The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Panda Novel

“Senior Brother, I heard that this kennel of yours was personally constructed by Master when he was at his most depressed state. Is that so?” asked Monkey suddenly.

Lone Wolf trembled as he fell silent momentarily before saying, “That’s right, no wonder it’s so crappy! Thankfully it doesn’t leak when it rains…” With that said, Lone Wolf walked off.

Monkey pressed his palms together and said softly in Lone Wolf’s direction, “Amitabha!”

All this time, Monkey had been quite displeased with the monastery’s internal ranking. He believed that in terms of Buddhistic qualities, he was definitely much better than the silly Lone Wolf or the petty Squirrel. He was only ranked third because he had joined the monastery later than them. With regards to that, he found it a little unacceptable before, but today, he’d suddenly understood certain things. It made sense for the ones who had come earlier to be the senior brothers.

Meanwhile, Fangzheng was looking at Red Boy with a baffled look. “My dear disciple, come over here and let me see if you have a fever.”

Red Boy rolled his eyes. “What can’t you understand? I want the crib! There’s no need for you to make another one. It’s settled!” With that said, Red Boy ran off like the wind.

Fangzheng rubbed his nose and muttered to himself, “Has this stupid disciple gotten a screw loose?”

Fangzheng did not mind that Red Boy disparaged the crib. He too would feel the same if he were placed in Red Boy’s shoes. And it was because of that that he had worked hard to make the crib as good as possible. Therefore, Fangzheng had planned on immediately making a new, bigger one if Red Boy were to protest. But from the looks of it, he did not need to do so.

Fangzheng did not know that his embarrassment had caused Red Boy and Monkey to recognize it as biased love. They were even feeling moved and joyful…

Looking at the distant monastery, Fangzheng sighed and said, “I still need to save up more money and do some minor renovations to the monastery. At the very least, I should give my few disciples a decent place to live in. It should be better than the timber room.”

However, Fangzheng immediately felt a headache when he thought of money. The weather was getting hotter as the sun rose higher into the sky. This resulted in fewer visitors which also affected his incense donations. All he got was a little money every few days.

Shaking his head, Fangzheng looked at the bamboo piled on the ground. He did not wish to waste it. Since he did not need to make another crib, he could make a few tables, chairs, and benches.

With this in mind, Fangzheng sat down and picked up the bamboo as he began studying it in detail. True carving should not be done without thought. One had to match the material’s grain, shape, and patterns before using one’s imagination. It was best to reduce the amount of carving needed to allow an ordinary item to effuse the charm it deserved!

This was akin to a beauty’s makeup. An unskilled makeup artist would only use thick makeup to cover the person’s natural beauty, making them look completely different after the makeup process. A top makeup artist, however, would do it in a measured manner. They would enhance the strengths of the person’s natural beauty and reduce the weaknesses. The person would still look like themselves under the hands of such a skilled artist while still appearing beautiful! Perhaps they might not compare with fairies, but at least they would achieve the limits of their true beauty.

Fangzheng was doing such a job. He did not wish to make an object the best in the world, but he wished to make it the best it could be!

He picked up a bamboo and looked at it. The weight and the density of each segment appeared in his mind. It was not presented to him as a number, but as something he simply knew. There was no other reason except for the experience of a master which he had gained for nothing! Just this feeling made Fangzheng realize how crazy the System was. It had instantly made him a master. If he had not experienced it for himself, he would not be able to believe it either.

He raised his hand and sliced down with the blade, splitting the bamboo in his other hand. He precisely struck a blemish on the bamboo which had a tiny hole in its transverse direction. His slice wiped away the hole as the material in his hand came closer to perfection.

Fangzheng was fast with his hands. Soon, he produced a few chairs, two benches, and a long table. Just like the beds, this furniture was made without the use of any nails. It simply used the notches in the bamboo to lodge everything in place perfectly.

“Although it can’t be considered the best of the best, it’s not bad.” Fangzheng felt that the furniture was still flawed, but this much was already the limit of what he could do, so he could only leave it at that.

When he brought back the furniture to the yard, Lone Wolf, Monkey, Red Boy, and Squirrel immediately came over and began touching it. All of them were overjoyed.

“Master, it sure wasn’t easy. We finally have some furniture. We don’t have to sit on stones in the future or use the wolf as a table leg,” said Red Boy wistfully.

Lone Wolf recalled the ordeal from before and felt depressed. It sure was sad to look back at that period.

Fangzheng smiled. “Look at you guys talking. My skills are still alright. In the future, our monastery will no longer need to worry about furniture.”

Squirrel jumped on a bamboo chair in excitement as he touched it happily. He exclaimed, “Master, I want a bed just like this! And a chair and a crib too! Also… I want so, so many things!”

Fangzheng smiled. “Sure, you’ll get one later. However, the ones I make for you have to be intricately carved. A machete would definitely not work.”

“Master, I found this! Is this useful?” At that moment, Monkey took out a blade from a broken knife and asked.

Fangzheng was stunned when he saw it. A sequence of memories surfaced in his mind. Under the moonlight, a knife-wielding man had entered the monastery to hide, and the man had threatened him under the bodhi tree. He was the man who had engaged in armed robbery to save his daughter and was now in the cycles of Samsara—Han Xiaoguo! Back then, his knife had been broken by Fangzheng and the blade thrown away. Fangzheng never expected Monkey to find the blade.

Han Xiaoguo had mentioned that the knife was a famous knife that his team leader had given to him when he left his mercenary soldier organization. It was sharp and extremely hard. It was also a knife that had killed before!

WIth this in mind, Fangzheng took over the knife from Monkey’s hand and sighed. “Your master has been redeemed by This Penniless Monk. Now, it’s your turn to be redeemed. You were a murderous knife in the past, but you will be a carving knife in the future.”

As he said that, he felt a little inspired and sad.

However, a sound interrupted the depressed mood.

Ka-cha!

Fangzheng and company looked in the direction of the sound, only to see Lone Wolf sitting there looking aggrieved. His head was slightly lowered as he furtively peeped at Fangzheng. Beneath his ass was a chair with a broken leg. It lay there in a sorry state as though it was complaining about the fat*ss’s violent existence.

Northeastern wolves were among the biggest breeds of wolves. A mature male wolf could reach the weight of fifty kilograms. As for Lone Wolf, he was an alpha wolf, so he was already big to begin with. He reached about seventy kilograms in the past! After coming to One Finger Monastery, he had good food and drink, with Crystal Rice and Unrooted Clean Aqua nourishing his body. He had also eaten Mount Numinous’ Myriad Language Pill. Although the Myriad Language Pill was not an elixir that was made to strengthen the body, the ingredients used to make it still consisted of herbs from Mount Numinous. They contained bits of spirit energies and Buddhistic energies, so they were very beneficial towards whomever took them. And back when he was frightened by the Kui War Drum and cleansed by the bell’s gong, he had benefited again when the Buddhistic energies entered his body.

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