Chapter 582: 582
Chapter 582: Action Follows Prolonged Stillness
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Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, three days had gone by . Fangzheng had read the sutra for three days . This day, Fangzheng receives news from the top celebrity, Li Xueying .
“Hello! Abbot Fangzheng, do you miss me?” The text was accompanied by a picture of Li Xueying delivering a greeting . She wore a slanted hat and was wearing cowgirl clothes . Her eyes were huge, and she looked adorable .
Fangzheng smiled and replied: “No . ”
“That’s too much!” Li Xueying posted an emoticon with her angrily standing akimbo . Then she replied . “To think I went around looking for good artisans to get the best materials to build you a Guan Yin temple and two additional meditation rooms . In the end, you don’t even miss me… How saddening!”
Fangzheng was taken aback . He suddenly recalled that back when City-Toppling Beauty suffered all kinds of repression, he had mentioned that everything would be alright . Li Xueying then said that she would donate a Guan Yin temple to Fangzheng if his words came true . Of course, more of it had to do with Li Xueying praying to Bodhisattva . Now that the crisis was over, she was there to repay the favor .
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Repaying the favor was something people did after praying to Bodhisattva for help with something . If that something succeeded, as a way to show their gratefulness, they would donate money, items, or Buddhist figurines, etc . For example, some people who prayed for children and then had children successfully would return to donate some money .
Of course, such prayers should be for something concrete and not ethereal or too grand . You could pray for a child or success in a business deal before promising something in return .
Many people believed that the greater the wish, the greater the repayment should be . But from Fangzheng’s point of view, such a view was laughable . It was naturally okay in the eyes of ordinary people, but these transactions were not carried out even among gentlemen, much less with deities . In the eyes of deities, what mortals could offer was limited . Things that were precious in the eyes of mortals were like dust to the eyes of Buddha . Therefore, what Buddha really minded was not the corporeal items, but sincerity from the heart . Therefore, if the prayer was fulfilled, when one devoutly expressed one’s gratitude and recited the scriptures or Buddha’s name, that was better than anything else .
Therefore making wishes and returning wishes was nothing complex . However, once one made a wish, one had to repay it . If not, it would be cheating . Thus even if Buddha or Bodhisattva did not care about it, one had to fulfill whatever one had promised . It was still important to do so .
Fangzheng did not know if Buddha or Bodhisattva had blessed Li Xueying, but it was a fact that he had paid 700 merit points . Therefore, Fangzheng did not reject Li Xueying’s offer . He frankly said, “This Penniless Monk recites the scriptures every day . There is no matter or person on his mind, so he naturally doesn’t miss you . ”
“It’s… no wonder you became a monk . You are destined to be single your entire life,” cursed Li Xueying . She was only joking .
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But when Fangzheng saw those words, he immediately felt like tearing up . That was a critical blow! It hurt!
However, what could Fangzheng say? As a monk, could he think of women whenever he had free time? Regardless of him renouncing asceticism in the future, he had to play the role as long as he was still a monk . Therefore Fangzheng replied bitterly with a deep and meaningful message: “Amitabha . ”
“Alright, I won’t tease you any further . I have ordered a lot of construction materials for you . There’s also the construction workers . However, they are quite busy and will only be able to go over a little later . I’ll inform you again when I have more concrete details . ”
“Amitabha . Don’t talk about it if they aren’t here . You only make This Penniless Monk eager…”
“Haha! Wasn’t there no matter or person on your mind? A**hole, stay eager then . Hahaha!” Li Xueying sent an emoticon with her laughing maniacally .
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Fangzheng: “…”
After their communication, Fangzheng jumped up and laughed out loud . “Haha, This Penniless Monk’s tiny monastery can finally expand a little! Hahaha!”
To Fangzheng, the size of a monastery did not matter . After all, he wanted to renounce asceticism in the future anyway . However, the bigger the monastery, the more people would come . Its reputation would also improve, and he would gain more incense offerings . With more wishes and more people blessed, there would ultimately be more merit! With more merit, Fangzheng would be one step closer to renouncing asceticism .
This was also something the System had affirmed . Every person that came to pray to Bodhisattva or Buddha would typically have their wishes granted if they were sincere, a good person, and if their wish wasn’t too extraordinary . Once the prayers were fulfilled, Fangzheng would gain a tenth of the merit generated . Although the merit earned each time was tiny, there were a lot of wishes! In fact, a small amount of Fangzheng’s merit came from such situations already . After all, the merit he could accrue by doing good himself was limited . Having scale still mattered in the end .
However, what made Fangzheng happy was…
“Old Dad One Finger, our monastery is finally expanding . No, it expanded already . The Bell Tower and the Drum Tower are huge, making it look grand . Our bell is the Yongle Bell from Mount Numinous, and the drum is an imitation of the Kui War Drum used during the Yellow Thearch’s battle with Chiyou . Our temple hall is a Ten Thousand Buddha plaque . Soon, we will build a Guan Yin temple . Didn’t you always wonder aloud when our monastery would become as big as Baiyun Monastery? Such a reality is not too far away . Trust me . ” Fangzheng sat in front of Zen Master One Finger’s grave and spoke happily . It was as though he wasn’t looking at a mound of dirt, but as if Zen Master One Finger was sitting across him .
Fangzheng sat there nearly the whole day . It was evening by the time he returned to One Finger Monastery . He was in a good mood, and he cooked personally . He selected a portion of the green vegetables that Liu Hongyun had brought over, washed them, and stir-fried a huge plate of food . He had a feast with his disciples .
As the saying went, action followed prolonged stillness . While chatting with Zen Master One Finger, Fangzheng had said whatever he needed to say, and he had bragged whatever he needed to brag . Now that he had returned to reality, he still faced a problem of merit . Staying there like that was clearly not a solution . Since nothing was coming to him, he could only be proactive in seeking opportunity out . Therefore…
“Disciples, I am planning a trip down the mountain tomorrow . ” The moment Fangzheng said that, his disciples looked up in unison . Lone Wolf had little desire, but Red Boy was eager . Monkey was somewhat curious, while Squirrel continued eating, completely unconcerned .
When Fangzheng saw this, he pricked up his brows slightly . Although none of his disciples were human, they were sentient . After they learned to speak, they became no different from humans . In their present state, it was impossible for them to go back to a life in the forest . However, to blend in with human society, they needed knowledge of the human world . Staying uneducated would only make it easy for them to lose out .
WIth this in mind, Fangzheng said, “Jingkuan will accompany me . ”
“Eh? Cough…” Squirrel was taken aback when he heard that . He choked as he kept coughing . He looked at Fangzheng adorably as though he was saying: “It’s actually me?”
Red Boy’s eyes were still filled with hope, while Lone Wolf yawned, unconcerned . Monkey did not think too much of it as he enjoyed the tranquility of the mountain .