Just then, Wang Defa continued,
“This young stepfather was handsome and dashing, and he treated me quite well too!”
Hearing this, Abbot Zhiyuan was somewhat speechless. If you were doing so well, why are you telling me all this?
He was just about to ask Wang Defa.
But Wang Defa's voice rang out once more:
“Unfortunately, heaven was jealous of her beauty. Two years later, my stepmother passed away!”
Hearing this, Abbot Zhiyuan, Big Yellow, and several monks who claimed to be helping but were actually just there to watch the drama were all utterly dumbfounded!
Good heavens, this man's life experience could easily be turned into a trashy soap opera!
And the kind with dramatic twists and turns, albeit completely absurd.
Ignoring everyone's expressions, Wang Defa continued his tale:
“The next year, my stepfather found me an even younger step-stepmother!”
Everyone stared at Wang Defa, wondering just how long this stepfather would survive.
Sure enough, exactly as expected!
“A year later, my stepfather died!”
Everyone fell silent!
Second-hand dad, third-hand mom, an iron-clad child, and a revolving-door home!
One son outlasts three generations; the parents are long gone, but the boy remains.
Abbot Zhiyuan took a deep breath.
“Amitabha. Benefactor, your life experience is indeed... sigh... truly sigh-inducing. But what does any of this have to do with you wanting to become a monk?”
“It has everything to do with it! Don't be in such a rush, Master... I'm just getting to that part...”
“Yeah, yeah... Master, give him a chance! The old guy is actually pretty pitiful!” Big Yellow pleaded from the side.
Abbot Zhiyuan was utterly speechless. Which of your eyes sees him as pitiful?
“Amitabha. Abbot, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Give him a chance!”
“Yes, yes... Abbot, give him a chance!”
...
The fat monk standing nearby and several young monks chimed in as well.
This temple, which had been peaceful for so many years, finally had some drama. How could they miss out on the fun!
Abbot Zhiyuan turned and glared at the fat monk.
“Junior Brother Zhiku!”
The fat monk named Zhiku quickly suppressed the gossip in his eyes and gave a sheepish smile.
“Amitabha. My sin, my sin... but the old man really does look pitiful...”
Wang Defa turned a deaf ear to their banter and continued his narrative:
“Just like that, a year later, my step-stepmother found me an even younger step-stepfather, who was barely a few years older than me...”
“Holy crap... other people's parents grow older, but yours only get younger!”
Big Yellow couldn't help but complain.
Beside them, the fat monk Zhiku and the group of young monks nodded in agreement.
Abbot Zhiyuan looked on with a trace of pity.
“Amitabha, what a sin! Benefactor, your life fate must have some peculiar pattern. Have you never had anyone divine it for you?”
“I have!” Wang Defa replied without hesitation.
Everyone looked at him.
“What did the diviner say?” Abbot Zhiyuan couldn't help but ask.
“The diviner told me that I have the Fate of the Earthly Fiend, and that I was born to be a diviner myself...”
Abbot Zhiyuan nodded.
“But how could I listen to that charlatan's nonsense? I beat him up right then and there...”
Abbot Zhiyuan and the others all twitched their lips.
Can you please just act like a decent human being!
“A year later, my step-stepmother died too. After burying her, only my step-stepfather and I were left, relying on each other to survive...”
Abbot Zhiyuan frowned slightly. “Just tell me, how many parents of yours have died in total?”
“No more! That was the end of the deaths!”
Hearing Wang Defa say this, Abbot Zhiyuan and the others couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Thank heavens, the curse was finally over!
“As the years passed, I grew up, and I eventually got into a relationship...”
Hearing Wang Defa say this, Abbot Zhiyuan and the others thought, Is he finally going to live a normal life?
“But my step-stepfather absolutely refused to agree to it...”
“Why?”
The fat monk Zhiku couldn't help but ask.
It was hard enough for this man to finally get married; maybe it could turn his luck around.
