The monk sat and turned and reached out and wrapped his arm around the middle-aged man"s right shoulder at the next table. He lightly patted him and laughed. "Benefactor you are in luck, heheh! Amitabha."
The man looked terrified and said helplessly, "Master, what do you mean? Why am I in luck?"
"Haha! This old monk sees you have two incredibly beautiful daughters here, like immortal G.o.ddesses. Benefactor, what is your family name?" He was really laying into his laugh, emphasizing his point.
"My surname is Dong…"
"Oh! Benefactor Dong, very pleased to meet you. Shopkeep, hurry with the food and drink. His Holiness is vigilant with his mind but not so with his mouth. Bring on your best wine and meat."
On the other side of the room, they were at daggers drawn, ready to fight. Black Iron PaG.o.da whispered to Cai Wenchang, "Brother, it"s Blissful Monk. Those two girls are done for."
"I have to step in. He might be after us next! If I guess right, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Jade-faced Tiger must have told that vile monk about his disgrace in Chang"an. Big Bro, don"t do anything just yet. Let Brother Chai deal with him first."
The three middle-aged men approached and Chai Feng stood up. Black Iron PaG.o.da was about to join him when Wenchang checked him in a low voice.
The one with the red mole between his eyes stopped eight feet opposite Chai Feng. He smiled and cupped a hand over his fist in salute. "Don"t be nervous, Chai, I haven"t seen you in ages. Have you been well?"
The bottom of Chai Feng"s pipa was pointed at the man. His face was calm when he said, "I"ve been living quite well, in good health, in good health."
"Eh! Four years have gone by in the twinkling of an eye. Time really ages one quickly. Brother Chai, I never imagined! I, Three-eyed Immortal Huo Jingxian, have been traveling all over the northern frontier looking all over for you. Who would have thought I would easily find you here in the Central Plains? Heaven smiles on those who work hard. We"ve finally run into each other here."
This man with the hooked nose like an eagle jostled in the palm of his hand three Five Tiger Give Up the Ghost Nails as he swept his cold gaze across Chai Feng. He stood off to the left and said casually, "We haven"t trained in any iron s.h.i.+rt-like qigong, but we did borrow gold thread soft armor from the Brocade Guard. Brother Chai, better not to show off your poison Bee Stinger Needles and your Death Nails. I, Lonehill Crane Lan Song, have my Five Tiger Give Up the Ghost Nails, and though they might not be much, but they"re still somewhat useful for dispatching a first-rate master."
Wenchang put down his wine bowl, his handsome face flushed. He was already seven-tenths drunk. He stood up slowly, hiccuped twice and squinted bleary-eyed at Three-eyed Immortal and laughed. "Oh! Three-eyed Immortal, how come I"ve never heard that name before?"
Three-eyed Immortal looked at him. You have a strong Central Plains accent, and you"re young. Probably never been to the capital and so don"t know my reputation. There"s a lot of people you"ve never heard of! What"s your name? You couldn"t be friends with this old bandit of the capital like this Ghost Pipa Chai Feng?"
"Heheh! Great Xia Huo, you"re mistaken…"
As soon as he finished the last word he leapt into action. The tabletop went flying, sending cups and plates all cras.h.i.+ng into Lonehill Crane. In the same instant, his iron fist shot out with "Black Tiger s.n.a.t.c.hes the Heart", viciously attacking Three-eyed Immortal. They were no more than three feet away from each other, so it became a close quarters fight.
In the same instant, Black Iron PaG.o.da roared and three punches pounded into the last man with the fleshy tumor on his ear and sent him tumbling back twenty feet and outside of canopied area.
Chai Feng stuck close to the ground and used the wooden table flying into Lonehill Crane to his advantage ducking under and then the tw.a.n.g of springs as the Bee Stinger Needles inside his pipa shot out of the bottom, three pale dark shadows flas.h.i.+ng away.
"Ah…" Lonehill Crane screamed. He didn"t expect Chai Feng would suddenly launch a sneak attack, aimed not at his head but at his lower body. A needle hit him in the calf, stinging and numbing at the same time. He lost his footing and fell down. But he was incredible as well, his Five Tiger Give Up the Ghost Nails shot out at that moment as well.
Chai Feng didn"t expect his opponent wouldn"t put his hands up to block the table, but kicked it away instead, and still had time in the middle of all that to loose his own concealed weapons in return. At such a close distance, it was no use trying to dodge. He yelped as his right shoulder lit up like it had been poked with a branding iron. The nail dug its way deep into his collarbone and he too fell.
Both their concealed weapons had been dipped in deadly poison. They rolled over twice on the floor at the same time, their energy completely spent, and lay groaning and waiting for death, their legs and arms limp.
