Suizhou, Bao Liaocheng.
It was market day, and the streets in the city were bustling with people coming and going.
At the monthly gathering, there are always a variety of vendors, snacks and sundries.
"Come on, come and eat the hot tofu that has just come out of the pot!"
A middle-aged man was hawking and soliciting customers at his stall, and in front of him was a pot of white tofu soup, which looked very tempting.
However, although the boss shouted loudly, his expression was somewhat unhappy.
He was seen squinting at the two people not far from the stall, as if he had met the god of plague.
One of these two people is a monk who is over fifty years old, and the other has his head wrapped in white cloth, with only two eyes exposed. We can't see his appearance, and we can't guess his gender, but looking at his clear eyes, he can tell his age. It must not be big.
These two people were monk Huiqing and Deng Fang, who had been traveling together for three days.
After three days of driving along the mountain road, the two finally arrived in Baoliaocheng.
Before entering the city, in order to conceal Deng Fang's identity, monk Huiqing asked him to cover his face so that others would not stare at him.
At this moment, the two of them were already very hungry, and their mouths watered as they looked at the white tofu on the stall.
"Little donor, how about we eat something at the stall first!" Monk Huiqing turned to Deng Fang and asked.
Deng Fang nodded. Although the mountain fruit was sweet, it was unbearable to eat it for several days. After finally entering the city, he wanted to have a full meal.
Monk Huiqing then asked: "Okay, so do you have any silver with you?"
Deng Fang was shocked: "Ah? Silver coins, all my silver coins have been stolen by thieves. Don't you have any silver coins with you?"
When Huiqing heard this, she had a long face: "You don't even have a tael of silver and you're still wandering around in the world?"
"I had it, but it was stolen by someone! Besides, aren't you a senior monk in the Shaolin Temple? You don't have any money?" Deng Fang responded complainingly.
"I am a monk, how can I carry these worldly things on my body!"
As he spoke, Monk Huiqing tilted his mouth and turned away from Deng Fang.
Seeing how arrogant Monk Huiqing was, Deng Fang was speechless. He touched his body for a long time to see if there was any scattered silver left, but in the end there was none.
In desperation, Deng Fang tugged at Monk Huiqing's clothes and said, "Old monk, you really don't have any money. If that doesn't work, go and ask for alms and see if the boss can give you some charity."
Monk Huiqing smiled and snorted, and walked towards the stall, muttering: "Just these two times, did you still dislike us monks before? We can still make alms, but you, who have both hands and feet, may not even beg for food. Give it to you!"
Although he muttered in a low voice, Deng Fang heard it clearly. However, filling his stomach was more important now, and he was too lazy to argue with Monk Huiqing.
Monk Huiqing was full of confidence, his steps were light, and his smile was as bright as a peach blossom. He walked to the stall and saluted with one palm: "A poor monk from Shaolin Temple, whose name is Huiqing, I have met the donor!"
As he spoke, Monk Huiqing also lowered his body slightly forward, looking very polite.
"Go, go, go!"
Unexpectedly, after hearing what he said, the tofu stall owner glared, raised the big spoon in his hand, and started to scare Monk Huiqing and drive people away.
Monk Huiqing looked embarrassed: "This donor, please listen to me... Oh, no, please listen to me!"
The owner of the tofu stall was not kind to Monk Huiqing and drove him away with all his teeth and claws.
"How dare such ordinary people be rude to me?!"
Monk Huiqing was also a well-known figure in the world, and was also called an elder in the Shaolin Temple. At this moment, he was kicked out, and he was so angry that his nostrils were as big as his fingers.
Deng Fang stood aside, laughing and ridiculing Monk Huiqing.
Monk Huiqing pushed Deng Fang impatiently: "Go ahead and pretend to be pitiful. Maybe you can get some back."
Deng Fang straightened his clothes and smiled: "You can see what's mine!"
As he spoke, Deng Fang bent down, coughed non-stop, beat his chest and covered his mouth and walked towards another stall.
There was a young man and woman eating at the stall. The man and the woman were very kind and looked like easy talkers.
Deng Fang walked slowly to the two of them, coughed a few times, and then said in an extremely weak tone: "You two, please be kind, I am really hungry."
As he spoke, Deng Fang covered his mouth more tightly with his hand, looking very pitiful.
The man and woman looked at Deng Fang, stunned for a moment, then looked at each other, and then looked at Deng Fang up and down.
Seeing this, Deng Fang's coughing worsened and she kept patting her chest with her hands.
"are you crazy?"
"tuberculosis?"
The man and woman stared at Deng Fang and started asking.
"Tuberculosis? No, I just..." Deng Fang was shocked by the two people's questions and was confused for a moment, not knowing how to respond.
Just when Deng Fang was speechless, Deng Fang only felt that someone had kicked her butt hard, and she fell to the ground with a flying jump.
"Damn it, someone with tuberculosis still dares to hang out!"
When Deng Fang heard this, he quickly turned around and saw that it was the owner of the stall who heard what the man and the woman said and kicked him out of his stall.
The boss shouted in a loud voice, and everyone on the street gathered around him, pointing at Deng Fang and yelling.
When Monk Huiqing saw this, he shouted that it was not good and quickly squeezed into the crowd and walked towards Deng Fang.
Deng Fang listened to the curses around him and quickly got up from the ground with a grimace, trying to escape.
However, in desperation, Deng Fang panicked when she stood up, and accidentally pulled down the white cloth she was using to cover her face, revealing her face.
This time, Deng Fang was even more at a loss.
Monk Huiqing, who was in the crowd, felt bad when he saw Deng Fang's true appearance exposed. He raised his inner strength, squeezed into the crowd, pulled Deng Fang and ran out.
Out of the crowd, the two of them were like ants on a hot pot with nowhere to go. When people around them saw them, they started to avoid them as if they were seeing ghosts, but the curses became more and more loud.
Finally, Monk Huiqing saw an alley with discarded items and took Deng Fang into it.
After entering the alley, the two of them hid behind some broken door panels, temporarily hiding from everyone, but they could still hear the yelling and cursing outside.
Deng Fang took a breath and cursed angrily: "What a shame!"
Monk Huiqing looked at him angrily and said, "You brat, we're in trouble now! We can't stay in the city anymore, we have to get out of the city quickly."
"Leaving the city? But we haven't eaten yet!"
"Do you still want to eat? Do you know that Moon Toad Palace has already exposed your portrait. There must be many people in this city who know your appearance. With the commotion just now, many people have already set their sights on you!"
When Deng Fang heard this, he also realized the critical situation. He frowned and nodded.
Then, Deng Fang asked: "How can you and I get out of the city now?"
Monk Huiqing thought for a moment and said firmly: "Now that the matter has come to this, I can only break the precepts a little!"
