The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

The originally firm and decisive Jiang Jun’s stiff face turned blank. He scratched his head at a loss for words. His face even turned red… However, after surveying his surroundings, he added. “Don’t thank me. If not for my job, I might not dare to save you. With this being my career, I can’t embarrass my profession.”

“Regardless, you are a hero!” Qin Lan suddenly shouted as everyone echoed in unison.

Jiang Jun’s face turned even redder.

When Fangzheng saw this, he pressed his palms together and silently recited. “Amitabha, it’s good indeed.”

There were many contentions and grudges in this world. They were not a result of karma, and most of them were a result of misunderstandings. Once the misunderstandings were cleared up, only clear blue skies would be left. Fangzheng enjoyed such a feeling.

“Venerable One, I’ll have to thank you for what you did.” After calming down, the driver and the few people that Fangzheng had held back as well as the woman who nearly fell down the cliff came to Fangzheng and bowed.

Fangzheng shook his head and said, “Amitabha. Saving a life is better than building a seven-storied pagoda. Patrons, there’s no need to pay attention to it.”

“Venerable One, how did you know that the boulder would fall at that moment? That’s such a coincidence. The moment you yanked the driver away, the boulder came smashing down,” one person jolted to his senses and asked out of curiosity.

Fangzheng smiled and did not say a word. There was no way of explaining it, so he decided not to say a word.

Sis Liu said, “Venerable One, don’t tell me you can see the future?”

Fangzheng shook his head and said, “This Penniless Monk doesn’t know how to predict the future.”

“Then-” Another person was about to press when…

Qin Lan interrupted. “He likely saw the boulder loosen. I also saw it, but I couldn’t react in time. I never expected the Venerable One to have such quick reactions.”

When that was said, everyone was enlightened. Fangzheng shot a glance at Qin Lan who smiled at him smugly. Clearly, she had not seen anything and had lied. She was helping him. Fangzheng smiled in response as a form of thanks.

However, Qin Lan’s huge eyes were filled with puzzlement. How did Fangzheng know when the boulder would fall? Wasn’t that too miraculous? Besides, Qin Lan had been secretly paying attention to Fangzheng. She discovered that be it the stones falling from the sky or the cratering of the lands, Fangzheng remained unperturbed no matter what happened. He had a look of calm while facing the earthquake and falling rocks as if they were a breeze. She did not understand where Fangzheng got his confidence from. Was he a fool that had no fear? Or did he really have something he was relying on? Thinking back to his saving of the driver and his two calming Buddhist proclamations, could it be that Fangzheng really had some divine powers? But, how was that possible?

There was one other person who didn’t believe Qin Lan—Jiang Jun. He had very sharp eyes and could tell something wasn’t right at a glance. However, he did not press the matter. Instead he looked around to get an idea of the situation. He needed to think of other solutions to leave the area.

Sis Liu and company took out their cell phones, hoping to call for help, but there was no signal at all. They could only abandon that line of thought.

Fangzheng looked at his cell phone and indeed, the technology involved in his cell phone was way beyond modern-day technology. He had a full signal! However, Fangzheng did not make a phone call. It would only add to the troubles if he made a call now. For such a huge event, he believed that the country would definitely react.

At that moment, Fangzheng’s eyes lit up. After laboring nearly all day, and wasting more than a hundred merit points, he finally drew a suitable divine power—Diamond Body Protection Spell!

“Diamond Body Protection Spell: A spell that augments bodily protection. Drains Dharmic powers if available, else merit is drained. Can be cast on targets. In moments of danger, the divine power will be brought out and ensure safety.”

When Fangzheng took a look at the amount of merit it cost per spell, he immediately felt the pinch! 5 merit points per person! There were 45 people in front of him which meant 225 merit points! If he were to augment each and every one of them, the loss would really be huge.

Despite feeling the pinch, Fangzheng had to do it. After all, life was more important than anything and shouldn’t be taken as a joke.

