Chapter 57: Death of Zhen Chang
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“Senior Brother Zhen Chang?”
“Nephew Zhen Chang?”
Monks who searched for cliffs could hardly restrain their consternation and blurted out one after another. They did not dare to believe that Zhen Chang, the best disciple of the “Zhen” generation, should collude with those with evil purposes and steal the script in their own sect, which was finally exposed, resulting in Zhen Chang’s suicide. Nor could they believe that Zhen Ding, who just reached the primary level of Qi-cultivation a year ago, could hurt Zhen Chang with “Luohan Exorcism Skill” and “Prajna Palm”, both in small perfection, because even the monks in the “Xuan” generation were not sure that they themselves could have hurt Zhen Chang!
With both shock and doubt, these monks looked to Meng Qi with a little speculation, suspicion, and fear.
Since there was no time for Zhen Chang to fold his posthumous paper which could only be written in haste, Wu De cast a glance at the paper and changed his expression greatly, saying to Xuan Bei, “Nephew Xuan Bei, this matter is of great significance. So I must report to His Abbots.h.i.+p immediately. You stay here for supervision.”
He was afraid that there might be accomplices of Zhen Chang and Zhen Yong among the monks. Therefore, only with Xuan Bei, an Elder like himself, could Wu De feel more a.s.sured.
“Yes, Uncle Master.” Standing on the side of Wu De, Xuan Bei had seen the whole content of the paper, knowing that this matter was more serious than imagined.
Just before he took a step, Wu De suddenly thought of something, and said again, “Nephew Xuan Bei, before the investigation is made clear, I must temporarily have your two disciples separated from the others and respectively live alone in a yard.”
Anyway, it was very serious that Muscle-bone Strengthening Scripture was almost stolen. Although it was Meng Qi and Zhen Hui who exposed the matter, they could not get rid of suspicion at that time. For example, someone might have suspected that they were accomplices of the thieves and exposed this matter because of infighting, or they might be motivated by their greed to hide the scripture.
Xuan Bei nodded his head slightly. “Uncle Master. It is up to you.”
Wu De nodded slowly and said to Meng Qi and Zhen Hui, “May the Buddha preserve us. Zhen Ding and Zhen Hui, you have been wronged now. When the whole thing comes to light, masters in the Bodhi Yard will not refuse to give you a reward. Xuan Zhuang and Zhen Miao, you two take Zhen Ding and Zhen Hui to live in a nearby yard for a short while. Besides, no one can enter the yard without the permission of His Abbots.h.i.+p.”
Then the previous Deacon Monk and Zhen Miao led Meng Qi and Zhen Hui away from the cliff to a yard that had been out of repair for years.
Meng Qi was so curious about the paper. So when Xuan Zhuang guarded the outer door and Zhen Miao watched the inner court, Meng Qi went near Zhen Miao with a seemingly very familiar look, saying, “Senior Brother Zhen Miao, do you know who instigated Senior Brother Zhen Chang? I can’t believe Senior Brother Zhen Chang as a real disciple would betray Shaolin.”
The paper was not folded directly on the table, so Zhen Miao and Xuan Zhuang, who found it first, had seen its contents. At this time, hearing Meng Qi’s words, Zhen Miao glanced at Meng Qi with a complicated facial expression. “I do not believe it. Senior Brother Zhen Chang had an excellent gift and peace of mind. No matter ‘Lohan demon magic’, or ‘Prajna palm’, which is very difficult to accomplish, he rapidly made progress. What’s more, Senior Brother Zhen Chang was imparted the first volume of Muscle-bone Strengthening Scriptureafter pa.s.sing Bronzemen Lane and returning from his travel. I really don’t understand why he would be willing to take the odd risk of copying supreme arts and script for Zhen Yong.”
Although he had a strong ambition to overtake Zhen Chang, Zhen Miao, the same as one of the most outstanding disciples of the “Zhen” generation, inevitably felt sad for the death of Zhen Chang, one of his kind.
“Maybe Senior Brother Zhen Chang suffered threats and his family was caught,” Meng Qi conjectured.
Zhen Miao shook his head, saying, “Senior Brother Zhen Chang is an orphan and grew up in Shaolin, which is his family.”
“Honey-trap?” Zhen Hui eagerly asked, thinking that in the stories told by Senior Brother Meng Qi many heroes fail to pull through the beauty pa.s.s.
“How could that be possible? There is no woman in the temple! Senior Brother Zhen Chang has helped Zhen Yong steal scriptures for the whole year rather than doing it just after peregrinating.” Zhen Miao rejected it again.
At that moment, Meng Qi also could not think of a better reason and had to follow Zhen Miao’s words, asking, “Is it not stated in the posthumous paper of Senior Brother Zhen Chang?”