Three-eyed Immortal"s reaction was fast, and his hands were even faster. Wenchang"s "Black Tiger s.n.a.t.c.hes the Heart" came at him like a bolt of lightning, but he was still able to block it with his right hand while his left shot out, his fingers aiming for Wenchang"s Turtledove Tail acupoint just below his sternum.
Wenchang twisted his body so that the man"s fingers swept past his best harmlessly, and he darted his left hand down and grabbed Three-eyed Immortal"s elbow acupoint on his right arm which was crosswise in front of his chest. His right knee slammed into Three-eyed Immortal"s belly, and even though Three-eyed Immortal had his gold-threaded armor s.h.i.+rt protecting him, it was not enough to resist the heavy blow of Wenchang"s knee. His lower body swung backward sharply, his left hand flouris.h.i.+ng fiercely to block the fist coming right at his face.
But his right hand was already subdued. Wenchang used all his force to grab it and then he quickly stepped back and they were suddenly pulled five inches away from each other. Three-eyed Immortal lost his footing after being pulled and fell completely into Wenchang"s grasp.
Wenchang"s right hand was now free because he had pulled it away and so he let loose with four punches in quick succession, two to the face and two to the chest and belly.
Three-eyed Immortal could take the punches to his midsection, but he couldn"t take the blows to the face. Blood flowed from his mouth and nose and he yelped with every punch. When it came to strength they were evenly matched, but Three-eyed Immortal lost out to Wenchang by underestimating him, letting Wenchang take the initiative and get the upper hand on the whole situation. The one who hit first had the advantage; it was a well-known maxim that taking someone by surprise could allow one to defeat someone who was two or three times better than you. But if the difference in skill between the two opponents was too great, the one who struck first might be out of luck instead.
Wenchang punched him four times, then drew Lightning Bolt, stopping Three-eyed Immortal in his tracks. "Buddy, you thought you"d come from the capital to our Henan with your skill and make trouble? Don"t you think that"s going too far? Get on back to the capital. Next time I see you I"ll take your life!"
"Great! You fight well. We"ll settle this one day. Friends of the light path in the capital will put you in your place."
Wenchang put Lightning Bolt away and removed Three-eyed Immortal"s weapon, then let go of him. "Go on, get on out of here. We"ll argue next time. You"ll certainly win."
Three-eyed Immortal raged and was about to pounce when Blissful Monk, not far away, boomed, "Stop it, you little b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! You all dare to disrespect your elders in front of His Holiness and act like fools? So annoying."
Everyone was stunned to silence. Wenchang, though, sidled over to Lonehill Crane and squatted down and grabbed his travel bag. "The antidote, quick, tell me where is it? You don"t want to be buried in King Yu Gully do you?"
Lonehill Crane obviously didn"t want to die. He croaked, "…in the bottle… with the red… red seal… Apply it to the wound… and also swallow it."
Wenchang hurriedly took out two pills and shot over to Chai Feng and helped him swallow one with some wine and then spread the other one over the wound after pulling out the Five Tiger Give Up the Ghost Nail, then he tore a piece of his robe and wrapped the wound, saying, "Brother Chai, give that guy the antidote."
"It"s in the inside pocket of my travel bag. It"s a powder." Chai Feng spoke in a low voice, still unable to move.
Wenchang helped Lonehill Crane take care of his wound. The head of the Bee Stinger Needle was big so a magnet was not necessary to extract it. As he was tending to the wound, Blissful Monk shouted, "His Holiness wants you all to crawl over here so I can rebuke all of you."
No one paid him any attention. He slammed his palm on the table and cried, "What"s this, how dare you not obey my order! You think I, Blissful Monk, cannot punish you all?"
The customers one by one dropped their bowls and put down their money and slunk away. That big monk was terrifying when he was in a rage, wouldn"t it be foolish to stay? The two girls and the middle-aged man stood, but the monk seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He reached out and clasped the man"s shoulder and turned around. "Don"t leave. You and your daughter be good and have a seat. You are not to move unless His Holiness tells you to go. That sword you"re wearing is only fit to slice a chicken. You must know the reputation of myself, Master Magnanimous Blissful Monk, among the jianghu. His Holiness is favoring you, so please be seated and wait for me to deal with these reckless, ignorant juniors, then we can talk about more serious matters."
Their faces sank and they trembled all over, took a deep breath, and sat down obediently, as if Blissful Monk"s name at intimidated them into submission.
