The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Panda Novel

Lone Wolf and Squirrel nodded to express their agreement.

Fangzheng finally said to Red Boy, “Jingxin, your mission is the most difficult one. You are in charge of maintaining order in One Finger Village. Also, go down the mountain and find Patron Wang. Ask him to find us an empty piece of land that the doctors can use. In addition, those who do not adhere to normal medical practices are not permitted to cause trouble here.”

“Alright.” Red Boy immediately answered and went down the mountain.

After settling everything, Fangzheng smacked himself in the head. Only then did he realize that he had yet to do something important! If the combination of the Heavenly Eye and Dharma Eye could see a person’s information and problems, what kind of outcome would the Wisdom Eye with the Dharma Eye have?

Fangzheng tested it the moment he had the thought. He activated his Wisdom Eye and saw that the golden halo on his disciples was far greater than your average vague halo. This meant that his disciples had done many good deeds. It was even the case for Lone Wolf who had killed a lot before as an alpha wolf. However, he had killed for survival back then, so it wasn’t considered a sin.

Fangzheng activated his Dharma Eye, and he was instantly stunned. He looked at his disciples with an odd expression before landing his gaze on Squirrel.

The next moment, the negative karma on Squirrel rose and began changing, turning into Squirrel’s shape. Fangzheng was somewhat dumbfounded. Could it be that when he combined the Dharma Eye and Wisdom Eye, the only thing he could do was change the shape of their negative karma? If that was the case, it was useless!

“Master, what are you looking at?” Squirrel suddenly asked, the look in his eyes somewhat evasive.

Fangzheng knew the little guy well. He had definitely done something he shouldn’t if he was acting this sensitive and afraid. Hence, Fangzheng chuckled and asked, “Jingkuan, did you do something you shouldn’t have done?”

Squirrel instantly clamped up and shook his head as he said, “No, no. Definitely not. Master, you’re overthinking things.”

Fangzheng was amused. Just as he was about to tease the little guy, he was alarmed to see the negative karma on Squirrel’s head move. It shook its head at Fangzheng as though to indicate that Squirrel was lying.

Fangzheng frowned. What’s this?

The negative karma Squirrel changed again, and it formed a screen. The screen showed a scene of Squirrel sweeping the hanging lights in the temple hall and accidentally dropping and breaking a candle.

The little guy then climbed and instead of reporting it, he secretly hid the broken candle in the bodhi tree…

Upon seeing this scene, Fangzheng wasn’t angry, but he was exhilarated! His Wisdom Eye and Dharma Eye could tell if a person was speaking the truth, and he could even see what bad deeds the other person had committed! This was basically a truth mirror. No one with evil in their heart would be able to escape Fangzheng’s eyes!

Fangzheng was immediately delighted. Nice, let’s see who dares to lie to This Penniless Monk from this day forth! This Penniless Monk can’t lie, and now it’s the same for you!

Although he was happy, Squirrel had ultimately done something wrong. It wasn’t anything serious that he had accidentally broken the candle, but to hide the truth and then lie about it when he was questioned was a no-no.

Hence, Fangzheng got to his feet and put on his shoes. He left the room and said to Squirrel with a smile, “Jingkuan, I suddenly plan on visiting someone. Want to join me?”

Squirrel hurriedly nodded to indicate his willingness.

Fangzheng grinned. “Alright. I’ll visit your place then. Let’s go. Open the door.”

Squirrel was instantly dumbfounded as he hurriedly said, “Master, my house is too small. You won’t be able to enter.”

Fangzheng shook his head. “It’s fine. I want to see if there’s anything interesting under your bed.”

The moment that was said, the color on Squirrel’s face changed. Thankfully, he had fur to hide it. He was already feeling guilty, and now that Fangzheng was talking about the area under his bed, he suddenly realized something. He looked at Fangzheng suspiciously before angrily looking at Monkey, Lone Wolf, and Salted Fish. He believed that one of them had betrayed him.

Monkey, Lone Wolf, and Salted Fish looked at him with faces of innocence. They didn’t know a thing! They understood, though, that Fangzheng had obviously noticed something by himself for him to say that.

Unfortunately, they were only communicating with their eyes without any words. They naturally couldn’t figure out anything deeper.

Regardless of who had snitched on him, Squirrel knew that everything would be exposed once his tiny bed was lifted up. Hence, Squirrel decisively raised his paws and said bitterly, “Master, I was wrong. I confess. I dropped the candle and broke it… It doesn’t look good anymore. I didn’t report it and secretly hid it, hoping to let the matter pass.”

With that said, the little guy lowered his head as he awaited punishment.

However, Fangzheng was in a great mood. He ruffled Squirrel’s head and said, “Breaking the candle wasn’t your fault. It’s inevitable for things to get damaged. When damaging something, there’s a difference between doing it intentionally and accidentally. Something accidental isn’t a mistake, but of course being careless and making mistakes because of a perfunctory attitude is wrong. This time, you did it unintentionally, so it can’t be considered your wrong. However, you hid the matter without reporting it and lied to me. That’s a fault. Jingkuan, I’ll punish you by having you take the candle out and go down the mountain to buy a new one. Do you accept?”

Squirrel slowly lifted his head up. After considering Fangzheng’s words, he nodded firmly. “Got it, Master! I accept the punishment!”

Fangzheng nodded and gave him two yuan for him to buy some candles from the foot of the mountain. The candles on the Buddhist lamps were different from those used by ordinary people. They were thicker, so they were a little more expensive.

Seeing Squirrel run off to serve his punishment, Salted Fish was delighted. The little guy had kept egging on the perpetrators of Salted Fish’s beating, so he couldn’t help but chuckle now. “This is what you call all of one’s troubles being caused by the tongue. This is retribution. Hehe…”

Just as he said that, he saw Fangzheng look over and smile at him. He asked, “Salted Fish, did you do something you shouldn’t have done recently?”

Salted Fish was taken aback as he felt his heart tighten. However, as the slippery fish he was, he wasn’t as innocent as Squirrel. He twirled his whiskers and said calmly, “Master, look at what you’re saying. I eat, sleep, and swim all day. When I’m protecting the Heavenly Dragon Pond, I don’t even have the leisure to make mistakes. I’m so busy, how could I possibly have done something I shouldn’t have?”

Fangzheng asked with a smile, “Really?”

“Really!” Salted Fish immediately replied without any hesitation.

When Fangzheng saw how righteous he looked as though he had never done anything wrong in his life, as well as the negative karma Salted Fish on his head, he thought, “This Penniless Monk would have been fooled by you if not for the Wisdom Eye’s ability to identify the truth!”

Hence, Fangzheng said, “In that case. Follow This Penniless Monk. This Penniless Monk hasn’t had a stroll for quite some time.”

Upon hearing this, Salted Fish, Lone Wolf, and Monkey were puzzled. Stroll? At this time? What’s Master thinking now?

However, the trio still followed him out the door and past the Heavenly Dragon Pond. Fangzheng then took a right turn and slowly walked beside the stream that extended from the Heavenly Dragon Pond.