A group of hip-hop guys walked toward us, their faces grim; it was clear they were there because of the mudslide.

I couldn't figure out how the hip-hop guy, with that annoyingly abrasive personality, had managed to persuade the others to side with him. Perhaps these people were in such a rush they couldn't afford to wait overnight.

Sure enough, a middle-aged woman with an angry expression spoke in a heavily accented Yunnan Mandarin: "My mother is critically ill. I need to rush back to see her one last time; I have no time to waste here. I don't know what her condition is now. If I get back and she has already passed away, I swear I will not let you swindlers off the hook."

Another dark-skinned young man chimed in, "I'm going back for business. I have a meeting with a client at ten. Can you all afford the responsibility for a deal worth hundreds of thousands?"

Faced with their deliberate badgering, No. 2 glanced at the sky and said nothing.

I looked up too and noticed the rain had indeed lessened considerably, greatly reducing the likelihood of a mudslide. But I had witnessed firsthand how accurate No. 2's prophecies were, so I remained completely convinced by his words.

However, the people ahead of us did not possess my firm resolve. Seeing No. 2 remain silent, they assumed the charlatan's true colors were showing and became even more aggressive in their accusations.

The hip-hop guy saw this situation and let out a theatrical sigh, though his eyes were filled with triumph, his face set in a sinister smirk.

Hearing their words grow increasingly vicious, I prepared to intervene.

But No. 2 raised a hand to stop me, saying, "Each person has their own fate. Too much heavenly secret has been revealed today. Let them be, Amitabha."

"You bald fraud, still pretending to be a high monk, you damned liar! Let's see what you do now!" The hip-hop guy finally spat out his sarcasm.

No. 2 looked up at him and replied, "Young man, I see you are not inherently evil, just prone to stirring up trouble. So, allow me a word of caution. I see your Tianting is dim, and there are dark threads beneath your eyelids. Today, you are fated to face a calamity of death. Please watch your words and deeds, lest it come to pass."

The hip-hop guy's face instantly darkened. "Damn it, you filthy monk, you dare curse me? I bet your bones itch for a beating today!"

With that, he raised a fist to strike No. 2, but neither of us would allow that. We swiftly moved to stand in front of No. 2, one on each side.

Seeing our unfriendly expressions, the hip-hop guy froze his fist in mid-air and declared resentfully, "Fine! Today, you have the numbers on your side. We'll see about this!"

I thought, You idiot, we aren't protecting No. 2; we're protecting you.

Given No. 2's skill, his fist wouldn't even reach the hip-hop guy's face before his own hand would be broken.

The hip-hop guy then turned and led the others back to their car.

We then heard noisy arguments erupting from inside the vehicle.

It sounded like the hip-hop guy and the others were threatening the driver, saying they’d file a complaint if he didn't start moving.

Sure enough, after a short while, we saw the car's headlights illuminate and the engine roar to life.

Seeing this, No. 2 sighed and said, "Amitabha. Some people are destined for this tribulation; avoiding it is useless. Let him go!"

Just as the car was about to pull away, the hip-hop guy suddenly got out again.

He ran toward the edge of the cliff, shouting, "Wait, I need to take a quick leak, be right back."

As he ran toward the precipice, a bad premonition washed over me. I looked toward No. 2, only to find he had closed his eyes.

I knew something was terribly wrong. Suddenly, a strange, chuckling sound came from behind us.

I turned and saw the statue in the grotto, reflecting a faint red glow under the car's taillights, appearing deeply eerie.

That strange hehehe laughter was emanating from the grotto as well, sending shivers down the spine.

What was happening? Had that 'Immortal in Stone' come alive? A strange thought suddenly surfaced in my mind.

At that moment, a stream of blood-red something began oozing constantly from the base of the grotto, making the statue appear even more monstrous.

I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I was hallucinating again.

I patted my clothes pocket—the Shen wasn't there. Then I remembered: before we left, I had put the Shen into a bottle back home; it was currently in my luggage.

Since the Shen wasn't on me, I couldn't be hallucinating. But how could blood be flowing from beneath a stone statue?

Just as I was thinking this, a massive, rumbling sound echoed from the mountain above us, as if countless stones were rolling down.

"Hey! Watch out!" I yelled towards the hip-hop kid who was unbuckling his belt near the cliff edge.

Our position was safe from falling rocks because we were in a concave section of the mountain. The hip-hop kid, however, was directly within the stone projectiles' trajectory.

But my warning seemed too late, because I saw the hip-hop kid turn back and stare blankly upward, his face turning deathly pale with terror.

