At first he thought that he did not have any business to meddle with whatever this woman was doing, but then he thought, "Who knows? Perhaps I will find Min Mei's whereabouts from this woman. If she has nothing to do with Min Mei, then I will slip out quietly, no harm done. I must not let any clue off easily." Thereupon he got up from the tree branch and quietly slipped down.
Afraid that the woman might detect his presence, he did not dare to get too close. Besides, by stalking a young girl – a total stranger for that matter – in the middle of the night, it might be difficult for him to avoid frivolous suspicions from others.
He noticed that the woman was wearing black clothes, and she indeed was heading toward the Shaolin Temple. "Although she has nothing to do with Min Mei, she must be doing some clandestine activity related to the Wulin world," he thought, "If her intention is not beneficial to Shaolin, I must interfere." He halted his steps to listen, and did not hear any other people nearby, so he knew that this woman did not have anybody supporting her.
Walking for about the time needed to eat a bowl of rice, that woman had never turned her head around. Zhang Wuji had a vague feeling that this woman looked somewhat familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before. "Is she Miss Wu Qingying? Or one of the Emei Pai female disciples?"
Several 'li's later, Shaolin Temple was already in sight. The woman turned toward the side of the hill, approaching the Temple from the side. Suddenly she slowed down her steps and moved surreptitiously among the trees and the mountain rocks. It was obvious that she was afraid someone might see her.
Suddenly he heard clear ringing noise coming from the main hall of the Shaolin Temple, followed by the sound of chanting of several hundred Buddhist monks. Zhang Wuji was greatly puzzled, "Shaolin monks are still chanting sutra deep into the night, and there are hundreds of them. Is there an important ceremony going on?" he mused.
The woman in front of him proceeded even more stealthily. Several dozens 'zhang's more, she would have reached the side of the main hall. Suddenly there were light footsteps. The woman quickly ducked among the thick patch of grass. Four Shaolin monks with sabers and Buddhist staffs were patrolling around the Temple. The woman waited for the four monks to pass before standing up, and leaped toward the shutter by the main hall. Her leap was as light as flying cotton wool; her 'qing gong' was truly top-notch among the Wulin characters. Zhang Wuji noticed that she did not carry any weapon, plus she was alone; hence he believed it was unlikely that she came to Shaolin Temple to create trouble. He wanted to know who the woman was, whether she was a friend or a foe; therefore, crouching behind her, he crept toward the northwest corner of the main hall.
He realized that he was in a very awkward situation. Someone of his position snooping around the Temple in the middle of the night, if he was detected by a Shaolin monk, although the other party might feign ignorance, he will not be able to avoid losing a great deal of face. And thus he was twice more careful; each step he took and each movement was as nimble as a cat stalking a mouse.
By this time, the chanting inside the hall was getting louder. Peeking from a crack on the window, he saw hundreds of monks arranged in neat rows, all sitting on round meditation mats, all wearing yellow Buddhist robes, draped in scarlet and gold kasayas. Some of them were holding ceremonial articles in their hands; the rest of them clasped their palms together with heads hung low, loudly chanting the sutras. It sounded like they were offering prayers to send departing souls crossing into the netherworld. Zhang Wuji understood immediately. "In the Great Hero Assembly this time, there were not a few people lost their lives. During the Yuan army attack up the mountain, even more people from both sides perished. Therefore, the Temple monks are holding this ceremony tonight so that the dead will be reborn happily."
He saw that Reverend Kong Wen was standing in front of the sacrificial table. There was a young woman standing on his right. As soon as Zhang Wuji saw her, he was slightly stunned, since that young woman was none other than Zhou Zhiruo. Although he could only see her from the side, he could tell that her expression definitely showed grieve and distress; her pretty eyebrows were deeply wrinkled, as if she was harboring a deep sorrow.
"That must be it," Zhang Wuji thought, "The reason Zhiruo kneeled down in front of Kong Wen Dashi this afternoon must be to ask him to hold this Buddhist ceremony. I suppose she is repenting from her conduct and deeds. The innocents who lose their lives under her claw and her sword are simply too many."
