The old monk laughed and said, "Because of fate two benefactors have come over here, just happened to visit this little temple, which is about to carry out a great undertaking: reconstructing the main gate, and repairing the inlay of the golden idol. The benefactors' money and jewelry must be donated. If not, you are offending the Buddha; and then you will be in great trouble."
Zhao Min was indignant. "Isn't that the misdeed of the robbers?" she asked.
"It's sin! It's sin!" the old monk said, "We, eight brothers, used to kill people and burn their houses; we robbed and did all kinds of shady businesses. But recently we laid down our sabers to follow the teachings of Buddha, and so we became casual Buddhist monks. Benefactors have been brought here by karma; the fat sheep has arrived to our door on its own account. Ay, you have made things difficult for us who have left our homes; we are no longer able to keep our purity."
Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min were very shocked; they did not expect these eight monks were former big bandits. This old monk had been speaking quite bluntly. It sounded like he was going to kill them; he did not even try to keep it a secret, neither did he show any intention to let them go.
Another fierce looking monk said with a laugh, "Miss Benefactor need not be afraid; while we eight monks are robbing and plundering, we lack a mistress to take care of the temple. You have such a beautiful face, truly as if the 'Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa' [Guanyin Bodhisattva, the Goddess of Mercy] descends to the earth. Even if Buddha himself saw you, his heart would have been moved. Wonderful! Wonderful!"
From her pocket Zhao Min pulled out some seven, eight golden ingots and a string of pearls, and placed them all on the table. "All I have is here," she said, "We, brother and sister, are also Wulin people. Gentlemen must respect the Jianghu's 'yi qi' [spirit of loyalty, code of brotherhood]."
The old monk laughed and said, "So you two are Wulin people, nothing can be better than that. I wonder which school do you belong to?"
"We are Shaolin disciple," Zhao Min said. Shaolin Pai was the number one major sect in the Wulin world. Zhao Min was hoping that these if eight men were not Shaolin disciples, perhaps one of their friends or relatives were somewhat related to Shaolin.
The old monk was startled, his eyes suddenly shone with murderous look. "Shaolin disciples?" he said, "That's truly unfortunate! You two babies should really blame yourself for belonging to the wrong school."
He reached out to pull Zhao Min's wrist. Zhao Min quickly withdrew her hand so the old monk ended up grabbing empty air. Zhang Wuji realized the critical situation they were in. Both Zhao Min and he were heavily injured; it was extremely difficult to fight the enemy. They had battled countless well-known Wulin characters these past several years; would they lose their lives today in the hands of eight nameless lowly robbers? No matter what, he could not let Zhao Min being disgraced without him doing something. Thereupon he said, "Min Mei, hide behind me. I have a way to deal with these eight lowly thieves."
Zhao Min's brain was usually full of bright ideas and clever tricks, but this moment her hands were bound and she was unable to do anything about it. "What kind of people are you?" she asked.
The old monk replied, "We are renegades that the Shaolin Temple chased away. To come across other Sect's Jianghu people, we can sill show mercy and not make our moves; but to come across Shaolin disciples, we cannot do anything but kill you. Little Miss, this brother actually wanted you to be the custodian of the temple, but after finding out that you are a Shaolin disciple, we have no other choice but to kill you first, so that we will not leave any witness behind."
With a low and deep throaty voice Zhang Wuji said, "Good, huh! You are Yuan Zhen's disciples, aren't you?"
"Ah!" the old monk exclaimed in surprise, "That's strange! How did you know?"
Zhao Min interrupted, "Actually, we are on our way to Shaolin Temple to see Chen Youliang Dage [big brother], to support Yuan Zhen Da Shi ['great master' – reverend] to become the Shaolin Temple Fangzhang [abbot]."
"Shan zai! Shan zai! [exclamatory remark used by Buddhist monks, means 'good, peace']" the old monk said, "Our Buddha reaching perfection, restoring all living beings."
"That's right," Zhao Min said, "We must join our hearts and minds, accomplishing virtuous acts together." As she said that, all eight monks broke out in laughter.
Turned out these eight monks belong to the same party as Yuan Zhen and Chen Youliang; they were inducted by Chen Youliang to be Yuan Zhen's disciples. For the past few years, Yuan Zhen had coveted the Abbot position and thus recruited capable people from everywhere. However, Shaolin Temple monastic discipline was strict, each time they accepted a disciple, the disciple must undergo a rigorous examination by the monastic authorities, a detailed verification of their family background and origins, so that Yuan Zhen found it difficult to do whatever he pleased. Consequently, he cooked up a plan with Chen Youliang, to recruit the warriors of underworld organizations, pirates and bandits, and gathered them outside the Temple as Yuan Zhen's disciples, yet they were not Shaolin disciples. They were waiting for an opportunity then together they would take this great undertaking.
