Spirit Mountain City, the nearest city to Major Leiyin Temple:
Smoke rose everywhere. Shouts of fury, shock, fear, and pleading rang out continuously. The entire city fell into chaos. Nearly all the citizens charged the city lord’s official residence, the various temples, and those temples’ businesses. They barged in, smashed things up, snatched things away, burned, and killed. Chaos!
Jiang Gautama looked around, feeling shocked. Are all the citizens possessed?
“Roar!”
The golden blessings dragon roared miserably as more blessings quickly crumbled and flowed away. It was not just the citizens rioting. Rather, the citizens had given up on the Spirit Mountain Holy Land. After all, the blessings cloud sea constituted the citizenry’s support.
“Lord Buddha, this is what happened. The financial management stores scammed them of their money. It has nothing to do with us!” The Buddhist disciples immediately explained everything.
However, as the Buddhist disciples explained the situation, Jiang Gautama noticed something wrong. All the financial management stores in two thousand cities fled simultaneously? There clearly was a scheme behind this.
“Fools!” Jiang Gautama shouted furiously.
After listening to everything, Jiang Gautama understood how terrifying the financial management stores were. They used spirit stones as a connection, placing all the citizens on the opposite side of the Spirit Mountain Holy Land.
To the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats’ horror, the blessings in the sky flowed away rapidly.
Jiang Gautama showed a sullen expression, but he could not blame these disciples. After all, it was impossible to punish everyone. Furthermore, he needed to rely on them to accomplish great things.
After taking a deep breath, Jiang Gautama said, “Citizens of my Spirit Mountain Holy Land, this buddha is Gautama. I sincerely ask all citizens to calm down for now. I will uphold justice for your losses. Please stop everything first!”
“Roar!”
A dragon roar came from the blessings cloud sea above, and Jiang Gautama’s voice reached the ears of the two thousand cities’ citizens.
The rioting citizens in the various cities immediately came to their senses.
“The Lord Buddha’s voice? The Lord Buddha said he would uphold justice. Everyone, stop! Stop!” someone shouted.
Some people stopped but still felt anxious or furious. Some people had already barged into the temples and even killed the city lord and monks. These people panicked and refused to stop, and even encouraged everyone to continue causing trouble.
Jiang Gautama guessed what these people were thinking, so he quickly added, “Stop everything now, and we will not pursue the deaths, injuries, and damages caused earlier. Please stop everything. This buddha will uphold justice for you. I swear it on the blessings cloud sea for all citizens.”
He will not pursue all the past deaths, injuries, and damages? The Lord Buddha will uphold justice for us?
The people encouraging the other citizens to riot stopped immediately.
“Lord Buddha, please get justice for us!”
“Lord Buddha, please return my spirit stones!”
“Lord Buddha, this disciple is helpless. Lord Buddha, please uphold justice!”
The voices of countless citizens from the two thousand cities came from the blessings cloud sea.
Although the citizens felt anxious, they had great trust in Jiang Gautama. With the Lord Buddha at the helm, he will uphold justice for me, right? Furthermore, the Lord Buddha swore it on the blessings cloud sea.
Everyone clenched their fists tightly as they listened to the voices from the blessings cloud sea.
Buzz!
Indeed, after Jiang Gautama’s words, the blessings cloud sea’s blessings stopped scattering. However, he had lost one-third in that short period.
Rage flashed in Jiang Gautama’s eyes. Who was it?
“Lord Buddha, the blessings are preserved!” countless bodhisattvas and arhats cried out agitatedly.
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A remote restaurant outside Spirit Mountain City:
Gu Qin’s face sank, and he immediately took out a zither puppet.
“Imperial Father, have you come out of seclusion?” Gu Qin asked respectfully.
The zither puppet trembled slightly, and a voice replied to Gu Qin. “I’ve just come out of seclusion. Hah! Qin`er, well done!”
“Salutations, Your Reverence!” Long Shenying greeted with a bow.
