Chapter - 304 Starting a Fire to Light the Sky So Brilliantly (9)

"Buddhist monks?" Zhang Wuji wondered.

"That's right," Zhu Yuanzhang replied, "Those monks hang their heads low, they looked so dejected. But among them there were some unusual looking people, some had their 'tai yang xue' [sun acupoint] bulging out of their temples, some were tall and powerfully built. Brother Xu quietly told me that those monks were all martial art experts. Those fierce people ordered the monks to ride on the carts and then they led us all to the north. Subordinate believed something was wrong, so I quietly told everybody to be on their guards and not to reveal our true identity. Along the way we paid full attention to what those fierce people were saying, but those people were very secretive; they did not say anything in our presence. Afterwards Brother Wu Liang gathered up his courage and eavesdropped outside their window in the middle of the night. He did that for four, five nights in a row before he finally found out that those monks were actually from the Shaolin Temple of Mount Song in Henan."

"Ah!" Although Zhang Wuji had partly guessed it, he still could not restrain himself from exclaiming.

Zhu Yuanzhang continued, "Brother Wu Liang heard one of those fierce people say, 'Master's strategy is truly divine, worthy of other people's utmost admiration. Shaolin, Wudang, and the rest of the six major sects are in our hand. Who had ever achieved such result since the ancient time?' Another man said, 'I am not surprised. One arrow two eagles [killing two birds with one stone], the Devil Cult leaders will be implicated by this matter.' We seven people pretended going to the bathroom and quietly discussed this matter. We all agreed that since by coincidence this matter concerning our Cult fell into our hands, then we must investigate carefully and submit a report to Jiaozhu."

"You have done the right thing," Zhang Wuji commented.

"We continued going north," Zhu Yuanzhang said, "All the while we maintained our disguises as simple men. Brother Tang He and Brother Deng Yu pretended to bicker over five coins of silver; they fought awkwardly, like people who do not know martial art at all. Those fierce people clapped their hands and laughed, and afterwards they did not pay us any attention anymore. We called them 'lao ye' [lit. old master] this and 'lao ye' that, flattering them by all kinds of crap. At one time Brother Wu Zhen was thinking of drugging them, diverting their attention and then saving those Shaolin monks; but then we thought it over, we did not know anything about what was going on, these ominous people were well-trained in martial arts. We were afraid we might disturb the grass and scare the snake, and harming an important matter by alerting the enemy; therefore, all along we did not dare to make our move.

When we arrived at the Hejian prefecture we met with six other big carts, also full of prisoners. They dressed as common civilians. During the meal I overheard a Shaolin monk greeted one of the newcomers, 'Song Daxia [great hero], you are here!'"

Zhang Wuji leaped up and hastily asked, "Did he say 'Song Daxia'? What did he look like?"

Zhu Yuanzhang replied, "His body was slim-built, he looked about fifty, sixty years of age, wearing a three-branch long beard. His face looked simple yet elegant."

Zhang Wuji knew it was indeed Song Yuanqiao. He was pleasantly surprised and asked further what the rest of those people looked like. Turned out Yu Lianzhou, Zhang Songxi, Mo Shenggu three people were also among those prisoners. "Are they injured? Are they shackled?" he asked.

"I did not see any shackle," Zhu Yuanzhang replied, "I also did not see any injury. They talked and ate just like any ordinary people, only they looked dispirited; also they walked swaying and staggering. As he was greeted by that Shaolin monk he only smiled bitterly but did not say anything. The Shaolin monk was about to say something else, but one of the fierce people pulled him away. Thereafter our two groups were separated by about ten 'li's; we did not stop and eat together anymore; subordinate has never seen Song Daxia's group ever since. About the third day of the seventh month our group of Shaolin monks arrived at Dadou [lit. grand capital, present day Beijing]."

"Ah," Zhang Wuji exclaimed, "You went to Dadou, then they must have fallen into the treacherous hand of the royal government. And then what happened?"

Zhu Yuanzhang continued, "Those fierce people led us to take the Shaolin monks toward a big temple on the west side of the city. They also told us to spend the night in the temple."

"What temple was that?" Zhang Wuji asked.

"When we entered the temple, subordinate looked up at the sign above the gate, it was called Wan An Si [Temple of Ten-thousand Peace]," Zhu Yuanzhang answered, "But because of that one of the ominous people struck me with his horse whip. That night we brothers quietly discussed our situation. We believed these ominous people would kill us to shut our mouths up, so when the sky turned black we quietly escaped."

"It was very dangerous," Zhang Wuji said, "You were lucky those ominouspeople did not pursue you."

Tang He smiled and said, "Zhu Dage [Big Brother Zhu] has already anticipated that. Before leaving we captured seven mule cart drivers from the neighborhood and changed our clothes with theirs. Afterwards we killed them inside the temple. We mutilated their faces so that those ominous people would not recognize them. We also killed the other mule cart drivers who came with us and we scattered money everywhere to make it look like two groups of people fought over money and killed each other, so that when those ominous people returned, they would not suspect anything."

Zhang Wuji was secretly shocked; he saw Xu Da's face showed he did not have the heart to do so, Deng Yu looked embarrassed, Tang He sounded very proud, but Zhu Yuanzhang was the only one who maintained his composure and did not show any emotion on his face, like nothing out of ordinary happened. Zhang Wuji thought, "This man is cruel and shrewd." He said, "Although Zhu Dage's idea was wonderful, but from now on we must not kill innocent people so easily."

It was their Cult Leader's order, so Zhu Yuanzhang and the others stood up at once. They bowed and said, "We will follow Jiaozhu's instruction." Thereafter when Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da, Deng Yu, Tang He and the others went out to battle, they always observed Zhang Wuji's order and did not dare to randomly kill innocent people. In the end they won the people's hearts and were able to accomplish a great undertaking.

Zhang Wuji said, "Zhu Dage, the seven of you managed to find out the whereabouts of Shaolin and Wudang two sects' masters; it was not a small merit. After arranging the strategy to fight the Yuan we will go to Dadou to rescue the two sects' masters."

After the official business was done, Zhang Wuji chatted with Xu Da and the others as friends. He recalled the time they stole and butchered an ox outside Zhang Yuan. They clapped their hands and laughed heartily.

That evening in the general assembly Zhang Wuji burned incense to proclaim their oath to fight a coordinated insurrection against the Yuan from various places. The Cult leaders echoed their determination to work together; their main target was to drive the Yuan army away little by little. The following was their strategy:

Cult Leader Zhang Wuji, assisted by the Brightness Left Emissary Yang Xiao and Green-winged Bat King Wei Yixiao held the 'zong tan' [lit. head/chief altar – central government] position, as the highest command for the entire Cult.

White-browed Eagle King Yin Tianzheng commanded the Heavenly Eagle Flag, making their movement in the Jiangnan area.

Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da, Tang He, Deng Yu, Hua Yun, Wu Liang, Wu Zhen, joined by Chang Yuchun's stronghold cavalry, plus Sun Deya's troops would raise their arms in Huaibei's Haozhou.