Chapter 406 The World is Just a Huge Grassroots Gang
After Xin Zhen's battle with the tiger demon, his desire to pass the imperial examination faded a lot. Of course, he had never wanted to be an official in the first place, but now he felt that time was too tight.

Opportunities are hard to come by, so he needs to hurry and look for them everywhere.

Moreover, Xin Zhen was very ambitious, and the opportunity he was looking for was also a huge opportunity, which required both a method for immortality and a strategy for subduing demons.

Having the ability to subdue demons without the secret of immortality is probably meaningless in just a few decades.

Having the method of immortality but no strategy to subdue demons, in this world of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio where demons are everywhere, even with the method of immortality, you probably won't be able to live for too long.

And those who possess both of these basically have to be from a great heritage.

The exorcism method that Shi Taipu was taught could only deal with ghosts, and it would not be able to bring immortality, so it was far from enough for Xin Zhen.

A true great inheritance would definitely have extremely high requirements for its disciples. Xin Zhen has already prepared himself to be on the road for the next few decades.

In this case, his status as a juren is enough, and it seems that it will not be of much use to take the jinshi exam.

I still have to go there, and I have to give an explanation to my parents and relatives. When the time comes, I can just say that I failed the exam. Not many people can pass the imperial examination on their first try, so it is very normal to take the exam ten more times in the future.

This is just perfect. Not only can I look for opportunities everywhere by traveling to study, but I can also travel around by taking the opportunity of the imperial examination.

On this day, the heavy snow that had been falling for several days finally stopped, but it was still difficult to walk on the road. The snow was three feet thick, and even people could not walk on the road, let alone carriages and horses.

Xin Qi did not complain about not taking the water route. At this time, all the rivers were frozen, making it difficult for vehicles and boats to travel.

At this time, no one would go out unless it was absolutely necessary. Even some traveling merchants would stay in various inns and wait until the snow melted before going out. Fortunately, the Spring Festival had passed, so it would not be long before the thaw came.

Xin Zhen and his servant originally wanted to hurry on their journey, but after trying for a while, they found that there was really no way, so they thought of settling down for a few days before setting off again.

Xin Zhen actually has this ability. Although the snow is heavy, the canal has already frozen. Although it is not thick enough for ordinary people to walk on it, he is not an ordinary person either. Although it is not easy for him to learn without leaving a trace, he can walk on thin ice with ease.

But it was because of Xin Qi that Xin Zhen couldn't leave Xin Qi behind and go out alone. The world was so chaotic, and if he left Xin Qi here, it would be another matter whether he could go back or not. Xin Zhen was not the kind of person who would not care about the lives of others.

Although Xin Zhen had no way to continue heading north, he still had things he could do. He heard that there was a temple called Shifo in the east of Xuzhou City. There was an eminent monk in the temple who was very skilled in subduing demons and killing monsters. All the people in Xuzhou respected him as the Great Zen Master Fahua.

The Buddhist name Fahua reminded Xin Zhen of Fahai, and his heart was beating fast. If Master Fahua's ability could be comparable to Fahai's, that would be truly amazing.

Fahai is a Buddhist sage of the Arhat level, who is able to fight against the thousand-year-old monsters White Snake and Green Snake. This Fahua dares to use "Fa" as the prefix, so it should not be too bad, right?
The master and servant went to the Stone Buddha Temple with great interest. In order to travel faster, Xin Zhen even carried Xin Qi all the way to the east of the city.

There were basically no people on the road, so Xin Zhen used his Qinggong skills to gallop along the way. Although it was slower than usual, it was still much faster than a galloping horse.

When they reached the entrance of the Stone Buddha Temple, Xin Zhen put the pale-faced Xin Qi down. Seeing Xin Qi's expression, Xin Zhen asked in surprise, "Why, are you scared of this speed?"

Xin Qi rubbed his face and said, "Master, next time you lift me up, remember to turn my face backwards. I can't stand the cold wind blowing against my face."

Xin Zhen smiled silently.

The gate of Shifo Temple was also blocked by heavy snow. Perhaps they thought that there would be no pilgrims visiting at this time, so the gate was also closed.

Xin Zhen and Xin Qi knocked on the door for a long time before a little monk came to open the door, wrapped like a ball.

The young monk saw Xin Zhen and the other two and said, "Dear donors, the mountain is blocked by heavy snow and our temple is temporarily closed to the public. Please go back and come back after the snow melts."

Xin Zhen smiled and said, "We are here to ask to see the great Zen Master Fahua. Please help pass on the message for me, little master."

