Who are you calling a stable boy?!

"Zhengzai, when did you get back?"

An elderly woman living near the temple gate grabbed Zheng Jing's hand: "I don't know what's going on, but people have been coming here a few days ago. However, those people would wait at the gate for a while, and then leave when they saw that the gate wasn't open."

"Yeah, Zheng! There are some bad guys among these people today, trying to climb over the wall when there are so many of them!"

An elderly man who had come closer said this, his old eyes glancing into the crowd as if trying to catch the few who were trying to climb over the wall.

"Grandma Shen, Grandpa Song, and all the neighbors, I'm so sorry for the trouble."

Zheng Jing patted Grandma Shen's hand: "You've all gone to so much trouble. I'll take care of the rest myself."

The elderly people were about to say it was no trouble and offered to help again when they saw Zheng Jing raise his eyes and look at the crowd.

Some of the people inside seemed poised to start an argument with the elderly.

"Ok?"

This sound, though not loud, seemed to explode in the minds of everyone present except the old man.

In an instant, the crowd fell silent.

This sudden change stunned the short-tempered elderly men at the front of the group.

"Hehe, everyone, I, Old Zheng, greet you all."

With his hands clasped in a fist and a smile, Zheng Jing said to the crowd, "Thank you all for your kindness. I would like to express my gratitude in advance."

"But as you can see, the temple is only this size, and the gate is only this wide. Please line up and then go inside for a visit..."

"How is it?"

Chapter 289: The Fat and Thin Monks

Now that Zheng Jing has stepped forward, these words are naturally easier to say.

The old temple isn't very big. Once you enter the temple gate and pass through the small courtyard, you'll reach the main hall. So even though there are so many people blocking the alley, if you're just here to take a quick look and offer incense, you can actually be out in about ten minutes.

Many people didn't even offer incense.

It wasn't that Zheng Jing wouldn't allow it, or that these people didn't want to; it was simply that the temple only had so much incense left.

It's not a holiday, and usually only some elderly neighbors would occasionally come to buy a couple of sticks, so Zheng Jing certainly wouldn't prepare too many in the temple.

As for things like merit pools, donation boxes, and fortune-telling services, the temple doesn't have any of those either.

In fact, even the incense is given to worshippers for free.

Therefore, when neighbors come to burn incense, they usually bring their own.

Not only do they bring their own, but sometimes they also buy a few packs and send them to the temple.

Zheng Jing accepted all the incense that was delivered to him.

Just like when neighbors sometimes give him daily necessities such as rice, flour, meat, vegetables, and oil, Zheng Jing always gladly accepts these things and then leads the neighbors to the main hall to burn two sticks of incense.

In short, there really aren't any projects in Zheng Jing's temple. People who come in, unless they're there to cause trouble, naturally won't stay for long.

After paying respects to the Great Sage, offering incense, and taking a few photos, that should be about it.

If I had to say something, the only difference was that there was an extra step: asking Zheng Jing to take a photo with him.

So, the temple gates opened around 9 a.m., and by noon, this group of tourists from all over the country had basically all left.

"Uncle Zhang, Brother Zhao, you've worked so hard! What would you like to drink? Why don't you stay for a simple meal before you leave?"

First, he helped the elderly people pay their respects to their master with the incense they had prepared, and then respectfully saw them off one by one out of the temple. After making his move, Zheng Jingteng turned around and approached Zhang Long and Zhao Hu.

Last time, Xueqing's matter troubled these two people, and I didn't expect to cause them trouble again this time.

"Forget about eating lunch; it's time to go back and have lunch at the cafeteria after the shift change."

"Yes, yes, just two bottles of ice water will do."

"That won't do. How about Uncle Zhang, a bottle of barley tea? I brewed some earlier and it's iced, absolutely natural! Brother Zhao, how about some soda?"

"to make."

Seeing Zhang Long and Zhao Hu nod, Zheng Jing turned around and shouted, "Lao Qing! Get a bottle of barley tea and a large bottle of soda!"

Before Zhang Long and Zhao Hu could figure out who Lao Qing was, the two brothers saw Xue Qing walk out carrying a large bottle of iced drink in one hand.

"This... is the Cao family's daughter?"

Zhao Hu looked at Xue Qing with surprise: "How come you've turned into the White-Haired Girl after just a few days?"

Before he could finish his question, Zhao Hu was slapped on the back by Zhang Long with a loud thud, clearly quite forceful.

"What era are we living in? It's just a young person dyeing their hair to change their mood, what's the big deal?"

As he spoke, Zhang Long took the bottle of barley tea with one hand and dragged Zhao Hu out by pressing his shoulder with the other.

"We're rushing back to hand over our shift, so we're leaving now. If anything happens later, you can go to the patrol post outside, and I'll let everyone know when I get back."

"Alright! Thank you, Uncle Zhang. Take care, you and Brother Zhao!"

Zheng Jing waved goodbye and watched Zhang Long and Zhao Hu leave the alley before letting out a sigh of relief.

"tired?"

Leaning against the door, Xueqing peeked at Zheng Jing's face and said, "He's alright, no sweat."

"I'm not that tired."

Zheng Jing smiled.

Our own old temple isn't always quiet and bustling, but that's only during holidays and festivals.

"How about we close the temple gates for a few days? Once the hype dies down, there won't be so many problems."

Xueqing suggested.

