The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

The voice was extremely loud as a commotion could be heard from a bit further down the mountain. People made way as someone seemed to be squeezing their way up.

Fangzheng had been planning on leaving, but when he heard the shout, he subconsciously came to a halt. He turned around and looked down the mountain where he saw two men and a woman slowly walking over from the crowd. The man wasn’t tall, but his eyes showed that he had been through a lot. His hair was somewhat grizzled and his skin sallow. Behind him was another man who kept coughing as he walked. The woman beside him looked as though her heart was aching for him.

Fangzheng frowned. He only needed to glance at the trio to know what ‘illnesses’ they had. The man with sallow skin was a classic case of someone feigning sickness. The coughing man only had the flu, while the woman wasn’t ill at all. The fact that they shouted for help despite not having any serious problems made it more than obvious that something was fishy.

Fangzheng narrowed his eyes and thought, “Hehe. Are you giving something to This Penniless Monk to do because you think This Penniless Monk is too free? Fine! This Penniless Monk wants to see what games you are up to.”

Upon seeing Fangzheng stop, the crowd automatically opened up a narrow path for the trio. They squeezed their entire way over and looked at Fangzheng. The man with the sallow skin shouted. “Abbot Fangzheng, help! My brother began having a high fever this morning, and it didn’t subside all day. He also keeps coughing. I’m afraid he’s about to die. Please take a look at him.”

As that was said, the coughing man immediately coughed twice.

Upon seeing the trio, a doctor stood up. “You just have a cold, right? Can’t you buy some medicine? Why must you come all the way up the mountain?”

The doctors were all rather pissed. They had worked hard for two to three days and finally earned the tickets to the lecture. It felt like a tremendous loss if the lecture was even one minute shorter. They yearned for Fangzheng to not eat or rest, giving them a twenty-four hour lecture. But the fact remained that there was a break at noon. They were feeling bitter, hoping that Fangzheng could finish his break early and start class early.

But here came three people to mess things up and waste time. Who wouldn’t be anxious as a result?

Indeed, the other doctors added. “It’s only a cold. Can’t you head down the mountain and take some medicine?”

“What do you mean it’s only a cold? Isn’t a cold an illness? Can’t an untreated cold kill? You want us to go down to take medicine? If some self-medication is all it takes, what use are you doctors in the first place?” the sallow-skinned man immediately shouted.

The moment that was said, everyone’s face turned red. This guy was there to cause trouble!

“Why would you say that? If you don’t wish to be treated down the mountain, I’ll treat you. Don’t stop Abbot Fangzheng from having his break,” an elderly doctor stepped forward.

The woman from the trio immediately said eccentrically, “Are you a doctor just because you call yourself one? If you’re that impressive, why are you here attending a lecture? We naturally want to find the best doctor! Are your medical skills better than Abbot Fangzheng’s?”

Upon hearing that, the elderly doctor’s breathing clearly sped up. Yet, the woman’s words shut his mouth. Who would dare claim to have better medical skills than Fangzheng after hearing his lecture? Others might find it amusing if someone outside of their field said it, but if a fellow professional were to say that in front of everyone, it would be a truly shameless act.

“Who do you think you are? Must Abbot Fangzheng treat you just because you demand it? Why are you so impressive? Why don’t you just die?” someone in the crowd shouted, no longer able to watch it any further.

“Who are you? Did we ask for your opinion? Why are you interrupting us?” The woman’s tongue was sharp as she immediately shouted back.

The person was also peeved, and he similarly didn’t have a small temper. He nearly rolled up his sleeves to beat her up.

On the woman’s side, she had the numbers, so she naturally didn’t back down. Just as the situation was about to devolve into a brawl, a Buddhist proclamation sounded.

“Amitabha!”

Upon hearing the Buddhist proclamation, everyone subconsciously fell silent because they knew that Fangzheng was there.

Everyone looked at Fangzheng and saw that he was standing high above them on the white staircase. His white monk robes were as white as snow, and he was as sacred as a Buddha. Everyone’s eyes lit up as they thought, “What a pure monk!”

“Abbot Fangzheng, you have finally spoken. These nobodies keep speaking, but it’s not like we were consulting them.” The woman’s tongue was very vicious, easily infuriating everyone with her words.

Someone immediately flared up. “Woman, don’t think you can speak nonsense just because you are a woman! If it wasn’t for Abbot Fangzheng, I’d have f**king ripped you to shreds already!”

The person who spoke was a swarthy man who had short hair. He spoke crudely, but he didn’t look like a bad person.

Upon seeing his face, the woman sneered. “Oh, so you think you’re so impressive? You want to beat me up? Try it with all these people watching!”

The sallow-skinned man also shouted. “That’s right. Beat us if you have what it takes!”

The swarthy man’s face flushed red as he pointed at them. “Don’t… Don’t you go too far!”

“So what if we do? Don’t you want to beat someone? Aren’t you impressive? Aren’t you capable? Come on! Beat me! If you have what it takes, beat me!” The sick man pointed at his head as he cocked his head over, clamoring in the process.

When the swarthy man saw this, he subconsciously took a step back and shouted. “What are you doing? Don’t force me to beat you!”

“F**k, you’ve already talked big enough, now come on and hit me already! Try it!” the sick man, sallow-skinned man, and the woman came close and pointed at their faces to allow the swarthy man to hit them.

But who would dare do that with so many people watching? Just a touch could cause them to fall to the ground. There would be no way of explaining that. Therefore, the swarthy man kept retreating because of the trio. His face was flushed red as his fists were clenched tightly, but he didn’t dare take action.

At this moment, a pearly-white fist extended over as everyone saw it slam down from above.

Like striking watermelons—Dong! Dong! Dong!

There were three dull thuds.

The aggressive trio crouched down, holding their heads, tears welling in their eyes from the pain.

The woman held her head, jumped up, and looked around. “Who was it? Who was it that beat me?”

Everyone subconsciously looked behind her.

The woman, the sallow-skinned man, and the sick man looked over and saw a bald monk smiling at them. The monk asked lightly, “Patrons, the three of you are truly interesting. Since you requested them to beat you, and This Penniless Monk realized that this patron is lacking in strength and might not satisfy you, This Penniless Monk decided to help him. How was it? Did it feel good? Was it comfortable?”