My autobiography is definitely not a tragedy!
Chapter 58 - 57: Intelligent Fortune Telling Decryption

Chapter 58: Chapter 57: Intelligent Fortune Telling Decryption

After entering the temple gate at the mountainside of "Nanshan Temple," the young monk who had just been carrying water set down his bucket.

Seeing the visitor, he simply pressed his palms together, bowed slightly, and then went about his own business.

Meng Lang was happy to roam freely, wandering around the area like a tourist.

The temple complex looked quite aged, with moss on the stone steps and lush vegetation creeping over the courtyard walls.

Buddhism is prevalent in Su Province, hence there are many temples, both large and small.

Famous ones include the "Gold Mountain Monastery" with its "Water Over Gold Mountain," Hanshan Temple "Outside Gusu City," and Dalin Temple with "All the Charm of April in the World." Small, unnamed temples like this one were as common as hairs on an ox.

Meng Lang’s parents were Buddhists too, and having been influenced by them since childhood, he was a semi-believer himself.

Walking into the Great Hall, with its wooden fish and meditation cushions, the center still housed the Three Life Buddhas of the past, present, and future... Everything was still the familiar layout.

If time could change many things, then religion must be one of the most stubborn.

There used to be a temple near his old home where Meng Lang liked to read under a Seven-leaf Tree.

Not Buddhist Scriptures, of course, but novels—classics from ancient to modern times, and Jin Yong’s wuxia novels.

His interest in studying Chinese literature also started back then.

As for why he dreamed of being a police officer... Right, he seemed to have been obsessed with the "Complete Collection of Sherlock Holmes," "Roger’s Mystery," and "Detective Conan" for a while?

He remembered initially wanting to be a detective because it seemed cool.

But then he found out that modern detectives had a new, widely accepted name: "paparazzi."

The times changed so quickly that even dreams had to evolve...

However, the Great Hall from his hometown was nothing like this grand one before him; at least it didn’t have glistening golden Buddha statues, floors of polished marble, or a mosaic-framed Merit Box.

Accepting both Alipay and Fēixìn payments could be described as extremely user-friendly.

Despite being quite stubborn, time had ultimately changed many things about religion, such as the way they received donations...

Picking up three sticks of incense from the altar, Meng Lang used a lighter to ignite them, bowed before the Buddha, and then placed them in the incense burner.

Three sticks of incense before the Buddha represent the precepts, concentration, and wisdom, as well as the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

He then opened Fēixìn and scanned the Merit Box that read, "Do good deeds, help as you will."

Having only eaten breakfast, he was inexplicably sent to Nanshan Temple over a hundred kilometers away—Meng Lang felt he was destined to be connected with the Buddha here.

[Ding! -500 payment successful!]

Pocketing his phone, Meng Lang looked up at the smiling Buddha statue before him.

Wondering how this money was going to be used, he thought, "If my path isn’t solitary, can I converse with you about the personal experiences of using ’autobiographies?’

Emm...

First, you’d need to have a Fēixìn account, right?

"Benefactor, is there something you wish to ask of the Buddha?" a rich, elderly voice suddenly sounded from behind.

Meng Lang turned around to see a rosy-cheeked, kindly smiling old monk standing behind him, palms pressed together in greeting.

"Hello, master. I’m just passing through and decided to visit," Meng Lang said.

"Then you are fated to be connected with our Buddha. I am the abbot, called Zhineng," said the old monk.

Zhineng? Even his Buddhist name is keeping up with the times...

"So you are the abbot," Meng Lang said, somewhat surprised.

The monk carrying water had been indifferent to him, but looking at the abbot, was this the difference in spiritual level?

But I’ve only just donated incense money...

Could this be the correct way to shake up people using a smartphone?

This really is very clever!

"I see you were pausing before our Buddha—do you have any unanswered questions in your heart?" asked Zhineng.

Uh... Can I say I was just pondering how to establish an economic exchange with the Buddha and possibly exchange insights into Buddha life for a fee?

"Cough! Not really, it’s just that lately, having seen how short life can be, I feel a bit lost about the future," Meng Lang replied.

Saw how short life can be?

