In the future, Earth becomes a relic of the mythical era.

Chapter 349 Sins
There seemed to be many more people at the Guanyin Temple than when he had visited before.

People came and went in an endless stream.

Has the Guanyin Temple become so popular with worshippers?
How much does incense cost at the temple?
Thinking back to the century-old incense I bought before, one gram cost 100,000!
I feel both heartbroken and envious.

Entering the main hall, one sees the standing statue of Guanyin, which is over three zhang tall.

Nothing different from what I've seen before.

Extremely rustic, covered in dust and bearing the marks of time.

Xie Lingxin bowed earnestly.

They were even more devout than the first time they came.

After all, the jade bottle given to him by Guanyin is one of his most important treasures now.

Without the nectar from the pure vase, I would not be where I am today.

Unfortunately, it didn't work again...

If only we could keep praying, keep receiving miracles, and keep being blessed with treasures...

Beneath the statue of Guanyin, beneath the curtain, there was still a monk.

But it was not the Master Shuiyue he had met before.

The monk noticed him too and asked with a smile:
"Young benefactor, are you also here to enjoy the vegetarian meal as a gesture of goodwill?"

"Meritorious vegetarian meal?"

Seeing Xie Lingxin's puzzled expression, the monk smiled and said, "So, you don't know, benefactor."

"This is a long-standing tradition of Guanyin Temple. There are several days each month when vegetarian meals are offered in the temple, and everyone is welcome to come and enjoy them."

"Oh?"

Xie Lingxin looked at the throngs of people outside the hall: "Are all these people here today because of this merit-based vegetarian meal?"

The monk smiled and said, "That's right."

Xie Lingxin noticed that many of the people coming in and out were dressed in shabby clothes, clearly from poor families.

"Your temple has truly performed countless merits."

But he muttered to himself.

How come I didn't know this before? I've missed so many meals...

Back then, he racked his brains and ran himself ragged trying to find a way to get enough to eat.

However, he wasn't surprised, as Guanyin Temple probably wouldn't publicize it extensively.

Otherwise, the lower-class people in Leizhou alone could have bankrupted the temple's thousand-year-old foundation.

"Where is it? Can I come and see?"

The monk smiled and took out a coupon from under the table, handing it over.

“Of course, you can take this voucher to the dining hall behind this main hall.”

Xie Lingxin took it and glanced at it.

Guanyin Temple donation voucher for vegetarian meals?

"Thank you, Master."

Holding the voucher, I turned and walked through the main hall.

With monks guiding the way, it's quite easy to find the place.

The dining hall is very spacious; it could probably accommodate hundreds of people at the same time without feeling crowded.

It's a bit like a school cafeteria, but much more elegant and simple.

At this time, quite a few people were already sitting there eating vegetarian food.

It was truly vegetarian food.

Xie Lingxin took the coupon and printed out a copy.

Four ounces of rice, a serving of tofu with scallions, a serving of green vegetables, and a serving of vegetable soup.

It's very plain, but it smells wonderful.

"Ok?"

"Girl with glasses?"

Xie Lingxin was carrying her vegetarian meal and looking for a seat when she suddenly saw a familiar figure.

The bespectacled girl, who was devouring her vegetarian meal, looked up. Behind her thick lenses, her initial satisfaction at having eaten her fill was replaced by a hint of panic.

He stood up with a "bang," seemingly wanting to run away.

But remembering that he hadn't finished eating, he bent down and shoveled the remaining half of the rice into his mouth.

His cheeks were stuffed full, like a squirrel with its belly full of nuts.

Turn around and run.

Xie Lingxin reached out a hand and grabbed her collar.

"Why are you running?"

"Uuuuu~"

The four-eyed girl swung her arms.

Unfortunately, compared to Xie Lingxin's long arms and legs, her arms and legs were too short for her to reach.

Xie Lingxin was speechless: "Swallow it before you speak."

"Gulu...Gulu..."

The girl with glasses strained until her face turned red, and finally managed to swallow the rice in her mouth.

He wiped his mouth and noticed two grains of rice on his face. He pinched them off and put them back in his mouth.

"..."

Seeing her smacking her lips with lingering enjoyment, Xie Lingxin looked down at her own food and handed it to her: "Want some more?"

"Uh-huh!"

The bespectacled girl snatched it, sat down, and started digging.

She stopped running away when food was in front of her.

Xie Lingxin sat down opposite her and watched her wolf down her food, her eyes narrowing with satisfaction.

Unable to contain himself, he said, "Is it really necessary? Isn't the food in the bureau's canteen better than this?"

"Smack... Mmm... Smack... Can't afford it."

The bespectacled girl replied amidst her busy schedule.

"Can't afford it? I remember you're not a low-ranking official, are you?"

Xie Lingxin didn't believe it.

He is currently at level 15, with a monthly salary of 900,000.

The girl with glasses is a bit lower than him, but she should still be above level 20.

She is a rare technical talent with formal training, and her rank is much higher than that of ordinary people.

Making hundreds of thousands a month, how come you look like a starving ghost who's never eaten?
It's even more outrageous than before.

The girl with glasses didn't answer anymore, she just kept eating.

In just a few minutes, Xie Lingxin's vegetarian meal was devoured by her, leaving not a single grain of rice.

"..."

Su Qingli looked up at him and said, "Thank you."

