Starting from his vigorous old age, he began to conquer Liaozhai.

The little girl bit her finger, her gaze lingering on the copper coin in Cao Xiong's hand.

Cao Xiong chuckled to himself; the little girl was quite shrewd.

He placed the coin in the girl's hand. "Now you can tell me, right?"

The little girl clutched the copper coin tightly, stuffed it into the pocket of her clothes, and then looked at Cao Xiong with a beaming smile. "The Living Buddha Jin is the most powerful immortal. My mother said that believing in the Living Buddha will ensure that we live to be a hundred years old."

"Do you know where that Golden Living Buddha is now?" Cao Xiong felt that he first needed to figure out whether this Golden Living Buddha was a charlatan or a cultivator.

The caravan had guards, and the captain was a Bone Forging Realm martial artist, neither of whom could be easily dealt with by ordinary people.

There are no bandits around, and it's not close to the Ten Thousand Mountains, so the possibility of it being a demon is also unlikely. Therefore, the only possible culprits are ghosts, cultivators, and powerful martial artists.

If this Living Buddha is indeed a cultivator, perhaps we can find out some clues.

The little girl thought for a while, then shook her head sadly. "I don't know. Living Buddhas rarely appear, but my mother said they're building a big temple for one."

"Once the temple is built, the Living Buddha will be able to appear continuously."

Cao Xiong's eyes flashed. Build a temple?

"Little girl, building a big temple must cost a lot of money."

"I don't know... but we secretly went up the mountain to look, and the temple is very big." The little girl first shook her head, then whispered mysteriously to Cao Xiong.

Seeing that Cao Xiong ignored her, the little girl thought he had finished asking his questions, so she asked, "Grandpa, can I go now?"

Cao Xiong patted the little girl's head twice. "One last question, does everyone in your village believe in the Golden Living Buddha?"

"Yes." The little girl looked at Cao Xiong with her big eyes.

"Okay, I have no problem with that, go ahead."

A bright smile immediately appeared on the little girl's face. She skipped and hopped away, not playing with her friends anymore. It seemed she couldn't wait to go home.

Cao Xiong became increasingly curious about the Living Buddha that the children were talking about, but they were too young to know much.

It seems I still need to ask Chen Lian.

After wandering around the village for a while, Cao Xiong returned to the Chen residence.

The main hall of the Chen residence.

Cao Xiong stood in front of the monk's portrait, examining it carefully.

The monk in the painting is probably around forty years old, wearing a tattered robe, with a faint smile on his face.

"Master Cao~"

When Chen Lian heard that Cao Xiong wanted to see him, he rushed over from the backyard.

He had already realized that Cao Xiong's trip to Tanxiang Village was probably not just a stopover, but a special trip made specifically for the caravan.

"Is the monk in this painting named Jin Shicheng?" Cao Xiong's gaze remained fixed on the portrait, his voice calm.

Chen Lian came to the portrait, first kneeling in devout worship, and then lighting a stick of incense.

"Your Excellency is wise; he is indeed the Golden Living Buddha."

In Cao Xiong's view, Chen Lian was shrewd, reasonable, and worldly-wise; he wouldn't make baseless accusations.

"Could you tell me the story of this Living Buddha? I greatly admire him."

Chen Lian clasped his hands together, bowed devoutly to the portrait, and exhaled, as if he had completed an important ritual.

"Please sit down, sir." Chen Lian gestured for Cao Xiong to sit at the square table.

Once the two were seated, Chen Lian seemed lost in memories, a fiery glint in his eyes unique to fanatics.

After a while, he slowly spoke: "Three months ago, the Golden Living Buddha traveled here and spoke the truth, which made a dying child come back to life."

"Later, he preached in the village. At that time, golden light descended from the sky, and five-colored lotus flowers appeared in front of the Living Buddha."

"The Buddha Jin has boundless Buddhist teachings and cares deeply for the suffering of all beings. He is truly a bodhisattva in the world."