“Beloved official Long, you have worked word. The Blessings Destruction Plan has already started; there’s no need to keep watch on Spirit Mountain City. Come back earlier lest accidents happen,” Gu Hai instructed.
“Yes!” Long Shenying answered.
“Imperial Father, Jiang Gautama is trying to pacify the citizens now. The blessings seem to have stopped crumbling,” Gu Qin reported worriedly.
“We already know about that. It’s useless. If Jiang Gautama cannot give the citizens a perfect resolution, the citizens will only grow angrier. There’s no way for him to resolve this perfectly; the debt is too great. Just wait. Haha!” Gu Hai’s voice came from the zither puppet.
“Yes!” Gu Qin answered.
------
Now, the nearly three hundred billion citizens in the two thousand cities fell silent, waiting to hear how Jiang Gautama would uphold justice.
“The same situation is happening in all two thousand cities of the Spirit Mountain Holy Land. The financial management stores all fled with the money. I will use Spirit Mountain City as an example today and uphold justice here. Everyone can listen in. Once the problem in Spirit Mountain City is resolved, the rest of the cities can follow that as the model!” Jiang Gautama shouted.
Jiang Gautama’s voice reached the ears of all the citizens.
“Yes! Lord Buddha, please uphold justice!” the three hundred billion citizens shouted.
Spirit Mountain City would be an example. Jiang Gautama would resolve the situation in Spirit Mountain City; everything would be resolved.
Spirit Mountain City was right outside the mountain the Spirit Mountain Holy Land was on. Jiang Gautama took to Spirit Mountain City’s sky with the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats, radiating bright, golden Buddhist light in all directions.
“Lord Buddha, please uphold justice!” Countless citizens knelt in worship, feeling excitement and anticipation.
Eighty percent of the people here had emptied their coffers to buy financial products. Everyone believed there was nothing to fear with the Spirit Mountain Holy Land as the guarantor. Would the Lord Buddha renege on the bit of money I have?
However, their money was now gone. Who would not be anxious?
For mundane people, money was just gold. However, everyone here was a cultivator. Money for them was spirit stones, the foundation of their cultivation. This did not just cut off their path to wealth but also their path to longevity. Who would not turn violent?
Jiang Gautama frowned as he surveyed the city. Most of the temples and financial stores had smoke rising from them. The city lord’s official residence was also in shambles.
By now, Jiang Gautama understood everything. He also understood how insidious the mastermind behind the financial management stores was. During this time, the financial management stores had practically tied themselves to the Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s reputation. If he told the citizens that the financial management stores had nothing to do with the Spirit Mountain Holy Land, they would not accept it. The Spirit Mountain Holy Land was their final hope. Who would let go of it?
Thus, he could only swallow the losses here. However, he had to make things clear.
“Citizens of the Spirit Mountain Holy Land, the financial management stores caused trouble within the Spirit Mountain Holy Land and brought suffering to the masses. This buddha has already understood the general situation. This buddha will now clarify the situation for the Spirit Mountain Holy Land. This buddha learned about the financial management stores only today; the financial management stores have nothing to do with the Spirit Mountain Holy Land,” Jiang Gautama said gravely.
“What should we do, then?”
“We bought the financial products only because of the Spirit Mountain Holy Land!”
“Lord Buddha, the Eastern Forest Temple’s families are all in the financial management stores. How can they not have any connection to the Eastern Forest Temple or the Spirit Mountain Holy Land?”
“Lord Buddha, you claim there’s no connection. What are we going to do about our money?”
The citizens immediately became restless.
“Spirit Mountain Holy Land citizens, this buddha said I would uphold justice for you, so I will definitely uphold justice for you. This buddha will help you get back your lost spirit stones. The various temples failed in their duties and got tempted by the financial management stores; they deserve punishment. Today, the Spirit Mountain Holy Land will front the resources first and make up for your losses. The Spirit Mountain Holy Land will go after what you lost later,” Jiang Gautama said.