“Senior Brother Zhen Chang only briefly said he was deluded into breaking the sacred rules of Shaolin and abandoning himself to vice,” Zhen Miao said. “Anyway, the content of the paper is of great significance, but does not involve the secret that he needed to hide.”
Meng Qi took a light breath. “What about Senior Brother Zhen Yong? Did he mention why he stole the scriptures?”
“Zhen Yong, who had been trained as a man of sacrifice by Jin Gang Temple from childhood, came here for the purpose of stealing scriptures,” Zhen Miao answered with an unhappy look.
“Jin Gang Temple?” Mengqi repeated in shock. “It was Jin Gang Temple! It was actually beyond expectation but stands to reason!”
However, the fact that Zhen Yong stole scriptures so easily still made people feel that things were complicated.
“Hum.” Zhen Miao said nothing else, but gave a complicated look to Meng Qi. “Junior Brother Zhen Ding, the most surprising is you. Only by one move of your blade did you hurt Senior Brother Zhen Chang and make him exposed and offer up his life as penance. When did your blade art reach such a level?”
If I were Senior Brother Zhen Chang, perhaps I would not only become injured! Zhen Ding’s Kung Fu and bladesmans.h.i.+p have actually gone so far as to be so scary and horrifying?
It was less than a year!
Is it because Uncle Master Xuan Bei teaches Zhen Ding very well and secretly gave more resources of cultivation, or because Zhen Ding has another secret?
Meng Qi made hollow laugh twice. “In order to kill Zhen Yong, Senior Brother Zhen Chang was so hasty that he exposed a flaw. Thus, I could desperately catch him.”
It turns out to be Prajna Palm that contains the world and seal all the changes. It really deserves the reputation it enjoys!
Well, since Zhen Yong is one spy of Jin Gang Temple, his bladesmans.h.i.+p should be one of the three great bladesmans.h.i.+ps of Jin Gang Temple—”Cut Vexation Bladesmans.h.i.+p”, “Exorcism Bladesmans.h.i.+p”, or “Cut Karma Bladesmans.h.i.+p”, I do not know… Anyway, the bladesmans.h.i.+p Zhen Yong cultivated has subtle changes and profound meaning, but Zhen Yong did poorly in it—he did not realize the meaning of the bladesmans.h.i.+p , nor did he know the elaborate changes. What he used were probably the movements only with little power left through a number of simplifications.
Secretly recalling Zhen Yong’s bladesmans.h.i.+p, Meng Qi tried his best to figure out the changes made to his bladesmans.h.i.+p for his own acc.u.mulation in bladesmans.h.i.+p.
This was a rare opportunity, for the three great bladesmans.h.i.+ps of Jin Gang Temple had an equal reputation with only a few excellent bladesmans.h.i.+ps, such as “Ananda Oath-breaking Bladesmans.h.i.+p”, honored as the climax of bladesmans.h.i.+p.
“Right? Senior Brother Zhen Chang is not such a careless person.” Zhen Miao did not quite believe what Meng Qi said.
Seeing that, Meng Qi pretended to be suffering from the injury, pacing back to the meditation room for harmonizing his Qi-circulation and healing the injury.
After a short eye-closing rest, a grand solemn voice came into Meng Qi’s mind:
“The third Samsara begins!
“This mission is a single mission for each member of the squad.”
“Single mission?” Meng Qi was shocked and then plunged into a brief darkness, real darkness.
…
The breeze brought coolness; the river expanded vastly; waves sounded still.
Holding his chin with his left hand, Meng Qi looked to the sporadic lights of fis.h.i.+ng boats in the distance and listened to the sound of tinkling round his ears, a little lost.
After starting the Samsara task, he found himself not first entering the s.p.a.ce, but appearing directly on the bow of a three-story junk s.h.i.+p.
“Fortunately, the Pearfower Storm Needles were sent to me… There is a Buddhist Commandment Blade for self-defense… ” Meng Qi fell on the bow with a heavy feeling in his arms. When stretching out his hands to touch, he found the Pearfower Storm Needles which were placed in the Samsara s.p.a.ce, and his Buddhist Commandment Blade for patrolling hung at his waist.
With tinkles lingering in his ears, Meng Qi restrained his thoughts, propping his chin with his left hand, and watched the battle on the deck with interest.
“The pace is too monotonous…
“That blade move is simply funny!”
He muttered, interestedly evaluating the fighting among two men and a woman, of whom one, wearing a black robe and a grinning ape mask, fiercely carried a Buddhist Commandment Blade and forced the couple-like man and woman with swords in a flurry. Wounds were scratched one after another with the blood flowing, which showed that the man and woman would be killed before long.