Cao Xiong didn't interrupt; he just listened quietly.

When Chen Lian mentioned the Golden Living Buddha, his condition was clearly off.

Cao Xiong sensed a strange aura emanating from it, which fueled his curiosity about the Golden Living Buddha.

This doesn't seem like a good person!

However, he naturally did not show it on his face. "I never thought that my Linya County would have such a divine figure. I wonder where the Living Buddha is now."

Chen Lian gave a wry smile. "My lord, how would we ordinary mortals know the whereabouts of the Living Buddha?"

"Who oversaw the construction of the temple for the Living Buddha?" Cao Xiong picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Chen Lian's body suddenly stiffened for a moment. "The construction of the temple for the Living Buddha was jointly undertaken by me and the village chief, Wang Yue."

"Take me to see it." Cao Xiong's tone left no room for argument.

"This..." Chen Lian's face turned pale, and he quickly lowered his head, not daring to let Cao Xiong see his expression.

"Is there something inconvenient?" Cao Xiong asked with a smile.

Chen Lian was unaware that Cao Xiong possessed divine sense; Cao Xiong had noticed all of Chen Lian's unnatural demeanor just now.

"You misunderstand, sir. The temple is just on the mountain and construction has only just begun. There's really nothing to see here."

Chen Lian tried to keep his tone as natural as possible.

"It's alright, we have nothing else to do anyway, let's do it now, Patriarch Chen, please." Before he finished speaking, Cao Xiong had already stood up.

Helpless, Chen Lian had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow Cao Xiong out of the hall.

"Please wait a moment, sir, I'll go get some sandalwood." Chen Lian said to Cao Xiong as soon as he entered the courtyard.

"Since we're going to a temple, we should naturally bring these things with us." Cao Xiong waved to Chen Lian, signaling him to go ahead.

Watching Chen Lian hurrying along, Cao Xiong thought to himself, "Interesting. The waters of Tanxiang Village run deeper than I imagined."

This morning, before leaving the Chen residence, Cao Xiong had already ordered his soldiers to keep a close watch on the Chen residence. He wanted to see what Chen Lian was planning to do.

About twenty minutes later, Chen Lian arrived with two servants. "Sir, we apologize for keeping you waiting. We'll set off now."

Cao Xiong raised an eyebrow. "Let's go."

Cao Xiong followed Chen Lian, and the group left the village and headed towards the mountain peak not far away.

Chen Lian walked very slowly, and it took him two hours to cover just over ten miles.

After crossing a high slope, Cao Xiong finally saw the temple built for the Golden Living Buddha.

Dozens of people were running around busily, while there were also supervisors holding sharp weapons around them. Judging from their clothing, they should be servants of the Chen family.

The temple is not yet fully completed. The foundation of the main hall has just been built, but it is covered by a sewn-on black cloth, so its specific appearance cannot be seen.

The temple was located on a relatively flat, high ground, and the main hall, along with the surrounding side halls and courtyards, covered an area of ​​no less than thirty acres.

"Master Chen, this is quite a grand gesture," Cao Xiong said, his voice carrying a strange undertone.

Chen Lian took the sandalwood from the servant and said, "You flatter me, sir. The Living Buddha has done a great favor for our Tanxiang Village, so naturally we should build a proper place for him to practice."

At this moment, a soldier dressed in a black long robe appeared from a distance and went straight to Cao Xiong.

"Greetings, Commander of the Hundred Households!"

Upon seeing the soldiers who suddenly appeared, Chen Lian's heart skipped a beat, but he still maintained a calm and composed expression on his face.

Cao Xiong nodded slightly. Seeing the troubled look on his subordinate's face, he knew that his subordinate must have something he wanted to tell him privately.

Once he was a distance away from Chen Lian, his subordinate spoke up, "Sir, the thing covered under that black cloth is a live stump."

A murderous intent emanated from Cao Xiong. "Are you sure?"