Striving for Science C35 pt1

Seeing Uncle Zhang suddenly pull out a bottle containing something unknown and pour it onto his finger, about to rub it on his eyelids, Shen Chang'an was startled. "Uncle Zhang, what are you doing?"

"Amitabha Buddha, Daoist friend Zhang, your mind is not at peace." Yan Yin walked out from behind Uncle Zhang, clasped his hands together towards Shen Chang'an: "It's been a few days, Donor Shen, you've become even more handsome."

"You people who cultivate Buddhism, don't you emphasize purity of the six senses?" Uncle Zhang sneered, "How come when you're flattering someone, you don't care about any of that?"

"Daoist friend Zhang has misunderstood, every word this monk has spoken is true, there is no intention of flattery." Yan Yin smiled kindly at Shen Chang'an, "Donor Shen is full of spiritual energy, seeing you is like a refreshing spring breeze, you resemble the spiritual child before my Buddha…"

"Heh." Uncle Zhang sneered, pulled Yan Yin behind him, and said to Shen Chang'an: "There's a soul on your foot that doesn't want to reincarnate after death, but don't be afraid, his soul appearance isn't scary, I'll let you see."

"Wait." Shen Chang'an lifted his foot slightly, picked up the otaku ghost hanging on his foot, "You mean this?"

The smile on Uncle Zhang's face froze, he turned his head angrily towards Zhang Gu: "Did you open his celestial eye?!"

Zhang Gu saw his master uncle's anger, and quickly shook his head: "It wasn't me, it wasn't me, he can see it himself?"

"Impossible!" Uncle Zhang couldn't help but say, "Shen Chang'an is a ten-life merit body, after adulthood, he's naturally immune to ghosts and spirits, unless they cultivate a physical form, otherwise they're like air in front of Shen Chang'an, how could he possibly see them?"

"But..." Zhang Gu whispered, "He just saw it so casually."

Yan Yin and Uncle Zhang's expressions turned serious at the same time, Master Zhang put away the ox tears, glanced at Shen Chang'an and Zhang Gu: "You two come in first."

"Master, can I roll in too?" The otaku hugged Shen Chang'an's leg, trembling.

Master Zhang frowned and looked at Zhang Gu: "What's going on?"

Zhang Gu recounted the whole story, emphasizing that the otaku ghost not only didn't harm anyone, but also helped living people with product online marketing.

"He's still helping living people after becoming a ghost, how confused is he?" Uncle Zhang muttered softly, letting the otaku ghost enter.

The otaku ghost rolled onto the ground and continued to hug Shen Chang'an's leg. Although the golden light on this big shot was blinding to ghost eyes, as long as the big shot didn't want to eliminate him, he hugged the big shot's ankle, and he felt his soul becoming more solid.

"Let's talk while sitting down." Uncle Zhang asked Master Yan Yin to make tea, then said to Shen Chang'an, "We'll talk about this ghost later, I want to talk about your constitution."

"My constitution... is pretty good." Faced with Uncle Zhang's serious expression, Shen Chang'an couldn't help but become serious as well.

"When did you start being able to see ghosts?"

"I don't know." Shen Chang'an shook his head, "Unless I carefully distinguish, I can't tell the difference between ghosts and people, I don't know if I've seen ghosts before."

"But logically, you shouldn't be able to see ghosts after you become an adult." Uncle Zhang shook his head, "Something must have gone wrong."

"A serious problem?"

"I don't know." Uncle Zhang remained silent for a while before shaking his head, his expression solemn, "There's no record of your situation in the records about the ten-life merit body. But the golden light of merit on you and your ability to suppress ghosts and spirits are exactly the same as the ten-life merit body, I really can't think of any other special person who would have the same constitution as the ten-life merit body."

The otaku ghost couldn't help but say, "Could it be a Buddha child reincarnated, a god reincarnated?"

"This... deceased soul is right." Yan Yin came out with tea and fruit, "Perhaps Donor Shen is a Buddha child reincarnated?"

"Don't mislead the young man, if he were truly a Buddha child reincarnated, he would have been interested in Buddhism since childhood, and even wouldn't be able to bear to harm any living being." Uncle Zhang intended to break Yan Yin's misleading tactics, "He's not a Buddha child reincarnated, nor could he be a god reincarnated."

"Why can't he be a reincarnated god?" Zhang Gu was a little confused. In some ancient texts, there were stories about gods being reincarnated as humans and eventually achieving immortality and ascending to heaven. Why couldn't Shen Chang'an be one of them?

"In the past, ancient texts recorded that people often invited gods to exorcise evil spirits. However, in the last hundred years, no one in our entire metaphysical community has been able to successfully invite a god." Uncle Zhang sighed. "Perhaps the gods have already perished. Even if they still exist, they would not intervene in human affairs. How could they be reincarnated as humans? This isn't filming a mythological TV series."

Being stared at by Uncle Zhang and Master Yan Yin with their probing gazes, Shen Chang'an felt a little uncomfortable sitting. He raised his wrist to check the time. "Why don't we solve the ghost's problem first?"

Whether he's a ten-life merit body or not, he's lived the first twenty years of his life like this. There's no rush. He just wanted to solve this ghost problem quickly so he could go back and have lunch with Dao Nian.

Uncle Zhang sighed and looked down at the otaku ghost: "Tell me your name, birthdate, and birthplace."

