He could explain away his short hair by saying he was a monk.
But Xu Lei thought, 'I'd rather die than pretend to be a monk.'
"Father, Father!"
Unexpectedly, he ran into a young girl with a basket on her back, returning from picking tea. At first, she called out joyfully and trotted toward him. But as she got closer, a look of astonishment crossed her pretty face. "Who are you?" she asked, confused. "Why are you wearing my father's clothes?"
Xu Lei was instantly mortified.
This just looked like a normal, ancient-style cloth robe.
How did this girl recognize it at a single glance?
"Amitabha Buddha. Greetings, benefactor."
Xu Lei's eyes darted around. He took off his hat and said to the girl with a serious expression, "This robe I'm wearing is indeed not my own. In truth, this poor monk received it as an alms offering!"
He hadn't wanted to impersonate a monk out of respect for the Buddhist faith.
But now he had no choice. He had to do it.
Circumstances had forced his hand. He could only pray that the Buddha's light would cover his sin.
"Oh? So you're a man of the cloth!"
Just as he expected, the halo of being a monk easily earned the girl's trust. She put her palms together and said, "Greetings, Young Master!"
"Amitabha Buddha!" Xu Lei put on an act, holding one palm up and chanting the Buddha's name.
Inside, he was thinking: 'It seems this world really is like ancient times on Earth. They speak a form of Chinese, wear ancient Han-style clothing, and even have the Buddhist Sect.'
'I just don't know if the Buddhas worshipped by the Buddhist Sect in this world are the same as the ones on Earth.'
'I was just trying my luck. I can't believe it actually worked.'
'I've successfully gained the trust of this naive girl!'
"To think, our family has such a strong connection to the Buddha. It seems my mother's constant prayers and sutra chanting really do work."
The girl continued, "Young Master, if you're thirsty or hungry, our home is nearby. If you don't mind, you can come over for a drink of water and a bowl of congee!"
Her features were quite pretty, giving her the feel of a campus belle from Earth.
But the moment she opened her mouth, the image was shattered. Her constant use of a rustic "I" made her sound completely down-to-earth.
To be honest, the girl's invitation was tempting to Xu Lei.
After all, he was in a new and unfamiliar place and really did want to find a place to stay for the night.
But the thought that he had just swiped her father's clothes quickly extinguished that idea.
"Amitabha Buddha, thank you for your kind offer, benefactor!"
So, Xu Lei put on the air of an eminent monk and said, "This poor monk accepts your sentiment. But we Monks of the Buddhist Sect are meant to temper ourselves in the mortal world and experience hardship."
The girl was filled with solemn respect upon hearing this.
As for Xu Lei, he didn't dare linger and quickly slipped away.
He made sure to stay far away from the tea-picking girl's village!
After he was out of the girl's sight, Xu Lei looked up at the sky. "Buddha, please forgive my sin," he muttered.
"I swear I will never impersonate a Buddhist Disciple to trick people again!"
After all, he'd even experienced something as impossible as transmigration.
Even though Xu Lei had been an atheist before, when it came to a Divine Buddha, he now felt it was better to believe they existed than to risk not believing.
「A few hours later.」
The sky was growing dark.
Xu Lei passed by another village.
Wearing his hat, he brazenly went up and struck up a conversation with a man who looked like a physician, who was carrying a medicine box and returning to the village. He wanted to ask if he could stay at his home for the night.
After all, a physician who traveled from village to village might be more open to strangers.
But he had barely opened his mouth before the man's wary gaze silently rejected him, forcing him to back away!
"Amitabha Buddha, benefactor!"
Seeing this, Xu Lei had no choice but to take off his hat again, revealing his short hair. "This poor monk is passing through and has nowhere to stay. I wonder if I might beg for alms? A bowl of clean water to drink?"
This time, it was a success!
"Thank you for the water, benefactor! I wonder if I might trouble you for a bowl of thin congee to fill my stomach?"
Another success!
"It's getting late, Young Master. If you have nowhere else to go and don't mind the humble accommodations, you can stay the night here."
This time, he didn't even have to ask. A passive victory!
'Thank you, Buddha!'
Xu Lei looked up at the sky. 'Um, about that "never again" thing I said earlier... I take it back. Take it back.'
"Physician Lu, quick, help! Your son is gravely injured!"
Suddenly, several people ran in, carrying a young man who was covered in blood.
"What happened?"
Physician Lu's face turned pale with shock.
He immediately began to treat him.
The situation was roughly this: Physician Lu's son had gone into the mountains to hunt, ran into a black bear, and was seriously wounded.
Xu Lei didn't crowd around, not wanting to interfere with the treatment.
