The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

“What’s that sound?” Many people present were mostly foreign doctors or reporters who had never heard about One Finger Monastery’s drum and bell.

“These are One Finger Monastery’s bell and drum. Have you never heard of a monastery’s morning and evening gongs?” Dog Song smugly flaunted his tiny bit of knowledge.

When the reporters heard that, they blushed. One of them shouted. “I know about that, but a lot of monasteries have cancelled this practice because of complaints from the surrounding residents. I never expected I’d be able to hear it here. Furthermore, it sounds beautiful.”

“If all morning and evening gongs are like this sound, I can only say that the complainers are crazy!” someone mumbled.

“You are overthinking things. I’ve heard the gongs from other places, and they don’t sound nearly as nice as this,” someone explained.

With this topic raised, many people began discussing it. Meanwhile, they had a first clear impression of One Finger Monastery. This was a monastery with a pleasant bell and drum gong that made people reflect.

Just as the discussion reached its peak, someone shouted. “Abbot Fangzheng is here!”

Everyone instantly felt pumped when they heard that. Having suffered the cold all night, they finally saw the person in question. Hence, all of them craned their necks and raised their cameras, hoping to get first-hand information.

Although Fangzheng had been on television a few times, making it easy to find audiovisual information about him, this time was different. Fangzheng’s appearance this time shouldered the mission of rescuing China’s TCM. If it turned out that it was all just a farce, it would definitely be breaking news! Of course, the reporters also knew that TCM wouldn’t perish in a day or two even without Fangzheng’s appearance. TCM was like a lush tree. In ancient times, it had been a towering tree with deep roots. However, in recent years, due to various reasons such as self-impediment or external suppression, as well as the nation and people’s indifference, this tree had begun to wither, dropping leaves every few days…

And this time, the defeat of the three sages as well as a large batch of doctors was like a forceful kick to the tree which had few leaves left. Lots of leaves fell all at once, accelerating the death of the tree. But even so, TCM wouldn’t vanish that easily.

However, this was no doubt a warning, a signal which made everyone in China notice the precarious situation TCM was in. It also pulled everyone’s attention to TCM, letting them experience the pain of the imminent vanishing of a part of their culture! The loss of TCM would be a loss of culture, honor, and dignity. The pain that caused was like a stab in the heart!

It was especially terrifying and astonishing to people when they realized that TCM, which they previously thought little of, was not only dying, but it was in a terminal stage, and it almost couldn’t be rescued! TCM had seen important parts of its heritage terminated, with countless manuals and compendiums lost, and it was unlucrative which made few people wish to learn this extremely tedious trade. Compared to the rapidly advancing Western medicine, how could it compete?

Everyone suddenly realized that the death of TCM was a misunderstood conundrum.

In fact, even if Fangzheng had stepped forward by himself, perhaps no one would have bothered with him. However, when he was highly recommended by the three sages and a bunch of famous doctors, things were different. These people provided enough strength to push Fangzheng to a particular height, making everyone place their hopes on him. Likewise, if he were to fail as well… Trust wasn’t something that could be provided in infinite amounts. Once trust was gone, irreversible destruction was near. Therefore, at this moment, it wasn’t an exaggeration to describe Fangzheng as the hope of TCM.

Fangzheng was also stunned by this scene. He had believed that his third seminar wouldn’t have too many people either, but the opposite was the case! The numerous heads looking at him left his scalp tingling. He hurriedly swept his Heavenly Eye, hoping to get some merit if there was anyone unlucky enough to fall. Unfortunately, there was nothing.

Fangzheng walked into the crowd. This time, he didn’t perform his floating on water act. With so many people around, posturing would only lead to problems. Since the people were there and he was equipped with true capability, why should he have any fear?

Hence Fangzheng openly walked to the area in front of the crowd. Red Boy immediately brought over a chair, and Fangzheng sat on it. Red Boy stood beside him like a boy attendant. With this duo looking especially good, the scene looked picturesque.

Seeing the calm pair, everyone felt something in them as they quietened down.

With the first ray of sunshine appearing, Song Yuhe tensed up. He knew that when the sunlight appeared in its full glory, Fangzheng would begin his seminar. Everything depended on that moment!

Indeed, once the sunlight reached Fangzheng, he slowly opened his eyes. Without wasting time on pleasantries, he immediately started.

“A medical practitioner, a humane person. A humane person is a person of love. The love of all people in the world just like that of friends and family. A medical practitioner’s love is directed at all. Hence, to become a doctor, one should have an open and magnanimous heart, and not deliberately seal oneself off to only see what is right in front. In ancient times, medicine was never split between Chinese and Western. This is a construct made by people in later times. Why would things meant to save lives be split into categories that deem them superior or inferior? Why not be one and the same to save lives?”