Focusing his eyes, he tried to read the memorial tablets arranged on the sacrificial table. To his great surprise, one of the tablets read 'nu xia Yin Li zhi ling wei', seven characters [the memorial tablet of Heroine Yin Li]. Zhang Wuji felt a stab of pain in his heart, remembering how during her short and miserable life his cousin had always passionately devoted to him; he could not help from shedding some tears.
Amidst the ringing of chime stones and the tapping of wooden fish, Zhou Zhiruo gracefully kneeled down and bowed to the ground, while her lips were moving in quiet prayer. ZhangWuji raised up his 'shen gong' [divine strength] trying to listen to what she said. This was what he heard, "Miss Yin ... your spirit in Heaven ... rest in peace ... do not come to harass me ..."
Zhang Wuji tightened his grip on the wall while disquieting thoughts filled his mind. "Biaomei lost her life under her sword, no doubt it was a cruel fate; but the torment inside Zhiruo's heart, the pain she is suffering, might not necessarily be lighter than Biaomei's. Suddenly from the ocean of thoughts in his mind a song surged up, the song he heard on the Brightness Peak, sung by the Ming Cult people, "What joy is in life, what pain in death? I pity the mankind, with their many sufferings! I pity the mankind, with their many sufferings!"
Zhou Zhiruo stood up slowly with her body slightly facing the east. Suddenly her countenance greatly changed, while she called out, "You ... you ... you have come again!" Her voice was shrill, suppressing all other noises in the main hall.
Zhang Wuji followed the direction of her eyes and saw the paper pasted on the window was somehow torn, and the hole revealed a young woman's face. The face was full of scars. Zhang Wuji was so shocked that he shivered and could not stop from crying out. Although that young woman's face was full of scars and the bumps of the former days were gone, he was very sure the face belonged to his dead cousin, Yin Li!
He wanted to rush forward and call her, but his legs did not obey their master's bidding; it was as if his feet were planted on the ground.
As the face appeared suddenly on the window, there was a loud crash in the main hall as Zhou Zhiruo fainted and fell to the floor. Zhang Wuji no longer cared whatever Shaolin Pai might think of him; he called out loudly, "Zhu'er, Zhu'er! [spider kid] is that you?" But no one answered him.
After calming himself down, he flew to the back of the hall to pursue, but all he saw was the moon hanging low on the horizon, casting its cold shadow on the trees; the young woman in black was nowhere to be seen. Normally he did not believe in deities and demons, but faced with these kinds of images and scenes, he could not restrain cold sweats from wetting his body and hairs from rising on the back of his neck. Bracing himself, he said to himself, "It is she, it is she! No wonder her back looked so familiar, turns out it is Zhu'er. Did her ghost know that the eminent Shaolin monks are offering prayers to help her crossover to the netherworld, so she came here to receive the prayers? Could it be that because she died an unjust death her spirit did not find peace?"
As the Shaolin monks heard some noise, several people came over to investigate. As they saw Zhang Wuji, they could not help but be startled. A senior monk stepped forward, saluted him and said, "We did not know Zhang Jiaozhu came to visit this late at night, otherwise we would have welcomed you properly. Please accept our apology."
"I do not dare," Zhang Wuji replied, cupping his fists to return the propriety. Stepping aside, he entered the main hall.
He saw Zhou Zhiruo's eyes were shut tight; her face was without any sign of blood. Apparently, she had not regained her consciousness. Walking toward her, he put forth his strength to massage her and knead [orig. 'tui na' – a form of Chinese manual therapy] her back for some time. Zhou Zhiruo slowly awakened.
As she saw Zhang Wuji and realized she was in his embrace, Zhou Zhiruo hugged him and called out, "Ghost, there is a ghost!"
Zhang Wuji said, "This is indeed strange, but you don't need to be afraid. There are so many eminent monks in here. I am sure they will be able to solve this mystery."
