Taoist Master, wishing for a sacrifice-based system

Nine o'clock in the morning of the second day.

Su Nian had already arrived at this famous Taoist temple.

She had planned to leave at 10 a.m., but the post she made last night garnered over 4,000 comments overnight, making it impossible for her to sleep soundly.

At 3 a.m., people were still urging for more updates in the comments section.

"Sis, hurry up and go! Don't stand me up!"

"What time is the live stream tomorrow? I've set my alarm!"

"Would you dare make a wish? I bet you a cup of milk tea you wouldn't."

Su Nian was "forced" to do this by these comments.

She washed her face, put on light makeup, and changed into a plain-colored shirt. Considering she was going to a Taoist temple, she made sure to button the top button of the collar.

Take a taxi up the mountain.

The navigation app cannot find the exact location of Qingyun Temple.

Finally, a local resident pointed out the way—

"You mean that dilapidated Taoist temple? It's at the end of that fork in the road at the foot of the mountain."

"But that place seems to be quite popular lately; an ambulance even came here a few days ago."

Su Nian's heart skipped a beat.

ambulance?

This shouldn't be related to Zhao Wei. Zhao Wei was in a car accident in the city. Could there be something else going on?

She didn't ask any further questions and got out of the car with her selfie stick.

As we walked, we first passed the parking lot of the Great Ci'en Temple.

The place was packed with cars, and pilgrims lined up to walk up the mountain. You could smell the sandalwood fragrance from afar.

Then turn into that side road.

The difference in elevation is visible to the naked eye.

The road near Da Ci'en Temple is a six-lane asphalt road with brand-new streetlights and clear signs.

Qingyun Temple over here—

A bumpy cement path, with weeds growing up to knee-high on both sides, and only a pole remaining as a street lamp, the bulb broken at some point.

After walking for three minutes, the Taoist temple came into view.

Su Nian stood at the door and looked around for ten seconds.

Then I started the live stream.

Good morning, everyone.

She held up her phone, the camera pointed at her face, her tone light and slightly mocking.

"Today, Niannian visited Qingyun Temple, which has been the talk of the internet recently."

She flipped the camera and aimed it at the front of the Taoist temple.

A wave of people immediately flooded into the live stream room.

The number of people jumped from a dozen or so to three hundred, five hundred, and eight hundred.

Su Nian's fan base is already here, and with the inherent traffic from the keyword "Qingyun Temple," the number of people is still increasing.

The barrage of comments was overwhelming:

【Here it comes!】

Let me see just how dilapidated this Taoist temple really is.

Be careful, sis, don't get tricked into making a wish!

Was that Taoist priest handsome? I heard he was quite good-looking?

Su Nian walked into the courtyard step by step, holding her phone.

The courtyard is not big.

A crooked tree, a stone water vat, and green algae growing in the water vat.

Several bluestone slabs on the ground were cracked, and wild grasses sprouted from the cracks.

"The atmosphere is definitely right." Su Nian smiled at the camera. "If this were a horror movie, we could save on set design costs."

She walked to the entrance of the main hall.

The door was open.

Inside, a young man wearing an old Taoist robe was sitting with his legs crossed on a chair next to the offering table, with a bowl of instant noodles in front of him and chopsticks in his hand.

With noodles in his mouth, he looked up and saw Su Nian.

The two people stared at each other for a second across the threshold.

The air fell silent for a moment.

Then Qin Du slurped the noodles down, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and said very calmly:

"Good morning. Are you here to burn incense?"

Su Nian blinked.

She worked as a restaurant review blogger for two years and has seen all sorts of things.

But the image of a Taoist priest eating instant noodles under a statue of a deity is still quite impactful.

"I'm not here to burn incense," she said, holding up her phone. "I'm here for an interview."

"Oh." Qin Du picked up another bite of noodles. "Take any pictures you like."

They didn't even ask, "May I ask which media outlet you are from?"

Su Nian entered the main hall.

The number of viewers in the live stream has soared to over two thousand.

She looked around. There were three statues of gods with peeling paint, a rusty incense burner, a donation box covered in dust, and even the lock on the box was rusted.

Then she pointed the camera at Qin Du.

it has started.

"Master Qin, may I ask you a few questions?"

"Don't call me Celestial Master, just call me Qin Du." Qin Du put down his chopsticks and leaned back. "Go ahead and ask."

Su Nian's tone took on a sharp edge.

Professional habits.

"My first question is, does your Taoist temple have a valid registration certificate for religious activities?"

As soon as this question came up, someone in the live chat typed "Wow!"

They went straight for the weak point right from the start.

Qin Du tilted his head slightly.

"Yes. My grandfather issued it twenty years ago, and it's still valid. You can see it if you want; it's hanging on the side wall, but a corner of the writing has been gnawed by rats."

Su Nian: "..."

Comment: [So, even rats are trying to destroy evidence, huh?]

She wasn't swayed and continued asking:

"Second question. Those two incidents circulating online. How do you explain the taxi driver Liu Haizhu and Zhao Wei, who was hit by the car?"

"What do you mean by 'what'?"

"They made wishes here, and then something bad happened. Don't you feel responsible?"

