Chapter Eighty-One: The Effects of the Fake Buddha Body

  Upon hearing Master Longyuan's words, Chen Chufan felt a surge of joy in his heart. He stopped beating around the bush and spoke directly: "I was thinking of borrowing your prestige to get things done. If this righteous act of punishing evil were to stir up trouble, I would like to ask you, Master, to help me bear with it for a while."

  After hearing Chen Chufan's words, the monk's eyebrows were furrowed to the point of almost touching each other. His face was as bitter as a calabaza about to be harvested. "Young donor is joking again, what face does the monk have? How can he help the donor?"

  "Master, you're not being honest again! I personally saw that the master's face was extremely large, at least bigger than this Return to the Origin Temple!" Chen Chufan curled his lips, with a look of wanting to expose him, and continued: "With just one broken business card, you can get the director of that police station to let the young man off for a night, and yet you say you don't have face. Isn't that too hypocritical?"

  "The monk's business card, is it worth letting you be arrogant for one night?" Master Longyuan immediately grasped the key point and looked at Chen Chufan in silence.

  "Ah!?" Chen Chufan was momentarily quick-tongued and had actually spoken the matter out himself, feeling extremely embarrassed, he then shifted the blame and said: "This matter we'll temporarily not discuss for now, in any case Master's face is very important! You can't deny this point!"

  Chen Chufan could be capricious, but it was not suitable for Master Longyuan to argue with a young boy about such trivial matters. So he had no choice but to speak in a conciliatory tone: "Master Longyuan still advises the young master to be cautious and prudent, and must not do anything that violates the law or goes against the rules."

  "When did I say I was going to do something illegal? I just want those bad people to admit their mistakes, is that also a bad thing?" Chen Chufan widened his eyes and made an innocent expression to defend himself.

  "Is it just letting that bad person admit their mistake?" asked Long Yuanfang carefully.

  "Of course, do I want their lives? I have no interest in taking lives. I'm a reasonable person, if he does evil to me, I'll just make sure he can't do evil again, and it won't cause too much trouble." Chen Chufan saw that Master Longyuan's tone seemed to be slightly loosening, and hurriedly took the opportunity to explain.

  Master Longyuan listened to Chen Chufan's explanation, but still shook his head and didn't give in: "Where did the donor get such great confidence from, to be able to subdue that bad person? What if it backfires and the donor gets hurt instead? It would be a real injustice! So, I advise the donor to hand this matter over to the police for handling, which is the most reasonable thing to do!"

  Chen Chufan tilted his head, thought for a moment, and then gritted his teeth and said: "The kid really has the confidence to subdue that bad guy, and he won't get hurt himself! Master, I'll dispel your concerns, will you agree to lend a hand?"

  "Huh?" Master Longyuan looked at the young man with a resolute expression, puzzled and asked: "How can you prove it to me, little Shizhu? Are you going to fight me? I don't know any martial arts, I won't be able to withstand your torture."

  "That's not necessary, but to prove this point, it's like a master revealing some secrets of the young man. The master must promise to keep the secret before letting you know!" Chen Chufan said with a serious expression.

  Master Longyuan looked at the young man with a serious expression and was indeed curious about the secret Chen Chufan had told him: "Monks are never talkative, keeping secrets is no problem. But I don't know how Little Shi plans to prove it?"

  Chen Chufan's face turned solemn, and he said to Master Longyuan in a serious tone: "Master, your virtue is high and respected. I am indeed convinced of you. To be honest, I possess the indestructible body of Buddhism, why should I fear being unable to subdue those evil people?"

  Longyuan heard this and his face was shocked, he actually lost his voice and said: "The Dharma body and the Vajra body are equally solid, the permanent abode and the ultimate truth coexist, is the donor actually embodying the Buddha's body?"

  "It is indeed so, the great treasure sutra has said that the body of the Tathagata is the Dharma-body, a diamond-like body, an indestructible body, a solid and unshakeable body, surpassing all in the three realms. If there's no unexpected event, I should be able to attain this body!" Chen Chufan nodded his head in confirmation.

  Master Longyuan was shocked. Originally, the young man had been able to recite Buddhist scriptures from memory just yesterday, which already made him think that this young man might be a reincarnation of some Buddha. However, these things were somewhat elusive, and the monk could only harbor doubts in his heart, not daring to make a definitive statement. But having a Buddha's body was something that could be seen with one's own eyes, and if what the young man said was true, then Master Longyuan would indeed be able to confirm without a doubt that this young man must be a reincarnation of some great Buddhist master. Otherwise, where else could one find a young man who was both well-versed in Buddhist scriptures and had a Buddha's body?

  "Amitabha, this matter is of great importance. The donor shouldn't be deceiving me with empty words, playing tricks on an old monk!" Longyuan was still somewhat unbelieving and couldn't help but ask in doubt. After all, it's already the Dharma-ending age, monks believe in Buddhism, but he had never truly seen a miracle before, so he was naturally more skeptical than believing.

  "Since I've said it, I want to prove it to the master. Does the master have a knife here?" Chen Chufan let go of his reserve, this secret had been carefully hidden by him all along, and he felt tired. Today, after telling the old monk, he actually felt much lighter.

