Qi Xinli had the fortune of coming into contact with Buddhism, mainly due to his upbringing and the career path he chose.
His parents worked in the big league in Yanjing. As elites among elites, the missions they took on were all drenched in blood. Whether it was outsmarting foreign spies or risking their lives fighting drug lords, with each mission and each achievement, they became targets in the eyes of criminals, who hated them with a vengeance.
Even the most meticulous plans have their flaws, and a mole inside exposed their identities. Their identities were leaked, and together with their young son, they were marked for death by a bandit’s execution order.
Had it not been for how extraordinary his parents were, Qi Xinli wouldn’t have had such a full family. In fact… he should’ve died in the shooting incident when he was five.
Qi Xinli could never forget that day, his parents, drenched in blood, carrying him as they ran, while ruthless pursuers chased after them. The counterattacks and desperate fights, his mother’s arms, once warm, turned cold from excessive blood loss for the first time. Luckily, they managed to hold on until rescue arrived.
After that, Qi Xinli was sent to the countryside. Even his surname “Qi1齐” was changed to “Qi2祁.” For his protection, his parents had him registered under the name of a family with the surname “Qi3祁,” hoping he would grow up safe.
Unable to return home, unable to acknowledge his relatives, recognition itself became a danger. At the youngest age, Qi Xinli had understood the meaning of the word “soldier,” which represented justice but also death.
Being wise beyond his years, he settled into the Qi family, growing up step by step, without standing out, without skipping grades, without crying or making a fuss. He was just a playful child who liked to smear mud on his face, perfectly portraying the image of an ordinary child, and everyone remembered him only by his nickname “Mud Monkey.”
In his spare time, he would pass by the village temple and would kneel and worship alongside the elderly women, hoping that the gods and bodhisattvas in the heavens would protect his parents.
This was a small wish of a child, and it was the only comfort he could give himself.
As he grew older, a businessman from outside the village came in—a middle-aged man with a limp. Though his appearance was fierce and his expression grim, his business was a mess. Still, his small shop kept running day after day, and no one knew how he was making money.
Qi Xinli liked him because he smelled something in the middle-aged man that reminded him of his parents. It was a long-lost feeling that made him feel at ease. The middle-aged man also took good care of Qi Xinli, teaching him everything he knew.
Over the course of six years, the village saw six businessmen come and go, all losing money. It was perhaps due to the unprofitable business that when the third generation of children in the village went to junior high school and stayed in dorms, the businessmen also left.
The junior high was not far from Yanjing, but Qi Xinli still couldn’t meet his parents because of a drug lord case in the capital. So, he could only try step by step to get closer by studying in Yanjing, hoping to be nearer, and nearer.
In high school, he finally met his parents. Their reunion lasted less than ten minutes, and by the time they saw each other again, it was during the college entrance examination.
He had always been his parents’ pride.
But since their time together was so short, they couldn’t offer much guidance, so Qi Xinli, following his own strengths, enrolled in the physics department at Di University.
However, one mistake led to endless regret. When he realized his hair was thinning more and more, he genuinely thought he might go bald prematurely.
To keep things low-key, and to make his baldness seem like a natural thing, he decided to also take courses at a Buddhist academy, learning to chant sutras, and even managed to obtain an official certificate as a monk.
If his hair loss got worse, he would just show the certificate and tell others that he was a monk by profession, and that it was normal for him to be bald.
He truly exhausted every method to keep up the act…
But Qi Xinli never expected that this accidental choice would end up being the key to unlocking a new world. Even though he only understood part of what Ji Si said, being with them allowed him to gather information and broaden his thinking.
At that time, the five of them were sitting in the living room of their suite, watching the news. The steady voice of the female host contrasted sharply with the instability of the image on the large LCD screen: “At 4 AM on January 9th, a ‘river god’ being worshipped in a village in the Yujia Country went out of control, causing numerous casualties. The footage left at the scene only shows the back of a monster… Bloodstains from humans extend to the riverbank and disappear, and the monster’s whereabouts are unknown.”
Jiang Qining’s apple crunching softened: “It’s happening abroad too…”
“Now for a breaking news update,” the female host’s brow furrowed for a moment before quickly composing herself, “This morning at around 8 AM, large numbers of killer crabs came ashore in the northern coastal areas of Hongfeng Country. After three hours of suppression by the Hongfeng military, the crisis was resolved. According to the data, these killer crabs are three meters tall, five meters long, with very hard shells and extremely sensitive reflexes.”
