The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Panda Novel

Upon hearing this, Monk couldn’t help but whisper. “They really f**king think of themselves as princes and princesses. Helicopters and dogs… It will already be not bad if anyone comes at all.”

But he said it very softly, and it was drowned out by the wind.

After some discussion, it was decided. He Haijiang, Cheng Mujie, and Yao Zhen refused to leave the tent.

Monk’s idea was that they couldn’t just be sitting ducks. At the very least, they had to start a fire. But when he looked at He Haijiang and company, he was incensed again. He said that he would head for Tianzhu Peak to check on the situation.

Xunzi had the same idea. Besides, he discovered that everyone wasn’t of the same mind. Arguments kept brewing with them gathered together, and nothing could be resolved. It was better to take a risk. If they encountered Panzi and the rest, it wouldn’t be too late to rescue He Haijiang and the rest then. Glasses naturally followed. Wei Yaqin had zero trust in He Haijiang and company, so she planned on following Xunzi and Monk.

When He Haijiang saw that the few people who actually knew about outdoor survival were leaving, he felt a little anxious. However, Cheng Mujie would shrink back into the tent every time she tried leaving it. She refused to leave, so He Haijiang could only give up on following. When Yao Zhen saw the two of them around, she thought to herself, “If they aren’t afraid, what’s there to be afraid of?”

Before Xunzi and company left, they gave them some fire starters, warned them not to leave the tent, and told them to await their return.

With that, the group of seven split.

High in the sky, Fangzheng shook his head slightly when he saw this. Ultimately, these people lacked survival experience in the mountains. This wasn’t a tiny hill not too far away from the city, nor was it a tourist attraction. This was a primordial forest! In here, one didn’t only need to guard against the snow, pits, and cliffs, but there were also wild beasts!

“Jingxin, check if the helicopter is coming over.”

Jingxin nodded and narrowed his eyes, looking far into the distance. He had godly eyes, and although he couldn’t see thousands of kilometers away like All-Seeing Eyes, he could still see dozens of kilometers out. But Jingxin soon shook his head and said, “Master, I don’t see any helicopters.”

Fangzheng was taken aback. The helicopter was nowhere to be seen? Where had it gone?

At that moment, Wang Yougui called, and Fangzheng quickly picked up. Others might not have a signal, but Fangzheng’s cell phone which had been augmented could no longer be considered a mere phone but an enchanted item. It didn’t suffer any problems with signal reception.

“Amitabha. Patron Wang, what’s wrong?” Fangzheng asked.

“Nothing. The mountain is darn cold. I just got home and got onto a stove bed and drank some alcohol to warm myself up. I’m just calling you to b*tch ab―” Wang Yougui sneezed as he spoke. Clearly, he was still affected by the cold. It made sense; having spent the entire afternoon in the mountains, the cold had probably gotten to him.

This was the case for a villager who often entered the mountains. In that case, what about those pampered flowers below? Fangzheng looked down and heard the tent producing huffing and puffing voices as the people in it spoke. Clearly, they were suffering from the cold, but Fangzheng had no intention of helping them. Instead, he sat on the cloud at ease and chatted with Wang Yougui.

As expected, without Fangzheng needing to ask Wang Yougui said after a few sentences, “We thought we’d find those sons of b*tches quickly with the helicopter around. But it got dark, and there was a blizzard wind. It reduced visibility to less than twenty meters. Nothing could be seen from the helicopter, and the helicopter suffered a lot of turbulence in the air, so it had to fly back.”

“Is there anyone else in the mountains?”

Wang Yougui said, “The villagers who entered the mountains voluntarily have all left. It’s just too cold in the mountains, and people have frozen to death in there before. No one wishes to risk their life for those people. Instead, the country’s rescue team is still inside. They are also cursing endlessly. But they sure are brave people. Although they curse, they never once stopped their search. Sigh, according to them, many rescue personnel lives are lost saving such people every year. Tell me, what the hell is up with these people? They have perfect lives to lead, but they insist on courting death! Courting death is one thing, but they even drag others down with them…”

Wang Yougui grumbled again for a while. When it was almost dinner time, he hung up.

Fangzheng put away his cell phone. When he thought of Wang Yougui’s words, he felt mixed emotions. Perhaps these people were trying to get a momentary kick, but what was the outcome? Fangzheng felt a stabbing pain when he thought of the rescue personnel who sacrificed themselves in order to save those few! His thoughts of helping the group also waned.

Squirrel looked down while lying prone on the cloud. He asked, “Master, are we helping them? It looks like they are about to freeze to death.”

Fangzheng shook his head and said, “No rush. Since they want to seek thrill and adventure, let them have it. Let them have as much of it as they want.”

As the night progressed in the mountains, the squall didn’t show any signs of abating. It instead grew in intensity, sweeping up large amounts of snow to pummel the tent. Together with the howling, it sounded like wraiths were knocking on the door.

Inside the tent, the colors of Cheng Mujie’s and Yao Zhen’s faces had drained out of fright. Their palms were clammy, and the sweat only served to make them even colder under the prevailing temperature.

“Haijiang, do you think there are… Ghosts in this world?” Cheng Mujie asked, trembling.

He Haijiang shook his head as he trembled. “No… No… Definitely no.”

Yao Zhen scrunched up into a ball as she took out a hand warmer and a rug from her huge backpack to cover herself before shivering and said, “Are you not aware of the situation we are in? Why are you talking about this? If you have the energy to do so, why don’t you think of ways to light a fire? If this continues, we won’t survive through the night.”

Cheng Mujie said, “Didn’t Xunzi and the rest attempt to search for others? They should be back soon. All will be fine then.”

“I’m afraid we will freeze to death before they return, though,” Yao Zhen said.

“Haijiang, do you know how to start a fire?” Cheng Mujie asked.

When he heard that, He Haijiang gritted his teeth. “Yes, what’s so difficult about it? But we need dry timber.”

“We can’t continue like this. We need to find timber or we will die,” Yao Zhen said.

“Let’s all, let’s all go get some timber,” Cheng Mujie said.

“What timber? Didn’t we search around previously? There’s no dry timber at all. If you want a way out, don’t we have lots of stuff? Let’s light it and use it for warmth.” Although Cheng Mujie was saying ‘we,’ she was actually eyeing Yao Zhen’s huge bag!

Yao Zhen’s heart palpitated. They wanted to burn her things!

“Sister Yao, you have too many things while we only have just these couple of items. Let’s not hide and take out everything we can to burn… As long as the fire starts, we can add some of the slightly moist timber, and we should be able to last some time,” He Haijiang said.

Yao Zhen thought about it. At this point in time, she couldn’t feel greedy about her beloved clothes. She gritted her teeth and agreed.