That's a rather difficult question.

[Good question! That's exactly how you should ask it!]

[How can you blame the Taoist priest? He wasn't the one driving the car.]

Qin Du did not answer immediately.

He picked up the instant noodle soup, took a sip, put down the bowl, and said in a very calm tone:

"Let me first correct a fact."

"They didn't 'have an accident'."

"Their wish has come true."

Su Nian was taken aback.

"Mr. Liu wished to get a big order, and the next day he got a long-distance emergency call for 300 yuan. Mr. Zhao wished to get rich overnight and received 3.8 million yuan in compensation."

Qin Du looked into her eyes.

"The wish was fulfilled word for word."

"As for how to achieve it—"

He pointed to the statue above his head.

"That was fate. It wasn't my will."

Su Nian instinctively pressed, "So you admit that their accident was related to you?"

"It has nothing to do with me. It has to do with their own wishes."

Qin Du's tone was completely unevasive.

"They make a wish here, and their wish will come true. But I cannot control how it comes true, nor can I bear the cost. They must bear it themselves."

"That's the rule."

He then pointed to the stone tablet outside the door.

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

"I didn't take a single penny from them. I didn't make any promises. I didn't guarantee 'no side effects'."

"They chose to make their own wishes."

Su Nian opened her mouth, wanting to refute.

But she discovered—

Logically, it seems there are indeed no flaws.

This Taoist priest wasn't lying.

From beginning to end, he never said that "making a wish is risk-free".

She even said in a live stream that "the effect is 100% effective, but the side effects vary from person to person."

They even provided a "disclaimer".

What else do you want?

Su Nian remained silent for two seconds.

The comments section was already flooded with messages:

This Taoist priest's logic is flawless.

They've made it very clear; they didn't force me to buy or sell anything.

Why do I feel like this blogger can't get a straight answer from him?

"It's beyond my control; they'll have to bear the consequences themselves." I think that's more effective than any other excuse.

Su Nian adjusted her mindset and changed her perspective.

"Let me rephrase the question. Do you think what you did was a good thing or a bad thing?"

This question is easier than the previous ones.

This is also more difficult to answer than the previous ones.

Qin Du remained silent for a while.

This time it wasn't that nonchalant silence.

I really am thinking about it.

Then he said:

"Mr. Liu ran a red light, got points deducted, and was fined. But he saved a child who had been scalded, and that child is still alive."

"Mr. Zhao suffered multiple fractures and spent three days in the ICU. But he paid off his debts and his wife returned."

"Is it a good thing or a bad thing?"

Su Nian didn't speak.

Qin Du looked at her and smiled gently.

"I don't know either."

But I know one thing—

"They were already desperate before they came."

"After arriving, at least there was a result."

"Let them judge for themselves whether it's good or bad."

The main hall fell silent for a moment.

The chat in the live stream went silent for a moment.

Then it started boiling over like a pot had exploded:

[Wow, that's a really good comment!]

Honestly, this Taoist priest is completely different from what I imagined.

I thought he was just faking it, but he turned out to be perfectly lucid.

Su Nian turned off the "interview mode".

She walked around the Taoist temple, taking pictures of the main hall, the courtyard, the stone tablet, and the crooked tree.

During the process, Qin Du just sat there, neither deliberately cooperating nor deliberately hiding. He ate instant noodles when he wanted to and played games when he wanted to.

After Su Nian finished taking the photos, she walked to the door and glanced back at him.

Aren't you going to encourage me to make a wish?

"I won't try to persuade you." Qin Du didn't even look up, staring at his phone screen. "Making a wish is something you have to think through yourself before you can make it. Advice from others doesn't count."

"If I don't make a wish, won't you earn less?"

"I'm not charging money, so what's the point of making money?"

Su Nian smiled.

She found this person quite interesting.

It's not the kind of "pretentious" humor, but rather—

He genuinely doesn't care whether you believe it or not.

He doesn't argue, doesn't try to sell, and doesn't try to get you to burn incense.

When you arrive, he will entertain you.

After you left, he continued eating instant noodles.

This kind of person either truly doesn't care about anything—

Either you have a kind of inner strength that others can't see.

"Then I'm leaving."

"Take care, and don't bother seeing me off."

Su Nian walked out of the Taoist temple.

The live stream is still running.

She said to the camera:

That concludes today's site visit.

"The conclusion—"

She thought about it.

"No conclusion has been reached yet."

"But this place and this person are indeed quite different from what I imagined."

I will update you if there are any further developments.

The live stream has ended.

She didn't see the last few comments in the live chat.

So, does she believe it or not?

I have a feeling this blogger is already half-believing...

She'll definitely come back, I bet she will.

After Su Nian left, the Taoist temple fell silent.

Qin Du put down his phone, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling for a while.

The system panel floated silently in the corner of the field of vision.

Incense value: 65.

He glanced at the direction Su Nian had left in outside the door.

The blogger's questions weren't exactly friendly, but Qin Du didn't care. He just wanted to accumulate more incense points to see if he could exchange them for some real cultivation techniques in the system, so he wouldn't be knocked on the door and kicked out one day.

…………