Amidst the smoke, the gilded Buddha statue collapsed, its shattered remains looking eerie. A young girl in a simple cheongsam and a white velvet shoulder cape stood with her back to her in the golden palace.

The moment she heard footsteps and turned her head, sunlight came through the window and fell on her face, as if coating her plain white dress with golden light.

The gods and Buddhas were shattered, and incense smoke was floating in the air. She stood in this old and dim temple, like a statue slowly awakening.

Shi Ling felt a little dazed. Not long ago, she had worn a cheongsam with her shoulders gathered together, confronted the false Buddha and evil spirits, weeping blood, walked out of the dark ruins, and saw the rising red sun with its great light.

She remembered that Huang Yafei once asked her a question.

Why does she have such a strong sense of belonging to China even though she grew up abroad and has never been influenced by Chinese history and culture?

At that time, she said with a smile that this was the inheritance engraved in her blood.

At this moment, she felt that it was not only engraved in her blood, but it was something in her soul.

…

The Yuncheng police verified with the Kou State that Xiyou was indeed Xishan Youye, so they extradited Xiyou back to the country to execute him.

The sudden collapse of the Buddha statue in Wuzai Temple became a hot topic, with netizens saying that even the Buddha could not bear to watch it. The Buddhist Association issued a statement condemning Wuzai Temple, a popular internet temple with no bottom line.

Wuzai Temple was sealed off and razed to the ground, the abbot was detained, and a group of monks who participated in the beating were also criminally detained.

The Yingxue Cosmetics Company founded by Xiyou was also closed down.

After Shi Ling finished taking notes, he was delighted to receive a new banner. Even Jing Ning received a banner and happily brought it back to Fanning Temple.

After this incident, Yuncheng no longer had the Wuzai Temple next to Xiguang Hospital, which was used to make money. The world only knew Fanning Temple, which enshrined the tablet of the national destiny. The young monk Jingning also brought Fanning Temple to fame, boosting the tourism industry around Fanning Temple.

The popularity of Fanning Temple remains high, and a Weibo and Maozhua live broadcast account were opened overnight to promote the thousand-year history of Fanning Temple.

Many internet celebrities want to take advantage of the popularity by live streaming at Fanning Temple. However, Fanning Temple does not charge admission, but limits the number of visitors per day and strictly prohibits internet celebrities from live streaming in the temple without permission.

But after the official account of Fanning Temple was opened, he personally tagged Shi Ling and went to visit Fanning Temple.

Shi Ling readily agreed.

The young monk Jingning led the way personally.

Fanning Temple is located among the green mountains and clouds, with a faint mountain rain. Shi Ling walked up the steps holding an oil-paper umbrella and could only see the spire of the pagoda in the distance.

"No wonder your temple is not popular. Who would be willing to climb such a high mountain? If it weren't for the fact that Wuzai Temple harbors filth and evil and brought about its own destruction, you would not be able to defeat them no matter how hard you try in business wars." Shi Ling said to the little monk next to him.

Jingning looked up and glared at her, his face puffed up with anger. "I already told you this isn't a business war! Money is just material possessions, we monks don't care about that. Benefactor, why don't you come to our temple to practice for a few days and get rid of that money-grubbing stink?"

Shi Ling: "What's the smell of copper? That's the fragrance of money~"

The two of them were arguing with each other and soon arrived at Fanning Temple.

The ginkgo trees in Fanning Temple are golden, and the branches and leaves are full of ginkgo nuts. After the heavy rain last night, the ground was covered with golden ginkgo leaves.

Shi Ling was standing on the tree with an umbrella, and was just asking Jing Ning how old the tree was when he suddenly saw a familiar figure walking out of the temple.

The mist and rain were thick, ginkgo leaves were falling like butterflies, and the boy's silver hair was disheveled and stained with raindrops.

He held a long string of Buddhist beads in his hand and wore ordinary monk's robes. His glassy eyes were clear and indifferent, like the easily-melting snow on the mountaintop.

Shi Ling felt that good-looking people looked good even in rags, but when she saw Yu Chen wearing the same outfit as Jing Ning, she still felt a little chapped.

"No, Yu Chen, have you become a monk after seeing through the mundane world?"

——

Good night~