The big monk shook his head, unable to understand. What could be more joyful than a full stomach? He thought to himself and happily picked up a grilled squid skewer, adding some chili powder.
Mowen swiftly rearranged the bamboo skewers, chicken bones, and shells on the table, creating a mech warrior model. The child's mother turned away in disgust but was surprised by the final product.
The warrior's helmet was crafted from shrimp heads, adorned with pheasant feathers. Its armor consisted of crab shells, tightly interlocked, giving it a fiery appearance. Chicken bones formed the warrior's arms and legs, connected by bamboo skewers.
Mowen demonstrated the warrior's large crab pincer arm, which easily snapped a bamboo skewer. He handed it to the child, whose tears quickly turned to wonder and delight.
He tightly grasped the mech warrior, forgetting his earlier unhappiness, and focused on admiring the amazing toy.
"Oh, it's so dirty and dangerous! The toy could poke an eye out! I'm telling you, you can't take it home!" the child's mother replaced the child and started making all sorts of noise.
The big monk, annoyed, rubbed his ears, but admired Mowen's incredible skills and couldn't help but be interested. He gave Mowen a thumbs up,"Brother, you're amazing! Your hands are really skilled! I didn't realize you also knew the art of mechanisms!"
"Does this count as mechanism art?" Mowen was a little flattered.
"I once encountered a wandering novice in mechanism art, but his skills were not even one-tenth as good as yours. Little brother, what other skills do you have?"
Mowen was a bit bored and flattered, so he casually boasted,"Do you count Taoist palm thunder?"
When the big monk heard Mowen claim to know Taoist techniques, he became even more interested."Oh,little brother, are you also in the same field? It's rare to find someone who knows such things. Can you demonstrate?"
Mowen, fueled by alcohol, recalled the mantra for palm thunder that his father taught him while drunk when he was a child. He mumbled the mantra, forming a sword gesture with his fingers, and finally shouted,"By the decree of the great sage, go!"
The bald monk listened to the strange chant with his mouth open. Then, he watched Mowen's sword point towards the dark night sky.
After 10 seconds,20 seconds, 30 seconds, a minute or more, the night sky remained silent.
A cold wind blew through, making the scene a bit awkward.
"Little brother, are you kidding me?" the monk asked.
Mowen smiled awkwardly, knowing that he certainly couldn't do it and had never succeeded before. If Taoist magic could be mastered so easily, there would be immortals everywhere.
He always thought his father's mantra was made up to trick children while drunk.
He retracted his finger awkwardly,"I'm a bit tired today, not in the right state."
The big monk was taken aback, then burst into laughter,"You scared me! I thought you really knew Taoist magic.
You young people are quite cheeky, but I like it!"
Over 500 miles away from this location, in the pitch-black night sky where Mowen had pointed, a flash of lightning appeared, followed by a muffled roll of thunder, but it was too far away for anyone to notice.
The big monk introduced himself to Mowen with a smile.'Let's be friends. I'm Yan Chiya.'
'Red Raven?' Mowen asked, noting the meaning of 'Chiya' in another language.
'They all call me that. What's your name?'
'Mowen, like Mozart,' he replied.
Curious, Red Raven questioned Mowen about martial arts and Taoist techniques. Mowen's honest responses revealed he lacked such skills.
'What do you do?' Red Raven asked.
'Delivery,' Mowen responded, puzzled by the line of questioning.
Red Raven pressed further, asking about Mowen's plans and personal life.
'No money, no house, no car, no time,' Mowen said, taking a gulp of beer.'Who would want to waste time with me?'"
Red Raven habitually interjected,"Then you should see if you have sincerity. You need to pray for the Buddha's blessing!"
Mowen sighed, thinking that this fake monk had circled back to the topic at hand. He then replied with a hint of sarcasm,"Master, you'd better save time and just sell me a bracelet that's been blessed."
"Oh, how did you know?"Red Raven rolled up his sleeve, revealing a thick arm covered in jade Buddha pendants and Buddhist bead bracelets. These were given to him by his fellow monks each time he went out.
"Look, look, these are all blessed by the abbot at last month's ceremony. I'm the only one who could get so many. You can't buy them even if you want to."
"Good man, seeing you're fated with Buddha, I'll give you a deal. Choose one, and I'll give you a discount."
"Fated? You have a round Buddha's head, but my father says my head has been flat since I was a child. Don't fool me with these stones."
"Hey, take a closer look. This jade is so transparent, and the carvings are made by master craftsmen invited by the temple, not to mention the abbot's blessing."
The monk attempted to give a friendly smile, like one seen in pictures of Buddha, as he asked, "And besides, do I look like someone who would cheat you out of money?" However, he failed to notice Mowen nodding in agreement to his question.
"These Buddha jade have been blessed. Given your recent lack of fortune, wealth, and love life, you definitely need the strong protection of the Buddha. Take one home and wear it morning and night; it'll ensure all your wishes come true."
Mowen had been scammed too many times since coming to the big city, but he did want to improve his luck.
"How much does the Buddha image cost?" he asked.
The bald man smiled mysteriously, "Hey, good man, let's not talk about money. Money is vulgar."
"These are special jade Buddha images, and jade can't be measured by money. I could say they're worth tens of thousands, or that they're worthless. Jade nourishes the body when worn."
"Today, you seem to have a connection with Buddha. We only talk about fate; just 100 dollars, and you can take it home."
Mowen thought about it; the price he saw at the tourist shop last time was 1,000 dollars, so the monk's offer was quite reasonable.
Then he hesitated and said, "Master, 100 dollars is a bit expensive," as he pointed to a smaller Buddha amulet on the side, "Can I have half of the fate?"