Chapter 372 Buddha Eye-Opening
Legend had it that in ancient times, Dragon Gate Grotto often suffered floods, wiping out cities and fields.
One year, due to a prolonged rain upstream, the water level kept rising. The experienced elders knew that there was going to be a flood and began moving higher up the mountain. In the story, a child was playing on the sh.o.r.e when he heard a strange sound coming from the water. It sounded like someone was saying, “Open or not… Open or not…”
The child thought nothing of it. Two days later, a major flood really began upstream. The commoners watched their fields and city flooding and felt extremely miserable.
Although they had brought everything that they could bring with them, once the disaster was over, the fields would be ruined. There would be nothing to eat in the coming year, resulting in a definite famine. Moreover, after the flood, there would definitely be plagues. At that time, medical technology was not good enough to control plagues. They could only survive it with numbers, which meant that in larger areas not everyone would die from the contagion.
While everyone was filled with grief, the child heard that strange voice coming from the water again. It sounded like it was asking, “Open or not… Open or not…”
The child was very curious and explained the matter to his parents. When his parents heard that, they were overjoyed and told the child that if he heard the voice again, he should answer “open”.
Not long after, the child heard that voice again. This time, he followed his parents’ instructions and said, “open.”
Then, the churning river split apart. The floodwater that flowed down from upstream actually split into two paths. One circled around the fields and city from the left, and the other circled around it from the right. A serious flood didn’t happen.
And in the area where the river split apart, the mountain walls that were beneath the river surfaced. Numerous Buddha statues and grottos of different sizes appeared. One of them was a Buddha statue with eyes staring straight at the sky. The river split into two with his eyes being the central axis.
After the flood pa.s.sed, the commoners realized that the Buddha statue’s eyes had closed. Only then did they realize that the Buddha statue had saved their entire city.
Ever since then, the Buddha statues and grottos appeared out of the water—the present Dragon Gate Grotto.
Of course, this was just a legend that couldn’t be taken seriously. However, the story of Buddha opening his eyes had spread around the area.
Huang Ji told Zhou Wen that he didn’t know if Buddha had really opened his eyes to save all those lives, but he was certain that after the dimensional storms, every time the river beside Dragon Gate Grotto exceeded a certain range, a Buddha statue would open its eyes. If one were to be looked at by the Buddha statue, there might be a huge fortuitous opportunity befalling them.
“What huge fortuitous opportunity?” Zhou Wen asked curiously.
Huang Ji shook his head and said, “I don’t know. I heard that there were several instances in Dragon Gate Grotto that had the Buddha open his eyes. Every time someone was glanced at by the Buddha statue, it was as though a Buddha’s light had descended upon them. However, I don’t know what benefits those people gained later on. It’s just that I heard about a student with an average apt.i.tude, who had the lowest grades in school and always ranked in the bottom three in the comprehensive test. He was lucky enough to be looked at when the Buddha opened his eyes. From then on, it was as though he had cheated as his results shot up rapidly. He advanced to the Legendary stage in just a few months. I heard that he advanced to the Epic stage shortly after graduation.” “That G.o.dly?” Zhou Wen was somewhat in disbelief.
“I don’t believe it either. But that’s the legend that’s spreading. I’ve only heard people mention it. Recently, there’s been a lot of rain, and the water level has already exceeded the legendary mark. Perhaps today will be the day the Buddha opens his eyes. If there’s nothing else you need to do, just wait here. Who knows, if Buddha takes a look at you, you’ll be in for a swell time,” Huang Ji said. Upon hearing Huang Ji, Zhou Wen felt that he should stay behind to take a look. Even if the Buddha statue didn’t fancy him, it was better to broaden his knowledge. Zhou Wen sat down beside Huang Ji, waiting for the so-called Buddha Eye-Opening to happen. “Which is the Buddha statue with the closed eyes as mentioned in the legend?” Zhou Wen looked around him but didn’t see any Buddha statue with closed eyes.
“That one.” Huang Ji pointed up. Thankfully, Zhou Wen’s eyes were especially good; otherwise, he really wouldn’t be able to see that Buddha statue. It was because the Buddha statue that Huang Ji pointed to was so inconspicuous.
The more important Buddha statues were all full-body sculptures, but the Buddha statue in question was just a carving. Furthermore, it was only one-foot-tall and was carved on a stone wall. The Buddha statues around it were several meters tall or even more than ten meters tall. This made it extremely inconspicuous. If one didn’t pay attention, they would miss it.
Zhou Wen scrutinized it and realized that the Buddha statue did have its eyes closed, but after sizing it up for a while, he failed to discover anything magical about the stone statue.
Li Xuan and Li Weiyang walked over with a group of people. From afar, he saw Zhou Wen, ran over, and grumbled, “Old Zhou, so you’re here. That makes it easy for me. Why didn’t you answer all my calls?” Only then did Zhou Wen recall that he hadn’t brought his ordinary phone when he came out.
“Why are you all here?” Zhou Wen looked and realized that almost everyone from the Xuanwen Club and the Weiyang Club was here. Even Gu Dian.
“Why else would we be here? Aren’t you here for that Buddha Eye-Opening as well?” Li Xuan curled his lips as though he was very displeased with Zhou Wen for coming alone without informing him.
“I only learned about the Buddha Eye-Opening from Senior Huang Ji a moment ago. I went to Old Dragon Cave to pack some things,” Zhou Wen explained.
“Then you came at the right time. If the Buddha statue really opens its eyes later, it might be able to take a fancy to us. That will be sweet,” Li Xuan said.
As the two spoke, more and more people came. Zhou Wen saw that Wei Ge had brought quite a number of the student council’s leaders, including Zheng Tianlun.
Zheng Tianlun wasn’t very fond of Zhou Wen and only gave him a glance. Wei Ge nodded at him with a smile, appearing to be somewhat friendly.
Zhou Wen nodded slightly in response, but he had a nagging feeling that Wei Ge was a little different from before, but he couldn’t put a finger on the difference.
The sky grew darker and, when the sun was setting, more and more people came. Not only were there people from the college, but there were also some from outside the college. After all, not all of Dragon Gate Grotto belonged to Sunset College. As more and more people appeared, the Buddha statue remained motionless. Ignoring the hope of having its eyes opened. It was so dark that it was almost out of sight.
Suddenly, Zhou Wen heard splas.h.i.+ng sounds as though something was churning in the river, causing it to constantly bubble.