Chapter - 513 Secret Manual And Military Treatise are Hidden Within (6)

Cheng Kun laughed out loud and said, "Kong Wen's entire body is smeared with butter and lard, as soon as he met the fire, he would turn into charcoal immediately. Hong Shui Flag can save the Damo Hall, they cannot save the Old Fangzhang."

From the waist of the hill suddenly came a voice, "If Hong Shui Flag failed, there is still Hou Tu Flag." It was Fan Yao's voice. He had just finished speaking when he appeared with Hou Tu Flag Leader, Yan Yuan, on the peak, each holding the hand of an old monk walking between them. It was none other than the Shaolin Temple Abbot, Kong Wen. However, the three men's clothes were scorched; their eyebrows were partially burned. They looked battered and exhausted.

Kong Zhi rushed forward to embrace Kong Wen. "Shixiong," he called out, "Are you well? Shidi is incompetent, I am guilty and deserve ten thousand deaths."

Kong Wen smiled and said, "If not because of these Fan Shizhu [benevolent master, donor] and Yan Shizhu came out from the tunnel, you and I would have to say goodbye to each other today."

Kong Zhi was astonished. "The Ming Cult's Hou Tu Flag's ability to dig tunnels is divine." He bowed deeply to Fan Yao and Yan Yuan to express his gratitude, and then said, "Fan Shizhu, Laoseng [old monk – referring to self] was rude and offensive to you; please forgive me. Laoseng does not dare to go to the appointment at the Wan An Temple of Dadu."

When a Wulin character made an appointment for a martial art competition and ate his own words by not showing up, the loss of face he would experience would be ten thousand times worse than if he lost because of inferior skill. Kong Zhi was endlessly grateful toward Fan Yao for risking his life in saving his Shixiong's life; hence he was willing to break his own promise. These two men admired each other to begin with. After this incident, their respect for each other grew. From now on, they became the very best of friends.

Turned out Cheng Kun had made a comprehensive arrangement in advance. On the eve of the Great Heroes Assembly, he caught Kong Wen off guard and sealed his acupoint, and held him prisoner inside the Damo Hall. The Hall was filled with sulfur, firewood and other flammable material. Then he assigned his trusted aides to stand guard. He coerced Kong Zhi to do everything he commanded, or else he would set the fire and burn Kong Wen to his death. When things did not turn out the way he planned later, when everything did not happen as he anticipated, when he believed his plan had failed completely, he issued an order to his cronies to set the fire as his last gambit to 'break the cauldrons and sink the boats'. He was hoping that when the crowd of heroes and monks were busy putting off the fire, his cronies might have a chance to help him escape down the mountain.

Unexpectedly, Yang Xiao and the Ming Cult army arrived at the Shaoshi Peak a few days early. The Hou Tu Flag was immediately ordered to dig a tunnel toward the Shaolin Temple, originally, it was to rescue Xie Xun, but Xie Xun was not imprisoned inside the Temple at all.

As the Hou Tu Flag people looked everywhere with no avail, they took the opportunity to erase the writing on the back of the sixteen Luohan images. Later on, after Zhang Wuji and Zhou Zhiruo battled the Jin Gang Fu Mo Quan, and Cheng Kun's real identity was revealed and he was confronted in front of Kong Zhi and everybody else, Zhao Min and Yang Xiao immediately guessed thru his plan.

After a short discussion, they asked Fan Yao to lead Hong Shui and Hou Tu, two Flags, to infiltrate the Temple and find Kong Wen. However, Cheng Kun's arrangement was extremely thorough and ominous; sulfur and firewood were piled high inside and outside the Damo Hall. As soon as a fire was ignited, the Hall caught in a blazing inferno, burning five Hou Tu Flag disciples to their deaths. Fan Yao and Yan Yuan moved quickly through the smoke and fire to rescue Kong Wen. Still, the three of them suffered some burns on their clothes, hair and eyebrows. If not for the tunnel, they would not escape and would be buried under the burning hall.

Damo Hall, as well as several adjacent buildings, suffered heavy damages from the fire. Fortunately the fire did not spread further, the Da Xiong Bao Dian [great heroic precious hall], the library, the Luohan Hall, and other important places did not suffer any damage.

After a short discussion, Kong Wen and Kong Zhi issued an order for Cheng Kun and his followers to be detained in the rear hall, waiting for further instructions. Cheng Kun had been staying in the Shaolin Temple for quite a long time, he had made a lot of friends and gathered quite a bit of followers, but as the leader was apprehended and the Abbot escaped from danger, Cheng Kun's supporters realized their cause was lost. They did not offer any resistance and were led down the peak by the monks, under the leadership of the Luohan Hall's chief monk, with their head hung low in dejection.

Zhang Wuji came near Xie Xun and could only call out, "Yifu!" while tears streaming down his face like rain.

"Silly Child!" Xie Xun laughed, "Your Yifu is enlightened by the three eminent monks and has passed through to great awakenings. My lifetime of crimes have been resolved, every single one of them. You should be very happy for me, why would you be grieving? Why would you feel sorry that I lost my martial art skill? Do you want me to use it to do evil again in the future?"

Zhang Wuji could not think of anything to answer, but there was pain in his heart; he called out again, "Yifu!"

Xie Xun went toward Kong Wen and kneeled down saying, "Disciple's sin is grave, I hope for Fangzhang to offer a shelter by taking me under your discipleship."

Kong Wen had not answered when Du E said, "Come, let Laoseng take you as my disciple."

Xie Xun said, "Disciple does not dare to hope for such good fortune." He asked Kong Wen to be his master, because then he would be a 'Yuan' generation disciple. If he entered Du E tutelage, then he would have a 'Kong' generation rank, which was at the same level of seniority with Kong Wen and Kong Zhi, two martial brothers.

"Rubbish!" Du E barked, "'Kong' is empty, 'Yuan' is also empty. I would have thought that you'd understand it by now!"

Xie Xun was startled, but he understood immediately. Master-disciple relationship was a mere distinction of the Buddhist title; it was all illusory for Buddhist followers. Thereupon, he recited a Buddhist verse, "Master is empty, disciple is empty, no guilt no responsibility, no virtue no merit!"

Du E laughed out loud and said, "Shanzai, shanzai! You have become a disciple of our school, yet you are still called Xie Xun. Do you understand?"

"Disciple understands," Xie Xun replied, "Xie Xun is ox dung. Everything is but a shadow, the body does not exist, let alone a name?"

Xie Xun was skilled in both pen and sword [orig. 'wen wu cuan cai'], there wasn't any 'zhu zi bai jia' [lit. many sages, hundred schools, a general term for all the pre-Han schools of thought] he did not pry into. With a little enlightenment from Du E, he became aware of the essential meaning of Buddhism. Henceforth he entered Buddhism and eventually became an eminent monk himself.

"Enter the rest, enter the rest!" Du E said, "Only by comprehending the way one will avoid devil's traps!" Taking Xie Xun by the hand, he went down the peak unhurriedly with Du Jie and Du Nan following behind.