Chapter 17
Powerful man tempted by the jewels,
Vicious battle in desolate woods,
Demoness crushed by divine power,
A bunch of bandits fall in love.
(Translated by Foxs, Edited by Han Solo)
Zhuo Yihang was in a quandary, shakily he walked two steps forward, and then stopped. Yu Luocha laughed aloud and said, "Come, come!"
Suddenly they heard Yue Mingke's voice calling out loudly, "Heroine(1) Lian, hold your hands, hold your hands!" Zhuo Yihang took this opportunity to stop altogether.
Yu Luocha looked up and saw Yue Mingke and an old Buddhist monk rushed like flying toward them. Exerting her chi upward, Yu Luocha launched the stance 'snow rolling over Cangshan'(2), forcing Red Cloud and Green Palm three steps back. With a cold laugh she said, "Yue Mingke, so you are bringing some helpers. Good, let us have another round."
Pressing her sword forward, 'shua, shua!', she launched the 'pushing flower brushing away willow', stabbing to the left toward Yue Mingke, and stabbing to the right toward the old monk. Yu Luocha held nothing back, unleashing the full power of her sword, her attack was unstoppable. 'Swish, swish', the sword moved like lightning and sounded like thunder.
To her surprise, she suddenly felt as if her sword was bumping into a wall of strong energy, which opposed its forward movement; while in her ear she heard, "Amituofo!" She felt like her hand was pushed back. Against her will, the sword was pushed back to a horizontal position in front of her chest, just like one would hold his sword to return a courtesy.
Yu Luocha was shocked; but she saw the old monk put his palms together and said with a laugh, "Amituofo! This is the scenic ground of Mount Ling, where the voice of murder is loathed. Nu Pusa(3), please put down your sword!"
"Ah, who are you?" Yu Luocha asked, while surreptitiously exerting her chi to move her muscles and bones to test the old monk's power.
Suddenly they heard a long whistle; Tie Feilong had arrived. He rushed up the mountain and shouted, "Lian'er, don't be rude!"
Yu Luocha was startled and dropped her sword. The old monk bowed and said, "I believe Warrior Tie is well since we last part!"
Tie Feilong cupped his fists and bowed, "Master Jing Ming, please forgive my daughter's rude and impetuous character."
Only after fearing her foster-father's word that Yu Luocha realized the monk in front of her was the head of the Shaolin Temple, the Jing Ming Elder, who shared the same reputation as the Priest Purple Sun of Wudang. "Uh," she said in her heart, "This old monk truly does not enjoy a false reputation, he is a lot stronger than the Five Elders of Wudang."
Jing Ming said, "After this impoverished one met with Priest Purple Sun and Warrior Tiandu, I again see such extraordinary splendor of sword in Wulin. This is truly brought together by fate. I invite Warrior Tie and his honorable daughter to visit our humble temple to chat."
Yu Luocha was quite happy to hear him praising her swordsmanship. Tie Feilong on the other hand, saw Yue Mingke standing on the side and could not restrain from snorting, remembering his anger over Yue Mingke walking away from his daughter.
"Senior(4) Tie," Yue Mingke greeted.
Tie Feilong completely ignored him, his face bore a wooden expression. Yue Mingke was very embarrassed. Jing Ming was oblivious of what was going on, he said, "This gentleman is Military Commissioner Xiong's Grand Adjutant, and is also Warrior Tiandu's sole heir. His swordsmanship is superb. Along with your beloved daughter, they can be considered the twin jewels of the Wulin world."
With a cold laugh Yu Luocha said, "Maybe his swordsmanship is superb, but his character is somewhat lacking."
Elder Jing Ming was startled, but seeing Yue Mingke was blushing profusely, he knew there must be another story behind it, so he chuckled and said, "Military Commissioner Xiong is at the temple; he had just mentioned you, father and daughter, a moment ago."
"Good," Yu Luocha said, "I just want to return his gloves." Pulling Tie Feilong's hand, they followed Jing Ming back to the temple.
It turned out that Xiong Tingbi, Yue Mingke and his group had already arrived at Shaolin. Not long after they sat down, they heard the commotion outside. Yue Mingke thought it must be Yu Luocha who came to pursue, thereupon he dragged Elder Jing Ming along to stop the fight.
Elder Jing Ming also greeted White Stone, Red Cloud and Green Palm, three priests, and invited them to visit Shaolin as well. But how could Priest White Stone be willing to go? He stared angrily at Yu Luocha and then turned his face around, blandly refusing Elder Jing Ming's invitation by saying, "Pin Dao(5) must visit my sister's residence first."
"In that case," Elder Jing Ming said, "Please bring Ci Hui Shitai along and visit us afterward."
Thereupon their group was divided into two, Priest White Stone, Li Tianyang, Long Xiaoyun and the others went up the Tai Shi Peak; Elder Jing Ming led Yu Luocha and the others back to Shaolin.