Yuan Zhen's martial art skill was very profound and he was able to defeat the Jianghu warriors into submission as soon as he put his hands into it. These Wulin characters had always been admiring Shaolin's fame as the prestigious upright Sect; they had also seen Yuan Zhen's divine martial art skill, therefore, they willingly submit under his tutelage. There were a small number of disciples who were not willing to betray their own original school. Yuan Zhen immediately removed these people. That was the reason they had not been exposed even though they had been engaged in this deceitful scheme for a long time.
When that old monk said 'Our Buddha reaching perfection, restoring all living beings' he actually was saying their secret code. If the other party replied with 'the blooming flower meets Buddha, the heart draws near to Lingshan [a mountain in Guangxi]'; then they would know that they belonged to the same school.
As Zhao Min heard the undertone of the old monk's words, she knew they were Yuan Zhen's disciples, and she deduced that Yuan Zhen had his eyes on the Abbot position; but how would she know they had agreed on some secret code to communicate to each other?
"Fu Dage [big brother Fu]," a short and stout monk said, "This little girl says something about supporting our master to become Shaolin Temple Fangzhang; where did she learn it from? This is a very important matter, we must inquire clearly." Although these eight people had become monks, they still addressed each other as 'Dage', 'Erge' [second brother], and so on; the habit they acquired when they were still involved in the 'lu lin' world. ['lu lin' means 'green forest', usually refers to the criminal world]
As soon as Zhang Wuji heard these eight men laugh, he knew something had gone wrong. He regretted that his back was seriously injured so he was unable to concentrate his internal energy [see note below]. He had no choice but to painstakingly focus his attention, trying hard to force the 'chi' to break free. He felt the warm energy gathered in a clump in the east, and formed together in a block on the west, but the 'chi' did not want to flow along in the blood vessels.
[orig, 'zhen qi' – true 'chi'. Translator's note: previously, I translated 'qi' as simply 'energy' or internal energy. When reading some martial art related publication, I realized that 'chi' has become an English word. Here are two examples I found:
Ch'i or qi (pronounced "chee" and henceforth spelled "chi") is the Chinese word used to describe "the natural energy of the Universe." (Skeptic Dictionary)
In Chinese culture, Qi (spelled in Mandarin Pinyin romanization), pronounced IPA: [tɕ[FONT='Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif']ʰ[/font]i], also ch'i (in Wade-Giles romanization) or ki (in Japanese romanization) is a kind of "life force" or "spiritual energy" that is part of every living thing. It is frequently translated as "energy flow", or literally as "air", "breath", or "gas". (For example, "tiānqì", literally "sky breath", is the ordinary Chinese word for "weather"). (Wikipedia)
Hereafter, I will leave the word 'qi' as it is, or translate it as 'internal energy'.]
Zhang Wuji saw the old monk's five fingers striking toward Zhao Min like a bird's claw. Zhao Min was powerless to ward it off; she eluded by withdrawing into the bed. Zhang Wuji's mind was very anxious, but he kept sitting cross-legged, hoping that he could restore 20, 30% of his strength, which would be enough to drive these eight wicked thieves away.
Seeing that Zhang Wuji was still arrogantly sitting in meditation in a time like this, the short and stout monk angrily roared, "This kid is so arrogant; let the old man [referring to self] send him to the western sky first, so that he won't be in the way here!"
When saying that, he raised his right arm while his bones made cracking noise. With a 'whoosh' he sent a fist toward Zhang Wuji's chest. Seeing this desperate situation, Zhao Min's shrill voice cried out in fear; but she saw that as the stout monk's fist landed on its target, his right arm went limp, his eyes rolled until only the whites were visible, and he stood motionless.
The old monk was shocked; he stretched his hand to pull his comrade's hand. The plump monk's hand did not give any resistance, as he had already died. The rest of the monks were startled and angered. They cried out one after another, "This kid uses witchcraft! He is a sorcerer!"
What happened was: when the plump monk used his entire strength to strike Zhang Wuji's chest, he inadvertently hit the 'shan zhong xue' [lit. sheep odor acupoint]. Zhang Wuji's 'Jiu Yang Shen Gong' was not enough to attack the enemy, but it was more than sufficient to protect his own body. Not only did it rebound the fist strength of the enemy's strike, but also because the incoming strike was powerful, it spurred the Jiu Yang 'zhen qi' [real/true/genuine 'chi' – see above] inside his system, increasing the rebound force, adding strength behind the strength, so that the plump monk was killed instantly.
