The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

In the words of old monks, a person is a monk when one’s heart achieves it. If not, they will never be a monk, even if they wear a monk’s robe. Therefore, old monks would typically wait for the younger monks to have their own enlightenment, while giving occasional guidance. There was no strict control.

The saying sounded reasonable and Fangzheng had always found it reasonable in the past. When he had debated it with Zen Master One Finger, he only ended up being beaten up. From then onwards, he no longer discussed the topic.

Now, the System had publicly challenged something he had believed for more than a decade, so he was naturally unhappy about it.

“Are you sure no one wears white?” asked the System.

Fangzheng nodded.

The System said, “Go into the hall and take a look.”

When Fangzheng went into the temple hall, he was dumbfounded. Wasn’t Guan Yin Bodhisattva wearing white robes?

Fangzheng said with a grin, “System, Guan Yin Bodhisattva is a female, while I’m male.”

“Guan Yin Bodhisattva is male, to begin with. He has always deemed himself male, so where did this talk about being female begin? You said a lot of things a while ago and they were right. However, those are targeted at common monks. The color of their robes warns them to not covet having beauty in their clothes. It’s a form of cultivation. As for the monk robe that I have given you, it is what Bodhisattva or Buddha wears. Since Buddhahood has been attained, all forms of abstinence and precepts are obeyed innately, so why would they need the robes to remind them? Those that need reminders are mortals. Only those that do not need reminders and innately uphold the precepts can become Buddha.”

“What you said is very reasonable, but I need to remind you that I am a mortal. Are you sure I won’t get beaten up by my peers for wearing this?” Fangzheng was still somewhat worried. At least, if Zen Master One Finger saw him wear this, he would be bedridden for half a month!

“They can’t beat you in a fight,” said the System scoundrelly.

Fangzheng was rendered speechless. However, since the Buddha System said it could be worn, why was he bothering? Who didn’t like wearing good-looking clothes? Fangzheng was naturally no exception.

Therefore, Fangzheng said, “System, will you give me minor clothing, Seven-Clothing, and major clothing too?”

“If you need them, you can buy them yourself. They aren’t expensive. Minor clothing costs a hundred thousand. Seven-Clothing a million, and the major clothing costs ten million.”

“Forget what I just said!” Fangzheng’s expression darkened. His entire wealth was not even a fraction of the price, which meant he couldn’t buy sh*t. However, why was it so expensive?

“Robes are expensive, to begin with. Furthermore, you want the three items of clothing tailored, so it will naturally be expensive.”

“Don’t people from Mount Numinous wear the three items of clothing?”

“Buddha is untainted and spotless, so why is there a need for so many kinds of clothing? A single set would do!”

Fangzheng’s expression darkened. If he kept begging for more, wouldn’t that be like admitting he was a person without any hygiene? Therefore, he asked, “Is this White Lunar Monk Robe untainted and spotless?”

“Naturally.”

“Cool!” Fangzheng gave it a big thumbs up and no longer had any doubts.

Fangzheng eagerly boiled a big pot of water and prepared to take a bath.

Lone Wolf came over, it believed that it was meal time. It wagged its tail and stuck its tongue out in a certain way to ingratiate itself.

Fangzheng slapped it and scolded it teasingly, “I’m bathing, not cooking. Look at you, craving for food! Move aside.”

When Lone Wolf heard the word bathing, he turned around excited. He leaped around, indicating that he wanted to have a bath too.

Fangzheng rolled his eyes and said, “You want to take a bath? Sure, in a while. However, I don’t have a bathtub, so I can only scoop water and pour it over you.”

Lone Wolf whimpered as a form of agreement.

When the water boiled, Fangzheng scooped it and poured the water over his head. As it splashed down on him, he felt his mind enliven greatly.

“Heh! This Unrooted Clean Aqua actually has such miraculous effects. It’s really not bad.” When he looked down, Fangzheng was surprised to see that the dirt on his body had been washed away. His skin immediately turned porous, as if all of his pores and vessels had been cleansed! His skin was becoming increasingly fair and supple. When he touched his skin, it felt good to the touch.

