Chapter 29

Gu Shuge listened very seriously. Her head was lowered, so she did not notice the old monk’s gaze drifting toward her. She only felt that this was all extremely supernatural.

Ever since she died, this high-tech, modernized world had suddenly changed its appearance. First, she remained in the mortal world and became a ghost. Now, this eminent monk was actually saying that ghosts could cultivate a physical body. This was far too mystical. If ghosts could produce physical bodies, wasn’t that resurrection from the dead? Was there still any distinction between life and death in this world? She thought this eminent monk must be lying.

Shen Juan did not think that much. She could not think about that much either. She only firmly caught hold of one phrase: physical body.

Her fingertips trembled slightly. Gu Shuge felt it and looked at her worriedly.

“Master, please explain in detail how a physical body can be cultivated, and where spiritual energy comes from.”

The monk sighed, “Stubbornly refusing to awaken,” then said earnestly, “It cannot be cultivated. Where in this world is there still spiritual energy? The Soul-Nourishing Buddha can only nourish the soul-body. After several decades, perhaps it can nourish out a shadow, letting you see her. But only you will be able to see her. Other people, unless they are capable extraordinary individuals, still will not be able to see her.”

It could let her see Gu Shuge. Shen Juan’s heart trembled. She only heard this possible result. As for what difficulties lay in between, she heard none of them. She said softly, “Loosen your hand a little.”

No one found it strange that she was speaking to the air.

The old monk’s expression did not change. He merely said, “You’ve actually even found a method of contact. No wonder you refuse to awaken.” Seeing a little hope was different from having nothing but darkness before one’s eyes. Once there was hope, naturally there would be courage to keep going.

Gu Shuge was frightened by his words and did not dare loosen her hand. But since Shen Juan stolen contenthad spoken, she could only encourage herself, then carefully let go of the two fingers she had been gripping.

Once Shen Juan’s left hand was freed, she opened her bag, took out a check, and handed it to the monk. “How does one obtain spiritual energy?”

The monk accepted the check and sighed. Guangping Temple was deep in the mountains. Usually, it did not receive much incense, nor could it develop many believers. But the young monks in the temple were all mortal bodies of flesh and blood; they still had to eat.

“I only know that there is spiritual energy in the essence of the sun and moon. But as for how exactly to absorb it or how to cultivate with it, I do not know.” This was the truth. He truly did not know. “Senior Brother Jingyun likely knows some of it. Also…” He thought for a while and said, “There is Bailong Temple in the city. It has the largest collection of ancient texts. Its sutra library is usually not open to outsiders. With Benefactor’s status, if you wish to stay in the library for some time, Bailong Temple from a hundred years ago might have been difficult to handle. But the Bailong Temple of today—you surely have a way.”

As soon as Gu Shuge heard this, she understood. He was mocking Bailong Temple for lacking Buddhist integrity and bowing to money and worldly affairs. You’re the same, though. You accepted Shen Juan’s check. She thought this quietly to herself.

Only after Shen Juan asked clearly about the direction and firmly memorized it did she speak of the reason she had come today. She asked him about the evil thought. Because she now knew of the Soul-Nourishing Buddha’s existence, the way she asked was, “Does the Soul-Nourishing Buddha have the effect of cleansing evil thoughts?”

The old monk knew the answer to this. He replied, “No. Whether human cultivator or ghost cultivator, there is one threshold that cannot be crossed: the inner demon. Evil thoughts are also a type of inner demon. The Soul-Nourishing Buddha does not have that use. Inner demons can only be overcome by oneself. Once overcome, one’s cultivation can rise to another level.”

As he spoke, he glanced behind Shen Juan again. Gu Shuge was so startled by that glance that she hurriedly went to grab Shen Juan’s finger.

“If a yin ghost cannot overcome evil thoughts, then its original good thoughts will vanish completely, and the yin ghost will become an evil ghost. If it overcomes the evil thoughts…” The old monk looked at Gu Shuge in surprise, frowned, and said, “In this era, I have never heard of a ghost capable of overcoming evil thoughts.”

Gu Shuge felt this was praising her for being amazing. At last, she gained a little confidence and straightened her back, no longer quite so afraid.

“But among ghosts, there are also those who are treacherous and cunning, extremely good at [bailiantales.com]disguising themselves, specifically pretending to be good ghosts to deceive people,” the monk added.

Gu Shuge had only just gained confidence, but after he said that, it leaked away completely. She became even more afraid, and also felt very wronged. She was not pretending to be a good ghost to deceive Shen Juan. She was good to begin with. Whenever she grew afraid, she pinched Shen Juan’s fingertip, urging her to leave quickly.

