The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

That night, he had received a message from an unfamiliar number on his phone. It said: “What Man does, Heaven watches. How much longer can you hide from the immense powers of Heaven?”

Chen Jing subconsciously thought about Li Fengxian, but when he replied to the message, it was as if it sunk to the bottom of the ocean. However, he had a nagging feeling that it was sent by Li Fengxian! Then, by connecting the dots, he thought about the young monk that had grabbed the wolf with his bare hands. Chen Jing was turning increasingly certain that the problem stemmed from One Finger Temple.

So Chen Jing went.

It was clearly not sensible to climb up the mountain in the middle of the night. However, when he glanced at his belly that continuously increased in size, Chen Jing gritted his teeth and scaled the mountain.

That night, Fangzheng was suffering from insomnia. He did not know what had happened down the mountain. All he felt was that the divine power was useless! After conjuring his power, there weren’t any golden beams flashing, nor were there any effects like a divine dragon flying into the sky. He did not even know if it was successfully conjured. There was no feedback at all.

As he was plagued by thoughts and unable to sleep, he decided to get up and sit under the bodhi tree. He decided to simply enjoy the moonlit night sky. The creamy-white moon scattered its silvery light that filtered through the bodhi tree’s green leaves. Dots of light landed on Fangzheng, making him appear even more untainted.

As Fangzheng was lost in reverie, he heard someone knock on the door.

Fangzheng was frightened. Who had come knocking on his door in the middle of the night? Could it be a ghost?

If it were any other time, Fangzheng would truly be a little afraid but now, he wasn’t at all! With the Buddha System and a true Buddha in the temple, which puny ghost would dare wreak havoc on him?

After Fangzheng hesitated for a moment, he heard a frail voice coming from outside, “Master. Master. Master, open the door…”

Creak!

Fangzheng opened the door. There was no one there!

Fangzheng recalled the wispy voice and immediately drew a cold gasp as his hair stood up. Was it really a ghost?

At that moment, the legging of Fangzheng’s pants tightened!

“Ah!” Fangzheng raised his foot in shock and kicked at the unknown object!

Bam!

“Ah!” Fangzheng heard a tragic scream. He looked down and saw a person being sent flying from his kick before slamming into a snow pile that he had swept up earlier in the day.

“Aiyah, it’s a human!” Fangzheng smacked his bald head and hurriedly ran over to dig the person out.

Minutes later, on the only stool beside the fire in the temple’s backyard, Chen Jing held his large belly and groaned incessantly, blood streaming down the corner of his mouth.

Fangzheng was sitting on a rock by the side with a calm expression.

“Master, this thing of mine, it was done by you, right?” Chen Jing said as he pointed to his large belly.

Fangzheng did not say a word as he quietly looked at Chen Jing.

When Chen Jing saw this, he plopped to the ground and knelt in front of Fangzheng. He wailed, “Master, I know my faults! Spare me! It’s fine if I’m pregnant, but why am I pregnant with a brick? Boohoohoo. Master, I know my faults. Please spare me.”

Fangzheng said, “There is karma in this world. If the punishment is not forthcoming, it is because the time has not yet come. Patron, do you really know your faults?”

“Yes, yes. Ouch- So painful! Master, spare me. I’m almost about to deliver,” Chen Jing wailed.

Fangzheng shook his head and said, “Let’s talk again when you really know where your faults lie and when you decide to truly repent.”

Having said that, Fangzheng stood up. He carried Chen Jing and threw him outside. Before Chen Jing could say a word, the door was slammed shut!

Chen Jing looked at the tightly closed door and held his huge belly as he whimpered in pain. He was perplexed. How did the monk know that he wasn’t truly repentant?

Fangzheng sneered behind the door as he muttered to himself, “I thought this punk had repented, but the System did not send any notifications. You want to try fooling me? Fine! Have some fun delivering your child!”

With that said, Fangzheng flicked his sleeves and went to chant in the temple hall.

Second after second passed as Chen Jing jumped up and down outside in the cold. His belly caused him excruciating pain as he constantly thought of means to fool the monk. He wanted to first get through this hurdle before considering his next move.

However, despite all his thoughts, he failed to conjure any method…

Seeing how something was beginning to move downwards in his belly, he was truly frightened!

But to let him bury the grudge? Was he going to forget how he had disgraced himself? He was truly afraid.

Thinking of the magical powers Fangzheng had to impregnate him from such a great distance, Chen Jing suddenly realized how laughable it was to oppose Fangzheng! He originally had a stable job with bright prospects. If he managed to successfully court Jing Yan, he would truly be enjoying a meteoric rise in success. Yet, because of a monk, he had lost everything. Now, if he were to give birth to a brick, his life would be truly destroyed.

However, if he needed to specify what he did wrong, he did not believe that he had done anything wrong. He had indeed wanted to cause harm to the monk but the problem was, didn’t he fail?

At that moment, he felt both regret and indignation. His complex emotions swirled in his heart. He sat there all night in the cold, his lips turning purple. Finally, he had no choice but to get some grass underneath the snow to light a fire for warmth.

Fangzheng was naturally paying close attention to Chen Jing. His temple was not a morgue. If Chen Jing were to truly freeze to death, there would be no end to his troubles. Furthermore, Chen Jing’s sins were not so serious as to be punishable by death.

Lone Wolf guarded the entrance. He would alert Fangzheng of anything that happened outside. Seeing how Chen Jing did not freeze to death through an entire night, Fangzheng was also rather impressed with his strong will to live.

Disregarding what was happening outside, Fangzheng continued his daily routine of eating, drinking, and cleaning the temple hall… It was as if there wasn’t a person outside.

Outside, Chen Jing could endure the cold and hunger, but the problem was that his belly was growing bigger!

However, the door did not open, and he could not climb over the wall. Chen Jing felt helpless as he paced outside the door, yelling, “Master, when will you be willing to forgive me?”

However, no one from inside replied to him.

Chen Jing gritted his teeth and plopped to the ground with a kneel. He exclaimed, “Master, I’ll kneel here until you forgive me!”

At this moment, Fangzheng was not like a composed old monk like Chen Jing was imagining. He was proning on the ground and peeping through the gap under the door, with his butt high in the sky. Seeing Chen Jing suddenly resort to this, Fangzheng was shocked. Then, he smiled wryly and thought to himself, “This fellow is really clever to use the ruse of inflicting harm on himself to trick me. If it were any other monk, he would probably have forgiven him. Unfortunately, the System has not said a thing. You won’t be able to fool me! If you want to kneel, go ahead. Let’s see when you figure out your wrongs!”

Fangzheng shook his head and went on the Internet to read Buddhist scriptures.

Seconds changed to minutes as Chen Jing felt his knees hurt from the kneeling. He thought to himself, “This darn monk is so cruel-hearted? What else does he want when I’m already in this state? Fine, I’ll see who can last longer! When other devotees come, they will see this scene. Let’s see if you will feel fine with me kneeling here then! When the time comes, hehe…”

An hour later.

“My knees hurt. Why isn’t there anyone?”

Two hours later.

“I can’t take it anymore. Let me take a seat. What the hell, why isn’t there anyone?”

Three hours later.

“Heavens, how desolate is this temple? It’s not possible that not even one person will come here for an entire day, right?”

Noon.

“Is there really no one?”

Evening…

“What the hell is this temple? There’s not a single person. How did that monk even survive to this age? Why hasn’t he starved to death?!”