  "This place doesn't exist, Master Chen, please follow me!" Upon hearing this, Master Longyuan's heart couldn't help but believe it a bit, however, since the matter was of great importance, he still wanted to see it for himself. He thus straightened his face and said seriously.

  Master Longyuan took Chen Chufan to the kitchen of the Temple of Return to the Origin, ignoring the puzzled gaze of the little monk. He had them stand guard at a distance, not allowing anyone to disturb them. Then, carefully closing the door, he said to Chen Chufan: "There are knives here, please prove it!"

  Chen Chufan didn't say a word, took off his top and walked to the chopping board, put his left hand on it, and with his right hand picked up the monk's kitchen knife. Without hesitation, he chopped down with all his might. Master Longyuan only saw the knife touch the skin, leaving only a faint mark before bouncing back, and the young man's arm was truly unscathed.

  "Amitabha, this...this..." Although in his heart of hearts, he had already believed it to be eighty percent true, when the fact really happened right before his eyes, Long Yuanfang was shocked speechless. He even walked forward and rudely touched the spot on Chen Chufan's left arm where he had been chopped.

  "If Master Longyuan still has doubts, why not try it yourself? I've tried cutting wherever I want!" Chen Chufan said, handing the knife in his hand to Master Longyuan.

  Master Longyuan stupidly took the knife, shouted a Buddha's name, and really chopped it towards Chen Chufan's shoulder. It was indeed a big deal, even Master Longyuan couldn't help but want to personally prove it.

  The result was the same, and after the sharp blade came into contact with Chen Chufan's skin, it bounced back, leaving only a faint blood mark on the skin.

  This time, Master Yongda had no more doubts and was convinced that the young man was a reincarnation of a certain Buddha. He immediately bowed to Chen Chufan with reverence, "Amitabha Buddha, the donor indeed has a Dharma body, I believe it, I believe it!"

  Returning to Master Longyuan's Zen room, Master Longyuan insisted that Chen Chufan sit in the main seat, while he accompanied him on one side. Chen Chufan naturally did not dare to usurp this position, and so the two men became deadlocked.

  "Master, this is going to be a disaster! Anyway, we don't need to bother with these empty formalities. I'm your guest, and it's not right for a guest to sit in the host's seat?" Chen Chufan really didn't expect that revealing his physical secret would have such an effect, and the old monk actually thought he was the reincarnation of some Buddha, leaving him speechless with laughter. In his heart, however, he knew clearly that he had absolutely nothing to do with any Buddha. But he deliberately didn't speak up to clarify things, letting the old monk continue to think this way - wasn't he afraid that the old monk wouldn't help him wholeheartedly? This was Chen Chufan's thought at the moment.

  The Venerable Master said with a straight face: "You are very capable, sir. How dare I, a poor monk, presume to surpass you?"

  "If the master is humble, the young one will turn around and leave!" Chen Chufan was a thick-skinned person, after all, he was asking someone for help, so he had to give enough face. Therefore, he also refused to sit in that main seat himself. Besides, it's just a seat, and in the eyes of young people, it's not a big deal at all. Aren't they all just wooden stools? And haven't seen the main seat with a sofa?

  However, Chen Chufan's actions made Master Longyuan feel even more favorable, thinking that he was indeed a great being reincarnated, and was so unpretentious and informal, that he couldn't help but be deeply moved.

  After the old monk sat down, Chen Chufan let out a pretentious sigh and said: "Master, now that you've cleared up my doubts, will you agree to my little request?"

  "Ah, Amitabha Buddha! Since Mr. Chen has made up his mind to subdue the demons and protect the Dharma, I will naturally lend him a helping hand. If there's anything that requires my assistance, I won't hesitate!"

  When Chen Chufan heard the words "Lung Yuan Fang Zhang", he felt relieved all over. Thinking back to last night, Dean Chen was just facing this old monk's business card with great respect, it seemed that this old monk's energy must be very strong. And now with this old monk as his backing, as long as he didn't do anything too outrageous, he shouldn't have any major troubles.

  Chen Chufan's face lit up with joy, and he learned from the old monk, shouting a Buddhist mantra: "Amitabha Buddha, great master, great virtue, I bow to you here!"

  After successfully settling the matter with Long Yuanfang, Chen Chufan stayed in the Huiyuan Temple for another day under the old monk's strong persuasion. Of course, after lunch, he couldn't help but discuss Buddhist philosophy with the monk.

  At the last moment of leaving, the greedy young man also asked for the only two business cards left by the monk, claiming that he wanted to get some Buddhist aura from the Buddha image on the back of the business card. In fact, the young man simply thought it was a good deal to use the business card for trading. The poor old monk did not suspect anything and agreed to Chen Chufan's request without hesitation. He even personally sent Chen Chufan out of the temple gate when he left, making the thick-skinned young man feel a little embarrassed and ashamed of deceiving an honest person.

  Sitting in the car on the way to the club, a young man who got a good deal shook his head and sighed: "Indeed, believing in religion makes one an idiot! But I like it!" He was really asking for a beating.