The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

The male attendant was handsome while the female one was beautiful.

Fangzheng caught himself thinking. Once I complete the System’s mission and return to the secular world, I’ll find a girlfriend with a similar appearance.

He did not realize that while he was thinking that, the female statue blinked!

The backyard had also undergone a transformation. The ground was now paved with granite and the grass was rich and fresh while the flowers proudly toned their colors. The two meditation quarters were immaculate and most importantly, had a restroom! Although the renovation was done in an ancient and classical style, it wasn’t in any way worse than the facilities of a city. Both a shower and toilet were accounted for. As for where the drainage led, even after a search Fangzheng had no clue as to where it led. He shrugged it off as a System byproduct.

The kitchen was covered in tiles and the drawers were filled with brand new utensils. It could be compared to any modern kitchen.

Fangzheng was immensely satisfied with what he saw. Just as he was about to complement the System, he had a sudden thought. System, years ago the government installed an Internet line and gave us cellular coverage. Although it was only a telephone line to the Internet… Can that still be used?

“It has been enhanced, the signal is strong and stable. The Internet speed has been improved.”

Fangzheng grinned and gave the System a big thumbs up. “Awesome. but why? Does Buddha utilize the Internet as well?”

“Information is considered pivotal regardless of the era.”

“Well put.” Fangzheng coughed, “About that… I don’t suppose I can get a cell phone? The kind that can use the Internet? A computer would work as well.”

“…” The system refused to respond.

Seeing as the System remained silent, Fangzheng guessed he wouldn’t get his wish. As worn out as he was from the cleaning and the day’s events he decided to head to bed.

“Ding! Second mission from the System. Obtain ten incense offerings in a month’s time. Reward upon completion: One Buddhist Vat! If the mission fails, the mission will be restarted until it has been completed. Only once completed will the next round of missions be available.”

“Are you kidding me?” shouted Fangzheng. “System Bro, all I get is a vat for the hard work of obtaining ten incense offerings? I have several of those in the backyard. Am I not going to use them anymore? Hey, why don’t we swap it for something else? For example, MONEY!” He gestured towards the three big water tanks in the backyard. He wasn’t obsessed with money, but not being able to afford food was an immediate concern! He refused to starve before he had been able to properly utilize the system.

The system refrained from responding.

“Fine, be that way! You answer me as and when required. When you ignore me, you completely disappear. Sigh, your mission sounds so simple but the One Finger Temple has been destitute for years. It would be a complete miracle if we get a single person in half a month. Yet you want ten incense offerings in one month? Seriously, aren’t you ashamed of yourself!? Furthermore, having just a temple is useless as abbot. I don’t have in-depth knowledge about Buddhism so if someone did come, I’d be baffled by their questions. If I can’t talk my way out of those questions wouldn’t that be a huge issue?”

He suddenly had a realization, “System, didn’t you previously mention that I have one free chance at a draw?”

“Ding! Every perfect completion of a mission gives you a free draw! You have one chance. Do you want to begin?”

“Yes!”

“Ding! Draw completed. Congratulations, you have obtained Heavenly Eye! Do you accept?”

“Wait! What!? Seriously? You have given me the result before I actually do the draw? Isn’t that cheating!? You are shameless you know that!?” Fangzheng stomped the ground. He originally believed that the lucky draw system would give him a wheel or a game where he could smash golden eggs but in just a few seconds, the System had given him the result. The actual drawing part was skipped!

Once more the bloody System ignored him!

Fangzheng sighed in defeat. “Fine, you’re the boss. Whatever you say goes. Can you tell me what the Heavenly Eye is used for? Also, yes I accept!”

In the next instant, Fangzheng felt a golden beam descend upon his head. He felt a slight pain in his eyes causing tears to stream down his cheeks. After rubbing his eyes for a while he opened them, only to discover that the world had become brighter! His mild case of myopia was gone! Everything he looked at was extremely clear. The sensation resembled a glass covered in dust that had been wiped clean. He gazed around in slack-jawed awe.

“Ding! Heavenly Eye allows you to see a major occurrence that will happen to an individual within three days! Heavenly Eye can be used on an individual once per day. It can be activated and deactivated at your command. If you want to improve Heavenly Eye, please use incense offerings to purchase from the System!”

“Purchasing with actual money?” Fangzheng frowned, he the nagging feeling that this System was somewhat out of the ordinary. It seemed less like a Buddhist system and more like a haggling middle-aged woman at the market!

“Yes. It can only be purchased with incense offerings. Money obtained by means other than incense offerings or wishes cannot be used.”

“That means that money I pick up on the street cannot be used?”

“Correct!”

Fangzheng frowned. “Then, how much money is needed to enhance Heavenly Eye?”

“Humans have five sets of eyes—the Physical Eye, Heavenly Eye, Wisdom Eye, Dharma Eye, and the Buddha Eye. The Physical one is but a single type of human eyes. After it is augmented, it allows one to have eidetic memory or night vision. Heavenly Eye has nine stages. Every three levels increases one special power. Your Heavenly Eye is at the first stage. In order to enhance it to the second stage, you need incense worth 10,000 yuan!”

“10,000 yuan? That isn’t as much as I expected… Wait! Nevermind, I forgot I’m broke.” Fangzheng recalled that food was still a problem. Even if he emptied his pockets, he wouldn’t be able to afford anything. For him, ten thousand yuan wasn’t a small number at least not currently. One Finger Temple was too remote. It could go a whole month without a single visitor and those that did come were villagers from the foot of the mountain. None of the villagers were rich, so to hope that they would donate ten thousand yuan worth of incense money? Fangzheng could already foresee himself buried partially underground and writing his last will.

Just as Fangzheng was succumbing to despair, he suddenly heard a voice outside.

Fangzheng’s ears twitched and his heart tightened. “Someone is here!”

Fangzheng quickly put on the tattered robes Zen Master One Finger had left behind. There was also a torn red Kasaya, which he wore as well. He glanced at the mirror and realized that other than being relatively young, he looked the part. His eyes were especially calm, perhaps due to the activation of Heavenly Eye. They resembled a calm peaceful lake and they were deeper and more prominent than he remembered them to be.

“Nice, if anyone screws with me in the future, all I’d have to do is stare at them to make them nervous.” Fangzheng chuckled. The voice he head outside came closer, he rolled his shoulders and prepared himself.

Outside One Finger Temple were two men and women that looked like students. They were wearing sports attire and carried haversacks. With trekking poles in hand, they truly resembled professional hikers.

“Hey, there’s a Buddhist temple here!!” A boy whose face was covered in pimples shouted as his eyes widened.

A slightly plump girl replied with the same surprised look on her face, “Wow, seriously! I heard the villagers say that the temple on this mountain is a destitute one. But it doesn’t look destitute at all. It looks completely fine. Seriously, the villagers weren’t honest at all.”

“I don’t think they were being dishonest. They just wanted to warn you that this temple is a scam! Temples hmph, who still believes them in this day and age? All of them are frauds.” Another burly boy with a long face stared at the temple with obvious contempt.

“Indeed. The monks these days eat anything. They gamble, smoke, and hire prostitutes. There’s no such thing as a true monk.” The slightly plump girl nodded.