Xin Zhen bowed and brushed the little monk's hand unintentionally. The little monk suddenly felt something heavy in his hand. He squeezed it and found a large piece of warm metal in his hand. The little monk's expression changed and said, "Please wait a moment, benefactors. I can only inform the abbot. I can't say whether it is convenient for him to see me or not."

Xin Zhen smiled and nodded, saying, "Of course."

The young monk made way and said, "You two donors have come in to avoid the cold, but you are not allowed to walk around at will."

Xin Zhen thanked him gently and went in with Xin Qi. It was indeed much warmer.

The young monk bowed to Xin Zhen and left in a hurry. Xin Zhen tilted his ear and heard the young monk exclaim in a low voice after turning the corner. He couldn't help but smile.

——Who wants to be a poor monk when you can be a rich monk?

Xin Zhen suddenly remembered the monk who asked him for money in the world of Smiling Proud Wanderer and laughed, finding it particularly interesting.

After waiting for a while, the young monk came out with a big smile on his face and said to Xin Zhen, "The abbot wants to see you."

He seemed to think that Xin Zhen had given too much, and that it was not worth it to just pass on the message, so he quickly added, "...the abbot originally did not want to see anyone, but I persuaded him."

Xin Zhen was very grateful and said, "Thank you, little master."

The young monk immediately smiled and led the way, whispering, "The abbot has not been in good health these days, and I'm afraid he can't travel for ordinary things. If you have something important to do, you might as well give him some gas money later, so that the abbot won't have to worry about the money."

Xin Qi asked in surprise: "Money?"

The young monk glanced at Xin Qi and said, "Favor."

Xin Qi said: "I clearly heard the money aspect."

The young monk shook his head and said, "Why would a monk care about those yellow and white things? The donor must have heard it wrong." Xin Qi shut up, looking a little embarrassed, feeling that he was outdone by this young monk in terms of worldly affairs.

Xin Zhen's face remained calm, but he was already laughing out loud in his heart.

The great Zen Master Fahua was a fat and big-eared monk, but he looked a little unwell and indeed seemed to be unwell, but he was not pretending to be sick.

Seeing Xin Zhen and his servant, Master Fahua also had a gloomy expression. However, after Xin Zhen put five hundred taels of silver into the donation box in front of him, Master Fahua suddenly perked up and took the initiative to ask Xin Zhen about his purpose: "Donor, is there anything you need our temple to help with? Pray for blessings, perform rituals, exorcise demons, our temple will accept all of them."

Xin Zhen was also refreshed upon hearing this, and said, "Master, I do have something to ask of you. This time I went to the capital to take the imperial examination. In just a few hundred miles, my master and I have already encountered two strange incidents..."

Xin Zhen told the story of the female corpse and the tiger spirit, and then said: "... Demons are rampant in the world, and I am often on the move. If I don't have any skills, I am afraid that one day I will be killed by demons and monsters. So I want to ask the master, is there anything you can teach me?"

Master Fahua was very enthusiastic and asked Xin Zhen about the details of the female corpse and the tiger spirit. He was fine when he heard about the details of the female corpse. After hearing about the fight between Xin Zhen and the tiger spirit, Master Fahua asked nervously: "The wild inn you mentioned is the Sanlipo Inn in the northwest of Xuzhou?"

Xin Zhen was surprised and asked, "Master Fahua also knows that wild inn?"

The great Zen Master Fahua exclaimed, "Is it really that tiger spirit?"

Xin Zhen felt something was wrong and nodded quickly, saying, "I don't know how many inns there are in Sanlipo, but if it's the one facing the main road, it should be the one."

The great Zen Master Fahua let out a sigh of relief and said, "You said that the tiger demon was a white-browed tiger with hanging eyes, ten feet tall and three feet long, and that it had more than a hundred minions. Then you killed most of the minions and seriously injured the white-browed tiger with hanging eyes?"

Xin Zhen said: "Although the long sword sank into the tiger's abdomen, the tiger spirit still has the ability to kill me. When it escaped, its steps were also light, so it should not be considered seriously injured."

But the great Zen Master Fahua's eyes sparkled, and he said, "It seems that your martial arts are truly first-rate. Donor, will you accept the job of slaying demons and exorcising monsters?"

Xin Zhen uttered an "ah", somewhat puzzled, and said, "Master, I am a scholar."

The great Zen Master Fahua waved his hand and smiled, "Slaying demons and eliminating evil has nothing to do with status, benefactor..."

The great Zen Master Fahua turned around and said to the young monk, "Take this young donor with you to have some vegetarian food. I will continue to talk to Donor Xin."

The great Zen Master Fahua sent Xin Qi and the young monk away, and seeing that there was no one around, he quickly opened the merit box, grabbed a handful of silver bills from it, picked out the five hundred silver bills that Xin Zhen had thrown in, thought for a while, took out a few more from his bosom, stacked them on top, and handed them to Xin Zhen.

