Chapter 382: Therefore Great

After some effort, Lin Ling finally managed to tidy up everything inside the house.

It was mainly because the products were very cooperative; Lin Ling placed them on the shelves one by one, organizing them into categories according to the prices he had set for them.

Of course, there were some that were not well-behaved, but Lin Ling did not need to deal with those defective goods himself; the products on the other shelves would gang up to dispose of the defective ones before he could handle them, and then he just had to throw the now-docile defective goods into the warehouse.

Lin Ling told them that being bought was, after all, a hope of getting out of here, so they shouldn't pull any other little stunts; in any case, time had no meaning to them, it was just a matter of who left first and who left later.

Lin Ling was so deeply affectionate and warned them in such a gentle tone that they naturally accepted his arrangements from the bottom of their hearts.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." Lin Ling made a sound softly, and a light cry followed from within the Forest Cabin.

Meow~

It stepped out from the shadow of the Shrine that Lin Ling was gazing at, its paws disproportionately large for its body, a pair of golden cat eyes revealing a look of nostalgia; its face struggled slightly with a ferocious expression, but it soon turned all hesitation into complete respect and obedience, walking step by step to Lin Ling, tentatively standing up on its hind legs, leaning against Lin Ling's calf, looking at him with longing and anticipation.

"Finally seeing you, you've changed quite a bit, too." Lin Ling's gaze remained without a ripple, yet he spoke words of deep emotion, as if he had truly experienced a long separation from this black cat, and seeing it now, he felt a sense of how things had changed since the old days.

Lin Ling kneaded the black cat's cheek meat, occasionally holding its cat paws, squeezing the pads on them, and seeing the sharp claws squeezed out, he would gently use them to scrape the surrounding items.

Even those items made of sturdy metal would be easily torn apart by the claws, yet the black cat remained motionless, obediently letting Lin Ling manipulate it.

"Are you still willing to follow me?" Lin Ling scratched the black cat's chin, and the latter drooped its ears, squinting its eyes in comfort, its small body sticking to Lin Ling as if it had completely melted.

The black cat half-opened its eyes, its golden pupils fixed on Lin Ling; in the two ripples of its eyes, one reflected a bright-smiling young man in white, the other reflected a gentle-smiling Bhikkhu monk, and with a blink, only Lin Ling remained in its eyes; it nodded, opened its mouth, and gently bit Lin Ling's finger, expressing its willingness.

"I'll trouble you to look after the house from now on." Lin Ling nodded with satisfaction, stroking the black cat from head to tail with one hand, "Oh right, by the way, I need to borrow your power to help me scout for customers."

Meow.

The black cat seemed to understand, nodded, and gently nudged Lin Ling's palm with its forehead.

"Also, help me connect to the internet!" Lin Ling said something shocking, stating a matter that defied common sense.

The black cat was also at a loss; it didn't know it could do such a thing.

When it came to surfing the internet, it seemed that humans used fiber modems.

"Is a fiber modem a cat?" Lin Ling asked back; he had actually read the black cat's thoughts.

The black cat shook its head.

"Then are you a cat?" Lin Ling asked again, guiding it step by step.

The black cat was stunned and shook its head again.

Lin Ling smiled: "Then you should be able to do the same thing."

The black cat fell silent; it realized it still didn't understand the Venerable's logic.

In any case, Lin Ling still relied on the black cat to connect the Forest Cabin to the internet of the outside world.

He had been locked in the Mental Hospital for over eighteen years, but the Mental Hospital was not as isolated as people imagined; of course, the Mental Hospital couldn't keep Lin Ling locked up either, and it wasn't difficult for him to come into contact with and learn how to use a computer, at most it just limited his use of the internet.

Lin Ling registered an account on a strange forum that specialized in collecting and posting various oddities and strange events; the content of the posts on the forum was a mix of truth and falsehood, with the percentage of real events being perhaps no more than two percent—one could say it was like panning for gold in a vast sea of sand.

Distinguishing truth from falsehood was not a difficult task for Lin Ling, and all he had to do was "fish" under the posts about real events on this website, just so that those who had experienced extraordinary events could come to the shop to buy products.

Lin Ling had always had a clear understanding of what he was doing and was very frank about it.

To be honest, the efficiency of this kind of fishing was not high; after all, this was the internet, and no matter how eloquent he was, he could not wear down a person's vigilance.

But that didn't matter; choosing not to believe was a choice in itself, it was just that the process and outcome of this choice not to come to the shop could be predicted, and Lin Ling had no interest in such choices that could be seen to the end at a single glance.

"I am a singularity, not in the cycle, not entering karma, without constant and without number, without life and without fate; Dipankara does not see, Tathagata does not perceive; life is determined by oneself; anyone who has had contact with me, that is, customers who have come to my shop, all have the opportunity to be influenced by me and become a child of the singularity.

Like a leaf that has strayed into a river that should not exist, its flow is no longer determined by its original course, and this river of mine is calm water in the doldrums; I do not interfere with the leaf's flow, and the leaf can decide its own remaining life according to its own will within the limits of its ability.

Only under such 'conditions', where everything is uncontrollable, can I witness true choice; that is true fate, and that is the delightful unknown." This was what Lin Ling thought in his heart.

Just like that, every customer who came to the shop, regardless of whether they traded or not, became a leaf on this calm river of Lin Ling's, and the river would never act up, always remaining under a clear sky for ten thousand miles.

Lin Ling had witnessed a female forensic doctor, after straying into a world full of Abnormal, embark on an unyielding path from passive to active resistance against the Abnormal; even though she eventually passed away with regrets, she still brought Lin Ling great enjoyment and satisfaction with the fireworks she created during her lifetime, and in reality, that female forensic doctor should have died suddenly on a bustling street, becoming a ghost under the power of the Abnormal.

He had also seen a father who lost his child, who resolutely and decisively stepped into the Anomalous Domain for the sake of love, eventually becoming a middleman wandering between the world of the Abnormal and the ordinary human world, while that father should have lived his whole life in regret without getting his wish, and might not even have had a single chance to brush shoulders with his lost child.

He had also seen a lost detective who took on the burden of gratitude and great righteousness, eventually becoming one who seals the Abnormal, while that detective should have been beyond saving, becoming a slave to his bloodline and forced to become fodder for sacrifice.

There were many, many more customers, and Lin Ling felt deeply moved as he watched those who could break free from their predetermined fates.

Because this is what is truly great.