The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

“Formless Door: When others open it, it is an ordinary door. When you open it, however, it will randomly open up a formless space. Once you step through, you will appear anywhere in the world. Of course, if you dislike it, I can take it away.”

“Not at all!” Fangzheng’s heart palpitated when he heard that, and he shouted out. He could appear anywhere in the world by stepping through the door? Wasn’t this a spatial door that allowed teleportation? This was basically the best traveling tool! Even if his destination was random, it was better than staying cooped up in Mt. One Finger, right?

“It’s good you do not dislike it. I’ll be taking away that crappy door of yours. You don’t benefit from it anyway. In addition, I should remind you that the Formless Door is not used for nothing. There are missions attached.”

“There are missions?” With the Formless Door, he naturally did not care for the original door. But what the heck were those missions?

“Every time you activate the Formless Door, it will choose a mission for you. Without fail, there will be a mission waiting for you to complete it wherever you appear. As long as you finish the corresponding mission, the Formless Door will allow you to return. If not, you can walk back alone.”

Fangzheng smiled without a care. He never spurned having too many System missions! It was equivalent to free merit. He might as well take it!

With Jing Yan and Li Xueying helping Qin Xiao secretly, her living standards rapidly improved. Perhaps it was due to the change in her standard of living, her mood turned for the better. Qin Xiao once again found the reason to live on. She began working hard and standing up and gradually, she could actually stand!

As for Li Xueying’s help, it was only temporary. Nonetheless, through her diligent studies, Qin Xiao finally managed to learn how to operate an online store, a good one at that. She no longer used photos provided by her neighbors. She learned photography, Photoshop, web design, etc. by herself. This resulted in thriving sales as her days got better.

One day, Fangzheng received Qin Jun’s call. After they chatted for a long while, Qin Jun chuckled, “Thank you, Fake Daddy. Mommy finally doesn’t cry daily anymore.”

Fangzheng was taken aback before he smiled wryly. He believed he had been fooling the child, but after all this while, it turned out the little guy was the one fooling him.

Fangzheng still asked out of curiosity, “Since when have you known of it?”

“Sorry, I… I always knew.”

“Then why did you do that?”

“My father has always been living in my heart. Although Mommy did not say so, I knew… I cannot have a father beside me, but Mommy can’t not have Daddy. I wanted her to stand up again. I know what I did was not right. I was only giving it a try…”

Fangzheng could not help but smile wryly in his heart. He thought that it was all a result of his hard work, but he never imagined that all of it had been planned by this little kid. It wasn’t surprising. A five-year-old like him should have known quite a lot, yet he had made such a seemingly silly mistake? Would he really not be able to tell his father’s voice? And he had remained adamant despite being rejected once, then twice and so on.

Fangzheng did not bother pursuing the details. It was sufficient as long as the family could walk out of its darkest days.

However, Qin Jun would still call Fangzheng occasionally. He would talk about school, how he made games with his friends and learned singing.

Fangzheng found it quite interesting to listen to the stories.

However, his peaceful days quickly came to an end. As the news spread that the mountain path had been fixed, with there being better, more beautiful and delicious bamboo at the mountain peak, many people began visiting the mountain. However, they were not there to offer incense and pay their respects to Buddha. Instead, they brought hoes and baskets to dig the bamboo shoots!

Although the bamboo forest and the mountain were Fangzheng’s, he did not have any intention of stopping them. After all, these people were villagers from nearby. They were not greedy. They dug up one or two for their own consumption.

With the passage of time, the news of the delicious Frost Bamboo shoots spread like wildfire. More and more people came!

At the foot of the mountain, a land rover came to a stop. A family alighted as a man carried a huge gunny sack behind him. He cupped his eyes and looked at the mountaintop. “Hehe, this mountain is quite tall.”

“That’s right. It’s here. Second Aunt said that the bamboo was dug from the mountaintop. Look, those villagers are all carrying baskets and hoes. They are likely going up the mountain to dig for bamboo shoots.” The man’s wife was tall and a little burly. However, she had a regular face with her eyes a little hung up, looking like someone who enjoyed petty gains.

The man was not short. He was 185cm, and his body was even more built. The family wore nice clothes and clearly, they were not poor.

“This place is not bad. Hehe, these villagers are really foolish. To think they only get a tiny bit of such delicious bamboo shoots. I’ll let them know what it means to have combat strength!” The man smiled as he shook the snake-skinned bag in his hand.

“I want many bamboo shoots!” Their child was a little fatso. His face was flushed red from clear excitement.

The family had already set off while speaking. On the way, they met several villagers. However, all of them had only dug one or two bamboo shoots to be used for cooking. No one took too many.

“These people are seriously foolish,” mocked a woman as she looked at the villagers.

“That’s right. If not for our house being a distance away, I would dig an entire car’s worth to sell them. I would definitely make a killing selling them! These are the best bamboo shoots I have ever eaten. As long as they’re fried properly, it’s not impossible to sell them at an expensive price,” said the man.

“Enough, Old Zhou. All you know is to brag. If you get too much, you might not even be able to carry it down,” joked the woman.

“Do you think my muscles are for nothing?” Zhou Wu said as he curled his mouth.

The woman was Zhou Wu’s wife, named Ge Yan. Their child’s name was Zhou Wenwu, a name that meant being adept with both the pen and the sword. Zhou Wu had given the child the name to make him unlike him who was only a boor.

The family went up Mt. One Finger. Zhou Wu spotted the distant bamboo forest from a distance away. The lush green bamboo forest shone with emerald-green light under the sun’s illumination, making it look like an otherworldly paradise.

“What beautiful bamboo. No, I have to take a few pictures. I’ll take someone along to chop them to be used for decoration next time,” said Zhou Wu.

“I think so too, but I heard that this bamboo forest belongs to the monastery. You probably need to ask for its permission if you want to chop at it,” said Ge Yan.

Zhou Wu said disparagingly, “Why would permission be needed. He’s a monk. What does he need so much bamboo for? Besides, can he stop me if I want to chop the bamboo?”

Ge Yan thought about it and felt that that was indeed the case. She did not speak any further.

The family ran to the bamboo forest and brandished their farming tools, pulling up one bamboo shoot after another. It was nothing at first but soon, their actions caused unhappiness among the villagers. Zhou Wu dug up a bamboo shoot and after taking a look at it, he said in disdain, “It’s too small!”

Then, he threw it away and continued digging.

“This is too big. It’s probably too old and not delicious. I don’t want it!” He threw it again!

And he dug again…