fort, Xu Zhu was not negligent at all, he distributed water evenly and meticulously, he manage to finish 100 buckets by late night before going to sleep in the firewood shed.

On the second day, the sky had not yet turn bright when YuanGen came over to punch and kick him awake, he abused him: ” Treacherous monk, lazy baldy! It is broad daylight now, you still sleeping here, quickly go chop the firewoods.” Xu Zhu said: “Yes!” he did not protest as he chop the firewoods. This went on for a few days, chopping of firewood in the day, watering vegetables at night, he endured harsh torture, his entire body riddled with scars as he suffered several hundred lashings.

On an early morning, Xu Zhu was chopping firewood, YuanGen move towards him, he laugh happily and said: “Senior martial brother, thanks for your trouble!” he took out a key and unlock Xu Zhu’s shackles and leg-iron. Xu Zhu said: “It is no trouble at all.” as he raise the axe to chop firewood, YuanGen said: “Senior martial brother, no need to chop firewood anymore, please go in the house and have some food. Junior monk offended you for the past few days, i truly deserve death, senior martial brother please forgive me.”

Xu Zhu notice a huge change in YuanGen’s manner of speech, he was flabbergasted, he raise his head, YuanGen’s nose and eyes are swollen, obviously he was beaten by someone, Xu Zhu was even more baffled. YuanGen said with a pained expression: “Junior monk have eyes but failed to recognize an important figure, i offended senior martial brother, senior martial brother if you refuse to forgive me, then i…..i….i will face great catastrophe.” Xu Zhu said: “Junior monk reap what he has sown, senior martial brother you are correct in punishing me.”

YuanGen countenance changed, he lifted his hands, ‘Pa Pa Pa Pa’, he slap his hands in quick succession, he slap himself heavily four times and said: “Senior martial brother, senior martial brother, please do a good deed, a great person does not remember the offense committed by others, i…..i….” while speaking there is another ‘Pa Pa’ sound, he slap his cheek again. Xu Zhu found it weird and inquired: “Senior martial brother, what is the intention behind your action?”

YuanGen’s knees soften, he knelt down, tug Xu Zhu’s garment and said: “If senior martial brother refuse to forgive me, i…..i won’t be able to keep my eyes.” Xu Zhu said: “I really don’t understand what you are saying.” YuanGen said: “As long as senior martial brother forgive me, don’t dig out my eyes, junior monk is willing to become cow or horse in my next life to repay your great kindness.” Xu Zhu said: “Senior martial brother what are you saying? When did i say i want to dig out your eyes?” YuanGen’s expression is ashen, he said: “Since senior martial brother refuse to forgive me, junior monk have no choice but to give up my eyes.” he extended two fingers and pierce it towards his eyes.

Xu Zhu held out his hands to grab YuanGen’s wrist and said: “Who force you to dig out your eyeballs?” YuanGen’s forehead is full of perspiration, his voice trembling: “I…i don’t dare to say, if i say it, they….they will kill me immediately.” Xu Zhu said: “Is it the abbot?” YuanGen said: “No.” Xu Zhu inquired again: “The head-monk of Damo Courtyard? The head-monk of LuoHan Hall? The head-monk Discipline Courtyard?” YuanGen said no repeatedly, he said: “Senior martial brother, i don’t dare to say it, i only beg for your forgiveness. They told me, if i want to keep my eyeballs, you have to agree to forgive me.” as he finish speaking he secretly glance towards his side, a fearful expression across his entire face.

Xu Zhu followed his gaze, he saw four monks sitting at the porch, they are dressed in gray monk robe and wore gray monk hat, they are facing inward, Xu Zhu cannot see their appearance. He pondered: “Could it be these four senior martial brothers? Maybe they are dispatched by some important figure from the temple to punish YuanGen for acting without permission in abusing monks sent here for punishment.” Xu Zhu said: “I don’t blame senior martial brother, i had long forgiven you.” YuanGen was overjoyed, at once he knelt down and kowtow, Xu Zhu hastily knelt down to return the courtesy and said: “Senior martial brother please get up.”

