Chapter - 109 Woman with a Loose Tongue Sharp As a Spear (2)

Zhang SanFeng took out a pill and put it in the burly man's mouth. Then he rowed the boat to his own. Just as he's about to help the burly man switch boats, he saw the burly man carry the boy's body in one hand, the little girl in the other, and stepped to the adjacent boat. Zhang SanFeng thought, "Despite heavy injuries, this man still cares for his little master. His loyalty is very admirable. Although I didn't mean to save him, this man is certainly worth saving." He then helped take out the arrows out of the burly man, and applied medicine to the wounds.

That little girl watched her father's body float away with his boat, and cried incessantly. The burly man said, "Those damn Mongols are really vicious. The first thing they did was to kill the boatman. If you hadn't gotten here in time, this girl would have likely died too."

Zhang SanFeng thought, "Right now, with WuJi having trouble moving, and this man being a wanted man. If we use the old river dock and seek lodgings there, I'd have trouble taking care of both people." He took out three taels of silver and gave them to the boatman, said, "Sir, can you row east to the Tai Ping area? We'll seek lodgings there." That boatman was already in awe of Zhang SanFeng after watching him defeat those Mongols. So when Zhang SanFeng gave him so much money, he quickly complied, and began to row east.

That burly man got on his knees and kowtowed to Zhang SanFeng, said, "Thank you so much for saving my life. Chang YuChun [1] pays you his respect." Zhang SanFeng quickly helped him up, and said, "Hero Chang, you don't need to be so courteous." Upon touching Chang YuChun's hand, Zhang SanFeng found it to be icy cold. He asked in shock, "Is Hero Chang injured internally?" Chang YuChun said, "As I escorted little master down south, I fought against the Mongols four times. A lama managed to land two palm strikes on me, once on the chest and once on the back.

Zhang SanFeng checked his pulse, only to find it quite weak. He then opened Chang YuChun's clothing, saw a heavy mark left by a palm strike, meaning the injury is quite serious. Any other man would've not have been able to hold up for such a long time. But this man managed to travel all the way here, battling along the way. Only a true hero can do something like this. Zhang SanFeng quickly ordered Chang YuChun to stop speaking, and to rest in the cabin.

That little girl is around ten. Her feet are bare, and her clothing's tattered. Despite being a boatman's daughter, she was an incredible young beauty, as she sat there in tears. Zhang SanFeng asked her, "Little girl, what's your name?" That girl said, "My surname is Zhou. My name is Zhou ZhiRuo." Zhang SanFeng thought, "For a boatman's daughter, she does certainly have an elegant name." He asked, "Where is your home? Is there anyone else in your family? I'll have this boatman take you back home." Zhou ZhiRuo said in tears, "I live with my dad on the boat. I… I have no other relatives." Zhang SanFeng sighed, and thought, "Looks like she's an orphan. What should I do about her?"

Chang YuChun said, "Old priest's kung fu is incredible. May I ask for your title?" Zhang SanFeng said, "I'm called Zhang SanFeng." Chang YuChun gasped loudly, sat up, and yelled, "So you are Wu Dang's venerable Priest Zhang. No wonder your martial arts is so incredible. I'm really lucky to have to have met such a divine priest today."

Zhang SanFeng said with a smile, "You're too flattering. I simply happened to have lived a few extra years. Certainly not worthy of being 'divine'. Hero Chang, please lie back down." Seeing Chang YuChun's straightforward and sincere demeanor, Zhang SanFeng found himself liking this man quite a lot. But due to Chang YuChun's Devil Cult roots, Zhang SanFeng did not wish to talk too much with him, and said, "Your injury's very serious. Don't talk if you don't have to."

Because of his experience, Zhang SanFeng tends to be quite unbiased towards both the righteous and the devilish sects. He even once told Zhang CuiShan "You must never look down on others just because you reside in the position of the so-called righteous sect. The two words of 'good' and 'evil' were originally hard to differentiate. A member of the orthodox sect when harboring thoughts of impurity and immorality will be considered as a wicked villain, and similarly if a member from the evil sect harbors a heart that is completely directed towards goodness, then that person is a gentleman." But after Zhang CuiShan's suicide, Zhang SanFeng has grieved much for the loss of his disciple, and felt great enmity towards the Heavenly Eagle Sect. Remembering his third disciple's crippled condition, his fifth disciple's death, both due to the Heavenly Eagle Sect, Zhang SanFeng couldn't help but feel extra painful in regards to the word 'devil'.

That Zhou ZiWang is Elder Mi Le's disciple of Devil Cult, or "Ming Cult" [2] . Many years ago, he started a revolution in the Jiang Xi province, proclaiming himself Emperor, calling his dynasty 'Zhou'. It was soon destroyed by the Yuan troops, and Zhou ZiWang was executed. Although Elder Mi Le and the Heavenly Eagle Sect are different groups of people, they both originated from the Ming Cult. When Zhou ZiWang rebelled, Yin TianZheng also stirred up much trouble in the Zhe Jiang province. Zhang SanFeng rescued Chang YuChun today was only a spur of the moment decision, before asking about Chang YuChun's identity.

It was already dark when they arrived at the town. Zhang SanFeng bought four dishes from a restaurant, chicken, pork, fish, and vegetables, and they ate on the boat. Zhang SanFeng told Zhou ZhiRuo and Chang YuChun to go ahead and eat, while he would feed Zhang WuJi. Chang YuChun asked him why. Zhang SanFeng responded by saying that he had sealed Zhang WuJi's pressure points around the vital organs, to prevent the poison from getting in. In his depressed state, Zhang WuJi didn't want to eat. And when Zhang SanFeng tried to feed him, he would simply shake his head.

Zhou ZhiRuo took the bowl from Zhang SanFeng's hand, and said, "How about let me take care of this little friend, while you go ahead and eat?" Zhang WuJi said, "I don't need to eat. I'm already full." Zhou ZhiRuo said, "Little friend, if you don't eat, the old priest would be too unhappy to eat. If he won't eat, then wouldn't he be hungry?"

Zhang WuJi realized that she's right, and ate the food Zhou ZhiRuo put by his mouth. Zhou ZhiRuo carefully removed all the bones from the fish and chicken, and sweetened the meat with the sauces. So they tasted very good. Zhang WuJi quickly finished a whole bowl of food.

Zhang SanFeng thought, "Considering his crippling illness, and that both his parents are dead, WuJi really should have a attentive girl to serve him."

Chang YuChun did not touch the meat dishes. Instead, he quickly finished the vegetable dish. Even with the injury, he ate four big bowls of rice. Zhang SanFeng urged him to eat some meat. Chang YuChun responded, "Venerable Zhang, I'm a devout Buddhist. I don't eat meat." Zhang SanFeng said, "Oh, that's right. I forgot." He immediately remembered, the Devil Cult has very strict rules, forbidding its members to eat meat. This has been true since the Tang Dynasty. Near the end of the Northern Sung Dynasty, the leader of the Ming Cult rebelled in the Zhe Dong province. At the time, the people called them 'Vegetarian Devil Honoring Cult'.

Because the two big rules of the Ming Cult are to never eat meat, and to always honor the Devil. Under attacks from the government and the martial world, the disciples of the Ming Cult began to hide their identities. So they always say they are devout Buddhists to cover their vegetarian ways.