This is a strange era when metaphysics is prosperous but people's hearts are not ancient. In the market, there are more fortune-telling stalls than vegetable sellers. In a wealthy mansion, it is more respectable to have several "masters" than to have several concubines. Feng shui and fortune-telling, these ancient skills have lost their mysterious cloak and become means of livelihood with clearly marked prices, or sharp daggers for intrigues. Everyone wants to peep into the secrets of heaven and change their destiny, but few people care about what kind of karma is entangled behind the threads of destiny. Here, "skills" are the hard currency in circulation, while "virtue" has become a profound thing that many people praise with their mouths but ridicule in their hearts.
However, in this land soaked in utilitarian metaphysics, there is another hidden river of law flowing - merit. It is not an illusory preaching, but something almost substantial. It is said that those who have great merit and virtue will have a golden light protecting their bodies above their heads, which can turn bad luck into good luck and prevent all evil spirits from invading them. It's just that this golden light cannot be seen or touched by ordinary people. Only a very small number of people with extraordinary talents or who are on the verge of a certain limit can see it. It is like a silent shackle, binding the bearer to do good deeds and accumulate merit, because once the merit is exhausted, the backlash is imminent, ranging from the decline of luck to the loss of life. Therefore, "building one's life by virtue" has become a more difficult but also more solid path, which is incompatible with the noisy "making a living by skills", like two sides of light and shadow.