YuanGen got up, he respectfully invited Xu Zhu into the dining hall and personally pour tea and serve food, he is very polite in his service. Xu Zhu could not refuse, if he did not permit YuanGen to serve him, YuanGen would appear as if he is about to encounter huge disaster, thus he simply let him be.

YuanGen said in a low voice: “Senior martial brother, do you want to drink wine? Do you want to eat dog meat? I will go prepare it for senior martial brother.” Xu Zhu said in alarm: ” Amituofo, sin, sin, how can this be done?” YuanGen gave a wink and said: “Junior monk will bear all the blame. I will go prepare and let senior martial brother enjoy.” Xu Zhu wave his hands and said: “No, no! Absolutely not!”

YuanGen laugh and said: “If senior martial brother feels that the temple is lacking in amusement, there is no harm in going down the mountain, if the Discipline Courtyard inquires, junior monk will tell them i dispatch senior martial brother to buy vegetable seeds, i will cover up the truth, don’t worry.” Xu Zhu feels that YuanGen is getting more and more outrageous in his speech, he shake his head and said: “Junior monk sincerely repent for his past mistakes, i don’t dare to violate any monastic discipline anymore. Senior martial brother please don’t say such words anymore.”

YuanGen said: “Yes.” but his expression is full of doubt, it seems he wanted to say: “Hypocrite monk who indulge in meat and wine, what is your intention in pretending?” but he don’t dare to voice it out, after serving vegetarian food he invited Xu Zhu to his own room to rest. This went on for a few days, YuanGen did his utmost to serve Xu Zhu, not lacking in the slightest bit of respect.

***********

This day, Xu Zhu finish his breakfast, YuanGen brewed a pot of tea and said: “Senior martial brother, please have some tea.” Xu Zhu said: “Junior monk is waiting for punishment, senior martial brother you are so polite, junior monk really don’t deserve it.” he stood up and take over the teapot with his pair of hands.

Suddenly he heard loud ‘Tang Tang’ sound from the bell, it is continuous, it is a signal summoning all the monks in the temple. Other than the birthday of Buddha or ancestor Damo, the temple rarely summon all the monks. YuanGen was somewhat baffled, he said: “The abbot is summoning everyone, let us go to the Great Hall of Strength.” Xu Zhu said: “Precisely.” They accompanied 10 over monks from the vegetable garden and hurriedly rush to the Great Hall of Strength.

Over 200 monks had gathered at the hall already, yet the remaining monks still came in unceasingly. In a short period of time, over 1000 monks from the temple had gathered at the hall, everyone arrange themselves according to generation ranking, although the number is huge, but everyone is extremely quiet.

Xu Zhu line-up with the ‘Xu’ generation monks, he saw the expression of all senior monks are solemn, he is worried: “Could it be my crime is too serious, thus the abbot gathered everyone to punish me heavily? Looking at this situation, it seems they want to expel me from the temple, what should i do?” As he was feeling apprehensive he heard the bell ring 3 times, all the monks call out simultaneously: “Namo Shijia Rulai Buddha!”

Abbot XuanCi and the other 6 ‘Xuan’ generation senior monks, along with another 6 monks, they stroll out from the rear hall. All the monks in the hall bow simultaneously, the Xuan generation monks and the 6 monks pay homage to the Buddha statue in the hall before sitting down.

Xu Zhu raise his head, he recognize the 6 ‘Xuan’ generation senior monks: XuanDu, XuanJi, XuanZhi, XuanYin, XuanGou, XuanShi, in addition another 6 monks are seated at the front, these 6 monks are quite old, their robes different from those from Shaolin Temple, clearly they are guest monks from another monastery. Seated at the prime-seat is a monk roughly around 70 years of age, his figure short and small, his eyes bright and full of expression, he exudes an imposing aura.

