Chapter 207 - 203: Staged Controversy

Chapter 207: Chapter 203: Staged Controversy

On the mountain that had been renamed West Spirit Mountain, a magnificent, golden-roofed temple stood tall on the summit.

In front of the temple was a massive plaza filled with many stone-carved Buddhist statues, and in the center stood a colossal statue of the Manjushri Bodhisattva.

The construction here was far more impressive than Lin Xian Village, possessing all the qualities of being spacious, bright, and sacred.

Lin Xian Village was constrained by its terrain, but this mountaintop had no such limitations. A huge sum had also been spent to build a road up the mountain.

At this moment, a group of monks and the merchants who had participated in its construction gathered on the mountain, gazing at the temple.

"Master, it seems this place doesn’t have the same special effects as Lin Xian Village?"

"That’s right. I just went to pay my respects, and it’s completely different from the Land God Temple in Lin Xian Village."

"Master, we invested a lot of money into this."

"Amitabha," a senior monk said. "Patrons, please be patient. It lacks the miracles of the Lin Xian Village Land God Temple simply because there’s no incense burning yet. Our Buddha has not yet descended to bestow His wonders."

"Then what should we do to become like Lin Xian Village?"

"Amitabha. We simply need to publicize this place and have more fated people come to worship."

"Alright, since you’ve said so, Master, I’ll start the publicity campaign right now."

"Master, you can’t forget the terms you promised us."

These investors began promoting the West Spirit Mountain Temple through their own channels.

After the investors who funded the project left, the group of monks gathered together again.

"Senior Brother, what’s going on? Why hasn’t this temple shown the same phenomena as Lin Xian Village?"

The old monk narrowed his eyes. "Amitabha. Be patient. If it hasn’t appeared, then it hasn’t appeared. We just need to *make* it appear."

"Ah! Senior Brother, are you saying we should use... that method?"

"But... but if we’re discovered, we’ll..."

"What’s there to be afraid of? I’m here, aren’t I? If Lin Xian Village can do it, why can’t we? Everyone, go back and prepare. Once the tourists arrive, we’ll produce the miracle."

「Soon」

News about West Spirit Mountain, not far from Lin Xian Village, spread throughout Wuyuan County.

"Have you guys heard about West Spirit Mountain? I heard it’s just like Lin Xian Village—if you go worship the Buddha, you can get blessed, too. And that place doesn’t restrict entry, so you don’t have to worry about running into trouble after worshiping."

"You’ve got to be kidding! There’s another place like Lin Xian Village?"

"I heard it’s on a mountaintop not far from Lin Xian Village. Maybe it’s not Lin Xian Village itself that’s special, but the land in that whole area."

"Why don’t we go check it out? If it really works, maybe we can try to find a job there, just like in Lin Xian Village."

"Right, right! Let’s go see what’s up first. Maybe there are job opportunities like in Lin Xian Village."

Amidst these rumors, the news quickly spread throughout Wuyuan County and began to diffuse among the tourist population.

In the nearest Mountain Ridge Town, some curious villagers immediately followed the rumored route and headed for the West Spirit Mountain Temple.

Those who truly understood the situation didn’t believe the rumors at all, especially the influential figures seeking to cooperate with Lin Xian Village for its Medicinal Cuisine.

People had already tested the land surrounding Lin Xian Village long ago; it had no special properties whatsoever.

If the land were really the reason, the government would have cordoned off the area for experiments long ago. Monks wanting to build a temple on the mountain? In their dreams.

Although these people didn’t believe the lies spread by the temple, the tourists who came didn’t care about all that.

They couldn’t get into Lin Xian Village, and now a temple had appeared nearby. It was the perfect place to go and have some fun.

Lin Feng was in his office, studying the expansion of the Medicine House and the integration of the mental illness Research Institute with the Land God Temple, when Hu Zhiming rushed in.

"Brother Lin, Brother Lin! That group of monks finished building their temple, and it’s really impressive!"

Lin Feng just glanced up at him before returning his attention to the expansion plans.

"Brother Lin, how can you hear this news and have no reaction at all?"

