The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

When Fangzheng saw this, he said with a smile, “Jingxin, I will give you an opportunity. Your divine powers will be returned to you. After my departure, you have to find me in three hours, otherwise…”

“No problem!” Red Boy shouted and jumped up when he heard that, clearly thrilled. He had long since read up on the information regarding Earth. It was quite big for an ordinary person, but to him, it was nothing. If he truly wanted to circle the Earth once, it wouldn’t take him long.

Fangzheng nodded. With a wave of his hand, Red Boy was restored his divine powers. He happily laughed as he waved his hand and planted a mark on Fangzheng and Squirrel. Having locked onto his targets, all that was left was to search for them.

“Jingzhen, Jingfa, in the days when I’m not around, you have to work hard.”

Monkey and Lone Wolf nodded in unison.

There was no need to elaborate on Lone Wolf’s combat strength. Monkey had joined their ranks for quite some time too. With Buddhistic aura having infused his body, and with the daily cleansing of his body with Crystal Rice and Unrooted Clean Aqua, he was no longer the Monkey of the past. If he would have to fight seriously, he would not be much weaker than Lone Wolf. It was not a problem for him to watch and protect the monastery. Besides, One Finger Monastery also had the villagers of One Finger Village to protect it. Fangzheng was not very worried about security.

With this in mind, Fangzheng grabbed the unwilling Squirrel up. The little fellow had been grumbling about going out with him previously, but as time had passed, he had turned lazier.

Fangzheng opened the Formless Door and stepped through it!

The next moment, there was pitch darkness in front of Fangzheng. Countless scenes flashed as a voice sounded.

“Be careful!”

“Save…”

“Wu Wu…”

“Splash…”

The sounds turned into a cacophonic din, and the scenes were basically indiscernible. Even with his eyes wide open, Fangzheng could only see scenes of water and nothing else.

As the darkness dissipated, Fangzheng found himself beside a wide river. The river flowed slowly, but it was amazingly wide. It was much wider than the Songhua River that Fangzheng had seen before. At a glance, the other bank of the river was merely a blur. There was a road by the side of the river, with people walking on it and cars driving past it.

Fangzheng guessed that he was no longer in the northeast, but he was unsure where he was exactly.

“Master, where is this? It’s hot.” Squirrel sat on Fangzheng’s shoulder and extended his tongue, flailing his claws. The little fellow was a genuine northeastern squirrel. Although the northeast was hot too, that was due to the scorching heat from the sun. The weather here, on the other hand, was inherently hot and humid. It was fine if the sun was out, but without it, it felt stuffy and hot. It felt like a sauna. The locals might not think much of it, but to people who were accustomed to dry weather, it was quite uncomfortable.

“If you are afraid of the heat, stay inside my clothes.” Fangzheng’s White Lunar Monk Robe could attenuate the temperature, and it was insulated to both heat and cold from the outside.

Squirrel immediately nodded and burrowed in. Then, his tiny head popped out of Fangzheng’s collar as he looked around with a look of surprise. “Master, this river is so wide! It’s huge!”

“That’s right. I have never seen such a wide river either.”

Squirrel marveled, and his large eyes were filled with wonder as he looked everywhere.

Fangzheng could not be bothered with him and allowed him to wonder ahead.

“Master, where are we going now? Are we going to just stay here?” Squirrel asked furtively.

“I’m not sure either. Let’s walk around and take a look.”

After Fangzheng said that, he chose a direction parallel to the road and walked down it. Where the road would lead him to was left up to fate.

Meanwhile, the moment Red Boy saw Fangzheng step into the Formless Door, he did a calculation and laughed. “It’s really quite far, but it’s no problem for me at all.” Red Boy cast a very simple concealment spell and flew into the sky, tearing through the clouds. He headed south only to stop suddenly midway. As he listened to the music beneath him, he scratched his head and mumbled. “Three hours is a long time. There’s no rush. I’ll take a look first.”

With that, Red Boy plunged downwards.

“Master, why hasn’t Junior Brother come yet even after so long?” Squirrel looked up into the sky. Apart from the dark sky, he saw nothing.

Fangzheng shook his head. “The north and south are quite a distance apart. He will likely take some time.”

“Master, look! There’s a total traffic jam ahead,” exclaimed Squirrel.

Fangzheng also saw that the cars that had driven past him were stopped ahead. It seemed to be a traffic jam indeed. Following that, people alighted their cars and walked ahead as though they were checking the situation. At that moment, someone far away yelled in excitement. Following that, everything turned into chaos. Some rummaged through their trunks while others removed their belts…

“Master, what are they doing? Are they going to the restroom en masse?” Squirrel asked, puzzled.

“Something probably happened!” Fangzheng ran the moment he said that.

Squirrel dashed forward the moment he heard that too. Although he was tiny, he ran like a tiny bolt of lightning.

Before Fangzheng reached the place, he saw Squirrel run back while exclaiming. “Master, it seems like someone fell into the water. Everyone is trying to rescue him!”

Fangzheng was gripped with anxiety when he heard that. He was only so fast and was not capable of being any faster. At that moment, Fangzheng finally heard what the crowd was saying. Men and women were shouting…

“Ropes! Ropes! Does anyone have any ropes? Those without ropes, men, unbuckle your belts and women, do you have scarves? Just gather them and use them as ropes!”

“Would clothes do?”

“Yes!”

“Mom, that’s something you bought after saving months of your salary…”

“Rescuing someone is more important.”

…

Someone exclaimed ahead at the same moment. “Someone entered the water!”

“The reservoir is very deep. It’s too dangerous to jump into the water without a rope.”

“Get a boat! There are boats nearby!”

…

It was chaos all over. Fangzheng turned more anxious the more he heard. Something really bad was happening!

Fangzheng ran and tore through the crowd; however, few people noticed Fangzheng. Everyone was trying their best to find things that could be of use. And at that moment, many people were running. Naturally, no one paid attention to the running monk.

After Fangzheng passed through a few trucks, he finally saw what was happening. There were quite a number of people gathered at the bank. Everyone was trying out solutions. Some even jumped into the river and swam towards the center of the river. A person could be vaguely seen struggling in the river and seemed to be close to succumbing to the water. However, Fangzheng frowned when he saw two fish boats on the river without any intention to help with the rescue. Instead, they were rowing their boats and blocking the paths the good Samaritans were trying to take. It was unknown whether it was coincidental or deliberate.

There were a few eddies in the river. If the good Samaritans were to follow the eddies, it could save them a lot of strength and would speed up their approach of the drowning person. Yet, the boats were blocking that spot. If the good Samaritans were to go against the flow and circle around the boats, it would take a lot of strength. Every bit of strength was precious in the water. It could result in death if they exerted that bit of strength.