Wenchang picked up Chai Feng and handed him over to Black Iron PaG.o.da and whispered, "Get ready to force your way out and mount up. That vile monk is one of the Thirteen Great Masters, he"s th.o.r.n.y as h.e.l.l. I"ll hold him up. We"ll meet at Mianchi."
"No…" Black Iron PaG.o.da refused point-blank.
"Big bro, trust me. I"ll lead him around a bit and stall him with my concealed weapons. There"s a valley creek and dense mountain woods to the right, he won"t be able to do anything to me. I"m sure I can get away from his safely. Go quick!" Wenchang put on a smile after urging him on, and walked toward Blissful Monk.
He knew he was no match for Blissful Monk, but he had no choice, and he greatly admired that girl. How could he stand by and watch her fall into that lecherous monk"s hands? Even if it was down to the pits of h.e.l.l, he had the courage to jump in.
Of the Three Monks, Hundred Tribulations Crippled Monk had been missing for years, and the other two were Blue-eyed Snow Lion and Blissful Monk. They were both lechers, hiding their debauchery under a monk"s kasaya, coming and going through their benefactors" walled courtyards, approaching girls at every opportunity. They had a long rap sheet; their list of misdeeds would reach the heavens. There were not a few famed righteous personages who swore to catch the demons, but no one could deal with the monks" steel alloy monk"s staff or the Purple Dragon Staff, which had killed many famous masters. After a while, no one again dared to bother them, and those vile, venomous, lecherous monks looked down on all the masters of the martial fraternity. Birds of a feather flock together, as they say, and they were good friends. Therefore, Jade-faced Tiger often visited Prevailing Charity Temple and was on good terms with the lama, Blue-eyed Snow Lion.
This time, Jade-faced Tiger time and time again had been humiliated by Wenchang. He fled Chang"an for Kaifeng Prefecture"s Great Sweet Dew Longevity Temple to find Blissful Monk and cry about it. The vile monk was enraged and advised Blue-eyed Snow Lion to go to Chang"an as well and ordered Jade-faced Tiger to follow behind, while he himself pressed forward day and night, only to find these two girls here and knew he had a tasty meal ahead of him. Only he didn"t expect to run into Cai Wenchang here as well.
Among the jianghu, Blissful Monk"s name alone was enough to frighten everyone. If anyone showed the slightest bit of defiance, that person would meet a savage fate. Indeed, his violent reputation had spread far and wide; people blanched at the mention of his name. Otherwise, how could he sit there and order people around like that?
Wenchang took the lead and approached, all smiles. Behind him, along with Three-eyed Immortal, the man with the fleshy tumor on his ear, who was only lightly injured, helped up Lonehill Crane, and Black Iron PaG.o.da supported Chai Feng, bringing up the rear.
Three people in black hiding out under the sophora trees hadn"t moved this whole time.
Wenchang raised Three-eyed Immortal"s sword, the four moneybags he had gotten from Black Iron PaG.o.da in his left hand, and approached, smiling, his handsome face flushed with drink, and his breath reeking of wine. "Big monk, long time no see! Haha! You"re looking healthy!"
Blissful Monk was taken aback. He rolled his eyes at him. "Boy, you know His Holiness?"
"Eh? An eminent person such as yourself has a short memory. Last spring, weren"t you at… at…"
"Last spring His Holiness was at Nine Rivers in Jiangxi…"
"Right, so you didn"t forget. At that time I heard your ill.u.s.trious name and went to pay my respects…"
"Strange! How come I don"t remember you, boy?"
As they interrupted each other, Wenchang edged closer to the monk"s left, and laughed. "Like I said, eminent people are forgetful! At Nine Rivers I had many great developments and got a lot of money, and even managed to get several young ladies. I heard you were there, Great Master, so I made a special trip with my fellow disciple and went to pay my respects. I never expected Great Master to be so forgetful."
He casually handed the sword to Three-eyed Immortal and dropped the moneybags on the table. "I did some business, too." He pointed his big thumb at the girls. "Great Master, you see?"
"Like I need you to point them out?" the monk said impatiently.
Wenchang had been interrupting him all this time, not giving the monk a chance to speak. The girls were fighting hard to keep from laughing, and the middle-aged man even winked at him, but refrained from laughing. But they were seated behind the monk on his right, so the monk couldn"t see them.
Wenchang smiled and slowly leaned in and said in a low voice, "Great Master, do you know who those two pretty flowers are? I already found out…"
"Speak louder, what are you afraid of?" the monk bellowed.
"That"s the Jade Emperor"s great aunt! Go quick!"
Wenchang suddenly launched his attack, his right fist slamming into the monk"s forehead, his left hand grabbing and lifting, bearing down on the table and monk both. He said "go quick" to tell everyone run for their lives.