The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism (DROP)

CHAPTER 1-5

Chapter 1: Poor Monk

Translator: CKtalon  Editor: CKtalon

This story begins in a parallel world.

With the fair refreshing weather of autumn in the far north. White clouds floating gently in the sky and birds taking their migratory flight flowing with the wind. The gentle breeze stirred through the fallen leaves creating a soft, gentle rustle. What a beautiful autumn day!

A common thought for most common men, one such man being the solitary exception.

In the southwestern corner of Gulin City was a mountain named Mt. Tongtian. It was one of the outcrops of the Changbai mountain range. On one corner of said mountain range stood a single peak named Mt. One Finger. The mountain wasn’t extremely tall, with its peak clawing towards the sky, but the breathtaking view of the periphery of the Heavenly Lake of Tianshan was blocked. At the top of this mountain stood a Buddhist temple called the One Finger Temple! One Finger Temple had two sanctums. The front-facing sanctum was the shrine, while the one in the back was the meditation monastery. This was also the communal living space of the monks, to be precise it was where the acolyte monk, Fangzheng, lived. This solitary monk was the sole inhabitant of One Finger Temple.

Just days ago, the One Finger Temple’s abbot One Finger, had passed away. The desolate temple, which now lacked any and all alms, was slowly but surely wasting away to the passage of time.

There was a single bodhi tree in the courtyard that was brought from the far south by an aspiring rich man. This man had tragically died once the bodhi tree had been planted. The result? What was meant to be a complete renovation of the temple ended in crumbles, the plans to restore the temple to the magnificence it once had… were lost.

Furthermore, the bodhi tree had frozen and perished not even a year since it had been planted because of the frigid northern weather. Now only the withered remnants of the once beautiful tree remained. More than once Fangzheng had entertained the thought of one day chopping it down for firewood. Yet in the end, he could not bring himself to do so.

At this particular moment in time, Fangzheng stood under the bodhi tree with an official document in his hand. His eyes filled with misery as he looked up to the sky, he voiced his dissatisfaction, “Amitabha, what the f*ck!? All I wanted was to renounce my asceticism! Why would you give me this bloody document!? I have to be the abbot of this bloody temple just because of this f*cking document!? First of all, this darn temple doesn’t have any money and secondly, it has no other inhabitants! We don’t receive alms from incense donations, other than the winds and storms that provide for this place, it has nothing worthwhile!”

He sighed, eyes downcast. “… All I wanted was to be an ordinary person. To marry someone, have a kid before I embrace the gentle caress of death. Was that too much to ask? It was not easy for the old monk to raise me, he was an admirable man, so I endured it. But now that the old monk has passed away, I am asked to spend the rest of my days in this broken down old temple? No! Absolutely not!”

With that said Fangzheng crumpled the document and threw it into a gap of the withered bodhi tree.

He returned to his room and grabbed his luggage, preparing to leave!

Once he reached the One Finger Temple’s entrance, he came to a halt. He turned back and stared at the worn down plaque of One Finger Temple and could not help but reminisce about the old monk, Zen Master One Finger, who had raised him ever since he was young. The reason for the old monk’s name was because he truly only had one finger. What could he do with one finger? Most people would probably be rendered useless, incapable of keeping up with the daily order of business. Zen Master One Finger, contrary to all expectation, had managed to cultivate a plot of land and through alms and selling his produce had worked to afford Fangzheng’s education throughout high school.