The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

“And so, there’s only one explanation possible. Fangzheng used some kind of supernatural means to save Second Brother, but he doesn’t want people to know of it!

“Although I’ve always been a man of science, but these matters happening one after another are just too incredible. I have no choice but to believe it! My teacher once said that if you list down all the possibilities and eliminate them to the last one, the final possibility that remains will irrefutably be the closest to reality, no matter what it is!”

Song Xianhe drew a cold gasp and looked at his two brothers before continuing. “I previously found Fangzheng’s gaze a bit off already. It was as though he was waiting for something. I didn’t know what he was waiting for before, but I think I finally understand now!”

“Brother, what was he waiting for?” Song Xiancheng hurriedly asked.

Song Xianhe shook his head and looked up at Mt. One Finger. “I’m not sure yet. I’ll tell you when I’ve confirmed it. In short, this Abbot Fangzheng isn’t an ordinary person. If we meet him again, make sure to behave.”

The two brothers hurriedly nodded.

In the time that followed, the three brothers sat there chatting, talking about their childhood… They got pretty hyped chatting about the past, feeling wistful for the past.

The three didn’t realize that beside them, Song Yuan’s eyelashes trembled a little… Finally, a teardrop silently rolled down his cheeks.

Just as the sky brightened the next day, the three brothers didn’t speak further. They gathered around Song Yuan’s bed, surrounding him as they looked at him with curious and hopeful looks. They were hoping that Song Yuan would open his eyes.

Second after second passed as the three became increasingly nervous.

A few minutes later, Song Xiancheng couldn’t take it any longer as he cursed. “F**k, why do I feel like we were fooled by Fangzheng? Did he really cure Dad of his condition? F**k, I’m about to blow up waiting…”

Song Xianhe said, “Brother, show some respect to Master! He wasn’t obligated to treat Dad. Since he has helped, regardless of the outcome, we are indebted to him. Have you forgotten how we should treat people we are indebted to?”

When Song Xiancheng heard that question, he subconsciously answered, “Repay the favor even at the expense of our lives!”

“Then…” Song Xianhe was just about to say something when Song Xianshu suddenly roared. “Dad is moving!”

Almost at the same instant, Song Xianhe and Song Xiancheng turned their heads to look at Song Yuan. Indeed, his eyelashes were moving, and he was slowly opening his eyes.

At that instant, Song Xianhe smiled as Song Xianshu cried. Song Xiancheng plopped straight to his knees! He was kneeling in the direction of Mt. One Finger as he kowtowed three times, yelling, “Abbot Fangzheng, I’m an a**hole, a bastard, I’m not educated, and I know nothing. Please do not blame me for any transgressions. I’ll send you some incense money in a while! Uh, my money seems unclean…”

As the brothers looked at Third Brother’s crazy look, they shook their heads in laughter and couldn’t be bothered with him. They hurriedly came to Song Yuan’s side and helped him wipe his face and asked about his condition.

Instantly, the three infamous fellows were like different people. They were like obedient and model children.

As he watched this scene, Song Yuan didn’t show any signs of joy. Instead, he waved his hand to beckon Song Xianhe to help him sit up on the bedhead.

The three brothers knew Song Yuan very well. Once they saw his unhappy look, they were like children who had done something naughty. They were feeling panic and unease.

Song Xianhe came over and asked, “Dad, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you happy after waking up?”

Song Yuan looked at Song Xianhe and his two brothers before raising his hand and slowly slapping him in the face. There was little strength in it, and it was very slow.

However, Song Xianhe didn’t dodge it. All he did was wait. After being slapped, he wore a blank look, unsure why Song Yuan had slapped him.

Following that, Song Yuan raised his hand and slapped himself! Although this slap’s strength was incomparable to a normal slap, it was very loud. Clearly, he had used all his strength!

Upon seeing this scene, the Song brother turned anxious as two of them hurriedly cried out. “Dad! What are you doing?”

Song Xianhe hadn’t shouted, but a look of serious puzzlement flashed in his eyes before he formed a guess. Finally, he was certain of it as he lowered his head and said to Song Yuan, “Dad, are you aware of what we’ve done?”

Song Yuan nodded slightly and sighed. With great difficulty, he said, “I don’t know how to be philosophical, but I know one thing. The children of my Song family wouldn’t commit any actions that were against reason and nature regardless of their situation.”

Upon hearing that, the three brothers felt their hearts skip a beat. Actions that were against reason and nature? Had they committed them? Of course they had!

Song Xiancheng said in a disapproving tone, “Dad, Xianhe already said that we were robbing the rich to help the poor. We only got the money from bad people, giving poor people like us a better life. Was that wrong?”

Song Yuan shook his head and asked, “How were they bad people?”

“Dad, you have no idea. They employed unscrupulous merchants, with none of them being clean. They kept their employees’ wages low, and we used all sorts of means to squeeze the money out of them. What’s wrong about that? Wasn’t what we did the same as the heroic banditry of ancient times?” Song Xianshu said.

Song Yuan grunted as he questioned, “So you forced their entire family into a corner, to the point of them jumping off a building?”

Upon being questioned, Song Xianshu fell silent. Their schemes for money could be explained, but to corner your victims to their deaths couldn’t be considered your typical heroic banditry.

Song Xianhe sighed. “Dad, you are right. Actually, we have been thinking about the past in recent years. We were wondering if we had done right or wrong. In the beginning, we did it for survival and did unscrupulous things like stealing, acting as beggars, and even robbing other thieves and criminals to survive. But when we had the money—enough for us to survive—we continued working in the same trade to earn more money. We designed greater ploys and greater ‘coincidences’, treating people as prey. Finally, we caused their families to collapse, and we even caused death… We were already wrong when we did that.”

When Song Xianshu heard that, he panicked as he tried to explain their actions. “Brother, it wasn’t our fault. We needed more money! Without money, how could we have set up the orphanage?”

“Orphanage?” Song Yuan was stunned as he asked.

Song Xiancheng suddenly seemed to turn smart at that moment. He hurriedly said as though he was presenting a treasure, “That’s right. Dad, if we hadn’t been picked up by you, we would have long died. How could we have lead proper lives like now? After we had enough money, we decided to establish an orphanage, providing more orphans with a home just like you did for us. Who knew that an orphanage would be so expensive? The little brats are like wolves with their huge appetites. The meals and money they need every day is tremendous. Back then, we didn’t have more means to earn money, and we hadn’t received the money we’d invested yet, so without a choice, we continued working in the same line. After all, it was easy money…”