The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism - Chapter 311

Chapter 311


"Do you want to accept it now?" asked the System .

"Wait a moment . " There were still many people around him . Fangzheng did not wish for a book to appear out of thin air .

Huang Xinghua and Huang Zhenhua were stunned when they saw Fangzheng walk out the ward . They were completely confounded by what Fangzheng had done inside the ward . He just stood there the entire time! Was he sick in the head?

Fangzheng pressed his palms together at the quartet, "Amitabha . Patrons, This Penniless Monk shall bid you farewell . "

Huang Zhenhua was eager for the mysterious person to leave immediately . It was the same with Huang Xinghua . After they exchanged a few words of pleasantries, Fangzheng left with Red Boy .

It was already late in the night when they returned to One Finger Monastery . That night, Lone Wolf, Monkey, and Squirrel suffered insomnia en masse . They sat in the yard, looking up at the rooftop, looking disconsolate .

On the roof, a child dressed in a dudou was looking up into the sky as he sang at the top of his lungs, "Nine, one, eight! Nine, one eight…"

"Did Fourth Junior Brother go mad?"

"Perhaps . "

"Fourth Junior Brother was such a strong person, but he became like this after going out with Master once . Should we still follow in the future?"

"I'm a little worried…"

"Wouldn't it be embarrassing if we don't go when our junior brother has gone out?"

"That's better than going mad…"

…

Fangzheng ignored Red Boy's crazy wailing . At that moment, he was already sound asleep like a dead pig . By simultaneously putting many people in a dream without being in the monastery was extraordinarily draining . His head was heavy and the moment he hit the bed, he fell asleep . In his dream, Fangzheng seemed to hear someone singing 'My Home is by the Songhua River . ' He felt as though he saw Chen Dashan and Liu Fangfang .

The next day, the first thing Fangzheng did was to ask the System .

"System, where's my scripture book? Quickly give it to me . I have never touched a complete copy of a scripture book!" said Fangzheng anxiously .

The next moment, a thick yellow scripture book landed in Fangzheng's hand . Fangzheng weighed it in his hand and it was indeed quite heavy . On the cover, there were the words 'Diamond Sutra' written with great flair using the Dragon Buddha Epithet!

Just the three words emanated a light Buddhist charm . It made his mood a lot better from one glance . He slowly flipped the book open as it faintly gave off a typical book fragrance . Fangzheng sniffed at it covetously . All this while, he had been yearning for a few scripture books that he could call his own . Now that his wish had been fulfilled, he could only feel delighted!

"Thus have I heard at one time . The Buddha dwelled at Anathapindika's garden in Jeta Grove in the city of Shravasti, together with a large gathering of 1250 monks and bodhisattva-mahasattvas . Early in the morning, when the meal time came, the Buddha put on his robe and, holding his bowl, entered the great city of Shravasti where he begged for food . Having finished begging from door to door, he came back to his own seat in the garden and took his meal . When this was done, he put away his robe and bowl, washed his feet, spread his seat and sat down…"



Fangzheng recited silently and unknowingly, he finished reading the book . When he looked up, he heard incessant groaning sounds . He unwillingly put down the Buddhist scripture and stretched his back before leaving to prepare breakfast .

As the number one kitchen monk, Red Boy had already prepared the fire . Monkey and Squirrel had joined forces in sweeping clean the temple hall . Monkey was now sweeping the yard .

After having breakfast, Fangzheng suddenly realized that he had less to do now that he had these disciples .

At that moment, a child wearing a red dudou flashed past him .

Fangzheng suddenly thought of something as he shouted, "Jingxin . "

Red Boy, who was carrying water buckets, turned his head and asked, "Master, what's up?"

Fangzheng smiled . "Didn't we talk about hairstyling the last time?"

Red Boy immediately scooted off the moment he heard that as he rushed out the monastery . Far off, he shouted, "Master, you remember wrongly . We didn't, absolutely not!"

