Searching for someone in northern Myanmar, and you call that earning tuition fees?

Li Changfeng and Zhuoma stood at the door of the woodshed, watching Su Ming disappear around the corner with the little lama who was still making cracking noises. The two looked at each other, both feeling that this was a bit outrageous.

What the hell?

"They... went in already?" Zhuoma swallowed the beef jerky in her mouth, feeling a little choked.

The young lama leading the group was named Tashi.

Perhaps because he had been persuaded by the "Thunder Stone," he led the three of them through a maze of twists and turns, skillfully avoiding the martial monks patrolling the main hall, and directly to a secluded meditation room in the backyard.

The wooden door to the meditation room was ajar, and a rich aroma of yak butter tea mixed with sandalwood wafted out.

Just as Li Changfeng was about to step forward, an old voice came from inside.

"Please leave, benefactor."

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried a cold, hard tone.

"As I have said, the theft of the golden scriptures was ordained by Heaven, and could not be defied by human power. The officials are too tainted by the stench of money, defiling this pure Buddhist sanctuary."

Li Changfeng's face darkened.

The other party clearly already knew their identities.

He cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice, "Master, we are not here for fame or fortune, but only to retrieve the national treasure. The contents recorded in that golden scripture are related to..."

"If your heart is not sincere, there's no need to say anything." The old monk's voice was hoarse, yet it carried an air of authority. "Ordinary people only know how to take, not how to respect."

Li Changfeng's words were stuck in his throat, and he almost couldn't catch his breath.

Dealing with this stubborn old man who won't listen to reason is more tiring than negotiating with terrorists!

Just as he was about to explode, a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Captain Li, step back, this is a high-level game."

Su Ming had already walked up to him.

Li Changfeng stared blankly at Su Ming's handsome profile for a moment.

Su Ming turned around, peeled a lollipop and popped it into his mouth, mumbling as he interrupted the question that was about to come out: "Captain Li, you keep watch outside. If you hear the sound of a cup breaking inside, that means..."

Li Changfeng's hand instantly reached for the large-caliber pistol at his waist, his eyes sharpening: "So that's the signal from smashing the cup?"

"That means I accidentally broke the cup. Remember to come in and pay for it."

Li Changfeng: "I'd already drawn my gun halfway, and you're telling me this?"

He felt that his tactical skills had been greatly insulted.

Su Ming ignored him, pushed open the door to the meditation room, and went inside.

Inside the meditation room, a gaunt old lama dressed in a dark red robe sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, his eyes closed, his hand holding a string of shiny prayer beads.

On the low table in front of him, the flame of a ghee lamp flickered quietly.

"You don't smell of money." The old lama didn't open his eyes.

"I just took a shower." Su Ming sat down on the futon opposite him.

The old lama's eyebrows twitched.

"You...are you also a practitioner?" he asked.

Su Ming nodded: "I guess so. I majored in physics and occasionally took the CET-6 (College English Test Band 6) exam."

The old lama fell silent.

He felt that his Zen mind was undergoing some kind of strange test.

Su Ming took a spicy strip out of the plastic bag from the "education supermarket" and tore open the packaging.

The strong aroma of artificial fragrance immediately filled the entire meditation room.

The old lama twitched his nose, and his tightly closed eyes trembled slightly.

"The desires of the palate are all illusions." The old lama closed his eyes again, his voice steady. "If you only want to use these childish tricks to disturb my Buddhist mind, you should save your breath."

Outside.

Zhuoma, who was eavesdropping against the wall, couldn't help but sneer and mouthed to Li Changfeng, "I told you this kid is an idiot."

Li Changfeng clutched his forehead in pain.

Inside the meditation room.

"Master, you misunderstand." Su Ming handed over the spicy strips. "This is not food, it is 'The Silk of Karma in the Mortal World.' One bite will allow you to know the joys and sorrows of life below the mountain, which will help you see through illusions."

The old lama: "..."

He had practiced Buddhism for eighty years and had never heard of such an outrageous method.

Seeing that the old lama was unmoved, Su Ming took back the spicy strip and took a bite himself.

