The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Panda Novel

The System chuckled and said, “You haven’t seen the times when Buddha is evil…”

Fangzheng was rendered speechless.

After dawdling for half a day, the System refused to give in. Helpless, Fangzheng could only grit his teeth and say, “So be it. Give me four Crystal Rice seeds.”

“Ding! Successfully purchased Crystal Rice seeds. Please take receipt. Let me remind you that you owe me 26 yuan in incense money. Quickly earn more. Otherwise, there will be double interest, hehe…”

“Wait a moment! Didn’t you say that I need to repay you double? You didn’t mention anything about double interest!” Fangzheng felt that something was amiss.

The System said, “Is that so? Didn’t I say that? I probably didn’t finish my sentence and ended up forgetting. It’s fine. It won’t be too late to remind you now…”

“What do you mean it’s not too late!” Fangzheng was infuriated. Was this a matter of time? If it doubled every time, what would happen if no one came in a year? Would he be able to earn enough money even if he were to sell himself? Was he going to use One Finger Monastery’s disciples as a circus to earn money?

“Boom!”

A bolt of lightning descended…

“Mind your words. You are a master,” said the System.

Fangzheng looked angrily at the sky. If he could curse, he would have cursed: “Master your ass! I just want to have my fill! F**k!”

However, he was only cursing inwardly. He had already honed this act of his to perfection.

The System ignored him; so that was it.

“It’s said that a single cent is hard to fail a hero. I didn’t believe it in the past, but now I believe it…” Fangzheng shook his head and sighed.

Although he had four Crystal Rice seeds, Lone Wolf’s appetite was huge. Fangzheng did a count—this bit of food wasn’t enough to feed the dog…

Just as Fangzheng was fretting over money, Red Boy suddenly ran over happily. “Master, we have money!”

When Fangzheng heard that, he thought to himself, “This silly child didn’t go rob a bank, right? Where did he get the money from so deep in the mountains?”

Red Boy waved a colorful piece of paper in his hand and said, “This was left behind by the two patrons when they were camping. Master, look!”

Fangzheng received it suspiciously and mumbled. “A piece of paper can be used as money?”

When he looked down, Fangzheng’s eyes lit up. On it were the words: “International Marathon. The champion prize is 10,000 British pounds. The runner-up will be rewarded with 5,000 British pounds, and the second runner-up will be rewarded 1,000 British pounds!”

Fangzheng licked his lips and said, “A British pound is equivalent to 10 Chinese yuan. If that’s the case, we’ll get 100,000 Chinese yuan if we get first place?”

Red Boy nodded vigorously. “That’s right, Master! Let’s go! First and second place are ours!”

Fangzheng was tempted… Although Fangzheng had a huge sum of money in the past, he did not have a concrete feeling of it back then.

However, Fangzheng felt that 100,000 yuan was no longer a small sum…

With this in mind, Fangzheng suddenly jolted. The System had said that buying Crystal Rice could only be bought with incense money. He could not use money that wasn’t related to incense offerings!

In that case, so what if he won the money?

“System Bro, this money…”

“Ding! The reason why it’s restricted to incense money is because there’s the fear that you will be addicted to money and are unable to extricate yourself. Previously, when you gave up everything to save people, it has proven that your heart is strong enough to resist a certain level of temptation. Therefore, now you can use non-incense money. However, you are limited to ten thousand yuan a month. If you want more, you need incense money.”

“No way? I gave up way more than a few hundred thousand. Back then, the money I received from donations was only a few hundred million, right? And those timber, my morning bell and evening drum…” Fangzheng exclaimed indignantly.

The System replied, “Be content. Guess how the previous Host I helped died?”

Fangzheng asked, “How did he die?”

The System sighed. “He starved to death…”

Fangzheng: “…”

With that said, Fangzheng didn’t expect the System to be generous. Although ten thousand wasn’t a lot, it could be converted to a hundred Crystal Rice seeds. If he was a little frugal, it could last a month.

Hence, Fangzheng said, “Jingxin, let’s go! Let’s participate in the competition!”

“Master, I have to remind you that the match isn’t in China but overseas,” said Red Boy.

Fangzheng was taken aback as he took a careful look at the address. Indeed, it was labeled that it was held in London!

“This…” Fangzheng was a little hesitant. He had been overseas, but he had only done so once or twice. If he really went over alone, he would feel a little shakened…

Furthermore, looking at the time, Fangzheng guessed that it would be too late to apply for a visa.

“Master, the opportunity is right in front of us. We can’t miss it. Otherwise, we will really starve to death…” Red Boy said bitterly, but his eyes were filled with excitement. Clearly, this fellow was more interested in going down the mountain and overseas.

Fangzheng thought for a moment before gritting his teeth. “Alright, take me directly to London! Anyway, it’s said that anyone can participate in it, so if we can directly get the money once we reach the finishing line! What kind of contention can there be?”

Red Boy nodded as a cloud flew into the sky. Two figures had reached the horizon.

Red Boy’s speed was very fast. Setting off in the afternoon, they arrived in London by evening. The cloud was lowered as they stood on a tall building and looked at the bustling city. They exchanged looks and saw the shock in each other’s eyes.

Red Boy said, “Master, are you sure this is London? Why do I feel that it’s no different from a big city in our country?”

Fangzheng shook his head. “I think so too… Help me change my looks. Yes, same old. Zen Master One Finger’s looks.”

“Alright!” With a wave of Red Boy’s hand, Fangzheng instantly turned into Zen Master One Finger. He wore a genial look of an old man.

When they got off the skyscraper, the streets were filled with blond foreigners. The two of them stood out, attracting the attention of many.

Although London had quite a number of Asians, it was rare to see an Asian monk. Furthermore, one was old and the other young. In addition, their clothes were tattered. That just made it rarer.

However, the two of them clearly didn’t care how everyone looked at them. After strolling on the streets for a while, they found a deserted park and slept on the bench for the night.

The next day, Fangzheng took out the dumplings he had prepared and each of them ate two. After filling their stomach, he headed for the competition venue.

It wasn’t difficult to find the venue. There were advertisements everywhere on the streets and alleys. Although Fangzheng didn’t understand them, he could identify the labels on them. With a large number of beauties wearing shorts and exposing their thighs and handsome men walked in a direction, they followed the crowd.

The opening ceremony was simple: sponsors, leaders, and so on gave a speech. Following that, a group of people who were participating in the marathon gathered on the road.

Fangzheng originally believed that he was the odd one out. After all, an old monk in monk robes and a young monk definitely looked odd. However, when he saw poor imitations of Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man posing, he suddenly felt that he had thought too highly of himself.