Chapter 1384: Inviting In the True Buddha
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Feng Yuanlin, Wu Haoming and Xiao Shan had no idea what inviting in the True Buddha Lord involved. Ruan Shenglin and the others had heard about it from the production team; it seemed they had to kowtow to the Buddha statue a few times, listen to Village Chief Pan recite a scripture, and then accept the Buddha statue.
However, they knew that this Buddha statue wasn’t anything good, and they didn’t want to invite in the True Buddha at all.
When they arrived at the village chief’s residence, they took a few glances in particular at the Buddha statues carefully enshrined in the living room. The statues were clearly still, but their black eyes inexplicably made people feel like they were glued to them; it was a cold and terrifying feeling. Yang Kun and Xu Tong were more timid than the others, and suddenly shuddered.
Xu Tong, in particular, recognized the Buddha statue at first glance – it was the same as the one which Qin Qing had given to her with ulterior motives. Her face changed drastically. It was only because Ruan Shenglin was prepared and covered Xu Tong’s mouth that she didn’t scream. Even then, the fear in her eyes overflowed. Her face was deathly pale, her body shook, and she couldn’t speak even if she wanted to.
Fortunately, Xu Tong didn’t have much of a presence. From beginning to end, ‘Pan Dalei’ didn’t look at her. Instead, he looked at Feng Yuanlin’s face a few times, intentionally or otherwise, before he quickly restrained himself. When his eyes swept over the statues of the True Buddha Lord, his lips curled up in a strange, cold, and gloating smile.
!!
It was fleeting, but Feng Yuanlin saw it clearly.
‘Pan Dalei’ swiftly told them what they needed to do in order to invite in the True Buddha Lord. They had to kneel piously on the prayer mats and listen to him recite a scripture before accepting the True Buddha Lord.
He also said that as long as they were sincere toward the True Buddha Lord, the latter would grant them any wish.
Feng Yuanlin and the others didn’t believe a single word Village Chief Pan said at all. Feng Yuanlin wanted to stall for time, but they were in the other party’s territory – whether or not he would let them put things off was another matter.
‘Pan Dalei’ obviously didn’t plan to let them drag their feet any longer. He immediately told them to kneel on the prayer mats and listen to him recite the scripture once. After that, they would accept the True Buddha Lord. Then, if there was nothing else, they could take the True Buddha Lord back with them; it wouldn’t take up much of their time.
Feng Yuanlin tried several times to interrupt the other party as he tried to stall for time again. ‘Pan Dalei’s’ face was filled with impatience, and his eyes swept over them suspiciously and coldly. “What? Do you not believe in the True Buddha, or do you have a problem with it?”
As soon as he said that, Feng Yuanlin couldn’t no longer find an excuse to delay, for fear of making the other party suspicious, and could only leave it to fate.
In the end, they could only pretend to be pious as they knelt on the praying mats and listened to ‘Pan Dalei’ recite the scripture in front of them.
The group looked calm on the surface, but in fact, they were feeling bitter and nervous.
In particular, after the other party finished reciting the scripture, he picked up a Buddha statue.
The first Buddha statue ‘Pan Dalei’ held out was for Feng Yuanlin. Seeing that Feng Yuanlin didn’t take it after a long while, ‘Pan Dalei’ curled his lip and said with a strange and cold smile, “Take it!”
Feng Yuanlin didn’t say anything. He could clearly sense the hostility in the other party’s eyes. It was as if he was looking at a dead person who shouldn’t be alive. There was a hint of excitement in his eyes; it was as if he couldn’t wait to see Feng Yuanlin take the Buddha statue and immediately drop dead in the next second.
After confirming that he hadn’t misread the meaning in the other party’s eyes, Feng Yuanlin took a few glances at the Buddha statue, and he was struck with a strong sense of danger.
Seeing that he still didn’t take the Buddha statue, ‘Pan Dalei’ was completely displeased. The smile on his face disappeared completely, and there was a hint of a cold threat in his eyes.