Zhou Zhiruo had always been a dignified and staid woman. This time she was scared out of her wits, and right now she was embracing him in public; hearing him say these words, her face blushed and she busily pried herself away from him. She stood up, but could not stop herself from shivering. Quickly she grabbed his hand and even if she had to die, she would not dare to let him go.
Zhang Wuji exchanged some propriety with Kong Wen; he mentioned that someone was spying on them outside the window just now. Neither Kong Wen nor any of the monks had seen it, but the fact remained that it was a new torn on the paper, and the hole was still there.
"Wuji Ge ... Zhang Jiaozhu," Zhou Zhiruo said, "That was what I saw earlier." Zhang Wuji nodded.
"You ... you ..." Zhou Zhiruo's voice was trembling, "Who did you say she was?"
"She is Miss Yin, my Biaomei Yin Li," Zhang Wuji replied. Zhou Zhiruo cried out in fear and fainted again.
This time Zhang Wuji pulled her hand that she did not fall to the floor. She was unconscious for a moment but quickly recovered. Zhang Wuji said, "I did see Biaomei, but ... she is a human, not a ghost!"
"She is not a ghost?" Zhou Zhiruo was still trembling.
Zhang Wuji said, "I followed her all the way to Shaolin Temple. She walked like a human, not like a ghost." He had said that to comfort Zhou Zhiruo, but deep in his heart, he was unsure.
"So you saw her walking like a human and not like a ghost?" Zhou Zhiruo asked.
Zhang Wuji then recounted how he saw that black-dressed young woman and followed her all the way to Shaolin Temple; also how he saw her hiding outside the long window and spying inside the main hall. Every action and every movement was of a young woman who was adept in martial arts, not at all peculiar in any way.
"Fangzhang," he asked Kong Wen, "I [orig. 'zaixia' – the humble one] have one thing I am not sure I understand, I beg Fangzhang's advice. When someone dies, will he really become a ghost?"
Kong Wen pondered about it deeply for half a day before answering, "The matter of the netherworld is difficult to assert."
Zhang Wuji said, "That being the case, why did Fangzhang hold a ceremony to cross the departing soul to the netherworld?
"Shanzai, zhanzai!" Kong Wen said, "The departing soul need not be helped to cross over. In the matter of live and death, virtue has its reward, evil has its retribution. The way of Buddha seeks to help living people achieving peace; the ones need help to cross over are the living ones."
Zhang Wuji understood immediately. Cupping his fists he said, "Many thanks for the direction. I have stirred up trouble and caused disturbance this late at night. I only wish for Fangzhang's forgiveness."
Kong Wen smiled and said, "Jiaozhu is our humble Sect's great benefactor. You have saved us several times, enabling Shaolin Pai to avoid disaster; why be overly courteous?"
Immediately Zhang Wuji took his leave from the crowd of monks. To Zhou Zhiruo he said, "Let us leave!"
Zhou Zhiruo seemed reluctant, she was afraid to leave the security of the Buddhist hall. Zhang Wuji did not feel comfortable to urge her strongly; he simply cupped his fists again and said, "In that case, we will say goodbye here." Finished speaking, he turned around toward the hall gate.
Watching his back, suddenly Zhou Zhiruo called out, "Wuji Gege, will you see me again? I ... let me go with you." She jumped to catch up with him, and then side-by-side they walked out the Temple gate.
After they were far away from the Shaolin Temple, Zhou Zhiruo leaned on Zhang Wuji's side and held on to his hand. Zhang Wuji knew she was still afraid. With her soft and smooth palm in his hand, and catching a whiff of fragrance coming from her body, it was not possible for his heart to remain unmoved.
The two of them walked silently for quite some time. Zhou Zhiruo slowly heaved a deep sigh and said, "Wuji Gege, when you and I met for the first time at Hanshui River that day, I was saved by Zhang Zhenren. If only I knew that I would suffer so much pain in the later days, my death in Hanshui River that day would be a lot cleaner."