Xin Zhen looked at the several banknotes stacked by the great Zen Master Fahua. The amount of each banknote was about five hundred taels. Xin Zhen was stunned and asked, "Master, what is this?"

The great Zen Master Fahua whispered, "There is a fox demon causing trouble in our temple. Please help me, Mr. Xin. I really can't stand it anymore. This fox demon has been harassing me so much that I haven't slept for half a month. If it continues like this, I will go to the West to see the Buddha!"

Xin Zhen: “…”

Master Fahua saw Xin Zhen's expression and understood what he meant. He smiled bitterly and said, "Donor Xin must have heard of Master Fahua's reputation for slaying demons and exorcising monsters. If someone else had come, I would certainly not tell the truth. After all, our temple needs to continue to operate. Without pilgrims, it would be difficult for the hundreds of people in our temple to support it.

However, I will not lie in front of real people. Our temple does have some capabilities. There is definitely no problem with praying and performing rituals. Until now, all the deceased who have been sent off by us were quite satisfied, and not a single one gave a bad review.

When facing some wild monsters, we also have some skills that can be used. If all else fails, we can negotiate conditions to satisfy them, and then send them away respectfully.

But facing some big demons, our temple is powerless, just like this time..."

Master Fahua came over and whispered, "… a fox spirit, tsk, it's so shameless. This fox spirit has been entangled with a rich lady in Xuzhou City. The family asked me to go and exorcise the demon, and the fox spirit has been entangled with me. It's been half a month. I said all the good things, but it just wouldn't let me go. It insisted that I ruined its marriage. Sigh!"

Xin Zhen roughly understood that this great Zen Master Fahua had a great reputation and was not without abilities, but his abilities were limited to dealing with some weak ghosts and minor demons. He had absolutely no way to deal with those with a little ability.

Xin Zhen sighed inwardly. The world was indeed a makeshift one. Who would have known that the famous Zen Master Fahua would be bullied like this by a little vixen?

Xin Zhen felt very sympathetic towards the great Zen Master Fahua, but he really didn't want to get involved in such things. After experiencing the incident with the tiger spirit, Xin Zhen had a very clear understanding of himself. With his abilities, he was just a small Karami in this world. If it was not necessary, it would be best not to provoke these demons and monsters, otherwise he would be caught in it without knowing when.

It would be fine if he was just trying to save the dying and the wounded out of bravery, but this great Zen Master Fahua... Ha, a greedy monk, how could it be worth taking the risk?
Xin Zhen didn't say much. He stood up and said goodbye to the great Zen Master Fahua. The great monk suddenly became anxious. He pulled Xin Zhen and begged him. He also took out all the silver bills in his arms, a total of five or six thousand taels of silver bills, and stuffed them into Xin Zhen's hands, begging Xin Zhen to exorcise the demon for the Shifo Temple.

Xin Zhen was not short of money, so he was not willing to provoke the demon for money, so he just said goodbye. Seeing that Xin Zhen was determined to leave, Master Fahua gritted his teeth and said, "Mr. Xin, you are here to seek the Dharma. I have a book on cultivation here. If you can help me drive away that vixen, I will give you the book!"

Xin Zhen glanced at the big monk, but he didn't believe it. If you have a book on Taoism, why are your skills so low?

The great Zen Master Fahua groaned and said angrily, "Practicing Taoism requires talent, and not everyone can do it. The Taoism book is indeed genuine. I can perform rituals and pray for others, and I can also communicate with demons and ghosts. This is of course related to the Taoism book. However, my talent is limited, so I can only learn the basics."

After hearing what the monk said, Xin Zhen believed it a little, but he still couldn't believe it completely. Xin Zhen said, "If you can answer these two questions, I will agree to it."

The big monk was overjoyed and said, "Tell me quickly."

Xin Zhen asked, "What level is this vixen?"

The big monk laughed out loud and said, "It's far inferior to the tiger spirit. The tiger spirit is a real big demon. This fox spirit is just good at seducing people, and it won't kill people. It's just a nuisance. Look, it has been disturbing my sleep for the past half month. If it had the ability to kill me, how could I still be alive?"

Xin Zhen nodded. That was true.

Xin Zhen added: "I want to take a look at this book on cultivation."

The big monk nodded repeatedly and said, "Let's take a look. This time, the book on cultivation is very profound. You may not be able to understand it after reading it... Well, you have a good talent, so you will definitely be able to understand it." As he said that, he hurried to the backyard, presumably to get the book on cultivation.

(End of this chapter)