du Yuan handed it to the shopkeeper and said:
"In the future, if you encounter any misbehavior, you can use this item to subdue it."

"And if someone asks you who assigned you to set up the shop, then you should say that you were acting on the orders of Little Western Paradise!"

(End of this chapter)