Fangzheng languidly said a few sentences before going into the meat of the topic. He began to talk about various schools of medicine, including TCM, Western medicine, as well as the medical theories of other countries and regions. Then he inferred forwards and backwards, before putting forth a conclusion. All of what he said indicated that either all medicine shared the same origins or all medicine shared a common endpoint. He proved that all medicine shared the same roots, so it was unnecessary to have categories. Following that, he began providing solutions based on certain illnesses and how they could be combined using different medical techniques.

Upon hearing this, many doctors had their eyes lit up. They had originally written off the words in the beginning as nothing but pleasantries and thought nothing of them. They looked at Fangzheng as though he was a cheat, but when they realized that many thorny ailments could be easily resolved via the combination of various medical techniques, all of them immediately revered him like a god!

Those who were listening had their eyes light up as they ravenously absorbed the information provided to them. However, the ones standing on the mountain road were in misery. Fangzheng’s voice wasn’t loud, and with the obstruction of the Frost Bamboo, the sound that reached their ears was even softer. Compounded by the northwestern wind, it was even more impossible for them to hear anything clearly. Furthermore, the people inside were silent. There wasn’t any response or applause, so they had no idea what the situation inside was like, or how well Fangzheng’s oration was.

Since they couldn’t enter or hear anything, it was inevitable that they felt pissed and angry when suffering the cold winds.

After about one to two hours without as much as a stir inside, someone said unhappily, “What’s that monk saying? It’s supposed to be a seminar, but he didn’t bring a microphone or amplifier. Is he actually trying to prevent us from listening?”

“There’s not a single applause. Could they have fallen asleep from his delivery?”

“Perhaps.”

“This monk probably isn’t reliable.”

“If not for all the people blocking up the road, I’d really wish to head home.”

“Me too…”

As everyone was discussing, there was a stir down the mountain. Someone cried. “The pimp has brought his illegitimate child!”

No one understood what was happening at first. What pimp? What illegitimate child?

Everyone tiptoed to look down and happened to see Park Changmin walking up with Park Mintae. However, they couldn’t continue as they were blocked by the huge crowd below! They seemed to be arguing with the crowd, but unfortunately, no one made way for them. All the duo could do was stay there and suffer the cold winds.

When everyone saw this, they chuckled and said, “Let them enter. Get them stuck in the middle and let them freeze.”

The moment this was said, someone immediately responded. Park Changmin had no idea what these people were up to. Believing that they had seen the light, he and Park Mintae walked forward with a livid expression. But about ten meters in, the people behind them closed up, and the people in front barred them from moving forward. Park Changmin and Park Mintae were stunned. What was the meaning of this?

Park Mintae hurriedly communicated with the people in front, but they all refused to make way. Park Mintae wished to return, only to have the people behind refuse to make way as well. Hence, they were stuck in the middle. After squabbling a bit more, Park Mintae was held back by Park Changmin. He knew that it was meaningless to argue with these people at the moment. All they could do was wait.

This situation continued for an hour.

In this hour, people from down the mountain brought over hand warmers. Everyone had one as the people chatted jovially in warmth.

As for Park Changmin and Park Mintae, they could only tremble in a corner. Park Changmin was still alright. He had his eyes closed, and although he was cold, he didn’t reveal any unsightly side of him. He maintained his demeanor as a master and upon seeing this scene, the people by the side couldn’t help but be impressed by his fortitude. However, they still had a few tricks up their sleeves. The people below went down the mountain to get some warm water. The people on the mountain then drank the warm water as they used hand-warmers to agitate the trembling duo.

After waiting a while, Park Mintae finally couldn’t stand it any further. He roared. “Fangzheng! We’re here! You’re capable of making me pregnant, but you’re not capable of facing our challenge?”

Park Mintae only shouted as a result of his rashness, but his shout was loud, and he regretted it immediately! His intention had been conveyed, sure, but there were things he shouldn’t have said.

His words of course echoed in the mountains, and they reached all the way to the mountainside!

His message was repeated constantly: “Fangzheng! We’re here! You’re capable of making me pregnant…”

The rest was no longer clear, but this was enough to stir everyone on the mountain. They began gossiping over the words, ignoring whatever was said after that.

When Fangzheng, who was getting more and more pumped from delivering his seminar, suddenly heard this shout, he was stumped. Others might not understand what the words meant, but he did! But the problem was that others didn’t! Something bad was about to happen!

Indeed, Fangzheng paused, causing everyone below him to snap to their senses. They happened to hear the echo, and all of them looked at Fangzheng with an odd look, as though they were saying: “Master, we never expected you’d be such a person!”