The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Fangzheng said, “Go ahead.”

“You cooked up such a storm, and this is it?” Red Boy pointed ahead and asked with a look of stupefaction while facing the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall which had not undergone any changes.

Fangzheng wished to answer something, but the problem was he had no answer! He circled the interior and the exterior, but indeed, there was not a single change to the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall. Even Fangzheng wanted to curse.

“System Bro, I need an explanation.”

“What’s there to explain? What do you think a level up is?” asked the System languidly.

“Shouldn’t it go from one-story-tall to two-stories tall? At the very least, you should add some gold or silver plating to make it look better, right?” pressed Fangzheng.

“You are overthinking things. The size of a temple hall, its level of luxuriousness, etc. aren’t the standards by which the level of a Buddhist hall should be determined. Do you really think the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall hasn’t changed at all? Study it carefully…” With that said, the System’s voice vanished.

Fangzheng looked at the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall with suspicion. Although the System liked to fool him, it had never embezzled anything from him. Besides, Fangzheng also believed that the System’s products were all exquisite things! After all, how could the means available to Mount Numinous be comparable to what Earthlings were capable of?

“Master, why aren’t you replying? There’s no change to the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall. Was your divine power ineffective?” Red Boy pressed.

Fangzheng rubbed Red Boy’s head without a word. It was not that he didn’t wish to speak, but that he had no idea what to say. Regardless, the System’s existence was a secret. As long as he could keep it a secret, he would in order to prevent any unnecessary ramifications. As for other explanations, he couldn’t come up with a better one, so he might as well keep silent.

Filled with questions, Fangzheng walked into the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall and stood under the Ten Thousand Buddha plaque. He looked up at it, but still failed to see anything extraordinary with it.

Coming before the huge wooden fish and sitting down, he began striking the wooden fish. Fangzheng began chanting the scriptures and just after he finished a line, he widened his eyes suddenly, looking incredulously at everything before him! Then, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and continued reciting the scriptures!

Red Boy, Monkey, Lone Wolf, and Squirrel were still filled with puzzlement, but when they heard Fangzheng’s chanting, they immediately realized that something was different! They quickly looked up at the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall.

At that moment, the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall gave a completely different feeling from the past. Now, it was emitting a very ancient feeling, as if it wasn’t a new building, but an ancient relic with a hundred years of history! Furthermore, that sense of antiquity seemed to reach further into the past the more Fangzheng chanted.

Fangzheng’s chanting seemed to bring the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall to live. Everything in the hall began to slowly awaken, each brick and tile, every piece of wood and furniture—all of them effused that sense of antiquity and majesty. Meanwhile, the Buddhistic aura was soaring! Without even walking in, one could feel Buddhistic light radiate from it as though Buddhistic aura enveloped it. As long as one calmed down, this unique aura could help calm a person, letting them abandon their worries and consider important matters carefully.

Compared to what his disciples felt, Fangzheng felt it on a deeper level.

In the past, he recited the scriptures with the aid of the wooden fish, allowing him to chant for three continuous days without sleeping while still keeping a clear head. The speed at which he understood the Buddhist scriptures was also enhanced before, but the feeling now was different. Although he was chanting the scriptures, he did not remember a single line! He couldn’t even hear it or think about the words he was chanting. His mind was a blank as though he could hear nothing but the voice of the world itself. That voice was ethereal, but it came with a particular reason it wanted to convey. This reason seemed to be the reason for the world’s existence since its beginning. It was something that was ought to be without any need for explanation. Unfortunately, no matter how Fangzheng viewed it, he could not figure out what the reason was or what this voice was.

Without a choice, Fangzheng could only continue chanting in an attempt to listen and see. Fangzheng believed that as long as he persevered, he would eventually see those things with clarity. However, Fangzheng soon discovered that he felt a little nauseous.

“What’s going on?” Just as this thought arose in Fangzheng…

Bam!

“Senior Brother! Master is kowtowing to the wooden fish!” Squirrel was staring at Fangzheng as he chanted, when suddenly, Fangzheng faltered, and his bald head hit the wooden fish before turning motionless.

Red Boy, Lone Wolf, and Monkey immediately looked over. They smacked Squirrel and exclaimed. “You call that a kowtow? That’s called fainting!”

Red Boy immediately ran over and dragged Fangzheng out.

Monkey asked in concern, “Junior Brother, is Master alright?”

Although Monkey, Lone Wolf, and Squirrel were now intelligent, they did not cultivate in or know any divine powers. Therefore, they could only ask Red Boy who was a demon.

Red Boy shook his head. “He’s fine. He expended too much of his mental powers and fainted. He’ll be fine after sleeping.”

A day later…

“Junior Brother, about Master, why hasn’t he awakened? Could he have fallen asleep just like that?” Squirrel sat by Fangzheng’s side and asked as he looked at him in worry.

Red Boy said, “What could be wrong? He will wake up after he has enough sleep. He is likely trying to forcefully comprehend something he can’t comprehend. He drained too much of his mental strength, causing his body to activate some self-preservation means, so he fell unconscious. As long as he regains his mental strength, he should be fine.”

“Oh, that’s good. Otherwise, what would we do with our meals in the future? We wouldn’t have any food to eat.” Squirrel rubbed his belly and mumbled. It was a mystery whether the little guy was worried about there not being enough Crystal Rice to eat or about Fangzheng never awakening.

Red Boy rolled his eyes and did whatever he needed to do.

In any case, Fangzheng was back home and carefree…

But in the southwest, a large group of people couldn’t afford to sleep.

“Holy crap, dear ancestors, can you stop chasing me? There’s only one thing I can tell you. His Dharma name is Fangzheng! He looks to be in his twenties, is very handsome, very radiant, and he’s bald! He wears white monk robes! That’s all I can tell you even if you ask me to my grave!” CO Qi was almost on the brink of crying.

This commanding officer who had not been defeated by the earthquake was ironically being pressed to tears by a deluge of reporters with cameras.

It had been one day already, but these people had not given him a single moment of rest. They kept following behind him with their constant questions.

Worst of all, CO Qi’s troops had been commended for the search and rescue operation and were made to stay in the resettlement area to take care of the refugees, so he couldn’t even return to camp to hide…

“CO Qi, everyone says that Venerable Fangzheng followed your troops. If you don’t know more about him, who could? We tabulated the statistics. Venerable Fangzheng saved more than twenty people directly and was nicknamed by the refugees as a Guardian Buddha. We must not bury such a hero. Our society is in need of more of these Guardian Buddhas,” pressed a reporter.

“I know, I know, but why are you asking me? Ask Jiang Jun, Qin Lan, and the rest! They know more than me. They were in the same tour group as Fangzheng!” CO Qi shouted.