Chapter 6: Six: One Pagoda, One Bell, One Wooden Fish

Six: One Pagoda, One Bell, One Wooden Fish

Two days ago.

“He’s gone, stop staring like an idiot.”

“Ah.”

“If you can’t bear to let him go, chase after him right now—don’t dawdle.”

“Ah.”

“You won’t chase him, won’t move, just stand there glaring—what are you trying to do? Wear me out?”

“Ah…”

“Forget it, talking to a mute is exhausting. Just take me back to that cell. If your sisters find me, you’ll be fine, but I’ll lose an arm.”

“Ah ah…”

“What, you’re asking if he’s truly alright? Hmph, little girl, you may doubt my character, but never my medical skill. This boy’s injuries are healed; he’s just experiencing brief amnesia upon waking. Seeing familiar things will restore his memory. I was merely amusing him with that mad monk.”

“Coming to me first this time shows you’re smart—you know my skill far surpasses those Jade Pure Daoists of Gezao Mountain…”

“Ah…”

“What, you’re saying you only came near me because you were close?”

“….”

The air in the underground chamber fell silent for a moment.

“Hmph! Next time something happens, go beg the Jade Pure Sect for a Golden Core—see if they’ll give it to you. And I dislike scholarly Daoist lineages. If you come begging me again for this boy… Hah, do you know what this broken mural on my wall depicts?”

“Never mind, asking is pointless. It’s a Buddha’s Birth Painting, telling the story of ‘King Kuaimu Giving Away His Eyes’ from the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish. You’ve surely never heard it, but if there’s a next time, you’ll understand.”

“I practice medicine for profit, not to save the world—I deal in transactions, not emotions. One thing for one life. No cheating the old or the young.”

“This time I’m breaking my rule to repay your debt. Next time I save him, I want both your eyes.”

The old Daoist, covered in toxic sores, swept his wide sleeve and sneered—but immediately saw the sword-carrying mute girl standing in the center of the chamber, head raised, nodding without hesitation.

Her nine fingers gripped a sheepskin water bag that had been drunk from, like an unbreakable lock. Her clear eyes, now slowly filled with drifting clouds, gazed across the autumn waters—but the blue sky above the well remained untouched by any returning gaze.

“I dislike scholars even more.”

…

Ouyang Rong felt as if he had arrived before the Southern Heavenly Gate, standing atop a sea of clouds beneath endless blue sky.

All around, white-gold clouds churned—dense as mist, yet ethereal as vapor.

Deep within the clouds, a golden sun seemed hidden, causing the entire sea to gradate from white near at hand to pale gold, then deep gold in the distance.

Most arresting to Ouyang Rong’s gaze was the ancient pagoda at the center of his vision, half-concealed by golden clouds, coated in the dust of history, its plaque inscribed with two purple-gold characters: Merit.

The gate slowly opened. Ouyang Rong felt anticipation, drifting inward—but the sight within was starkly simple: the familiar layout of “one bell, one wooden fish.”

That was all.

Beyond it, nothing else existed—all filled with white mist.

Ouyang Rong compared it mentally to that shoddy Merit Pagoda app he’d once used.

Not identical—it was exactly the same.

Just like the lazy programmer’s stock images in the app, the “one bell, one wooden fish” inside the ancient pagoda were utterly ordinary.

“Damn, the outside’s grand, but inside they just slapped something together? Outsourced divine tool, right? Watch out—the Buddha’ll deduct your merit!” Ouyang Rong muttered.

“Still, maybe it’s true—the Merit Pagoda I didn’t see in Donglin Temple back then looked just as plain… But I wonder if this Merit Bell works as rumored—does ringing it really grant wishes and blessings? If so, maybe I can go home?”

Ouyang Rong’s gaze was instantly drawn upward as he studied the ancient bronze bell.

The bell remained silent, as if eternal. Suddenly, fragmented thoughts surfaced in his mind, clear and sudden.

