Chapter 34: A Few Laborers

Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon

Jiang Ting and Ruan Ying were already dying of curiosity, so without waiting a moment longer, they immediately nodded and took a bowl each.

Having Monkey as a precedence, Jiang Ting and Ruan Ying both walked a distance away before they quietly drank the water.

Both of them took a sip and started wondering, “What’s up with this water? Why did it make the three of them appear possessed?”

Yet the next moment, their thoughts were gone as they gurgled down the water. After drinking it clean, they stretched out their pink tongues and licked the corners of their mouth as though they were intoxicated.

“Delicious!” praised Jiang Ting.

Ruan Ying looked pitifully at Fangzheng and said, “Master, can I have another bowl?”

Fangzheng decisively shook his head, “No.” However, he thought to himself, “Although you are very cute, you are like a flower stuck into a heap of cow dung. There is no fate between the two of us. Acting cute is useless!”

“Master, I just had a thought that what Fatty said was very right. Your rules are unreasonable. If it’s a bowl per person, shouldn’t the bowl be bigger? Look at us, climbing up the mountain. The sun is blazing down on us, and we have sweated so much. It has then evaporated away, leaving very little water in our bodies. Take a look again at these girls beside me. All of them are like frail flowers. If they were to dehydrate and faint, wouldn’t it be very dangerous?” Monkey came over and said matter-of-factly.

Despite being able to speak his piece, all Monkey received was Fangzheng’s smile. Fangzheng did not interrupt him.

After five minutes, Monkey stopped and said, “Master, did you hear what I said?”

Fangzheng nodded and said, “Yes. It was rather well-spoken. Patron, please continue.”

“Uh-” Monkey felt a little embarra.s.sed as he scratched his head and said, “Master, what I’m getting at is – would you be able to give us another cup of water?”

“No,” Fangzheng shook his head without hesitation. He did not have many pluses, but bearing a grudge was one of them.

Monkey immediately felt helpless. He truly could not do a thing to a monk that appeared so impervious.

At that moment, Fatty could not tolerate it any further as he shouted, “Monk, can I buy it? How’s a hundred bucks a bowl? This price is more expensive than any water drank by royalty in the secular world. If I were outside, I could buy twenty buckets of this water of yours! And they would be this big!” Fatty opened up his arms and spoke exaggeratedly.

However, Fangzheng said with a smile, “This Penniless Monk has gone down the mountain before.”

Fatty immediately turned embarra.s.sed.

Lu Xiaoya spoke up, “Master, are you selling or not?”

Fangzheng truly wanted to say yes, but-

“Friendly reminder, money that is not imbued by wishes is equivalent to blank paper to you. The System doesn’t accept it, and you can’t descend the mountain. Keeping it is useless. Furthermore, you are a monk, a future master. You cannot engage in such monetary transactions of dubious nature! Therefore, getting someone to be a proxy to buy for you is forbidden as well,” said the System.

As a result, Fangzheng hung a smile on his face helplessly while feeling the pinch in his heart.

Seeing Fangzheng smiling so amicably, the group felt their hopes raised. Was there a chance?

However, Fangzheng spat out two words, “Not selling!”

“Master, can you not be so stubborn? Say, what if we give you more money for it?” Jiang Ting could not bear it any further. After drinking Fangzheng’s water, she felt that she could not drink any other kinds of water anymore. More importantly, she had not had her fill!

“That’s right. We can pay more for it. How’s a thousand a bowl?” Monkey gritted his teeth and offered an absolutely high price.

However, Monkey did not know that the higher they offered, the worse Fangzheng felt. He was watching the bills floating in front of him, ready for the picking, yet he could not pick them! This feeling was a.n.a.logous to a s.e.x addict that had not had s.e.x in decades suddenly meeting a naked beauty waiting for him on the bed. Yet, he discovered that he was tied by his feet, and just a centimeter away from penetration!

What grievance!

Fangzheng was truly afraid that the group would continue raising their offer and that he would not be able to stop himself from violating the precepts. Hence, he kept the bowls and turned around. Without turning his head back, he said, “Patrons, you have had your water. Please descend the mountain early.”

“Master, wait!” Jiang Ting called out.

“Female Patron,” asked Fangzheng, “Is there anything else?”

Jiang Ting said, “Master, we know you have your rules. However, there are always exceptions outside the rules, right? Tell us, under what circ.u.mstances would you give us a bowl of water?”

Fangzheng was just about to say something when Lone Wolf came running back and whimpered a few times at him.

Fangzheng said, “You glutton. I knew that your fetching of water was not for pure reasons. You were eyeing my water.”

Lone Wolf whimpered a few times and expressed an embarra.s.sed expression of having his lie exposed. It looked extremely humane. At that moment, Jiang Ting, Monkey, Fatty, Lu Xiaoya, and Ruan Ying felt like they had seen a ghost. They stared and rubbed their eyes to ensure they were not dreaming. The way they looked at Fangzheng turned even more perplexed.

They discovered that the young monk that was about their age seemed to have countless secrets. The more they tried comprehending it, the more confusing it became. The group only felt more curious.

Lu Xiaoya asked, “Master, you can understand this wolf?”

Fangzheng said with a smile, “Every being is sentient. They can understand human speech, so it is natural that humans can understand them. This is something people who spend long periods of time with animals are capable of. It’s nothing strange.”

Fangzheng spoke casually. The group pondered for a moment and indeed, beast tamers seemed to be able to communicate with wild beasts. Similarly, owners of cats and dogs were also able to communicate with their pets after long periods of time. Although they found Fangzheng’s words reasonable, they felt like they were being bamboozled by him. However, they were unable to put their finger on how exactly.

As the group was entertaining all sorts of foolish ideas, they heard the sound of water flowing.

Fatty exclaimed, “No! That’s such a waste!”

Everyone immediately snapped out of their dazes and saw Fangzheng use a gourd that had been split into two as a watering can. He filled it up and began pouring it into flower pots that were used as water basins. And he did it thrice until the water basins were filled to the brim.

As for Lone Wolf, he did not even look at them. He lowered his head and began slurping the water. As the water splashed, a few drops of water reached his whiskers, forming crystalline b.a.l.l.s of water.

The quintet subconsciously gulped a mouthful of saliva as they felt envious and jealous. They exclaimed in their hearts, “Seriously, we are living worse than a dog!”

However, they understood that Lone Wolf was the temple’s wolf. It was only natural that he could drink water from his own residence. They were different, so there was nothing they could argue about. Although they felt their hearts wince in pain, they refused to give up.

“Master,” asked Monkey as he suddenly had a stroke of brilliance, “This wolf helped you in fetching the water, so you gave him water to drink. Is that right?”

Fangzheng nodded and said, “That’s right. Why?”

“Where’s the bucket? Where’s the water bucket? Don’t you stop me! Today, I’m going to carry ten large buckets of water! Give me a big-sized one!” Fatty had a quick reaction as he immediately shouted.

Fangzheng was surprised. He never expected Fatty to propose such an idea.

When Monkey saw this, he chuckled and said, “Master, can we drink some water if we help you fetch the water?”

Fangzheng thought about it. If he were to fetch the water himself, it would be troublesome climbing up and down the mountain. Now, there was free labor and all he had to do was make a payment in water. Wasn’t this a jackpot!