Chapter 204 Fellow Daoist, I have gained enlightenment again!

Before Shen Yuepo could answer, a shout came from outside the temple gate, growing louder as it approached:

"My treasured comics! My God of Wealth! Wait for me! I'm coming to save you!"

A figure appeared, like a wild horse with its tail on fire, sprinting and crawling into the Taoist temple gate at top speed.

The target was the pile of items for sale next to the donation box.

Who else could it be but Lin Yanxin, who just left the temple?

When Meng Guichen saw Lin Yanxin, his anger intensified. "Lin! Yan! Xin! You stop right there!"

The front hall was immediately thrown into chaos.

Ignore the chaos caused by Meng Guichen and Lin Yanxin.

Taking advantage of the brief moment when everyone's attention was drawn to the farce, Shen Yuepo's voice clearly drowned out the noise:

"Good people, please."

The noise instantly subsided, and countless eyes focused on her.

"Thank you for your kindness, the incense at Xujing Temple is flourishing day by day. But..."

She then changed the subject, saying, "Human strength is finite. In order to avoid disrespecting the Dharma and to focus on spiritual practice, from today onwards, I will only use the divination and fortune-telling methods of the Xujing Observation to resolve doubts in three matters."

She extended three slender, white fingers:

"Firstly, a calamity of life and death;"

"Secondly, there is the distress of unrest in the home and the disturbance of evil spirits;"

"Thirdly, the pain of separation from close relatives and the difficulty of finding out who is alive or dead."

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd erupted in disappointed groans and murmurs.

Unmoved, Shen Yuepo continued:

"And each day, only ten divinations are performed."

The wails grew even louder! Ten divinations? Who could possibly do that?

“In order to ensure fairness,” she said, pointing to an empty bamboo basket of incense and candles inside the hall.

“The temple is open from 7 to 9 a.m. every day. Those who wish to have their fortune told can go to Master Zhang Qingyuan to receive a specially made bamboo stick with a number written on it.”

“Every day at 9 o’clock sharp, my senior brother, Daoist Lin Yanxin, will shake this divination box in public, and ten bamboo sticks will be rolled out randomly. Those whose sticks correspond to the numbers can ask for a divination.”

This simple and straightforward method managed to quell the commotion in the crowd.

Shen Yuepo looked at everyone, her tone softening slightly:

"Today, I thank you all for your trust and kindness in Xujing Temple."

"Anyone currently inside the temple, whether or not they wish to seek divination, may go to Master Zhang Qingyuan to receive a peace talisman to bless their home and ensure all things go smoothly."

The situation took an unexpected turn.

The crowd, which had been groaning just moments before, suddenly erupted in joyful cheers.

A good luck charm! It's free!

The peace charm from Master Shen's temple! Worth it!

The slight dissatisfaction from before vanished instantly, and everyone happily flocked to Zhang Qingyuan.

Once the queue started forming, the order was actually much better than before.

While frantically distributing the peace talismans that Lin Yanxin had drawn in batches, Zhang Qingyuan took a moment to cast an admiring glance at Shen Yuepo and whispered:

"Fellow Daoist Shen! You really have a way with ideas! You're clever!"

Shen Yuepo shook her head slightly, her tone calm, "It's not that I have a way. It's that you and my senior brother are too kind-hearted. We can't bear to refuse even the smallest things they ask for."

"But a Taoist temple is not a general store, and a practitioner is not an omniscient person. Knowing what to do and what not to do is the right path."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qingyuan nodded thoughtfully.

Immediately, his eyes lit up, "Fellow Daoist, I've gained another insight!"

Just then, Shen Yuepo's gaze swept across the crowd and suddenly fixed on the shadow of a thick pillar inside the palace gate.

There stood a young girl wearing a plain black short-sleeved T-shirt.

The mountain wind in late autumn carried a chill, and most of the pilgrims were wearing coats, but she was only wearing a thin black T-shirt.

When Shen Yuepo's gaze fell upon her, the girl seemed to have sensed it beforehand, and slowly raised her head to meet Shen Yuepo's gaze directly.

Her face was pretty, but her eyes were empty and lifeless, devoid of any vitality.

The girl's lips curled into a stiff upward arc.

This bizarre contrast set off alarm bells in Shen Yuepo's heart.

The next second, the girl in black raised a similarly pale hand and slowly waved it in the direction of Shen Yuepo.

Without waiting for Shen Yuepo to react, she turned around.

In the blink of an eye, they disappeared.

The whole process was incredibly fast.

After the girl in black vanished like a ghost, Shen Yuepo immediately looked at Feng Jin beside her, "Did you feel it?"

She was referring to that eerie aura.

Feng Jin nodded slightly, his gaze still fixed on the direction where the girl had disappeared, his voice low: "Non-human, neither ghost nor human, her aura chaotic, as if she were forcibly bound by some kind of forbidden magic."

On the other side, Lin Yanxin, who had been having her ear pulled by Meng Guichen, also stopped her playful expression.

He leaned closer, his brows furrowed, his sharp eyes fixed on the direction of the palace gate. "Interesting. They were able to pass through the outer array of the Xujing Temple without any hindrance and go straight into the palace."

This means that the other party is either at an extremely high level of power, or... the formation itself is giving her a break.

Shen Yuepo nodded, "She has a taboo on her, yet she was able to enter the Taoist temple safely. It seems she has a connection with you, the abbot."

Lin Yanxin: "..."

"Just say you want me to catch up, why beat around the bush?"

Shen Yuepo rolled her eyes at him. "You think you can catch up now that you're only chasing after him?"

"Just wait. If she wants something, she will come again."

Just as Shen Yuepo had predicted.

At dusk, in the backyard of Xujing Temple.

Several people were sitting around a steaming hot pot round table.

The red oil sizzles and bubbles, filling the air with its aroma, dispelling the chill of late autumn.

Lin Yanxin and Meng Guichen were having a friendly chopsticks-fighting match over who got the last piece of tripe, while Zhang Qingyuan buried himself in his food.

Just then, a figure reappeared at the intersection of light and shadow at the courtyard gate.

It was that eerie girl wearing a thin black short-sleeved shirt.

She remained standing there quietly, her pale skin appearing even more eerie under the light.

His empty, lifeless eyes stared straight at Shen Yuepo, who was facing the doorway.

There was no word, no movement, like a lifeless statue.

"hiss!"

Zhang Qingyuan, who was engrossed in eating meat, looked up and met the girl's lifeless eyes.

I was so startled that I gasped and almost spat out the meat in my mouth.

He pointed to the doorway and stammered:

"Fellow Daoist Shen! She's really here! Why is she like a ghost? No, even ghosts make some noise... Why isn't she making a sound? Could it be... a mute ghost?"