147 A Strong Monk (1/2)
”You want to become a priestess?” The monk was stunned when he heard Jiang Fengmian's words. But then his eyes glistened, and a smile appeared on his lips!
”Great!” he exclaimed. ”We were short on manpower already. No one from this damnable kingdom wants to join us, and the people from the headquarters are not keen on sending people to our branch due to this place's backwater location at the outskirts of the continent.”
”I could easily use a beautiful angel like you to raise the status of our temple once more,” he snickered. ”I might not be the cleanest or easiest to deal with,” he began, ”but I can swear that as long as you work here, no one will dare to lay their hands on you!”
”This is a poor temple though, all we can offer is food and shelter. There is no salary; we are monks and priests, after all. We are not permitted to be tempted by worldly objects and material wealth.”
”We get a certain amount of donations every month from the Vermilion Forest Kingdom's royal family itself, but all of this money goes mostly into buying food and clothes for the poor and unfortunate.”
The monk, who had been annoyed when Xue Wei had put out the candlelights, was now so excited that spittled flew from his mouth as he spoke, and his eyes were shining as if he had seen a real angel.
This monk was actually not very old. He was a martial artist, and thus his lifespan was much longer than a mortal. He seemed to be around the late twenties, but his real age could easily be much more.
”May I ask a sensitive question?” Xue Wei finally decided to ask a few questions. ”I do not wish to be rude, but how do you protect the temple from robberies and evildoers?”
This was something he genuinely wanted to know the answer to. From traveling together with Jiang Fengmian thus far, he had come to consider her a true friend. After hearing her story, he pitied her greatly. He wanted her to have a bright future. He wanted her to no longer encounter any hardship.
If she were going to be in danger, then he would do anything in his power to persuade her not to walk down this path.
”Rob the temple?” The monk was stunned, but then he started guffawing as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.
”Kid, don't worry. These people might be poor, and they might be desperate, but they are not suicidal,” he said with a shake of his head.
”I am the man in charge of this temple, and I happen to be the strongest expert in the kingdom. If they were to go against me, I would teach them a lesson. I might be a monk, but even monks can fight – and quite possibly take a life – if the situation calls for it.”
Xue Wei looked at the monk with surprise. This monk was the strongest expert in the entire Vermilion Forest Kingdom? If he was, then he was definitely a Heavenly Warrior, or perhaps a Knight of some sort. Although the Vermilion Forest Kingdom was very similar to the Kingdom of Heping, Xue Wei did not doubt that this hidden expert had a strength that would shock the surrounding world.
He nodded his head. ”I am relieved then,” he said. ”Fengmian is a dear friend of mine. I wish for her to live a life of leisure, but she wants to save people. I hope that you will take her in as a younger sister and protect her. Her spirit is unbreakable, her will pure.”
Xue Wei praised Jiang Fengmian in front of the monk, and that in a very solemn and serious manner.
”I have been alone in this temple for many years already,” the monk replied with a sad voice. ”I am happy that someone has decided to join me. I swear on the Nine Heavenly Tribulations that I will give my all to protect younger sister Jiang Fengmian, as long as she keeps to the righteous way and as long as she dedicates herself to help the poor.”
As the monk spoke, the loud rumbling of thunder could be heard above the temple. Xue Wei was greatly shocked.
A Nine Heavenly Tribulation oath was not to be taken lightly; it was clear that this monk wished to remove every single doubt that Xue Wei might have. To this, both Xue Wei and Hei Gou nodded their heads.
”Stay for a day or two,” the monk requested. Neither Xue Wei nor Hei Gou had any reason to reject him, so they accepted the offer. They were running low on money so saving the money on the inn was always welcome.
These two days were mainly spent cultivating in the shabby temple. They discovered that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was denser here than it was in the rest of the capital. It was the most ideal place to cultivate within the entire capital if you excluded the king's castle.
Xue Wei and Hei Gou banked on this opportunity and spent most of the time isolated in self-training. Although they were eager to raise their ranks, they also made sure that Jiang Fengmian was settling well into the temple by spending any spare time with her.
Jiang Fengmian had been shocked at first when she started working in the temple. Every mealtime would be filled with poor people who came to eat. They were orphaned children that had lost their families to the Primordial Beast hordes. They were adults who lacked talent for cultivation and had never learned a mundane skill to a level where they could live of off it.
In this capital, there were thousands of people who lived in poverty. Every mealtime, the temple would feed them all, but this was nothing but a stop-gap measure.
The demography of poverty-stricken people grew every day. The war against the Primordial Beasts was not letting up, and the poor children that were left behind had no time to work and help their family's livelihood as learning martial arts after the age of ten was a mandatory obligation across all walks of life.