The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Moments later, the trio stood up and bowed at Fangzheng. “Master, thank you for providing us with such insight.”

Only Little Min wore a blank, puzzled expression. She didn’t understand what Fangzheng had said, but for some reason, she felt that what he said sounded reasonable.

At that moment, Shao Chong said, “Little Min. The misery you and us suffer is the misery of fools. We train the body, but not the mind! Just as Abbot Fangzheng said, if the body is already at its limits, leaving your mind still harping on other matters will ultimately lead to a crushing of the mind by the body’s manifestation of tiredness. The more you insist, the more misery you feel, until you can no longer withstand the pain and approach death. However, a smart person doesn’t do that. A smart person constantly adjusts themselves and looks positively at the problems facing them. They find joy in the matter at hand from different angles. That way, something mundane can turn into something joyful, and it gets much easier. Master, is this the so-called power of the mind you are talking about?”

Fangzheng nodded slightly. “Patron, you are intelligent. That is indeed the case, but this is when there are zero solutions. When stuck in the misery of the mortal world, since there’s no way of escaping it, the only way is to seek happiness in it.”

With that said, Fangzheng patted Little Min on the shoulder. “Remember, a person unafraid of death is the bravest person. If you aren’t afraid of death, why not charge forward instead? Think about that instant you fell from the building. What was on your mind? Don’t let the people who love you feel hurt, because making them happy is your responsibility.”

With that said, Fangzheng got up. What needed to be said had been said. It would be meaningless if he continued. Most importantly, he wasn’t knowledgeable enough to continue. Taking the chance when he still had them fooled, it was best he fled. He really couldn’t say anything else if he was made to continue…

At that moment, Red Boy pulled Fangzheng’s sleeve and whispered. “Master, there are lots of people at the door, at least dozens. Are you sure you want to exit through the door?”

Fangzheng’s heart skipped a beat. He shot a glance at Red Boy, and Red Boy shot a glance at the washroom.

Fangzheng nodded slightly. “Patrons, This Penniless Monk needs to pay the washroom a visit.”

With that said, he entered the washroom before Shao Gang and company could react and closed the door! He returned Red Boy his divine powers and the next moment, the duo transformed into a stream of light and fled!

Shao Gang, Shao Chong, Little Min, and Officer Chang waited outside for quite a while. After seeing that more than ten minutes had passed, they wondered why the master wasn’t out yet.

“Could Master be having constipation troubles?” Shao Chong asked.

Officer Chang mumbled. “Even if he’s constipated, wouldn’t his legs hurt from squatting that long?”

After another round of waiting, the few of them felt something was amiss. Officer Chang couldn’t help but gently push the door to the washroom, and it opened! It was empty inside!

“Officer Chang, how’s it? Is Master not done?” Shao Gang didn’t walk over as he shouted the question.

“How it is? He ran off!” Officer Chang shouted.

“Ran off?” Shao Gang was stunned before he ran over, mumbling. “How… is this possible? My washroom only has such a tiny window. Besides, we are on the third floor!”

“Master probably knows some bone contortion technique and some movement techniques, but why did he run?” Shao Chong was puzzled.

“Let me go out to take a look.” After Officer Chang said that, he rushed out, opened the door, and was instantly dumbfounded.

He saw a huge group of people standing outside, all the way to the stairs! The senior policeman and Little Min’s mother were there too. There were a bunch of random stall owners as well as pedestrians on the street who had nothing better to do. All of them had run over to watch the commotion.

“What are you all doing here?” Officer Chang asked subconsciously.

“Eavesdropping on your conversation. I believe what Master said was very reasonable,” the senior policeman said with a chuckle.

“Mom!” Little Min looked at her mother and cried out, plunging into her mother’s bosom. Having escaped death, Little Min had thought of many things. Just as Fangzheng said, the closer she was to death, the more she missed her parents. Her mind was filled with scenes of her parents. She ultimately couldn’t let them go. Her mother was crying as well, wailing while hugging her. As she wept, she said, “Little Min, Mommy won’t force you to study in the future. If you want to play, go ahead. Mommy will let you do anything you want.”

“Mom, I will study well in the future. I will be better every day,” Little Min whispered.

“Alright. Get moving, nothing to see here. Get moving.” Seeing the happy ending and thinking that all was well that ended well, the senior policeman began chasing the crowd away. It wasn’t right for all these people to block the stairs.

Everyone originally wanted to see the amusing monk who had used a net to catch two living persons, but after listening to the teachings he gave through the door, all of them smacked their lips. Only then did they realize that things weren’t right… They were here to watch the excitement, so how did it develop this way?

“Boss Shao, is Master still around? Can I take a picture with him? I have some questions to ask,” someone couldn’t help but shout out.

The others didn’t leave when they heard this. All of them tiptoed and craned their necks, hoping to continue watching the development and see the monk about whom they had no idea whether he was crazy or a man of god.

When Shao Gang heard that, he smiled bitterly. “Everyone, please leave. Didn’t you hear? Master has left.”

“Left? You have a back door over there?” someone asked.

“No. Master escaped via the washroom. He said he needed to use the toilet, but he didn’t come out all day. Only when we went in did we see that he was gone. As for how he left, I have no idea either. If you don’t believe me, you can come in to see for yourselves.” Shao Gang didn’t know how to explain it either. There was only one washroom and a ventilation outlet the size of about one to two fists large. He would rather die than believe that anyone could squeeze through it. He had seen contortionists, with bodies so soft that they could be cramped into a bundle, but he had never seen anyone who could shrink their heads so tiny. That hole wasn’t even as big as a head…

The crowd surged over and when they saw the tiny hole, all of them were dumbfounded.

“Boss Shao, are you joking? Master isn’t a rat. How can he escape though such a tiny hole?”

“Boss Shao, did you see wrong?”

“Boss Shao, did that master say how he knew that someone was falling from above? He even held a huge net to catch them from below. Or was it all a coincidence?”

The moment that was said, Shao Gang and Shao Chong were taken aback. After chatting all day, they realized that they had forgotten to ask that question! It was like Fangzheng had been leading the discussion the entire time. Immediately they beat their chests and stomped their feet in regret. However, the two could tell from their conversations that Fangzheng was not a fool or lunatic! The farce from before was probably because he really had known ahead of time and had been waiting there to save the two!

But none of them could say much without any evidence.

Officer Chang had the same thought, so he said, “Master didn’t say. Neither did we ask. But from the looks of it, that was likely the case…”

With that said, everyone looked over, as though hoping to seek an answer from his mouth.

The senior policeman subconsciously pinched him, warning him not to speak nonsense.

Only then did Officer Chang realize that there were people who resembled reporters among the crowd. Although it was a guess, he was wearing a police uniform, making him a representative of the government. If he were to really speak up, it would be assumed that he was speaking with the authority of the government. With this in mind, Officer Chang chuckled. “I’m not sure either. If anyone of you sees him in person, you can ask him yourself. Alright, stop blocking the way. He’s not here, so staying here won’t help things. Get moving. Don’t affect Boss Shao’s business.”