Chapter 64: It’s Sensationalization, right?
Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon
Monkey pondered over it and although he did not want to marry that early, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to want a child! Therefore, Monkey silently said, “Bodhisattva, please bless me and give me a pair of male twins!”
He offered incense and knelt down. As for the money, there was no Merit Box around, so he could only place the money in front of the mat.
At that moment, Old Wu came beside Monkey. He offered incense and knelt down.
Monkey said in surprise, “Old Wu, you are also praying for a son? You are already in your forties!”
Old Wu rolled his eyes at Monkey and said, “So what if I’m in my forties? I have only had one son in my entire life, but we could not have another child no matter how hard we tried. Is there a problem with me wanting a cute daughter now?” with that said, Old Wu kowtowed, took out two hundred bucks and placed them in front of him.
The duo had left the temple hall when Monkey suddenly recalled something and said, “Old Wu, I thought you had a vasectomy done already?”
Old Wu chuckled and said, “That’s right. Do you really think I want another? Rearing a kid is like rearing some ancestor. It was not easy for me to rear one and let him go free. How is it possible that I want another? But if I don’t make a wish, Master will probably not want the money I put down. That money is worth it simply for the text and no other reason!”
Monkey smiled wryly and did not say anything. At that moment, Fangzheng brought two bowls of water over.
Monkey’s eyes lit up immediately. However, the scheming him immediately said, “Old Wu, you aren’t thirsty, right?”
Old Wu subconsciously nodded and said, “Nope.”
“I’m dying of thirst. I’ll drink that bowl of yours for you,” when Monkey said that, he ran over, took a bowl over and gulped it down completely. Then, he said with a look of extreme comfort, “Master, this water is still as delicious!”
Fangzheng nodded and did not say a thing.
Monkey probed, “Can I have another bowl?”
“No,” Fangzheng decisively rejected him.
Monkey said indignantly, “Didn’t you provide as much as we wanted the last time?”
“There’s half a vat of water. You can try filling it up.” Fangzheng smiled at Monkey.
The moment Monkey thought of Fangzheng’s superma.s.sive vat and the huge water buckets, he felt his back hurt. He did not hesitate to abandon the thought of drinking the water.
Old Wu looked at Monkey suspiciously and said, “Monkey, that can’t be? There- There’s only one bowl of water provided?”
Monkey said helplessly, “Be satisfied with it. We got a mouthful only because he’s afraid we would die of thirst. If not, with Master’s temper, there wouldn’t even be a bowl of water. Are you thirsty? If you aren’t, can I drink it for you?”
Old Wu kept feeling that something was amiss. He rolled his eyes at Monkey and drank a mouthful of water. Then, he gulped it down, but he choked, spraying water into the air.
When Monkey saw that, he shook his head. “What a waste.”
Old Wu’s face turned red as he quickly diverted the topic and asked Fangzheng curiously, “Master, is this water the spring water from the mountain? Why is it so delicious?”
Fangzheng smiled faintly and said, “It is the spring water from the mountain. However, once the water enters This Penniless Monk’s temple, it gets imbued with the powers of Buddha, so the taste is slightly different.”
“That…” Old Wu did not believe in the powers of Buddha Fangzheng mentioned, but he did not want to riposte in front of Fangzheng. He a.s.sumed that Fangzheng did not want to explain it, so he did not ask further. However, he still felt curious. He made a mental note to find time to investigate it thoroughly. If he could explain the mystery behind it…
Old Wu’s thoughts started racing.
Old Wu said, “Master, why didn’t you write the text from before on paper?”
Fangzheng said with a wry smile, “To be honest, this mountain is poor and there’s a lack of brushes, ink, and paper. So, it can only be casually written on the snow.”
Old Wu nodded thoughtfully.
Following that, Monkey thanked Fangzheng once again. He also mentioned that his girlfriend wasn’t feeling too well recently. Furthermore, it was hard to scale the mountain after it snowed, so she had not come in person to thank him. It was also the reason why he had gotten Old Wu to come with him.
