The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

As such, everyone witnessed the miracle of the morning bell and evening drum, but failed to see the monk. Instead of feeling satisfied, they felt even more regret. They claimed that they would come again until they could see Fangzheng.

There were even people who decided to settle here permanently…

The commotion lasted for a month. During this month, the northeastern new year happened. All kinds of festivities were in place. One Finger Village’s ten-village connection surprised the foreigners once again. The visitors who came were all showing the unique Chinese new year customs on their Facebook accounts.

This was the first time China had dominated the social media of many foreigners.

However, the more famous One Finger Monastery became, the more curious everyone was. Where was the monk?

“Where did that monk go?” Many people outside One Finger Monastery asked.

However, even the villagers of One Finger Village did not know where Fangzheng had gone.

This was because ever since Red Boy and company paid great attention to the matter, they had cast a tiny Concealment Spell on the Frost Bamboo forest. Outsiders could not see Fangzheng at all.

Without Red Boy and company saying anything, who knew where Fangzheng had gone?

Some people said that Fangzheng had attained perfection in his merit and had gone to Paradise. Some people said that Fangzheng had gone elsewhere to redeem others, while others said that Fangzheng had passed away…

Everyone had many opinions, but there was a saying that was gradually recognized by everyone. It was that Fangzheng was not in One Finger Monastery!

He might not even be in this world anymore.

As this theory spread, Mt. One Finger’s night began to turn chaotic.

“Who is it?!” The two men suddenly looked behind them warily.

“Don’t be agitated, it’s us.” Three figures appeared on the mountain path.

“Phew… Old Wang, when you mean to be frightening,you will frighten somebody to death! The next time you come over, sound out first.” one of the men said.

“Alright, Old Zhang. What’s there to be afraid of? Master Indecent is not on the mountain. There’s only a kid and a few animals left. If he really pisses us off, we will abduct them all. I believe they will fetch a high price on the black market.” Old Li chuckled.

“It won’t be easy bringing them down the mountain. If we are discovered, with Fangzheng’s influence, we can forget about leaving Northeast China alive. Therefore, all of you better restrain yourselves,” said Old Zhang.

In the end, Old Zhou’s voice was slightly feminine, but he was still a man. He said in a low voice, “If we manage to clinch this deal, hehe… the five of us can finally retire from such work.”

“That’s right. After doing this, I’ll be going overseas. I’d rather die than return,” said Old Wang with a chuckle.

“Return? Unless you don’t wish to live,” said Old Li with a chuckle.

“Wait a moment, Old Li. Tell me the price again. I have trouble remembering it.”

Old Li rolled his eyes at him and said, “You have already asked more than ten times along the f**king way. How many more times are you asking?”

Old Zhang rubbed his hands together and said, “You know that before I get to work, I need some stimulation. The more excited I become, the steadier my hands.”

Exasperated, Old Li said, “Listen up, the stone slab’s rubbing[1] will be 50 million USD each!

“If we get top-grade Frost Bamboo roots of more than 30 centimeters in length, 50 million USD per stalk!

“The top-grade Frost Bamboo Tea is not for them. It’s for us. The black market has already raised the price to a million per tael[2]. In other words, if you see tender leaves, rip it off. Those are priceless now. We can price it however much we want!”

“I understand, hehe… I’m starting to get excited.” Old Zhang licked his lips, his eyes glowing.

“Enough, cut the crap. Hurry up and go up the mountain,” Old Zhou urged.

The others nodded and quickly walked up the mountain.

Although Mt. One Finger’s mountaintop wasn’t too big, it wasn’t particularly small.

Moreover, there were no lights on the mountaintop, so one had to rely on the moonlight and snow reflections at night.

However, dark clouds covered the sky today, so everyone could only walk with the tiny bit of light that reflected from the snow.

In such a situation, no one could see them from a distance away.

Moreover, on the mountain peak at night, the northern winds kept howling. As long as one wasn’t causing a din by striking gongs or drums, no one could hear a thing from a hundred meters away.

Of course, this was with a normal person’s hearing…

As the five of them reached the mountain, they circled around One Finger Monastery and headed straight for the Frost Bamboo forest. The rustling footsteps seemed to be covered by the wind.

However, in One Finger Monastery, a wolf who was suffering from insomnia due to overeating suddenly looked up and wrinkled his ears. “I think someone has come up the mountain.”

“It can’t be. Why would they come up the mountain in the middle of the night? Are they enjoying the cold winds” Monkey found it unbelievable, but he still said to Squirrel, “Jingkuan, why don’t you take a look?”

Squirrel slumped on the ground and said, “Why isn’t Fourth Junior Brother back yet? The two of them went down the mountain to have fun, and they didn’t say when they would come back. They even tire me out. Sigh…”

After grumbling, Squirrel leaped onto the wall. Like a black bolt of lightning, he rapidly departed.

If Fangzheng saw this, he would definitely sigh. The animals in One Finger Monastery were getting stronger.

“Old Zhang, I’ll go find the tender sprouts. You can dig for Frost Bamboo,” Old Wang said to Old Zhang and Old Li.

Old Zhang said, “Go ahead, try your best to find more. That thing is sold by the gram!”

“Alright!” Old Wang replied before leaving.

Off in the distance, Old Zhao and Old Zhou came to the stone slab as well. Looking at the huge stone slab, the two of them felt a bit worried.

“It’s so high. It will be troublesome to make a copy,” Old Zhao grumbled.

Old Zhou chuckled and said, “Therefore, we priced it per page. This stone slab can produce dozens of pages! Thank God, if pictures didn’t show nonsense, they wouldn’t have needed us to make rubber copies of it. This is equivalent to wealth that falls from the sky.”

When Old Zhao heard this, he laughed as well. He took out the rubber copying equipment and prepared to make a copy.

Old Zhou began to assemble a simple ladder. If not, there was no way for them to deal with such a huge stone slab.

Both parties seemed to proceed smoothly. No one noticed a tiny shadow in the bamboo forest.

Squirrel shot a glance at them as his fur stood up straight. He shouted, “Stop! How dare you steal! Do you really think that One Finger Monastery has no one?”

The loud shout, sent goosebumps all over Old Zhang and Old Li. They turned around!

No one!

Looking around, there was still no one!

Where did that sound come from?

“Where are you looking?” Squirrel shouted.

The two of them looked in the direction of the voice, only to see that on the bamboo forest tree, there was a black ball. They couldn’t see what it was either.

“It’s that squirrel!” Old Zhang wasn’t an idiot either. When he saw the shape of the thing—something that knew how to speak—he immediately guessed what it was.

“Heh, a squirrel is here to scare people? Little fellow, either you come down and let us stew you, or sit up there and watch us get rich!” Old Li was not afraid at all. Instead, he laughed out loud.

[1] A rubbing (frottage) is a reproduction of the texture of a surface created by placing a piece of paper or similar material over the subject and then rubbing the paper with something to deposit marks

[2] 37.5 grams