The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

“I’m Qi Liya!” said Qi Liya.

Xu Yin exclaimed in shock, “What happened? No way!”

With that said, Xu Yin ran out. Fangzheng, who had been hiding himself with A Golden Millet Dream by the door, quickly made way. Xu Yin was about to run out when he arrived in the courtyard.

Upon hearing the commotion, Li Jingchu came out and reprimanded him. “Xu Yin, what are you doing? What craziness are you up to so late into the night?”

“Leader, there’s a ghost!” yelled Xu Yin.

Li Jingchu’s heart trembled as her legs went limp! She had taken the entire afternoon to barely calm herself, but she was once again frightened from Xu Yin’s shout. She became afraid seeing Xu Yin’s bloodshot eyes and terrified look.

However when she saw everyone else looking over, she knew she had to hold down the situation as a leader. She hurriedly said, “Cut the nonsense. There’s no ghost!”

“That’s right. There’s no ghost!” At that moment a female voice sounded behind Li Jingchu. She turned her head and was just about to berate the interrupter when she saw a woman hanging down from the roof. It was Qi Liya! Her face was pale as her eyes stared straight at her!

“Ah!” Li Jingchu cried out in shock as she ran out of the door screaming.

Xu Yin ran as well. One after another, they got into a car and drove off. Through the rear-view mirror, Li Jingchu saw a white figure standing at the building’s entrance as it looked coldly at them.

“We’ve finally escaped it.” Li Jingchu was trembling as the steering wheel shook in response as well.

“Leader, what’s happening? Qi Liya… Could Qi Liya be dead?” Xu Yin was already close to tears.

Li Jingchu shouted. “How the f**king hell would I know? Darn it! After chatting with that monk in the afternoon, I began seeing ghosts…”

“Monk? Who? Fangzheng!” exclaimed Xu Yin.

“Obviously. Who else could be the monk?” said Li Jingchu.

“Leader, I… also seemed to have talked to him. After that, I began encountering ghosts. He said that something was following me.”

“Gulp.” Li Jingchu swallowed her saliva as she said in horror, “What… What background does this monk have? Can he see ghosts, exorcise ghosts, or… Is he the one who brought the ghost?”

“Now that you mention it, it seems nothing has been at peace ever since he came. It seems there has been trouble all this while.”

“Find Liu Dacheng and ask him what’s happening. Who the hell is that monk!”

“Leader, I think… We should first look for Qi Liya. How did she die?” said Xu Yin.

Li Jingchu fell silent for a long while before saying, “Alright, let’s go take a look. You guys were so rough the last time that she even fractured her leg. I’m guessing the people over there assaulted her again.”

Xu Yin cursed. “If we didn’t break her legs, who could stand her when she’s screaming and trying to escape all day? She even tried to commit suicide by hitting her head into the walls. I thought Leader Mu would restrain her, but… Sigh.”

Both of them fell silent when this topic of conversation was raised. Unbeknownst to them, a bald monk was lying in the rear seat behind them. His legs were crossed as he rested his head on his hand. As he listened to them, a smile suffused his eyes. Qi Liya was still alive. That was good. He finally heaved a sigh of relief.

The car did not drive into the city, but instead it meandered across the village roads and soon entered a village. There was a small stall by the village’s entrance. It was lit and thick smoke billowed out of it. There were a bunch of people playing mahjong inside. One of them squatted by the door, and when the car drove over, he immediately looked over warily. When he noticed the familiar license plate, he waved his hand in greeting.

“Chen Qi sure is professional. He squats there every day at the stipulated time,” commented Xu Yin.

“There’s no other choice. Who knows when the cops will investigate the area. If there’s no one watching at the entrance, it would just be a matter of time before we get wiped out all at once,” said Li Jingchu.

Xu Yin grumbled. “Those darn cops. Why do they waste their time on us?”

After entering the village, the both of them came outside a yard surrounded by high walls. They stood especially high at more than three meters, almost like city walls. The main door was thick. When Li Jingchu saw no one was around, she knocked on the door five times. The first two knocks were hard, and the final three light. Following that, the door opened as a head peeped out. Upon seeing Li Jingchu and Xu Yin, a person greeted them with a smile. “Leader, good evening. Quickly come in.”

Fangzheng also entered the compound. The moment he entered, he frowned at the sight. This compound was different from the previous one. The people were relatively fiercer in appearance. There were also more rooms inside. All the doors in the building were metallic. There were large heavy chains and from time to time, he could hear sobbing.

There was an old-fashioned armchair in the middle of the yard. A bearded man in his forties or fifties sat there as he fanned himself, looking relaxed.

“Old Chen, why did you kill Qi Liya?” Xu Yin could not help but cry when he saw Old Chen.

Old Chen was taken aback. “Xu Yin, what nonsense are you saying? When did we kill Qi Liya? She’s still fine, locked up in this building.”

“She’s not dead!?” Xu Yin was taken aback as he ran over. He leaned over the window and looked in. He saw a frail figure leaning by the wall, scrunched into a ball. When she sensed someone come, she looked up at him.

“Hehe. Gosh, she’s not dead!” Xu Yin was also dumbfounded.

Li Jingchu said, “Then… Who did we see?”

“What are the two of you talking about?” Old Chen was a little taken aback as he stood up and asked.

Just as the two were about to speak, they heard a Buddhist proclamation. “Amitabha. Patrons, thank you for your hard work.”

“Who is it!?” Li Jingchu, Xu Yin, and Old Chen exclaimed. They realized that a monk was standing in the yard with them! He was dressed in a white robe which was suffused by a blue glow under the moonlight. His bald head shone as he held one palm vertical to his chest.

“Fangzheng!?” As Li Jingchu and Xu Yin exclaimed, two people who had come out from the latrines exclaimed as well.

Fangzheng looked over, and they were none other than Liu Dacheng and Chen Xiao!

Old Chen’s face instantly sank as he gave a signal. The door was immediately locked as the treacherous-looking man stuffed the key into his underwear, indicating that no one could take it from him. With that, Old Chen’s expression turned a little better.

“Amitabha. It is This Penniless Monk,” said Fangzheng with a smile.

“How did you come here?” bellowed Xu Yin.

Li Jingchu said, “You followed us here? What we saw wasn’t a ghost, right? It was some trick you pulled, right? You came here for Qi Liya, am I right?”

“Patron, you truly are clever. Since you are so clever, why don’t you surrender yourself?” said Fangzheng with a smile.

“Surrender? Just because of you!?” Li Jingchu was infuriated. She had been scamming people for so many years, but today she had stumbled into the schemes of a monk! That could still be ignored by itself, but all of it had been witnessed by others! It was too embarrassing!