The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Fan Qing nearly fainted too. It had been three days since he entered the mountains with his master. The Tongtian mountain range appeared boundless, and there was no end in sight! There was no way to fully cover the area on foot, and now, they wanted to find a person there? How was that any different from looking for a needle in a haystack? His master would probably be dead before they found the person.

Fan Qing said, “Venerable One, are you pulling our legs?”

“Of course not. Jingxin, quickly look for him. Jingfa, carry the injured person. Let’s go and look for him.” Fangzheng immediately gave commands. Simultaneously, he returned Red Boy his Dharmic powers. The snake venom was indeed lethal to humans, but Fangzheng was in no way worried with Red Boy around. Wouldn’t it be easily resolved with divine powers? However, Fangzheng did not wish for Red Boy to cast his divine powers in front of others. It was best to reduce as much trouble as possible.

Red Boy immediately obeyed the order when he sensed the restoration of his Dharmic powers. He charged straight into the forest.

Fan Qing hurriedly shouted when he saw this, “Venerable One, are you mad? He’s just a child. Aren’t you sending him to his death if you let him enter the forest? There are so many mosquitoes. What if… Why don’t we try to leave the mountains. At the very least, there is still hope if we leave.”

“Patron, don’t worry. My disciple is especially good at finding people,” said Fangzheng in all seriousness. He was not lying. If someone with divine powers could not find a person, Fangzheng would probably have to tell Guan Yin Bodhisattva to remove the idiot from the Buddhist roll. As for mosquitoes? Red Boy’s skin was so thick that even Fangzheng could not leave an impression on it. If any mosquito dared bite him, Red Boy would definitely subdue it like a demonic spirit!

Fan Qing thought that Fangzheng was simply bullsh*tting him. Just as he was about to say something, he heard human speech in the distance.

The person in front was speaking loudly, “The good weather makes one carefree, I attempt to snag a bee. Haha! Ouch, I got stung. It actually hurts quite badly.”

Fangzheng was stunned as his eyes lit up immediately. The voice was familiar, so he immediately shouted, “Is that Perfected Letian up ahead?”

The moment his voice faded, a series of footsteps was heard. The shrubs were pulled open as a Daoist in Daoist robes ran out. It was none other than Perfected Letian! Beside him was Red Boy who looked pissed. Red Boy had been planning on using this opportunity to have some fun, but he bumped into Letian the moment he left. Therefore Red Boy gave Letian a contemptuous and pissed look as he kept hinting that Letian was a Cow Snout.

Letian thought nothing of it. All that mattered was that he was in a good mood. He ignored how others looked at him or viewed him.

“Eh? Abbot Fangzheng, you came into the mountains today? Are you here to visit This Penniless Priest? Eh? Your friend seems injured. Aiyah! His leg is bent. Wow, it looks exactly like a fractured person’s leg!” said Letian.

Fangzheng was instantly rendered speechless. What did he mean by looking like a fractured person’s leg! It was obviously fractured! What kind of eyes did he have!? Only a person like Letian could say such insouciant words.

Fangzheng quickly spoke before Fan Qing could blow his top. “Amitabha. Perfected Letian, these two patrons entered the mountain and encountered a venomous snake. One of them was bitten, and he fractured his leg. It’s almost getting dark. Might we take shelter in your Daoist temple for the night?”

“Daoist, please! My master climbed up the mountain to pick a herb but ended up falling down accidentally. While resting, he was bitten by a venomous snake. I implore you to save him,” said Fan Qing immediately.

Letian was momentarily stunned when he heard that. Then he shook his head like a rattle drum. He first returned Fangzheng’s bow with a Daoist bow, but it was awkward as he held a calabash in one hand. “Immeasurable Temple.”

Only then did he continue, “Abbot Fangzheng can go, but both of you can’t.”

“Why?” Fan Qing turned anxious. “Daoist, you can’t watch my master die!”

Fangzheng was puzzled as well. Perfected Letian did not appear to be someone with a hardened heart who would sit idle while someone died.

Perfected Letian said, “This Penniless Priest’s Daoist temple does not host people who aren’t cultivators. This Penniless Priest has reclused himself in the mountain to stay separate from the external world, so as to not be tainted with karma. Except for other cultivators, no one can be hosted. Of course, as your situation is a little special, you can stay in the house outside the Daoist temple. As for the snake venom…”

Perfected Letian swept his gaze at the elder before taking out two pills from his calabash. One of the pills was green. He crushed this pill and mixed it with spit before rubbing it on the elder’s bite wound. Then he took the other pill, a red pill, and stuffed it into the elder’s mouth. “You’ll be fine.”

Fan Qing immediately heaved a sigh of relief.

Perfected Letian added, “You won’t die immediately.”

Fan Qing nearly cried when he heard that. Why were the monk and Daoist he’d happened to meet so fond of stopping mid-sentence? If his master would not die immediately, didn’t it mean that he would still die?

Perfected Letian ignored Fan Qing and said to Fangzheng, “Abbot, let’s go. Let’s chat at my place.”

Fangzheng nodded as he was rather curious. Perfected Letian, who was so frugal with his clothes, actually had a house outside his Daoist temple? He hadn’t imagined that Letian was actually so rich!

Fan Qing was awash with anxiety. Just as he wanted to say something, he saw that Perfected Letian was gone. Helplessly, he planned on carrying his master, but he saw the white wolf run over at that moment. The monkey that was also present used its strength and raised his master’s sixty-plus kilogram body up like a feather. He was then thrown onto Lone Wolf’s back. Just as Fan Qing was about to shout, Lone Wolf ran off at an extremely fast speed… Monkey ran behind as he took care of the elder to prevent him from falling off. When they encountered any branches, Monkey would swat them away beforehand, preventing them from scratching the elder.

Upon seeing this, Fan Qing heaved a sigh of relief. As for accommodations, he was happy that there even was somewhere to take shelter. He was not going to be picky since they were deep in the mountains.

However…

“Daoist, is this the outside house you mentioned?” Fan Qing nearly screamed. Fan Qing pointed at a temporary hut that was not even three meters wide and two meters in breadth. He was on the brink of insanity! Was this for humans? It wasn’t even big enough for rearing pigs!

“Immeasurable Temple. If you don’t like it, you can find somewhere else.” After Perfected Letian said that, he ignored Fan Qing. His expression changed immediately as he chuckled at Fangzheng. “Abbot Fangzheng, This Penniless Priest recently had some thoughts and was vexed over how there was no one to discuss them with. Can we have a chat inside the Daoist temple?”

Fangzheng was surprised. He looked at Perfected Letian before looking at the peeved Fan Qing. He then shook his head. Although Perfected Letian wasn’t a good host to Fan Qing, the hut was made of mud, making it rather robust. It would not be a problem for it to protect him for the night. Besides, Perfected Letian had also saved his master’s life. This was something he should be grateful for, but Fan Qing had forgotten it in a blink of an eye. He even showed his displeasure and anger. This also made Fangzheng a little pissed. If not for Fan Qing’s fervent protection of his master, Fangzheng would have felt like ignoring him as well.

Therefore, Fangzheng and Perfected Letian walked into the Daoist temple, leaving Fan Qing outside.

On the way, Fangzheng asked curiously, “Perfected One, didn’t you use to greet with ‘Heavenly Lord of the Immeasurable’? Why did you begin saying ‘Immeasurable Temple’ today?”