The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Hence, the monk and fish gathered together to play with their phone.

At the same time, all the major media outlets in Vietnam were in a complete frenzy over the hostage incident. Almost all the media outlets were covering it. At the same time, it was unknown if the Nguyen family had instructed them to do so, but all the major media outlets placed their focus on Fangzheng. In addition, their titles left no room for doubt: “Magical Chinese monk rescues hostages.”

All the credit was given to Fangzheng and Salted Fish.

The citizens in Vietnam, who had no idea who Fangzheng was, were instantly stunned. As the news flooded their media, they didn’t even have the time to question the reports and could only accept and believe them.

All the forums and blogs were discussing Fangzheng. There were even a few Vietnamese people who found lots of Chinese news regarding Fangzheng and translated and posted it.

Then, all this information was shared by various media outlets.

That night, the Red Fiend Organization wasn’t as popular as Fangzheng!

That night, Fangzheng’s name became known throughout Hanoi, and he became a celebrity in Vietnam. He even gained a Vietnamese fan club.

Although there were some doubters, they were immediately drowned by the overwhelming number of comments. That night belonged to Fangzheng. No one could talk about any other topic.

At the same time, the other countries in Southeast Asia also started to forward the news of Vietnam. However, they didn’t put as much effort into it. After all, the incident didn’t happen in their countries, and many people followed the news only because it involved terrorists. As for the claims of an accomplished monk subduing the terrorists, they only laughed in disbelief.

Who didn’t know how important Buddhism was in Vietnam? Therefore, many people treated it as a planted ad and as the gossip of tabloids.

There was praise, but there were more jibes.

Regardless, this was the first time that Fangzheng’s name became known in the Southeast Asia region. Furthermore, the moment he appeared, it left a deep impression on many people—magical monk, a monk with divine powers, Master Indecent, a fake monk, a cheat, sensationalist, and an advertisement king…

At the same time, once Fangzheng became famous, many people in China also started to pay attention to him again. One after another, they forwarded the Vietnamese news and posted it everywhere. Some media outlets also joined in the fray and reported on the matter.

Once again, Fangzheng successfully occupied the top spot of the search rankings—a delightful event. However, it wasn’t as crazy as in Vietnam itself. Even so, the news was spread by word of mouth at a rapid pace, spreading like wildfire.

“Reverend, you are about to become known as an international conman.” Salted Fish looked at the news from Vietnam News and laughed.

However, Fangzheng shook his head disapprovingly and said, “A clear conscience laughs in the face of false accusation. They can say whatever they like. Also, don’t disturb This Penniless Monk!”

“Reverend, then why have been you laughing since early this morning? What are you laughing for?” Salted Fish asked, puzzled.

Fangzheng chuckled and said, “Why do you care so much? In short, don’t disturb This Penniless Monk! Let This Penniless Monk laugh for another hour, hehe… Heh heh, hahaha!”

“It’s over, Reverend has gone mad. It looks like One Finger Monastery is doomed. Hmm… Although One Finger Monastery isn’t that great, it still has some valuable stuff. If we are going to split the estate, I need to select some of the good stuff,” Salted Fish mumbled.

Pa!

A teacup smashed onto Salted Fish’s head before shattering.

Without even turning his head, Fangzheng berated him. “If you dare spout nonsense again, you’ll lose half your rations in the future.”

“Reverend, from now on, I am a mute fish!” Salted Fish immediately called out, then he shut up and kept quiet.

Fangzheng nodded in satisfaction and continued to giggle.

He had no choice because he just couldn’t stop laughing. He had saved so many people by chance, and the Nguyen family was so awesome that they placed him on all the headlines, turning him viral overnight. Just now, he received a few notifications from the system.

“Ding! Congratulations on becoming famous throughout the country!”

“Ding! Congratulations on becoming famous throughout Vietnam!”

“Ding! I have to remind you that this time, you directly saved many people in one go and indirectly saved even more. You earned quite a lot of merit. In addition, all the good things you have done previously have kept accruing, causing your accumulated merit points to exceed 100,000 points! The amount of incense money you can use has increased by another 10%, and the reward level of your rewards has been upgraded.”

“Ding! Also, you have three chances at the draw! If you combine the chances, you can directly choose from the top rewards. Do you want to draw now?” the System asked.

Fangzheng shook his head without hesitation. “No!”

Previously, he had been trying his luck to get a kasaya. After all, it would have been awkward to not have a kasaya when he attended a major event. But things were different now. He didn’t have anything he needed urgently, so he could drag it out.

After all, he still had a fake embroidered kasaya lying under the cabinet. That green kasaya definitely couldn’t be worn in public. However, after he went back, he could still secretly wear it, allowing the multi-fold increase of his rewards to befall him! It was even better than the embroidered kasaya Fangzheng was wearing.

Therefore, he made up his mind to change kasayas before drawing.

After making up his mind and looking at the time, it was almost time for the plane to take off. Fangzheng waved his hand and boarded the plane with Salted Fish, flying straight to China.

No matter how lively Vietnam was, Fangzheng firmly believed in the saying ‘There’s no place like home.’

Therefore, the moment he stepped onto the road leading home, he smelled the fresh air in the cold wind and felt much more energized. He chuckled and said, “This is what home smells like.”

Salted Fish said disapprovingly, “This is the smell of blandness…”

Fangzheng couldn’t be bothered with him. The man and the fish walked past a group of visitors with A Golden Millet Dream and sneaked into the backyard of One Finger Monastery.

However, the moment the man and fish reached the backyard, they could smell a fragrance! The smell was a little familiar, but it was also a little different. It seemed to be Crystal Rice, but it could be something else as well.

Fangzheng looked at Salted Fish as he looked back at him. Both of them followed the fragrance and opened the back door, heading in.

Fangzheng’s eyes lit up!

The field of Crystal Rice was a swath of gold, and the golden rice straws were bent. As the northern winds blew, the paddy swayed back and forth, emitting the fragrance they previously noticed.

Fangzheng smacked his forehead and suddenly remembered that he had been growing Crystal Rice for a year. It was finally ripe!

The next moment, though, Fangzheng realized that something was amiss. Something seemed to be running around in the rice paddies!

Fangzheng patted Salted Fish’s head. Just as the man and fish were about to take a look, they saw a huge white wolf scurrying away, shouting. “Wahaha! It tastes good! This feels great! It’s all mine!”

“It’s delicious, it’s delicious! Fresh Crystal Rice is delicious even when eating it raw!” Squirrel crawled out from the fields with a small bag of Crystal Rice in his arms, calling out happily.