The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Fangzheng asked, “Story? What story?”

Zhang Huihui shook her head and said, “I don’t know. No one knows.”

“It’s about to begin.” Zhang Huihui looked at the lady, and Fangzheng discovered that people were beginning to gather over. Clearly, they were there to listen to the lady sing or to see what was happening. They were there for the bustle.

A few people who didn’t understand the situation were asking around, and old audiences like Zhang Huihui explained. Unfortunately, many people didn’t believe them.

Instead, all of them worked up their creative juices to guess at possible explanations.

“Looking at her attire, she must have put in the effort to dress up. She likely is trying to attract attention to become famous, right?”

“It’s possible. I’ve seen many such cases. I’ve even seen someone do a pole dance in a bikini on the subway.”

“Wasn’t there someone who cosplayed by the side of Tian Chi Lake? I think it’s all the same ruse.”

“Sigh, people these days are willing to do anything to become famous. She’s dressed up like that to attract the attention of people and wants to be famous. From this distance, her figure looks pretty good. I wonder how she looks like.”

…

When Fangzheng heard such speculation, he frowned slightly and shook his head. From Fangzheng’s point of view, to paint someone as something without doing any investigation was an act more vile than whatever the lady by the river might be doing. At the very least, the lady didn’t disturb anyone, and she even become a sight to behold. As for these people who spoke ill behind her back, other than adding negativity to society, they brought no benefits.

Zhang Huihui was different from Fangzheng. She glared at them and berated. “Hey, if you don’t know anything, don’t speak nonsense! Do you think it’s nice to speak ill behind someone’s back? If you ask me, shame on you!”

The moment she said that, there was silence. Clearly, no one imagined that a spitfire was among them.

However, Zhang Huihui’s words instantly incurred the displeasure of a few people.

“Are you with her? I knew it. People like you who try to sensationalize things never work alone. You must be together.”

“Look at you. Can’t you do something better at your young age? All you think about is becoming famous overnight and wallowing in cash. This isn’t a right mindset.”

“Beauty, let me tell you this. If you don’t use connections or follow the unspoken rules, it will be difficult for you to make it big. I happen to know some friends who are in the entertainment business. Want me to put you in contact with them?” a baldy said with a chuckle.

When Zhang Huihui heard that, her face turned forbiddingly angry. It was fine if she was misunderstood or advised, but more importantly, despite everyone putting in their two cents, no one spoke up for her. She refused to believe that no one understood Duan Liu! No one would believe she was trying to sensationalize things after listening to her sing…

“What are you doing? Don’t bully my sister!” Little Seven shouted.

“Hey, they even have a little helper? Tsk, to have a wide variety of ages. You guys sure know how to play this scam. However, it’s not good to have such a young child be in cahoots with you, right?” the baldy said with a laugh.

Little Seven and Zhang Huihui were enraged when they heard that! Just as they were about to flare up…

They heard a Buddhist proclamation sound out. “Amitabha. Patron, watching your tongue is also a form of merit.”

“Hehe, you bunch sure are capable. Now there’s a monk, someone in historical clothes, and a beauty with a kid. You sure are a motley bunch.” The baldy mocked them before saying, “Little Monk, I don’t care if you are a real or fake monk. I dare say that if this isn’t some bid to go viral, I’ll be crawling back home instead of walking today!”

“Remember what you said!” Zhang Huihui and Little Seven immediately shouted.

“I will!” the baldy replied with affirmation.

Fangzheng smiled and looked genialy at the baldy. “Amitabha.”

For some unknown reason, the baldy felt that there was something different about the monk’s eyes. It made him feel uncomfortable, but he thought nothing of it. He was rather pleased that the monk didn’t say a word and instead looked at him in delight.

At this moment, the lady began to gently strum the zither strings. The tune was something Fangzheng was familiar with, as though he had heard it somewhere before. But as he carefully listened to it, it didn’t seem to resemble what he thought it was. Despite racking his brains all day, he failed to recall what tune it was.

