The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Red Boy added a comment. “Of course, it’s delicious, this is full of Spirit Qi. It’s recently ripened Crystal Rice! This taste… Tsk tsk, it’s more delicious than jelly beans.”

With that, Red Boy popped his head out of the Crystal Rice paddy and conveniently threw a Crystal Rice seed into his mouth, chewing it noisily.

As Red Boy chewed, he suddenly felt his hair stand on end, as if his fortune was about to take a turn for the worse. He subconsciously turned his head and saw a livid Fangzheng and sniggering Salted Fish looking at them.

The moment Red Boy looked over, Squirrel and Lone Wolf looked over as well. Then, they trembled at the same time and thought to themselves, “Oh no! Master is back!”

Lone Wolf, who had just leaped high into the air fell to the ground with a thud. However, the ground was covered in snow, so after a roll, he got up and came in front of Fangzheng. “Master, you’re back?”

“It’s only been a few days and you guys are already planning on splitting the estate? Congratulations, you have gotten a piece of the Crystal Rice paddy,” Fangzheng said with a smile.

Lone Wolf looked at Fangzheng’s smile and felt goosebumps all over. He immediately acted dumb and said, “Master, what are you saying? Why don’t I understand a word of what you said? Aiyah, I just remembered that I haven’t gone on patrol today. I need to get going.”

With that, he ran away…

Upon seeing this, Squirrel hurriedly offered the seeds in his arms to Fangzheng and said as if presenting a treasure, “Master, I knew you were coming back. The trip must have been hard on you. This is the harvest I got for the monastery. Please accept it.”

Fangzheng looked at Squirrel’s serious face and although he had fur all over his face, he could still sense that the little fellow’s face was almost red from lying. Clearly, to this little guy, lying was really a skill.

As for Red Boy, he was the complete opposite. Red Boy said in all seriousness, “Master, I was just inspecting the Crystal Rice paddy. Its growth has been great, so we can harvest it now.”

Fangzheng grinned, raised both his hands, cracked his knuckles in front of his chest, and said, “Not bad. You already know how to lie after not seeing me for a few days. Salted Fish, time for the monastery rules to be enforced!”

Salted Fish was stunned and asked, “What monastery rules?”

Fangzheng rolled his eyes. This useless fellow… Hence, Fangzheng grabbed Salted Fish’s tail and swung him like a spiked club. He roared. “You rascals, I’m going to clear you out today and uphold the monastery rules. On your guard!”

“Fourth Brother, what do we do? It’s quite painful to be hit by Salted Fish for normal people already, but if I’m hit… That’s no different from putting me through a hydraulic press,” Squirrel complained pitifully.

“Run!” Red Boy shouted and ran.

Squirrel suddenly came back to his senses and followed.

Red Boy turned his head and looked at the cloth bag in Squirrel’s arms. He rolled his eyes and said, “You’re about to be beaten to a pulp. Why are you still holding that thing? Don’t tell me you need that to add to your pancake? Put it down and run! Run fast!”

Upon hearing that, Squirrel decisively put down the black cloth bag and ran.

Fangzheng looked at the backs of these fellows and grinned. Although these disciples were sometimes extraordinarily clueless, so stupid that it made him want to slap them twice, it had to be said that having them around was the feeling of home.

Therefore, Fangzheng brandished Salted Fish, and a chase ensued.

After a round of chasing, when the few of them returned to the monastery from the back door, all of them were bruised and swollen apart from Red Boy. However, all of them still appeared very excited. It was as if they had been beaten silly.

In the evening, the main door to the monastery slowly closed, and the visitors gradually dispersed.

Fangzheng looked at the exhausted Monkey as he walked in and said in satisfaction, “You guys should learn more from Jingzhen. How can you become Buddha by lacking perseverance and consistency?”

After saying this, Fangzheng realized that although Monkey hadn’t changed much, Squirrel, Lone Wolf, and Red Boy wore looks of disapproval. When they looked at Monkey, their gazes were filled with jealousy, envy, and hatred…

However, Fangzheng didn’t think too much about it. After a long day, he quickly got Red Boy to cook.

After a meal, he drank a big gulp of Unrooted Clean Aqua. Fangzheng felt his entire body relax. He went out into the moonlight and walked around. When he was about to return to One Finger Monastery, he heard someone mumbling. “That was a close call. It’s lucky that I lost the bet. Otherwise, I would have suffered a worse beating if I had gone with them.”

When Fangzheng heard that, he took a closer look and saw that it was Monkey.

Fangzheng grinned, rolled up his sleeves, and walked over. After a while, there was a series of tragic cries coming from the bamboo forest.

Upon hearing this, Squirrel, who was in the courtyard, hurriedly ran back to the villa and closed the door, choosing to sleep.

Lone Wolf hid with his tail between his legs.

Red Boy sighed and said, “Indeed, no one can escape from this darn baldy’s demonic claws. Speaking of which, he seems to have become more violent after he came back this time. In the past, it was only a rap on the head, but now he’s even using Salted Fish…”

“I’d prefer he’d use a stick rather than Salted Fish. That guy is even harder than a stick! When a hit with Salted Fish lands, not only is there the impact from the hit, there’s also the pulling of ears and tails…” Lone Wolf complained.

Squirrel stuck his head out and said, “And there’s biting!”

“You guys, I’m the one upholding the monastery rules, so I have to be stricter. Of course, if you guys are willing to give me more food in the future, I assure you that at critical times, I will go…”

Before Salted Fish could say anything, he saw the back door open. Fangzheng chuckled and walked in. “Go?”

Salted Fish decisively said, “Go on to make sure they learn from their mistakes!”

“Remember your words. If you dare go easy on anyone, I’ll use Jingxin to hit you next time.”

Salted Fish subconsciously glanced at Jingxin. After pondering for a while, he realized that he wasn’t as tough as Red Boy. He decisively chickened out and hurriedly shouted. “Don’t worry, Reverend. I’ll be your best law-enforcer!”

Lone Wolf, Red Boy, Monkey, and Squirrel rolled their eyes at him, as if saying, “Damn you, you monster!”

However, Salted Fish didn’t care. As long as he wasn’t the one getting beaten up…

Fangzheng also ignored them. Although their faces were swollen, he already knew how strong their bodies were. After consuming Crystal Rice and Unrooted Clean Aqua for so long, coupled with the catharsis of Buddhistic aura and the morning bell and evening drum, their bodies were purified, and they had powerful physiques.

Even for a person like Fangzheng who ate spirit ginseng every day and tempered his body daily, he had to use some strength when beating them. Even so, he only caused superficial injuries that didn’t deal any real damage. If he released them one by one, they would definitely be threatening monsters.

However, Fangzheng began to worry. The stronger these fellows’ bodies became, the more their souls wouldn’t be able to keep up. Something was bound to happen!

Fangzheng felt bitter. Despite having already earned a hundred thousand merit points, he suddenly felt that the amount of merit he had earned wasn’t much. The road to earning merit was still long, and he still had to seek out further means for more.