Ouyang Rong froze, stood still for a moment, then quickly absorbed the spiritual message, lowering his head to ponder.

This bell was the core of the entire Merit Pagoda… When it sensed an approaching “karmic connection,” it could consume stored merit points to ring once, capturing that fleeting, easily missed karmic thread, granting him an immediate blessing.

The amount of merit required varied with the size of the blessing—greater blessings demanded more merit.

The types of blessings were extraordinarily broad; the fragmented details listed some: beyond the expected miraculous encounters and sudden enlightenment of supreme arts, there were even blessings of romantic fortune—gaining a beauty’s affection and favor… This bell was odd. But in his past life, temple Merit Pagodas did serve lay devotees, including matchmaking requests—so it made sense.

There was also a blessing to avert disaster and another to cancel karmic debt. The first sounded useful—could save your life in a pinch.

But the second—“cancel karmic debt”—Ouyang Rong frowned slightly. What exactly was karmic debt? Sin? Betraying ethics, killing one’s master, perverting filial piety? He’d never use it—he was a righteous gentleman with integrity! This one was redundant. The Buddha really didn’t understand him at all…

After roughly digesting the message, Ouyang Rong realized the “blessing fruit” was essentially a form of wish fulfillment—requiring only an external direct or indirect trigger, like “elemental awareness,” to awaken the Merit Bell, then exchange merit points for it.

“So where does merit come from…? Right—the wooden fish!”

Ouyang Rong perked up, eager to try.

“Might as well break it—just need to be able to strike it. This time I’ll strike it properly.”

But as he approached the wooden fish with anticipation…

“What the hell, still locked?!”

Seeing the wooden fish marked with a red X, Ouyang Rong’s vision darkened—he nearly passed out.

He took a deep breath, confirmed it several times, then reluctantly accepted the reality.

He scowled.

Eternal ban, right? Even reincarnated, you won’t lift it, right? You’re fighting me, right? Come on, admit it—you’re a sore loser.

“I thought no one in this world would wait for me forever… Turns out I missed you—the banished piece of trash wooden fish.”

Ouyang Rong sighed heavily, feeling the Buddha was petty.

What annoyed him more was that all the merit he’d earned before the ban hadn’t followed him over.

So they’d confiscated his ill-gotten gains? Had he pushed the Buddha to second place that night? Or was this current merit balance inherited from the body’s original owner?

Ouyang Rong glanced again at the small azure-gold seal script above the banished wooden fish:

【Merit: One Hundred and One】

“I’ve spent my life doing good, a righteous man—how did I end up like this?”

But he wasn’t one to blame fate. He quickly rallied.

Ouyang Rong nodded: “Still, thinking carefully—the original body made it all the way to Longcheng County… At least he left me this much. Should be grateful it’s not negative… Wait, can merit go negative? Would that bring bad luck?”

He smiled.

“Calm down, calm down—Heaven never closes all paths…”

Ouyang Rong circled the wooden fish inside the pagoda, glancing around the empty, bright white space—then suddenly remembered something, lifting his head:

“If the ban prevents me from striking it, then how did the wooden fish sound in the Sanhui Courtyard come about? The Merit Pagoda was awakened then… and my merit increased.”

“What was I doing then? The aunt’s bosom… no, cough—calming the tense doctor-patient relationship, saving the nun’s hair and the abbot.”

Ouyang Rong suddenly understood: “I get it—simple. Do good, accumulate ‘virtue’!”

…

————

(PS: A small clarification—this divine tool is not a system, and I personally dislike systems.

Those familiar with Ouyang Rong’s previous novel know he’s a fanatic for logic and detail, so even the divine tool must be explainable within the world’s logic, and will be revealed later in the plot. Not a Buddhist apologist—just borrowing elements lightly; Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism are treated equally.

If you must describe it, think of it as something akin to the Mist in “The Secrets of the Immortal’s Secret.”)