The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

On this day, Chang came again, but after circling the outside of the house, he didn’t see anything that caught his eye. After cursing the little bastards to himself, he turned and left.

Song Xianhe kept his brothers’ heads down, preventing them from revealing the anger in their hearts.

After Song Yuan returned and had dinner, he went to sleep early.

Due to his wounds and exhaustion, Song Yuan slept extremely soundly. He had no idea that the three brothers had secretly woken up to do certain things.

Meanwhile, Chang’s family had also gone to sleep. Chang had been in a very good mood that day and had drunk some alcohol. The footsteps outside didn’t manage to stir him from his deep sleep…

After the footsteps, though, there were more sounds coming from the door as though someone was fiddling with it. At this moment, Chang’s wife woke up and nudged Chang. “I think someone is at the door.”

“How could there be someone now? It’s the middle of the night. Just sleep,” Chang mumbled in frustration and turned around to continue sleeping.

Just as he said that, a red glow appeared from outside as it brightened.

Chang’s wife jumped in fright when she saw that as she rushed to the window. Stacks of timber had piled up around her house at some point in time. A huge fire had ignited the timber and was dancing in the wind. In the yard, there were three small motionless figures, standing there like vengeful ghosts!

She recognized the three figures. She had been present when they beat up Song Yuan and snatched the chicken yesterday. Upon seeing this scene, she instantly understood what was happening. She yelled, “Old Chang, wake up! The three bastards from next door are setting us on fire!”

“Setting us on fire? What fire? Fire!?” Chang jolted awake and saw the fiery glows outside the window. Instantly, he broke out into a cold sweat and hurriedly got out of bed as he rushed outside. But when he pushed at the door, it had been blocked. There was no way for him to open it!

“Old Chang, what do we do? The three bastards are really going to burn us to death!” Chang’s wife broke down in tears.

Old Chang became afraid as well. He rushed to the back door, only to find it blocked as well. There was no way to push it open. When he ran to the window and opened it, the fire plumes outside immediately tore into the house, causing all the flammable items by the window to be ignited.

The fire sealed off the window, making it impossible to leave through the windows. With the doors blocked, they were truly cornered.

At that instant, Chang was scared out of his wits. He looked at the three figures outside and yelled, “You three bastards! Even if I die from the fire, you will not have an easy death!”

“You don’t have to worry about how we die. All that matters is that you die.” When Song Xianhe said that, his voice was trembling. No matter how mature he was, he was ultimately a child. Murder was still something that left him in panic.

After saying that, Song Xianhe left with his two brothers. The fire had developed to its fullest, and it would be almost impossible to extinguish it now. There was no chance of the people inside surviving. Soon, the villagers would rush over, so they had to leave. Otherwise, things would be terrible if they were caught on the spot.

When he saw the trio leave, Chang reeled in despair. The inferno was burning with ever greater intensity as thick smoke billowed. The heat waves surged around, and he knew that he was doomed. At that instant, he regretted—he regretted bullying a family which looked honest but was a bunch of wolves deep down!

However, it was too late for regret. The inferno burned away one evil, but it also sparked the growth of another, greater evil.

Song Yuan was also jolted awake by the fire outside. He was shocked by the sight when he ran out. Although he had a grudge against Chang, he was still the first person to grab a water bucket to fight the fire.

Unfortunately, the fire was just too intense. How could he extinguish such an inferno alone?

As the villagers rushed over, there was chaos everywhere.

The next day, the Song brothers looked at the ruins as an excited glint flashed in their eyes. But soon, they realized that things didn’t develop as simply as they had imagined.

The police had arrived!

Although the three brothers had made good plans, they still weren’t very meticulous as the children they were. The copious amounts of straw placed outside the house made it obvious that this had been an act of arson. Furthermore, Chang’s brothers had revealed the matter of them snatching the hen, so the Song family immediately became the prime suspect.

Soon, the police honed in on the three brothers. When they saw the police in their uniforms, the three brothers were frightened out of their wits. They trembled when faced with the questioning, and Song Xiancheng was the first to break, about to admit to everything.

At this point, a familiar voice sounded. “I set the fire. They went too far! I couldn’t tolerate it!”

The police immediately looked at Song Yuan who extended his hands. “Arrest me. I killed them. I’ll bear all consequences. Please don’t scare my children.”

The police looked at Song Yuan and then the three children before taking Song Yuan away.

When Song Yuan left, he whispered to Song Xianhe. “In the future, you will be the only adult in the house. Take good care of your brothers. Wait for me to be released. In the future, don’t act so rashly anymore. You aren’t allowed to kill. Be a good person…”

Before he finished saying everything he wanted to say, Song Yuan was taken away by the police.

As the three brothers watched their father be taken away, they instantly felt the house turn cold. The emptiness chilled their hearts as though three fledglings had lost the protection of their parents. They had no idea how they were to live on.

Song Xianshu and Song Xiancheng cried. Although Song Xianhe wanted to cry as well, he remembered Song Yuan’s words. He held back his tears and turned to huddle with his brothers. “Don’t worry. I’m still around!”

The scene turned dark once more.

When it lit up again, Song Xianhe had left the village with his two brothers. They were ostracized by the villagers with claims of them being the children of a murderer or feral children without parents.

The three had to leave as they headed for the city.

However, as soon as they entered the city, the three children had no idea how to live in it. After the novelty wore off, all that was left was hunger and cold.

After a day, Song Xiancheng fell sick. Song Xianshu cried as he asked Song Xianhe, “Will Third Brother die? I’m afraid.”

Song Xianhe patted him on the shoulder and said, “It’s fine. I have a solution.”

Shortly after Song Xianhe left, he came back with medicine. To that, Song Xianshu asked where he got the medicine.

Song Xianhe said that he had bought it, but Song Xianshu asked how he could have. Where had the money come from?

Song Xianhe thought about it before revealing what he had done. Song Xianhe had run to the hospital and kneeled for an hour. The doctors couldn’t bear to watch it any further and pooled together some money to buy him some medicine.

From that day forth, the three brothers became beggars on the streets. Although it was embarrassing, this allowed them to live on.

They received some money that day, so they had their first full meal. Song Xiancheng had the biggest appetite and was the happiest.

However, the three brothers were stopped by a group of people the next day.

“This street is our territory. How dare you not play by the rules? Beat them!” The group of people rushed over as the three brothers were beaten to the ground.