“Don’t frighten her. She’s timid.” Shen Juan’s voice was clear and cool, carrying a slight smile.

Only then did Gu Shuge understand that he had been frightening her. She felt this old monk was truly improper, even scaring ghosts.

The monk was smiling too. After smiling, he asked, “What is this little ghost to Benefactor, for Benefactor to be so nervous about her?”

His question came suddenly. Gu Shuge’s heart lifted, then dropped again. She was definitely her younger sister. What else was she hoping for?

Shen Juan thought that the example she had given last time had not been bold enough. This time, she had to be a little bolder. But as she hinted to herself that she had to be bold, her heart fell into chaos. She tried her hardest not to look behind her and said solemnly, “She is someone very special.”

Gu Shuge’s ears rang, buzzing loudly.

“So that is how it is,” the monk said. “This little ghost is someone very special to Benefactor.”

As though he was afraid the little ghost had not heard clearly, he repeated it once. Gu Shuge’s ears rang again.

With her back to Gu Shuge, Shen Juan’s cheeks were somewhat red. Snow lay all around them, and the blush on read the original at bailiantales.comher face was like a rain of peach blossoms falling wildly in late spring.

The old monk’s eyes held a smile. He thought that he had done enough to be worthy of the benefactor’s check.

Jokes were jokes, but proper matters still had to be said.

The old monk said, “Evil thoughts are difficult to cleanse, but there are indeed methods to suppress them. In the final analysis, evil thoughts are part of her. So whatever the little ghost feared most while alive, the evil thoughts will fear as well.”

Shen Juan had imagined many possibilities, but she had not thought it would be like this. The Soul-Nourishing Buddha could not restrain evil thoughts, so what the evil thoughts feared was actually her. Her index finger curled slightly.

Gu Shuge was still thinking about that sentence, “someone very special.” Suddenly realizing Shen Juan’s fingertip had moved, she was afraid she would fail to hold on and hurriedly grabbed it more tightly again.

Shen Juan stopped moving and let her hold it. Then she asked, “Since they can only be suppressed, does that mean the evil thoughts will remain inside her?”

“That is correct. The two coexist.” The monk gave an example. “It is like split personality, but the situation is somewhat better than that mental illness. Split personality is uncontrollable. One does not know when the secondary personality will come out and create trouble. Evil thoughts are controllable. As long as they are suppressed, they can be treated as if they do not exist.”

With that, the matter of the evil thoughts had also been clarified.

The monk had stood outside the temple with them for so long and had not once mentioned inviting them inside. He knew the little ghost could not enter the temple gate.

The barrier outside the temple was not set by him, and he did not have the ability to set such a profound barrier either. It was because Guangping Temple had ​read the original at bailiantales.com​Buddhist affinity; after several thousand years, Buddhist light had formed, and only then had the barrier come into being.

Since the questions had been answered clearly, Shen Juan saw that it was getting late and that they had to get home before dark, so she said goodbye.

As she turned around, the monk thought for a moment and still could not help reminding her from behind. “A physical body is difficult to cultivate. At the very least, it would take a thousand years. Benefactor is mortal, with no more than a hundred years of lifespan. You would not last even one tenth of it. It would inevitably be like drawing water with a bamboo basket—painstaking effort all for nothing. What is more, when a person dies, it is like a lamp going out. Descending to the Yellow Springs and entering reincarnation is the proper path. I see that this little ghost has upright eyes, an auspicious point between her brows, and good clouds lingering around her. She has the face of wealth and honor. Even if she reincarnates, she will not suffer hardship, and will certainly still be born into a wealthy family. Rather than confining her in the mortal world and wasting her time in vain, only for the underworld to learn of this matter and record an offense against her, ruining her good future, it would be better to let go quickly and allow her to leave.”

Shen Juan’s steps paused, then she continued forward.

Gu Shuge was a little lost. Could she still reincarnate? From the sound of it, she could even reincarnate into wealth. After her death, she had not yet thought about reincarnation.

She looked back. The monk had already returned to the temple, one corner of his kasaya drifting past the temple gate. Suddenly, her fingertips were empty. Shen Juan had withdrawn her hand. Gu Shuge felt as if even her heart had emptied. She quickly followed Shen Juan’s steps and grabbed her finger again. This time, Shen Juan did not pull away. Only then did Gu Shuge feel grounded.

Although Shen Juan moved quickly, it had already been noon when they left the city. They spoke for a while on the mountain, and in winter, night fell early. By five o’clock, when the sky darkened, they were still halfway home.

