“I don't believe my destiny was predetermined at birth. Becoming a Buddha's son, becoming the first living Buddha in the temple for thousands of years, even who I should like in my youth was decided early on... Hahahaha~ I don't believe in these ghost stories!"

Chan Guang's smile became increasingly twisted, making Mingmei somewhat confused about what this guy actually meant.

Was he just unwilling to walk a path designated by others?

"But isn't this pretty good? A bright future, doesn't sound bad, at most you have someone you like, so are you Buddhist cultivators not allowed to have feelings and desires?

Then you really need to overcome it yourself; at most, you can break through the barrier of love and become a Buddha on the spot?"

Lu Xiaoyao smacked her lips, not understanding the other party's troubles after listening for a long time. In the end, she concluded that the other party was being quite pretentious.

"The thing you find painful is something everyone else can only dream of, okay? The path of cultivation seeks longevity and ascension; isn't that what all cultivators pursue?

From the moment you were born, your future was longevity, becoming a Buddha. Ask your fellow disciples about this good fortune, oh, like that eldest brother, the one who fell into evil earlier; compared to you, that guy seems like a moron.

Everything he pursues is like a handful of dust in your eyes."

"What do you know!?" Chan Guang suddenly became angry, and seeing Chan Guang like this for the first time startled them.

"Why should my life be decided by some heavenly Dao, some destiny? I am me, I am called Chan Guang, I am not a Buddha's son, I am not anyone, I am just myself!"

Chan Guang repeated this sentence hysterically over and over again, then his gaze locked tightly on Mingmei. The hysterical madness in his eyes suddenly changed, and when he looked at Mingmei, his eyes revealed longing and infatuation.

"You should understand, right?" Suddenly, his question made Mingmei somewhat bewildered.

Mingmei: ??

What should she understand?

"The heavenly Dao judged you to be a lone star, with little emotion, destined to be alone for life, but you have been resisting all of this, haven't you?"

Mingmei: "I think you might..."

Before Mingmei could say the word "misunderstanding," she heard Chan Guang suddenly laugh and say, "Otherwise, why would you look for me, ask me, if I could see your future?"

Mingmei: …

Did I?

Mingmei was confused; when had she asked this question?

"You said you seemed to have fallen in love with someone, but you could never remember who that person was.

You said you seemed to have been waiting for someone recently, but you couldn't remember who it was. You said you woke up full of anticipation every day, and then you forgot in confusion what you were expecting.

You asked me if you would meet that person you don't remember again, and if you worked hard, would you succeed in the end?"

"Then what did you answer?"

Mingmei pursed her lips. She didn't remember asking Chan Guang these things, but the day wasn't over yet. She still remembered what Gui Gui had told her about her and Mu Chen recently.

With her personality, she would probably ask if she could have a way not to forget the other person, to turn every first encounter into a reunion.

Chan Guang: "I said no."

"Damn, can you talk, man?" Lu Xiaoyao couldn't help but retort, "Aren't you just deliberately hitting people? You say that before people even ask."

"What's wrong?" Chan Guang glanced at Lu Xiaoyao and said, "In the future I see, she won't succeed. She won't remember who that person is before she leaves."

"You..."

"What? Feeling uncomfortable?" Chan Guang looked at Lu Xiaoyao jumping up and down and suddenly smiled, using a sarcastic tone to say, "Is it uncomfortable to have someone see through your future at a glance, explicitly telling you that the expectations you cherish now are all in vain? Is it uncomfortable?"

Lu Xiaoyao choked, but Mingmei answered directly, "Uncomfortable."

Mingmei also mocked lightly, as Chan Guang had done. Of course, she heard the meaning in the other party's words just now, "But I remember you once told me that my future would have happiness. Shouldn't that be because I got something in return for my efforts, so I would be happy?"

Chan Guang was slightly stunned. He didn't expect Mingmei to remember the sentence he said to her when she was about to leave.

"Happiness may not be your effort, but what others give you. Look, you have so many people who love you, how can you not be happy?"

Chan Guang looked at Mingmei, his tone tinged with a lingering tenderness, "You will leave here, live with everyone's love for you, and of course you will be happy."

This was also why he had been paying attention not to Mei Jiu, who should have been the center of attention, but to Mingmei.

Clearly, what he saw and what Xie Zhen calculated was that she should have shallow family ties and be lonely her whole life. How could such a person still shyly reveal a little bit of a bashful smile when she saw others?

Shouldn't such a person have been transparent since childhood, standing there inconspicuously, ignored by others, ignored by themselves, hiding from others, and difficult to approach?

However, Mingmei was exactly the opposite.

Elders loved her, sisters were close to her, and there was even an admirer who had been silently guarding her?

If there were no Mingmei, maybe... he would have continued to maintain that way.

He was the noble and immaculate Buddha's son in the eyes of others;

He was the compassionate and merciful Buddha's son in the eyes of others;

Becoming what everyone expected, even if there was dissatisfaction and doubt in his heart, as long as he recited the scriptures a few more times, he could suppress all the "evil thoughts" that stirred him.

However, he met Mingmei.

He envied Mingmei for having so many people working hard for her, and he also admired her for working hard to reciprocate everyone's kindness to her.

Even when she really met the person she knew she was not destined to be with, she worked hard to remember that person.

He was jealous of Xie Chen, jealous that he was the person who was not destined to be with her.

Jealous that the other party knew it was impossible but still persisted, jealous that there was always someone waiting for him at the end of his efforts.

Their persistence, compared to himself, was like a clown.

Unwilling to completely rebel, yet unwilling to truly mold himself into what others expected...

"Mingmei."

Chan Guang suddenly looked at Mingmei and asked, "Are you now, no, were you later... happy?"

"Happy." Mingmei nodded honestly, even though she knew that what was in front of her was a game, and this NPC was not the real Chan Guang.

The real Chan Guang had long become a Buddha, but even so, Mingmei still earnestly answered him: "Just like you said, I am loved by many people, and I have always been happy."

"Then... that's good." Chan Guang smiled, twirling his prayer beads, seemingly no longer wanting to say more!

Suddenly, he raised his head abruptly, and a frightening light burst out in his eyes. Mingmei instinctively hugged Mei Jiu next to her, protecting her behind her.

In an instant, the string of the prayer beads broke, and the beads flew towards Mingmei and the others!

"Be careful!"

Lu Xiaoyao, Zhen Po, and the rest were instantly shocked by the prayer beads that suddenly flew in front of them and couldn't react. Then, Lu Xiaoyao only felt a chill between her eyebrows—

[Player character died, game over.]