Taoist Master, wishing for a sacrifice-based system

Early the next morning.

Qin Du got up very early, which was unusual for him. He even used a half-rusty water vat in the Taoist temple to fill it with water and wipe the statue.

Although the dust on the central statue was gone after wiping, a piece of paint on its face also chipped off.

It looks more like cataracts.

"...It'll have to do."

Qin Du straightened his Taoist robe and set up his phone in front of the offering table in the main hall.

I bought the phone two years ago. There's a crack in the upper right corner of the screen, but the camera still works.

He opened the live streaming app and registered a new account.

Live Stream Name:

[Qingyun Temple - Celestial Master Online - Always Responsive]

The cover features a snapshot of the main temple taken casually by the photographer—the dim lighting and blurry statues give it a certain "mysterious" feel.

Of course, a more accurate way to describe this "mystery" is the underworld.

"Alright."

Qin Du cleared his throat and clicked "Start Live Stream".

The screen lit up.

A young man with delicate features but a nonchalant look appeared in the frame, wearing a faded Taoist robe.

Behind him were three statues of gods with peeling paint, a dusty altar, and a rusty incense burner.

Number of viewers in the live stream —

0.

Qin Du awkwardly stared at the camera for three seconds.

Then he took out another phone and entered the live stream room using his alternate account.

The number of people has become 1.

"...Okay, thank you to this 'Master Qin himself' for entering the live stream."

He gave himself a boost.

I waited another five minutes.

It's still 1.

Qin Du leaned back in his chair and began to introduce the topic listlessly:

"Greetings, everyone. I am Qin Du, the nineteenth Celestial Master of Qingyun Temple."

"Our temple is located in the suburbs of Yunzhou City, in a quiet and secluded environment, far from the hustle and bustle of the city."

He laughed as he said this.

"Okay, to put it bluntly, it's too remote and nobody comes."

"However! Our Taoist temple has a unique service—making wishes."

"Three sticks of incense, one wish; making a wish is free, fulfilling a wish is up to fate."

"As for the results..."

He paused and glanced at the system panel.

"I can tell you with absolute certainty that Bao Ling..."

silence.

No one cares about him.

The number of viewers in the live stream increased from 1 to 3 – two random people joined.

The comments started scrolling by:

[Another charlatan scamming people out of money via livestream]

[Reported for feudal superstition]

Qin Du didn't even blink: "I didn't even turn on the tipping button, who are you trying to fool? What's the point of reporting a charlatan who doesn't take money?"

What are you after?

"Just for the fun of it." Qin Du chuckled. "The main reason is that my Taoist temple is too deserted. There's no one to talk to. Even my cat ran away because it thought the food was too bad."

The chat was quiet for a few seconds.

Hahaha, even the cats ran away!

Okay, you're pretty funny, I'll stay for now.

The live stream just sat there quietly, without much fanfare.

Qin Du played games while streaming, occasionally chatting with two or three people in the chat.

Just when he thought he was going to work for nothing again today—

A commotion came from the entrance of the Taoist temple.

Hey—is anyone there?

A loud, booming voice, with a touch of roughness.

Qin Du looked up.

A plump middle-aged man stood at the entrance of the Taoist temple, sweating profusely, holding a half-empty bottle of mineral water in his hand.

The taxi driver wore his name tag around his neck, which read—Liu Haizhu.

"Come in, come in," Qin Du beckoned.

Fatty Liu walked in, wiping his sweat, looking left and right. "I knew there was a Taoist temple at the foot of this mountain... I've passed by it several times before but never noticed."

"Right? I have a very low profile here."

"There are still people here?" Fatty Liu was a little surprised to see Qin Du and the statue behind him. "I thought it was closed long ago."

"It's not closed, it's open 24 hours."

Fatty Liu chuckled and walked around the yard.

"How did you get here?" Qin Du asked.

"Traffic jam." Fatty Liu plopped down on a stone bench in the yard. "A truck overturned up ahead, the road is blocked, and the navigation told me to take a detour, which led me to the foot of your mountain. I'm waiting for the traffic police to clear the road, and since I had nothing better to do, I came in to take a look."

Qin Du's eyes lit up slightly.

The first pilgrim to arrive?

wrong.

He wasn't a pilgrim yet, just a taxi driver who came in to escape the summer heat after getting stuck in traffic.

We need to find a way to get him to burn some incense.

Qin Du sat down opposite Fatty Liu without making a sound.

"What is your surname, sir?"

"My surname is Liu."

