The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

As the saying went, the poor feared the unreasonable, while the unreasonable feared the crazy! Although Bao Yuqing was a man, he was shocked when he saw Qiu Baihong storming towards him with chopping knife in hand. He immediately ran away!

The other two didn’t dare stop her either as they quickly made way.

Hence, Bao Yuqing ran ahead as he yelled, “Help! Qiu Baihong wants to murder me!”

Qiu Baihong yelled behind him, “You f**king bastard. Don’t run if you have what it takes! I’ll dice you into pieces today!”

“Master, are we still going to watch? I think someone’s about to die,” Red Boy said, worried.

Fangzheng said lightly, “If a death could happen with the both of us present, we might as well just kill ourselves.”

“Uh…” Red Boy was rendered speechless.

Although Qiu Baihong was chasing after Bao Yuqing, it was the middle of winter. The ground was covered in ice and snow, making it slippery, causing Qiu Baihong to slip, and the knife flew out of her hand as she did. With a thud, it landed on the snow beside Bao Yuqing.

Bao Yuqing was truly frightened out of his wits, thinking, “That’s a freaking flying dagger! She really wants me dead!”

Bao Yuqing cried out subconsciously. “Qiu Baihong wants to murder me!” However, Bao Yuqing fell to the ground shortly after he took a few more steps in his haste.

Qiu Baihong chased up to him, pulled out the chopping knife, and cleaved down. However, anyone could tell that Qiu Baihong’s cleave was aimed a distance away. It was impossible for her to harm anyone. It was just a threatening move.

Almost at the same time, there was an angry bellow from the side. “You dare beat my father?”

“Baihong, careful!” Another voice sounded simultaneously.

Qiu Baihong turned around and saw a man rushing over with a prong. His face was flushed red, and he was clearly in a state of ignoring everything due to rage. At the same time, Eighth Qiu had run over out of nowhere, and he put himself between Qiu Baihong and the man.

Upon seeing this scene, everyone tensed up. Some screamed, some shouted for them to stop, while others tried to help… It was utter chaos!

Red Boy looked up at Fangzheng only to see him standing there unperturbed. He was just short of taking out melon seeds or popcorn to chew on with a can of soda to go with it. Upon seeing Red Boy look over, he said indifferently, “Continue watching.”

Just as Eighth Qiu was about to be hit by the tip of the prong, Fangzheng’s eyes flashed as he conjured A Golden Millet Dream!

He pulled Qiu Baihong into a dream the next moment.

Why an instantaneous dream seemed to take the entire night is a question many people have considered before. Yet indeed people said that one instant was enough for an entire night’s worth of dreams to happen.

An instant could be a millennium in an unending dream.

A dream was a mere thought, and how fast can a thought be? One thought could create an entire world, producing countless stories…

At that very moment, Fangzheng pulled Qiu Baihong into an instantaneous dream of a thousand years!

“Wah!”

There was a child’s cry.

Qiu Baihong found her surroundings so freezing cold it struck her with despair, and she didn’t have any strength to move. As it became colder, she felt as though she might die at any moment, and horror spread through her heart.

Just as Qiu Baihong was on the brink of despair, a somehow familiar yet at the same time unfamiliar face appeared.

The familiar looks, the unfamiliar age, the familiar warmth, the unfamiliar black hair…

A pair of warm arms lowered and carried Qiu Baihong as the person whispered. “Coo… Child, don’t cry… I wonder which a**hole abandoned this child after giving birth to her. Do they want her to freeze to death!?”

As he spoke, the man stuffed Qiu Baihong into his clothes, using his warmth to give Qiu Baihong’s first warmth in her life.

At that instant, Qiu Baihong’s mind only had one thought. What’s happening? Is this a dream? Or is this real? Why am I being picked up by him? Aren’t I his birth daughter?

The second scene.

It was the conversation between Eighth Qiu and his wife. It was the same scene as before, but now among the audience, there was the addition of a baby with an adult’s soul.

Upon hearing Eighth Qiu giving his birth daughter’s name to her, Qiu Baihong trembled as she roared. “No, that’s not right! I’m the birth daughter! You must be mistaken!”

However, her roars turned into wailing.

Qiu Baihong roared and shouted. “Let me out! This isn’t real! This isn’t true!”

“Amitabha!” At that moment, a Buddhist proclamation sounded.

Qiu Baihong subconsciously jolted as she turned her head abruptly, only to realize that her surroundings had changed once again.

High above the mountain, she found herself in a snow-filled land, but it wasn’t cold! Behind her was an average-sized monastery with a towering bodhi tree. The tree’s crown nearly covered the entire front yard as mist rose from the Heavenly Dragon Pond. There were carp swimming in the pond as well as lotus flowers blooming. Seated on one of the gigantic lotus flowers was a monk.

The monk had fair skin and handsome looks, but he didn’t look effeminate at all. Instead, he had a radiant beauty unique to men. At that moment, the monk was looking at her with a smile. His eyes were like the sun in the cold winter, giving her warmth as she subconsciously wished to become someone closer to him.

“You are… Fangzheng?” Although this scene was somewhat different from her recollections, but she was all too familiar with this monastery, scenery, and monk.

Which villager around One Finger Monastery didn’t know Fangzheng? Who didn’t understand him? Even Qiu Baihong, who wasn’t a Buddhist, knew that Fangzheng had recently become very famous. She had also visited the mountain to join in the buzz, so she immediately recognized him.

Fangzheng pressed his palms together and said, “Amitabha. It’s This Penniless Monk.”

“This… What’s happening? I was…” Qiu Baihong asked anxiously. She vaguely recalled the rumors among the villagers. Rumor had it that Abbot Fangzheng on Mt. One Finger wasn’t an ordinary person but a reincarnated Buddha with potent divine powers. Many inexplicable matters had happened around the area, but she had never believed in the rumors. Now, to suddenly see Fangzheng after those memories had been evoked out of nowhere… She subconsciously recalled the rumors, and there was both fear and reverence in the way she looked at Fangzheng.

Fangzheng smiled. “Patron, aren’t you afraid your father will be stabbed to death with a prong?”

Qiu Baihong was slightly taken aback. She thought for a moment, clenched her teeth, and shook her head. Then she asked, “I want to know why I’m here. I should be in the village. Also, was the scene I saw real or not? I know you have some powers, but you can’t warp reality and trick me!”

“A monk doesn’t lie. This Penniless Monk naturally didn’t lie to you. What you saw was the truth!”

“Impossible! Who doesn’t know I’m Qiu Baihong? Who doesn’t know that I’m the birth daughter? Who doesn’t know how my mother died?!” Qiu Baihong cried out in agitation.