Striving for Science C40 pt2

"This monk was merely thinking, if that day, Donor Shen hadn't brought back Chen Yuan's soul, that person's plan might have succeeded." Yan Yin looked at Shen Chang'an with fervent eyes, "Donor Shen truly has the destiny to save the world and help others. Truly…"

"Not considering it, thank you." Shen Chang'an decisively refused. "Grilled meat is so delicious, the street food stalls are so lively, hotpot is so tasty and enjoyable. Becoming a monk is impossible, I'd rather die than become a monk."

"Forget it." Yan Yin felt a little regretful, "Then I'll ask you again next time."

Shen Chang'an: "Master, even if you ask me countless times, I won't change my mind. Don't you say that monks should be pure in their six senses and not be attached to anything? You're being too attached."

"Yes." Hearing Shen Chang'an's words, Yan Yin confidently said, "That's why I've been practicing for so many years and still haven't become a Buddha. Maybe after Donor Shen joins the Buddhist faith, I can finally achieve enlightenment and become a Buddha."

Shen Chang'an: "..."

Well, he decided it was better to just keep his mouth shut.

"I wonder if the City God has found out the truth of the matter." Shen Chang'an calculated the days. It had been three or four days already. The City God hadn't sent him any dreams, nor had he appeared before him in his divine form. Could it be that he couldn't find the truth and was embarrassed to see him?

Hearing the words "City God", both Yan Yin and Uncle Zhang's expressions became a little subtle. Uncle Zhang even couldn't help but say, "Little Shen, since you don't want to practice Buddhism, would you consider practicing Daoism? Our Daoist sect doesn't have as many rules. If all else fails, you can even become a registered disciple. You can eat what you want, drink what you want, and learn Daoist techniques. Isn't that a win-win situation?"

"I also like to eat braised beef." Shen Chang'an politely declined.

"Wine and meat pass through the intestines, the Dao remains in the heart." Uncle Zhang coughed dryly, "Just don't eat in front of me."

"Amitabha." Yan Yin was amazed. He didn't expect that Zhang Daoist would lower his standards to no bottom in order to pull Shen Shizhu into the metaphysics circle. Fortunately, only the three of them knew that Shen Chang'an could summon gods. If it were to spread to the metaphysics circle, I'm afraid there would be a scene of tens of thousands of people begging for cultivation outside Shen Chang'an's door.

"Uncle Zhang..." Shen Chang'an smiled awkwardly, and finally chose to tell the truth, "Sorry, I'm not very interested in the way of talismans and holy water. Moreover, for me, ghosts and people are not that different. It seems to make little difference whether I learn or not."

Uncle Zhang fell into a strange silence. After a long time, he said, "Yeah, I forgot, you can catch plague ghosts with your bare hands. Why would you need to learn Daoist techniques?"

"What plague ghost?" Shen Chang'an was a little confused when he heard this, "When did I ever catch a plague ghost?"

"Didn't you catch a criminal on Halloween night?"

"Yes." Shen Chang'an still had some impression of that person, after all, people who made him feel so disgusted were not common.

"That... is the plague ghost." Uncle Zhang looked at Shen Chang'an, his eyes slowly widening, revealing an incredulous expression. He slowly threw out a sentence, "We sent out many cultivators to catch this plague ghost, but he still escaped.

"So, you mean..." The man who was knocked out by him was a plague ghost that the entire cultivation world couldn't catch?

Although Uncle Zhang and Yan Yin didn't want to admit it, they still nodded silently.

"No wonder I just caught a criminal, and they not only specially awarded me, but also gave the entire department a bonus." Shen Chang'an suddenly realized, "I said why I didn't get any more bonuses after catching thieves or criminals later, it turns out there was this."

Thinking carefully about the situation that day, he couldn't believe that the man who looked mentally unstable was a plague ghost, because he was simply... too weak.

"Could it be that our human world has too much yang energy, so he was easily caught by me?" In order to save face for the bigwigs of the metaphysics world, Shen Chang'an found an excuse for them, "After all, we all have been vaccinated now, and the vaccine is his nemesis, so he was weak as soon as he came to the human world."

"Impossible…"

Uncle Zhang's words were interrupted by the ringing of his phone. Shen Chang'an's phone rang.

