The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Meanwhile, Ouyang Fenghua had started regretting the moment Fangzheng left. She stamped her feet and heaved angrily. “Aiyah, all I thought of was to play around and have fun, and I forgot about the important matters. I wanted to learn calligraphy from him! Ahhhh! Boohoo, I didn’t get a chance to make the request the entire journey. Sigh.”

Fangzheng had no idea about Ouyang Fenghua’s regrets, for at that moment he had already run sneakily to a deserted alley with Red Boy. Red Boy carried Fangzheng, and they whooshed into the sky and vanished into the night.

“Eldest Senior Brother, you eat too much,” Squirrel sat on the table, his arms akimbo as he said angrily.

Lone Wolf looked up and swept his gaze across Squirrel. “It’s rare for Master to not be around, so obviously, I have to eat more. Ah… Being satiated feels awesome.”

“But… But, we are almost out of food,” said Squirrel worriedly.

Lone Wolf suddenly looked up and exclaimed, “What? There’s no more food?” Then he looked at Monkey.

Monkey sat on a chair like a meditating old monk. When he sensed Lone Wolf’s gaze, he slightly lifted his eyelids and nodded. “Amitabha. Senior Brother, we are indeed out of food. We can last another day at most. If Master does not return, we can only survive by eating bamboo shoots and mushrooms.”

“That won’t do.”

“Won’t do? If that won’t do, why did you eat so much? Look at you! You are already fatter than before.” Squirrel looked at Lone Wolf’s huge rice basin unhappily before looking at his tiny rice ball. There was no way of comparison! He immediately felt stifled as he turned mentally imbalanced… What a pity. He was small not of his own choice.

Lone Wolf was not embarrassed. He was likely the one who ate the most in the entire monastery. He looked up and said, “Why don’t we leave that for my dinner?”

“Dinner? You still plan on having dinner? Ahhh!” Squirrel nearly went crazy.

Lone Wolf looked aggrieved. “Can’t I split a meal into two?”

“No! That’s too much! Your one meal can feed me for a month. Boohoo…” Squirrel really felt mentally imbalanced.

“Amitabha, what’s the fuss about between you two?” At that moment, Fangzheng’s voice sounded from outside. Lone Wolf and Squirrel immediately looked over, while Monkey opened his eyes as well. He saw Fangzheng returning with Red Boy who was carrying bags of various sizes.

“Master, you are finally back. Our monastery is almost out of food! Also, this big eater here has too great an appetite. I suggest we cut his rations.” Squirrel angrily ran up to Fangzheng’s shoulder and began denouncing Lone Wolf’s voracious appetite.

Lone Wolf said with an aggrieved look, “I’m still growing. There’s nothing wrong with eating a little more, right…” However even he felt embarrassed to mention the second half of his sentence.

Monkey said, “Master, we don’t have much Crystal Rice left. There are a lot of wild vegetables, wild fruits, and mushrooms on the mountain. I think we should head up the mountain to pluck some to take back. Firstly, it will be able to fill our stomachs, and secondly, it will allow us to have a change of taste.”

Fangzheng looked at Monkey in surprise. Monkey was turning more and more anthropomorphic by the day and becoming more rational when thinking things through. He no longer appeared wild like when he had first come. However Fangzheng could tell that Monkey was just putting on an act from looking into his eyes! Because… This fellow was still secretly scratching his ass!

Although Fangzheng had quite a sizable amount of incense offerings, what Monkey said did make sense upon careful thought. There was no reason to waste money just because he had a lot. Since they had nothing better to do, they might as well do it!

Fangzheng said, “Alright. Tomorrow, we shall head to Mt. Tongtian together to dig up wild vegetables and mushrooms.”

Upon hearing Fangzheng’s instructions, Lone Wolf, Squirrel, and Red Boy cheered in unison. Monkey stood to the side in his calm demeanor before saying slowly, “Okay.” Then he got up and went out. Shortly after, there were the excited screams of the fellow. He was jumping around and soon, he vanished.

Everyone shook their heads when they saw this as they sighed. “A leopard can’t change its spots. This fellow is not reliable at all!”

Red Boy tugged at Fangzheng’s trousers. “Master, Third Senior Brother resembles you greatly. Indeed, the type of master teaches the type of disciple.”

Dong!

Fangzheng rapped Red Boy on the head before he went to his meditation room to sleep.

After Fangzheng left, Squirrel jumped onto the bags which Red Boy was carrying. He looked in and exclaimed, “Wow! So many new clothes. Junior Brother, are these gifts for us?”

“Dream on! These are all mine!” Red Boy hugged the clothes in his hands like he was a mother hen protecting its chicks as he yelled.

“Aiyah! Junior Brother, don’t be petty. Let me take a look. Put them on and let us see what they are, won’t you?” Squirrel asked in his naive curiosity.

“That’s right, Junior Brother. Don’t be petty. Let us take a look.” Lone Wolf came over and chimed in out of curiosity.

“You can look, but no touching.” When Red Boy said that, he glared at Squirrel. Lone Wolf was a four-legged animal, so he was not particularly interested in clothes, but Squirrel had a very curious mind. Furthermore, he liked colorful items. Worst of all, he was quite scoundrelly and liked to act adorable. By doing so, he often snatched away certain things.

Squirrel nodded his head incessantly as Red Boy generously opened up his bags. He took out the clothes one piece at a time, while saying, “This is a Tang dynasty outfit. This is a watermelon-hat. This is a western suit. Also, this is my favorite. A school uniform.”

Fangzheng naturally heard his loud disciples. He suddenly realized that something bad was about to happen!

And indeed, it did not take long before Squirrel was heard grumbling, “Junior Brother, you are too fortunate. Just one trip out, and you have so many nice clothes! I want to go out the next time too. I will make Master buy—”

“Slam!” The meditation room’s doors opened as Fangzheng walked out, interrupting Squirrel’s sentence. Fangzheng pressed his palms together. “Amitabha. Jingxin, these mortal clothes are not suitable for you to wear in the monastery. If This Penniless Monk recalls correctly, Patron Ouyang bought you a monk’s outfit, right? Wear that in the future. As for the other clothes, they are too ostentatious. They do not match the Buddhist rules. Oh… These shall be stored away for you, and they will be returned when you renounce asceticism.” With that said, Fangzheng did not wait for a reply as he quickly confiscated all of Red Boy’s clothes, leaving behind a blue monk robe, as well as the meditation beads and belt which came with it.

Red Boy was too deep for tears, but Fangzheng heaved a sigh of relief. He had to stop this possible development. If not, he would go bankrupt if he brought his disciples out in the future! Although Fangzheng felt bad at being unable to afford the things his disciples wanted… It was better to feel like that now than to feel embarrassed for not having the money to buy the items when the time came. Besides, it was not suitable for monks to wear such flowery clothing. Therefore Fangzheng did it with peace of mind.

Meanwhile outside, Red Boy was looking at the empty table in a daze. The beautiful clothes on the table were gone in a blink of an eye…

“Uh… Junior Brother, it looks like I won’t be buying clothes in the future. Sigh,” said Squirrel bitterly.