Seeing that the master had no intention of exorcising the ghost, the otaku ghost readily gave his name and birthdate. "The day my mother gave birth to me, it was snowing heavily." The otaku ghost felt a little proud when he mentioned his birth experience. "In our area, it usually rains and snows in winter, but the snow that year was exceptionally heavy. It was a rare sight, once in twenty years. My family all thought that I would grow up to be extraordinary..."

However, after his parents passed away, they left him a few apartments, and he spent his days collecting rent, playing games, and writing novels. He was ordinary from head to toe.

Fortunately, his parents died early, so they didn't have to witness their extraordinary son become an unmotivated otaku  in the eyes of others. It was for the best.

"You were born on the 30th day of the 12th lunar month, at the time of zishi*, the time when the old year ends and the new year begins." Uncle Zhang calculated for a long time. "Your destiny shouldn't be ordinary."

TN: 11 pm to 1 am

The 12th lunar month is a time for offering sacrifices to all gods and warding off evil spirits. It is the end of the year, and passing through the 12th lunar month marks the beginning of the new year. It holds special significance in people's hearts.

"Strange, your birth chart clearly indicates a destiny of wealth and longevity, but how did you suddenly die in your prime?" Uncle Zhang hesitated before saying, "and you've lived such an ordinary life."

He should have been a Super OP Main Character, but he ended up as an insignificant side character. And he died young. This would be a devastating blow to anyone.

"Do you mean I shouldn't have died?" The otaku ghost was a little confused. He didn't have a strong desire to become a powerful figure. But if he could live a good life, be a contented landlord, and eat the food he wanted, that would be pretty good too.

Who wants to die if they can live a good life?

At that moment, the otaku ghost felt an overwhelming surge of resentment, but he didn't know who to hate. He looked around, trying to find an answer from these masters, but all he saw were a few silent faces.

"He's been lingering in the human world, unable to be reincarnated, because he's still alive in the records of the Book of Life and Death?" Shen Chang'an understood Uncle Zhang's meaning. "So he's an unregistered household in the underworld?"

"That's pretty much it." Uncle Zhang nodded. "Without a household registration, it's difficult to do anything anywhere."

"You can't do anything either?" Shen Chang'an asked. "I've seen in TV dramas that masters can set up altars and invite the underworld soldiers to help innocent souls. Why don't you try to find a way to solve his household registration problem?"

Uncle Zhang coughed. "Those TV dramas are all lies."

Seeing the expressions of Uncle Zhang and Master Yan Yin, Shen Chang'an instantly understood that they couldn't invite the underworld soldiers.

Because of his extra words, the atmosphere became a little awkward. Shen Chang'an kept looking at his watch and finally lowered his head to say to the otaku ghost: "Why don't you stay here with Uncle Zhang? I'm going to have dinner with a friend. I'll come back to see you tonight."

The otaku ghost's resentment and anger were gradually calmed by the golden light of merit emanating from Shen Chang'an. He shook his head. What was wrong with him just now? Why did he suddenly feel such intense hatred?

"Boss, where are you going?" He didn't dare leave Shen Chang'an's side, clinging to his leg. "For the sake of my pitiful state, please find a way to help me."

"I'll definitely find a way, but my friend is also important." Shen Chang'an lowered his head and reached out to pull the otaku ghost off his lap. "The most important thing in life is to be trustworthy. I promised to have dinner with my friend, so I can't break my word. Uncle Zhang's place is safe, I'll come over tonight."

The otaku ghost looked at Shen Chang'an pitifully, "Boss, you have to come tonight."

"Come, come, I'll definitely come." Shen Chang'an nodded as he walked towards the door. "Stay here and listen to Uncle Zhang, he won't hurt you."

As he said this, he turned to Uncle Zhang, "Uncle Zhang, I'll leave this ghost in your care."

"Alright." Uncle Zhang nodded. "Go ahead, I'll check him out, see if someone has borrowed his good fortune and lifespan."

With Uncle Zhang's promise, Shen Chang'an hurried out, not mentioning Uncle Zhang's words about "not changing his surname unless he gets a good scare."

The room door closed again. Yan Yin, sitting on the sofa sipping tea, lowered his cup, a compassionate smile spreading across his face. "Brother Wang, what are your thoughts on this matter?"

Uncle Zhang turned his head angrily, "Who are you calling?"

"I'm calling you." Yan Yin chanted a Buddhist mantra, "Amitabha, those who cultivate do not lie. Since you will no longer be surnamed Zhang, I think Wang is a good surname."

"Get out!" Uncle Zhang kicked Yan Yin off the sofa, looked down at the docile otaku ghost squatting on the floor, got up and took out cinnabar and talisman paper from the room, and began to calculate the otaku ghost's fortune trajectory.

He finished drawing the talisman, his entire body drenched in sweat, his face pale and strained.

Yan Yin patted him on the back, Uncle Zhang's complexion improved slightly. He shook his head, "Someone deliberately destroyed his fortune, I can't calculate it."

In the metaphysics world, Uncle Zhang was already an outstanding figure. If even he couldn't calculate it, it meant that the person who did it was far more powerful than him.

"Why don't we ask Yun Feng to do some divination?" Yan Yin looked at the burnt-out talismans on the ground, a sense of unease in his heart. Perhaps some kind of conspiracy was unfolding without their knowledge, and they were completely unaware of it. Yun Feng was the best diviner in the entire metaphysics world, if even he was helpless, then no one could do anything.

"Useless." Uncle Zhang swallowed a pill, his pale face regaining a little color. "I suspect it wasn't a human who did this."

"If it's not a human, what could it be?" The unease in Yan Yin's heart intensified. What could be more powerful than a human, a god or a yao?