The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

“Mr. Chen!” County Head Qi was given a fright. Chen Fan was from Beijing after all. If something were to happen to him, it would be fatal!

If he were to fly into a rage, One Finger Monastery would suffer as well. He could not understand why Jingxin was so bold. F**k, if the sky were to collapse, he would probably be the first to be crushed to death.

However, when County Head Qi ran out to take a look, he saw Mr. Chen sitting outside One Finger Monastery in a daze.

County Head Qi ran over and asked in concern, “Mr. Chen, are you alright?”

Chen Fan’s identity was a secret, so it wasn’t appropriate for County Head Qi to call him by his official title. He had no choice but to address him as mister.

However, what surprised County Head Qi the most was that Chen Fan, who had been thrown out, wasn’t angry. Instead, he gave himself two slaps and said, “Sigh, I should have known! I actually tried to bribe a young monk… This fall was good! It woke me up!”

With that, Chen Fan stood up and left.

County Head Qi hurriedly chased after him and said, “Mr. Chen, Abbot Fangzheng is young and energetic. Venerable Jingxin is still a child…”

Chen Fan said with a bitter smile, “County Head Qi, I know you’re protecting them, but do you think I have the right to be angry over this matter? My mission failed not because of them, but because of me. I have to return to brief my superiors. I hope it won’t be too tragic.”

When County Head Qi heard that, he immediately heaved a sigh of relief. It wasn’t easy for Songwu County to produce an impressive person. He didn’t want to die so soon.

Wang Yougui didn’t say a word because he always felt that he was on Fangzheng’s side. It was impossible for him to help Chen Fan scam Fangzheng.

However, after hearing what Chen Fan said, he suddenly felt that Chen Fan was a good official. If he was punished because of this, it would be too much.

Hence, Wang Yougui asked, “Mr. Chen, what exactly do you want Fangzheng to do?”

Chen Fan shook his head with a bitter smile. “I can’t say, I can’t say…”

With that, Chen Fan left.

Fangzheng originally imagined that the higher-ups would continue to send people to harass him, but after a few days, he realized that he was overthinking things. County Head Qi went back and continued working hard. Wang Yougui organized people to take care of tourists every day, and at the same time forbade anyone from raising prices. One Finger Monastery’s disciples were busy with their own matters every day, so Fangzheng suddenly felt free.

Feeling bored to death, he sat in the backyard and looked up into the sky. Fangzheng sighed again. “The monastery is still small. If it wasn’t so small, I could just wander inside when it’s inconvenient for me to head out. Sigh.”

Finally, Fangzheng yawned. In his boredom, an idea came to him as he summoned Red Boy.

“Master, what’s up?” asked Red Boy.

Fangzheng chuckled. “Nothing much. Seeing how tired you are, you can take a rest. I’ll help you take care of the temple.”

Red Boy was taken aback. Fangzheng wanted to help him take care of the temple? How?

Just as he was feeling puzzled, Fangzheng cast A Golden Millet Dream. The next moment, he turned into Red Boy, smiled, and walked out.

Red Boy grinned and shook his head. “I see. It’s rare for me to be free. I’ll go online or sleep then.”

Ignoring what Red Boy was doing in the backyard, Fangzheng glanced at Salted Fish sitting on the offering table. People had thrown so much money at him that even his head was littered with it. Fangzheng sat in front of Salted Fish with a small table in front of him and a teapot on it. The tea was Ancient Tree Tea from deep in the mountains. It was a gift from Ji Han. Fangzheng wasn’t the type of person who left the good stuff for visitors, so he finished it himself.

There was a praying mat on the floor, and he just sat there.

As he sipped his tea and watched the visitors come and go, from time to time, he would hear the whispers of people. Fangzheng felt that such a life was more interesting.

Just as Fangzheng squinted his eyes and drank tea, engrossed in a story he was listening to, his vision suddenly darkened. A figure appeared!

This person was very tall, and he looked like a small mountain!

Fangzheng was taken aback as he looked up and saw a burly man sitting opposite him. He had a buzz cut, and he had a tiny beard. The skin around his eyes was so fat that it formed a tiny crack. Sitting there, it was as though there was one word written on his head—joker!

However, Fangzheng did not laugh. Instead, he pressed his palms together and bowed to the man. “Amitabha. Patron, is there something?”

“Little Monk, it’s said that your One Finger Monastery’s monks are well-versed in the Buddhist Dharma. Can you help me resolve my doubts?” asked the burly man.

Fangzheng nodded. “This Penniless Monk is lacking in knowledge. If you don’t mind, you can ask. However, if This Penniless Monk can’t answer, don’t blame This Penniless Monk.”

When the burly man heard that, he immediately laughed. “You sure are honest. Alright, I’ll ask.”

Fangzheng smiled with a nod.

The burly man’s smile gradually faded as he asked, “Little… Hmm… Master, actually, I don’t believe in Buddha. I came here accompanying my friend. He has gone inside to burn incense, and I have nothing to do. I came over curiously after seeing you sitting here drinking tea. I also thought of asking you some questions, so please don’t be offended.”

Fangzheng never expected that although the man looked comical, he would be such a nice person. He didn’t act or posture. He was rational and polite.

Hence, Fangzheng nodded. “Patron, feel free to ask.”

The burly man said, “Actually, there’s something I’ve never understood. Buddhism says that good people have to go through 81 tribulations before they can become a Buddha, so why do bad people just need to repent to become a Buddha? If that’s the case, isn’t the Buddha too biased towards evil people? If that’s the case, wouldn’t becoming a Buddha be much easier being a bad person first and then repenting? Wouldn’t that be faster?”

When Fangzheng heard that, he shook his head with a smile. He had answered this question before. The first time he had received this question seemed to have been from Kinky Queen, Zhu Lin. She had mentioned this in private after a while.

However, this time, Fangzheng did not plan on explaining further. Instead, he smiled and said, “Patron, since you are bored, This Penniless Monk will tell you a parable.”

The other party was stunned, thinking, “You aren’t giving me an answer and instead want to tell me a parable? What is this?”

However, the burly man didn’t seem to have any intention of making things difficult for Fangzheng. Since he couldn’t answer, he might as well listen to the parable. After all, it was just to kill his boredom.

Hence, the burly man nodded. Then, he glanced at the teapot and teacup in front of Fangzheng as though he was saying: “Look, I’ve been sitting here all day. As the host, shouldn’t you give me a cup of tea? You should be civil and polite, shouldn’t you?”

Fangzheng smiled back at the burly man before picking up the teapot. He poured himself a cup of tea under the burly man’s expectant gaze and ended up drinking it himself! Then, with a stunned look on the burly man’s face, he said lightly, “Drinking something warm on a cold day is indeed comfortable.”

The burly man’s face darkened when he heard that. If not because he was still rather capable of enduring a bit, he would have flipped the table.

Fangzheng ignored him and continued. “In the past, there was a young monk who saw an ant nest on the mountain. The young monk wanted to have fun, so he got some water and poured it into the ant hole. All the ants died as a result. This made the young monk very sad as he sat there wailing.”