“Ah?! The Lord Buddha will compensate our losses first? Many thanks, Lord Buddha!”
“The Lord Buddha is benevolent!”
“This is great! The Lord Buddha is going to give me my money first!”
Countless citizens cheered wildly, feeling grateful.
With this gratitude, most of the Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s blessings that had scattered earlier immediately returned. The Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s blessings cloud sea seemed almost restored.
The bodhisattvas released bated breaths. The disaster is resolved?
------
Outside Spirit Mountain City, Gu Qin gaped. “Jiang Gautama is courting death! I was worried earlier. Now, there’s nothing to worry about. Father is right; the Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s blessings are finished!”
------
The citizens of Spirit Mountain City looked gratefully at Jiang Gautama in the sky above.
Jiang Gautama still had not realized how much money the financial management stores had taken. He thought that it would not be much and that he could simply take the compensation out of the Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s eight hundred thousand years of accumulations.
“All financial management store staffs in Spirit Mountain City, immediately check all the contracts and tabulate the number of spirit stones. After everything is tabulated, give out the spirit stones according to the contracts!” Jiang Gautama said.
“Long live the Lord Buddha! May the Lord Buddha live for ten thousand years!” countless citizens immediately cheered.
The beaten-up financial management store staffs in the crowd struggled to their feet. Amid eager urging, they started tabulating the spirit stones.
After getting the Present Buddha’s promise, the earlier rioting citizens seemed to transform into completely different people, becoming extremely polite and queueing up orderly. They all got their documents checked civilly, waiting patiently for the numbers to be calculated. Given their current refined appearance, no one could tell they had been rioting earlier.
Then Jiang Gautama turned to the Past Buddha and asked, “How many spirit stones are there in the Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s treasury?”
“Reporting to the Lord Buddha, after eight hundred thousand years, the Spirit Mountain Holy Land has accumulated ninety billion superior-grade spirit stones,” the Past Buddha replied respectfully.
“Ninety billion? It looks like we will have to use half of it to fix this,” Jiang Gautama sighed.
“Half? Perhaps not. How many spirit stones can the financial management stores take away in a mere half-year?” The Past Buddha smiled.
“The amount does not matter; it is all worth it if we can stabilize the Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s blessings. Even if it is fifty billion superior-grade spirit stones, this buddha will not skim on it,” Jiang Gautama said gravely.
“Fifty billion? Lord Buddha is generous. It will be more than enough if we allocate twenty-five million superior-grade spirit stones to each city. After all, those are superior-grade spirit stones.” The Past Buddha smiled.
Everyone waited patiently.
Countless monks assisted the officials in the city. Even so, they took two days to count everything.
“Reporting to the Lord Buddha, we have completed the tabulation. The amount for Spirit Mountain City is one billion superior-grade spirit stones,” a bodhisattva said respectfully.
“How much?” the Past Buddha exclaimed in shock.
“One billion superior-grade spirit stones!” that bodhisattva repeated.
“That’s impossible! How can it be so much?” the Past Buddha blurted out.
All the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats felt horrified. One billion? How can it be so much? Most people would never see such a number in their lifetime!
Jiang Gautama also goggled. Just one city was one billion superior-grade spirit stones. This meant that the Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s eight hundred thousand years of accumulations could cover only ninety cities.
Although there would be some variation in the number of spirit stones for each city, they would only be able to cover one hundred cities or so, at best. What about the other one thousand nine hundred cities? What could they do about those?
“Are you mistaken?” Jiang Gautama asked, his heart trembling.
Even though he was already accustomed to grand scenes and vast storms, he had never seen such a horrifying number before. This was not simply a pit of debt but a black hole.
“Reporting to the Lord Buddha, we have already counted it three times. There is no mistake. Furthermore, if the count of one billion superior-grade spirit stones were wrong, the total could only be more, not less,” that bodhisattva said.
Jiang Gautama: “…”
All the buddhas: “…”
The three hundred billion citizens: “…”
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