"What reaction do you want? It’s built, so it’s built. What does that have to do with us?"

Hu Zhiming said angrily, "Those monks are riding our coattails! They’re spreading rumors that their temple is just like our Lin Xian Village."

"I never realized you were this dense."

"Huh? Brother Lin, what are you talking about? How could I be dense?"

"If you’re not dense, then why are you paying attention to those monks? If it were really possible to build a place like Lin Xian Village, what business would it be of theirs? They could kowtow to the Buddha until their heads cracked open, and they still wouldn’t be able to claim a single inch of the land around here."

Hu Zhiming realized it too. "You’re right. If a place like Lin Xian Village could really be found, they’d have to have some serious nerve to think they could occupy it."

Besides, it wasn’t a question of occupation. This was about the very reason for Lin Xian Village’s existence.

If such a place existed, the professors in Lin Xian Village would have rushed over to study it long ago.

"Damn it! I was tricked by the news those monks put out. The rumors are too misleading."

You couldn’t blame him, though. He had seen a few photos and a video clip, and the situation in them truly looked like a miracle had occurred.

’Now that I think about it,’ he thought, ’if something like that really happened, the county should have sent people over.’

"Come on, help me take a look at the expansion plans for the Medicine House and the Land God Temple. Oh, and the Restaurant too. These are the ideas I’ve come up with. See if there’s anything you want to add."

"Brother Lin, can these places really be expanded? Won’t it affect the buildings’ functions?"

"What effect could it have? If it didn’t take so much time to demolish and rebuild, I’d want to tear them down and start over. Didn’t the professors experiment with the Arrow Towers over there? Demolishing and rebuilding them has no effect."

Hu Zhiming recalled those few Arrow Towers that had been demolished and rebuilt, then rebuilt and demolished again. It was true that they weren’t affected.

"Lin Feng, since these buildings can be expanded, I’ve got a lot of ideas. Look at this Medicine House—we could reinforce it and add two or three more floors. The situation with the Land God Temple is a bit special. We could integrate the treatment Research Institute into it..."

Lin Feng listened to Hu Zhiming’s ideas. The guy must have studied this in his spare time, as his suggestions were excellent.

The next step was to expand the buildings according to his own plan, supplemented by Hu Zhiming’s additions.

Over at the West Spirit Mountain Temple, a large number of tourists and villagers had been drawn over, all looking at the brand-new temple.

"Wenwen, the environment here is much worse than at Lin Xian Village."

"I agree. This area isn’t even as nice as the area at the foot of the mountain in Lin Xian Village. It feels like false advertising."

"How about this: let’s go inside and pay our respects. We’ll see if any miracles happen, like at the Land God Temple in Lin Xian Village."

"How would we even be able to tell? They said everyone is allowed to worship."

For a moment, both of them were stumped. That’s right—if everyone could worship, how could they tell if it had the same effect as the Earth God of Lin Xian Village?

They couldn’t figure it out, but since they were already here, they had to go inside and take a look.

But before they even reached the main gate, they heard someone coming out say, "What a load of crap. A bunch of lying monks. So much for ’monks don’t tell worldly lies.’"

Someone about to enter stopped him and asked, "Hey man, what’s going on?"

"You’ll understand once you go in. This place can’t compare to Lin Xian Village at all. It’s a bunch of scammers."

Watching him leave, a group of tourists walked in. Right in the center of the entrance was a Merit Box with a QR code stuck to it.

Knowing the situation at the Lin Xian Village Land God Temple, everyone’s mood instantly soured upon seeing this Merit Box.

Walking into the main Buddhist Hall, they once again saw a Merit Box and a QR code, with a monk selling incense and candles nearby.

Of course, free incense was also provided, but it looked like a "battle-damaged version"—it was very short, didn’t look high-quality, and was nothing compared to the ones at Lin Xian Village.

The free and paid versions were placed side-by-side, making the comparison even more obvious.

"Master, what kind of miracles do you have here?"

"Patron, you will naturally find out after you worship."

Someone took a stick of incense and began to worship, but nothing happened. There wasn’t even a miraculous fragrance.

