piratefiction Chapter 44 Master, do you have copyright for this scripture?
Chapter 44 Master, do you have copyright for this scripture?
Chu Jiang carried the shiny black baseball bat, weighed it in his hand, and felt the cold texture of the bat reflected in the dim light.
He flashed a gleam of white teeth at the monk named Jin Chan.
"One-on-one teaching, honest and fair, guaranteed to teach and you'll learn."
The monk Jin Chan was so angry that his whole body trembled with Buddhist light, and his solemn face turned purplish-red.
"Evil and heretical! Stubborn and unyielding!"
He roared and slammed his nine-ringed staff heavily on the ground, causing the entire square to tremble.
"Since you are determined to fall into the demonic path, this humble monk will today show you the supreme supernatural powers of Buddhism!"
The monk Jin Chan stood with one hand in front of his chest and the other hand raised above his head. His robes moved without wind, and he began to chant obscure Sanskrit.
"Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon! World-Honored One Ksitigarbha! Prajna Buddhas! Prajna Paramita!"
As he chanted, a gigantic dragon shadow, formed from golden Buddhist light, gradually appeared behind him. The dragon's head was ferocious, its eyes wide open, and a destructive power began to gather in the sky above the square.
The ghosts in line were forced to stagger and retreat by this force, their faces filled with terror.
The ten Kings of Hell on the high platform also stood up, their expressions solemn. This power was already close to the full force of a Ghost King at his peak.
Chu Jiang didn't even lift an eyelid.
He merely glanced indifferently at the Golden Cicada Monk who was still chanting incantations, and uttered a single word from his thin lips.
"Certainly."
In an instant, the wind stopped and the light froze.
The golden dragon that had already taken shape froze in mid-air, like a poor-quality 3D model.
The Golden Cicada Monk maintained his posture with one hand raised high, his mouth still open, and his expression frozen in the ferocious moment before he was about to unleash his ultimate attack.
The entire venue was completely silent.
Chu Jiang, carrying a baseball bat, slowly walked up to the monk Jin Chan, reached out, and took the purple-gold alms bowl from his stiff hand.
He tossed it, and the bowl made a crisp sound.
"The quality is good, and the workmanship is quite exquisite."
Chu Jiang made a comment and then casually placed it on a table at the job fair next to him.
He took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, and then flicked the ash precisely into the purple-gold alms bowl.
The movements were fluid and natural, as if the bowl itself was born to be an ashtray.
After doing all this, he blew a smoke ring at the Golden Cicada Monk who was still frozen in place.
"Master, fighting and killing are not good. They will damage the image of our Underworld as a civilized unit in the Three Realms."
He raised his hand and waved it away, dispelling the effect of his words becoming law.
The Golden Cicada Monk regained his mobility, looked at his natal magic weapon on the table that had been used as an ashtray, and then at Chu Jiang. He almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
"You...you're using sorcery!"
"No, no, no, this isn't sorcery." Chu Jiang shook his finger. "This is called enforcing the law."
He turned around and pulled out a thick, gold-edged tome from under the table, with large, bold characters on the cover.
The Three Realms Intellectual Property Protection Law (Underworld Revised Edition) V3.0
Chu Jiang slammed the book on the table with a "thud," making the ashes in the ashtray jump.
"Master, I have a question for you. Does that 'Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon' you just recited have any copyright?"
Golden Cicada Monk: "???"
"The scriptures you're reciting, are they original works by Shakyamuni Buddha?" Chu Jiang continued to press. "Do you have his written authorization? Show me the authorization letter."
"You...you're talking nonsense!" Monk Jinchan was dumbfounded by this completely new explanation. "The Buddha's teachings are for the salvation of all sentient beings; this is a universal principle of the Three Realms. How can there be any authorization involved!"
"Oh, you're going to talk to me about principles?" Chu Jiang chuckled. "Alright, let's have a chat then."
"Since it's a free salvation for all beings, and money isn't involved, then this splendid robe of yours, was it obtained with merit points? That nine-ringed staff in your hand, was it bought with incense money? And to cultivate this golden Buddha image, you must have spent a lot of believers' offerings, right?"
Chu Jiang pointed to the ashtray, "And this alms bowl of yours, it's made of purple gold! A luxury item! You're telling me you don't care about money?"
He slammed his hand on the table, his voice sharp and stern.
"This isn't saving all sentient beings; this is unauthorized piracy and profiteering from pirated resources! Hypocritical!"
The monk Jin Chan was speechless, his face turning bright red.
"Programmer Li!" Chu Jiang shouted.
"Here, boss." Li the coder's ghostly figure appeared at just the right moment, his tablet computer lighting up.
A huge data analysis chart was projected onto the water mirror next to the courthouse.
"According to the monitoring of the 'Three Crossings Fast Crossing' big data center, in the past five hundred years, the business share of the Western religion in our underworld has been increasing year by year, and has formed a de facto monopoly."
Li, the coder, explained the charts using an emotionless AI voice.
"Initially, they seized the market with a 'free salvation' model and quickly accumulated users. In the mid-term, they launched a 'bidding ranking' service based on the amount of incense money donated by believers, which determined the priority of their salvation. Currently, their core business has a profit margin as high as 300%."
On the water mirror, there was even a backend interface similar to "Baidu bidding", which clearly displayed paid items such as "VIP reincarnation slot" and "priority salvation channel".
