First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!
Chapter 318: The cries of apes echo endlessly, yet the light boat has already passed through a thousand mountains

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As the boat slowly started to move,

Lu Ding stood in the best spot on the deck, feeling the cool breeze blow across his face.

The sun was blazing overhead.

Though he wasn’t affected by the heat anymore,

years of habit had made him feel a bit irritable under direct sunlight.

Now, the gentle wind brought a trace of coolness, gradually calming Lu Ding’s heart.

Watching the steep cliffs on both banks retreating behind them,

he slowly lost himself in thought.

Twenty years old... twenty years...

An orphan, but with a cheat.

At first, Lu Ding’s mindset was firm—he’d make something of himself. His fate was his own.

But then, he was hit by reality over and over again.

Until his cheat activated, and he made it all the way here, going through so much.

Everything felt like it had happened just yesterday.

This journey had been bitter.

Lu Ding thought—eating raw bitter herbs probably wouldn’t be worse than this.

But now, things were finally looking up.

Letting out a long breath, Lu Ding straightened his back and lifted his head.

The breeze blew gently, full of youthful spirit.

Yan Feifan walked up beside him and handed over a brush and paper. “Lu-ge, you feel it, right? Not gonna let it out?”

Wutian looked on curiously—he didn’t get it.

Let it out?

Let what out?

Lu Ding raised his hand and flicked his fingers like a sword.

The rice paper fluttered; the breeze smoothed out its creases. With the jade brush in hand, black ink welled up at the tip.

As the brush touched the paper, strokes poured out, bold and powerful.

The cries of apes echo endlessly on both shores,

Yet the light boat has already passed through a thousand mountains.

The poetic intent within stirred something in Wutian—he nodded repeatedly.

At that moment,

his impression of Lu Ding shifted again.

What he had seen before

was Lu Ding’s killing intent—cold, suffocating.

Wutian didn’t know how much of it came from his cultivation technique.

But one thing he was sure of:

Judging by Lu Ding’s aura, he had killed a lot of people.

At the very least, a few hundred.

Maybe even over a thousand.

That was why Wutian had, at first glance, labeled Lu Ding a great demon.

In this day and age, killing that many people—

if that’s not a great demon, then what is?

But later, he had doubts.

Now, looking again—

Even if Lu Ding really were a great demon, then he was a talented one.

Yan Feifan rolled up the rice paper.

“How about it, Little Master Wutian? Impressed, right? Back home, Lu-ge is famous for being both brain and brawn. He used to wear sleeves that represented both civil and martial talent.”

As he said that, Yan Feifan proudly snapped a picture of the calligraphy and posted it to the Yunhai 749 forum.

[Let’s Munch Wheat Husk Together]

The moment the photo went up, comments and tips flooded in.

Yan Feifan raised his phone. “Lu-ge, we scored big this time. Once we’re back, I’ll buy a Furious Qing Chicken and show you my cooking skills.”

“I’ll even invite Xiaobai over and give him a drumstick. He’ll be over the moon.”

Even Lu Ding was tempted hearing that.

Just as he was about to speak—

Wutian suddenly asked something unexpected: “Can I come too?”

The two turned to look at him.

Lu Ding raised an eyebrow with a smile. “Hey, monk, are you even a proper monk?”

“Amitabha. This humble monk practices a mixed path, so I can eat the Three-Pure-Meats.”

“Just now, Benefactor Yan said this is for Benefactor Lu and that White Benefactor. It wasn’t killed for me, I didn’t see it killed, and I have no doubts about it—so I can eat it.”

Well, here’s another Teflon monk.

“So that’s why you were so quiet just now?”

As Lu Ding spotted the detail,

he found himself looking at Wutian with more respect.

In this day and age, someone still practicing Theravada Buddhism? Rare indeed.

Buddhism is split into Mahayana and Theravada.

Mahayana Buddhism, influenced by foreign philosophies, tends to sound grand but empty.

It builds upon Theravada, modifying and merging it.

Theravada, on the other hand, is more like primitive Buddhism—

emphasizing ethics, treating Buddha as a teacher, not a god, and refusing idol worship.

Most importantly,

Mahayana advocates “emptiness of self and dharma,” a classic idealist line.

Stuff like “form is emptiness, emptiness is form,” and “lay down the butcher knife, become a Buddha on the spot”—those phrases give people headaches.

Even though there are many interpretations of those lines,

they’re still too idealistic.

Theravada says “the self is empty, dharma is real.”

In simple terms—if you believe, it’s real. If not, it’s not.

Whether you believe or not is your business. I believe in myself.

Kind of like Daoism, in a way.

Which is why people say Buddhism and Daoism aren’t so different at their roots.

In some areas, they really are similar.

Wutian was about to explain this,

but someone nearby had picked up on what Lu Ding said earlier

and was muttering:

“Miss, there’s a fake monk over there being inappropriate.”

Wutian: ??????

Lu Ding thought: That was a joke between us. We know each other. We’re on friendly terms.

Why are you dragging me into this!?

Did I mess with you!?

He turned and walked right over.

“Amitabha. Benefactor, this humble monk has a question—

what exactly about me is inappropriate? What part is fake?

If you can’t explain, then—

please apologize.”

Lu Ding looked over.

Not far off on the deck sat four people—two men and two women.

One girl in a pink dress looked awkward upon hearing this.

She hadn’t expected such a soft mutter to be overheard—

let alone have someone come confront her.

A monk eating meat wasn’t news.

A quiet mutter, what’s the big deal...

One young man among them stood up: “Little Master, sorry about that. I’ll apologize on her behalf. Don’t take it to heart.”

Wutian stood firm: “The words came from her mouth. Not yours.

She needs to explain exactly what makes this humble monk fake or inappropriate.

Otherwise—she needs to apologize.”

“We don’t know each other. But because of one sentence from her,

you four have already formed an impression that I’m some improper fake monk.”

That made Huang Yuanqing lose face.

He hadn’t expected the monk to be so blunt.

“Little Master, she’s a girl. Let it go, for my sake?”

“Apologies, Benefactor. My Buddha says all beings are equal.

Men or women, all are people. In my eyes, there is no gender.”

Yan Feifan nodded in agreement: “He’s right. His eyes are sharper than an X-ray.”

That interruption

tipped Huang Yuanqing over the edge. His tone turned sour:

“What’s it to you? This is between us. Mind your own business.”

Lu Ding stepped forward: “And what’s it to you?

This is between him and her. Why are you butting in?”

“We’re friends!”

“Well... we’re friends too.”

Wutian just helped them out at the Di Family. Of course they were friends.

A friend standing up for a friend—

you can do it, so can I.

No one gets special treatment.

Huang Yuanqing turned away—

then suddenly chuckled,

turned back, half-smiling: “Oh f**k me.”

“You’ve got quite the mouth, huh?”

Lu Ding responded with the exact same tone: “Oh f**k me, I’ve always had a mouth like this.”

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