Chapter 202 - 198: The Unlucky Soul Who Refused to Believe

Chapter 202: Chapter 198: The Unlucky Soul Who Refused to Believe

"So this is Lin Xian Village. It really is incredible!"

Jin Xiangjin had just stepped out of the car when he noticed that the environment in Lin Xian Village was a bit unusual.

"Professor, people online say Lin Xian Village’s environment is incredible. That’s also why they suspect it’s undergoing a Spiritual Qi Revival."

The students who came with him were clearly excited. If their professor hadn’t been there, they would have already run up the mountain.

A student beside him said disdainfully, "You actually believe stuff from the internet? Incredible? It’s all just a show.

The change in the environment is probably just the effect of some kind of special local phenomenon."

"Then what about the Land God Temple?

The huge number of tourists proves how amazing the Land God Temple is.

And the Clearing Heat and Stopping Cough Pills! I’ve taken those pills before; they work really well."

"The Land God Temple is just a coincidence. What century are we in? You’re a graduate student, and you actually believe in that kind of feudal superstition?

The pills just have some special substance in them that current technology can’t detect."

"Well, the Arrow Tower in Lin Xian Village can’t be fake. There are a lot of professors inside researching it."

The other student didn’t refute that. He didn’t dare offend those professors, as many of them were from the Science Academy.

"It’s all just an act. Now that the professor brought us here, I’ll definitely expose their lies!"

Hearing this, Jin Xiangjin’s brows furrowed. He somewhat regretted bringing this student along.

’Don’t drag me into your boasting.’ He was well aware of the mysterious situation in Lin Xian Village.

Before he came, the dean had given him an investigative report on Lin Xian Village, making him understand that this place was anything but simple.

That was why he was being very low-key on this trip, hoping to avoid any trouble.

Although this student’s way of speaking was a bit... hmm, odd, he was very capable and was considered the most talented in this batch of students.

"Alright, stop arguing. Let’s go up first and see for ourselves."

They had to see Lin Xian Village with their own eyes to truly understand what it was like.

Just as they boarded the shuttle bus, they heard someone up ahead shout, "Ten thousand for a ticket! Anyone willing to sell?"

"Bro, that’s a bit much. Everyone else is buying for eight thousand. What’s the deal with you offering ten thousand?"

"Sorry everyone, here, have a smoke. I have an urgent matter and need to get into Lin Xian Village."

"What’s so urgent? Tell us, maybe we can help you figure something out."

"I heard that Lin Xian Village can treat mental illness, so I was thinking of going in to give it a try."

At the mention of mental illness, the people who had been surrounding him instantly backed away.

"No, no, don’t get the wrong idea! It’s a family member who has a mental illness, not me."

"Then you should have said so. Just yesterday, a patient with a mental illness assaulted someone right here."

"Buddy, you don’t need to go in. It’s useless even if you do.

Ever since that news got out, people like you have been coming every day, and not a single one has succeeded so far.

You might as well look at these job postings for Lin Xian Village. If you have a relative with the right skills, getting treatment for them would be a piece of cake."

The shuttle bus started to move, and those on board couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation.

However, the conversation still caught the attention of Professor Jin’s group.

A student asked the driver at the front, "Mister, can Lin Xian Village really treat mental illness?"

"Of course it can. See over there? They’re going to build a sanatorium. I heard it’s for patients with special mental illnesses.

Let me tell you, I heard these people all made contributions to the country."

"You all don’t look like tourists. Are you here to work in Lin Xian Village?"

"Yes, we are indeed going to be working in Lin Xian Village."

The driver’s attitude instantly became much more courteous. "You’re really here to work!

Congratulations, then! Working in Lin Xian Village not only pays well, but the benefits are also enviably good.

My boy... I told him to come back and work in Lin Xian Village before, but he wouldn’t listen. Now it’s hard to get in even if he wanted to.

