The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

When Salted Fish saw this, he grabbed the bowl and began eating. He opened his mouth wide and didn’t even seem to chew. In just a few mouthfuls, he finished the huge bowl of rice. Then he placed the bowl down and looked diagonally at Squirrel, indicating that he had finished everything.

Squirrel looked at the bowl before looking at Salted Fish. Then, he grinned and left.

At that moment, Monkey put a rice ball the size of a fist on the table and said, “From the looks of it, you don’t need this.”

“I need it!” Salted Fish nearly cried out subconsciously before grabbing it and finishing it on the spot!

“I still have this. Want it?” Lone Wolf suddenly looked up.

Just as Salted Fish was about to express his desire for it, he suddenly realized something. The fellow in front of him was a little problematic! He didn’t have hands, and his paws weren’t that nimble. How could he make a rice ball? More importantly, this fellow’s paws were used to run across the ground. When he peed, he used his paws to dig and bury too…

With this in mind, Salted Fish, who had started nodding, immediately twirled his head and shook it.

However, it was too late. Lone Wolf placed his huge rice basin on the table with his mouth and said, “There’s still a bit left. I couldn’t bear to eat it.”

Salted Fish’s face turned ashen when he looked down. Indeed, there was still some left. The rice was laid flat at the bottom and sides of the rice basin. To eat the rice, he would have to lick it all up! Instead of calling it eating, it was more like he’d be washing the thing.

Salted Fish hurriedly shook his head. “There’s no need. I’m very full.”

“Are you really not eating it?” Lone Wolf asked suspiciously.

Salted Fish shook his head repeatedly.

Lone Wolf licked his lips. “Great, I’m still not full anyway.” Then he clamped down on the rice basin with his mouth and placed it on the ground to eat…

Upon seeing this scene, Salted Fish didn’t make any snide remarks for the first time. It was also for the first time that he realized such a crude way of eating and such a classless bowl were pretty good.

After returning to the Heavenly Dragon Pond, Salted Fish didn’t frolic around. Instead, he floated on the water surface and thought over his life.

In fact, despite having spent some time in Mt. One Finger now, he always treated himself as an outsider. He kept having dreams of being an ancestor like he had been on Mount Numinous and always felt that he was superior to everyone present. He was extremely picky to everyone in the monastery, always finding fault with this and that.

He had no sense of empathy when Squirrel made a mistake. Instead, he watched with amusement.

But after what happened tonight, he felt stirred. He didn’t know if he had gained new insights into something or if he had turned sanguine over some of the scriptures the Buddha had preached in the past. But in any case, he seemed to have understood something and felt a faint warmth flow in his heart. It was warm and comforting.

“Why haven’t I felt this feeling before? How magical.” Salted Fish mumbled.

Inside the monastery, Squirrel sat on Lone Wolf’s head and looked at Red Boy making a snowman. He scratched his head and asked, “Eldest Senior Brother, Fourth Junior Brother, why do you think Patron Ma lent them the money despite knowing that she wasn’t someone good? Wasn’t he just asking for it?”

Red Boy curled his lips and said, “There are some people who aren’t worthy of pity. They deserve suffering for being a goody two shoes.”

Squirrel frowned as he looked up into the sky and mumbled. “But I feel that things would be nice if I had such a relative.”

The moment he said that, Red Boy and Lone Wolf were taken aback. On careful thought, they would also rather enjoy having such a relative.

At that moment, Fangzheng’s voice sounded. “Amitabha. When did it come to the point where doing a good deed makes one the target of ridicule?”

As he spoke, Fangzheng pushed the door open, and he walked out as he looked at his three disciples with a smile.

Red Boy said stubbornly, “Master, I didn’t say anything wrong. Wasn’t Patron Ma being a fool? He knew very well that she wasn’t a reliable person, but he still lent them the money.”

Fangzheng shook his head and said, “He is foolish, but This Penniless Monk wouldn’t mind having more of such foolish relatives. Do you have one? If you have some, give This Penniless Monk a set of them.”

Red Boy was stunned. Thinking back to the people around him, he had none of such friends and family! Instantly, Red Boy felt a little envious of Ma Jiangping and understood what Fangzheng meant to a tiny extent.

Fangzheng continued. “Patron Ma is different from many people. He left his family and lived alone from a young age. He didn’t start a family and is a lonely bachelor. As such, his character has turned rather solitary. But it’s precisely such people who desire familial ties and recognition. Ma Jiangping and company might not be good people, but Patron Ma still tried hard to maintain the relationship. It’s just that he didn’t realize it himself.

“People who wear their hearts on their sleeves are forever worthy of respect. Even if they receive nothing good in return, the fault is on the other party. We shouldn’t blame the good, but the bad. We should help the good and punish the bad. We want more people like Lame Ma and fewer people like Ma Jiangping. That is justice.”

Red Boy, Squirrel, and Lone Wolf fell into deep thought.

After an uneventful night, the sky gradually brightened amid the gongs of the bell and drum the next day.

Fangzheng got his disciples to clean up the monastery and the snow that had clogged up the mountain trail again. He, on the other hand, descended the mountain.

While walking down, Fangzheng silently contacted the System. “System, can I try my luck at the draw?”

“Of course. You did very well this time. You used public opinion to spread good. It had far-reaching influence and subtly changed many people’s understanding of public opinion, indirectly saving many people! Therefore, there was quite a lot of merit involved this time. If you try your luck now, you should be able to get something good,” the System said.

Fangzheng’s eyes lit up when he heard that as he hurriedly said, “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s do it!”

“Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained a new divine power—Solicit Donations!”

“Eh… Solicit Donations? That’s also a divine power?” Fangzheng nearly blew up when he heard that! Wasn’t soliciting donations just a euphemism for begging for food? He really wished to beat up the System.

The System chuckled and said, “What? Thinking lowly of it? I can take it back if you don’t like it.”

“This…” Fangzheng stared blankly ahead of him. Had he been cheated? This wasn’t in accordance with the System’s usual modus operandi. Weren’t the System’s products all excellent? He shouldn’t be losing out according to his past experiences!

“Do you accept it or not? If not, I’ll take it back,” the System said languidly.

Fangzheng hurriedly exclaimed. “I do! Of course I accept!”

“You will thank me. Hehe.” The next moment, an introduction to the divine power flashed in his mind. After reading it, Fangzheng beamed with a wide grin. “Haha! So that’s how it is. I see. Excellent, truly excellent. This is good stuff! Uh, but why is there a footnote?”

After reaching the footnote, Fangzheng’s smile froze. But on second thought, he shook his head and said, “Forget it. It’s still not too bad.”

With that said, Fangzheng happily proceeded down the mountain and came to Lame Ma’s place.

“Abbot Fangzheng, where are we going?” Lame Ma followed behind Fangzheng and asked curiously.