The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Panda Novel

Therefore the trio gritted their teeth and finally decided to leave the tent. But the moment they pulled open the tent’s zipper, they felt a strong gust of wind blow in. Huge swaths of snow smacked them in the face as though someone had thrown a snowball at them! He Haijiang, who was in front, nearly stumbled backward. Thankfully there was someone behind him to hold him back…

When the trio came out, they felt the wind all around them. The biting cold seemed to drill into their down jackets, causing their body heat to rapidly disperse.

“Quick… Quick, start the fire!” He Haijiang shouted.

The two women took out the bag that they had arranged, taking out anything that was useful and incombustible. The rest of the things were thrown for burning.

He Haijiang hurriedly dug the snow and made a hole. He piled the clothes into it and took out a lighter. The clothes were easily combustible, so with the lighting of the fire and the strong winds, it immediately ignited. As the flames crackled upwards, the trio finally felt warmth! For the first time, they realized that the most simple warmth could be so touching.

However, this didn’t last long. Yao Zhen screamed. “Quick, quickly add more timber! It has almost burned up!”

Although the clothes were easy to combust, they also burned quickly! Amd with the wind blowing, many of the lighter pieces were sent flying. There were burning pieces of cloth everywhere in the sky, throwing the entire area into disarray.

He Haijiang needed to protect the fire and also add timber. He was too busy to deal with anything else.

Cheng Mujie covered her face. Some of the loose bits of fire had burnt her forehead, causing her to tear up from the pain.

Yao Zhen was just about to help when she felt a glow behind her. When she turned back, she realized that a piece of burning cloth had landed on the tent. With the strong winds, the fire got a life of its own as it ignited the tent!

“The tent! The tent is on fire!” Yao Zhen cried.

He Haijiang turned back and yelled anxiously. “Don’t just stand there shouting! Extinguish the fire!”

Yao Zhen was dumbfounded. Extinguish the fire? How? In her haste, she scooped up some snow in a bid to extinguish the fire. However, due to her fear of the flames, she didn’t dare go close. With that tiny bit of snow, she threw it from a distance, only to have the snow scatter before it even landed. It did nothing to the fire. The tent’s fire intensified and in the blink of an eye, it was gone!

At that moment, Yao Zhen could do nothing but cry.

Cheng Mujie looked at the sight before her. Although she was now warm, she was quite afraid.

High in the sky, Fangzheng was also shocked. Were these people trying to court death? Although it was winter and snowing, snow was different from rain. After it rained, everything would be wet, making it difficult to start a fire. But snow was different. Once winter began, the weather was dry, so all the trees would be extremely dry. After it snowed, the snow would accumulate on the ground or on the trees, but they would not melt to seep into the bark. This made it very cold, but although the trees appeared wet, their wood was actually very dry. Once a fire was started, it would immediately result in a forest fire. The damage and losses incurred would be tremendous!

Fangzheng immediately said, “Jingxin, quickly control the fire! Don’t let it spread.”

Red Boy hurriedly responded and suppressed the fire. However, Red Boy was clearly angry. Although he suppressed the fire, he let the fire burn the trio’s remaining items. Furthermore, the fire burned at accelerated speeds. In a few minutes, the burning fire quickly died out…

Only then did the trio snap back to their senses. They hurriedly searched for wood to add to the fire, but unfortunately, all the fire had melted all the snow, wetting all the nearby wood. Furthermore, with Red Boy causing trouble, how could it be possible for them to ignite the wood?

Ten minutes later, the trio were hugging their arms, trembling in their spots. Although there was still some remnant fire on the ground and a little warmth, the blowing of the wind felt abnormally cold.

“We’re doomed. The fire is gone, the tent is gone, and there’s no food left. What are we to do?” Cheng Mujie was close to tears.

Yao Zhen turned anxious. “It’s all your fault! You insisted on burning my stuff. If you didn’t burn the clothes, we would still be able to wear them for warmth. It wouldn’t be like now where everything has been burned to nothingness.”

“Are you blaming us? If not for us, you would have frozen to death.” He Haijiang was originally a little dumbfounded, but with Yao Zhen airing her grievance, he immediately felt like he had found an outlet to vent his anger. This resulted in his shouting.

Yao Zhen was incensed when He Haijiang shouted at her. So she shouted back. “You still have the guts to shout? As a man, you can’t even light a fire. And you have zero outdoor survival skills. What can you even do?”

“Yao Zhen, don’t you go overboard!” Cheng Mujie immediately stood forward when she saw her boyfriend being scolded.

Yao Zhen sneered. “Am I the one going overboard or is it the two of you? The things were burned by you. Now that they are all gone, you aren’t even allowing me to say a word or two?”

“Enough, if you are that amazing, have fun by yourself! Mujie, let’s go!” With that said, He Haijiang pulled Cheng Mujie away. When Cheng Mujie saw this, she was taken aback. Then she sneered and rolled her eyes at Yao Zhen before leaving with He Haijiang.

Yao Zhen was truly dumbfounded when she saw the two leave. Only then did she snap to her senses. This wasn’t the city she was familiar with. These two people were not courting her either, so there was no intention on their part to to indulge her in her whims! With He Haijiang and Cheng Mujie gone, she was the only one left in the pitch-black forest. The color in her face instantly drained. She had no idea what she could do other than complain.

Follow He Haijiang? But wouldn’t she be mocked if she was discovered? That would be too embarrassing!

While Yao Zhen was in a dilemma, He Haijiang and Cheng Mujie had already gone far, disappearing into the darkness. With the cold and silence around her, Yao Zhen’s options of advancing and retreating were neither really options anymore. Finally, when she recalled what Xunzi said before he left, she teared up. She hugged her legs and sat by the side of a tree. It was able to block the wind a little, but it did nothing about the harsh coldness.

Yao Zhen crumpled into a ball from the cold. At that moment, she finally felt regret. She regretted following Xunzi and company into the mountain. She didn’t need to relieve her stress by such means. Furthermore, she wasn’t releasing her stress, she was releasing her life!

Yao Zhen’s mind was filled with thoughts of her everyday life. She missed her warm office, the hot, steaming coffee, and the friends she thought little of. She missed the life she kept complaining she was bored of. Now, on second thought, those people and situations were the most perfect life… And not this frozen wasteland!

In the beginning, Yao Zhen would curse from time to time, but ten minutes later, the number of times she cursed reduced.

After twenty minutes, Yao Zhen’s movements were barely noticeable.

After thirty minutes, Yao Zhen gently shook her head before she stopped moving completely.

At that moment in time, Yao Zhen had no idea what was on her mind. She only felt very cold and sleepy. She yearned to sleep… But her instincts told her that she would never wake up again if she fell asleep now. However, she was horrified to discover that she lacked the strength to move. Her body was cold, so cold it was like it had frozen into a statue! Her body was stiff and she almost lost all perception… She seemed to hear the breathing of Death and feel the iciness of hell.

Just as Yao Zhen was about to wallow in despair, she heard rustling footsteps in the distance.