Woof!

Lone Wolf groaned happily, making Fangzheng turn his head. He raised his foot, pushed it away and said, “Go away, you dirty fellow. Why is it so dirty? Why did my bathing water change color? Is this soy sauce?”

Lone Wolf gave an aggrieved whimper, which Fangzheng heard clearly. The fellow had said, “I’m also bathing, alright? Do you think you are the only one that can bathe? What’s so impressive about that? I take my baths during downpours, and it can also be considered a bath when I occasionally fall into a water ditch.”

Instantly, Fangzheng was amused by the darn wolf. “Fine, let’s maintain a distance. I’ll pour some for myself and then some for you. You are not allowed to scoop it for yourself, do you understand?”

Fangzheng was afraid the wolf would immerse its paw into the water bucket and turn the clean water into black ink.

Lone Wolf whimpered in response, indicating that it had understood.

Fangzheng was relieved as he splashed water on himself. Wherever the water passed, his skin would immediately get clean. It was the first time he realized that bathing could be this relaxing!

Then, he splashed another scoop of water on Lone Wolf. With squinted eyes, Lone Wolf looked like he was enjoying himself.

“Eh? You have white hair?” Fangzheng realized that the black color was being washed off Lone Wolf’s fur. It looked slightly white.

Then, he quickly splashed another scoop of water and indeed, Lone Wolf’s fur turned white. To be precise, it was silver fur! Under the moonlight, the fur appeared transparent. It was very beautiful.

“Holy sh*t, a silver wolf? Silver wolf? Sex wolf ¹ ? Pervert!?” Fangzheng suddenly got amused by the homophones as he roared with laughter. At the same time, he was extremely taken aback. He had believed that Lone Wolf was only an alpha wolf that left its pack, but he would have never expected that Lone Wolf had such special fur. However, to dirty a body full of silver fur into gray, that sure was a great accomplishment in terms of dirtiness.

With his curiosity piqued, Fangzheng ignored his own bath and began splashing water over Lone Wolf. The fur on Lone Wolf also began to get cleaner, and it was surprising for Fangzheng to find out that the silver fur covered his entire body. Under the moonlight, the shimmering silver light exuded the bearing of an alpha wolf!

Fangzheng clapped and said with laughter, “This silver fur is what I call beautiful!”

Lone Wolf looked at his reflection in the water. He was extremely happy, and he began howling.

“What? You were this color when you were young, but you turned gray after falling into a pit? Why didn’t you take a bath?”

“Woo#$%#.”

“Raining is called being caught in the rain! That’s not a bath. Also, it’s not like rain water is that clean. You fool.” Fangzheng reprimanded him a little before he quickly cleaned himself. Then, he ran back into his room butt naked before taking out the brand new White Lunar Monk Robe!

Touching it was completely different from wearing it. The robe was like Buddha water. It was extremely smooth and did not adhere to his body. It was as if he wasn’t wearing anything. It was extremely comfortable! The clothes were loose and when he wore them, it was like a long robe. After wearing the clothes properly, he took out a small mirror and looked at himself in the mirror. Fangzheng found an extremely good-looking bald monk in it!

The White Lunar Monk Robe was white in color, and Fangzheng’s skin had a ruddy color to it. Standing there, he looked scholarly and quiet, with a warm and sunshine or jade-like demeanor. He was nearly smitten with himself!

“Heh! This robe was perfectly made for me. It’s really nice! It seems like I really am naturally suited to be a monk. This appearance is absolutely at the standard of a master as long as I do not talk about Buddhist scriptures. Unfortunately, I lack the knowledge. That crappy cell phone of mine breaks down even when browsing through websites. It’s so hard to flip through pages of Buddhist scriptures on it. There really is nothing that can be done.” Fangzheng felt truly helpless. The System only accepted money connected to wishes, but that kind of money was too difficult to earn. And even money that was not connected to wishes was hard to obtain. He was unable to leave the mountain. Even if he could leave the mountain, he could not spend it or purchase things through the hands of others. Changing his cell phone? Perhaps it could only happen if someone gave him one, otherwise, there was no chance of it.