"Brother Liu?"

"Now?" Shen Chang'an glanced at Uncle Zhang and the others, "Okay, give me ten minutes."

After hanging up the phone, Shen Chang'an took a few bags of snacks and a few bottles of Coke for the otaku ghost, and said apologetically to Uncle Zhang, "Sorry, my friend invited me to have supper, I'll go over now."

Uncle Zhang thought of Shen Chang'an's mysterious and generous friend, and nodded silently.

When Shen Chang'an ran downstairs, he saw Liu Mao parking his car outside the community. He reached out to open the car door and got in, "Brother Liu, why did Dao Nian suddenly want to eat barbecue?"

"Just now, the master remembered that you like to eat barbecue, and he was worried about the unhygienic food outside, so he asked Old Zhao to set up a barbecue grill and prepare the skewers, waiting for you to come over and eat." 

Liu Mao waited for Shen Chang'an to fasten his seatbelt before starting the car, "Old Zhao is good at cooking, if nothing else."

The topic unknowingly shifted from whether to go to Dao Nian's house for supper to what to eat tonight. When they passed a fruit shop, Shen Chang'an saw that they were selling roasted chestnuts at the door, so he quickly got out of the car and bought two.

"Mr. Shen, what are you buying this for?"

"Dao Nian likes to eat this."

Liu Mao was stunned for a moment. How could the Master have something he liked? But when he saw Shen Chang'an take off his jacket from the rearview mirror and wrap the roasted chestnuts, preventing them from cooling down too quickly, he fell silent again.

Perhaps the Master didn't like the roasted chestnuts themselves, but the intention behind taking off his jacket to keep them warm, ensuring their flavor.

As the car stopped at the intersection waiting for the traffic light, Shen Chang'an saw an old lady slowly crossing the crosswalk. This old lady looked familiar.

Shen Chang'an glanced at the traffic light, which had only two or three seconds left, sighed, and got out of the car.

Walking to the old woman, Shen Chang'an bent down and said, "Grandma, why are you alone again this time?"

The old woman looked at him carefully for a long time and said in a hoarse voice, "Are you the young man who carried me across the street last time?"

"You still remember me?" Shen Chang'an picked up the old woman and walked quickly towards the street, "It's cold at night in winter, and the road is dark. You should try to go out less."

The old woman leaned on his back and chuckled, "I can't help it, I have to go out today."

"Then next time you need to cross the street, try to do it when there are more people around." After crossing the zebra crossing, Shen Chang'an put down the old woman, "Grandma, be careful on your way. I'm going back to the car."

"Wait." The old woman suddenly grabbed Shen Chang'an's hand, "Young man, you are so kind. Good deeds should be rewarded."

"I'm a staff member of the Civil Service Department. Serving the people is my duty." Shen Chang'an smiled and turned to go back.

"Remember, never trust anyone easily." The old woman stood there watching his retreating figure, her voice hoarse, "Be careful, don't let…"

"Don't let what?" When Shen Chang'an turned back to look, the old woman was smiling at him, as if she hadn't said anything.

"Mr. Shen." Liu Mao, who had gotten out of the car at some point, waved to Shen Chang'an, "It's cold outside, you didn't wear a coat, get in the car quickly."

"Coming right now." Shen Chang'an waved to the old woman and turned to run towards Liu Mao.

Liu Mao turned and met the old woman's gaze. He nodded slightly to her. The old woman took a step back, her eyes complex as she watched Shen Chang'an get into the car, then slowly disappeared into the night.

She slowly turned to face the zebra crossing, waiting for the next car to pass before she hobbled across the street.

Car after car passed by her. Some drivers yelled at her, telling her that she was too old to be obstructing traffic.

No one stopped to help her, to hold her or carry her across this sparsely populated street.

***

"Mr. Shen, do you know that old lady?" Liu Mao asked.

"No, I don't. The last time I was coming back from Dao Nian's place, I also saw this old lady crossing the street. There were so many cars that day, and some drivers were impatient and kept honking their horns. I was afraid she would fall, so I got out of the car and carried her across."

"Aren't you afraid she'd try to extort money from you?"

"There are cameras, and besides, I'm so poor, what could I possibly have that anyone would want to extort from me?" Shen Chang'an laughed, "I just want peace of mind."