Zhineng scrutinized Meng Lang. So young, could it be that several of his relatives had passed away?

He immediately chanted a Buddhist invocation.

"Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the normal course of life. You need not dwell on it too much. Since you feel lost about your path, why not draw a spiritual sign before the Buddha?

Our Nanshan Temple’s spiritual signs have always been known to be very effective."

Fortune telling? He glanced at the bamboo cylinder on the incense table and a quirky smile slowly spread across his lips.

Alright! Then let’s see how accurate your fortunes really are!

"What would the patron like to ask about?"

"Well... let’s ask about my career prospects," Meng Lang pondered and replied.

"Click, clack, clack!" "Thud!"

Meng Lang picked up the bamboo stick that had fallen onto the ground and handed it to the abbot.

The abbot looked at the number on the stick and furrowed his brows in thought.

"Master, how is my fortune?"

"Patron, the text on your stick reads ’Lone phoenix spreads wings to ascend to the dragon’s seat, a frail lady waves her hand and subjects bow down. Through millennia of debate over her merits and demerits, her nameless monument is covered with inscriptions.’"

"This... seems to be talking about Wu Zetian, right?"

"The patron is not mistaken. This text indicates that in the pursuit of your career, you will encounter an influential woman. If you can gain her assistance, you will naturally rise swiftly and succeed in your career,

However..."

Of course, here comes the standard "however" from the charlatans!

Meng Lang chuckled inwardly, playing along and saying,

"Only what?"

"The term ’lone phoenix’ in the text suggests that this influential woman is either widowed or solitary, and she is very authoritative.

The so-called ’keeping company with a monarch is like companionship with a tiger,’ there might be a risk of backlash. Hence the text suggests that fortune and misfortune are intertwined."

Meng Lang mused to himself that this "spiritual sign interpretation" was indeed extraordinary, with its set of elaborate explanations.

"Thank you for interpreting the sign, Master."

The abbot saw that Meng Lang did not probe further into the meaning of the sign and said with a smile,

"You’re welcome, patron. Please feel free to do as you wish, our temple has also prepared some simple vegetarian meals for devotees. If the patron doesn’t mind, you may partake in our vegetarian meal before descending the mountain."

They’re offering meals too? Certainly VIP treatment.

"Thank you, Master!"

...

A serving of yellow millet rice, a dish of vegetarian brocade, a mixed fry of asparagus, indeed it was simple fare.

While the taste was average, it was all natural and very healthy, which Meng Lang found quite satisfying.

After lunch, Meng Lang took a leisurely stroll to aid digestion and reached the front courtyard of the temple. Seeing a bamboo chair under the Bodhi Tree, he was reminded of memories of reading books in his childhood.

He casually lay back in the bamboo chair, then took out a book from inside his coat and started flipping through it under the warm sunshine.

A young monk who was previously carrying water passed by, glanced curiously,

"Her Second Half Life"?

Amitabha Buddha!

The young monk walked away shaking his head with an odd expression...

...

[I had never thought that my life would go through so many ups and downs because of a woman.

From the day I met her, it seemed as though my fate was already sealed.

March 30, 2018, an unfavorable day.

On that day, Wang Zhao Ping still came up empty-handed, the cunning of the human trafficking group was beyond their imagination.

The police, in their haste to track them down, alarmed the perpetrators, and the operation ended up fruitless.

It was not until five years later, with the criminal gang finally apprehended, that the truth was revealed to the world.

It turned out that the human trafficking group’s old lair was located just 5 kilometers away from the area Wang Zhao Ping and his team had searched, in an abandoned dock at Xiping Village.

Realizing that they might be exposed, they moved all the kidnapped children via the sea route.

Five years later, this once den of iniquity was long stripped and deserted.

However, most of those children who had been abducted had become impossible to retrieve.

It took me a lot of time and effort, along with field investigations, to reconstruct the approximate situation of the lair based on Wang Zhao Ping’s description and information, and to map out their escape routes. (Attached with detailed explanatory diagrams)

If this was merely a blot in my life, then that woman called Gao Yuan... might well be the enduring nightmare of my existence!

Her first half of life was spent in obscurity.

But her second half life was definitely legendary...]