Shen Juan was worried the moonlight would shine on Gu Shuge. Yin ghosts carried heavy yin energy, and moonlight belonged to yin. If it shone on her, it would stimulate yin malevolence, and yin malevolence would attract ghost emissaries. Looking at the road ahead, she said, “Xiao Ge, sit in the back. Sit behind me.”

Gu Shuge obediently moved to the back seat. Shen Juan lowered the sun visors on both sides of the car, and the moonlight could no longer shine in.

Although Gu Shuge was in the back, her heart was still in the passenger seat. She had always sat there.

“Tomorrow, we’ll go to Bailong Temple and take ​read the original at bailiantales.com​a look,” Shen Juan said, afraid she would be bored, her eyes still on the road ahead.

Both her hands were holding the steering wheel. Gu Shuge wanted to draw a check mark in her palm to show that was good, but she could not reach.

Shen Juan noticed as well and said, “For yes, tap my shoulder once. For no, tap twice.” The car heater was on, and she had taken off her coat. She wore only a white turtleneck sweater. If Gu Shuge used a little force, Shen Juan would definitely be able to feel it.

So Gu Shuge reached out to tap her shoulder. In the end, she tapped empty air, and her hand passed through Shen Juan’s body.

The blood on her fingers was gone again.

Gu Shuge was somewhat puzzled. How could the blood on her fingers be gone? She had not done anything. Since dipping it last time, she had only held Shen Juan’s finger. Could it be that her fingertips would actively absorb the blood on them?

After not receiving a response from her for a long while, Shen Juan reacted. She pulled the car to the side of the road, took the glass dish from her bag, opened the lid, and passed it toward the back.

About thirty seconds later, her shoulder was tapped once.

This was still the outskirts of the city. The road was pitch-black, and aside from the passing cars, no human figures could be seen. Being tapped on the shoulder out of thin air—even knowing it was done by the little ghost behind her—would inevitably make an ordinary person’s heart panic.

But Shen Juan calmly put the glass dish away and even smiled slightly, praising the little ghost, “Very good.”

Gu Shuge was praised, and she felt extremely proud. She sat [unauthorized copy]up straight and proper, but in her heart, she once again thought of what Shen Juan had said outside the mountain gate: “She is someone very special.”

By the time they arrived home, it was already past seven.

Gu Shuge was still thinking about that sentence. What kind of special was very special?

Shen Juan had no family. To her, family should also be very special, right? So a younger sister was also someone very special.

But if it was younger sister, she could have said that directly. There was no need to say vaguely that she was someone very special.

No, wait. Buddhism liked being very implicit. Maybe Shen Juan had said it vaguely and implicitly just to fit the occasion, when in fact, she had meant younger sister.

Gu Shuge was so tangled up that her hair was about to fall out.

Shen Juan sensed that the little ghost behind her had produced another concrete emotion. It was a pile of yarn tangled into a ball, all messy and chaotic.

What did this mean? Shen Juan thought to herself. This emotion seemed a little complicated.

While thinking, she instructed the little ghost to stay downstairs by herself for a while. Shen Juan would first go upstairs and change clothes.

Gu Shuge agreed.

As soon as Shen Juan left, she saw a small plate of cookies on the living room coffee table. They were butter cookies. They seemed freshly baked. Each one was the size of two fingers, small enough to pop into the mouth in one bite, and they looked especially fragrant and sweet.

The chef must have made them today.

Gu Shuge gathered her courage and walked over, saying to herself, I’ll use this plate of cookies for divination to see whether Shen Juan likes me.

She picked one up. The little cookie looked tiny, but when Gu Shuge lifted it, it felt like holding a discus used by an athlete. It was extremely heavy.

She gathered all her strength and stuffed it into her mouth. The cookie fell from her chin and dropped to the floor. She could no longer care about that and said solemnly, “One. She likes me.”

Then she picked up another and repeated the actions above.

“Two. She doesn’t like me.”

“Three. She likes me.”

…

…

“Eight. She doesn’t like me.”

The plate was empty. Shen Juan had a small appetite, so naturally, the chef had not made many.

Gu Shuge’s brows drooped. Her heart felt as if it had been stabbed again. She thought, Shen Juan really doesn’t like me after all.

Footsteps came from behind her. Shen Juan had returned. Gu Shuge lowered her head and saw the cookies all over the floor. Her heart was full of desolation. How was she supposed to explain this floor full of cookies to Shen Juan?

Author’s Note:
Shen Juan: What did the cookies do wrong? Why treat them like this?

Clever Gu, very loudly: It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! I was controlled by the evil thought just now!

New skill unlocked: [If You Did Something Bad, Blame It on the Evil Thought]

Gu Shuge will have a physical body, but she definitely won’t steal someone else’s body.