The evidence is conclusive and irrefutable.
The entire audience was in an uproar, and the live stream chat exploded with comments.
[Ghost A]: Holy crap! So even the amount of money you give for a ritual to help someone pass on to the afterlife matters! No wonder I prayed so many times in my past life, how come I was still reborn as a poor ghost!
[Golden Abacus]: Monopoly! This is blatant industry monopoly! It severely disrupts the market economic order of our underworld! I suggest a fine! Fine him until he's bankrupt!
Chu Jiang looked at the Golden Cicada Monk, whose face had turned from red to white, and picked up a gavel from the table.
"Upon investigation by this court, Jin Chan, an employee of the Xitian Lingshan Office in the Underworld, is suspected of multiple crimes, including copyright infringement, unfair competition, and illegal business operations, which have seriously damaged the fair and just business environment of our Underworld."
"Bang!" The gavel slammed down.
"This court hereby pronounces its verdict! The purple-gold alms bowl, used in the crime, is confiscated and will be used as the court's No. 1 ashtray. The defendant, Jin Chan, is sentenced to five hundred years of labor reform, and will be immediately escorted to the Bridge of Helplessness to wash cups at Meng Po's milk tea shop, as a warning to others!"
"I refuse to accept this!" Monk Jinchan was completely devastated. He never expected that he would be sentenced to five hundred years of hard labor for simply delivering a message.
He suddenly pulled a golden jade talisman from his pocket and crushed it violently!
"Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, save me!"
A beam of golden light shot up from the jade talisman, piercing the heavens and earth, heading straight towards the Cuiyun Palace deep in the netherworld.
Immediately afterwards, the entire sky of the underworld was dyed gold. An enormous, indescribable phantom of a Bodhisattva slowly emerged in the sky. His countenance was solemn and dignified, yet his compassionate face carried a hint of anger, and his magnificent Buddhist chants resounded throughout the netherworld.
"Who dares to touch one of my men!"
That oppressive aura far surpassed that of Yang Jian just now, causing all the ghosts and gods in front of the First Yama Palace to feel a chill in their hearts.
King Qin Guang and the others' expressions changed drastically. This was a huge problem; even Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had been alerted!
To everyone's surprise, Chu Jiang showed no sign of nervousness; instead, his eyes lit up, and he excitedly patted Li the coder on the shoulder.
"Quick! Quick! Quick! Pan the camera up! Focus on that big face!"
"Change the live stream title immediately! Change it to—'Breaking News! The mastermind behind the Western Religion openly defends his own, and the Chief Justice of the Underworld Supreme Court confronts him head-on. Is this a decline in the rule of law or a distortion of humanity?'"
Li, the programmer: "Received, boss. The 'Prize Quiz' feature has been activated. Users who guess the outcome of this standoff will share a prize pool of 10,000 merit points."
The phantom of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was about to speak a second sentence when it froze.
He saw the little ghost official below, enthusiastically directing his subordinates to adjust the angle of a water mirror, seemingly searching for the best live-streaming position.
In the instant he was stunned, an extremely subtle divine thought, like a radio wave that transcends time and space, silently entered his sea of consciousness.
"Buddha, listen to my advice, that water is too deep, you can't handle it. Get out of there quickly, or you'll lose face too."
The voice was none other than Yang Jian, who had just slunk away.
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was startled.
Even Yang Jian, the God of War of Heaven, suffered a setback and even sent a telepathic message to remind me? Just who is this lowly ghost official?
He subconsciously activated his Buddhist wisdom eye and looked at Chu Jiang, who was making the famous "like and follow" gesture in front of the camera.
Upon seeing this, his usually calm and unwavering Buddhist heart, cultivated over countless eons, trembled violently.
What he saw was exactly the same as what Yang Jian saw.
That's not a ghost general.
It was a terrifying concept walking among humans, with a karmic abyss behind him capable of devouring the three realms. Every wisp of smoke on his body was an unparalleled seal suppressing that monstrous catastrophe!
I... actually want to use Buddhist teachings to judge such a being?
The phantom of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, his compassionate face, instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
"Amitabha."
The enormous phantom of the Bodhisattva, with hands clasped together, bowed slightly in the direction of Chu Jiang.
"Fahai has violated the laws of the underworld and should be punished. This humble monk has failed in his duty of discipline; I am guilty, I am guilty."
Before the words were finished, the golden light that filled the sky and the huge phantom of the Bodhisattva vanished without a trace, like a soap bubble that had been popped, as if they had never existed.
All that remains is the echoing "Amitabha" in the netherworld.
In the square, Monk Jinchan was completely dumbfounded.
He stared blankly at the empty sky, then glanced at the Soul-Devouring Beast beside him, which was holding a work ID and baring its teeth at him.
"No... Bodhisattva... This, this is impossible..."
"Get out of here!"
The Soul-Devouring Beast didn't give him a chance to react. A huge claw grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him away like a chick.
"Boss, is the job fair still going on?" Bruch walked over and asked respectfully.
Chu Jiang flicked his cigarette ash, looking thoughtfully in the direction where the Golden Cicada Monk had been dragged away.
"Continue. By the way, notify the Ministry of Justice and have them draft a 'Provisional Measures for the Management of Copyright in the Underworld's Cultural and Entertainment Industry' overnight to reserve this position."