XuanCi said in a bright voice: “This is abbot ShenShan Elder from Mount Wutai’s Refreshing Temple, everyone please pay your respect.” when everyone heard it they trembled, they bow to salute ShenShan Elder. Everyone knew the glorious reputation of ShenShan Elder in the martial arts fraternity, along with master XuanCi, both of them are known as “Twin LuoHan Subduing Dragon and Tiger”, it is said that his martial arts is almost on par with abbot XuanCi. However, Refreshing Temple is of a much smaller scale, its standings in the martial arts fraternity cannot be compared with Shaolin, thus ShenShan Elder’s prestige is inferior to XuanCi, everyone thought: “It is said that ShenShan Elder view himself highly, he rarely get involve with ongoings in the martial arts fraternity, all along he did not have any relationship with our temple, today he came here personally, what is his purpose?”

XuanCi held out his hands at the remaining 5 monks, one by one he introduce them and said: “This is Kaifeng’s Daxiangguo Temple Master GuanXin, this is Jiangnan’s Pudu Temple Master DaoQing, this is Lushan’s DongLin Temple Master JueXian, this is Changan’s Jingying Temple Master Rongzhi, this is Mount Wutai’s Refreshing Temple Master ShenYin, he is ShenShan Elder’s junior martial brother.” Master GuanXin and the other 3 monks came from ancient temples sited at famous mountains, however Daxiangguo Temple, Pudu Temple, etc, they have always focus more on Buddhist doctrines and less on martial arts, although these four monks are immensely well-known in the martial arts fratenity, but their position in their own temple is not high. All the monks from Shaolin Temple bow in respect, Master GuanXin and the rest stood up to return the greeting.

XuanCi said: “These six masters have attained deep cultivations in Buddhist doctrine. Today they arrive together, it is truly a major honour for our temple, thus i gathered everyone here to meet them. We long for six masters to expound Buddhist teachings, so that everyone may benefit from their advice.”

ShenShan Elder said: “I don’t deserve your praise!” his figure is short and small, unexpectedly his voice is strangely loud, everyone cannot help but be startled, but he did not purposely shout or yell, he also did not use internal energy to deliberately excite a person’s soul, his voice is naturally loud and resounding. He continued: “Junior monk long admire the stately temple of Shaolin, 60 years ago i arrive here to seek monkhood, but i was rejected. 60 years later i came back again, the walls and roof tiles are the same as before, but the ways of life are no longer the same, lamentable, lamentable!”

Everyone’s heart was shaken by his words, the few sentence from him are rather hostile, could it be he came here to carry out a personal vendetta against Shaolin?

XuanCi said: “As it turns out, senior martial brother previously came to Shaolin to become a monk. All temples under the heaven are from the same family, senior martial brother currently preside over Refreshing Temple, all Buddhist, without exception admire you very much. At that time Shaolin temple did not dare to admit membership and offended senior martial brother, junior monk respectfully offer his apologies. But as a result senior martial brother wound up in a better place, propagating Buddhist teachings to the masses, it is really a great achievement and virtue. Things that happen in the past, it may be due to predestined relationship in the future.” as he finish speaking he put his palms together and made a deep bow.

ShenShan Elder put his palms together to return the greeting and said: “At that time junior monk came to your precious temple to seek monkhood, admittedly it is because i admire Shaolin’s dominance in the martial arts fraternity for over a century, the origin of martial arts, but more importantly, it is said that Shaolin Temple has strict monastic discipline and deal with things fairly.” suddenly he flip his eyes, he raised his head and look at the golden statue of Buddha and said coldly: “Reality does not live up to it is name. If i had foreknowledge, junior monk would not have made the trip to Shaolin during that time.”

The crowd of over thousand Shaolin monks change countenance together, but because Shaolin has strict monastic discipline, they did not voice out their anger.