As they were halfway down the mountain, Old Wu smacked his head and exclaimed, “Darn! I forgot to ask him about Han Xiaoguo.”
Monkey scolded him in a teasing tone, “You really wanted to ask about it?”
Old Wu smiled bitterly and said, “Forget it. There’s no buzz on this matter anymore, so let’s not add to it. However, it was definitely worth it to be able to see those words!” Old Wu began to c.o.c.kily fiddle with his camera. In it there was the ‘Diamond Sutra’ that Fangzheng had written with the Dragon Buddha Epithet. Although it was only a portion of it, he was satisfied.
The duo happily descended the mountain.
The mountaintop turned quiet once again. Without anything to do, Fangzheng led Lone Wolf and walked deeper into the mountains with a wooden pole. As he walked, he found empty spots of land to practice his Dragon Buddha Epithet. The text appeared to have a magical effect. He felt more comfortable the more he wrote. It felt like he was using marijuana and was hooked onto it! Fangzheng swore that this was the first time he had been so obsessed with writing in his life.
A day pa.s.sed in a blink of an eye. On the second day, Songwu County’s newspapers published an article t.i.tled ‘Small Temple Hides Master’. Furthermore, it included a few pictures of the Dragon Buddha Epithet calligraphy. From the moment Wu Changxi released the article, he waited along with his Chief Editor and company. He hoped and wished that it would cause a stir.
However, they had overestimated the influence of their newspaper. In this era, how many sales could a tiny county newspaper have? Even if it had sales, it was mostly purchased by businesses and used as decoration. When the bathrooms were out of toilet paper, they could play a role in an emergency.
Therefore, nothing happened after three consecutive days.
The Chief Editor patted Wu Changxi’s shoulder and did not say a thing. The meaning was clear—the calligraphy wasn’t great!
Wu Changxi refused to believe it and applied for time off. He brought the photos to the city. He refused to believe that such beautiful and magnificent text was lacking. At the same time, Wu Changxi posted several pictures regarding One Finger Temple on his Weibo social media account. It included the pictures of Fangzheng writing in the snow as well as the final masterpiece. Furthermore, he had @-ed many famous calligraphy experts.
The result…
“Is this a movie?”
“The special effects are pretty good.”
“The young monk acted pretty seriously.”
“What’s the name of the movie? I haven’t seen it.”
“It should be a small production, right? I haven’t seen it have any advertis.e.m.e.nts…”
When Wu Changxi saw this, he was rendered speechless and helpless. He replied, “This happened in real life. There is nothing artificial about it. I’ll be struck by lightning if there’s anything fake about it! This temple is on Mt One Finger. Those who don’t believe it can see it for themselves!”
“Are you bragging?”
“Mt One Finger? Where the h.e.l.l is that?”
“I searched it. It’s a tiny mountain. There are people living on it?”
“It’s just sensationalization, right?”
…
Wu Changxi was immediately incensed, “It’s up to you to believe it or not. Forget it if you don’t!”
As for the calligraphy experts, most of them did see it, since Wu Changxi had quite a bit of influence. However, even if they saw it, they subconsciously believed that it had been altered digitally.
There was even a famous calligraphy expert in the city, Ouyang Huazai, who replied rudely, “You are just trying to be sensationalist! Using both hands and feet to write calligraphy on snow? You are misleading people. Those pictures of yours are truly sc.u.mmy! Write it clearly on paper before you try again.”
Wu Changxi was immediately so infuriated that he nearly blew his top. He replied, “Mr Ouyang, you are allowed to not believe it and you may ask for evidence, but you can’t insult others!”
Ouyang Huazai replied, “Hmph! Are you even qualified?!”
Wu Changxi nearly vomited blood from his anger.
At Black Mountain City, Wu Changxi stormed straight to the Calligraphy a.s.sociation and happened to meet Ouyang Huazai, who was drinking tea at the Calligraphy a.s.sociation. Ouyang Huazai glanced at the photo in Wu Changxi’s hands and immediately threw it away. He said with contempt, “Tricks meant to deceive and beguile others!”