And he wouldn't bring ruin to his parents anymore. Yet, this step-stepfather still refused.
Was he looking for death?
Wang Defa let out a sorrowful sigh.
“Alas... my step-stepfather actually said that I couldn't marry his older sister...”
“Ah!”
“Uh!”
“Oh my word...”
“Woof! Woof!”
As soon as Wang Defa finished speaking, a chorus of gasps and exclamations erupted from Abbot Zhiyuan and the others!
They stared at Wang Defa, completely speechless. You sure know how to pick 'em!
If you actually pulled this off, the family dynamics and titles between you and your step-stepfather would be beyond awkward!
Wang Defa looked up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle and let out a soft sigh:
“On a dark and windy night, my step-stepfather packed up his entire household and moved away without telling me!”
“Overnight, I lost my true love and my only family member. Devastated, I sought out the master who had divined my fate back then and learned the trade from him...”
Abbot Zhiyuan's lips twitched, but he still offered some comfort:
“Amitabha. Looking at you now, Benefactor, you seem to be doing quite well! Your cultivation has even reached the Unity stage...”
“No, I am not doing well at all! Every time I wake from a dream in the middle of the night, I am in agony, remembering my beloved...”
Wang Defa suddenly became highly emotional. He lunged forward, grabbed Abbot Zhiyuan's beard, and burst into tears!
“Let go! Let go of me...”
Abbot Zhiyuan cried out in pain.
“Benefactor, calm down! Please, calm down!”
Master Zhiku and the young monks quickly rushed forward to intervene.
After a chaotic, frantic struggle, they finally managed to pry Wang Defa away.
However, quite a few of Abbot Zhiyuan's beard hairs had been torn out in the process.
Staring at his now-sparse beard, Abbot Zhiyuan felt a sharp sting of regret.
This severely tarnished his image as the dignified Abbot of the Ancient Buddha Sect!
“Master, I feel like I've attained enlightenment! I want to renounce the world! I want to be a monk...”
Wang Defa was still babbling.
Abbot Zhiyuan took a deep breath. If they weren't in his own grand hall, he would have loved to deliver this guy to the afterlife himself.
Only after chanting a few calming scriptures did Abbot Zhiyuan manage to steady his emotions.
“Benefactor, I truly feel that you are not suited for the Buddhist path...”
“No... Buddhism is the light guiding me forward...”
Abbot Zhiyuan took a deep breath. “Wait to the side for now...”
Then, he turned to look at Big Yellow:
“What about you, dog? What's your story?”
Big Yellow let out a deep sigh, its canine face looking up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle with melancholy: “I don't know if it was my parents or someone else, but I was beaten, injured, and abandoned on the main road. Then, the richest man in the area saved me... After he died, I had to act as both a father and a mother to raise his child...”
...
While Wang Defa and Big Yellow were causing a scene in the main hall, begging to be ordained,
Lu Ming, wearing his cloak of invisibility, had already slipped quietly into the deepest part of the Ancient Buddha Sect's back mountain.
This place was separated from the Great Hero Hall on the main peak by a thousand-zhang-deep Cloud-Severing Cliff.
Here, Buddhist light suffused the air, and the spiritual energy was incredibly dense...
A Vajra Bodhi Sacred Tree stood quietly in the center of the White Lotus Pool.
Its entire form was draped in hanging ribbons of pale golden Buddhist light.
Three ripe bodhi fruits hung from its branches, shimmering with a golden radiance.
This was the sect-protecting spiritual root of the Ancient Buddha Sect, reserved specifically for disciples of successive generations who cultivated the Vajra Dharma Body.
These three Vajra Bodhi Fruits were prepared for the soon-to-be-born Buddha Son.
Following the map in his hand, Lu Ming had successfully located this place.
He couldn't help but marvel at Wang Defa's divination skills once again. This was incredibly accurate!
The man had actually divined the exact spot where the Vajra Bodhi Fruits were planted!
Rate on N.U.
