Time passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye, three days had passed. Fangzheng had been reciting the scriptures for three days. One day, Fangzheng received a message from the celebrity, Li Xueying.
"Hello! Abbot Fangzheng, did you miss me?! " The text was accompanied by a picture of Li Xueying greeting him. She wore a crooked hat and cowboy clothes, and her eyes were wide open. She looked adorable.
Fangzheng smiled and replied, "Not at all."
"That's too much …" Li Xueying sent an angry emoticon with arms akimbo. Then she said, "To think I went around looking for good craftsmen to get the best materials to build a Guan Yin temple for you, as well as two meditation rooms. But you didn't even miss me … How sad …"
Fangzheng was taken aback before he suddenly recalled that City-Toppling Beauty had been suppressed the last time. Fangzheng had said that everything would be fine, and Li Xueying had said that if it was fine, she would give Fangzheng a Guan Yin temple in return for his blessings. Of course, it was more likely that Li Xueying had made a wish to Bodhisattva. Now that the crisis had been averted, she had come to repay the wish.
The so-called repayment of a wish was when some people wished for Bodhisattva to help them with certain matters. If it succeeded, they could repay the favor by donating money, items, or even a Buddha statue. For example, some people wished to have children. If they had children in the future, they could donate as much as they could.
Of course, this kind of wish was usually for something that could be seen and touched, and not something that was illusory or too grand. One could wish for children or for a particular business deal to succeed before promising certain things.
In the eyes of many people, the greater the wish, the greater the wish. But from Fangzheng's point of view, such thoughts were laughable. Such a saying was naturally not wrong among ordinary people. However, gentlemen would not use such a method of interaction. What more gods and Buddhas? In the eyes of gods and Buddhas, what mortals could give was limited. What was precious in the eyes of mortals was like dust in the eyes of Buddhas. Therefore, what Buddhas really cared about was not the material object, but sincerity. If it succeeded, one would sincerely thank them and recite the scriptures or Buddha's name. That was better than anything else.
Therefore, making and repaying a wish was not that complicated. However, once a wish was made, it had to be repaid or it would be considered a scam. Therefore, regardless of whether Buddhas or Bodhisattvas cared, one had to give what was promised. It was still very important.
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 had no intention of rejecting her. He said openly, "This Penniless Monk recites the scriptures daily. With nothing on his mind and no one around, this Penniless Monk naturally doesn't think about it."
"You … No wonder you became a monk. You're destined to be a single dog for the rest of your life." Li Xueying laughed and scolded. She was just joking.
However, when Fangzheng saw the text, he immediately burst into tears. It was definitely a critical hit! Pain!
However, what could Fangzheng say? He was a monk. How could he think of women for no reason? No matter what happens after I renounce asceticism, at least I have to be presentable in this line of work. Therefore, Fangzheng replied bitterly with a profound meaning, "Amitabha."
"Alright, I won't tease you anymore. I've ordered a lot of building materials for you, as well as a construction team. However, they're quite busy, so it'll probably take a while for them to arrive. I'll tell you when there's more information, "Li Xueying said.
Fangzheng said, "Amitabha. It's not here yet, so cut it out. This Penniless Monk's heart is itching …"
"Haha! Aren't you fine and no one around? Darn you, itch yourself. Haha! "Li Xueying sent a laughing emoticon.
Fangzheng: "…"
After hanging up, Fangzheng jumped up and roared with laughter. "Haha! This Penniless Monk's tiny monastery is finally going to expand a little! Haha! "
To Fangzheng, the size of the monastery did not matter to him. After all, he was going to renounce asceticism in the future. However, the bigger the monastery, the more people there would be. His reputation would also increase, and with more incense offerings, more people would make wishes, and more people would bless him. Finally, it would result in more merit! With more merit, Fangzheng would be closer to renouncing asceticism.
This was also the affirmation Fangzheng received from the System. Every person who came to pray to Bodhisattva or Buddha, as long as the person was sincere and was a good person, as well as not asking for anything extraordinary, would typically succeed. Once it succeeded, Fangzheng would receive a tenth of the merit generated. Although it was a small amount, it was a huge number! In fact, a small portion of Fangzheng's merit came from this. After all, there was a limit to how much merit Fangzheng could accumulate alone. Numbers were the key.
However, what made Fangzheng the happiest was …
"Old Dad One Finger, our monastery is finally going to expand. That's not right. We expanded it previously. The bell tower and drum tower are huge and old-fashioned. Our bell is Mount Numinous's Yongle Bell. The drum is an imitation of the Kui War Drum that the Emperor used to fight Chiyou. Our main hall has an additional Ten Thousand Buddha plaque. Soon, we will build a Guan Yin Hall. Aren't you always grumbling about when our monastery will become as big as Baiyun Monastery? It's not far. Trust me, "Fangzheng said happily as he sat in front of Zen Master One Finger's grave. It was as though the thing in front of him was not a mound of dirt, but Zen Master One Finger.
Fangzheng sat there for most of the day. By the time he returned to One Finger Monastery, it was already evening. Since he was in a good mood, Fangzheng personally cooked. He took out a bag of vegetables that Liu Hong had delivered and washed them before stir-frying them in a huge pot. He had a great time eating with his disciples.
As the saying goes, after a period of silence, one thinks of action. Fangzheng had chatted with Zen Master One Finger for a long time. He had said what needed to be said and bragged about it. When he returned to reality, he still had to face a problem — merit! Clearly, staying here was not an option. Since they came for no reason, he could only find trouble himself. Therefore …
"Disciples, I plan on heading down the mountain tomorrow." The moment Fangzheng said that, his disciples looked up in unison. Lone Wolf did not have much desire, but Red Boy was eager. Monkey was also somewhat curious. Only Squirrel kept eating as though he did not mind.
When Fangzheng saw this, he frowned slightly. Although none of his disciples were human, they had gained sentience and could speak. They were no different from humans. In such a state, they would probably not be able to get used to living in the mountains. However, to integrate into society, they had to gain some understanding of the human world. It was easy for them to suffer if they continued being silly.
With this in mind, Fangzheng said, "Jingkuan will be heading down the mountain with me."
"Gaa … Cough, cough, cough …" Squirrel was taken aback when he heard that. He choked and coughed. Then, he looked at Fangzheng adorably as though he was saying, "It's actually me?"
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