CH 153

Chapter 153 – 1992-2020

All they could hear was the drum from the monk’s cell phone, which turned out to be a Peking Opera drum.

The monk cleared his throat, followed the rhythm and began to sing:

“I recite ~ pass ~ go ~ count, in order to seek ~ great ~ Dharma ~! Even if you are ~ world, country, king, don’t be greedy ~ five, desire, joy!”

The surrounding audience: “???”

Lian Qiao: “???” This, this scripture, why does it seem to be… “The Lotus Sutra”?!

RenDong: “…” Well, it really is a familiar recipe and a familiar taste…

Only by listening to the accompaniment of Peking Opera, the monk sang “The Lotus Sutra” with gusto. Although the crowd around looked dumbfounded, they gradually recognized the sound and some people couldn’t help but shout: “Good”!

To be reasonable, when listening to a monk’s lecture, one should hold a pious heart… but the monk himself was not serious! So everyone enjoyed themselves and someone even went to the small shop next door to bring a bag of melon seeds and distribute them to everyone.

As Little RenDong listened, a smile could not help but appear on the corner of his mouth.

Lian Qiao said: “I have seen this monk before…”

He wanted to say that this fake monk actually dared to come rob me for a job today but he didn’t expect that Little RenDong interrupted with a smile: “Of course you have seen him. Isn’t this Rock Monk?”

Lian Qiao: “Ah? What Rock Monk?”

RenDong: “In the instance “Three People Make a Tiger… ah.” As soon as he said that, he suddenly realized he’d made a mistake.

In the copy of “Three People Make a Tiger” where the ghost stories told would come true, in the end Xu RenDong finally chooses to be the boss himself and sent everyone into the elevator in their dreams. So Lian Qiao was led by him to win while lying down— he came out after a nap, so he truly was literally lying down.

Except for Zhong Xiu who chose to end her life, all the other members passed the level without injury, so it is understandable that Lian Qiao can’t remember the Rock Monk. After all, for Lian Qiao, he had only met the monk once and the monk had never sung rock and roll in front of him.

No wonder he doesn’t remember.

But this monk was also really strange. He was still firmly a fan of rock music last time, why did he suddenly change to Beijing Opera now?

He really covers a wide range of Buddhism and was boundless.

At this time, the monk just finished singing the Beijing opera version of “The Lotus Sutra” and everyone cheered and threw money into his bowl. The monk was very happy to collect the money. But then suddenly an old man appeared in the distance, holding a big broom, rushing towards them.

The old man with a big cotton jacket and cotton trousers looked like an ordinary old man who came out for a walk after dinner. It’s just that it was unknown why he was so arrogant, and was holding the broom up like he wanted to smash the monk into a meatloaf.

The monk’s first reaction was to turn his head and run away but when he turned around, he seemed to remember something, turned around again, raised his hand and lightly caught the old man’s broom.

“Amitabha, be kind.” The monk grabbed the broom with one hand and made out the Buddha’s seal with the other. “Fortunately, this poor monk is tall and mighty.”

Everyone: “…” Hey, I thought you were going to say some Buddhist scriptures about mercy and forgiveness.

The old man was already angry when his broom was taken away. Seeing that the monk was calm and composed, with an expression of; “you come here, you can kill me if you have the ability”, he suddenly became even more angry, pointed at the monk’s nose and began to scold him loudly. Only then did everyone understand that the old man was a devout Buddhist. He came out for a walk after dinner and overheard a monk singing “The Lotus Sutra” with the accompaniment of Beijing opera. Doesn’t this defile Buddha? At that time, he rushed home and took out the broom to teach this fake monk a lesson.

It’s a pity that the difference in strength between the two is too great, and the old man can only throw a fit, relying on being old to draw sympathy. After hearing the ins and outs, the onlookers also felt that the old man was messing around, no matter how he raged, no one came out to help him. The old man got angry, stomped his feet and cursed:

“Wait! I’ll call the police and call the police to arrest you!”

