"Crack!" A branch snapped in the fire.
The branches had been gathered in a hurry today and were still damp, so they gave off a lot of smoke.
Beside the fire, the honest monk Liao Chen puffed on his pipe and said to Shi Feizhe:
"When those people arrived, I felt Buddha manifest. Buddha spoke to me, telling me to let them stay in the temple. Namo Amitabha!"
"How much did they pay?" Shi Feizhe asked darkly.
Liao Chen held up one finger. "They didn't pay money. They accumulated merit."
"One tael of silver?" Shi Feizhe asked.
Liao Chen shook his head.
"Could it be one tael of gold?" Shi Feizhe exclaimed.
Liao Chen still shook his head.
"It was a hundred copper coins!" he said.
"Bald donkey! You let other people stay in the temple for a hundred copper coins!" Shi Feizhe roared when he heard that.
"You could've gone and lived in the wilderness by yourself. Why did you kick me out too? First come, first served. Ever heard of it?"
"Benefactor, they offered more than you did!" Liao Chen said honestly.
"Monk! Do you know how sharp my sword is?" Shi Feizhe drew Rusty Sword and pointed it at Liao Chen in fury.
"This humble monk has accumulated merit for Buddha. Do as you please, Benefactor!" Liao Chen closed his eyes and said, unafraid of the boiling water poured on a dead pig.
He knew Shi Feizhe wasn't the sort to kill someone over a hundred copper coins.
Shi Feizhe gave a cold laugh. He'd finished copying books during the day and returned to the temple, only to find that several people had already taken it over!
The monk had said the temple was too crowded and led him somewhere more spacious. Then he'd brought him to