On the side, Xiao Shan and Wu Haoming were prepared to disrupt things if the Buddha statue was stuffed into Director Feng’s hands. Yang Kun, Ruan Shenglin and Xu Tong’s faces were also very unsightly. The more they looked at the village chief’s overly excited behavior and expression, the more certain they were that there was something wrong with this Buddha statue.
No one expected Ruan Shenglin to suddenly take the initiative to help Feng Yuanlin out of his predicament. He said to ‘Pan Dalei’ in front of him, “Village Chief Pan, I heard from the others that the True Buddha is very effective. Can I receive the True Buddha first?”
Everyone paused; Feng Yuanlin was also stunned. He narrowed his eyes and glanced at Ruan Shenglin next to him.
As soon as Ruan Shenglin spoke, he took the initiative to receive the True Buddha Lord. Sure enough, ‘Pan Dalei’s’ cold face faded a little and he went back to being all smiles. His eyes s.h.i.+fted from the face of the man surnamed Feng in front of him to Ruan Shenglin’s face. He was very satisfied with the other party’s ability to adapt, and didn’t object. In his opinion, these people had to invite in the True Buddha Lord tonight, no matter what. No one could refuse. Thinking this, ‘Pan Dalei’ even glanced coldly at the man who had resisted just now with schadenfreude. Then, he held out the Buddha statue to Ruan Shenglin with a smile and said, “Take it!”
“Shenglin!” Yang Kun and Xu Tong’s faces changed drastically as they hurriedly called out Ruan Shenglin’s name in unison, trying to stop him!
Ruan Shenglin pretended not to hear them. As for accepting this True Buddha, he had his reasons. After finding out that this village was rife with danger, the only person they could rely on was Master Chi.
Speaking of which, they could only be considered acquaintances with Master Chi, but she treated them very well. How could he see Master Chi’s friend suffer first?
In fact, whether or not everyone accepted the Buddha statue wasn’t the issue – the issue was who would be the first to accept it. If he coldly watched Master Chi’s friend accept it first, Master Chi might be disappointed when she found out later.
In any case, there was no difference between accepting it first or later. Even if he was really unlucky and Master Chi arrived only after he accepted the Buddha statue, it was fine if something happened to him alone, but nothing could happen to his wife and Brother Kun. It would be good if Master Chi could take his wife and Brother Kun away from the village.
Moreover, nothing had happened to the people who had accepted the Buddha statue before. He could try immediately subduing the statue with an Exorcism Talisman, and might be lucky enough to escape.
Ruan Shenglin immediately made up his mind. As he accepted the Buddha statue, he said to ‘Pan Dalei,’ “I did want to invite in the True Buddha Lord before, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the time.”
Seeing that Ruan Shenglin really was going to take the Buddha statue, Feng Yuanlin’s face changed and he immediately stopped him. Wu Haoming and Xiao Shan’s faces also changed, and they wanted to stop him. Ruan Shenglin deliberately said, “Brother Feng, Brother Wu, Brother Xiao, don’t fight me on this. In any case, everyone has to invite in the true Buddha Lord. There’s no difference who goes first or last! It’s just a matter of time! Moreover, I happen to have a wish that I want the True Buddha Lord to help make come true!”
‘Pan Dalei’ was very satisfied with Ruan Shenglin’s sensible words and echoed, “Brother Ruan is right!”
As soon as Ruan Shenglin touched the cold statue, his wrist suddenly hurt, as if a pebble had suddenly hit it out of nowhere, and he lost his grip. With a bang, the True Buddha Lord fell to the floor and shattered.
Pan Dalei’s eyes swept over the shattered Buddha statue on the floor, and his face turned very unsightly and cold. He stared at Ruan Shenglin with a murderous gaze.
Ruan Shenglin hadn’t expected this mishap when he accepted the Buddha statue. He was about to speak, when a familiar voice suddenly rang out from the side. “Village Chief Pan, on my way here earlier, I heard someone say that something happened to the True Buddha Lord in the temple, and they want you to go and take a look!”