Chapter - 458 Will the Encounter While Lion-slaying Cause a Calamity? (14)

In this way he passed seven, eight days already, during which time Yi Sanniang took Zhao Min to visit him twice. He worked hard from morning till night, and had never refused any task given to him. The kitchen manager monk was very happy. He also got along well with the other kitchen helpers. He did not dare to ask any question, but he opened his eyes and ears wide, trying to find any clues within the idle talks around him. He expected someone would be sent to deliver food to his Yifu, and then he would follow and try to find where his Yifu was imprisoned. Who would have thought that after waiting patiently for several days, he neither found any clues nor heard any news.

By the evening of the ninth day, he was sleeping on his bed, when suddenly around midnight he heard some faint shouting from about half a 'li' [1 li is approximately 0.5km] away. He arose quietly, and after making sure nobody else was awake, he launched his 'qing gong' towards the direction of the noise.

It seemed like the noise came from the wooded area to the west of the Temple. Leaping up to a big tree, he crouched to look around. After making sure nobody was hiding among the grass around him, he leaped from tree to tree toward the noise. By this time he started to hear clashing weapons; and then he saw several people who were engaged in a fierce battle.

Hiding behind a tree, he saw flickering light from sabers and swords, as six people, divided into two sides, were fighting each other. The three men wielding swords were none other than the Three Swords of Qinghai, who arranged themselves in the fake 'three-element' formation, which was actually a five-element formation. Their defense was very tight. Their opponents were three monks, each with a saber in his hand, trying hard to penetrate the defense.

After about twenty, thirty stances; 'stab!' one of the Qinghai Three Swords fell by the saber. The fake three-element formation was broken. The other Two Swords of Qinghai were not able to hold much longer. Several stances later, with a miserable 'Ah!' one of them was chopped by the saber. Judging from his voice, it was the short and fat Ma Fatong.

The last man's arm was already injured, but he kept fighting to the death. One of the monks shouted in a low voice, "Hold it!" Three monks with sabers in their hands surrounded him, but did not continue their attacks.

An old-sounding monk said, "Your Yuzhen Guan of Qinghai has never had any enmity or hatred toward our Shaolin Pai; why did you trespass our territory in the middle of the night?"

The last of the Three Swords of Qinghai was Shao He; with grief in his voice he said, "Since the three of us martial brothers have already been defeated, we can only blame our own inadequacy; why do you ask any questions?"

The old-sounding monk said with a cold laugh, "You came for Xie Xun, and wanted to get the Tulong Saber, didn't you? Hey hey, I have never heard Xie Xun killed anybody from the Yuzhen Guan; so you must be after the Tulong Saber. Based on your child's play skill, do you think you can wander around the Shaolin Temple? The Shaolin Temple has been the leader of the Wulin world for more than a thousand years; it never occurred to me that some people actually look down on us like this."

'Swish!' Shao He took advantage while the monk was talking happily to thrust his sword straight forward. The monk hastily evaded, but he was one step too slow and the sword pierced his left shoulder. The other two monks from either side of him slashed together with their sabers, Shao He's head was immediately separated from his body.

Without saying anything, the three monks picked up the bodies of the Three Swords of Qinghai and walked toward the Temple. Zhang Wuji was just thinking of following them to know the outcome of this affair, when suddenly he heard faint breathing from among the tall grass ahead of him and slightly to the right.

"What a close call!" he silently sighed, "Turns out they set up an ambush here." Immediately he crouched back and remained motionless.

About almost an hour later, he heard from among the grass someone softly clap twice. And then from some distant away someone else also clapped in response. Zhang Wuji saw six monks arose from all around him, each with a weapon in his hand, either a monk's staff, a saber, or a sword. They walked in a fan-shaped formation toward the temple.

Zhang Wuji waited until those six months were far away before he returned to the cabin. The rest of the kitchen helpers were still sleeping soundly; nobody knew he was away. He sighed inwardly. "If I did not see it with my own eyes, I would not believe three warriors have just lost their lives in a very short moment." From what he had just experienced, he knew that the Shaolin Temple has set up a thorough security system, far tighter than usual, so he had to be even more careful.

A few more days passed; it was the middle of the fourth month already. The weather gradually turned warm. They were a day closer to the Duanyang Festival with each passing day. Zhang Wuji mused, "If I keep doing this heavy manual labor in the kitchen, in the end it would be difficult for me to find out Yifu's whereabouts. Tonight I must take a risk by going everywhere to investigate."

That night he slept until the third hour [between 3 – 5 am]. He quietly got up and jumped to the roof, crouching behind the stony roof ridge. He had just settled down into position when he saw two shadows from the south, light as a feather, swept passing to the north; their monks' robes floating in the air, the sabers in their hands flicker under the moonlight. They were patrolling monks of the Temple.

After these two monks passed, Zhang Wuji quickly moved several 'zhang's forward. He heard footsteps on the tile floor ahead, as two more monks leaped up. He saw shadows of monks going back and forth everywhere. The security was very tight; he thought that even the security inside the imperial palace was not this strict. Seeing this kind of situation, he knew that if he proceeds, he would be unavoidably detected. Therefore, he decided to return in disappointment.

Toward the third evening, a storm was brewing; thunderclaps boomed and heavy rain poured down from the sky. Zhang Wuji was delighted. "Heaven helps me!" he thought. He saw the rain was getting heavier, everywhere he looked all he saw was total darkness.

Quick as a lightning, he moved toward the main hall, thinking, "The Luohan Hall, the Damo Hall, the Banruo [lit. great wisdom] Court, the Abbot's lecture hall, are all Shaolin Temple's most strategic places. I will explore them all one by one." However, there were so many buildings and rooms in the Shaolin Temple; in reality, he did not know which way was the Luohan Hall, which way was the Banrou Court.

Trying to hide from the flashes of lightning, he wandered aimlessly until he arrived at a small bamboo grove. He saw ahead of him was a small cottage, and a flicker of light coming through the window. By this time his body was totally soaked; raindrops as big as soybeans hit his hands and face, and bounced back from his skin. Stealthily he crept toward the window, and he heard someone speaking inside; the voice belonged to Reverend Kong Wen, the Abbot of the Shaolin Temple.

Zhang Wuji heard him say, "Because of this Jin Mao Shi Wang, the Shaolin Temple has killed twenty-three people in one month. We are heaping sins on ourselves, contrary to the teaching of Buddha about showing mercy. The Ming Cult's Guangming Zuo Shi [left emissary of the brightness] Yang Xiao, You Shi [right emissary] Fan Yao, Bai Mei Mo Wang [white-browed devil king] Yin Tianzheng, Qing Yi Fu Wang [green-winged bat king] Wei Yixiao, one after another sent their envoys to the Temple, asking me to release Xie Xun …"