The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Fangzheng pressed his palms together and smiled. “I see it.”

“Now that you’ve seen it, scram!” the man berated.

Fangzheng continued smiling. “Well, you don’t have the right to get anyone to scram. Neither does This Penniless Monk. It has to be said by these two patrons.”

“Uh?” The man nearly subconsciously nodded when he realized something wasn’t right. He glared and said, “What do you mean?”

Fangzheng ignored him and said to the two security personnel members. “Patrons, This Penniless Monk did indeed have an invitation letter, but This Penniless Monk never expected this patron would bring it all the way here. Please take a look and confirm it.”

The two security personnel members were originally just standing by the side, watching. But the farce had ended up reaching them. They immediately felt a little pissed. Although the people backing them were extremely powerful, Nguyen Thiên Tinh wasn’t someone they could afford to offend! And the people who were targeted by Nguyen definitely weren’t some nobodies. Therefore, they had no intention of being embroiled in the matter, wishing to only watch the fallout in silence.

However, this darn monk pulled them right back in, making them feel extremely depressed.

But the two were even more perplexed about Fangzheng’s words. Nguyen was there to find fault with him, so how could he have traveled so far to deliver his invitation letter? How was that possible?

Not only were they in doubt, everyone else was in doubt as well!

Hence, all the reporters leaned close. Nguyen Thiên Tinh swept his gaze over with a frown as Ong’s heart palpitated. He seemed to realize something as he looked over in delight.

Everyone let out an exclamation!

“How is this possible?”

Nguyen Thiên Tinh was left dumbfounded. The invitation letter with his name had been changed to Fangzheng’s name!

Nguyen Thiên Tinh kept rubbing his eyes and even tried rubbing the words on the invitation letter. They weren’t removable. They hadn’t been written recently either. And there were no marks of any alterations having been made.

At that instant, Nguyen Thiên Tinh’s head buzzed as if it was about to blow up. How had his invitation letter suddenly become Fangzheng’s? How was that possible? Could it be that his subordinate had colluded with Fangzheng to embarrass him?

But his subordinates had no idea what he wanted to do!

The more he thought about it, the more confused he was. However, he still glared at his subordinate. In turn, the latter knelt down in fright, crying out. “Boss, I really don’t know what’s happening! This invitation letter never left my hands!”

“Scram!” Nguyen Thiên Tinh said the word through clenched teeth.

The man who had ordered Fangzheng to scram scrambled away as though he would incur the wrath of Nguyen Thiên Tinh if he were even a moment slower.

At this moment, Fangzheng shouted at the man. “Slow down. There’s a slope up ahead. It’s very easy to trip if you scram too quickly!”

Everyone thought that the monk was just pleading on behalf of the subordinate out of benevolence, but when they heard his words, they were dumbfounded. Only the Chinese reporters grinned and laughed.

“Haha, as expected of Master Indecent. Indeed, the way his mind works is completely different from the typical master’s. Haha!”

“Haha, I heard someone say something that the Chinese are wimps? Tsk, thankfully, at least you Vietnamese aren’t wimps. The way he scrammed sure was elegant.”

By the side, the Vietnamese reporter who had said too much before immediately blushed, but he was at a loss for words. All he could do was bow his head and pretend he hadn’t heard that. However, his red face was enough to say everything.

“Monk, was this done by you?” Nguyen Thiên Tinh was close to flaring up, but he didn’t show it on the outside. Instead, he asked Fangzheng with a straight face.

Fangzheng spread his hands and said, “Patron, This Penniless Monk didn’t move a finger the entire time. Why do you make such a claim? Instead, This Penniless Monk even gave you a heads up that you didn’t bring your invitation letter. And look, you really didn’t bring it! If it wasn’t because of This Penniless Monk reminding you, wouldn’t it be terrible if some impolite brat came up to you and mocked you? Luckily, now that you know ahead of time, you can head home to get your invitation letter.”

With Fangzheng saying that, it was equivalent to throwing whatever Nguyen Thiên Tinh had said to him right back at him and indirectly giving him a scolding.

Nguyen Thiên Tinh’s expression was ugly as he furiously looked at Fangzheng. As for Fangzheng, he was like the starry skies, completely unfazed.

“Good, very good…” Nguyen Thiên Tinh scoffed before saying to the two security personnel members, “If I recall correctly, proper attire is required for entry?”

“Yes,” they replied.

Nguyen Thiên Tinh glanced at Fangzheng and said, “Venerable One, where’s your kasaya?”

Ong’s heart tightened as he hurriedly looked at Fangzheng.

Fangzheng smiled. “Patron, thank you for your concern.” With that said, Fangzheng swiped across his black cloth bag. Salted Fish took out the kasaya from his Meru scales and handed it to Fangzheng. However, it appeared like magic to others. With a swipe, he had a kasaya in hand!

Then, Fangzheng wore it right there and then and said with a smile, “Patron, are there any other problems?”

“That’s your kasaya?” When Nguyen Thiên Tinh saw the patched kasaya, he was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

Fangzheng returned with a question. “It’s only a kasaya. Have you never seen one before?”

“I’ve never seen one this tattered before!” Nguyen Thiên Tinh scoffed.

Fangzheng thought nothing of it. “A kasaya is like a human. The beauty is not on the outside but on the inside. If one’s heart is rotten, it doesn’t matter how beautiful one is on the outside. One will still be no different from a pile of sh*t from the latrine.”

The moment that was said, Nguyen Thiên Tinh’s expression changed. This was another veiled mockery! However, he couldn’t flare up; wouldn’t imply that he had read into it?

After saying that, Fangzheng said to the two security personnel members, “Can This Penniless Monk enter now?”

The two personnel members took a step back helplessly and were just about to say “Please,” when a man behind Nguyen Thiên Tinh sneered. “Improper attire includes the decency of the attire. Do you really think this is a beggar’s summit, to enter with such tattered clothes?”

The moment that was said, the security personnel members’ expressions changed.

Even Nguyen Thiên Tinh’s expression changed!

The reporters exclaimed as they looked at the man behind Nguyen Thiên Tinh like he was a retard.

That person was stunned, lost as to what he had said wrong.

Fangzheng, who kept wearing a warm smile, immediately frowned as he held his head high and chest out! He pressed his palms together and shouted. “What audacity! Do you not know that Buddhism is the cultivation of one’s spirit and mind, and not the cultivation of one’s clothing? Kasayas are meant to be clothes with coloration, so that they remind monks not to pursue materialism. A tattered kasaya is not a sign of disrespect to Buddha, but precisely a sign of respect! There is no such thing as a good or bad kasaya, nor is there any distinction between lowliness and nobleness. This is what everyone knows! By saying that, aren’t you calling all the monks present beggars!?”