The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Fangzheng said, “Very simple. When we are down the mountain, you have to act as a salted fish! You can only watch, no moving or talking. If there’s anything you want to say, you can do so once we’re back.” It wasn’t that Fangzheng wanted to make things difficult for him, but it was obvious that Salted Fish was a wily old fox. If he were to really cause trouble down the mountain, it would only make it difficult for him. As someone who was afraid of trouble, Fangzheng naturally needed to set some ground rules.

The moment Salted Fish heard that, he was stunned. He asked, puzzled, “Do you mean that I can only act as a dry and hard salted fish and not do anything?”

Fangzheng rolled his eyes and said, “As a salted fish, what else do you want to do when you’re not in the water? Don’t think so badly of it. As a monk, This Penniless Monk will have to carry a salted fish everywhere, and I’m not even complaining!”

Salted Fish thought about it, and indeed, that made sense. Anyone who saw a salted fish would see it as something edible. For a monk to eat salted fish, wouldn’t that be against the precepts? It would indeed be quite a sully on his reputation. Since Fangzheng was willing to take on such blame and bring him down the mountain despite it, he naturally responded quickly. “Alright, I agree!”

With that said, Fangzheng cast his gaze on Salted Fish’s cane, something he had seen several times by now. Salted Fish would wave his hand every time to produce it. However, with Salted Fish’s Dharmic powers sealed, how could he possess such divine powers? Where was this cane hidden?

So Fangzheng asked.

Salted Fish instantly said smugly, “Do you really think I was doing nothing listening to Buddha preach all those years? Humph, I might not be good at other things, but I can handle a mere Cosmic World In Sleeves!!”

“Keep bragging! Aren’t you just holding on to a Meru Space? To think you call it a Cosmic World In Sleeves. Why don’t you say you can move the stars while you’re at it?” Red Boy exposed him rudely.

Salted Fish blushed as he puffed and glared. “Kid, can’t you just shut up?”

Seeing how the two were about to quarrel, Fangzheng hurriedly stopped them. He didn’t want things to escalate and affect the harmonious environment.

Fangzheng asked, “Meru Space? What’s that? Is it a divine power or a Dharma treasure?”

Red Boy said, “The Meru Space is the same as a Cosmic World In Sleeves. They are both divine powers. However, the Meru Space I’m talking about consists of a particular item that has the divine power materialized within it, making it a Dharma treasure. My guess is that this salted fish must have a Dharma treasure that has a Meru Space. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn’t be able to hide the cane.”

“I don’t! I don’t have anything!” Salted Fish had long realized that in this monastery, the monk wasn’t like a monk and the disciples weren’t like disciples. If he had not been thrown there for some inexplicable reason, he would have full reason to believe that this was a f**king demon cave! Since he had a treasure, he naturally had to hide it or it might be snatched! This was the belief he had deep down, so he refused to admit to it.

When Fangzheng saw the old scoundrel looking wary, as though he was afraid of being robbed, he shook his head and said, “Why are you in such a rush to deny it? Salted Fish, you make it sound as though This Penniless Monk will take it from you.”

“Heh heh…” Salted Fish chuckled dryly. It was clear that he didn’t trust Fangzheng.

Fangzheng raised his hand and said, “This Penniless Monk swears that he will absolutely not snatch Salted Fish’s Dharma treasure! If this vow is violated, eh… I’ll stop being a monk and allow myself to be kicked out!”

After Fangzheng shouted that, before Salted Fish could say a word, the System said, “Are you hoping to renounce asceticism just like that? Your vow is ineffective.”

Fangzheng was left speechless.

Salted Fish didn’t know that Fangzheng’s goal in life was to renounce asceticism. The monks Salted Fish had interacted with on Mount Numinous all yearned to become Buddha one day; therefore, whoever was kicked out of the monk team would definitely feel more miserable than if they were to die forever. Therefore he subconsciously believed that Fangzheng was also a monk who placed great importance on his status as a monk to actually make such a vow. Hence, he was the only one in the monastery who believed Fangzheng’s vow.

Salted Fish fell silent for a moment before saying, “It’s indeed such a Meru Space, but it’s a materialized divine power that exists within my scales.”

When Fangzheng heard that, he exchanged looks with Red Boy and company. Then, he laughed. “Oh? Then how big is the space in those scales of yours?”

Salted Fish noticed that Fangzheng’s smile appeared odd, so he turned careful. He hurriedly shook his head and said, “It’s not big. Only enough to stuff a cane.”

Obviously, Fangzheng wasn’t convinced. He patted Salted Fish and said, “Although This Penniless Monk is a mortal, he has a Heavenly Eye, Wisdom Eye, and other divine powers…”

Fangzheng was pulling off a trick. The first two were divine powers he really had, so it wasn’t considered lying. There was nothing wrong with saying he had other divine powers as well, since he did have A Golden Millet Dream and other divine powers. However, when placed together as a sentence, it sounded different to Salted Fish. Salted Fish subconsciously felt that he definitely had one or several other kinds of eyes. One of them had to be capable of seeing people’s true thoughts and distinguishing the real from the false!

Salted Fish imagined that Fangzheng was hinting at him that he knew he was lying, and that lying was useless in front of him.

Salted Fish looked at Fangzheng, while Fangzheng looked back at him. After this continued on for a moment, as a wily old fox, Salted Fish thought, “Who cares if you know I’m lying. What can you do even if you know that I’m lying?”

Therefore, Salted Fish shook his head and said, “I’m speaking the truth. There’s really no more space inside.”

Fangzheng chuckled as he looked at Salted Fish. “In that case, alright. Jingxin, prepare something for me.”

“Master, what should I prepare?” Red Boy asked.

Fangzheng thought about it and said, “Prepare some food. We mustn’t starve while we’re out. Also, prepare a black cloth bag. As for the rest, I’ll do it myself.”

With that said, Fangzheng returned to his room and rummaged for an old pair of shoes he had not washed in years. It was fine as long as it wasn’t touched, but the moment he took the pair out, its smell emanated through the entire room.

Fangzheng held his breath and with two fingers, he carried the shoes out.

By the time he came out, Red Boy had already prepared some food for him. There was also a black cloth bag. It was really a bag made of a squarish black cloth. After all, Mt. One Finger used to be poor, so they didn’t really have any luggage bags or backpacks. They could only make do with that…

Thankfully, Fangzheng didn’t seem to mind. In consideration of his clothing style, carrying such a retro-styled cloth bag did match his image.

Fangzheng wrapped the food in another cloth bag before hanging it in front of him.

When Salted Fish saw this, he was amused as he thought, “How ugly. Haha, a mortal is a mortal after all. All the trifles needed just to head out. How burdensome.”

Just as Salted Fish was feeling smug, Fangzheng spread out the black cloth on the ground and pointed to the middle of the cloth. “Salted Fish, go in.”

“Huh? Why?” Salted Fish was taken aback as he walked over and asked.

“Go in. I’ll wrap you up. Otherwise, how is This Penniless Monk going to carry you out? Do you think you can run around when you’re outside the monastery?” Fangzheng asked.

Salted Fish was taken aback. Thinking back to Fangzheng’s packing of food, his expression darkened as he shook his head. “No way! I won’t be able to see a thing if you wrap me in there! Besides, I’m a living fish, not a dead one! No way!”