The more you believe me, the more true I am. Chapter 054

When the shopkeeper merrily brought out the freshly cooked Qingzhou noodles.

His face changed, however, as he saw the soldiers ganging up on three or two passersby on the roadside.

The soldiers’ fists, as big as sandpots, rained down, making the victims scream and beg for mercy.

This scared the shopkeeper, who quickly asked the leading general:

“Military sir, this, what is this?”

The general looked back and then said to the shopkeeper:

“Shopkeeper, you don’t need to mind.”

The shopkeeper originally wanted to settle the matter peacefully, as he couldn’t afford to provoke the military.

But then he remembered that he had received good karma from a Living Buddha just that morning, so how could he forget his roots by nightfall?

So he gritted his teeth and said:

“Military sir, these noodles are a token of respect from my humble shop to all of you, so please, tell them to stop!”

The general sighed and said:

“Good intentions aren’t always good things, shopkeeper!”

The shopkeeper, holding the tray, pleaded:

“These few people are just passersby. Now that the drum has passed, they can’t even enter Qingzhou City. How much harm can they possibly do?”

“Fine, since you’re pleading for them, then so be it.”

The general shook his head and waved to the soldiers:

“That’s enough, let them go. Come eat noodles. Once we’re done, we can hit the road.”

The soldiers immediately stopped, and as a final show of defiance, they flexed their fists at the passersby.

This scared the victims, who quickly huddled together and retreated.

The shopkeeper saw all of this, but something felt off.

However, compared to that, these military sirs were clearly more important, so after serving the noodles according to the number of people, he carefully stood by to attend to them.

As he watched, the shopkeeper quickly bowed and said with a smile:

“Oh, I almost forgot to light the lamps for you military sirs. I’ll go do it now.”

This was a kind gesture, but then he heard the general suddenly shout:

“Don’t!”

“Wha, what’s wrong, military sir?”

The general wanted to explain, but after glancing at the shopkeeper standing perfectly fine in the lamplight, he swallowed his words, only vaguely saying:

“You don’t need to bother, this is fine. You don’t need to come closer either, just stand there. No, you can sit in the back room if you want.”

The shopkeeper grew even more puzzled but still dared not ask.

He could only nod with a forced smile.

After the group of soldiers finished eating.

The leading general signaled his comrades, and after each of them rummaged through their belongings, they barely managed to scrape together a dozen copper coins.

They didn’t step forward; the general simply arranged them one by one on the tabletop.

“Shopkeeper, sorry, this is all we have.”

The shopkeeper quickly said:

“Military sir, what are you saying? Didn’t I tell you, these are all tokens of respect from my humble shop to all of you!”

The general shook his head and said:

“When a wish is fulfilled, naturally there must be a reward. There’s no such thing as eating for free.”

With that, he stood up to leave.

The other soldiers did the same, but as the general glanced at the few individuals still huddled by the roadside.

He couldn’t help but instruct the shopkeeper:

“Shopkeeper, I’ve seen it clearly now, you are a kind person touched by Buddha’s light, enlightened by the Buddha’s teachings. That’s why we met. This shouldn’t have happened, but since it truly did, although I shouldn’t say too much to avoid scaring you, I’ll still give you a few instructions.”

He pointed to the few passersby huddled together and said:

“Those fellows have been dealt with by us. They won’t dare to come over, and you don’t need to mind them. Just go back to your room and rest.”

“That’s all I’ll say. You must remember it, otherwise, be careful not to be scared out of your wits!”

The shopkeeper was bewildered and could only nod blankly.

The group of soldiers said no more, simply departing in silence.

Without lighting a fire, they just walked towards Qingzhou in the deep night.

“Strange, truly strange.”

Muttering a few words, the shopkeeper shook his head and stepped forward to collect the dozen copper coins.

This meager amount of money was certainly not enough compared to so many bowls of noodles, but since the military sirs were willing to pay, what more could he ask for?

At least he wasn’t beaten senseless like those unlucky passersby.

But as his gaze fell upon the passersby still huddled on the ground.

The shopkeeper, unable to bear it, waved and said:

“Come, come, come, all of you, come sit. I won’t charge you either. While the fire is still burning, I’ll make you another bowl of noodles.”

The passersby looked at each other and then asked incredulously:

“You really want us to come over?”

“Of course! Are you still scared? What’s there to be scared of? Those military sirs have all left!”

“Those military sirs have all left”—this sentence instantly emboldened them.

So they all stepped forward. As the first person carefully sat on the bench and saw that nothing happened, they all revealed a strange, uncomfortable smile that made the shopkeeper feel uneasy.

“Shopkeeper, serve the food, serve the food!”

“Hey, you guys. Never mind.”

The shopkeeper wanted to say that they were being a bit unreasonable, but then he remembered how badly they had been beaten earlier, so he swallowed his words.

He turned to the back room to cook noodles for them.

