The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Once Fangzheng was ready, Tang Shi suddenly cried out. “Master, I forgot to tell you that I’m interviewing you in a purely personal capacity. I’ll be turning on a livestream. Hehe.”

Fangzheng immediately broke out into a cold sweat when he heard that. A livestream? He wasn’t prepared for that! Although he felt a little worried, he already had a strategy in place. He smiled and said, “Amitabha.”

Everyone took that as an indication that they could begin. Hence, the reporters began to ask their questions.

“Abbot Fangzheng, might I ask how you entered during the incident with Wang Dayou? Didn’t the police stop you back then?” a reporter asked.

Fangzheng smiled. “This Penniless Monk walked in, and it’s true that the police didn’t stop me.”

“Abbot Fangzheng, why didn’t the police stop you? Did you communicate beforehand?” a reporter continued asking.

Fangzheng shook his head and said, “This Penniless Monk isn’t sure either. Perhaps, they didn’t see me.”

At the same time, Tang Shi’s livestream chat instantly erupted.

“Holy sh*t, is this monk not drafting his lies? Who could possibly not see him in his bright white robes?”

“That’s right. Especially when there were so many spotlights. How blind would the police have to be not to see him?”

“Erh, can I ask a question? Who is this monk? He’s rather handsome, and the background is quite beautiful.”

“You don’t know him? Uh, to be honest, I’m not too sure either. Can someone else explain?”

“This person is Mt. One Finger’s One Finger Monastery’s Abbot Fangzheng. He’s a godly monk. You can search about his feats online. There’s quite a number of them, and many of them are inexplicable…”

With this person mentioning this, many people searched around a bit out of curiosity, only to be shocked. Things like crossing the river on a reed, Wang Dayou’s incident, Fangzheng’s cameo in a movie, Li Xueying’s visit—all sorts of things were found. Instantly, everyone stopped discussing the news and began talking about Fangzheng, Mt. One Finger, and One Finger Monastery.

…

As for the police who caught wind of this, they switched on their computers to watch the livestream. All of their faces turned ashen when they heard what Fangzheng said, and they felt like standing up to scream “We really didn’t see him!”.

However, thinking back to how their boss had lied about the matter, it wasn’t right for them to expose the truth. Hence, all of them chose to shut up. Yet they looked at Fangzheng with odd expressions, changing their comments to: “This monk sure isn’t nice. He clearly used other means to enter, but he made us take the rap.”

…

The reporters were also rendered speechless by Fangzheng’s answer. But on second thought, they realized the commander must have tacitly acquiesced to Fangzheng’s entry.

Hence, this matter passed.

Tang Shi asked, “Abbot Fangzheng, concerning yesterday’s most shocking wedding, do you know about Chen Danian’s sudden standing up?”

Fangzheng nodded and said, “Yes.”

Tang Shi continued. “According to Chen Danian, he came to Mt. One Finger to seek treatment and you were the one who treated his legs. Might I ask how you did it? How did you make a man who had been disabled for so many years walk again?”

Fangzheng thought and said, “This Penniless Monk got him to fetch water. When there was nothing to do, This Penniless Monk massaged his legs and did some acupuncture. Actually, it was nothing.”

The reporters felt a dark cloud hanging over their heads when they heard this, thinking, “This monk sure isn’t nice! Does he really not think when he’s lying or does he think we’re brainless?”

The audience felt the same as they kept clamoring at how nasty the monk was.

The reporters refused to give up as a male reporter asked, “Then, can you explain Chen Danian’s condition from a medical standpoint?”

The moment that was said, many reporters secretly gave him a big thumbs up. This was a good question! They would be able to tell if Fangzheng was bragging or bullshitting by his answer to this question. There wouldn’t be any problem if he answered professionally, but otherwise? Humph!

The reporters all looked at Fangzheng with a nasty smile. They wished to see panic on his face. However, Fangzheng didn’t panic. Instead, he smiled!

Fangzheng didn’t respond to the question, but he turned his head and said, “Jingxin, bring a chair over.”

Red Boy hurriedly ran off and brought a chair, placing it behind Fangzheng. Then Fangzheng sat down with Jingxin by the side like a child attendant. With the two together, the master was handsome while the disciple was cute. Matched with the absolutely beautiful background, not only did the reporters take pictures for remembrance, even the audience in the livestream began taking screenshots.

Someone even said, “Although this monk is up to no good, his disciple sure is cute!”

“Yeah. Indeed. His character isn’t much, but he looks good.”

“A woman like me is already drooling…”

“Make way. I’m licking the screen…”

…

Fangzheng shot a glance at Red Boy and ruffled his head. “Go get a folding stool as well.”

Red Boy looked at Fangzheng and saw a nefarious smile in his calm eyes. With his understanding of Fangzheng, he knew that some people were going to be in trouble!

With that, Jing Yan suddenly raised her hand and asked, “Abbot Fangzheng, can I borrow a stool?”

Having interacted with Fangzheng several times, although she knew that Fangzheng was a godly monk, he was definitely not an accomplished monk! A godly monk was a monk who performed miracles, while an accomplished monk was Zen-like, with a heart as vast as the oceans. In Jing Yan’s eyes, Fangzheng was a miraculous monk. But although he was miraculous, his character was like that of a big boy-next-door. He was radiant, simple, and honest, but he was a little naughty. This naughtiness had nothing to do with the evilness of a bad person, but an adorable kind of naughtiness. With her understanding of Fangzheng, she knew that the stool would not be for nothing. Hence she quickly asked for one.

The other reporters had no idea what Fangzheng was planning, with each of them holding their cameras and raising their microphones, pointing all of their equipment at Fangzheng. They believed that Fangzheng was just trying to delay answering.

The male reporter turned anxious and asked, “Abbot Fangzheng, can you answer the question?”

Fangzheng smiled and said, “Amitabha. No rush. This Penniless Monk will answer once the preparations are done.”

The male reporter rolled his eyes. Just as he was about to say something, a gust of the northeastern winds blew, filling his mouth with cold air. It immediately left him trembling. He subconsciously tightened his down jacket and thought, “How could I not be anxious? Who wouldn’t want to finish the interview quickly in this darn winter cold and return to the embrace of a heater?”

Thankfully, Red Boy came and went like the wind, and Jing Yan made huge strides, so the two returned quickly.

Red Boy was holding his own folding stool and a big stool. Jing Yan also followed behind him with two chairs.

Only then did the reporters realize that these stools, chairs, and folding stools were of extraordinary quality! They had clearly been made of the famous Frost Bamboo, and they were aesthetically excellent! Thinking of how the price of Frost Bamboo rose exponentially with the aesthetic quality, all of the reporters’ eyes lit up, thinking, “This monk sure is rich.”

Red Boy put down the folding stool and took his seat. Jing Yan also placed the chairs down and sat on one, giving the other to her cameraman, Old Miao. Then she handed the one Red Boy had brought to Tang Shi. Tang Shi was afraid that it would be cold in the beginning and didn’t wish to sit on it. But upon second thought, she decided to take a seat.

Fangzheng noticed this, realizing that Jing Yan’s relationship with Tang Shi was surprisingly great.

With everyone seated, Fangzheng cleared his throat and said, “Since everyone is asking, this Penniless Monk shall give a simple explanation. In fact, the crux of Patron Chen’s condition was… #$%#…”