The old monk thought that Zhang Wuji's pocket must be loaded with poison-tipped arrows or some other venomous stingers, so that the plump monk died of severe poisoning. Stretching out his palm, he struck Zhang Wuji's right arm, which was exposed outside his sleeve, thinking that he had better break Zhang Wuji's arm first before dealing with him further.
As the powerful palm struck Zhang Wuji's arm, the Jiu Yang Zhen Qi inside his body was incited again. The old monk was thrown outside immediately; he flew like an arrow and 'crack!', breaking through the window lattice, he struck the big locust tree in the courtyard, his skull was smashed and his brain burst forth.
The rest of the monks were shouting and screaming. One monk used both of his hands to attack Zhang Wuji's 'tai yang xue' [sun acupoint]. Another monk used the 'shuang long qiang zhu' [a pair of dragons fought over the pearl], stretching out his fingers to dig into Zhang Wuji's eyeballs. Yet another monk flew up and kicked Zhang Wuji's 'dan tian' [pubic area].
Zhang Wuji lowered his head to evade the attack to his eyes, letting the attacker's two fingers to hit his forehead. A series of 'Bang! Bang!', 'Aiyo!', 'Crack! Crack!' was heard; all three monks were shaken to their death one after another. The third monk's flying kick was so powerful that his right leg was broken on the spot. As Zhang Wuji's 'dan tian' received the kick, the 'zhen qi' in his body was aroused; unexpectedly the arteries and veins on the right half of his body were open. He mused, "It's a pity this wicked monk died too early. If he had kicked my dan tian several times, he might have helped me restoring my internal energy sooner. Apparently, although my injury is heavy, the recovery is not as difficult as I thought. I think I will need about ten days to half a month of recuperation to recover 100%."
Out of eight monks, five had died miserably. The remaining three wicked monks were frightened out of their wits; they raced against each other to get out of the room, and went straight out of the temple gate. After they were sure that Zhang Wuji did not run after them, they stopped and discussed among themselves. One monk said, "This kid must have used some witchcraft." The other monk said, "I think it was not witchcraft; this kid's internal energy is very strong, he could rebound the strike to injure the enemy." The third monk said, "That's right. In any case we must avenge our brothers' death."
The three of them talked for half a day. One monk suddenly said, "This kid must be suffering a heavy injury. Otherwise, why didn't he run after us?"
"That's right!" the other monk happily said, "Most likely he can't walk. When our five brothers hit him by fist and kick, he fought them by inciting his internal strength. If we use blades to chop him or pierce him, I don't think he has copper muscles or iron bones to resist us."
As the three monks made a decision, one of them got a lance, the other unsheathed his saber, and the third wielded a sword; together the returned to the courtyard. They noticed that the eastern room was extremely quiet, as if it was unoccupied. They peeked over the broken window lattice, and saw that young man was still sitting cross-legged on the bed; his face looked weary, his body was shaky, as if he would fall down any minute. The young girl was wiping his forehead with a handkerchief. The three monks looked at each other; they did not dare to rush in.
One of the monks called out, "Stinky kid, if you have some skills, get out and fight your master for three hundred stances."
Another monk cursed, "What skill does this kid have? All he has is some witchcraft to harm others. That is such a cheap trick, despicable to the lowest end, totally without any sense of shame."
The three monks saw that Zhang Wuji did not reply and he did not get down from the bed either, so they became bolder and bolder, their cursing and swearing were getting dirtier and dirtier. In term of dirty talk, perhaps among the disciples of Buddhism there was nobody who could surpass these three monks.
Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min were not angry at all. They were more afraid of these three monks leave and not return, rather than being annoyed by their coming back to seek revenge. That place was not too far from the Shaolin Temple of the Song Shan [Mount Song in Henan]. If those three monks went to inform Cheng Kun, they would face an even graver problem. It would be almost impossible for Zhang Wuji to treat his injury in less than ten days. Within that period, it would not take as much as Cheng Kun to personally come, one or two martial experts of Chen Youliang's caliber would be difficult for him to resist. Thus, Zhang Wuji was secretly delighted to see these three monks return.
After receiving the five monks' attacks, the Jiu Yang Zhen Qi inside Zhang Wuji's body had been somewhat more controllable, so although he still could not use it to attack the enemy, his heart was not as frightened as it was before.
