Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Black Wukong has been insanely popular lately. I wanted to play it too, but it was way too expensive. I couldn’t afford it.

My friend Lu Lingzhu gave me a USB drive and said Black Wukong was on it.

Overjoyed, I plugged the drive into my computer. Once the installation finished, three big words slowly appeared on the screen:

Black Wuneng!

At the center of the screen stood a black wild boar in armor, holding a nine-toothed rake.

I was so mad I threw my mouse aside.

“What the hell is this? Even for a pirated copy, this is ridiculous!”

Lu Lingzhu comforted me, saying that although the pig looked a little rough around the edges, the game’s graphics were excellent, and the story was much more exciting than Black Wukong’s.

When she saw I still wasn’t interested, she slapped the table with a smack.

“I’m giving it to you. For free. You’re really not going to play?”

The word “free” seemed to possess some kind of magic, seizing firm control of my mind.

Before I knew it, my hand had reached for the mouse.

Three hours later, the screen froze outside a temple.

The temple was surrounded by mountains on three sides. Behind it, cliffs rose like sheer walls, and layered pavilions stacked one above another, forming a truly magnificent scene.

On the tallest Buddhist pagoda, a plaque hung above the entrance with four words written on it: Land of Mahayana.

The vermilion doors, adorned with golden beast-head ornaments, slowly opened to either side.

The Black Wuneng I controlled stood at the entrance. As the camera pulled back, his massive body looked as tiny as an ant before those enormous wooden doors.

For some reason, in that instant, my heart suddenly clenched beyond my control.

I felt so insignificant, as if life held no meaning at all. Only beyond those doors lay the truth I sought.

Scarlet words slowly flickered on the screen.

All forms are illusions. To depart from all forms is to be called a Buddha.

Welcome to the Land of Mahayana.

I couldn’t help reciting along for a few lines. After I finished, an extremely powerful, uncontrollable thought rose in my mind.

I had to go to the Land of Mahayana. I had to seek the truth.

I immediately realized something was wrong.

There was actually a curse hidden in this game’s files.

Curses originated from witchcraft.

In both Daoism and Buddhism, incantations could be used to communicate with the Celestial Emperor or the Buddha, to petition gods, command ghosts and spirits, and even control people’s minds.

Someone who had been cursed had to act according to the caster’s demands.

Otherwise, that thought would take root in their mind, making them restless and unable to think about anything else.

A curse like this might work on ordinary people, but it shouldn’t have much effect on me.

Because I was the only Earth Master successor.

As the saying went, a first-rate Earth Master observes the stars; a second-rate Wind Master seeks the water mouth; third-rate gentlemen roam everywhere. Most of those walking the world these days were ordinary feng shui practitioners.

In ancient times, those who mastered the arts of observing stars and reading qi all served in the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, pledging their skills to the imperial family.

The ancestors of my Qiao Family had once been directors of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, as well as hereditary masters of the Feng Sect.

Years of cultivating Daoist arts had made my mind far steadier than an ordinary person’s. And yet, after I finished watching the game, the final frozen image seemed branded into my brain.

My heart thudded wildly. My entire body was restless and uneasy. I got up and drank two glasses of water in a row, but I still couldn’t suppress that tight, palpitating feeling.

I turned to Lu Lingzhu and sighed.

“This curse really has something to it.”

When I looked up and saw Lu Lingzhu’s face clearly, I jumped in fright.

Her eyes were fixed on the screen, staring blankly. Her gaze was hollow, the corners of her eyes were red, and there was even a faint shimmer of tears in them.

I was shocked.

Lu Lingzhu might be a little dumb, but no matter how you put it, she was still the legitimate senior disciple of the Maoshan Sect. She had cultivated in the mountains since childhood. She shouldn’t have been so easily controlled by a curse.

I pushed her shoulder.

“What’s wrong with you?”

After I pushed her, Lu Lingzhu snapped back to herself, then suddenly jumped three feet high in excitement.

“I’m rich! I’m rich!”

As she spoke, she raised her phone screen for me to see.

“Look! Holy shit, even the whole market hit the daily limit! A bull market! A once-in-a-century bull market!”