"...If you really want to thank me, then tell me, where's your money?"

He felt something was off.

The four-eyed girl's condition doesn't seem like simple gluttony; she's just hungry, and has been hungry for a long time.

He used to think that the four-eyed girl was naturally thin.

She was silent for a moment, then stood up and said, "Come with me."

Xie Ling thought for a moment, then followed.

……

"here it is……?"

The place Su Qingli brought him to was inside the Guanyin Temple. However, the architecture of the place didn't resemble that of a temple.

"This is Gongdelin."

Su Qingli said.

"Gongdelin?"

Xie Lingxin looked around.

Where is Lin?

There were only a few dilapidated buildings and many broken walls and ruins.

It looks more like some kind of ruin.

"Ok?"

Xie Lingxin raised an eyebrow.

He sensed a strange, chilling feeling.

This feeling was familiar to him.

I had this feeling the first time I saw a ghost.

ghost?
What the hell is so bold as to come to this Guanyin Temple?

The thought crossed his mind, and a humming sound came from his chest. A wisp of demon-slaying sword energy was already wrapped around his fingertips.

"and many more!"

Su Qingli stopped him.

He walked to a section of ruins and squatted down.

"How many times have I told you? Don't run out on your own."

Xie Lingxin couldn't see anything at first.

But slowly, little figures began to emerge.

They were all little kids.

The oldest is around ten years old, and the youngest may be only three or four years old.

However, each figure was illusory and unreal.

His clothes were torn and covered in blood.

Some were even mutilated, with flesh and bones exposed.

Eerie and sinister.

However, these strange, eerie, and terrifying little figures surrounding the four-eyed girl were all grinning.

Although their laughter is even more terrifying.

The girl with glasses was surrounded, but she showed no signs of tension or fear.

Instead, she possessed a gentleness that Xie Lingxin had never seen before.

Faintly, Xie Lingxin seemed to hear many noisy sounds.

The voice was clear and childlike, but he couldn't understand what it was saying.

"Okay, wait a minute..."

Then I saw the four-eyed girl rummaging through her clothes... and pulling out a handful of... golden, lumpy objects.

Gold? !
Xie Lingxin's eyes widened.

Gold remains a precious metal in the Federation, and it is very, very expensive.

It's even more precious than his previous life.

Because gold not only has financial attributes, but is also an extremely important resource for cultivators.

He had spent a lot of gold refining treasures before.

You bespectacled girl, you really think you're poor?

They're rolling in money!

The handful of gold in her hand was worth two months' salary for Xie Lingxin.

"Click it."

"?"

Xie Lingxin watched as the four-eyed girl tossed a piece of gold into her mouth and began to chew it.

Like chewing on a candy bean.

One piece, two pieces, three pieces...

In the blink of an eye, she had chewed more than a dozen pieces.

Then it opened its mouth and spewed out wisps of thick black mist.

They turned into gray coins, round on the outside and square on the inside.

"Well, that's all. I'm out of money."

The girl with glasses distributed the coins one by one to the "children".

After they took it, they smacked their lips and put it in their mouths, then showed a satisfied expression.

Xie Lingxin saw with her own eyes that half of a face had rotted away, revealing a grim white bone beneath the small face.

After eating a coin, it slowly grew "flesh and blood".

She regained a youthful face, with chubby cheeks and a round head.

He looks to be no more than five years old.

The others are pretty much the same.

The group of child ghosts, who were originally eerie and terrifying, seem to have all returned to being "human".

But Xie Lingxin knew it wasn't true.

They have only temporarily escaped a bad situation.

He suddenly understood.

"Four-eyes, did you spend all your salary on this?"

She swallowed gold and produced coins, which is probably some kind of magical technique or supernatural power.

After all this time, he really didn't know that the four-eyed girl had this side to her.

"Go have fun, everyone, and don't go out unnecessarily anymore."

Su Qingli patted each of the children's heads, and the children laughed and dispersed, disappearing from sight.

She stood up and turned around: "This place used to be a welfare home."

"Decades ago, Leizhou City experienced a turmoil, and widespread legends of pollution turned many places into ghost towns."

"By the way, the place you're living in now is the most important one."

Which time?
Xie Lingxin was surprised.

The place he lives now used to be a cadre residential area where city government officials lived. They were relocated because of a large-scale, rumored pollution incident.

"This is one of them; all these children died in this disaster."

As Su Qingli spoke, her expression remained unchanged, but Xie Lingxin noticed clear tears rolling down her cheeks.

It seems she herself didn't even realize it.

"These children, corrupted by the legend, have their souls trapped here; they will not dissipate, nor can they leave,"

"yet they must endure terrible pain at all times,"

Su Qingli said, "The master of Guanyin Temple said that this is a sin, a sin committed by those who started it, but these innocent children have to bear it."

"The Guanyin Temple wasn't actually here back then. Master Shuiyue used his supreme magical power to move the entire mountain where the Guanyin Temple was located here."

"It's to use the power of Guanyin Temple to purify their sins and alleviate their suffering,"

"Unfortunately, Master Shuiyue has disappeared. No one has his power. Even relying solely on the power of Guanyin Temple, we cannot alleviate the sins that will never end."

Xie Lingxin was silent for a moment: "So what you were doing just now was..."

"I obtained it by chance in a legendary realm..."

(End of this chapter)