This was a relatively primitive way of finding out, but sometimes it was pretty useful.
It was just a shame that [Tan Yu Temple] seemed to be a rather obscure place. No players had ventured there yet.
There were only a few posts with related keywords, all of them asking things like whether worshiping the statues originally enshrined in their homes was effective.
Zhu Yan glanced at the avatars of the players who had made the posts. Without exception, every one of them had gone black.
Great. It had taken him all of one second to guess the answer.
“Director, want something to eat?” Yang Zhanbai, sitting in the front row, displayed a rare moment of emotional intelligence. “We’ve got instant noodles, instant hot pot, and self-heating rice.”
Director Jin looked much less troubled than before, as though he had just finished talking things over with someone.
“I’ll have the self-heating rice. I seem to remember there’s a beef-and-mushroom flavor.”
Yang Zhanbai quickly handed Director Jin a steaming container of rice, then casually stuffed a military-issue chocolate bar into Zhu Zeyu’s hands.
“Thanks,” Zhu Yan said absently, keeping an eye on the change in Director Jin’s mood.
This guy should… No, he definitely knew something.
Zhu Yan needed to pump him for information before he could relax!
While exiting his own [Player Forum] and opening his phone to search for “Tan Yu Temple,” Zhu Yan operated Walking Corpse Jin Rongxu and sent Director Jin a private message through the forum.
Judging from their chat history, Jin Rongxu was clearly much less distant when speaking with Director Jin in private.
It was a shame, however, that their messages contained nothing particularly important. Aside from their private opinions about certain staff members, the topics they discussed most often were Hunter No. 1 and the public-beta instance.
“Uncle, how are things on your end?”
Director Jin did not reply immediately, so Zhu Yan lowered his head and browsed social media for posts related to “Tan Yu Temple.”
The name itself appeared fairly often on social media.
The most recent post had been published a month ago. Zhu Yan clicked on it and discovered that it was a repayment-of-a-vow post.
“Repaying my vow! The little temples around Lingshan are seriously miraculous!”
The post included several pictures. The first showed a tiny temple gate, seemingly just wide enough for two people to walk through shoulder to shoulder.
A sign bearing the words “Tan Yu Temple” hung above the gate. After years of exposure to wind and rain, it had already developed several cracks.
“A friend told me that Tan Yu Temple only enshrines Guanyin Bodhisattva, and that the statue is very distinctive—it’s different from the ones in other places. Apparently, it’s incredibly effective for praying for wealth, children, or romance, so we came to pay our respects.”
“I broke up with my ex-girlfriend two months ago and came here to pray for the perfect next partner. I can’t believe I met her so soon.”
“We’ve known each other for a month, and we both feel that we were meant for each other. We’ve already decided to get married!”
“It’s a shame they don’t allow photography inside the temple grounds, or I’d definitely show everyone what the beautiful statue of Guanyin looks like.”
Zhu Yan felt certain that the person who made this post had never downloaded the National Anti-Fraud Center app.
He continued reading. Although [Mad Hilarity] had not yet descended on a large scale two months earlier, every line of the post was permeated with a powerful sense of eeriness.
“Hee hee hee, everyone, remember this: if you make a wish at this temple, you must repay your vow!”
“Anyway, I’m now the most loyal believer of Guanyin Bodhisattva!”
“Thank her for sending me a beautiful, gentle, capable wife who understands me out of nowhere. I’m willing to do anything for her!”
Zhu Yan wanted to screenshot these lines and send them to the cops.
In the end, his good sense prevailed. He took a screenshot of the post, backed out, and went to look at the other popular posts about “Tan Yu Temple.”
Those posts had been abnormal from the very beginning—or rather, his current Hunter mission was abnormal in every respect.
The [Hunter] mission stated that the temple enshrined the Great Buddha.
In Buddhism, Buddhas and bodhisattvas were two different concepts.
So why did the post say that the visitors had worshiped Guanyin?
This supposedly “uniquely shaped” Guanyin statue couldn’t possibly be the same thing as the “Great Buddha” mentioned in Zhu Yan’s mission, could it?
Another post gave off exactly the same strange feeling.
“An obscure little temple. I prayed to Guanyin Bodhisattva for a son, and it actually worked! The ultrasound had clearly shown that I was having a daughter. This is freaking amazing.”
“I brought my two-month-old son here to repay my vow. I’d do anything for the Bodhisattva! Hahahaha.”
There were other posts from people who had prayed to strike it rich, or to get into college, and their content was all more or less the same.
“Performed beyond my normal level and got into the best university in the area! Repaying my vow! I’ll offer everything I have to the Bodhisattva, including my heart [doge].”
“I got rich! Not only did the company’s debt crisis get resolved, we even made a huge profit. Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva, look at me! I’m completely devoted to you now.”
After reading several more posts, Zhu Yan had more or less figured out the pattern.
The common thread among all these people was that they had made a wish, and the wish had come true.
Moreover, when repaying their vows, they all expressed the same sentiment: they were willing to offer everything to this “Guanyin Bodhisattva.”
That was very strange…
Zhu Yan frowned unconsciously.
One of the requirements in his mission was to provide the Great Buddha with players who were willing to become sacrifices.
Could it mean that as long as these players made a wish to the Bodhisattva and the wish came true, he would be able to advance the mission smoothly?
He had no idea what connection this had to “obtaining a portable instance location,” but Zhu Yan made a mental note of this clue.
He was just about to continue scrolling when a message from Yang Zhanbai suddenly popped up on his phone.
“Seriously, man, you really don’t check the Player Forum?”
Zhu Yan replied with a question mark.
“Stop sending question marks.” Yang Zhanbai replied instantly. “Brother, do you know that Hunter No. 1 screwed you over?”
“You cleared the [Metabolism Mod] with Hunter No. 1, right?”
“That bastard pinned the blame on you, brother.”
“He probably went around spreading rumors that you were the [Hunter], which made the horrifying creatures you offended last time think you were the [Hunter] too.”
“They’ve been posting your picture everywhere and putting out a bounty for you. There are already several posts about it on the [Player Forum]!”
Zhu Yan stared at the private messages in eerie silence.
Yang Zhanbai seemed to mistake his silence for worry.
“But don’t worry. Shen Zichen and I are both currently ranked in the top thirty players, and we’ve made posts explaining the situation and clearing your name.”
“I also called on everyone else who was able to make a post.”
“It’s just that your face got doxxed, brother. There’s nothing we can do about that. Let’s kill Hunter No. 1 together! Tear him limb from limb!”
Zhu Yan’s finger hovered in midair.
He hadn’t taken the matter seriously in the first place, since he could explain everything himself.
More importantly, he was grateful for Yang Zhanbai’s loyalty. It had made him realize that he could get torn limb from limb at any moment.
Zhu Yan cast a complicated glance at the tuft of red hair sticking up above the front seat.
“…Thanks, brother. I really appreciate it.”
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
