The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Each step Fangzheng took served to tense up Xi Liang’s heart even more. Seeing that Fangzheng was about to vanish behind the door, an idea came to him as he yelled, “Master! Saving a life is better than building a seven-storied pagoda. There are countless people in the world who are gravely ill, some of them without money for treatment or even with untreatable illnesses. With your medical skills, don’t you wish to do something for everyone? That would be a huge merit!”

Upon hearing the word ‘merit,’ Fangzheng came to a halt.

Perhaps Fangzheng knew the importance of merit better than anyone else in the world! With merit, one could nullify negative karma and increase one’s light of providence. With merit, Fanzgheng could draw better prices. With merit, there was a chance for him to renounce asceticism!

At the same time, Xi Liang’s words seemed to enlighten him, making him especially happy. Ever since he started teaching Lame Ma bamboo carving, Lame Ma in turn taught others. This resulted in many people becoming rich. As for Fangzheng, it only looked like it added to his fame, but in fact, Fangzheng received tons of merit from that!

The skills were his in the end. Anyone who relied on these skills to obtain bliss and money, such as people who escaped poverty as a result of them, would more or less give Fangzheng some merit. It wasn’t a lot if you only looked at the merit he got from one person, but when accumulated, it was a sizable amount! Furthermore, once a school was set up, more people would be learning his skills, allowing the proliferation of his skills to increase. Fangzheng’s merit would naturally be higher. It was a highly beneficial trade!

With this in mind, Fangzheng yearned to slap himself in the face. Why was he so stupid? How could he forget such a good method of earning merit? He even foolishly thought of the medical skills as nothing important.

Fangzheng immediately felt tempted.

However, Fangzheng still didn’t turn back. He heard Red Boy say, “Master, some more people have come. However, the people that came now are weird. There’s many middle-aged and elderly people.”

When Fangzheng heard that, his curiosity was instantly piqued. Mt. One Finger had scenic views, with visitors scaling the mountain nearly every day to take in the sights. However, Mt. One Finger was ultimately remote. The mountain path visitors needed to take couldn’t compare with the main scenic spots. Compounded by the snow, it made the climb up the mountain even harder. It wasn’t easy for the elderly to move around in the first place, and climbing a mountain was all the more difficult; furthermore, it was dangerous.

Therefore, almost no elder came up the mountain after it snowed. The people who came up were youths who enjoyed fun and adventure. There were some middle-aged people as well, but to hear that the group that had arrived consisted mostly of the middle-aged and elderly, Fangzheng was somewhat puzzled. What had happened?

When he turned his head, Fangzheng was stunned.

It wasn’t only Fangzheng; Xi Liang was also dumbfounded.

Amid the cold winds, a group of middle-aged men and women, as well as elders, ran over. It was like they were in a hundred-meter race! The middle-aged men were still alright, but the women were running to the point of sending their shoes flying! As for the elders, they ignored their iced beards and were wholly unconcerned with their ages and bodies. The speed at which they were running made them look like they were flying.

However, what shocked Xi Liang the most was that these people were all dressed uniformly. They were all in white coats! The style was all too familiar to him. They were doctors! For so many doctors to run over, with many of them looking familiar, could it be…

Before Xi Liang could snap to his senses, Fangzheng had already arrived by the door. The people also ran to the door, standing in their spots as they stared at Fangzheng intently.

The ardor and zeal they displayed nearly made Lone Wolf jump forward to do his duties as guardian. Red Boy tugged at Fangzheng’s trousers and said, “Master, what did you do? Why are so many crazy doctors coming for you?”

Fangzheng smacked him in the back of his head and pressed his palms together before saying to the crowd, “Amitabha. Patrons, don’t be in a rush. It’s still early. There’s no need to rush when it comes to offering incense…”

Fangzheng had already guessed something, but since they hadn’t said a word, he didn’t find it appropriate to immediately say, “Younglings, This Penniless Monk will teach you medical skills!” In order to break the silence, all he could do was say a random opening line.

Upon hearing Fangzheng speak, everyone snapped to their senses. Someone asked, “Are you Abbot Fangzheng?”

Fangzheng pressed his palms together and nodded slightly. “That is This Penniless Monk. Patron, is there something?”

The man said in excitement, “I saw your livestream video. You lectured very well. I also study Traditional Chinese medicine. There were too many things which you said that I didn’t understand, so I wish to have a profound discussion with you.”

Just as the man finished his sentence and before Fangzheng could even say a word, a woman by the side said loudly, “Profound discussion? Sun Yingwei, with those skills of yours, aren’t you embarrassed to use those words? You don’t even qualify to be a disciple of Master!”

Sun Yingwei blushed when he heard that. Although he wasn’t some expert, he was still a TCM teacher at a university. He was also a doctor-in-charge at the hospital. He had his dignity, so he was naturally furious to be denigrated in front of so many people.

Sun Yingwei suddenly turned his head and said angrily, “I, Sun Yingwei, might not be much, but what about you?”

The woman who had spoken was wearing a scarf, making it difficult to discern her face. When she heard Sun Yingwei question her, she took off her scarf and said, “Would I not know how much you amount to?” The person revealed her weathered face which wore a solemn expression. When Sun Yingwei saw her, he immediately jumped in fright and cried out. “Director Miao?”

Director Miao nodded slightly and said, “Sun Yingwei, Abbot Fangzheng’s achievements in medicine aren’t something that can be compared to the average person’s knowledge. Put away your shrewdness. If you want to learn something, show your sincerity.”

“Little Miao is right.” At that moment, an elder by the side said.

Miao Hong was taken aback, thinking, “Who’s shameless enough to call me Little Miao? Why is he acting so familiar with me?”

Miao Hong, Sun Yingwei, and Xi Liang looked over and saw a man with a huge beard which had frost on it, making it impossible for them to identify him. Without a word, the man reached for his face and wiped it, melting away all the frost and revealing an aged face.

At that instant, Xi Liang instantly stood up and exclaimed. “Song Yuhe of the three sages of TCM!?”

Not only Xi Liang, but everyone else cried out as well!

These people had rushed over from all over the country. They had set off even before dawn. They wished to be the first to visit Fangzheng to seek out his teachings. Everyone believed that no master in the world would head to a school to be the teacher of the masses. Even if they did, what they taught would definitely be limited.

This principle was adhered to not only in China, but overseas as well. Professors in other countries also selected their best research students. There had never been a professor who held the hand of each of the hundreds of students they had while teaching them. If any professor tried that, they would likely die of exhaustion, becoming a martyr for education.

Things were even more strict in China. Disciples were even divided into inner and outer disciples. Personal disciples, then, had rankings such as ‘eldest senior brother’ and ‘second junior brother’, etc. As such, everyone wished to arrive early to at the very least give Fangzheng a first impression. That way, when there was a competition later, their chances of coming out ahead would be higher.

Therefore, when all of them met at the foot of the mountain, none of them spoke. Instead, they were like fighting cocks, staring at each other as though they were archenemies from another life.

With the weather being cold, many people were wearing scarves. Some of them had beards which the incoming winds frosted immediately, preventing others from identifying them.