The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

“What are fireflies?” Monkey scratched his head and asked, perplexed.

Fangzheng thought for a moment and said, “It’s the kind of insect whose buttocks will glow.”

At that moment, Lone Wolf crawled out from his kennel and asked, “Does a monkey with a red butt count?”

Monkey threw a brick at him. “Sleep!”

Lone Wolf dodged the rock and crawled back. He went back to sleep and quickly his snoring sounded. Monkey wore a look of envy and jealousy.

Red Boy said, “I’ve never seen the insects you speak of. However, I’ve seen a monkey whose buttocks glow red.”

Monkey said with a black face, “Master, they are too much of a bully.”

Fangzheng nodded and said, “Indeed, it’s bullying. I’m talking about insects, not monkeys. Even if their buttocks glow red, they aren’t fireflies.”

Monkey: “…”

“Master, why did you suddenly think of this?” Monkey quickly changed the topic.

Fangzheng waved his cell phone and said, “I saw on the news that Black Mountain City has fireflies appear in the sky. It says that one can see beautiful fireflies in winter. I wonder if it’s real.”

Red Boy was immediately intrigued when he heard that. He came over to take a look and saw a picture of countless fireflies dancing in the sky. They were extremely beautiful, like shooting stars or a dreamy world.

Red Boy said, “Master, shall we go take a look? It looks very beautiful.”

Monkey asked in puzzlement, “This is a firefly?”

Fangzheng asked, “Have you seen it before?”

Monkey nodded and said, “I’ve seen it before. They are in the mountains, but they can’t be seen in winter. It has to be summer. In the depths of the mountain, I occasionally saw it, but there aren’t many. It’s just a dozen or so randomly flying.”

Fangzheng immediately lost interest when he heard that there weren’t many of them. However, Fangzheng could understand that in the world of nature, no matter how beautiful fireflies were, they were ultimately insects. It was not necessarily a good thing to have so many insects in one place.

At that moment, Lone Wolf came out again and came over curiously. He looked at the picture on the cell phone and said, “I’ve seen them. Plenty of them, but I forgot where.”

Fangzheng rolled his eyes at him. If you have no idea, why even say it?

That night, Fangzheng chatted with the disciples about fireflies the entire night. Finally, Salted Fish and Squirrel came over when they heard the commotion. Red Boy finally did not need to continue the story…

After a night of discussion, Fangzheng finally decided to head down the mountain to see fireflies!

Instantly, other than Lone Wolf, the other animals raised their hands to follow.

However, One Finger Monastery was no longer the One Finger Monastery from before. They couldn’t just leave by closing the door. With so many visitors coming, it would probably be troublesome if everyone left.

Finally, Fangzheng decided to follow the same old rules. He would only bring one disciple. As for who to bring? They could decide by rock-paper-scissors!

Salted Fish immediately turned anxious when he heard that they were playing rock-paper-scissors. “Can we play something else?”

Fangzheng looked at his pitiful fins and nodded. “Alright, let’s play rock-paper-scissors with our legs. When you place your legs forward, it’s scissors. When both legs point out, it’s paper. When placed together, it’s rock.”

Salted Fish heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that. His tail was enough to handle such a simple game.

Hence, the four little fellows gathered together and began their battle.

Fangzheng looked at Lone Wolf beside him and asked, “Are you really not going?”

Lone Wolf shook his head and said, “I’m not going. I can’t eat when I head down the mountain. I’m hungry.”

Fangzheng: “…”

The outcome was very surprising. It was Squirrel who won! The little guy happily packed a bag of pine nuts and carried it on his back. Following Fangzheng, he left the mountain happily.

The other disciples sighed in despair. However, although they were sore about losing, that was all to it.

After leaving the mountain, Fangzheng took a taxi to Songwu County. Then, he did a transfer and headed for Black Mountain City. He took a bus to head straight for the location of the Firefly Starry Dream Hall.

The Dream Hall remained open at night, but in the afternoon, many parents had arrived with their children. The children appeared very excited. They pointed at the displays and kept shouting “fireflies.”

When Squirrel saw this, he pointed at the display and shouted, “Fireflies, fireflies!”

When Fangzheng saw this, he hurriedly cast A Golden Millet Dream and disguised Squirrel as a child. Only by doing so did he not attract too much attention. Otherwise, once Squirrel spoke, even if Fangzheng had disguised himself, he would be easily recognized. After all, only One Finger Monastery had a squirrel who could speak.

At that moment, Fangzheng saw a familiar figure in the crowd. She was wearing a red down jacket and pink bunny earmuffs. She kept jumping on the spot, holding a cell phone in her hand as she kept talking.

Fangzheng leaned over and heard her say, “Aiyah, I’m really impressed. There are so many people here to see fireflies on such a cold day. More importantly, most of them are old men! Could it be that they are hoping to rub against one another to gain some heat due to the large number of people? It’s truly all rainbows.”

Fangzheng was rendered speechless when he heard that. There was no need to think to know who this dirty fellow was. She was definitely Kinky Queen—Zhu Lin!

Fangzheng was puzzled. Wasn’t this lass filming a movie? Why was she here?

Therefore, Fangzheng went forward and patted Zhu Lin on the shoulder. “Amitabha. Patron, hello. Long time no see.”

At the same time, Fangzheng dispersed A Golden Millet Dream on Zhu Lin.

Zhu Lin jumped in fright as she turned around and exclaimed, “Who is it!?” Upon seeing that it was Fangzheng, she immediately beamed. “Aiyah, it’s…”

Before Zhu Lin could say anything, Fangzheng gestured to her cell phone.

Zhu Lin immediately understood what Fangzheng meant. After glancing at Fangzheng with a resentful look, she said to the audience on her cell phone, “I have something. Till next time! Bye bye.”

Then, Zhu Lin locked her cell phone and said, “Master, can’t you make a guest appearance for me? Your popularity now is high. If you were to make an appearance, I’d definitely be able to gain a million fans!”

Fangzheng said with a smile, “If This Penniless Monk made an appearance, you probably wouldn’t be able to leave.”

Zhu Lin thought about how Fangzheng was famous in Black Mountain City. It seemed to be true.

Hence, Zhu Lin said, “Master, are you here to visit the firefly exhibition?”

Fangzheng said, “That’s right. This Penniless Monk has never seen many fireflies in his life. A handful were seen when This Penniless Monk was young. Patron, what about you?”

Zhu Lin shook her head and said, “Fireflies are very picky about their environment. Noise and pollution do not suit their requirements. They will all die. They also die rather decisively without giving you a chance to react. Therefore, there are almost no fireflies in the wilderness now.”

Fangzheng said in surprise, “You actually know fireflies so well?”

Zhu Lin looked up and said, “Of course. I came here today specially for a firefly live broadcast. I did my homework, but now… Sigh… I can only stand them up.”