He stepped out into the courtyard, intending to chat with some villagers and get a better sense of this world's basic situation.
"Damn it to hell! Don't even talk about it. Just thinking about it makes me want to beat someone up! I took a bath in the mountains today, and someone stole my damn clothes!"
Just then, a familiar, booming, angry voice rang out, "Forced me to walk out of the mountains bare-chested and get eaten alive by mosquitoes!"
Xu Lei froze and looked up.
He saw a middle-aged man talking to several burly men from the village who had come out to greet him.
Beside him was the same tea-picking girl Xu Lei had met earlier.
He didn't know if she was here to visit a friend or a relative.
"Father, that Young Master... he... he didn't seem like a thief who would steal clothes," the tea-picking girl said meekly.
But the middle-aged man glared at her. "Damn it, does a thief write 'thief' on his own face? None of those bald donkeys are any good! Only you and your mother are silly enough to believe that crap!"
The tea-picking girl lowered her head and didn't dare say another word.
'This is karma. To think I'd run into them here!'
Xu Lei quickly ducked back into Physician Lu's courtyard, wiping the sweat from his brow. 'It's true what they say... you really can't do things that weigh on your conscience!'
Xu Lei immediately wanted to leave.
After all, it was possible Physician Lu was related to that "damn it to hell" guy somehow.
If he were caught red-handed, it was hard to say what would happen.
In these rural villages, it wasn't unheard of for a thief to be beaten to death.
He might have nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine lives left, but he couldn't just squander them.
'I wonder if I could explain away stealing the clothes by saying they were tainted with sin, and that I only took them out of compassion. Would anyone believe that?'
Xu Lei wondered.
But other people weren't idiots.
Just because you claim to be an eminent monk and say stealing clothes was an act of salvation, they're supposed to believe you?
On what grounds?
'A wise man doesn't stand under a crumbling wall!'
Xu Lei's mind was clear. He decided to leave!
But just then...
"Physician Lu, how is he? How is he!" a trembling voice came from inside the house.
Physician Lu's voice was filled with grief. "He's lost too much blood! He can't be saved... he can't be saved... Prepare for the funeral. Prepare for the funeral!"
With that said, he collapsed to the ground in despair.
After all, his wife had already passed away, and this was his only son.
A man who had practiced medicine for most of his life was now unable to save his own son.
Seeing this, Xu Lei sighed. In the end, he didn't leave.
"Amitabha Buddha. His other wounds aren't fatal. It's simply a matter of excessive blood loss!"
Xu Lei walked in, examined the injuries, and said, "As long as we find someone with a matching blood type and give him a transfusion, it might be possible to save him!
Of course, it's only a possibility. Everything still depends on his own fate.
However, if you place your trust in this poor monk, I am willing to try!"
He had only transmigrated by accident while he was out on a medical rescue mission.
In the backpack that had come with him, he had tools like blood type test strips and transfusion needles!
Whether it was testing blood or transfusing it, he was perfectly capable of doing both!
Xu Lei remembered seeing this exact scenario written many times by master authors of historical web novels back on Earth.
He never thought he'd have to put it into practice himself.
He guessed he was just recycling a classic show-off move he'd read about.
Of course, it was perfectly normal to transmigrate to a new world and use methods from Earth to look cool.
Back on Earth, everyone learned from similar sources, so it was normal for their cool-guy acts to look alike.
That said, he couldn't be one hundred percent sure it would work. After all, the two worlds were different. It was possible that some of the germs were different, which might mean the patient couldn't be saved.
But no matter what, he had to try.
It could only be described as a coincidence.
It was also that Physician Lu's son was not fated to die.
If Xu Lei could save Physician Lu's son, then it wouldn't matter even if he was discovered by that "damn it to hell" guy.
By then, with the miracle of extending a life through blood transfusion as proof, his act as an eminent master of the Buddhist Sect would be more than convincing!
Just as he'd thought before, he could simply pass off the act of stealing the clothes as a good deed done to accumulate merit.
Even if the man didn't believe him, as long as Xu Lei really saved Physician Lu's son, the physician himself certainly wouldn't stand by and do nothing.
Of course, there were still some risks involved in trying to save the man!
The success rate for saving someone with a blood transfusion wasn't one hundred percent!
But with nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine lives left, Xu Lei had the confidence to take a small risk.
A human life was at stake, and besides, Physician Lu had been pretty good to him.
This prompted Xu Lei to make his decision.
As the saying goes, there are things a gentleman does, and things he does not!
And after he said this…
SWISH.
…all eyes in the room instantly gathered on Xu Lei.