On finis.h.i.+ng “time-travel”, Meng Qi came to see such a b.l.o.o.d.y scene—The deck was full of corpses, men and women, the old and the young, all of whom were basically wounded in their throats, only leaving three people alive in front of him. Obviously, the weirdo wearing an ape mask was the murderer.
Having seen this for a while, Meng Qi touched his chin, conjecturing. “I do not know what level such a fight belongs to in this world… ” At that time, wind from the river violently blew his frock.
The couple-like young pair, though in front of Meng Qi, did not notice Meng Qi leisurely watching, for they were obsessed with fighting. After the man was hurt by a blade again, the woman with her hair worn in a bun, angrily said, “You, one of the Twelve Beasts, are so utterly devoid of conscience. In the future, there must be retribution!”
“Have no conscience?” The ape-masked man laughed with a deliberately altered, hoa.r.s.e voice. “Why not take on the mission if someone pays the price? And this time it is your guilt of owning the Treasure Map. Give me the map, and I will leave you a whole corpse! No mission taken by us, the ‘Twelve Animal Zodiac G.o.ds’, has ever failed!”
Forced by his Buddhist Commandment Blade, the woman stood unsteadily and stumbled forward. If the man did not block the blade with his sword, the woman would probably have gotten hurt in the center of her back, and would have even pa.s.sed away by now.
Having been stumbled for a while, the woman finally managed to stand firm. On the point of turning around and rejoining in the battle, she saw a smiling young monk in gray standing on the bow, glancing over her.
He had his left hand supporting his chin, sitting lazily. He was not old enough, but already looked somewhat handsome.
Who is he?
When did he appear on board?
The woman felt so scared that she blurted out, “Who?”
Having heard the word, the man wearing an ape mask used two knives to force back his opponents. His split vision swept around, and he rushed straight to Meng Qi without thinking.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhang Zongxian are also on the decline and cannot escape. However, it is the unexpected monk who worries me!
Having made a fast decision, he rushed toward Meng Qi in a minute, having his Buddhist Commandment Blade crosswise cutting unusually ferociously, which showed a little sense of a sneak-attack.
Meng Qi intended to weigh the Kung Fu Masters of the world. So he slightly turned his head side, watching the Buddhist Commandment Blade falling on his shoulder.
Seeing Meng Qi still sitting blankly, seemingly caught off-guard, the man in the ape mask could not help feeling satisfied with his decision, and exerted more power wholeheartedly, vowing to split this spoiler into two pieces.
“Clank!”
He felt as if he had cut into iron or cut into a boulder, resulting in not being able to inch forward. What was worse, the following counterforce made him lose the control of the Buddhist Commandment Blade.
What? What is this Thwart Kung Fu?
He was shocked and frightened, and he did not dare to believe that he was only able to break the clothing on the monk’s shoulder with just a white mark remaining.
This is too horrible, right? I’m afraid his skill is on a par with “Tong Zi Kungfu” Bei Ku, the divine monk of the Fa Xuan Sect, that he has cultivated for 40 years! He is one of the Seven Great Masters in the world!
This monk is a monster! Where did he come from?!
He turned around and flew away faster than he had come to kill Meng Qi. But at that time, a saber, coming from one side, had a weird angle which sealed off his first escape route.
Biting his teeth, the man in the ape mask turned around again, and opened his mouth to shoot a straight, dark light toward Meng Qi’s face.
This is his life-saving concealed weapon !
The concealed weapon came so fast in the short distance. Meng Qi closed his eyes, letting the weapon hit him.
“Clank!”
The concealed weapon hit Meng Qi’s face, leaving no trace.
After shooting the concealed weapon, the man, called one of the Twelve Beasts, took the opportunity to run by Meng Qi so as to escape by jumping into the river. He never thought that the weapon could break through such a terrifying Thwart Kung Fu, but only wanted to distract Meng Qi in order to seek an opportunity to escape.
Waves swirled against the boat. The man was just about to happily jump down when a Buddhist Commandment Blade cut from an unimaginable angle, directly breaking his lower abdomen.
With his legs folding under him, he fell forward. Around his ear, the sound of waves was still heard, but got weaker.
How can there be such a terrible monster…
Turning his back to the man, Meng Qi took back his Buddhist Commandment Blade gracefully while cursing in his heart endlessly. Originally, he just wanted to capture the man for intelligence, but the flas.h.i.+ng concealed weapon almost let his rival escape, so he had to fight ruthlessly so as not to cause some following troubles.
Seeing the handsome monk in gray kill one of the horrible Twelve Beats in Jianghu without looking back to see where the man was, the couple stood in amazement, even suspecting that they were dreaming.
Except for the Seven grandmasters, they were afraid only a handful of people in Jianghu could do it.