The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Liu Guangcai looked at the squirrel in horror. The adult squirrel’s despairing eyes struck him. He couldn’t help but give himself two slaps. Then, he said to the squirrel, “I was wrong. Leave in peace. I will take good care of it—if I can survive…”

With that said, Liu Guangcai placed the baby squirrel into his pocket and buried the adult squirrel. He then continued chopping down trees.

However, Liu Guangcai soon realized that it was impossible to continue. He was facing headwinds and the speed of the forest fire’s spread was far faster than he had expected. Especially the fire on the forest canopy, the speed of the fire was almost catching up to the wind! It was extremely terrifying.

Just as Liu Guangcai was about to despair, a series of shouts sounded. “The fire is spreading down. All men, please help. Use the road to chop off those trees!”

At the same time, a familiar shout came from the chaotic crowd. “Guangcai? (Daddy?)”

Liu Guangcai turned his head and saw a large group of familiar faces. They were villagers from his village. At the same time, he saw his daughter, Liu Yu, and his wife, Xia Hui.

Liu Guangcai ran over and hugged the two.

It was only when they met that Liu Guangcai suddenly understood what the two meant to him. He was not afraid of death, but he was afraid of losing them! They were everything he had.

“Liu Guangcai, get over here!” An angry bellow sounded.

When Liu Guangcai saw that it was a village secretary, he hurriedly walked over obediently and said, “Secretary, I was wrong.”

Piak!

The village secretary raised his hand and gave him a slap. “What’s the use of doing it alone? Will you put out the fire? How can you put out a mountain fire by yourself? Are you joking with your own life? Do you not want your family anymore!? If you die, what will happen to your orphan daughter and widow?”

Liu Guangcai had originally thought that the secretary would scold him for causing the fire, but he never expected the secretary to say something like that.

After the scolding was over, the village secretary said, “As for the matter of causing the fire, you can answer to the government when you return! Now, go and put out the fire!”

It was only then that Liu Guangcai snapped back to his senses. He immediately agreed and smiled as he prepared to run.

Liu Yu chased after him and stuffed a water bottle into his hands before saying, “The secretary says that we have to bring water when putting out mountain fires or people will die. Also, here are wet towels and a wet hat.”

Liu Guangcai took it and gave Liu Yu a kiss on the cheek. Only then did he rush over with all his might and join the fire-fighting army.

“Village Chief, this won’t do. There’s still not enough manpower. The fire is spreading too quickly…” The secretary frowned.

The village chief said, “I’ve already contacted the nearby villages. They are all on their way here, so we need some time. In addition, the firefighters are also rushing over. They don’t agree that we try to extinguish the fire, but to help them observe the fire and provide them with the latest information so that they can design a fire fighting plan.”

The secretary said, “They are experts. Get a few people to follow their instructions.”

The village chief said, “Then what about this?”

The secretary said, “They are firefighters and are obligated to save the fire. However, they cannot expropriate our efforts of saving our parents! We rely on the mountain for our survival! In the past, I was also a firefighter. I participated in the inner Mongolia fire and know what to do. This mountain road is a very good quarantine zone. As long as we expand the isolation belt as much as possible before the fire reaches us, we can definitely hold back the fire. Time waits for no man. We can’t wait for them to come. Let’s do it ourselves!”

The village chief said, “Alright!”

At the same time, the firefighters who had entered the mountain quickly approached the fire and met Wei Shengli and his daughter.

“Brother, how’s the situation up ahead?” the captain asked.

Wei Shengli waved his hand and shouted, “The wind is too strong, the fire is too strong. You don’t have enough man!”

“If the two of you dare to come over, why wouldn’t we dare? The fire is spreading downwards. We will extinguish the smaller flames from the back. It’s to prevent the flames from burning backwards when the wind direction changes,” said the captain.

Wei Shengli nodded and called for another ranger to chase after the mountain fire.

Extinguishing a mountain fire was different from other fires. The technique required was very particular, especially a mountain fire in deep winter.

The firefighters had excellent equipment, but even so, they felt a wave of heat surging towards them as if they were roasted ducks being placed on a roasting rack.

What was worse was that the cold air behind them sent chills down their back. It was hot in the front and cold in the back, like two different worlds of ice and fire. Only those who had experienced it would know. It was impossible to understand it without experiencing it in place.

Wei Xiaolin broke out into sweat due to the heat. When she perspired, the sweat instantly evaporated. Her mouth was dry and her eyes blurred a little.

Seeing that the situation was not looking good, Wei Shengli hurriedly took out a water bottle and passed it to Wei Xiaolin, saying, “Xiaolin, drink some water! Fighting a mountain fire greatly drains your strength. You also lose water quickly. Drink more water or you might faint from the dehydration.”

Wei Xiaolin hurriedly drank some water. Indeed, she felt much better after drinking some water.

On the other hand, the firefighters were working together to extinguish the fire. Some were even setting up comms. There was no other way—the signal here was too poor.

Fighting fire in the modern world was akin to wars. Battling alone without communication would not do.

After the equipment was set up, someone on the walkie-talkie shouted, “Everyone, no matter who you are, as long as you are a member who is involved in the firefighting efforts, please contact us. We will uniformly adjust and provide command!”

When the firefighter heard that, he said excitedly, “The main troops are here! There’s hope!”

However, it had already been two hours since they entered the mountains. The sun was about to set.

Wei Shengli also noticed the situation, and his expression changed as he exclaimed, “The sun is about to set!”

The firefighter said in confusion, “So what? Although it’s more difficult to fight the fire at night, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Wei Shengli was so anxious that he stomped his feet and shouted, “It’s not that. The mountain winds will blow backwards once night falls! Quickly retreat or we will be swallowed by the fire!”

The firefighter jumped in fright and hurriedly went to inform the captain. When the captain and the others heard the situation, they quickly ran back to rendezvous with Wei Shengli and the others. Indeed, not long after they ran, the cold wind that hit them suddenly disappeared. Following that, a wave of heat blew from behind—the direction of the wind had changed!

Previously, Wei Xiaolin had always felt that chasing after a mountain fire wasn’t dangerous. She just needed to drink more water.

However, at this moment, Wei Xiaolin finally understood what danger Wei Shengli had been mentioning. Mountain fires were terrifying, but even more terrifying was the wind! The world was unpredictable, the winds changed. No one could predict what would happen in the next moment, and danger could descend upon them at any moment.

As they ran, Wei Xiaolin felt her legs weakening. She had been on the mountains with Wei Shengli for a day. They had eaten some of their dried rations at noon, but they hadn’t eaten since the afternoon. They kept running at high levels of intensity, so she had already exhausted all her stamina. She was seeing stars and her head was groggy. Wei Xiaolin felt like she was going to faint.