Zhang Wuji did not answer; in his heart he remembered the song the Ming Cult people, and without realizing it, he was humming softly, "What joy is in life, what pain in death? I pity the mankind, with their many sufferings!"
Listening to the lyrics of this song, Zhou Zhiruo's hand, which held his slightly trembled. In a low voice she said, "Zhang Zhenren brought me to Emei Pai. He had my well-being in his mind. But if he, Senior, took me under his wings on the Wudang Mountain, letting me be a disciple of Wudang, everything today would be entirely different. Ay, it is not that En Shi [benevolent master] was not good to me, but ... but she forced me to make that evil oath, wanted me to abhor the Ming Cult, wanted me to hate you and harm you, while in my heart ... in all honesty ..."
Zhang Wuji was rather touched to hear the sincerity in her voice; he understood she indeed have many difficulties, all sorts of vicious matters, mostly because she honored Miejue Shitai's last words. Seeing that she was also very scared, his compassion to her grew one layer deeper.
The night breeze blew gently on the mountain road, transmitting faint fragrance of wild flowers around them. It was early summer, the night was clear. With a beautiful girl pouring out her heart so close to him, Zhang Wuji could not stop his heart from beating faster. Moreover, when he helped her driving out the poison on that little island, they were flesh-and-skin close. She had shown him kindness in the past, and she was engaged to him once. All of these had made his heart confused and he was at a loss.
"Wuji Gege," Zhou Zhiruo continued, "In Haozhou that day, when you were just about to get married to me, why did as soon as Miss Zhao bid you, you immediately come with her? Do you really love her with all your heart?"
"I was just about to tell you what happened that day," Zhang Wuji replied, "Why don't we stop and sit for a while?" He pointed to a big rock by the side of the road.
"No," Zhou Zhiruo said, "At this moment, my heart is in turmoil, I won't be able to listen to you. Let us walk quietly for a moment longer before talking about that."
Zhang Wuji nodded. He followed her wander around, seemingly aimlessly. Zhou Zhiruo led him through a small path and walked for four, five 'li's before she finally said, "All right, you can tell me." She walked toward a large mountain rock in front of a clump of bushes. The two of them sat side by side.
Thereupon Zhang Wuji told her how Zhao Min had in her hand a bunch of Xie Xun's golden hair, which leave him no choice but to walk away, and everything else that happened afterwards. Zhou Zhiruo listened from start to finish, and then for half a day she did not say anything.
"Zhiruo, do you blame me?" Zhang Wuji asked.
Choking, Zhou Zhiruo said, "I have done so many wrong things, I can only blame myself, why would I blame you?"
Zhang Wuji gently stroked her shoulder and said in a tender voice, "In this world, mistakes arise out of circumstances. Things are difficult to anticipate. You must not be excessively heartbroken."
"Wuji Gege," Zhou Zhiruo raised her head to look at him, "I have something I want to ask you, I want you to answer me sincerely, you must not have the slightest degree of concealment."
"All right," Zhang Wuji said, "I will not conceal anything from you."
Zhou Zhiruo said, "I know on this world there are four women who love you with all their hearts. One has gone away to Persia, Xiao Zhao. One is Miss Zhao, the other is ... she ..." She was going to say 'Miss Yin', but she did not have the courage to utter that name out of her mouth. After pausing for a moment, she continued, "If all four of us all alive and well, and right now we are by your side, which one of us do you really love?"
Zhang Wuji felt a burst of confusion rising in his heart. "This ... mm ... this ..." he stuttered.
Even since that day, when he was on the boat floating aimlessly on the ocean with Zhou Zhiruo, Zhao Min, Yin Li and Xiao Zhao, certainly more than once he had thought about this matter. "Each of these four women loves me very much, what should I do? No matter which one I marry, I will deeply hurt the other three's hearts. But in the end, in the deepest part of my heart, which one do I really love?"