Abbot XuanCi said: “Senior martial brother where do these words stem from? If my humble temple did any ridiculous things, i invite senior martial brother to clarify. The guilty will be punished, those who erred must correct themselves. Senior martial brother has smeared the clean reputation of Shaolin which has lasted several centuries, it is really a bit too much.” ShenShan Elder said: “May i ask abbot senior, Shaolin has numerous disciples all over the world, whether their martial art is strong or weak, do they have to abide by the righteousness and justice of martial arts practitioners, they cannot use their strength to bully the weak?”

XuanCi said: “Naturally, the disciples of your precious temple must certainly be the same as well.”

ShenShan Elder gaze at the statue of Rulai and said: “Buddha is above us, telling lies, it is a serious offence for Buddhist!” he turn his head and said to XuanCi: “Roaming around the country, you see Shaolin disciples everywhere. My Refreshing Temple is small, the daily matters of our monk is focused on studying Buddhist doctrines, meditation, our martial art is really far off and cannot be compared against Shaolin Temple. Disciples who exit Refreshing Temple and become laymen, although their numbers are small, but all of them maintain the strict disciplines of my humble temple, they don’t dare to harm the innocent, they do not kill or steal. Shaolin has numerous disciples, it is hard to avoid having good and bad people intermixed together, your monastic disciple fall into disarray, what a pity, what a pity! Lamentable, lamentable!” he shakes his head repeatedly while speaking.

The crowd of Shaolin monks, without exception all of them became angry. Xu Zhu heard ShenShan Elder criticize Shaolin’s disciples as “Good and bad people intermixed, monastic disciplines fall into disarray”, he assume ShenShan Elder is criticizing him for violating the rules against eating meat, lascivious acts, murder, etc, he was so frighten that his heart thumped madly, if the abbot is to investigate, he must definitely confess all his mistakes, he cannot conceal the truth or else he would break another precept against telling lies.

XuanCi said: “May i ask senior martial brother, what is the circumstance? I invite senior martial brother to present concrete evidence, my humble temple will naturally spare no effort to investigate fully.”

ShenShan Elder gave a long sigh and said: “Senior martial brother you are busy with major events in the temple, if it is just some small matter that you overlook, then it is still pardonable. But this matter happen for a long time already, the skeleton of the victim had long turn cold, words of it abuzz all over the world, the feeling of the masses at boiling point, but you precious school turn a blind eye to it, deliberately ignoring the matter, could it be you are conceited by the fact that your school is the largest in the martial arts fraternity, bystanders can doing nothing against you, aren’t you a bit too tyrannical? Don’t tell me from now on you are going to rely on strength alone, as long as you have great numbers and strength, you can do whatever you please?” his expression is severe, his tone aggressive and forceful.

XuanCi’s expression is tranquil and indifferent, he said unhurriedly: “Senior martial brother, what matter are you referring to? Please be specific.”

ShenShan Elder said: “There is a person in my humble school, Xu ChongXiao, he is junior monk’s senior martial brother. His position extremely high, character honest and considerate, many years ago he joined Beggar Clan, he was hardworking and conscientious, he accumulated merit and was promoted to 9 Pouch Elder, he was highly respected by many, successive Chief Of Beggar Clan all hold him in high regards. The year before last around April, Beggar Clan gathered in Jiannan’s Wuxi, they discuss about the parentage of their Chief Qiao, senior martial brother Xu step forward bravely, he presented a letter from former Chief Wang JianTong proving that Qiao Feng is a Khitan. Beggar Clan place righteousness before family, they abolished Qiao Feng’s position as Chief Of Beggar Clan, this matter shake the entire world, it could be said that everyone knew about it. When senior martial brother Xu carried out this matter, he knew perfectly well the extreme dangers involved. Qiao Feng possess astonishing martial arts, he is cruel and ruthless, moreover he is a Shaolin disciple, he holds tremendous influence and power, there is no martial artist who does not fear him. Senior martial brother Xu served the country and its people, he step forward bravely to expose this huge conspiracy, he certainly disregarded his life and went all out.”