He looked at the old lama and suddenly said, "Master, the reason you won't see us isn't because we're officials, but because you feel the theft of the Golden Sutra is your responsibility, right?"

The old lama stopped fiddling with his prayer beads.

He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze cloudy, filled with exhaustion and sorrow.

"The theft of the golden scriptures is divine punishment," the old lama sighed, his expression dejected. "The gods no longer protect this land."

"No, the gods have simply changed their methods."

Su Ming took out the unopened box of popping candy from his bag and gently placed it on the low table in front of the old lama.

"This is the 'Thunder Stone,' the young monks just now all heard about it. Would you like to try it? Only those with great wisdom can feel the thunderous power on their tongues."

Outside.

Li Changfeng: "..."

Zhuoma: "..."

The two of them wished they could disappear into a crack in the ground.

This is blatant fraud!

Are they treating the old host like a three-year-old? If this is exposed, they will not only be kicked out, but they might also be beaten to death as blasphemous heretics!

However, the old lama stared at the box of popping candy with cartoon figures printed on it and fell into deep thought.

He had never seen this kind of packaging before.

To him, the explosion pattern on it might be some kind of abstract lightning rune.

On the isolated snow-capped mountaintop, anything unknown can be imbued with divinity.

After a long while, he shakily reached out his hand, which was as thin as withered tree bark, and picked up the box of candy.

Su Ming added at the opportune moment: "Remain silent and listen quietly to the voice of heaven."

The old lama took a deep breath, as if he had made some important decision, and tore open the packaging.

The pink crumbs were poured into my mouth.

one second.

two seconds.

When saliva comes into contact with sugar, carbon dioxide is released instantly.

"Crackling and popping—"

A series of fine yet violent explosions resounded in the old lama's mouth.

That was the sound of bubbles bursting, the roar of a physical reaction.

The old lama shuddered, his eyes widening as he stared intently ahead.

He felt as if countless tiny lightning bolts were leaping on the tip of his tongue and striking the walls of his mouth—a sensation he had never experienced before, a sound he had never heard before.

This is Lei Yin?!

The old lama's expression shifted, showing both pain and joy, shock and a sense of enlightenment.

He felt the top of his head trembling.

"This...this is..." The old lama trembled with excitement, his prayer wheel falling to the ground. "The birth and death of all things are contained within this small space! I heard it! I heard the sound of clouds colliding!"

Outside.

Li Changfeng covered his face in pain and slid down the wall to sit down.

It’s over.

This world is beyond saving.

A highly virtuous monk was misled by a few grams of carbon dioxide gas.

Inside the meditation room, the old lama was moved to tears, as if he had seen the true words of the Great Way in that instant.

He grabbed Su Ming's hand, his eyes burning with fervor: "Benefactor, you possess great wisdom! The gods have not abandoned us, and Leiyin Temple still stands!"

Su Ming calmly withdrew his hand and peeled another lollipop: "Since the gods are still here, shouldn't the Golden Sutra be found as well? Master, a clue."

The old lama trembled as he pulled a tattered sheepskin scroll from his robes and handed it to Su Ming with both hands.

"This is a secret passage map passed down through generations of abbots, leading to the forbidden glacier area behind the mountain. Those thieves must have gone there."

Su Ming accepted it calmly, glanced at it, and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Thank you. You can keep this box of Thunderstones for yourself to study slowly. Remember, don't be greedy, or you'll get a sore throat."

"Good, good!"

Su Ming walked out of the meditation room with a hand-drawn sheepskin map in his hand.

A group of young lamas surrounded the entrance, their eyes filled with admiration as they looked at Su Ming.

As Tashi watched Su Ming's retreating figure, he murmured to his companions in Tibetan, "It was candy bestowed by the Living Buddha..."

Then, someone, speaking haltingly in Chinese, was the first to softly utter that title: "Candy Buddha..."

Li Changfeng turned and left expressionlessly. He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would lose his temper and pack up all the charlatans in the temple, along with the Buddha statues, and send them to a mental hospital.