Everyone: “…” Are you serious?

Monk: “The poor monk is so scared”

All: “…” You really… he’s so old, can’t you just play along!

The old man ran away after uttering these harsh words and it was unknown whether he really called the police or slipped home after realizing that he was beaten. The onlookers saw that there was no excitement, so they gradually dispersed.

The monk clasped his hands together, said goodbye politely to all the judges, packed his things and was ready to leave.

Little RenDong called him: “Hello.” 

The clear and bright child’s voice was very clear in the quiet winter night. The monk turned his head in surprise, looked at Little RenDong, then at Lian Qiao, and said in surprise: “Aren’t you…”

RenDong thought he was going to say words like “my savior” or “Nine Level Boss” and was waiting to listen to his praise, when the monk raised his eyebrows and turned to stare at Lian Qiao.

“Aren’t you the bastard who robbed me of my job during the daytime!”

Lian Qiao also frowned, and immediately rolled up his sleeves: “What are you talking about?”

RenDong: “…” You two have really forgotten each other in this world!

Seeing that the two were about to fight, RenDong hurriedly tried to intervene and offered to apologize. He invited the monk to their house as a guest.

“Home?” The monk raised his eyebrows, “Is it the accommodation provided by the snack bar?”

RenDong felt as if she had accidentally stepped on a thunderbolt again, and was about to say something to remedy it, but saw the monk slobbered, wiped his mouth and said: “Then… …Is there anything to eat?” 

RenDong: “…”

Lian Qiao: “Hmph, you’re really amazing.”

So, one big and one small went out for a walk, and picked up a Rock… Ah no, a Peking Opera Monk back.

When the three of them returned to the snack bar, the owner of the snack bar had gone to sleep. Lian Qiao found something for him to eat casually,but he didn’t expect the monk to eat three big bowls of rice in a row. Then he touched his round belly and said Amitabha with satisfaction.

The monk just had a dispute with the owner of the snack bar in the morning so Lian Qiao hurried upstairs with the monk for fear of causing a misunderstanding.

The accommodation conditions on the second floor of the snack bar are not much better than that of the small dilapidated hotel, but at least they can take a shower. After visiting the place where they lived, the monk said enviously: “If I had come five minutes earlier, this place would have belonged to me!”

RenDong asked him where he lived now but the monk sighed and said where else he could live, since he had no money. He had no choice but to make do with the unfinished building at the end of the street. The building was dark and cold, but there were several shelters overhead to keep out the wind and rain.

RenDong froze for a moment, thinking to himself: Why didn’t I see you when I entered the unfinished building twice? So he asked him if he knew about the beggars gang.

The monk said he had never seen those people. But today, the police went to the unfinished building to collect evidence, as if they were investigating the case.

The monk doesn’t look like he’s lying. It appears that both times they just happened to miss him.

RenDong: “Then where were you before? In the… the few days when we were all in the orphanage.” 

The monk scratched his forehead: “What orphanage? Weren’t we all in a forest before? The fog was so thick, I couldn’t get out the whole time and I thought I was going to starve to death inside.”

RenDong: “…Did you encounter ghosts?”

Monk: “They seemed to be there but also didn’t… Sometimes at night, when I’m afraid since I was alone, I sang Buddhist scriptures to embolden myself. Maybe I sang so well that the ghosts don’t have the heart to bother me, hahahaha…”

RenDong & Lian Qiao: “…” This monk really hit on the right answer by mistake, his luck is really good!

The mystery is finally solved. It turned out that the monk was a ‘lost gem that had escaped from the army’. And this gem was really a big treasure, not only can he chant scriptures but he also… can also chant scriptures with Peking Opera!

RenDong decisively expressed the hope that he would stay and help everyone pass the instance together. Although Lian Qiao was not happy to see this monk, he couldn’t say anything. After all, the monk is the only magical combat power in this dungeon, and the advantages of him staying will always outweigh the disadvantages.

