The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

A baffled Dog Song scratched his head when he saw this. He said to a villager beside him, “Did I hear and see wrong? Are these city people dumb? They actually gave a big thumbs up to that crappy temple? They even said that they will come again? Are they here to train their bodies?”

“Maybe-”

“Stop gossiping. Fangzheng is a good child, and it’s a good thing that he has now dedicated himself to Buddhism. Why does it sound like you are implying that he has dedicated himself to cheating?” a middle-aged woman scolded.

“Woman, what do you know? Learning stuff like Buddhism is no different from being a cheat! Don’t you stare at me. It’s useless. Do you think we do not know how much that little bastard amounts to? Wait and see. There will be trouble sooner or later.” After Dog Song said that, he shook his head and added, “The ancients say: Out of the three unfilial actions, not having children is the worst! By being a monk and not marrying a wife, it means Fangzheng will not have children. Hmph, how unfilial! How unfilial!”

With that said, Dog Song hobbled home drunk.

That night, Du Mei had gotten wind of Dog Son’s comments. She ran to his door and cursed him all night with a chopper in hand. It frightened Dog Song so much that he secretly climbed over the wall and ran to his younger uncle’s place to sleep for the night.

Meanwhile Fangzheng was suffering greatly from insomnia. Therefore, he climbed up, poured a big bowl of water for himself, and sat at the temple entrance with Lone Wolf sitting beside him. The human and wolf had a bowl of water each. They drank it like it was alcohol and chatted in between mouthfuls. It was rather relaxing.

“Well, if I were to estimate the time, they should be on the highway by now. According to what I saw, it’s also about the time they encounter the trucks. Why hasn’t the merit arrived?” Fangzheng mumbled. He was unable to sleep because he was pondering over the matter. The few chances at the draw he had had, had made him aware of the benefits. Now, with another chance in front of him, he naturally yearned for it.

“Wu, wu!” Lone Wolf whimpered twice.

“You are asking me if I saw wrong? How could that be possible? What I have is the Heavenly Eye! It can see through all the catastrophes a person will have within three days! It’s accurate.” Fangzheng rapped Lone Wolf on its head.

“Wu Wu.”

“Oh, you are saying I might have gotten the time wrong? Impossible. Let’s continue waiting.”

The moon was high in the sky as Fangzheng waited until his eyes were drooping. Finally, he went back to bed under the belittling eyes of Lone Wolf.

At that moment, in Songwu County’s Gloria Regent Garden district, someone suddenly exclaimed after recalling something, “Oh shit! I forgot!”

“Darn Monkey, why did you suddenly shout so late into the night? Are you trying to scare me to death!? What did you forget?” Lu Xiaoya’s voice sounded.

“I didn’t offer any incense! Neither did I leave any incense money. All I did was rush to return!” Monkey lamented.

When Lu Xiaoya heard that, she was astounded. “That doesn’t seem very proper of us. That master was nice, and the monastery was quite good too.”

“The master is no ordinary person. We ate and drank his stuff but left without repaying him. It was quite unbecoming of us. If that were to make him look down on us, we might not be able to have that rice and water when we go up again,” said Monkey.

Monkey’s first sentence left Lu Xiaoya unperturbed, but the last sentence hurt her right in her gut. She immediately perked up and said, “Why don’t we go again tomorrow?”

“That will be difficult. I’ll be out of town for work tomorrow. We can only go after I get back. Help me remember that regardless of anything, we have to make up for the incense money,” said Monkey.

Lu Xiaoya nodded and agreed to it.

On the second day, the first thing Fangzheng asked when the sky lit up was, “System, have my merit points arrived?”

“Don’t randomly ask about it. I’ll inform you when it comes.” Even the System felt rather impatient.

Fangzheng shook his head helplessly. He got up and made breakfast.

He had not eaten dinner, and his hunger was so bad that he wanted to roast Lone Wolf for a meal. He had endured through great pains into the morning, so breakfast was of utmost importance!

As he had been hungry for so long, Fangzheng did not dare to eat dry rice. Instead, he cooked congee. He boiled the Unrooted Clean Aqua with a third of Crystal Rice and two-thirds of ordinary rice. He lit the fire and prepared the meal.

Soon, fragrance emanated. Fangzheng rubbed his belly as he could not curb his cravings.

After eating breakfast, he practiced a set of the Great Strength Vajra Palm in the courtyard. He watered the bodhi tree and swept the temple hall and courtyard until they were spotless.

Looking up into the sky, it was gloomy, and dark clouds were looming. The pressure was low, so low that it made Fangzheng feel discomfort.

“System, is there going to be lightning? Would it blast apart this temple of mine?” Fangzheng was not asking randomly. A long time ago, One Finger Temple had been struck by lightning. The memory of it was still fresh on his mind.

“Ding! Don’t worry. The temple has been improved by the System. It has a lightning rod, so it will be fine.”

“That puts me at ease.” After saying that, Fangzheng returned to read his Buddhist scriptures.

No one came that day.

An entire morning passed as the sun gradually set in the west.

At the same time, Monkey was racing crazily on a highway with Lu Xiaoya. As he raced, he laughed loudly, “I’ll let Fatty eat dust behind us! Grandpa’s new car sure is awesome. Woo!”

“Slow down, this is too fast!” Lu Xiaoya shouted as she grabbed her safety belt nervously.

“What’s there to be afraid of? Back in the day, I was called the Flighty Thirteenth Wolf!” Monkey said confidently.

“Why do I not know about that?” Lu Xiaoya asked.

“You obviously do not know. I had just graduated elementary school back then,” said Monkey.

“You were already driving in elementary school? When you didn’t have a license?” Lu Xiaoya was slightly infuriated. If her man was so unreliable, she would definitely teach him a lesson.

Monkey laughed out loud and said, “I was playing QQ racing. That game was rather thrilling.”

Upon hearing that, Lu Xiaoya cursed angrily, “You bastard! How dare you joke at this time? Be careful. Drive slowly.”

“I got it, I got it.” Even though Monkey said that, he pressed down on the accelerator, clearly having no intention to reduce his speed. Looking into his rear view mirror, Fatty and Jiang Ting’s cars were being left further and further behind. Just as he was feeling smug, Lu Xiaoya suddenly shouted, “Monkey, hurry up and slow down!”

“What are you shouting for? I’m driving. Let me concentrate, alright?” Monkey turned nervous too.

“No, look in front. Those look like trucks, trucks carrying coal,” said Lu Xiaoya.

“I know, I know. I saw them already. Trucks hauling coal. There are quite a lot of these- Eh? A few trucks hauling coal!” Monkey suddenly recalled what Fangzheng had said to him.

Lu Xiaoya immediately said, “Did you recall it now? You promised Master that when you see these vehicles, you will reduce your speed, Cruise slowly now and maintain a safe distance. If you don’t want to heed my words, you should at least heed Master’s words, right?”

“Fine, fine. Don’t speak any further. Let me just see how many there are first.” Monkey stepped on the accelerator once again as he chased up to the convoy. When he did a count, there were exactly four trucks in the convoy! Recalling Fangzheng’s miracles as well as his words, Monkey subconsciously hit the brakes and lowered his speed.

At that moment, the truck right in front suddenly switched lanes and with a screech, jammed on the brakes. However, due to the momentum, it continued forward, leaving white smoke in its wake, and the truck nearly fell onto its side!

The other three lorries had hit the brakes similarly, producing ear-piercing screeches.

As for Monkey, however, his car had already slowed down. Hence when he pressed his brakes, his car similarly decelerated with a screech, finally opening up a distance with the trucks on time.