The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

“Has this Bai Wenshui changed? He took the initiative to rescue someone.”

“A leopard never changes its spots. If this bastard had not hesitated and had jumped into the water to save them, those two children… Sigh.”

With that said, the crowd recalled that there had been two children in the water! What happened to them? Could they have…

With this in mind, the crowd felt an ominous feeling.

When the boat was docked by the shore, everyone rushed over and saw that the person on the boat was no longer breathing. He was dead. Many people let out sighs. Some emotive girls even cried on the spot.

“Lad, you are a hero!”

“Lad, you did not disgrace us folks of the Twin Rivers! A hero! Rest in peace!” An elder bowed at the university student.

“Well done… Sigh.”

The crowd lamented in silence, but someone rushed over to Bai Wenshui and asked, “Bai Wenshui, what happened to the two children?”

Bai Wenshui sighed and shook his head in silence.

Ghosthead immediately did the talking. He whimpered, sounding aggrieved. “We didn’t come in time. They were drowning together, and we could only focus on saving one of them. In the end, sigh.”

Everyone fell into silence when they heard that. Anyone who heard that another two lives had been lost as well felt their hearts stifle.

“What kind of world is this? Why are there always people drowning?” An elder shook his head with a sigh before turning to leave.

This time, Bai Wenshui and Ghosthead did a much better job than previously. Their acting was good, and with the distance and accurate grasp of the angle, they had perfectly played the good guy act. They had also changed the way people viewed them. Their past actions of only having interest in money, randomly raising and offering all kinds of prices, and asking for money in return for the corpses in their possession had indeed infuriated many. But today, people looked at them in a different light. Everyone’s gazes were a lot milder.

However, Ghosthead and Bai Wenshui thought to themselves, “What a bunch of idiotic goody two-shoes.”

“Does anyone know the family of this hero? Also, can anyone contact the family of the two children in the water?” someone suddenly shouted.

“No idea, but the police will arrive soon. They will likely be able to investigate once they arrive,” added someone else.

The crowd nodded.

At that moment, a Buddhist proclamation sounded suddenly. “Amitabha. Patrons, since the corpse is already on the shore, do you still need money before returning the corpse?”

With that said, everyone looked at Bai Wenshui and Ghosthead.

Ghosthead lifted his head high and did not avoid the sensitive subject, nor did he appear embarrassed. When he saw that it was the silly goody two-shoes monk, he was immediately overjoyed! He loved such goody two-shoes! Therefore, Ghosthead said, “Definitely! We risked our lives and wasted time rescuing him. Perhaps we might even be arrested and brought to the police station. It will waste us a day of work. It’s impossible not to want money.”

Fangzheng nodded and said, “That is reasonable. Having paid the price of labor and kindness, it’s necessary to gain something in return. If all the good you do is without benefit, only to be met with danger, won’t that chill the hearts of all good people?”

“Hehe. I like what you say, Monk!” Ghosthead was amused.

Everyone frowned when they heard that. An elder said unhappily, “Since times immemorial, we have always held a strong sense of justice and the helping of the weak in high esteem. Since when do heroes ask for anything in return? Monk, what you said isn’t right!”

“That’s right. That might be alright if said outside the country, but we Chinese do not believe in that! We believe in being righteous, in remaining anonymous even when doing good! If there are ulterior motives, what’s the point of calling it an act of goodness? You might as well call it a transaction,” another elder exclaimed.

Ghosthead was immediately unhappy when he heard that. He yelled, “What the hell are you saying? If you are so awesome, why don’t you stop your work and sit here all day to volunteer to fish out bodies? Talk is cheap! The problem is that everyone has a family. Who can survive on air alone? How can we want nothing? If there’s no fame or money, are good people to live on air? What right do you have to say that?”

What he said wasn’t wrong either. The few elders were left dumbfounded.

Bai Wenshui patted Ghosthead on the shoulder while saying with a smile, “Venerable One, you aren’t from here, and you are an objective person. Do you believe that doing good requires payment?”

“Good people deserve kindness, so it’s naturally good that there is payment when doing good.” Fangzheng was not being perfunctory, and he really believed so. If these people fished out corpses at clearly set, reasonable prices, it would be logical for them to charge money. After all, such deeds needed to be done by someone in the end. It would be fine if they committed the time and effort without any return once or twice, but if it happened frequently, who would keep doing it for nothing? Most of the time, simply relying on the ardor and zeal of people was not enough to proliferate such actions. Heroes were still the exceptions and out of the ordinary. Even Buddha wanted something in return when giving out scriptures, much less humans.

“Well said!” Bai Wenshui immediately clapped.

When Ghosthead saw how reasonable Fangzheng was, he said with a smile, “Venerable One, how much do you think we should receive for doing such deeds?”

Fangzheng pressed his palms together. “Take what’s necessary.”

“What happens if they take too much, and what happens if they take less?” someone asked.

“There is naturally justice in this world. Not taking enough will hurt the kindness in people, but receiving too much also means incurring a greater debt of sin!”

“So what if there’s a greater debt of sin?” asked Bai Wenshui while frowning.

When Fangzheng looked at Bai Wenshui and Ghosthead, they felt that his eyes were extremely bright. It was as though the celestial bodies were hidden in Fangzheng’s eyes. His lustrous eyes sent chills down their backs! Fangzheng enunciated his words as he replied, “Accrued debt of sin crush one’s body.”

“Pfft! What era is this? Debts of sun and bodies being crushed. Haha!” Ghosthead thought nothing of it. From his point of view, he would long have been dead if such things existed in the world.

Bai Wenshui thought nothing of it as well. Having committed so many evil deeds, would he have been able to stay free and at ease for so long if there truly was such a thing as karmic retribution?

“Alright, let’s return to the topic. The person is here. Monk, do you want to be generous again and pay out of your kindness? We will take the money and leave. We still have to work.” Ghosthead added casually. He did not believe that Fangzheng would fork out the money again. After all, it was understandable if a person was silly once, but to be repeatedly silly on the same matter would make them a retard. Besides, money did not grow on trees. It was not worth it to pay for a stranger. At the very least, he felt that it wasn’t worth it.

When Ghosthead said that, everyone snapped to their senses.

“So he’s the monk who helped generously yesterday!”

“I heard of that too. Lin Zhixian’s corpse was redeemed with the money this monk paid.”

“He… He really is a good person.”

…

People looked at Fangzheng differently, with an added look of respect. Those that had argued with Fangzheng also nodded at him to express their apologies. Thinking carefully about what Fangzheng had said, it did not seem without reason. Of course, they still held their beliefs unwaveringly. Fangzheng, in return, felt more respect for the elders when he saw how staunch they were in their beliefs.

Fangzheng’s beliefs were suitable for ordinary people. By promoting the concept that the good deserved kindness, it would encourage more people to devote themselves to do good. However, these elders held the attitude that one should do good anonymously without expecting any good in return. That exceeded the ordinary person! In an era of peace, they were heroes in heart. In other eras, they would definitely be heroes in fact too! They were a group of people that deserved respect. At the very least, Fangzheng knew he was incomparable to them.