Barely a second later, I saw a boulder, nearly as large as our bus, tumble down from the mountaintop, hurtling toward the hip-hop kid's head with overwhelming force.

The mudslide, the mountain hollow, the impending disaster of blood—No. 2's fragmented words flashed through my mind. Everything he said had indeed come true.

Just as No. 2 had said, this hip-hop guy wasn't an evil person, merely someone who loved to stir up trouble.

Therefore, a person like that shouldn't have to pay the price with such a tragic death.

The moment this thought crossed my mind, my first instinct was to use my telekinesis to save him.

But when I tried to activate my power, I realized the sheer weight of that giant rock exceeded ten tons, and factoring in the acceleration of the fall, it was beyond my control.

So, in that instant, all I could do was slightly slow the rock's descent, extending a process that should have taken one-tenth of a second to nearly a full second.

But even that wasn't enough to save the hip-hop kid.

Just as I strained with all my might, unable to control the stone, I suddenly saw a dark silhouette appear next to the hip-hop kid.

With blinding speed, the figure grabbed the kid by the collar and yanked him back two or three meters.

Almost simultaneously, the stone struck the road with a tremendous boom, smashing through the surface. The ground we stood on shook violently, causing everyone to lose balance and fall, while dust and debris flew everywhere, leaving countless fissures on the road.

The massive rock then rumbled loudly as it rolled down the mountainside.

Since smaller stones were still falling, the dark figure continued to drag the hip-hop kid, limp as a sack of potatoes, backward until they reached the cover of a rock outcropping, only then releasing his collar.

I focused my gaze and saw that the silhouette was indeed No. 2. He had risked being crushed to save the kid's life just now; it seemed he wasn't as stubborn as I had imagined.

At that moment, seeing his clasped hands and turned back, I envisioned the figures of two Bodhisattvas.

One, Guanyin, saving the world from suffering; the other, Ksitigarbha, embodying the vow: "If I do not enter hell, who will?"

It seemed that the Buddhist teachings, centered on compassion and the duty of saving suffering beings, were truly the guiding principles for ascetics.

Even if this monk was the type to devour spicy hotpot and drink coffee, his core beliefs remained unshaken.

That suffocating moment had stunned everyone into silence. Although stones were still raining down, all eyes were fixed on that solitary, clasped-hands silhouette.

This wasn't a minor mudslide. The radio broadcast in the car reported that along the eighty kilometers ahead of us, there were multiple mudslides, several sections of highway washed away, and over a dozen vehicles lost.

This meant that two hours earlier, at our current speed, we would have certainly encountered the mudslides and very likely been swept over the cliff edge.

Thus, every single one of No. 2's prophecies had been proven correct, forcing the crowd to believe he was an incarnation of the Buddha.

After about ten seconds, the hip-hop kid finally snapped out of his shock, letting out a loud sob. He stammered through his tears, "I... I wet myself! Master, Master, thank you so much! You saved me! I'm so sorry, truly sorry. I was foolish and deserved to die!"

He paused, then cried out again, "No, I shouldn't die! I don't want to die, Master... thank you!"

No. 2 looked somewhat helpless as the young man tearfully clung to his leg, especially since the kid had soiled himself. If a bit of that smeared onto his handsome trench coat, it would be revolting!

So, he pressed his palms together and said, "Amitabha. Could you please let go of my leg? There is no danger now. Besides, it wasn't me who saved you; it was someone else. You don't need to thank me."

I knew he meant me, because if I hadn't slowed the stone's fall, even with his incredible skills, he wouldn't have been able to save the hip-hop kid.

At that point, the others nearby seemed to recover. They immediately surrounded No. 2, offering cigarettes, water, and two children even produced half-eaten pieces of bread.

They praised No. 2 as the Buddha reincarnated, continuously thanking and flattering him until he was completely surrounded.

I thought being a hero must be wonderful; No. 2 was so cool.

Recalling No. 2's earlier demeanor as a dignified high monk, I expected him to smile and refuse all the wine and cigarettes.

But at that moment, his true nature was revealed. He cheerfully accepted the drinks and cigarettes, saying, "No trouble, no trouble. This poor monk was just incidentally helping you resolve this predicament."

Finally, he picked up the bread one of the children had bitten and took a bite. "This isn't the cream-filled kind," he said, handing it back to the child.

I was utterly speechless, a mixture of amusement and exasperation, standing to the side, thinking that one thing in the world never changes: a goofball will always be a goofball!

After watching for a while and feeling that I wasn't needed anymore, I remembered the strange happenings with the statue in the grotto earlier and decided to go investigate what was going on there.

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