I was a charlatan in India

Generally speaking, believers do not worship deities from other religions.

Even for most believers, acknowledging the existence of pagan gods is considered blasphemy.

But Mahata had his own perspective.

These rules were given to him by "people," not by the Buddha or Bodhisattvas.

If I do something wrong, they will punish me, just as Shenhe warned him with his divine eyes.

The strange thing is that most of the monks who diligently chant scriptures don't actually develop any special skills.

On the contrary, some of the unorthodox Mahata were enlightened and mastered considerable supernatural powers.

As for why they still dare to visit the shrine...

That's what Mahata thought.

The god punished him mainly because he had used his followers as clues and disturbed others.

However, when they joined the crowd to worship and exchange porridge for jelly, they did not face any punishment.

In other words, visiting the temple itself is not taboo.

Moreover, when he offered a gift as an apology, the man did not refuse.

That means tacit consent.

Furthermore, according to Buddhist teachings, everyone has their own karmic status, and everyone is a member of the Buddhist community.

Then where does the talk of heretics come from, and why be so fixated on titles and ranks?

There was nothing wrong with my own pilgrimage.

However, Shenhe had no intention of responding to Maha Tathagata.

In his view, since the monk believed in Buddhism, he was a believer in God.

If you respond recklessly, you might incur repercussions from the Buddha or Bodhisattva behind him.

He didn't want to cause any more trouble.

As for the apology gift...

Mahata really did prepare, but what was inside really didn't interest Shenhe.

Damn it, it really is a Buddhist scripture.

What use would I have for this thing? To learn Buddhism from you?

Of course, there are other things as well.

Mahata also prepared ten cartloads of wheat, medicinal herbs, incense ash... These were useful, but not enough to make him risk responding to this guy.

After all, the Linga, belonging to the Shenhe River, practically illuminated half of Varanasi, and these common supplies could be easily scavenged in large quantities.

Well... it's not exactly honorable.

But if I have ten more truckloads of yours, will my supplies become more valuable?

In addition, the surface of those Buddhist scriptures also shone with a golden light similar to that of the Mahayana.

In other words, it is some kind of power related to faith.

This could easily lead to trouble.

Last time, in order to investigate the golden light of Mahata, he wasted sixty square meters of his arduous cultivation power, which should have been enough to teach Shenhe a lesson.

You're crazy! If you really want to thank me, give me some gold or jewels!

You're a high-ranking monk from the capital, surely you're not broke!

Shenhe ignored the worship of Mahata and turned his attention to the devout believers.

Of course, in Mahata's view, this was a very sincere gift, and he had no intention of being perfunctory.

These scriptures were mostly written by eminent monks, so they were naturally precious to him.

Some of them he didn't even finish reading, and when he decided to send them away, he was heartbroken.

Grains and medicinal herbs, on the other hand, are considered hard currency in the secular world.

After all, the other party is most likely a god, who shouldn't be interested in money, but believers definitely need basic supplies.

As for the incense ash, Mahata also put a lot of effort into it.

He made a special visit to the local ascetics to confirm that incense ash was also used for offerings to the lingam before choosing the best source and preparing carefully.

Any normal deity or believer would understand his sincerity.

But what we encountered was the Shenhe River...

After a long while, seeing that the other party had no intention of responding, Maha Tathagata moved to another room and began to worship his own Buddha statue.

The Buddha statue was equally serene.

However, during the worship, strands of golden light would flow towards Mahata, making his appearance even more serene.

Seeing that Mahata had calmed down, Shenhe turned around and began to pay attention to the other believers.

To be honest, Vasudiv did have some doubts.

He could treat the previous porridge distribution as an illusion he couldn't see through, but the Great Heavenly Eye was truly difficult to explain with human power.

That cannot be described by mere illusion.

Creating such an astonishing phenomenon through human effort would be no easy task, even for large families; it would require extensive planning and design.

It's impossible for there to be absolutely no word about it.

In other words, the other party must either be incredibly powerful, capable of instantly creating such a strange phenomenon, or they must truly possess some extraordinary power.

Each of them is a hassle.

Trying to hitch a ride on a huge vehicle could easily turn you into cannon fodder.

Moreover, the rumors about the holy fetus were not started by Dana; they just wanted to hitch a ride and make some extra money.

However, after the porridge distribution, the resistance to this matter has become very strong, and it is easy for the gains to outweigh the losses.

If Dana hadn't invested so much and the risk of losing too much if he hadn't withdrawn so abruptly, and if he hadn't genuinely needed a money-making machine, this project would probably have been stopped long ago.

This time...

Although Dana hasn't arrived yet, Vasudiv felt that he would receive a request for help from her soon.

He was hesitant about whether to continue the cooperation.

The Saraswati family hasn't invested any money yet; they've only sent out an inquiry letter and haven't received a reply.

It's not too late to evacuate now.

Or, how about we get rid of the bastard in Mina's belly and end this trouble?

At that moment, a servant rushed in to report.

"Master, the head of the Nabu family has arrived."

This was his order: if Dana came, inform him in advance so that he could excuse himself from intervening.

"Tell him I..."

However, before he could finish speaking, Dana pushed open the door and entered.

"Vasudif, I brought you some samples. It's really windy outside, so I brought them in to avoid getting them dirty!"

Dana strode in, carrying some damp pottery and silk.

Vasudiv frowned slightly.

The sample was still dripping water.

It's not that they're afraid of getting dirty; they're clearly afraid that he won't see them, so they're forcing him to come to their door.

Most likely, it's another request with some kind of troublesome element.

We should just cut this collaboration off as soon as possible.

Having made up his mind, he said, "Dana, I'm afraid your goods will have a hard time getting in, so perhaps..."

Unexpectedly, Dana raised his hand to interrupt him, chuckling slowly with a hint of pride in his voice.

"It's really not easy; those on duty are all incredibly ruddy-skinned."

"However, I managed to solve the supply problem as promised!"

Vasudiv was immediately taken aback.

He knew all too well what kind of people those Kshatriyas were.

Not only will they take advantage of you if you don't pay, but even if you offer a generous gift, you might only get the qualification to follow the rules.

It's almost impossible to clear the level in such a short time.

"Dana, this is no joke, you..."

"I know what you're worried about, that's why I brought the goods!"

Dana waved his hand, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"However, this batch of goods has encountered some setbacks, and the profit will probably be reduced. I need to inform you in advance."

"Look, this batch brought in by the water rats is already somewhat damp."

Vasudiv looked at the silk that Dana had brought.

That was indeed a brand new style, not yet available in the city, so it must have been a newly arrived item.

As for getting damp, that's not a problem at all.

With sourcing goods so difficult lately, if Dana really manages to overcome the hurdles, even if the products have some flaws, they won't have to worry about selling.

However, he felt that something was wrong.

This wasn't just a simple intuition; I had indeed noticed something amiss, but the situation was currently complicated and not clear enough at the moment.

Vasudiv paused for a moment, then tapped the table lightly with his fingers.

After a long while, he cautiously began to probe.

"Dana, what do you need me to do this time?"