Zheng Jing shook his head.

"It would cause trouble for the neighbors, no way."

Given the situation this morning, if he hadn't come out quickly, some of the less-than-ideal people might have actually started arguing with the elderly people who came to help maintain order.

"So...you're planning to help Reber create a whole new internet-famous tourist attraction?"

"That won't do either. If you sincerely come to pay your respects, I, Old Zheng, welcome you. If you want to broaden your horizons, that's fine too. But if you're only interested in doing business, I really don't have the time to entertain you."

Zheng Jing shook his head vigorously.

"Then let's just get through these next few days. I reckon if you open the doors today, there will be even more people tomorrow..."

Xueqing pouted: "I'm just going to stay in the back and not come out. If it really doesn't work, I'll just go back to my sect for a while."

"Wow? Seriously, heroine, you're just going to leave me to die?"

Are you sure my intervention won't make things worse?

"Oh, it really is..."

With Cao's looks and her naturally snow-white hair, if she were to appear in a crowded temple, it would only add fuel to the fire.

Zheng Jing scratched his head and cheeks, his eyes darting around.

"Ah! I've got it!"

-

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the sunlight in Liquan was no longer so harsh, and naturally, more tourists appeared in the old alleys of the ancient city.

And naturally, new guests also arrived at the gate of Zheng Jing's old temple.

In terms of the number of new customers, there were actually more than in the morning, but the scene of coming and going was not as chaotic as in the morning.

The reason for this is that nowadays, there are two more monks inside and outside the temple who are specifically responsible for maintaining order.

There is one at the temple gate and one inside the main hall.

They were all dressed in dark hemp robes, their heads clean and pure.

However, the one at the temple gate was thin, while the one in the main hall was big-bellied and round-waisted.

Looking at their faces, they were fair-skinned, one with a cold expression and the other with a smile on his face. Their features clearly did not belong to Chinese people, yet they could both speak fluent Mandarin.

Some people were curious about their identities and could only say that the abbot had come to help them out of kindness.

When someone asked where the Monkey King of Mount Emei was, the answer was always the same: the abbot was away on business.

Someone wanted to create some buzz for themselves, but before they could even stir up trouble, these two put their arms around their shoulders and immediately became obedient, running out of the temple with a look of fear on their faces.

So when the sun had completely set, the two monks asked the tourists still in the temple to leave and closed the temple doors.

Now, only two monks remained in the courtyard.

"Not bad!"

On the roof of the main hall, Zheng Jing, who had appeared out of nowhere, jumped down and praised the two monks with satisfaction.

The two monks clasped their hands in a fist salute to Zheng Jing, and then, facing the night wind, transformed back into two strands of hair, flying back into Zheng Jing's palm.

Not bad.

These two monks were actually Zheng Jing's alter egos.

To be precise, they are two clones that have undergone transformation.

Zheng Jing first transformed them into the likeness of Gilgamesh, then removed their hair, and made one thinner and the other fatter, thus creating these two fat and thin monks to stand guard in the temple for him.

Since it was the first time he had done this, Zheng Jing used the invisibility cloth given to him by Xizhu and kept observing the situation of the two clones from a high place.

After several hours, Zheng Jing was satisfied with what he had seen.

Moreover, this also means that if he and Xueqing both have to go out in the future, and the temple needs someone to take care of it, then if the trip is not long, he can consider letting his clone fill in.

If one clone doesn't fight, it can easily last for ten days to half a month.

Chapter 290: Hey! You girl!

"Is everything settled?"

"Not only that, things will be easier from now on."

"That's fine. What would you like to drink? I didn't make any soup."

"The same as always."

Sitting down next to Xueqing, Zheng Jing accepted the tea she offered, looked at the four dishes on the table, and began to eat.

After the two had eaten a few bites, Zheng Jingcai spoke up again: "That girl named Deng Ai, something happened to her family."

"I can tell, you're quite aggrieved."

"It has some connection with the courtyard."

Xueqing stopped eating and then casually stuffed a piece of beef she had just picked up into Zheng Jing's bowl.

"How to say?"

Zheng Jing first swallowed the beef with a mouthful of rice, and then told Xue Qing about his experiences in Taiwan.

After listening quietly to Zheng Jing finish speaking, Xue Qing tilted her head slightly and touched her lips with her chopsticks.

"Do you think that because of us, there will be more trouble from other dimensions in the future?"

"It's hard to say, mainly because I don't yet understand what the powerless plane is all about."

"Hmm... In that case, let's talk things out with them."

"Wouldn't this be too much of a burden for them?"

Upon hearing this, Xueqing immediately snatched the sweet and sour pork ribs that Zheng Jinggang had just put in his bowl.

"Silly monkey, do you think it's a good thing for them to know nothing? Besides, you're not Clark Kent. If you really want to be Superman, how about you learn to see and hear everything first?"

"It's better to tell them so they're mentally prepared and take precautions than to panic when something actually happens, right?"

"That makes sense. Miss Cao is indeed very thoughtful!"

"Humph."

Seeing the serious expression on Zheng Jing's face fade and return to her most familiar playful smile, Xue Qing snorted and returned the sweet and sour pork ribs.

Doing this not only prevents problems from happening in the first place, but also makes others in the group feel more nervous.

At least, if something were to happen to the material world of their hometown someday, they could be together with her and share some of the burden for Zheng Jing.