Chapter - 448 Will the Encounter While Lion-slaying Cause a Calamity? (4)

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.

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.