But this time, although there were only three people, they ate more than the dozen or so soldiers.

The shopkeeper had served four or five rounds, and they were still shouting:

“More, more!”

Seeing the last bit of noodles go into their stomachs, the shopkeeper said with a hint of anger:

“There’s none left, none left!”

But upon hearing this, they were displeased and said:

“None left? We don’t care about that, you must serve more!”

“Hey, I wanted to say this earlier, but you’re just eating for free, how can you be so bossy?”

Anyone with a shred of decency would be too embarrassed to say anything more after hearing that, but they only intensified their scolding:

“It’s giving you face that we only eat your noodles. If you don’t serve us more to enjoy, then don’t blame us for turning hostile!”

“Do you think I’m afraid of you few things?!”

The shopkeeper ripped off his headscarf and pulled out an iron-clad long staff from behind the counter.

This was what he usually kept for self-defense, and he hadn’t expected to actually use it today!

“Oh, a martial artist?”

The three individuals, however, showed no fear; instead, they each laughed.

“Do you really think I won’t dare to hit you?”

In a fit of rage, the shopkeeper grabbed the iron-clad long staff and was about to go and beat these scoundrels.

But after only a few steps, the shopkeeper froze in horror.

Because he clearly saw that the three individuals were actually floating in the air, their feet off the ground, right in front of him!

“You, you are?!”

The three men smiled sinisterly and said:

“Still haven’t figured it out? Or should I remind you?”

“Coming late at night, not lighting a fire or a lamp, yet still able to see the road, and so much like a human, what do you think we are?”

“You, you are ghosts?!”

With a clang, in his terror, the shopkeeper’s long staff fell to the ground along with him.

“You can’t harm me! I just helped you and gave you food!”

“Too late! Now we also want to taste human flesh! Oh, and those few copper coins of yours, why don’t we take them too!”

Originally, they hadn’t intended to eat people, but somehow, the more they looked, the more delicious the shopkeeper seemed?

Their cravings were screaming, to the point where no amount of noodles was enough to satisfy them!

And they also coveted the dozen or so copper coins given by the soldiers.

They didn’t know why they, as dead people, wanted copper coins, but they just felt that they were good and wanted them!

‘Copper coins?!’

The shopkeeper, who had been utterly terrified, suddenly remembered the two copper coins he had received from the Living Buddha earlier that day, still pressed under the door lintel.

With this thought, the shopkeeper, his courage suddenly surging, let out a loud shout, grabbed the iron-clad long staff beside him, and threw it towards the figures.

But the long staff, which sent porcelain bowls flying from the tabletop, passed directly through the three entities without any effect.

Without time to think, using the moment the figures were distracted, the shopkeeper quickly scrambled to his feet, trying to run into the back room.

But he was fast, and they were faster. Before the shopkeeper could even reach the doorway, he saw the three entities had already flown in front of him, firmly blocking the entrance to the back room.

“Oh, trying to run? Can you outrun us?”

Looking at the three filthy things blocking his last escape route.

The shopkeeper closed his eyes, filled with regret.

Why hadn’t he listened to the general’s kind advice!

“His liver and heart are mine!”

“Then I’ll take his eyeballs!”

“I’ll eat the tongue, I’ve never eaten a human tongue before!”

The three entities giggled and chattered in front of the shopkeeper, discussing their spoils as if everything was already under their control.

The shopkeeper was terrified, closing his eyes and waiting for death.

But then, the shopkeeper suddenly heard the three entities let out a shrill shriek.

“What is this?!”

“So hot, so hot, I’m melting, I’m melting!”

“Mercy, mercy, I’ll never dare again!!!”

Opening his eyes in surprise, he saw the porcelain bowl he had enshrined at the highest point in the back room actually floating in mid-air.

The mouth of the bowl was perfectly aligned with the three malevolent spirits. On the body of the bowl, a gentle yet overwhelming golden Buddha light suddenly shone, illuminating the entire back room!

Immediately, the shopkeeper saw the mouth of the bowl transform into the wrathful mouth of a Vajra! With a mighty roar, the Buddha light shone everywhere, and the three entities, like snow poured into boiling water, managed to let out only one or two screams before violently twisting, deforming, and dissipating in that brilliant Buddha light!

It was truly majestic and incredibly miraculous!

After the evil spirits vanished, the porcelain bowl, which had shone with great Buddha light, returned to its original place on its own.

Leaving only the shopkeeper, utterly bewildered, standing there.

It was as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.

After a long while, the shopkeeper quickly got up and ran into the back room, clutching the porcelain bowl to his chest, staring intently around him.

He made up his mind that as soon as it was dawn, he would go into the city to find the Living Buddha.

What he didn’t know, however, was that as he walked past the two copper coins pressed under the door lintel, the dozen or so copper coins given by the soldiers in his embrace transformed into slightly larger circles of paper money for the dead.