Sure enough, on the 7th month, senior martial brother Xu was killed in his home, his ribs broken neatly, clearly he was killed by the hard and fierce palm strength of Shaolin. Several elders from Beggar Clan investigated the matter fully, they wrote a letter to Refreshing Temple and request junior monk to uphold justice. Shaolin is the number one orthodox school of martial arts, monastic discipline strict, since you produced such unworthy disciple then naturally you should clean up your own sect matters, there is no need for outsiders to meddle. Refreshing Temple waited for a long time, but Shaolin Temple did not show any hint of reacting, thus i had no choice but to invite all the great masters from Daxiangguo Temple, Pudu Temple, DongLin Temple, JingYing Temple, we came together to Shaolin to ask the abbot what is the true reason?” as he finish speaking, his pair of eyes look straight at abbot XuanCi.

XuanCi turn his head and said to the head-monk of Discipline Courtyard Master XuanJi: “Junior martial brother XuanJi, please narrate the underlying reason to these six eminent monk.” XuanJi replied: “Yes.” he got off his seat. He is in-charge of monastic discipline, he has always been honest and incorruptible, when the monks from various temple saw him all of them had some degree of dread. Xu Zhu knew that they are not discussing about him, but he still don’t dare to look at them. He heard XuanJi’s clear voice: “Beggar Clan’s Elder Xu is advanced in both years and virtue, everyone in the martial arts fraternity respect him a lot, he was murdered in his home at Weihui, all of us were shaken and lamented his death. Abbot senior martial brother appointed junior monk, along with martial brother XuanDu, XuanYin and junior martial brother XuanSheng, the four of us travel the very same night to Elder Xu’s residence, we were in charge of investigating the truth, if there is solid evidence proving Qiao Feng is behind the deed, then we will join up with martial brother XuanGou and junior martial brother XuanShi, both of them received orders from the abbot to investigate the case relating to the death of martial brother XuanKu by Qiao Feng, the six of us will work together to exterminate Qiao Feng by capturing or killing him, this is in accordance with our strict regulations.” GuanXin, DaoQing, JueXian, RongZhi, when the four eminent monk heard this they nod their head repeatedly and said: “This should be the way.”

Master ShenYin said: “What happen afterwards?”

XuanJi said: “XuanShi and XuanGou had not yet arrive, we wait for the night at a tavern, on the second day, the 7th of 7th month the two of them finally arrive. The six of us held a meeting, martial brother XuanGou said: “Elder Xu is definitely not killed by Qiao Feng!” ShenShan, ShenYin, etc, all of them were startled and said in unison: “What makes you say so?”

XuanGou stood up and said: “Buddha is merciful! Previously Qiao Feng entered Shaolin and caused a huge havoc, we were unable to capture him and he escaped, junior martial brother XuanShi and I received orders from martial brother abbot, we followed Qiao Feng secretly. That day he fought an entire crowd in JuXian Manor, due to the abbot’s strict orders we can only observe his conduct and whereabouts, we cannot fight with him, thus both of us did not participate in the battle at JuXian Manor. We are really ashamed, after witnessing Qiao Feng’s skill, even if both of us along with martial brother XuanNan were to join hands and attack together, we can only fight till a draw, it is not likely we can defeat or capture him. Afterwards Qiao Feng was rescued by a black-robed man and brought to a mountain to recuperate his injuries, both of us don’t dare to go near, we only observe from a distant place.”

Qiao Feng recuperated for over 20 days, after leaving the cave he travelled northward. At that time both of us did not wear monk robe, we changed into commoner clothings, we remain calm and collected and followed behind him. Qiao Feng is a very astute man, we don’t dare to follow too closely, luckily he travelled on the main road thus it is not difficult to track him, even if we are separated by half li apart we can still follow behind him afterwards. He headed north from YanMen Pass, from there he met a bone-thin and helpless young lady. After entering YanMen Pass both of them stayed in a small inn, the next day they exit the room, unexpectedly they change into two inconspicuous man. If we did not personally witness them coming out of the room we really won’t know these two person are Qiao Feng and that young lady…..”

