Chapter 50: A Man's Intuition
The little novice Yuan Kong led the four of them into the side hall of Chanlin Temple.
During the temple fair, the main hall was fully open to the public, but the side hall was strictly off-limits to ordinary believers. Its main purpose was to serve as a resting place for honored guests.
There were no other monks inside; Yuan Kong personally brewed the tea.
After Yaoqin took her seat, she asked, "You're the Yuan Kong of Chanlin Temple?"
"You've heard of me, Benefactor?" Yuan Kong's tone carried a trace of surprise.
Yaoqin nodded lightly. "The Buddha Child of Chanlin Temple — you do have a bit of a reputation. But why haven't you yet practiced the temple's own dharma methods?"
Yuan Kong poured tea for each of the four before replying, "The abbot said the time has not yet come."
Yaoqin gave a faint nod. He wasn't her disciple, so her curiosity was limited to a few questions.
Li Yingling, uninterested in anything related to "Buddha Childs," immediately asked with curiosity, "Little monk, doesn't your abbot feel even a bit embarrassed holding that plaque?"
Yuan Kong let out a deep sigh. "He is the abbot — naturally, what he says goes. If I had the final say, the abbot would already be in seclusion as punishment."
Chu Xingchen nodded approvingly. "Mm! The Buddha Child speaks wisely. I think our sect should also have a confinement room — specifically for locking up disobedient disciples."
The great rebellious disciple Li Yingling voted against the proposal. "Master, that's not right. A sect should lead its disciples with love, not punishment."
As she spoke, she secretly signaled her junior disciple, Li Xingtian, with a glance.
Li Xingtian quickly lowered his head and pretended to sip his tea, completely ignoring his senior sister's signal.
"All right, enough. Your sect's business can wait," Yaoqin said, glancing toward the door.
The side hall's entrance faced directly toward the temple's main square — the very place where the abbot was holding up that infamous plaque.
That area was restricted, reserved for Chanlin Temple's esteemed guests, allowing them the clearest view of the spectacle.
It had to be said that in handling its "guests," Chanlin Temple hardly resembled a place of worship. It was more like an institution skilled in flattering superiors.
Yaoqin retracted her gaze and straightened her posture. "When does the Water Forest Dharma Assembly officially begin?"
"In about half an hour," Yuan Kong replied as he finished pouring the tea. Standing up, he pressed his palms together and said, "I'll be leading my junior brothers in the sutra recitation today, so I cannot remain long. Please, make yourselves at home."
Yaoqin gave a polite nod.
Yuan Kong bowed with palms pressed together to each of them before taking his leave.
Chu Xingchen's playful expression faded. After taking a slow sip of the temple's bitter tea, he remarked, "This Buddha Child is rather interesting."
Yaoqin raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You can tell?"
Chu Xingchen leaned back, completely at ease. "When have I ever misjudged a person?"
Yaoqin couldn't argue with that. Chu Xingchen's perception of people was almost unnervingly accurate. Even upon first meeting someone, he could immediately discern their true nature — and he had never once been wrong, as if he could read straight into their hearts.
Yaoqin lightly fanned herself. "Then tell me — what's so interesting about this Buddha Child?"
"He's a natural-born Buddha Child," Chu Xingchen said seriously.
Li Yingling, who had been eager to hear some profound insight from her master, instantly lost interest.
Yaoqin also paid it no mind, turning her gaze casually back toward the temple entrance.
He was already the Buddha Child of Chanlin Temple — stating that was as redundant as saying the sky was blue.
Seeing their indifference, Chu Xingchen said nothing more and took another sip of the temple's special bitter tea.
He had to admit — it was bitter as hell.
Naturally, Chu Xingchen had already used his system to check Yuan Kong's attribute entries.
[Target: Yuan Kong]
[Gold Entry: Natural-born Buddha Child]
[Purple Entry: Insight into Illusion]
[Blue Entry: Wisdom]
[Blue Entry: Compassion]
[Black Entry: Forbidden Body of Cultivation]
[Recruitment Condition: Checking… biu… biu——]
[Recruitment Condition: Not Fulfilled.]
This little novice, Yuan Kong, was indeed quite intriguing — that golden attribute entry alone carried extraordinary significance.
The rest of his entries were impressive as well, but what stood out most was how, for a brief instant, the system itself had glitched.
It had shown both "conditions fulfilled" and "conditions unfulfilled." Clearly, the issue lay with that black entry — Forbidden Body of Cultivation.
Could it be that the system had determined he lacked the ability to resolve such a condition at his current level?
A Forbidden Body of Cultivation…
It was likely not that Chanlin Temple refused to let the boy cultivate, but rather that he was fundamentally incapable of cultivation.
After a moment of contemplation, Chu Xingchen suddenly said,
"I think today's faith power ceremony is meant for Yuan Kong."
Yaoqin turned her head and replied,
"The Buddha Child of Chanlin Temple is officially recognized by the Central Continent. With that status, he can freely study at the great Buddhist temples there. Using faith power for cultivation would be self-destructive."
Chu Xingchen clicked his tongue twice. "Such a shallow view — you can't see the essence of it."
Yaoqin sneered softly. "Oh? And what mysterious insight does Immortal Chu have that I don't?"
Chu Xingchen placed a hand on Li Xingtian's shoulder and said solemnly, "A man's intuition — accurate beyond doubt."
At the same time, he kicked Li Yingling lightly on the leg.
Startled, Li Yingling looked up, caught her master's meaningful glance, and immediately understood. She nodded and said in mock seriousness,
"Master, you mean a woman's intuition is the accurate one."
Chu Xingchen gave a disdainful snort. "Sounds like you two aren't convinced. How about a wager?"
"Sister Yaoqin!" Li Yingling clung to Yaoqin's arm, protesting dramatically. "My master's being arrogant again — teach him a lesson!"
Yaoqin thought for a moment, then asked calmly, "Very well. What are the terms?"
"How about spirit stones?" Chu Xingchen smiled. "If I lose, you can keep the spirit stones you owe me. If you lose, you'll pay double. How about it?"
Yaoqin's gaze grew suspicious as she studied him.
She knew Chu Xingchen's character too well — this was a man so stingy he treated each spirit stone like a rare treasure.
How could he possibly wager so many at once, especially on something that seemed so uncertain?
Could he have inside information?
But that didn't make sense.
Chanlin Temple's invitation this time had been highly secretive, extended only to a few branch sects of the Central Continent.
Those branches mostly functioned as intelligence divisions, collecting regional information for their main sects.
After all, high-level secret realms occasionally appeared outside the Central Continent, and having early access to such intelligence could provide a great advantage.
More importantly, maintaining these branches cost nothing significant.
Chanlin Temple itself could be considered one such branch of the Central Continent's Buddhist sects.
It had cleverly used the idea of faith power as a pretext to draw a few sects' interest.
Surely, they wouldn't go to such lengths only to publicly destroy their own Buddha Child before everyone's eyes — that would be pure absurdity.
Chu Xingchen should have understood that much. So why was he still so confident?
Forget it. Just a few spirit stones — nothing worth fretting over.
And if she really got to witness Chanlin Temple ruin its own Buddha Child, the expense would be well worth it.
After all, competition in the Central Continent was fiercer than anywhere else. The loss of a Buddha Child from the Buddhist sects would be a boon to many other great powers.
For Yaoqin's own sect, it would be even more advantageous.
She finally nodded in agreement. "Fine. I accept your wager."
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