The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

“But it’s hard to think like that. I feel that against leopards and wolves, we should use a pole to beat them into submission. Only then will they not dare to invade us again,” said her brother stubbornly.

“Remember, war is the final resort, but it does not mean you should seek peace at the expense of shaming your country. Now, His Majesty is seeking peace because he has victory on his side. The enemy does not dare disobey, because not agreeing to a truce will mean death! This is the strategy of subduing the other’s military without engaging in battle, a superb strategy. In contrast, if we were to lead the armies north, it would not benefit us in any way. The Rouran could ride away on their horses at any time, while their land is barren and desolate. It would be useless for us to occupy it. And they would return the moment we abandoned it. It would only mean endless war and endless death.

“Starting a war is easy, but stopping a war… Forget it. You won’t understand no matter how much I explain it to you. But remember, true experts in war will forever stay away from war or fight the least number of battles possible to reap the most benefits possible.”

Having said this, Hua Mulan turned spirited as the look in her eyes turned sharp.

Her brother leaned over and said, “Sister, you are really pretty.”

“Oh? How pretty?” quipped Hua Mulan.

“A city-toppling beauty!” exclaimed the little rascal.

Hua Mulan rummaged the little guy’s head as she shook her head. “There is no one in this world whose beauty can topple a city. Only peace can topple a city!”

Her brother scratched his head and said, “Sister, I think I get it a little…”

The camera moved up as a peaceful world appeared. A couple of huge words flashed in the sky—What is a City-Toppling Beauty? Only Peace!

The End.

Phew—

For some unknown reason, many people let out a deep breath when they saw this final scene. It felt like they were released of a heavy burden and were enlightened. Most of their feelings were wistful feelings.

“How nice,” someone muttered.

“It’s different from an American blockbuster. Those films glorify war, with the hero winning accolades with every death. But this film made me feel more depressed with every death. War… sure is f**ked up!”

The crowd engaged in a flurry of discussions as they walked out the theater.

Fangzheng walked right at the back and continued grabbing Lone Wolf’s and Squirrel’s tails while glaring at Red Boy. Hid disciples were clearly excited. Although they wanted to speak, the circumstances were not appropriate. They could only hold it in.

At that moment, three youths walked over and joked. “Should we watch City-Toppling Beauty after watching Last Speed?”

“Screw that. It’s pointless to watch the same movie we’ve watched since we were children!”

“That’s right. If it weren’t starring Li Xueying, I bet this movie would not even sell a single ticket. It’s probably only sold to those brain dead fans she has.”

“The cuss war on the Internet is really intense. To be honest, I don’t have an opinion about Li Xueying, but her fans are really disgusting. They tout how awesome she is all day long. It’s disgusting how they praise the movie without even watching it!”

“That’s right! They don’t even let others say anything bad about it. Is Li Xueying a goddess? It can only be praised and not denounced? Those jokers!”

…

As the youths passed by, they did not notice a huge white wolf suddenly turn around and stretch its claws out angrily at one of their asses. However, Fangzheng dragged the wolf away by the tail.

As the movie had just ended, there were too many people on the elevator. Fangzheng decided to take the stairs with his disciples. Since there was no one on the stairwell, Lone Wolf finally could not help but exclaim. “Master, why did you stop me? Those bastards only knew how to criticize despite not having watched the movie. I want to tear their butts apart.”

“That’s right. Master, they even said that Sister Xueying’s fans were heaping praises on the movie without watching it, but didn’t they realize that they had not watched it either. What gives them the right to criticize it? Seriously!” Squirrel flailed his little fists and added. “If it weren’t for Master having stopped me, I would have punched them all!”

The moment that was said, four pairs of eyes rolled. The little guy blushed as he looked up into the sky. Apparently, he had gone overboard with his bragging…

“Such a war of words is meaningless. If you lose, they will only think that they were right to begin with. If you win the fight, you will be arrested by the police. They would then only end up being angry about being beaten and not feel that their opinion was wrong,” said Fangzheng finally.

“Master, then what should we do?” asked Lone Wolf unhappily. His impression of Li Xueying was very good. Therefore, he stood steadfastly by Li Xueying’s side. Besides, the movie had really been good.

“What can you do? And what can This Penniless Monk do? Are you expecting us to drag them to the movies? If you have the time, recite the scriptures for Patron Li to wish her all the best when you get back.”

On the way back, Fangzheng did not take Yang Hua’s car. Monkey was prone to motion sickness, so it would not be right to torment Yang Hua again. He refused Yang Hua’s repeated invitation and finally took the bus.

On the way back, the villagers were unhappy as they grumbled.

“Those little bastards. All they know is to criticize City-Toppling Beauty without even watching it. Are foreign movies that good?”

“I just heard a kid said that he deliberately bought a ticket to Last Speed when he saw that City-Toppling Beauty was released. F**k, what kind of people are they?”

“From the looks of it, the bastard I met was still alright. He bought two tickets. He said he was going to watch City-Toppling Beauty first and that he would then bleach his eyes with Last Speed after suffering from it.”

“What the heck are these people thinking? Seriously!”

…

On the way up the mountain, Monkey asked Fangzheng, “Master, why is this happening? City-Toppling Beauty was very nice. Although I have never watched a movie before, I really hate war after watching this movie. Why do they think so little of City-Toppling Beauty ?”

Fangzheng said, “At times, trust is lowered after too many disappointments.”

“Hmm, I get it a little.” Monkey fell into thought.

Fangzheng obviously knew that the attitudes of those people were a result of someone’s malicious machinations. But for people’s attitudes to be so easily affected, it could only mean that people had suffered from too many disappointments before.

After returning to the monastery, Fangzheng sat in front of Buddha and struck his wooden fish while reciting the scriptures. He silently prayed for Li Xueying and City-Toppling Beauty . Fangzheng had never treated himself as a saint. He always thought of himself as nothing but a human. Therefore he would face his petty selfishness head on. Li Xueying had a good relationship with him and had helped him before. Furthermore, City-Toppling Beauty was indeed a good movie. It promoted positive elements by being anti-war, so it was only reasonable for Fangzheng to decide on helping Li Xueying and City-Toppling Beauty .

However, Fangzheng had no idea if his pious prayers would be of any use.

At that moment…

“Ding! Are you certain you wish to give blessings to Li Xueying and City-Toppling Beauty ? If you do, you will have a thousand merit points deducted!” said the System suddenly.

Fangzheng was taken aback. “Blessings can be bestowed on this kind of thing too?”

“As long as you can part with your merit points, it’s not a problem to bestow blessings remotely,” said the System matter-of-factly.

“I see. But System Bro, can we negotiate?” Fangzheng asked with a cheeky smile.

“Apart from discounts, it’s not like we can’t negotiate other things,” said the System immediately.