Chapter 328: Must Have Dreams (2/10, for Alliance Leader

Who doesn't dream of becoming an abbot someday?

It's a pity he was born slow-witted and his Buddhist learning was shallow, so he could only be a little monk getting by.

When Huishan thought of this at the temple, the crowd outside, which had been packed, suddenly stirred, shifting from a leisurely stroll to a jog with hands held over their heads.

Huishan was stunned for a moment before noticing that, somehow, a light rain had begun to fall outside.

The rain came eerily; in no time at all, the light rain turned into a downpour.

The rain poured down relentlessly, and pedestrians on the road without umbrellas were soaked through.

"What are you all standing around for? Go to the warehouse, get umbrellas, and hand them out to the guests."

An old monk hurrying past the intersection saw the few of them spacing out and gave the order.

"Yes, yes."

Huishan and the others hurriedly answered, not daring to slack off.

Jiangyun Temple had an excellent reputation in Jianghai City, not only because of its long history but also because of its great service attitude.

Unlike other temples, their Jiangyun Temple had taken a new-era service-oriented route, positioning itself as a service industry.

Not the old-fashioned kind that sits up high and aloof, waiting for people to climb the mountain and pray, insisting that sincerity works miracles, tormenting customers in all sorts of ways.

Making things convenient for people is how you earn more.

Making money isn't shameful. Serving customers well and letting others sincerely worship Buddha don't really conflict, do they?

The Buddha still sits high above; it's just that their monks have set aside their pride.

Judging by the results so far, this transformation has been a great success.

These days are nothing like the slow-paced times of the past.

Everyone values efficiency: pay, worship, pray, done in one go—pretty good.

For this reason, building mountain roads, even opening a flatland helipad, and pulling in more commercial alliances are all acceptable.

Originally, other old-school temples looked down on Jiangyun Temple—a temple with such a long history—for carrying out this kind of core-positioning reform.

In the end, they all came around. Money is what really matters.

Huishan had also joined the Buddhist order for the money. Hearing from fellow monks that, once you became abbot, the money would come pouring in, he longed for it even more.

But once he actually got to the temple, he learned that internal promotions had strict assessments; without mastering Buddhist teachings, he'd be a little monk his whole life.

Luckily, just honestly tagging along and getting by, he could still live quite comfortably.

Because of Jiangyun Temple's service-industry positioning, their service to guests had always been thorough, so the ones worn out were errand-runners like Huishan.

After fetching umbrellas from the warehouse, every corridor of the temple was packed with people.

He followed the old monk, handing out the umbrellas—printed with the Jiangyun Temple emblem—to the guests for free.

Regulars took the umbrellas naturally; new guests, however, showed surprised expressions, looking a bit overwhelmed by the favor.

But in reality, compared to Jiangyun Temple's incense money, umbrellas like these were worth almost nothing. Not to mention they bore the Jiangyun Temple logo—carried outside the temple and out into the world, they doubled as a little advertisement.

While handing out umbrellas, Huishan glanced outside.

His companions were running outward, delivering umbrellas to guests who were still running this way in the rain.

The sky grew darker and darker. Some old monks began chanting sutras, and guests gathered around to join in. In this atmosphere, those old monks—who usually had no particular air about them—suddenly looked like enlightened sages, and Huishan envied them greatly.

"Huishan, you go deliver umbrellas to the guests over there too."

The old monk beside him pointed at guests not far away. Huishan acknowledged and ran out into the rain with an umbrella.

Boom!

Before he'd run two steps, thunder rumbled from the black clouds above, lighting up the entire sky.

The sound startled Huishan, and he paused briefly, but without thinking much, he kept running toward those guests.

Boom!!

Another thunderclap exploded.

Huishan hadn't paid it any mind, but the next instant, his pupils couldn't help but contract sharply.

Because he saw that, before the third thunderclap had even burst—when the black clouds turned the world to daylight—

a thick bolt of lightning shot straight down from the black clouds, striking the guest ahead directly.

Boom!!

The third thunderclap exploded. The guest, unable to even react in the lightning, dropped stiffly to the ground, body charred black, smoke rising—clearly beyond saving.

"Ah… ahhhhhh!!"

"Th-that way, someone over there got struck by lightning!"

"Holy shit! For real?!"

Many behind him also saw the scene and screamed in terror.

Even now, Huishan was still in a daze.

He'd heard of people being struck by lightning on rainy days, and even seen it in videos.

But witnessing it with his own eyes was a first.

A living person, just struck dead by lightning like that?

Fear welling up, he began to run back, faster and faster, his head buzzing.

Suddenly, his foot caught on something, and with a thud he crashed to the ground.

Dirty water everywhere soaked his Buddhist robe. He wiped his face, scrambled up on hands and feet, ready to keep running back.

But as he raised his head, he saw the guests sheltering under the eaves opposite, all wide-eyed, as if witnessing something unbelievable.

What… had happened?

Huishan couldn't help but turn and look back.

The next instant, his pupils contracted sharply as he stared ahead in disbelief.

There, the person who had just been struck by lightning and turned into a Charred Corpse had somehow gotten back up.

It stood in the pouring rain, tilted its head back to look at the sky, and after a long while, slowly turned its gaze forward.

The Charred Corpse seemed somewhat dazed.

"E-excuse me, are you alright, guest? I've already called emergency services. Is there anywhere on your body that feels uncomfortable? Please come with me…"

The little monk closest to the Charred Corpse ran over to its side, held an umbrella over it, and tried to guide it back under the eaves.

Then, the Charred Corpse moved.

Huishan didn't know how to describe the scene before his eyes.

He only saw the Charred Corpse wave a hand, and the kind little monk's head dropped right off.

What happened next was a blur in Huishan's memory.

He only remembered that it was very noisy around him, many people running, shouting, screaming, and… bolt after bolt of lightning, gradually striking the passersby still walking in the rain.

People fell in rows. Huishan, unlike the others, didn't hide inside a room, but instead turned and ran toward the back mountain.

He ran very fast, ran very desperately, deep into the back mountain's bamboo grove.

But when he looked back… he saw a Charred Corpse actually following close behind him!

Boom!

Thunder cracked, and Huishan got a clear look at the pursuing Charred Corpse's appearance.

It was unmistakably… the old abbot's face!

Huishan didn't know how the old abbot had been struck by lightning—maybe he'd been pushed out by the mob to chant Buddhist teachings and "redeem" the Charred Corpse, or maybe he'd chosen the same escape route as Huishan and been struck by lightning.

Regardless, the old man who had sat in the abbot's seat Huishan had long dreamed of was now a monster.

Huishan ran even harder, desperate to shake off the Charred Corpse. But after running for a while, he looked back and found the Charred Corpse getting closer and closer to him. So frightened he dared not look back again, he could only bury his head and sprint.

(End of this chapter)