The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

A few minutes later, the doctor sighed, “That’s it. This patient’s condition isn’t too serious, but he doesn’t seem capable of lasting until the operation is over.”

“What do we do then?” asked the nurse.

“I don’t know.” The doctor found it a difficult problem.

The nurse turned to look at Yu Fei and noticed a box in her hand. She said with a frown, “Yu Fei, why did you bring something from the outside in?”

The moment the nurse said that, her body turned to her side, giving the elder a clear line of sight to Yu Fei. The elder’s turbid eyes noticed the box in Yu Fei’s hand. Instantly, he seemed agitated. Although he had been sedated and suffered from a little dementia—being unable to get home when outside or take off his pants in the restroom—he would never forget that box!

Yu Fei was also given a fright. She wanted to explain but was at a loss for an explanation. She could only say, “The patient’s family wanted me to bring it in.”

“That doesn’t mean you can bring it to the operating theater!” The nurse turned anxious.

But at that moment, the doctor suddenly yelled, “Bring it here!”

The nurse subconsciously believed the doctor had asked her to take it out. She said, “Why aren’t you bringing it out… Huh? Bring it here?”

“The patient seems to have deep feelings for the box. His will to live is back. Perhaps it might create a miracle! I really can’t understand. It’s only an ordinary box. Why is he so obsessed with it?” mumbled the surgeon. He hurriedly said, “Cut the nonsense. Yu Fei, place the box somewhere the patient can see it. Quickly, come and help. Let’s try to finish this surgery as soon as possible!”

“Alright!” Yu Fei immediately ignored the other nurse’s dissatisfied gaze and rushed to place the box properly. Simultaneously, she heaved a sigh of relief. She had made a correct bet after all. She no longer needed to worry about being punished.

Time passed as Fangzheng sat quietly outside the operating theater. Suddenly, the golden light from it increased in intensity. Fangzheng revealed a smile.

Huang Zhenhua found Fangzheng a sore sight all this while. When he saw Fangzheng smile, he immediately fumed, “Monk, how can you smile at this point in time? Do you think of us as a joke?”

Huang Xinghua frowned as well, “Venerable One, how can you smile now?”

Liu Na and Jiang Min were also somewhat displeased.

Fangzheng smiled, “The elder is fine. Why shouldn’t This Penniless Monk smile?”

“He’s fine?” The quartet was taken aback.

Huang Zhenhua immediately said, “Monk, are you speaking nonsense?”

Jiang Min said, “Let’s hope his nonsense ends up being true…”

As the family members were feeling skeptical, the doors to the operating theater opened. Following that, two nurses and a doctor that seemed to have been fished out of water, came out while wheeling the elder out. The doctor was clearly enervated. The moment he sat down, he slumped into a seat beside him. He said to the group, “The elder is fine. If there’s nothing, don’t talk to me. Let me rest a moment.”

The quartet immediately beamed with joy when they heard that. Jiang Min looked at Fangzheng in astonishment, “Venerable One, are you prescient? Thank you for your lucky words.”

Fangzheng smiled faintly, “It’s best to thank this doctor. If not for him, it would be useless no matter how lucky This Penniless Monk’s mouth is.”

Jiang Min immediately walked to the doctor. Out of the four people, two followed the elder to his ward while the other two thanked the doctor profusely.

When Red Boy saw this, he curled his lips, “What’s there to thank him when he’s being paid to do so? He should be thanked only if he doesn’t accept money for it.”

Fangzheng shot a glance at Red Boy, “How valuable is your life?”

Red Boy was stunned as he scratched his head, “Of course it’s priceless! Nothing in the world is more valuable than my life.”

“Then who benefits when a little bit of money is spent to save your life?” pressed Fangzheng.

Red Boy was left speechless.

“Although what you said makes sense, spending money does not mean that your life can be saved. If you are saved, you should thank others. It’s their hard work.” As Fangzheng spoke, he followed closely behind the elder and headed for the ward.

Red Boy scratched his head and quickly followed. He ruminated over what Fangzheng had said. It did seem to make sense.

After entering the ward, Fangzheng saw Huang Zhenhua and Liu Na taking care of the elder. Liu Na was covering the elder with a blanket while Huang Zhenhua was listening to the nurse’s advice. He was nodding his head repeatedly, his face looking very excited. Clearly he was overjoyed that his father was safe and sound.

“Remember, the patient should not be disturbed. If there’s nothing, it’s best not to circle around him. Try to let him calm down, understand?” Yu Fei kept exhorting them.

Huang Zhenhua nodded his head repeatedly before Yu Fei left in satisfaction. She had played an important role today and she might even be rewarded for it. She was in an especially good mood. When she turned her head and saw the clean-looking monking walking over with a kid, Yu Fei gave Fangzheng a glance. When her eyes met Fangzheng’s eyes which resembled pure water, she subconsciously lowered her head as she blushed. If was not that she had blushed because of his good looks, but because she was embarrassed… She found Fangzheng rather handsome, but his eyes told her that he was a pure person. She had blushed because she was ashamed of her filthy thoughts.

Upon seeing the nurse in front of him suddenly blush as she ran off with her head lowered, Fangzheng had a puzzled look. What just happened?

“Venerable One, why are you here again?” Huang Zhenhua no longer addressed Fangzheng as ‘monk.’ Although that was a respectful way of addressing a monk, most people understood it as a casual form of address. Huang Zhenhua felt somewhat helpless against Fangzheng. Should he chase him away? The monk had indeed helped them. He had first helped press the box into his father’s chest and sent the box into the operating theater the second time. Furthermore, he had asked the nurse in particular. She had also affirmed that the box had played an important role. Most importantly, every word that Fangzheng spoke was accurate. He could not help but consider the monk seriously. However, he still found monks and Daoists a sore sight deep in his heart. He always felt that these people were good-for-nothings that did no work all day. Therefore, he was a little irritated.

Fangzheng smiled, “Amitabha. Patron, can you tell This Penniless Monk why your father pays so much attention to that box?”

Huang Zhenhua frowned the moment he heard that. “Regardless of what motives you have, it’s best you do not ask. To be honest, even my elder brother and his wife do not know why, much less me. My father has been traveling the entire nation for the past six decades. He claims to be searching for someone. As for who he is looking for or why he is doing so, he has never told us. He brought our entire family everywhere and all of us suffered. Later, due to an accident, he began suffering from dementia. So there’s no way he can tell us. His entire person is in a dazed state. He only turns spirited when he faces that box. He hugs it all day. There’s a lock on the box, and the key hangs on his neck. He refuses to give it to anyone who wants it. We were afraid of agitating him, so no one has taken the key to open the box.”