The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Fangzheng rubbed his nose, losing whatever bit of posturing he had left. He knew himself well. His influence was limited to Songwu County. If he proclaimed that he would be talking about Buddhist scriptures, perhaps he might attract a cloud, but if he was talking about medicine, there probably wouldn’t be a lot of people coming.

Furthermore, he had not really promoted the event. All he had done was inform Song Yuhe and ask him to spread the news. Whether he had was another matter altogether. As for why Fangzheng had sought out Song Yuhe, it was because he wished to use Song Yuhe’s influence in the TCM world to garner a bigger audience.

The moment he thought of Song Yuhe, Fangzheng began thinking. That guy was one of China’s three medical sages after all. Having shown his divine powers, he should have at least talked about it, right? With his influence, there should be quite a number of people, right?

Hence, Fangzheng said, “Probably quite a number?”

“Uh, Master. The amount of people who came is indeed a number, but it’s a pathetic number!” As they spoke, the few of them arrived at the mountainside. Red Boy’s eyes were sharp, so he instantly saw the situation at the One Finger Spring. There were only two people on the empty plateau!

Upon seeing this, Fangzheng blushed. The face-slapping had come too quickly. If he had known this would happen, he would have boasted after making sure of the numbers… Now, it was too late for regret.

Lone Wolf, Squirrel, Monkey, and Red Boy rolled on the floor from laughing. Seeing Fangzheng suffer was not a bad thing for them, considering how they were always the ones being repressed.

“Master, are you still going to give the seminar with only two people in the audience?” Squirrel asked.

Monkey said, “Master, there’s almost no one. You might as well not give it and wait until there’s more listeners?”

Lone Wolf said, “At this point in time, you should act like a man, raise your head proudly, turn around, and walk away.”

Red Boy didn’t say a word as he watched Fangzheng throw punches at them, leaving them grimacing in pain. “Speak less. Follow me. I have my plans.”

Mt. One Finger’s mountainside had never been wide, but it had a spring source, which was the main source of drinking water for Mt. One Finger, named One Finger Spring. When the water flowed out of it, it would form a tiny stream that trickled down Mt. One Finger, forming a tiny waterfall. However, this trickle wasn’t considered a waterfall by many people.

In any case, this stream split the empty area into two. Both sides were empty, fan-shaped pieces of land, and each area could seat about a dozen people. If people squeezed together a bit, the area could fit twenty people. This also meant that the two areas could only accommodate at most forty people in total. Any more, and they would have to sit on the mountain path. But with the Frost Bamboo growing everywhere, forming a natural barrier, one basically couldn’t see a thing from the mountain path.

At that moment, two people were sitting on the plateau.

They were dressed in thick down jackets with hats and face masks. They had even brought hand-warmers. Clearly, they were prepared for Mt. One Finger’s bitter cold.

Sitting on the left was a man with eyes filled with curiosity and desire. He was Xi Liang, who had been the first to climb the mountain two days before. However, due to the many things that happened, he’d lost confidence in Fangzheng and eventually left the mountain. But when he went down the mountain, he realized he was facing a problem. Without a job, he had no source of income!

It wasn’t easy to get hired at one of China’s hospitals, and he couldn’t bring himself to do something else. While he was still at a loss, sitting at home surfing the Internet on his computer, he watched Fangzheng’s livestream once again. The passion in his heart was fanned once again by the video, and he had the thought of verifying if Fangzheng really knew medicine. He wanted to bet on it.

Coincidentally, Song Yuhe came into the picture, chancing upon Xi Liang. Xi Liang recognized him immediately, and with his situation not much better than Song Yuhe’s, they shared the same feeling, forming a pair of people in distress. Since there wasn’t anyone else, he bit the bullet and went up to Song Yuhe. Song Yuhe, meanwhile, wasn’t an arrogant person who ignored others and, after a short conversation, he realized that Xi Liang still held hopes for Mt. One Finger. Hence, he told him about Fangzheng’s seminar. When Xi Liang heard this, he immediately agreed to coming. Song Yuhe had still been lamenting the fact that he was going to be alone, so now with a companion, he no longer felt as fearful.

The two clicked quickly and came to Mt. One Finger before dawn.

Seeing the white-robed Fangzheng from afar, the two of them had mixed feelings in their eyes. It could be said that both of them had entrusted the monk with their futures. Song Yuhe had even bet the entire fate of China’s TCM on him. Naturally, he was extremely concerned.

However, what left the two dumbfounded was that Fangzheng didn’t seem to see them when he arrived. Instead, he went straight to the pond beside the One Finger Spring, leaving them stunned.

They saw Fangzheng jump up and walk on the water surface! As though he was an immortal, once his foot landed, the calm water surface rippled. However, the ripples were like tumultuous waves in their minds that seemed like they could consume the heavenly firmament itself! The two of them stood rooted to the ground in shock, wondering if Fangzheng was a human, Buddha, or ghost.

The water in the pond was crystal clear, and it was very shallow, with a depth of about half a meter. It was obvious that there was nothing underneath. They had even drunk some of the water from it when they arrived, so they would have known if there was anything fishy about the pond. Seeing someone who was able to walk on water left them exchanging looks, and they saw the shock in each other’s eyes.

At this moment, Fangzheng walked straight to the middle of the pond, pressed his palms together, and closed his eyes. He stood there silent.

At this moment, Red Boy jumped onto the water and also walked across the water surface. He came to Fangzheng’s side and like a boy attendant, he reverently stood behind Fangzheng.

Dressed in monk robes, Monkey stood outside the pond while Squirrel sat to the side. Lone Wolf lay down like a Guardian Protector with his majestic body, blending into the background. The only thing that spoiled the scene was a salted fish which also lay there…

The duo imagined that Fangzheng was about to begin, and with them witnessing his walking on water, the two of them no longer dared to treat Fangzheng as an ordinary person. The anticipation in their hearts reached a peak.

Yet, ten minutes passed with Fangzheng remaining silent.

Twenty minutes passed, but Fangzheng still remained silent.

Half an hour later, the duo’s feet were frozen hard, but Fangzheng still didn’t say a word. This left the duo in pain as they waited. With Fangzheng not saying a word or moving, the two naturally didn’t find it right to move either. All they could do was wait.

As the eastern sun finally appeared above the horizon, emitting its endless golden light, all of its light shone on Fangzheng through the bamboo forest’s crevices. In an instant, Fangzheng was draped in a layer of golden frosty light as it seemingly formed a Kasaya around him! The holy feeling he emitted was as if a god or Buddha had descended into the mortal world!