There was only one bed in the room, and it was impossible for Lian Qiao to take RenDong to sleep on the floor. The monk was generous, found a cushion and meditated on the ground. He said: you don’t need to worry about me, I’ll take care of myself.

Lian Qiao coldly tossed a stack of colored cardboards over: “Whatever, come over here to do handicrafts in order to pay for the accommodation fee!”

Monk: “???”

Little RenDong coughed and explained: “This is my homework, I really can’t finish it, so we need your help.”

“Help? You should have told me earlier.” The monk was straightforward and immediately picked up the scissors and started cutting the jammed paper according to the pattern. But judging by his clumsy appearance, it seems that he has never done such delicate work before. It didn’t take long for that shiny round head to be covered with beads of sweat, and the paper-cutting posture became more and more awkward.

Lian Qiao peeped quietly at him, secretly amused.

Little RenDong tugged at his sleeve helplessly, Lian Qiao hurriedly put away his expression of schadenfreude, and started to do homework in a serious manner.

After a while, the monk probably couldn’t do it anymore, so he dropped the scissors and got up and said, “I’m going to the bathroom.”

The bathroom in the snack bar was at the stairs on the second floor. The monk closed the door, leaving only RenDong and Lian Qiao in the room.

Lian Qiao let out a long breath, lay down on the small table, and raised his poor puppy eyes: “How long do you plan to let him stay?”

RenDong said: “We can discuss with the boss tomorrow to let him live here from now on.  Anyway, he can sing to earn money so we don’t worry about food. We’ll just give him a place to sleep.”

Lian Qiao: “Then he’s really a shining… ” 

RenDong: “Light bulb?”

Lian Qiao: “Braised egg.”

… It is a very spiritual use of the word.

RenDong saw the monk’s gleaming round head and couldn’t help laughing.

It happened that he was tired from doing his homework, so he followed Lian Qiao’s example and lay face to face with him on the small table. Looking at each other, both of them rolled their eyes with a smile.

Xu RenDong looked at him, his heart was filled with tenderness, he couldn’t help stretching out his hand and gently traced his eyebrows and eyes. Lian Qiao enjoyed it so much that he even squinted his eyes.

“By the way.” Lian Qiao poked his little hand suddenly, and asked, “Why are you so afraid of the cold today, you haven’t even taken off your gloves?”

“…” Little RenDong’s eyes flashed a strange look. He silently took his little hand with the plush glove out of Lian Qiao’s palm and lied a little guilty, “…because I like it.”

Lian Qiao stared at him thoughtfully.

RenDong bit his lips uncomfortably: “Well… because… I was poor when I was a child. I never had gloves, and every winter I got frostbite, so…”

His eyes wandered and his fingers quietly twisted the corners of his clothes. His eyes and brows were full of signs of lying.

But Lian Qiao was persuaded by him. Lian Qiao never heard about the hardships he endured when he was a child. At this moment, his heart was so painful that he was mad, and he immediately hugged him into his arms, and said softly: “You don’t have to suffer this kind of suffering anymore. I will always be here in the future. “

… Mmm.” Little RenDong leaned against his chest, feeling guilty for lying in her heart, but also extremely sweet.

After a while, the monk came back. The two of them jumped up from the small table with a guilty conscience and arranged their clothes.

Obviously they just hugged each other and did nothing, yet they felt uneasy about being caught cheating.

In order to relieve his guilty conscience, Lian Qiao even asked uncharacteristically concerned: “Why have you been here for so long?”

“Hei, I don’t even want to talk about it.” The monk held some prayer beads in his fingers and his face looked resigned. “There was a female ghost in the toilet trying to steal my toilet paper. Scared me to death.”

Lian Qiao: “Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you, it was…”

Monk: “It’s okay. I have already recited a set of mantras to exorcize her.”

Lian Qiao & RenDong: “Huh???”