"Mr. Liu, are you a taxi driver? You must be tired."

"That's right," Fatty Liu took a swig of water. "I've been doing this for over ten years, working from dawn till dusk, and I'm just barely making ends meet."

Qin Du nodded: "How's business this year?"

"Don't even mention it," Fatty Liu sighed. "Ride-hailing services are making it increasingly difficult for us taxi drivers to make a living. Last month, we almost couldn't pay our share of the rental fees."

"That's definitely not easy."

Qin Du hesitated for a moment, then said in a very casual tone:

"How about we light some incense?"

Fatty Liu was taken aback for a moment: "Huh?"

"We have a rule at our Taoist temple: three sticks of incense, one wish. It's free, we don't charge you." Qin Du pointed to the stone tablet at the entrance. "Look, it's engraved there. Making a wish is free, fulfilling it is up to you."

"this……"

Fatty Liu hesitated for a moment, "I don't believe in this stuff."

"You can choose not to believe it, just consider it a psychological comfort. You're just waiting anyway, it doesn't cost you anything."

Qin Du took out three incense sticks from the drawer of the offering table.

Although the incense was leftover from last year and had turned a bit yellow, it was still lit.

"Since you're already here," Qin Du said, handing over the incense.

These four words are simply the most powerful sentence in the world.

Fatty Liu hesitated for two seconds, but still answered.

"Fine... it doesn't cost any money anyway."

He walked to the incense burner, and Qin Du lit the incense for him.

The smoke from three incense sticks rose gently.

In that instant—

Qin Du sensed a subtle change.

There seemed to be an invisible "weight" in the air.

It was very light, like a silk thread wrapped around my ankle.

But it does exist.

The system panel flashed silently in the corner of my field of vision.

Fatty Liu put his hands together in prayer position. Although his posture wasn't quite right, his attitude was quite serious.

He closed his eyes and mumbled something:

"Then... let me land a big order tomorrow."

"Ideally, it should be an airport trip, the kind where you can earn a few hundred dollars round trip."

After saying that, he laughed first, then glanced at Qin Du somewhat embarrassedly.

"Is it too much to ask for that?"

"Not excessive at all, just a very simple wish."

Qin Du smiled, but his eyes unconsciously glanced at the system panel—

A line of text popped up on the panel.

His smile froze slightly.

[Ding—Your wish has been granted.]

[Wisher: Liu Haizhu]

[Wish: To secure a large order (specifically, a high-value order) tomorrow]

[The judgment of Heaven is underway...]

[Estimated compensation: Moderately outrageous.]

Medium...outrageous?

Qin Du's lips twitched.

What does "moderately outrageous" mean?

He wanted to keep looking, but the information on the panel ended there.

There were no further hints, no specific details about the compensation, and nothing was said.

Only those four words remained hanging there, like a knife suspended overhead.

— Moderately outrageous.

Fatty Liu stood up, dusted off his pants, and said, "Alright! It's all burned."

He glanced at his phone. "The road is clear now, I'm off, little Taoist priest."

"Okay, take care." Qin Du saw him to the door.

Before getting into his car, Fatty Liu turned back and chuckled, "Your Taoist temple may be a bit shabby, but it's quite interesting. If you land a big order tomorrow, I'll bring you a couple of bottles of water!"

"Okay, I'll wait for your good news."

The taxi started up, kicking up a cloud of dust, and quickly disappeared around the bend in the mountain road.

Qin Du stood at the doorway, watching the dust slowly settle.

He glanced down at the system panel.

[Wishes to be fulfilled: 1]

[The judgment of Heaven is underway...]

[Estimated compensation: Moderately outrageous.]

These few lines of text hung quietly in the corner of my vision, unhurried and unhurried.

Qin Du remained silent for a while.

"Moderately outrageous..."

He murmured it over and over again.

Then I returned to the main hall and glanced at the live stream—the number of viewers had increased to 7.

Several comments were scrolling:

Was that fat guy an actor?

[That's it? I thought there was some kind of magic involved.]

Let's find out tomorrow and see if this wish comes true.

If it really works, I'll twist my head off and use it as a ball.

Qin Du looked at the comments but didn't say anything.

He turned his head and glanced at the incense burner.

The three incense sticks were already half burned.

Smoke rose slowly in the dimly lit main hall, silently dissipating between the roof beams.

He doesn't know what will happen tomorrow.

But for some inexplicable reason, he felt—

That fat Liu will definitely land a big order tomorrow.

only……

Whether he'll still be able to laugh after being pulled down is another matter.