Chapter 697 - 271: He is that Xiao
Chapter 697: Chapter 271: He is that Xiao
5:00 PM tomorrow. That means there’s only one day left.
With so little time left, Xiao Chen decided not to busy himself with anything else.
Instead, he planned to walk around, gather some intel, and then get a good night’s rest to recover from his long journey.
Wherever Loose Cultivators gathered, street stalls were sure to follow.
Usually, they would be managed by the major powers, but on a deserted island like this, the stalls were crammed into the very center.
"Come take a look! Top-quality Protective Spiritual Artifacts for sale!"
"Fellow Cultivators, get yourselves a Treasure Hunting Compass! Who knows, you might find something amazing left behind from Ancient Times inside the Relic!"
"Buddhist Incense consecrated by Zen Master Jingchen of Pudu Temple! Buddha Water personally blessed by the master himself! Everything’s ten percent off today! Don’t just walk on by—you can’t afford to miss this!"
Hm?
Curious, Xiao Chen turned to look and, sure enough, saw bundles of Incense Sticks tied together and piled high on a stall.
He saw that the ribbons used to tie them were strips of bright yellow silk, each inscribed with lines of Buddhist Scripture.
Beside the incense were many Yellow Gourds, each bearing a red label with the character for ’Buddha’.
These must be the containers for the Buddha Water.
What a coincidence.
When he’d first heard about the World Crossing Festival, Xiao Chen had considered going just to see what it was all about.
But he simply couldn’t find the time later, so he didn’t go.
He never expected to run into a stall selling Spiritual Objects from the Buddhist Sect here.
But Xiao Chen quickly realized that this was the southeastern corner of the Compassion Sea.
Given the location, it was obviously much closer to several Buddhist temples.
That meant that besides these items, there were likely Tier Three Buddhist Arhats on the island as well.
Speaking of which, Xiao Chen had heard of Buddhist Cultivators even before he reached the Eastern Domain.
But even now, he had yet to formally interact with a single Buddhist Cultivator.
This was a good opportunity.
He could use this chance to learn about this completely different path of cultivation.
With this in mind, Xiao Chen began to intentionally listen in on the conversations of the Cultivators around him.
It wasn’t long before he overheard some Loose Cultivators discussing the Buddhist Sect.
"Is that Bright Lamp Arhat really so kind?"
"It’s absolutely true. My friend didn’t spend even half a Spirit Stone, and he even got a free Huangqi Rejuvenating Pill when he left."
"Whoa. I’ve heard for ages that the Buddhists talk about saving all living beings, but I never thought an Arhat would actually be willing to provide free Healing for us Loose Cultivators. What do you think the catch is?"
"Who knows? But as long as it’s free, we’ve got nothing to lose."
As they spoke, the two Loose Cultivators turned and entered a nearby shop.
’Free Healing?’
Hearing this, Xiao Chen’s first reaction was also suspicion. ’Such kind-hearted people exist? There has to be some other motive, right?’
’Or am I just overthinking things?’
It couldn’t be helped.
After all, the cultivation world had no shortage of wicked and unorthodox methods. If you wanted to live well, you could never let your guard down around others.
Otherwise, you never knew when you’d get screwed over by someone else.
After a long time in an environment like this, one naturally grew suspicious and tended to overthink everything.
’They say seeing is believing. I’ll just go have a look for myself.’
Curious, Xiao Chen headed forward to find the place.
He soon spotted a courtyard with a distinctive architectural style.
Its tall walls were painted a deep red, and the edges of its gray roof tiles were carved with simple lotus patterns.
The heavy sandalwood doors were pushed open, and on each door panel was carved a glaring, wide-eyed Vajra Guardian Statue holding a Demon-Slaying Pestle.
Two bald Little Novice Monks in coarse cloth robes stood at the entrance.
As he drew a little closer, he could hear the melodious and steady sound of a Wooden Fish being struck wafting from within.
Looking through the open gate, he saw an extremely spacious courtyard.
However, the courtyard was filled with Loose Cultivators in all sorts of attire, and there were at least several hundred of them.
Just then, two more Loose Cultivators hurried over and walked straight inside.