Qi Xinli squinted his eyes: “Hongfeng has always been a low-profile country. They don’t cause big incidents, and it’s the perfect place for retirement and immigration. But now, even news from Zhongzhou has made it here. This means the situation is far more complicated than just killer crabs.”
Si Nuocheng agreed: “Hongfeng is next to the North Pole. Maybe there’s an issue with the poles…”
“The Earth’s two poles are the most mysterious places in the magnetic field,” Ji Si suddenly spoke, and everyone quieted down. “You can think of them as the top and bottom of the human body—connected to the heavens and pressed against the earth, making them the easiest places to come into contact with the inexplicable.”
“Under the influence of resonance, they could open up just like the boundary gates in Lingdong.”
The living room fell into a deathly silence, with only the sound of the LCD television continuing. Outside, the city bustled with traffic, while inside, the world felt eerie.
Si Nuocheng turned his head: “Ji Si, can you tell me what’s really going on in this world?”
Ji Si gently shook his head: “The collective karma of mankind, there’s no escaping it.”
“What is collective karma?” Jiang Qining asked.
“Karma,” Ji Si explained, “you can think of it as humanity’s debt to the Dao.” “The Dao is the heavens and earth, all things, virtues, and also humanity itself.”
“Heaven and earth nourish all living things, and after they die, they return to heaven and earth. It is a constant cycle of giving and repayment.”
“For example, when a whale falls to the ocean floor, the ocean nurtures it, and after it dies, it returns everything to the ocean. Its body nourishes other creatures. Following the natural cycle of growth, gaining, dying, and returning—what you get is what you give. There’s no karma, only virtue.”
“But if the giving exceeds the receiving, or if the receiving exceeds the giving, then ‘karma’ is created.”
“Karma exists between people and people, people and nature. With the accumulation of past lives, it has become so heavy that it can no longer be contained.”
“Karma is strong enough to reshape the world.”
In other words, humanity had created the situation they were in.
In the silence that followed, Ji Si scanned their faces before shifting the topic. “Therefore, humanity needs to awaken. To save themselves, to soothe the world. I’ve said before, every person has energy and an aura, and they all have the potential for ‘awakening,’ but not everyone will awaken.”
“Awakening is related to the soul, to one’s character.”
“So, those with deep evil karma and heavy debts, no matter how talented, won’t awaken. They’ve accumulated too much ‘impurity’ in their souls.”
Ji Si dared to teach the way of awakening, and the main reason he could teach it to Earthlings was because the method aligned with their world. Awakening, however, was a high threshold, requiring virtue and enlightenment, thus effectively preventing the rightful powers from being used by the wicked.
“The Six Paths of Reincarnation are not just a legend; they are a system that exists when the Dao is complete.”
“At that time, evil people would be reincarnated into the realm of beasts, where they would do their due diligence of giving and repayment. This is not a punishment, but rather, in the realm of beasts, with fewer desires, they can cleanse their impurities and be reborn as humans again. Meanwhile, virtuous people who accumulate merit over many lives may ascend to higher-dimensional life forms, like ‘immortals.’”
“Therefore, don’t be greedy for small favors. Little by little, in the end, it all adds up to your own account.”
Unfortunately, Earth was no longer the world full of spiritual energy it once was, and the ancient system had collapsed, leaving only karma to function. With such a mess in front of them, it was a good thing Ji Si didn’t disdain it.
“It’s like Daoist apprenticeships. First, they ask the ancestral master, then they check the divination, and third, they ask if the person’s family has made arrangements for after their death. If they haven’t made plans for their affairs, they won’t accept them. The word ‘karma’ is something even Daoists find difficult to deal with.”
Suddenly, Ji Si turned his head and joked, “If any of you owe something, you’d better pay it back early.”
However, these were the best of men. He had expected that in their prime, they might have accumulated debts of love or other emotional baggage, but to his surprise, each one was more carefree than the last. Their love lives never even sprouted into flowers, let alone bloom—they died clean and neat.
…Was there something poisonous about them?
Maybe there really was.
Jiang Qining turned pale at the words. “Ji, Ji Si! I used to play a harem game, and I kept a bunch of wives, big and small. I quit the game eight years ago. Does that count as starting a mess and ending it badly?”
Laki counted on his fingers: “When I was in college, I worked as an animal manager in Ula for a practical course. But the animals were so unruly, I had to beat them all over the zoo until they would run away whenever they saw me. Does that count as creating misfortune?”