Yu Luocha followed Elder Jing Ming entering the Shaolin Temple. As they arrived at the 'Awareness Edification Chapel', she saw Reverend Zun Sheng was chatting with Military Commissioner Xiong.
As Yu Luocha handed over the gloves, Xiong Tingbi laughed and said, "Miss Lian, you traveled a thousand li to catch up with us just for this trivial object, you truly observed ancient custom.”
“What trivial object?” Yu Luocha retorted, “A treasure is more accurate; I was fully depending on it to defeat the Red Flower Demon Matriarch. If relying on martial art skill alone, honestly I am not that old witch’s match!”
Yu Luocha was so frank that Xiong Tingbi laughed over her comment. “Miss,” he said, “If you really want to say thanks, you shouldn’t thank me, but thank him instead.” While saying that, he returned the gloves to Yue Mingke.
Yu Luocha was flabbergasted. While she was still in shock, Yue Mingke said, “It’s such a trivial matter, not worth mentioning at all.”
Tie Feilong stroked his beard and said, “Great benevolence need not be announced, Jianghu people always pay particular attention to clearly differentiate gratitude and grudges. Lian’er, our business here is done, let us take our leave.”
“Warrior Tie,” Reverend Zun Sheng interrupted, “You have just arrived, and are going to leave already?”
“Friendships are nurtured in the hearts, there is no need of lengthy conversation or short discussion,” Tie Feilong replied. Cupping his fists, he turned around and leave, followed by Yu Luocha.
“Miss Lian,” Xiong Tingbi ran after them, “I have something I’d like to talk to you.”
“Please tell me,” Yu Luocha replied.
Xiong Tingbi said, “Within the next few days, a large imperial army will arrive at Shaanxi. Miss, if you don’t want to accept imperial government’s summon(6), you should not return home.”
Yu Luocha laughed aloud and said, “Military Commissioner, Sir, how did you lead your troops?”
Xiong Tingbi understood her meaning, he said with a laugh, “The situation is different, we cannot hold to only one theory.”
Yu Luocha said, “The commander of an army, the first to face the unknown, the last to retreat in battle, share the delights and common hardships with officers and soldiers alike. You are the leader of millions of troops, I am leading several hundreds of outcast female bandits. Although our plight is not the same, in my opinion, we are not different.”
Xiong Tingbi sighed gently, knowing that he could not persuade her to leave the underground world(7); he had no choice but to drop the matter altogether.
After Yu Luocha and Tie Feilong left, Elder Jing Ming asked Yue Mingke, “Listening to that old Tie’s tone, he seemed rather upset with you, what is actually the matter?” Yue Mingke had no choice but tell him everything.
Elder Jing Ming said, “Inadvertently you get yourself into this trouble, you must personally resolve it.”
Xiong Tingbi laughed. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” he said, “If you did, I could speak to that Old Tie on your behalf, and perhaps in my capacity, I could also act as your matchmaker.” Yue Mingke was silent, but his heart was extremely grieved.
Returning to Priest White Stone. After he, along with Li Tianyang, Long Xiaoyun and the others saw Yu Luocha’s departure to the mountain, they made a detour around the southern peak and went straight toward the Tai Shi Peak. Priest White Stone’s younger daughter, He Luhua was playing on a hilltop. Seeing her father and big sister came back, she squealed with delight.
“Quickly ask your Auntie(8) to come out,” White Stone said.
Li Tianyang felt like fifteen buckets were weighing his heart down. With myriads of thought in his mind, he walked behind everybody else.
In just a little while, Ci Hui Shitai came out. Li Shenshi immediately rushed forward and called out, "Mama!"
Ci Hui sobbed in extreme joy and embraced him. "Shen'er," she called out, before hastily turned toward Long Xiaoyun to express her gratitude.
Witnessing this scene, Li Tianyang felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. He wanted to say something, but was unable to open his mouth. Ci Hui Shitai did not even acknowledge his presence, holding her son's hand, she busily greeted Red Cloud, Green Palm and the other guests and invited them to enter the temple.
When they were inside the stone-walled room, Li Shenshi raised his head and looked around. "Hey, where is Papa?" he exclaimed. It was only then that Long Xiaoyun realized that Li Tianyang had quietly walked away.
1 The word here is 'nu xia'.
2 Mount Cang in Shandong province.
3 Lit. 'Female Bodhisattva'.
4 Orig. 'Lao Qian Bei'.
5 Impoverished (Taoist) Priest.
6 Imperial government offered amnesty to enemy or rebel soldiers by enlisting them into the army. See also note 1 of Chapter 14.
7 Orig. ‘lu lin’ [green forest, a general reference to the underground/criminal world]. See also note 10 of Chapter 1.
8 Orig. ‘Gu gu’ – paternal aunt.