The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Panda Novel

“Who is it?” The two were taken aback. There was another person in midair? How was that possible?

At that moment, the boulder above them turned around, and they saw a white-robed monk sitting cross-legged on it! He had his palms pressed together and wore a smile. He looked genial and exuded a certain sense of tranquility. It instantly calmed the horror in the two.

“You are…?” the captain asked subconsciously.

But Fangzheng shook his head. He reached out to grab the rope around the two people and gently tugged at it. He kept reducing their downward plummet, and by the time they arrived at the bottom of the cliff, all the force was completely reduced. Both of them felt their bodies land stably on the ground… However, they didn’t feel at ease. Instead, they turned more nervous because the boulder which the monk was sitting on was just above them!

“Be careful!” The captain subconsciously kicked Cheng Mujie, hoping to send her out of the landing zone.

However, the boulder fell too quickly, and it was too late! At that instant, Cheng Mujie and the captain felt despair. They were about to die.

But the next moment, the monk suddenly appeared as the boulder rolled. His feet landed on the ground, and he raised his hand. Like a giant akin to Pangu, he held up the plummeting boulder!

With a boom, the boulder was held up by the monk.

“Heavens, is… Is he still human?” Cheng Mujie said in shock.

The captain subconsciously asked, “Are you Buddha?”

Fangzheng threw the boulder above him to the side and smacked away the rubble that accompanied it. Following that, he reached out his hand. A person happened to fall from the sky and was struck in the chest by Fangzheng. Fangzheng didn’t attenuate the fall and instead pushed the person to the side.

He Haijiang flew out like a missile and like a blob of mud, he struck the cliff walls. He slipped down the wall and finally landed on the ground. Moments later, he let out an earth-shaking scream. “Ah! My legs are broken! My ribs are broken! My arms are broken… Save me!”

When Fangzheng saw this, he shook his head and ignored him. Instead, he pressed his palms together and shook his head at the two, as though he was answering their question. However, it also seemed like he was sighing over something. After he let out a Buddhist proclamation, he turned and left.

Seeing the monk leave, the captain and Cheng Mujie were somewhat taken aback. Was this a dream or reality?

Meanwhile at the top of the mountain, Old Luo looked at the hole that had resulted from the boulder’s collapse. His fingernails were completely pulled off from using all his strength to grab at He Haijiang, but he wore a look of regret. A manly person like him broke down. “I was just…”

“Old Luo, you tried your best,” a man consoled him.

Old Luo shook his head. “I grabbed onto him. If I had used a little bit more strength, I could have pulled him back. Sob…” At that moment, Old Luo covered his face and cried bitterly. A living person had fallen to his death from his grasp, leaving his heart filled with remorse and guilt.

“Old Luo, enough. This isn’t your fault,” said another person.

Old Luo choked. “I really grabbed onto him… I really wanted to rescue him.”

Another person hugged him by the shoulders and patted him. “I know. I know… You did your best.”

“Old Luo, don’t cry. Let’s head down to check on the situation,” at that moment, a fireman, Ding Quan, said.

“We are still heading down? Aren’t you afraid of dying?” a very young fireman asked nervously. He was a rookie who had just joined this year. His name was Li Can, and it was his first time joining a search and rescue operation. Therefore, among all of them, he was the most nervous one. Having experienced the rope breaking and the danger of the cliff collapsing, Li Can truly felt a little afraid. Ding Quan was his section leader, and also his backbone. He naturally was the person he cared about the most.

Ding Quan laughed. “That kid was right. It’s our job. But he didn’t say certain things. Only by doing your job well can you be a good employee. They need us now, so I naturally have to head down.”

“But it’s dangerous down there.” Li Can looked at Ding Quan’s smile and joking manner and felt slightly relieved.

Ding Quan shook his head. “In our line, aren’t we precisely using our lives to exchange for the lives of others? If you haven’t realized that, it’s best you quit early.”

With that said, Ding Quan headed down.

Li Can stood there, his eyes staring straight ahead of him. His mind was filled with what Ding Quan had just said. Ding Quan often said such words, but he had thought nothing of them. But now, after experiencing the danger of a search and rescue mission for himself and seeing what Ding Quan was doing, he was suddenly enlightened. He stood up straighter without realizing it, and his young face seemed to have an additional steadfastness to it.

With Ding Quan heading down, Old Luo immediately got up. Regardless of what the others said, he insisted on heading down too. Helpless, they could only allow him to head down.

Looking at Old Luo, Li Can asked, “You aren’t a firefighter. Aren’t you afraid of death?”

After Old Luo tied his safety rope and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, he said, “People ought to do something of value while they are alive. Otherwise, they’re better off dead. Besides, I’m also being paid for this. I should at least live up to the salary I’m receiving, right?”

With that said, Old Luo forced a smile and headed down.

The third person who went down was the young armed policeman. Li Can realized that he was even younger than him when he passed him by! He even had an adolescent look, so Li Can subconsciously asked, “Aren’t you afraid?”

The young officer raised his head and said with pride, “I’m a soldier! Rescuing lives is my mission! As for being afraid, the truth is that I am actually rather afraid. But didn’t people from your side head down? I’m the only one from the armed police, so I can’t disgrace my force, right?” With that said, the young warrior giggled. Right after, he agilely fastened his safety rope and headed down.

When Li Can saw the smile on the young warrior’s face before he headed down, he subconsciously raised his hand for a salute.

Then, Li Can immediately made the request to head down as well. Unfortunately, his request was rejected. There were already enough people going down, and too many people would only add to the trouble.

Although members of the rescue team had headed down, everyone knew that with such a high cliff and a boulder plummeting after them, the people beneath were likely dead. Nonetheless, everyone held onto a sliver of hope. When they went down…

“Captain, are you still a human or a ghost?” Old Luo looked in astonishment at the captain before him, Meng Qingrui.

Meng Qingrui smiled. “Guess?”

“I’m a member of the Communist Party of China. I don’t believe in ghosts or gods, so you really aren’t dead. Hahaha!” Old Luo laughed out loud as he lunged forward to hug Meng Qingrui, crying as he laughed.

Following that, the others came down as well. When they saw that Meng Qingrui was alive, all of them burst into smiles. They asked how he survived, to which Meng Qingrui scratched his head. He wasn’t sure how to explain, so he switched topics. “Enough, cut the crap. Let’s head up quickly. There are still people that need our rescuing! The rest are at Tianzhu Peak. Let’s rush there to take a look. The weather is getting colder. We don’t want more people dead.”

Just as Old Luo was about to say something, he noticed He Haijiang who was still screaming tragically. He frowned. “This bastard isn’t dead yet?”