What do you all do? If there are any job openings in the future, could you let me know? There’ll be a reward in it for you."

The student said a bit awkwardly, "We’re not employees of Lin Xian Village. We’re just working inside the village, doing research."

Hearing that they weren’t Lin Xian Village employees, the driver’s expression changed again.

"That’s still good. Being able to do research in Lin Xian Village means you’re all very impressive."

"Mister, aren’t you an employee of Lin Xian Village?"

"No, we’re rehired from the county bus company, but Lin Xian Village gives us a bonus."

Professor Jin Xiangjin and his students on the bus all got a sense of the influence that Lin Xian Village employees had here.

After arriving at the village square and getting off the bus, they saw the incredible Land God Temple.

"Professor, should we go in and pay our respects? I heard the Earth God inside can bless one’s home with peace and bring good luck."

"Then let’s go in and pay our respects."

They didn’t think anything bad would happen from praying to the Earth God, so they lined up behind the other tourists.

A few minutes later, it was their turn. They hadn’t brought any incense sticks, so they took some of the free ones provided at the side.

"Professor, this place is nice. There’s no donation box, and you don’t have to bring offerings. They only allow people to burn incense."

"It is nice, indeed."

Compared to the Daoist Temples and monasteries elsewhere, it was surprising that the Land God Temple in Lin Xian Village, which was so popular, didn’t charge any money.

"What a wonderful fragrance! It smells so good!"

"What they say online is true. This fragrance really is special. I feel much calmer since coming in."

However, the particularly talented student was puzzled. He couldn’t smell any fragrance at all.

He thought about the information he had seen online and felt a little panicked, but he remained calm on the surface.

’It’s just a bit strange. I don’t think I’ve done anything illegal or criminal, so why can’t I smell the fragrance?’

’Is Lin Xian Village really that petty?’ he thought. ’Just because I said a few disparaging words, they’re giving me special treatment?’

"Cao Weinan, what’s wrong?"

"Weinan, you can’t smell the fragrance, can you?"

"No, no. I’m just wondering how this fragrance is produced."

"That’s not clear yet. Weren’t you the one who suspected Lin Xian Village was faking everything? You can research it when you have time."

"Don’t set him up for failure. Even those other professors haven’t figured out the cause."

The group finished praying to the Earth God and came out. They had barely taken a few steps when a glob of bird droppings landed on Cao Weinan’s head.

This scene was instantly recorded by the surrounding tourists and several livestreamers.

One livestreamer exclaimed, "Another person with a problem has appeared! But it must be a minor one, he only got hit with bird droppings."

"Everyone, you see that? Today’s third unlucky soul has shown up! So don’t assume you’re problem-free.

You have to come to Lin Xian Village and test it yourself to know for sure if you have any issues."

The people standing next to Cao Weinan looked at him with some embarrassment.

Cao Weinan wiped his hair with a tissue. "It’s just a coincidence."

The livestreamer said, "A coincidence, bro? Then why don’t you go back in and pray to the Earth God again to test it?"

Someone in the crowd also jeered, "Young man, if you don’t believe it, go in and pray again. The Earth God specializes in curing stubbornness."

This wasn’t the first time they had seen such a situation. Someone would come out and have bad luck, then claim it was a coincidence.

Some people refused to believe it, went back in to pray, and had bad luck again when they came out.

This also let everyone know that praying to the Earth God once would only trigger bad luck once; multiple prayers could trigger it repeatedly.

Based on this discovery, people also learned that the Earth God’s blessing only worked once. After it was triggered, you had to come back and pray again.

There was a dedicated research team exploring the secrets of Lin Xian Village’s Earth God, and they had already discovered many patterns.

For example, someone discovered that as long as lawbreakers had received their due punishment, they would not trigger the Earth God’s punishment.

If you did many good deeds, your luck would be exceptionally good after praying to the Earth God.

It was said that a man who had saved three lives prayed to the Earth God and later went home and won a car in a lottery.