You win some, you lose some, but here, lives were at stake. With this in mind, Fangzheng came to Qin Lan, smiled at her, and said, “Patron, This Penniless Monk has a spell that can ensure your safety. Would it be fine to augment you with it?”

Qin Lan was taken aback. Augmentation spell? That was… That was too incredulous! The first thought Qin Lan had was that Fangzheng might be pulling her leg. But on second thought, realizing how Fangzheng had saved people and given two magical Buddhist proclamations, her eyes had a look of anticipation.

At that moment, Sis Liu shook her head and said, “Monk, can you consider your surroundings? Are you still trying to scam a young lady? As a monk, what can you achieve by lying to her? Can you renounce asceticism and marry her?” A life-protecting spell? If this had been said by some accomplished monk, Sis Liu might have believed him, but for a young monk to say he knew divine powers? She would rather die than believe that. She even doubted whether Fangzheng could finish reciting a complete sutra.

“That’s right. Can’t you consider our situation? You still have the mood to hit on chicks?” Lin Meiyu who was like Sis Liu’s lackey added her piece.

The bespectacled man rubbed his head as he said, “Venerable One, stop adding to the mess. If you have the time, why don’t you look up and see if stones will fall and inform us. Let’s help each other.” Thanks to Jiang Jun, the bespectacled man had turned for the better. He didn’t denigrate randomly and what he said made sense.

The others echoed. They had similar thoughts as Sis Liu. Firstly, no one believed that there were divine powers or Dharma spells in this world. They believed that it was all superstition and a sham. Secondly, Fangzheng was just too young. Even if a spell existed, it was unlikely Fangzheng knew it. At the very least, Fangzheng didn’t meet their image of an accomplished monk.

When Qin Lan heard what everyone was saying, she felt uncomfortable. Although Sis Liu and the rest were all in this together, their unsparing tongues were something she really disliked. Although she had not known Fangzheng for long, he gave her a very good feeling. He felt like radiant sunshine, and although he was young, he was as staid as a mountain when faced with a major event like an earthquake. That level of imperturbability was not something older people like Sis Liu or the bespectacled man who claimed to be teeming with experience could compare to. Even Jiang Jun would panic at times, but he ultimately didn’t show it due to his strong beliefs.

However, Qin Lan knew that Jiang Jun was not as calm as he looked. He was trying his best to maintain his calm because everyone was relying on him. If he were to panic, there would be chaos.

Furthermore, there was one extremely important point to mention about the moment when Fangzheng saved people—he was very handsome! Super, ultra handsome!

So what if she gave such a person a chance?

Therefore, Qin Lan said, “Alright. Venerable One, please augment me with your spell.” Clearly, although she felt a little anticipation towards it, she did not believe it deep down. Instead, the moment she said spell, she felt like he was some charlatan and could not help but find it amusing.

Fangzheng thought nothing of it. After chanting a few incantations, he raised his finger and tapped at the spot between Qin Lan’s brows. If one paid close attention, one would notice a yellow light sink into Qin Lan’s body when he tapped at her forehead. Meanwhile, in between Qin Lan’s brows was an extremely tiny and faint Buddhist Dharma symbol, 卍! However, this mark was like the blueness on Fangzheng’s monk robes. The White Lunar Monk Robe was light blue in color, but due to the extreme lightness of the blue, it was unnoticeable to the naked eye. One would imagine it to be white at a glance. It was the same with the 卍 mark. There was no way anyone could see it without paying close attention.

Author’s Note: This was adapted from a real story. Back when a few of us authors were having a gathering, an author happened to encounter an earthquake while heading to Jiuzhai Valley. Back then, a policeman stepped forward to quell everyone’s emotions, leading everyone down the bus to hide from the disaster. He cooperated with the rescue personnel and led the entire bus to safety. The author said that before that, he had never felt much respect for the police, but after that day, he had a newfound respect for the police. I realize that whenever I write something based on actual stories, people might think that it is fake and that it’s outright impossible. However, what I want to say is that this is a real story, with real people, in the real world. I do not know what is fake in this… Perhaps, it’s just our lack of understanding towards the world.