The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Ouyang Fenghua suddenly suggested, “Bro, hold back your anger for a moment. Can I take a look at your ticket?”

“What’s there to see!? Didn’t I show it to you? Stop disturbing me!” The man glared at them as he yelled back. Only when he realized that the person speaking was a beauty did his voice soften. Then he turned around and glared at Fangzheng. “What are you looking at?” The man was like a reactive explosive that would explode upon contact.

Fangzheng attempted to mention his discovery a few times, but stopped when he received menacing glares. Fangzheng shook his head in resignation, stepped back and fell silent.

When Red Boy and Ouyang Fenghua saw this, they felt quite aggrieved for Fangzheng. Red Boy whispered, “Master, what do we do? Your seat has been taken. Why don’t you sit in my seat? Or should I throw him out?”

Fangzheng fondled Red Boy’s head. “Jingxin, you are a monk. It’s not good to have violent thoughts all the time.”

“Okay.” Red Boy pouted disapprovingly. He thought nothing of the matter.

Ouyang Fenghua added, “Master, why don’t you take my seat? I have no problem with standing for a moment.”

Fangzheng shook his head. “There’s no need. The seat will be available when this patron gets off.”

Ouyang Fenghua could not help but ask, “Where is he getting off? Is it near?”

The man suddenly looked up and sneered. “I’m heading all the way to the end.”

Ouyang Fenghua looked at Fangzheng who smiled faintly. “Alright, Patron. Have a seat. The train is about to depart. Patron, it’s best you give a good look at your ticket before you say anything further.”

The man rolled his eyes at Fangzheng. “What’s there to see? This seat is mine, it will still be mine no matter how many times I look at it!”

As the man spoke, the train began closing its doors.

Helpless, Ouyang Fenghua took her seat with Red Boy. Perhaps because she was a beauty, the man was in a good mood and deliberately inched closer to the window seat. Ouyang Fenghua frowned as she squeezed her way inside.

The man thought nothing of it as he smugly gave Fangzheng a glance.

Fangzheng only smiled indifferently. Shortly after the train set off, train attendants walked over. “Tickets, please!”

The train attendants checked the passengers’ tickets as they walked across the aisle. The man turned to give Fangzheng a look as he laughed. “Monk, getting on a train with a fake ticket is a very troublesome matter.”

Fangzheng pressed his palms together and replied, “Thank you for the reminder, Patron.”

Ouyang Fenghua was more irritated when she saw the man’s smug look. She subconsciously wanted to speak up for Fangzheng, but she was stopped. She felt aggrieved as she pouted. She turned her head to look out the window. Out of sight, out of mind!

The man became even more smug. At that moment, a beautiful female train attendant came to his seat and said warmly, “Sir, please show me your ticket.”

The man chuckled as he took out his ticket and handed it over, but…

“Sir, is this your ticket?” The attendant looked at the man in astonishment.

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“Sir, it seems you have taken the wrong train.” The attendant looked at him pitifully.

The man was first taken aback before he jolted out of his daze. He grabbed the ticket back and looked at it.

Ouyang Fenghua and Red Boy stole a glance and on it were the words: Gulin to Dajin!

Ouyang Fenghua and Red Boy immediately burst out laughing.

“Where does this train go to?”

“The final stop is Ha City,” said the attendant.

“Stop the train! Stop the train! I want to get off!” The man turned flustered. He was heading to Dajin urgently since a client was waiting. Great, now he was going in the wrong direction? If he missed his client, the deal would be off!

“I’m sorry, Sir. The train has already set off. You can only drop off at the next stop to switch to another train,” said the attendant helplessly.

“Next stop? How long until the next stop?”

“One and a half hours.”

The man immediately cried. He was definitely going to be late!

Furthermore, misfortune never came alone. The attendant continued, “Sir, there’s another thing. Please make up for the difference in ticket price. It’s a total of…”

The man could no longer take in the information. When he came around, the white-robed monk came in front of him and smiled. “Patron, can you give up your seat now?”

At that instant, the man felt as terrible as if he had eaten a dead fly. Then he saw the monk take out a ticket and place it in front of him. On it were the words: Gulin to Tanzhong. The seat label was 9B as well!

“Sir, please give up your seat to this Venerable One,” said the attendant again.

The man glared at Fangzheng indignantly. He recalled Fangzheng’s words: “The seat will be available when this patron gets off.” When he came to the realization, he yelled, “You knew about this from the beginning, right? You were deliberately trying to trick me, didn’t you!? You f**king son-of-a-b*tch!”

Fangzheng said helplessly, “Patron, This Penniless Monk reminded you to look at your ticket, but you did not do so. Now, you are blaming This Penniless Monk? Amitabha… It’s really hard to do good.”

Many people had seen the farce. In the beginning, they assumed that someone had bought a fake ticket, but now they realized what had happened.

Someone immediately shouted, “You shut your mouth! The Venerable One spoke nicely to you, but you shouted in return. You kept heaving and glaring. With that temper of yours, it’s not bad that you didn’t get beaten up. The Venerable One had a good temper, and he reminded you to look at your ticket. As for you, well done! All you thought of was the babe beside you! You deserve it!”

“That’s right! All of us saw everything clearly. To think you have the shame to blame him?”

Everyone shouted all at once. The man immediately cowered back. He held his head low as he was brought to the side by the attendant to make up for his ticket. He no longer had the shame to return to the same train carriage…

Fangzheng sat down after the man left.

Ouyang Fenghua and Red Boy immediately laughed when they saw this.

Red Boy chuckled. “Master, I just realized how much of a baddy you are!”

Dong!

Fangzheng struck Red Boy on the head. The kid was immune to pain as he continued laughing wickedly. Fangzheng reprimanded him. “Your master is a good person. Don’t spout nonsense.”

Red Boy, who understood Fangzheng, thought nothing of it as he smirked. Fangzheng was indeed a good person, but he was definitely not a master who was just a good and honest person! He had a wicked side deep in his bones!

After reprimanding Red Boy, he sat there composed, only to hear Ouyang Fenghua whisper, “Master, you are really quite a baddy. Hehe…”

Fangzheng was instantly rendered speechless. What did he do? He had already kindly reminded the man, alright? Was it his fault if the man didn’t appreciate it? Ami-holy-tabha! How irritating!

At that moment, Red Boy tugged at Fangzheng’s clothes. “Master, what you did does not conform to the image of an esteemed monk. Isn’t it said that an esteemed monk does not fight with his hands but with his mouth?”

Fangzheng rolled his eyes at Red Boy. “What about you?”

Red Boy was taken aback. He had been captured by Bodhisattva and apparently… He did not conform to the image of an esteemed monk either!

“Regardless of what others think, This Penniless Monk believes that goodness begets goodness, and evil begets evil. This is karma or cause and effect. Of course, bad people can be categorized as those that can be saved and those who are a lost cause. The man from before was not a bad person, but he had a bad temper. That is the cause. Getting on the wrong train and ignoring the reminder of others, only to end up wasting time and losing something is the effect. Therefore, do good in the future and be nicer to others. When you encounter a problem, calm down first. Watch, listen, and think before making a decision. Do you understand?”