Jiang Qining: “Should I pick the game back up and continue raising wives? But it shut down! Do I need to invest more money?”
Laki: “Do I need to go back to that zoo and apologize? But the animals have short lifespans, what if some of them died? Should I burn incense to ask for their forgiveness?”
Si Nuocheng: …
Qi Xinli: …
Ji Si: …
For some reason, the High Priest felt like he was leading them through the sea of knowledge, but when he climbed ashore, he saw only two following him, and the other two had drowned.
Ah well, if they drowned, they drowned—there was no saving them.
……
Jiang Ziying and Shen Yunting sat together, with Team Leader Chen from Hulu Port sitting across from them. The other side didn’t say much, just threw a stack of documents at them.
“You guys sure know how to hire people, much more aggressive than I am.” Team Leader Chen teased. “Dragging people back, you really know how to get things done!”
Shen Yunting, knowing they were in the wrong, couldn’t help but explain, “Our team members are all former soldiers, not exactly experts in social matters. Apologies for causing trouble for your team.”
Team Leader Chen rubbed his forehead and nodded in acknowledgment.
“Even I have to go around in circles to find people. You just go straight in and expect it to work?” Team Leader Chen was at his wit’s end. “Qi Xinli, yes, that’s the face on the third document. Remember his face. He’s one of ours.”
“He’s already successfully infiltrated that group and gathered quite a bit of information.” Team Leader Chen continued, “But his methods are too young. He dared to call me and shout while still at Qingding, really clueless, doesn’t even realize he could blow his cover. I dodged him three times, not letting him talk. Hopefully, he’s thinking more clearly now.”
“And he talks so out of tune, I don’t know who he learned that from. Tsk! If he weren’t so good-looking, I wouldn’t have chosen him. After all, young people are all about looks. If he weren’t good-looking, he probably couldn’t have even gotten into that little squad…” The middle-aged man rambled on.
“Now, it’s up to you to follow him. I heard they’re planning to leave Hulu Port.” There might even be other gains.
Shen Yunting and Jiang Ziying nodded.
Team Leader Chen rubbed his face, clearly troubled. “By the way, this kid hasn’t called me in a day. Do you think he’s gone cold?”
Shen Yunting and Jiang Ziying: So, Team Leader, do you want him to call you or not?
…
The highway was jammed. The black off-road vehicle was in front, with the brown one trailing behind. The new team began heading toward the next city.
The young people, excited to experience the new world, were in high spirits. Under Qi Xinli’s recommendation, each of them had a hanging-ear communicator, and added with a hat, wig, and sunglasses, they looked just like proper spies.
Si Nuocheng drove in front, with Laki following behind. The three-person car ahead was quiet, while the two-person car in the back was happily singing.
Jiang Qining: “Are we heading to the next city to save the world? How about we give the squad a cool name? What do you think of ‘Thunderbolt Five’?”
Laki furrowed his brow: “Too tacky and stupid. It should be called ‘Wild Bear Squad.’”
“Bears? How about we name it after a mysterious organization from a novel—‘Dragon Group’!”
“I prefer ‘Team.’ How about we combine it and call ourselves ‘Dinosaur Squad’?”
Ji Si had the feeling that if he kept listening, he might join in the naming discussion himself. As expected, Si Nuocheng and Qi Xinli couldn’t resist chiming in.
Qi Xinli: “Since we’re acting with Ji Si, we should pick something symbolic. I see Ji Si in white, representing light, so ‘Glory’ might be a good choice.”
Jiang Qining quickly countered: “No way, anything with ‘light’ is a bad idea. None of us are single. It might get misinterpreted as ‘Single Squad,’ and if that becomes true, what then?”
Everyone: … That actually makes a lot of sense.
Si Nuocheng, distracted, replied: “Ji Si has a scepter. I think it can be interpreted as the ‘Sea-Calming Needle.’ You guys can freely come up with a name.”
Jiang Qining was excited: “Sea God? No, it sounds like a fishy guy who raises women, and it’s even worse than calling him a ‘sea king.’ And ‘needle’ doesn’t work either. What real man would describe himself as a needle?”
Everyone: …
Laki, expressionless: “Ji Si can shine and wield a staff. Let’s not overthink it. Just call it ‘Single’4光棍.”
Everyone: …
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
PS:
Ji Si: “Laki, I’m noting this down for you.”
Laki: …
PS:
Qi Xinli: “It’s the end of the month, could you guys give my hair some nourishment? I really don’t want to go bald at a young age.”