Cao Weinan was exactly the type who refused to believe. He turned around, grabbed an incense stick, and walked into the Land God Temple to pray again.

This time, when he came out, his eyes were fixed on the sky.

"Bro, it’s no use trying to avoid it. With a minor issue like yours, the bad luck mechanism will trigger very quickly.

You should be glad it’s not a major problem. Otherwise, you’d be breaking arms and legs, and you’d attract the attention of the police."

These livestreamers, who were often here, had all figured out the Earth God’s rules.

They were only able to stay in Lin Xian Village because they had paid a high price to rent a house there right at the beginning.

When Zhou Jun arrived, he saw Professor Jin and his students looking gloomily at a person next to them who had a lump on his head.

"Professor Jin, what’s going on here?"

"His name is Cao Weinan. He’s my student. He didn’t believe that praying to the Earth God would bring bad luck, so he prayed three times in a row."

Zhou Jun looked at Cao Weinan as if he were some kind of legend. Most people believed it after praying a second time at most.

This guy was something else. He’d prayed three times and hadn’t suffered any major harm, which meant his problem wasn’t serious.

"Weinan, try to remember. Have you done anything immoral?"

"Get lost! You’re the one who’s done immoral things! I just said a few bad things about this place. This is clearly targeting me."

Zhou Jun asked Professor Jin in a low voice, "Professor Jin, your student... is he all there in the head?"

"He’s fine, he’s fine. That’s just his personality. He’s never made any mistakes while studying with me.

The people here just said it’s probably a minor issue, a deficit in personal morality."

"Right, his is considered a minor problem. If it were a major one, praying three times in a row wouldn’t have resulted in just this."

Zhou Jun looked at Cao Weinan curiously and saw that the look in his eyes as he stared at the Land God Temple was still defiant.

’This was the kind of person who wouldn’t think he was wrong, even when he was.’

"So it should be fine for him to do research in Lin Xian Village, right?"

"It’s fine."

Zhou Jun was very clear about Lin Feng’s standards, because Lin Feng had briefed him on this matter.

Lin Xian Village would only reject people with extremely serious problems. His were just minor issues.

According to the patterns they had figured out, as long as one didn’t break the law, if a person’s good deeds outweighed their moral transgressions, they would be able to smell the fragrance when praying to the Earth God and would even receive a blessing.

Conversely, if their moral issues outweighed their good deeds, a situation like Cao Weinan’s would occur.

Moreover, the more severe the outcome, the greater one’s personal moral failings.

When a certain threshold was crossed, the person would suffer physical injury, indicating they had broken the law.

After such a long period of research, everyone had long since figured out the patterns in this regard.

Many tourists would do some good deeds before coming to Lin Xian Village to ensure nothing bad happened when they prayed to the Earth God.

Zhou Jun had also heard that after the Medicinal Cuisine appeared, some people donated a lot of money to charities just to ensure they were in the clear.

Some companies even went to remote areas personally to do charity work.

One could only say that, driven by self-interest, these people were truly willing to spend money.

He thought for a moment and then advised, "Professor Jin, you should have this student of yours go do some volunteer work in the county’s community centers when he has free time.

His problem should be resolved after just a few volunteer sessions."

"Yes, I’ll remind him."

Jin Xiangjin looked at Cao Weinan. Knowing the young man’s personality, he probably wouldn’t agree.

He would probably continue to challenge the Land God Temple in the days to come.

’Oh, forget it. I won’t bother. His life isn’t in danger, anyway. I can just have someone conduct research based on his situation later on.’

"Let’s go see Lin Feng first. Right now, Lin Xian Village doesn’t have a dedicated laboratory, so you’ll have to conduct your research alongside the people from the Lin Xian Village Agricultural Company."

"No problem. I mainly came this time to first understand the situation and test the plant growth environment."

Before coming to Lin Xian Village, he had been reminded that the research here would not be a short-term project.