Suddenly a loud 'Bang!' was heard as a monk kicked the door open and rushed in. A dark green light flashed by, the red tassel trembled, as the lance in his hand came straight toward Zhang Wuji.
"Aiyo!" Zhao Min cried out. Hastily she handed over the dagger in her hand to Zhang Wuji.
Zhang Wuji shook his head without moving his hand. He groaned inwardly, "I don't have the least bit of strength on my hand; how would I resist the enemy even though I have a weapon? My flesh and blood won't withstand the enemy's weapon." He had not finished musing when the tip of enemy's lance formed a circle, with its red tassel blooming like a flower, had already reached in front of Zhang Wuji's chest.
The lance strike was fast, Zhao Min's mind worked even faster. She reached into Zhang Wuji's pocket to take a Sheng Huo Ling tablet out, and placed it on Zhang Wuji's chest to shield it against the spearhead. 'Bang!' the tip of the lance struck the Sheng Huo Ling.
Even an extremely sharp weapon like the Yitian Sword was not able to scratch the Sheng Huo Ling, much less an ordinary spearhead. Again, this strike had aroused the Jiu Yang Shen Gong inside Zhang Wuji's body, which reacted naturally. "Aahhhhh ..." a long and miserable cry was heard as the lance's pole penetrated the monk's chest.
This monk had not fallen down when the second monk's saber was hacking down on the top of Zhang Wuji's head. Zhao Min was afraid one Sheng Huo Ling would not suffice to block the saber, so grabbing a Sheng Huo Ling in either hand, she swiftly placed them on Zhang Wuji's head.
Her action was truly effective. With another 'bang!' the saber bounced, its back crashed into that wicked monk's forehead, smashing his skull; but the tip of Zhao Min's left little finger was also sliced off. In the excitement of the moment, she did not feel the pain.
The third monk, wielding a sword in his hand, was just about to enter the door; seeing his two companions meet their cruel fate, he screamed in terror and ran out the door.
"We can't let him escape!" Zhao Min called out, while throwing one Sheng Huo Ling tablet over the window. Her throw was accurate, but she lacked the strength, so it fell down even before touching that monk's body.
Zhang Wuji wrapped his arms around her and called out, "Throw again!" He concentrated his internal energy in his chest and transmitted it to Zhao Min's back. Zhao Min threw the Sheng Huo Ling in her left hand. Two more steps, then that monk would have stepped over behind the wall; but the Sheng Huo Ling was so fast that it struck his back. Immediately blood spurted from his mouth and he died on the spot. As soon as the Sheng Huo Ling left their hands, Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min fainted and fell on the bed.
At this moment, there were six dead monks in the room, with two more dead monks in the courtyard, so Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min had fainted in the pool of blood. The temple was so small and it was located on a remote hill. Under the cold moon and cool breeze, there was not a sound to be heard.
After a long while, Zhao Min gained her consciousness first. Still in daze, she reached out to feel Zhang Wuji's breathing. She felt that the breathing was weak, but it was long and steady. Propping up herself she arose slowly. Because she was too weak to get him out of bed, she had no alternative but pulling him down, and then rested his head on one of the dead monk bodies. Just this little exertion forced her to sit among the dead bodies, gasping for breath.
After half a day, Zhang Wuji opened his eyes. "Min Mei," he called out, "You ... where are you?"
Zhao Min gave him one of her captivating smiles. The bright and cold moonlight streamed in from the window. They both saw the other's face was full of blood, so they'll know their own faces must be frightening. But after going through a life and death situation together, they felt that the other's face was very handsome and beautiful. Without realizing it, they both reached out and embraced each other tightly.
In this dramatic battle, Zhang Wuji was able to kill the first seven monks without the least bit of strength on his part; he simply borrowed strength to fight strength, and contrary to his expectation, he did not suffer any harm. However, when throwing the Sheng Huo Ling to kill the eighth wicked monk, both Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min had exhausted the remainder of the strength they had after the injury. Right now, the two of them were incapable of moving; all they could do was leaning on dead people's bodies and quietly wait for their strength to return. Zhao Min wrapped her cut left-hand little finger, and then, still in daze, she went back to sleep.
Around noon the next day, they started to awake. Zhang Wuji sat up and circulated his 'chi', trying to harmonize the flow. After meditation for more than an hour, he felt his spirit return. He stood up by pushing himself against the floor, and suddenly heard his tummy was growling. He went to the kitchen by leaning on the wall. He saw a pot of rice, where half of the rice had already turned black, and the other half was also burned that it carried a strong burning smell. He filled a bowl full of burnt rice and returned to their room.