Since it had always been difficult for him to decide, he told himself to just evade the question altogether. Sometimes he thought, "The Tatars are not driven out yet, our country [orig. 'he shan' – river and mountain] is not being recovered yet, the barbarians [orig. 'xiong nu' – a general term for nomadic people] are not destroyed yet; how can I build a family? In the end, what reason do I have for having sons and daughters?"
Another times he thought, "I am the Jiaozhu of the Ming Cult. Anything I say, goes. I am responsible for the prosperity and decline of not only our Cult, but the Wulin world as sell. I am confident that in all my life, I had done nothing to be ashamed of. Yet, if I let myself indulged in female charms, not only I will invite the ridicule of the heroes of the world, I will also spoil our Cult's reputation."
Yet another time he thought, "Just before she died, my Mama earnestly exhorted me that beautiful women are most capable of deceiving people, warned me to be extremely careful all of my life. How can I not heed Mama's last words to me?"
Actually, arguing every way he liked, in the end he was no more than deceiving himself. Deciding which young woman he loved most would not necessarily hinder the great undertaking of recovering his country. It would not in any way affect Ming Cult's reputation. He only thought that this one was very nice, that one was also good, and thus he did not dare to think about them too much. His martial art skill might be strong, but his natural disposition was actually indecisive; all things considered, he preferred to let nature take its own course. When forced to make decision, he would rather sacrifice his own desire than disagree with other people's wishes. Take the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi, for example. He trained it because of Xiao Zhao's encouragement. By right, he had held the authority to become the Cult Leader of the Ming Cult; yet he needed Yin Tianzheng, Yin Yewang and the others to push him before he agreed to them. His engagement with Zhou Zhiruo was because he was honoring Xie Xun's request. He did not bow to the Heaven and the Earth with Zhou Zhiruo because Zhao Min compelled him. That day, if Jin Hua Popo and Yin Li did not use force, but persuaded him nicely to come with them to the Lingshe Island, he would most likely go with them.
Every once in a while, though, he could not help but think, "If I can spend the rest of my life with these four women, living together harmoniously, won't I have a happy and carefree live?" After all, it was the end of the Yuan Dynasty; whether it was a scholar, a merchant, a Jianghu warrior or an outlaw, it was not uncommon for a man to have three wives and four concubines. On the contrary it was extremely rare for a man to have only one wife. It was just that the Ming Cult originated from Persia, where the followers were encouraged to live a frugal and hard-working life, so that taking a concubine in addition to a single wife was unusual.
Zhang Wuji was a mild-natured man. He had this idea that no matter which girl he married, it was to his greatest good fortune. Supposing he took more than one wife, he felt he would be unfair to the other. Consequently, as this thought keep flashing in and out of his head, he always tried to suppress it. Whenever he remembered it, he would immediately rebuke himself, "One must always be content with whatever one has; yet I always indulge in this kind of thought. Won't that mean I am a despicable man? Shame on me!"
Later on, Xiao Zhao went to Persia, Yin Li died, and supposedly, Zhao Min was the one who murdered her. Logically speaking, the only option left for him was to marry Zhou Zhiruo. However, through some unexpected mishaps, some bizarre twists and turns, the truth was gradually being revealed. Zhou Zhiruo and Zhao Min switched places as the good and the evil. He felt so fortunate for not marrying Zhou Zhiruo and thus cast his blunder in stone. In addition, the fact that Zhao Min broke her relationship with her father and brother was publicly known; therefore, he should not have any difficulty in making up his mind, should he? Against all his thoughts and expectations, Zhao Min suddenly disappeared without telling him anything; and right now Zhou Zhiruo was forcing him into a corner with her question.
Seeing him hesitate without answering, Zhou Zhiruo said, "My question is an imaginary question. Xiao Zhao has become the Persian Ming Cult's virgin Cult Leader, I have ... have killed Miss Yin. Out of these four women, Miss Zhao is your only choice. I just want to know, supposing that all four of us are alive and well, we are all by your side, then what would you do?"