The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

The grounded Lone Wolf, Squirrel, and Monkey exchanged looks as their eyes were filled with envy. Flying! Who wouldn’t want to experience that!? Alas, they could only run back up the mountain themselves.

“Ah!” Fangzheng never expected Red Boy to carry him into the sky without warning. Not only that, they were flying very rapidly! When he looked down, there were undulating mountains beneath his feet. When he opened his mouth, his cheeks puffed up from the wind that entered his mouth, completely changing the shape of his face. It was quite a good feeling, but it was embarrassing to fly in such a manner. However, after a momentary fright, the remaining portion of the flight was quite pleasurable.

“Is this what it feels like to fly? It feels great indeed!” Fangzheng narrowed his eyes and closed his mouth tightly. As he looked ahead, he shouted, “My dear disciple, fly higher!”

Red Boy was feeling pleased when he originally heard Fangzheng screaming at the top of his lungs. This was the first time he had made the darn baldy suffer ever since he came to One Finger Monastery. However, Fangzheng acclimatized after shouting for a moment. Red Boy thought to himself, “Hehe, this darn baldy might be enjoying himself, but I’m not! You want to fly higher? Sure, I’ll bring you flying high into the sky!”

Without saying a word, Red Boy looked up and whooshed towards the clouds with Fangzheng in tow. He quickly reached above the clouds! He thought to himself, “Is this height high enough? I’ll scare you to death, darn baldy!”

However, what left Red Boy depressed was that not only was Fangzheng unafraid, he was looking at his surroundings in pleasant surprise—the sky, the clouds beneath his feet, the starry stars in the sky and the distant moon. It felt like an otherworldly paradise! Fangzheng laughed at that moment. Could other people ever see such a beautiful scene in their lives? It was not possible even from a plane, right?

“He still isn’t afraid?” Red Boy’s brows pricked up. He suddenly let go, letting Fangzheng’s momentum continue bringing him even higher.

But this only left Red Boy devastated. Not only was Fangzheng unafraid, he was dancing in the sky and laughing loudly, “Haha! Would this be considered as me flying by myself? What a big moon. What a beautiful sky of stars! Awesome!”

Red Boy ground his canines. He wished to let the darn baldy plummet to his death when his eyes fell on the White Lunar Monk Robe that Fangzheng was wearing. With that treasure protecting him, there was no way he would die from a fall. When the time came, he would be the one in trouble!

“Do you think a mere robe can deter me? What a joke!” A ferocious glint flashed in Red Boy’s eyes as he opened his mouth and spewed out True Samadhi Fire!

Boom!

Boundless flames spewed out, instantly illuminating the clouds red! In a blink of an eye, Fangzheng was consumed by the True Samadhi Fire with his outcome unknown!

“Darn baldy, let’s see if you die from this!” Red Boy laughed out loud. He spewed even more True Samadhi Fire as it formed a gigantic vortex in the sky, its temperatures rising exponentially! As for how high the temperature was? Red Boy had no idea. But he had a vague impression that the only thing in the world that could withstand his burning was that monkey, Sun Wukong. He had never spewed his flames at Guan Yin Bodhisattva, so he was not sure. However, he refused to believe even if his life was at stake that his True Samadhi Fire would not be able to burn the ordinary monk to death!

But at that moment, a Buddhist proclamation sounded from the flames, “Amitabha. Jingxin, your flames seem quite beautiful. But aren’t you belittling me if you wish to kill me with this trick of yours? Do you have any other tricks?”

“He still isn’t dead? Eat this!” Red Boy roared as he stabbed the flames with a spear, straight for Fangzheng’s head!

“Let’s see which is harder, your head or my spear!” Red Boy yelled as the spearhead stabbed Fangzheng’s bald head. But with a clang and sparks flying, Fangzheng was left unharmed!

“How is this possible?” Red Boy looked at Fangzheng in disbelief. After observing Fangzheng for such a long period of time, he had determined that Fangzheng was only an ordinary human! He was a mighty demon king, yet he was not even capable of killing a normal human? How was this possible?

“My dear disciple, it appears you have used up all your meals. Why don’t I give you a combo?” said Fangzheng with a smile. Although he could not fly and he had not cultivated before, he had the System protecting him. All attacks from Red Boy were ineffective. What was there to be afraid of! This was also why he dared to let Red Boy take him along to fly. Once Fangzheng gave the command, Red Boy felt the golden hoops around his neck, wrist, and ankles emit a Buddhist light. He could not help but sit down in midair as he pressed his palms together. Then lightning bored through his body as he cried out tragically in pain, but he was helpless against it. All he could do was shout, “Master, I was wrong! I know my mistake. I won’t do it again! Spare me please!”

On the other side, Fangzheng was plummeting without the flames spewing at him. However, Fangzheng was not alarmed. Although a fall hurt rather badly, it definitely would not kill him. Therefore, there was nothing much to be afraid of. Fangzheng said with a relaxed expression, “My dear disciple, that was what you said the last time. How do you think I should believe in you?” said Fangzheng with a smile.

“I really know my faults. I will do whatever you say, Master. I will definitely not have any more nefarious thoughts,” Red Boy cried out painfully. No matter how aggrieved he felt, he could only temporarily repress it.

“My dear disciple, This Penniless Monk long since told you that he does not plan on restraining you. However, killing the innocent is absolutely prohibited! Today, you have attempted murder on your master. Won’t you be destroying the world tomorrow?”

“No, I won’t! Even if I have such a thought, I wouldn’t be that emboldened! Master, you are all powerful. Please, spare me this once.” Red Boy was speaking the truth this time. He had used everything at his disposal but was still not Fangzheng’s match. In the future, he would absolutely not act unless he had a perfect plan.

Fangzheng smiled when he heard that, “In that case… Aren’t you going to pull me up!?”

Fangzheng stopped reciting the scriptures as Red Boy instantly regained his freedom. As he watched the plummeting Fangzheng, he sighed and chased. He stopped Fangzheng’s fall and weakly asked, “Master, where… do we go?”

“Go to the other boar herds. But I won’t do a thing. You should know very well what is to be done.”

Red Boy obviously did not dare say no. He charged straight into a few boar herds, beating and threatening them in the process. The herds would immediately submit themselves and promised never to go down the mountain to harm people.

After all was said and done, it was deep into the night by the time Fangzheng returned to Mt. One Finger. When he looked at the sky, he went straight to his room to sleep.

However, there was someone who could not sleep. Red Boy sat in front of the temple hall, looking at the Ten Thousand Buddha plaque’s Guan Yin Bodhisattva image bitterly. He said with watery eyes, “Bodhisattva, you sure sent me to a good place. This rural mountain is such a godforsaken place. Also, there’s that rascal monk. There’s no way to continue living such days.”

However, Red Boy was only grumbling. Bodhisattva did not care about him at all.

After an uneventful night, the next day remained peaceful.

However, Fangzheng was considering if he should venture out. Although, Fangzheng quickly realized that it was not that simple. With the reputation of the Frost Bamboo spread, more and more people came to Mt. One Finger to dig for bamboo shoots. Although the villagers would offer incense, the tourists that simply came for hiking would not dig bamboo shoots after offering incense. From their point of view, they were wild and could be dug without any qualms. They did not dig up a lot, with each person digging a few, while Frost Bamboo was also phenomenal in its growth. There were even people that chopped the Frost Bamboo to use as decorations down the mountain…