ShenShan Elder inquired: “Both of them cohabit throughout the journey?” XuanGou replied: “Yes.” ShenShen Elder inquired again: “On the same bed?” XuanGou said: “I don’t know. Monks do not look at things contrary to courtesy, i don’t dare to pry into other people’s private affairs.” ShenShan Elder said coldly: “Then what if both of them quietly sneak off in the middle of the night, both of you won’t know about it?” XuanGou said: “Junior monk and junior martial brother XuanShi stayed in the neighbouring room, we work in shifts and kept vigil, both of us only slept for half the night, we carry strict orders from martial brother abbot, we don’t dare to be negligent and allow them to slip away without notice.” ShenShan Elder said: “May i ask Master XuanShi to elaborate more?”

XuanShi step forward and said: “Junior monk is XuanShi, i received orders from abbot, together with martial brother XuanGou we are to monitor Qiao Feng’s activity. After Qiao Feng met up with that young lady called Ah Zhu, their journey did not have any particular incident. Both of them travelled southward, martial brother XuanGou and i followed from a distant, we make an effort not to come face to face with him, it is not really difficult. On the 3rd day of the 7th month, the four of us was resting at ZhaoShang tavern in Wei prefecture, we heard Ah Zhu speak from the adjacent room: “Today i will make dumplings and pour wine for you, it is definitely better than those from the tavern!” Qiao Feng is very happy and said repeatedly: “Very good, very good!” Ah Zhu went shopping to buy meat and cabbage to make dumplings. Qiao Feng kept praising Ah Zhu’s culinary skills, on that day he drank more wine than usual. Ah Zhu was by his side, urging him to drink: “When we reach Henan, the wine won’t be good, we won’t have the good wine from Hedong.”

XuanGou said: “Many unexpected things happen in this world due to a moment of carelessness. Junior martial brother XuanShi and i don’t dare to be negligent, we still sleep for half night each and kept extra vigilance. That night Xiao Feng’s snore was thunderous, he was still snoring till day light. After waking up, Ah Zhu help him to wash face and serve soy milk and bread. Xiao Feng was in an extremely good mood that day, he made many jokes about Henan’s accent. When Ah Zhu did not understand, Qiao Feng will explain to her. When junior martial brother XuanShi heard one of the jokes he nearly laugh out, i quickly cover his mouth and avoided any mishap. I remembered the events for that night distinctly, it was the 3rd day of 7th month. Qiao Feng depart Wei prefecture on the fourth day of 7th month, we followed at a distant and did not leave him, on the 7th day of 7th month we arrive at Weihui (Henan).”

ShenShan Elder said coldly: “You remembered the date so clearly, is it because Elder Xu was murdered on the 3rd day of 7th month?” XuanGou said: “Precisely! At a tavern in Weihui, martial brother XuanJi recounted the murder of Elder Xu. I replied: ‘If he died on the 3rd day of 7th month, then he was not killed by Qiao Feng, if Qiao Feng killed him, then it is definitely not the 3rd day of 7th month!’ martial brother XuanJi said: ‘Elder Xu’s son and daughter-in-law attended to him at night on the 3rd day of 7th month, the next morning the fourth day of 7th month, Elder Xu’s rib was broken, he died on his bed.'”

ShenShan Elder said: “You remembered the date correctly?” XuanJi said: “This matter is of utmost importance, we went to Elder Xu’s home and inquire every single detail.”