"Brother, any changes?"

He glanced at the nearby monk. "Don’t feel anything. Maybe it just hasn’t happened yet."

Inwardly, however, he suspected it was no different from any other temple. ’It seems Lin Xian Village is the only special place,’ he thought.

The tourist thought, ’Well, I’m already here, might as well pay my respects.’

The monk standing nearby was getting anxious. ’What is Senior Brother doing? Why hasn’t he set it up yet?’ he wondered.

Just then, a loud "BANG!" echoed as a flash of golden light streaked by.

A shout came from outside: "HOLY SHIT! A miracle really happened!"

"What? What? Where’s the miracle?"

"Just after that loud noise, a flash of golden light streaked across the sky."

"I saw it too! It seemed to come from behind the temple."

"Let’s go, let’s go see what’s happening!"

Behind the temple, the masters had already cleaned up the tools they used for the fake-out, leaving only a rock shaped strikingly like the Buddha.

The rock showed no signs of carving and looked like a natural geological wonder.

When the tourists walked into the backyard, the first thing they saw was this Buddha-like wonder rock.

Then they saw a group of monks chanting scriptures at the rock, not even stopping when the tourists arrived.

Someone in the crowd said, "Could it be this wonder rock that emitted that light just now?"

"It might be! Look, all the masters are chanting at the rock."

"Damn! Don’t tell me it’s the birth of the Stone Monkey?"

"You’ve got some imagination! Next you’ll be saying he’ll study at the Three-Star Cave and wreak havoc in the Celestial Palace!"

A few of the shills planted to guide the tourists saw the crowd starting to discuss and take pictures, so they kept their mouths shut.

The group of tourists waited there for over ten minutes before the monks finally stopped.

Someone stepped forward and asked, "Master, what was that loud noise and golden light just now? And why were you all chanting at a rock?"

"What loud noise and golden light? We were chanting to pray for blessings and avert disaster for everyone."

"Huh?! But we clearly heard the loud noise and saw the golden light. Didn’t you masters hear or see it?"

Seeing all the masters shake their heads, the tourists grew puzzled.

Someone took out their phone and played a recording from a moment ago, which indeed showed the loud noise and the golden light.

"I have a video right here. It really did happen. Take a look, Masters."

"Amitabha. It truly did appear. But we are also unaware of the cause."

The master’s expression, which screamed ’I don’t know, don’t ask me,’ only made the tourists even more curious.

They thought, ’Could the news be true? Is this temple really like Lin Xian Village, with genuine miracles?’

The group of tourists left without an answer, and the news quickly spread online.

Because of its connection to Lin Xian Village, it soon caught the attention of netizens, and the West Spirit Mountain Temple went viral.

「The next day」

When Lin Feng heard about the temple again, it was from a phone call from a Wuyuan County official.

The official was asking him about the temple, wondering if he knew what was going on.

Then, during lunch, Hu Xia came straight to him. "Look at this. This temple is despicable, directly piggybacking on us for hype!"

Lin Feng took a look and found it was true. Every news article that mentioned the temple also mentioned Lin Xian Village.

"Did a loud noise and a golden light really appear? And what’s with this rock?"

Lin Feng looked at the legends about the loud noise, golden light, and the rock being fabricated online and could only sigh at the netizens’ wild imaginations.

Some said the Stone Monkey was sealed here and was about to be born, but the monks suppressed it, and everyone should go rescue it.

Others claimed a demon had appeared, and the golden light was the Buddhist aura produced when the monks chanted scriptures to seal it.

"It’s just hype. If these monks really had such abilities, they would have become honored guests of the state long ago." Hu Xia didn’t believe a word of it.

If they really had this kind of power, why did they only show up to build a temple here *after* Lin Xian Village appeared?

There are so many famous, ancient temples in the country, yet none of them had ever shown phenomena like Lin Xian Village.

"Then don’t worry about them. Someone will deal with them eventually."

Lin Feng thought to himself, ’With so many people paying attention to my place, these guys still dare to pull such stunts. They really aren’t afraid of dying!’