The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism - Chapter 115

Chapter 115: Ice Lanterns

Arriving at the door, Fangzheng kneaded some rice grains into a sticky paste to act as glue . He handed the blob over to the squirrel . The squirrel held the glue as he rode on Lone Wolf's shoulder . Fangzheng held the couplets and gestured while he asked, "Is the height okay? Are they a little slanted or are they straight?"

The squirrel measured carefully and instructed Fangzheng, "A little bit to the left, and lift the right side a bit . Stop! That's perfect!"

Fangzheng took over the rice paste and used it as glue to paste the couplets to the door .

The first line went: Kindness is truly Zen;

The second line went: Compassion is also ritualistic .

Summary: Not a monk!

The couplet was taken from others but the summary was his own . Life on the mountain was boring and for someone his age, it was impossible to calm his mind . He yearned for a life away from the mountain where he could experience freedom in the mortal world . He did not wish to be a monk that was constrained to a temple . Therefore, the final summary was added by him as a way to deprecate himself .

As he looked at the couplet, Fangzheng finally got into a festive mood . He chuckled and said, "It looks pretty good . "

At that moment, the squirrel suddenly began to squeak .

Fangzheng asked in surprise, "You want a couplet too? I don't even know where your home is . How do I stick the couplets for you?"

The squirrel continued squeaking .

"What? You are moving in here? You have even chosen your nest? What? You want to stay on the bodhi tree? Ummm, I don't think there is a hole up there, is there? Why are you asking me to make a house for you? Why should I?" Fangzheng said unhappily .

Despite his protests, Fangzheng still found a flower pot and tied it to the branch of the bodhi tree .

It was not like he could do anything else . He did not have a hammer, nails or wooden planks . There was no way for him to create a beautiful nest for the squirrel . However, since the little fellow lived in a tree hole, a container would do the trick .

However, why was the little guy glaring at him angrily after he saw his new place? He wasn't even looking at him straight . Fangzheng suddenly realized that he had mistakenly recognized his old chamber pot as a flower pot . He had totally forgotten what it was because he had only used it as a potty a long time ago . He had chosen it because it looked familiar .

However, this was not something Fangzheng would admit at all . If not, the squirrel would definitely leave a few deep scratches on his bald head .

Still, Fangzheng changed the chamber pot for a much prettier flower pot . Only then did the little fellow delightfully squirm in . It jumped on Fangzheng's shoulders . The only thing that kept the squirrel from jumping on Fangzheng's head was his bald head which looked slippery to the squirrel .

That was the first time Fangzheng felt lucky that he was bald . . .

Now that the squirrel had a home, he had to write a pair of couplets for him too!

Fangzheng tore apart two pieces of the red paper which were about one inch wide and picked up the pen to write . Though the pieces of paper were very small, his handwriting was still very clear and elegant as a result of the Dragon Buddha Epithet .

The first line said: People in prosperity;

The second line went: Squirrels in harvest .

Summary: A squirrel at home .

The little guy did not understand it, but he felt overjoyed nonetheless .

When Lone Wolf saw this, he immediately insisted on a couplet too .

Lone Wolf had been with Fangzheng since before Squirrel, so Fangzheng had already built a wooden kennel for him . It saved him the efforts of making another home for Lone Wolf .

Fangzheng just needed to write another couplet .

But when he did a search, he was immediately troubled! Any mention on the Internet about wolves was derogatory towards wolves . There was nothing nice . What was he to do?

He took a glance at the cute Lone Wolf and said with a chuckle, "Do you recognize these words?"

Lone Wolf shook his head .

Fangzheng snapped his fingers . This made things easier! He produced bold strokes . . .

The first line read: Lanterns light up Buddhism;

The second line read: The dog guarding the yard .

Summary: Dogs keep thieves away .

After putting up all the couplets, all the red paper was used up .

At the same time, the brush and ink vanished with a flash of golden light .

Fangzheng rolled his eyes and thought, "Do you need to be that impatient? Stingy . "

He felt a lot more comfortable after cursing . However, couplets alone were definitely not enough for the new year . He needed to find some color lanterns! But where could he find them?

With a stroke of brilliance, he recalled the old monk's ice lanterns! Inspired, he ran to the backyard and took out a couple of huge buckets, filling two of them .

He also filled cups with water and placed them in the yard .

A few hours later, the water in the buckets had frozen . Fangzheng tapped at one and found it hard enough . It could now be used!

Then, Fangzheng moved the bucket to the kitchen and put the bucket by the fire while spinning it . Soon enough, the ice on the edge started to melt so that he could detach the ice from the bucket .

Fangzheng moved the bucket back in the yard, drilled a hole in the middle of the ice, and poured the unfrozen water away . Finally, he flipped the bucket and placed it on the ground before slowly lifting the bucket .

Once the bucket was removed, an ice lantern in the shape of a bucket appeared! The Unrooted Clean Aqua was so pure and clean that even when it turned into ice, there was still no impurity in it . It looked crystal clear and gorgeous! Unfortunately, there were no chiseled edges . If he could shape it into the shape of a diamond, Fangzheng believed that it wouldn't be inferior to diamonds!

Fangzheng drilled another small hole on the top of the lantern to create an airway . Then, he carried the ice lantern out and placed it on a wall . He chose a candle and lit it before placing it inside the ice lantern . As there was an airway, there was no fear that the candle would extinguish due to a lack of oxygen . At the same time, there was ice surrounding the ice lantern from every angle . There was no need to worry that the flame would be snuffed out by the wind .

Although the candlelight wasn't beautiful, the refraction of the circular ice crystal made it gorgeous . Occasionally, a breeze would enter, causing the candlelight to flicker . The flickering would cause the light outside to coruscate . It was beautiful like a neon light!

It was no surprise that after seeing the ice lantern, the squirrel and Lone Wolf hollered because they wanted one for themselves .

Fangzheng reprimanded in a joking manner, "Both of you want an ice lantern too? Alright, go draw the water yourself!"

They ran to get the water . It didn't take long before the squirrel had a tiny ice lantern made from a small cup in front of his nest . There was a large ice lantern hanging by Lone Wolf's kennel entrance . However, Fangzheng did not place any candles in their ice lanterns . After all, Fangzheng only had a few candles . They could not be used or they would go to waste .

Even so, the wolf and squirrel were overjoyed .

Fangzheng's inner child reared its head . He decided to continue making more ice lanterns to decorate the mountain . It was not like he had anything else to do!

Meanwhile, Fangzheng heard footsteps . He could tell there were quite a few people from the sound .

Fangzheng flicked his sleeves and stepped outside to investigate . There were Wang Yougui, Tan Juguo, Yang Ping, Yang Hua, and Dog Song . A group of men and women had come up the mountain .

Fangzheng was somewhat taken aback . What were they up to?

Turning back time to that morning . . .

"What are all of you doing?" Dog Song put down his broom and wiped the sweat from his forehead . He walked over and asked out of curiosity when he saw a few tables set up at the village's entrance .

"Uncle, here's the deal . The government is encouraging cultural education in the village . Isn't it the new year? Everyone needs to put up couplets . In the past, everyone would buy ready-made ones, but those are poor at uplifting that cultural atmosphere . We are volunteers from the county's Calligraphy Association . We came here to help everyone write couplets . It's a form of encouraging cultural education in the villages and a way to spread prosperity," a young man rubbed his eyes and said with a smile .