The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

With that said, Fangzheng turned and walked away.

“No way? Three days without food?” The group of disciples immediately blew up. They exchanged looks and were like cats on hot bricks. This was the prelude to killing a wolf, monkey, squirrel, and a powerful demon!

Monkey couldn’t hold it in as he asked, “Master, are you sure this is Inedia and not Devilish Demon Subduing?”

Fangzheng turned his head and smiled. “Devilish Demon? That’s right. There have been a few lying devils and greedy demons. Let’s take the opportunity to starve them to death!”

With that said, the disciples instantly realized that the darn baldy had seen through their lies!

Squirrel jumped down and whispered. “Senior Brother, Junior Brother, do we continue acting?”

“Act, my ass! We’ve been seen through! If we still continue acting, we will really starve to death,” Red Boy cursed before grumbling. “All of your acting was filled with flaws. Sigh.”

“How can you blame us? It was tiring to suck my stomach in, alright?” Squirrel said in aggrievement.

“Alright, it’s not the time to be talking about this. Don’t you guys also feel that we should do something?” Monkey said.

“Like what?” Squirrel asked.

“Apologize!” Monkey said.

“Apologize? Absolutely impossible!” Lone Wolf suddenly stood up and puffed up his chest. “I’m a mighty alpha wolf! I have my pride! How can I apologize? Impossible!”

“Groan!”

At that moment, Lone Wolf’s stomach protested with a groan.

Lone Wolf ignored it and walked towards Fangzheng’s meditation room with large strides.

“Senior Brother, what are you doing?” Squirrel asked.

Monkey said, “Is it not clear that he has thought things through and is going to try to reason with Master?”

Red Boy said, “If he dares to try reasoning with Master for more than an hour, I’ll respect him for being a true man.”

The moment he said that, they saw Lone Wolf suddenly prostrate himself at the door, wailing. “Master, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have lied! You know me, I’m not that smart and scheming. The idea was all theirs. It had nothing to do with me…”

“What the f**k!” Red Boy, Monkey, and Squirrel, who were filled with expectation, cursed in unison. They never expected that the usually silly dog whose only redeeming trait was loyalty would actually betray them in one move! All of them immediately added their opinion. “Shameless!”

Then all of them exchanged looks before taking a wide step forward, regardless of the lengths of their legs. All of them ran over and began kneeling and kowtowing as they yelled, “Master, it was Senior Brother’s idea. It had nothing to do with us! Who would dare lead the operation unless approved by Eldest Senior Brother?” All of them pointed fingers at Lone Wolf!

Lone Wolf, who was still feeling a little pleased with his own intelligence, was instantly dumbfounded. This was the prelude to them sentencing him to death for something he hadn’t done.

“All of your dinners are canceled!” Fangzheng’s voice sounded from the meditation room. It was one filled with sternness. All of them felt disconsolate and after a while, they scattered, grumbling as they walked away.

“I already said we shouldn’t be up to any tricks. If we had just asked for more, we might have received more.” Squirrel touched his belly. He had needed to suck in his stomach previously, but now, it looked like it had really flattened from hunger.

“I already said that any tricks we used had to be brilliant. The lot of you can’t act. Sigh. It’s no wonder I’m the one in charge of lying all the time,” Red Boy said as he shook his head. He was completely disappointed in his senior brothers.

Lone Wolf shot a glance at the two. “I think Master isn’t only angry about this.”

Monkey said, “Master is angry?”

Lone Wolf nodded. “Yeah. I can sense it. Usually, he’s only teasing us, but this time, he’s really angry. Did we go overboard?”

“All we wanted to do was to eat a little more. There’s no need to be angry to that extent, right?” Squirrel said.

Red Boy said, “Probably not… He’s not that petty a person. He would usually just punish us right on the spot, but what’s the meaning of him closing the door this time and sulking in his room?”

Monkey shrugged, indicating his bafflement.

Fangzheng did not come out the entire night. Monkey secretly went over to ask, but he was ignored by Fangzheng. Red Boy gave Fangzheng a serving of bamboo shoots, but he didn’t eat it…

With Fangzheng not eating, the mood in the monastery turned tense.

Lone Wolf was the first to stop eating. Monkey followed suit. As Red Boy pondered if he should fast, Squirrel carried a pine nut and looked at Lone Wolf before turning his gaze to Monkey and Red Boy. He lowered the pine nut he had raised to his mouth and finally, went back to his nest to sleep while mumbling. “You can’t be hungry while you sleep… Master probably won’t be angry anymore when we wake up tomorrow.”

Before daybreak the next day, Fangzheng rubbed his tummy. He was really hungry after having not eaten last night.

However, Fangzheng didn’t regret it. His disciples’ actions had indeed left him fuming! As for why he was so serious this time, Fangzheng didn’t say it out loud. He wanted his disciples to think about it themselves and reflect on their actions.

After pushing open the door, Fangzheng was taken aback.

He saw Lone Wolf, Squirrel, Monkey, and Red Boy standing or sitting in a row from left to right. They were pitifully waiting by the door for him.

Fangzheng shot a glance at Squirrel’s tummy which was rising and falling. It was obvious that he wasn’t sucking in his stomach, yet his tummy had shrunk and from the looks of it, he was famished. Looking at his disciples, Fangzheng’s heart pained. This made him remember Zen Master One Finger. Back when he would commit a mistake, what would Zen Master One Finger do?

With this in mind, Fangzheng suddenly laughed.

Upon seeing him laugh, his disciples immediately heaved a sigh of relief. The gloomy clouds were finally gone. They hadn’t woken up so early for nothing!

Only then did Fangzheng say, “Jingxin, boil some water. We will be having dumplings for breakfast.”

Red Boy was delighted when he heard that, nearly jumping up in the process. He became diligent and didn’t try to shirk his responsibilities. He responded and immediately ran to the kitchen.

Lone Wolf, Monkey, and Squirrel immediately looked at Fangzheng nervously. All of them wore looks of excitement.

Fangzheng smiled. “Jingkuan and Jingfa, prepare some timber. Jingzhen, follow me to strike the drum and bell.”

With Fangzheng giving the orders, the three animals acted without any delay for the first time. Their happy expressions eased Fangzheng’s heart. He opened the monastery’s doors, walked across the Bridge of Helplessness, and looked at the churning clouds above the Heavenly Dragon Pond. Amid this, he seemed to see Zen Master One Finger smiling at him, nodding in the Heavenly Dragon Pond.

Upon seeing this, Fangzheng smiled, thinking, “Master once said that revenge should be taken on the spot, and anger should not be kept overnight. A brand new day should have the old unpleasantness wiped clean. Only then will every day be a happy day. When disciples make mistakes, I shouldn’t harp on it. Be it punishment or anger, the goal is to make them realize their mistakes, so that they don’t do it again. As long as the goal is met, why should I stay angry? A person who brings sunshine and happiness is always better than a person who brings gloom. Such a person will be more welcomed and respected. From the looks of it, that’s really true.”

Monkey struck the bell while Fangzheng struck the drum. However, the sun didn’t appear that day. Instead, dark clouds covered the skies. As the north wind blew, a white swath began falling from the sky.