Zhao Min said with a laugh, "You and I are in such a distressed situation today. The Heaven knows, the Earth knows, you and I know, but nobody else knew about it."
They both laughed heartily, and then ate the rice with their bare hands. To them, the burnt rice tasted so good that it was better than any exotic delicacies they had ever had.
They had not finished this bowl of rice, when suddenly from the distant came the muffled noise of hooves against mountain rocks. 'Crash!' the bowl in their hands crashed down on the tiled floor. Zhao Min and Zhang Wuji looked at each other. Their hearts were beating rapidly. They heard two horses were coming their way, and stopped in the front of the temple's main gate. They heard the brass ring on the door was knocked four times, and then someone banged the door. The noise stopped for a moment then the knocker banged four more times.
"What should we do?" Zhang Wuji asked in low voice.
They heard someone outside the door calling out, "Shangguan San'ge [third (older) brother Shangguan], it is me, Qin Laowu [old fifth Qin]!"
"They are going to break in," Zhao Min said, "Let's pretend we are dead; we'll act according to the circumstance." The two of them lied down among the corpses, with their faces on the floor.
They had just lied down when with a loud crash the door was pushed open. From the noise generated by the broken door, it was obvious that the newcomers had quite a bit of strength. Zhao Min had an idea. "Go lie down near the door," she said, "Don't let these people escape."
Zhang Wuji nodded and crawled toward the entrance. Right at that moment, they heard two people cry out in fear, followed by 'swish, swish!' as the two people who entered the temple were pulling their weapons out. Obviously they had seen the two corpses in the courtyard.
"Careful!" one of them said in low voice, "Watch for the enemy's ambush."
The other man loudly shouted, "Friends, sneaking and hiding in the dark, what kind of heroes are you? Come out and fight Laozi [the Old Man – referring to self] to the death if you have the nerve." This man's voice was strong and heroic, a sign of his abundant internal energy. He must be the one who pushed the gate open.
He shouted several times, but did not hear the least bit of voice answering his call. "The thieves must have left far away," he said.
The other man said in a hoarse voice, "We must look up everywhere, make sure the enemy is not setting up an ambush."
"Shou Laodi [lit. 'old' (younger brother) Shou]," the one who called himself Qin Lauwu said, "You look to the east and I'll search to the west."
Apparently, the one surnamed Shou was a coward; he said, "I am afraid the enemies are numerous. We'd better go together." Qin Laowu did not say anything.
Suddenly the one surnamed Shou exclaimed in terror while pointing his finger toward the room on the east, "There ... there are more dead people inside!"
The two of them went to the door and saw that in that small room there were about seven, eight corpses lying around on the floor.
Qin Laowu said, "This temple ... this temple's eight brethrens have lost their lives at the same time. I wonder whose treacherous hands have done it!"
"Qin Wuge [fifth (older) brother Qin]," the surnamed Shou said, "We must return to the Temple immediately, to report ... report ... report this to Shifu."
Qin Laowu hesitantly said, "Shifu has urgently ordered us to deliver these invitations promptly, since the guests are expected by the fifth day of the fifth month [orig. 'duan1 wu3 jie2' – Dragon Boat (or Duanwu) Festival day] for the Lion-slaying Heroes' Assembly [orig, tu2 shi1 ying1 xiong2 hui4]. If we fail, I am afraid we will be punished."
As he heard the words 'Lion-slaying Heroes' Assembly', Zhang Wuji was slightly taken aback; and then he was shocked, delighted, ashamed and angry, as a hundred feelings filled up his heart. He mused, "His Shifu issued invitations for some 'Lion-slaying Heroes' Assembly', his intention must be to gather the heroes and warriors under the Heaven, and then to kill Yifu publicly. From what he said, it seems like before the Duanwu, Yifu's life will not be harmed. I cannot protect Yifu completely; I let him down by letting him fall into others' hands that he has to suffer this disgrace. I am unfilial and unworthy; there is nothing worse than this."
The more he thought, the angrier he got; he wished he had a weapon in his hand and kill these two villains, but he was afraid they might escape while he was powerless to pursue them. Therefore, all he could do was to wait for these two men to enter the room and then cut their way out. Just like before, he hoped the Jiu Yang Zhen Qi in his body would get rid of these two traitors. Unexpectedly, because these two saw the room was full of dead bodies, they did not dare to enter, but simply stood and talked in the courtyard
"This is most important," the one surnamed Shou said, "The sooner we report to Shifu the better."