XuanShi took over and said: “The 7th day of 7th month is QiQiao festival (Chinese valentines day), the Beggar Clan held a memorial service in Weihui to pay respect to Elder Xu, both of went to the service to see if we can uncover any clues. We kowtow, there was a thick pestle in front of the spirit tablet, it was smeared with blood. We inquired from the Beggar Clan members, it seems this pestle was the murder weapon found in Elder Xu’s home, the front and back of Elder Xu’s ribs broke evenly, it was broken by this stone pestle. Martial brother XuanGou and i took our leave, both of us pondered: ‘If Qiao Feng really want to kill Elder Xu, he can simply strike with [28 Dragon Subduing Palm], there is no need for a stone pestle.'”

“Both of us followed Qiao Feng quietly, from a distant we saw him come out of a boat beside a river bank. The hull of the boat is sinking rapidly, half of it already submerged, at once we rush into the boat, we saw Granpa Tan, Grandma Tan and Zhao QianSun, all of them dead inside the boat. These 3 people are most probably killed by Qiao Feng, he is really a great evil! We return to the tavern to inform martial brother XuanJi and the others. Martial brother XuanJi said: ‘Not matter what we cannot let Qiao Feng kill innocent people again, with the six of us fellow apprentices we can surely prevent him from committing crime.’ We rushed ahead, we must reach Dan’s manor in Tai’an before him and catch him out there. We rode swift horse and was slightly faster than Qiao Feng. However when we reach the manor it was already on fire, we rush in and saw Iron Faced Judge Danzheng, the corpse of his two son already lay horizontally on the ground, the entire household of 10, male and female, all of them had either their heads severed or their backs split open, none of them spared. We examined Danzheng’s corpse, his ribs broke evenly, his lung and heart shattered, clearly he was killed by an extremely hard and violent fist techinique.”

ShenShan Elder said coldly: “It must be [Vajra Fist] correct?” Abbot XuanCi said: “No! In Shaolin temple, i am the only one who knows [Vajra Fist]. Judge Dan is definitely not killed by me.” ShenShan Elder snorted and said: “He was not killed by abbot?” XuanCi shakes his head and said: “No! [Vajra Fist] cannot shatter a person’s heart and lung.”

XuanGou said: “We buried Jude Dan’s corpse and assist in putting out the fire, soon after the gongs sounded and everyone start to fight the fire. At once we retreat, from a distant place we saw Qiao Feng and Ah Zhu arriving on horses. We saw it with our own eyes, someone else must have killed Judge Dan, he was a few hours earlier than Qiao Feng, the entire Dan household had long been killed. As for protecting Master ZhiGuang of Mount Tiantai, martial brother abbot had already dispatch someone else. We saw Qiao Feng heading south along with Ah Zhu, thus we did not follow him anymore and return back to Shaolin Temple.”

XuanJi, XuanGou, XuanShi, etc, their names are well known in the martial arts fraternity for over 10 years, everyone knows about their selflessness and righteousness, since they already said so, ShenShan Elder and the rest did not have doubts anymore.

ShenShan Elder said: “Master ZhiGuang died due to [Mohe Finger] of Shaolin, i wonder if martial brother abbot has any explanation for it?” XuanCi put his palms together and said unhurriedly: “Buddha is merciful! Master ZhiGuang died due to consumption of poison. The poison is common arsenic, his disciple monk PiaoZhe bought it from RenJi pharmacy in Tiantai town, the poison is slowly acquired over 10 days. Monk PiaoZhe bought the arsenic according to Master ZhiGuang’s orders, he told the pharmacy it is for concoction of drugs. Master ZhiGuang is famous in the east, everyone revere him greatly, thus the pharmacy don’t dare to decline or even accept money when monk RenJi bought the arsenic.”

Master XuanDu stood up and said: “Martial brother abbot dispatched junior monk to investigate at Mount Tiantai. Master ZhiGuang certainly died due to arsenic poisoning. Junior monk questioned that monk PiaoPu, he weep endlessly and said he was unaware that his master wanted to commit suicide using arsenic, if he had prior knowledge he would have substituted arsenic with licorice powder. He said a man surnamed Qiao and a lady Ruan came by to visit his master. His master was extremely courteous towards them, they chat for a long time, after leaving he discovered his master had died. O