As the tune continued, the lady slowly opened her mouth, and a forlorn voice drifted out.

At that instant, Fangzheng felt his heart wince in pain for no reason…

Lone Wolf subconsciously jolted as though he had been pricked.

The others all fell silent, as though the world had fallen silent because of the lady’s music! However Fangzheng knew that it wasn’t the lady’s voice, but the bleakness, bitterness, and longing between her music that resonated with the people.

“Who is singing drunk under the moonlight—!

“Conquering the lengthiest rivers with the pining of one’s love—!

“Like sand seeping through fingers, the icy fragrance fades.

“Amid the wine, even the wrong strum of the zither can be made.

“A single light illuminates the desolate—!

“Unable to live on with just mere remembrance—!

“Yearning for the husband, he will never know.

“With no more tears, left to shed…

“Like the plentiful fireworks seen from the streets and alleys—!

“Our fate is short-lived—!

“Alone in the world, the paths seem wide.

“Passersby, warm and cold, speech is but a fleeting thought…

“The word of remembrance is only for one—!

“Now, these two are separated by heaven and earth—!

“Why not follow the river west?

“‘Till we meet again, at Reincarnation Bridge.”

Upon hearing this voice, Fangzheng looked at the scene before him. As the cold wind blew at him, his eyes turned adrift. He didn’t know love, but Fangzheng knew affection. Zen Master One Finger once said to him, “You weren’t brought up by me, but by the world. You were brought up under the kind will of the people and received warmth from the world. You are more blissful than others, so you should know love more than anyone else. Learn to love yourself and the world. Only then can you make up to the experiences of your life. Only then would you not have wasted your life in the world.”

As such, Fangzheng had always been a sentimental person. If he didn’t like someone, he didn’t like them. But if anyone was even a little good to him, Fangzheng would keep it in his heart, engraving it and erecting the feeling of gratitude as a stela. He would look at it every day and reminisce.

It was precisely because Fangzheng had an acute understanding of affection that he felt his heart shatter when he heard the song. Fangzheng could sense that although the song was about two people, it was in fact describing the loneliness of a single person. She was missing the other person, and she was almost on the brink of giving up in death! She was not acting. This wasn’t someone playing to the gallery and trying to sensationalize to become famous. She was really in pain. Every line was sung from the heart, fully expressing her pining. It was as though she wanted to go with the wind.

When he came to this realization, Fangzheng suddenly raised his head and exclaimed, “No good! She wants to jump into the river!”

Just as he finished his sentence, he saw the lady suddenly stand up. With the zither in her arms, she jumped into the river!

Although there was moonlight, the dark river in the black night made the moonlight useless. The boulder which the lady was standing upon was like a huge platform. People often fished there, and similarly, the water was deep there. The moment she jumped in, she immediately sank into the water, and the top of her head disappeared!

“Jingfa, save her!” Fangzheng shouted. Amid exclamations of the crowd, he went over to the embankment. The river embankment was five meters tall!

“You’re mad!” When Zhang Huihui saw Fangzheng jump with a kick of his foot, she turned appalled. She extended her hand, hoping to stop him but failed. Soon, Fangzheng had jumped down.

Little Seven was dumbfounded. “Could Big Brother die from the fall?”

Fangzheng’s crazy actions gave the others a fright. All of them leaned over the railing to look down before they drew a collective gasp.

The embankment five meters tall did not seem to exist to the monk. He fluttered down like a martial arts expert on television. And like a rock, he slammed heavily into the ground! The sound left everyone’s scalp tingle. This was maniacal! Most frightening of all, not only did he not break his leg from the fall, he was completely fine as he ran straight for the riverside.

Upon seeing this, everyone felt that the world had gone crazy…

“Hey, even the big dog jumped down!” Little Seven suddenly exclaimed.