Fangzheng looked at Red Boy's back and shook his head helplessly, "Why is this child so protective of his hair? Isn't a bald head good? At least it's convenient when it comes to washing one's head!"

Fangzheng walked into the temple hall while holding the Diamond Sutra . He sat in front of the large wooden fish and began striking it . Fangzheng calmed his mind as he began to study the Diamond Sutra . Every read gave him new insights . He felt his mind turn ethereal as he expanded his knowledge . He felt a lot more comfortable .



As new days passed, Fangzheng's days became more relaxed . He recited scriptures, walked the wolf, feeling carefree as can be . But soon, that carefree feeling would be gone .

"Master, something bad happened . " Red Boy placed two empty buckets in front of Fangzheng .

"Why isn't there water?"

Red Boy looked up into the sky . "I have no idea either . Perhaps it's been too long since there was rain . The spring source no longer produces water . What do we do?"

Fangzheng knitted his brows tightly . The spring source by Mt . One Finger's mountainside had water all year round and had never once dried . Why was there no water this year?

Fangzheng said, "I'll take a look . "

With that said, Fangzheng rushed to the mountainside . The spring at the mountainside was Fangzheng's main source of water . It was no trivial matter if it dried up . If he wanted to fetch water elsewhere, he would probably have to go down to the foot of the mountain . However, Fangzheng was not worried about that . Instead, the drying up of the spring source signaled something terrifying! He looked up into the sky where the sun hung high . The sun was rising higher in the sky every day, turning hotter by the day . The clear skies were without clouds . He did not notice it before but now, Fangzheng realized that the recent days were somewhat abnormal! Upon doing a quick count, it had been a month since it rained!

Fangzheng rushed straight for Wang Yougui's house . The moment he entered, he caught a whiff of watermelon fragrance .

"Fangzheng, why are you here? You came just in time . Quick, have some watermelon!" Wang Yougui had his arms bare, and he was sitting cross-legged on a brick bed . There was a plate of watermelon on the table and sitting across him was Tan Juguo . Tan Juguo had one leg beneath the brick bed . He had a huge smoke pipe in his hand as he was sucking at it . Near the window sat Yang Ping . He was slumped over the table, writing something . Beside him was a calculator .

Upon seeing Fangzheng come, everyone looked up and came over before greeting him .



Fangzheng pressed his palms together, "Amitabha . Patrons, This Penniless Monk is here because of something . "

"There's no rush . Have some watermelon . Quick, have a seat," invited Tan Juguo .

Fangzheng did not stand on ceremony and immediately went onto the brick bed, sitting beside Yang Ping .

"Abbot Fangzheng, what happened up on your mountain?" asked Yang Ping out of curiosity .

"Sigh, This Penniless Monk's One Finger Spring has dried up," said Fangzheng in distress .

"What?!" Tan Juguo exclaimed as the smoke pipe in his hand fell onto the table .

Wang Yougui asked solemnly, "Really? When did this happen?

"This Penniless Monk isn't sure when it exactly happened . It was discovered when This Penniless Monk went down the mountain to fetch water . Patrons, why are all of you so agitated?"

Wang Yougui said with a wry smile, "Recently, a few of our motor pumps have not been able to draw any water . We originally thought that it was a minor problem, but who knew that even One Finger Spring that has water all year round would no longer produce water . It looks like something serious has happened . "

Fangzheng was taken aback . "Water can't be drawn from the wells even with the motor pumps?"

"That's right . It began yesterday . It started only with Dog Song's well . We originally believed that the machinery had broken, and we tinkered with it for quite long . Following that, nothing could be drawn from Sun Qiancheng's well either and so on . Furthermore, water from the well in Chen Jin's family land which Sun Qiancheng is contracted to take care of cannot be drawn either . It became worse today . Many families are unable to draw any water . I'm guessing that the water table has dried up," Wang Yougui's brows were tightly knit together as he said worriedly .