The Deer and The Cauldron

[crazee]

Fourth again....

Well I don't know, It's not that she was molested in the actual sense that someone sneaked up on her but during a fight, I suppose body contact is inevitable....other wise women will always have the advantage.... maybe protruding out their chest and men cannot violate...

Again thanks a lot Foxs, at least I get to know the real situation, the serials made it confusing.

Again XB is claiming the green girl to be his wife, looks like he cannot resist beautiful ladies...even at such a young age, a real playboy and filthy rich too.... maybe he'll go around in rolls or ferrari...err...do they have such equivalents in those days ??

[ah-gi]

Thanks, foxs.

[foxs]

Sky, Gubrak, Ah-gi, you are most welcome. Thanks for taking the time to drop a note. Snow, I have to admit, among all the girls WXB had met so far, these two are my least favorite. Crazee, I found this part (and the rest of Chapter 22, it's a long chapter) has a lot more details than the existing work as well. I don't know about the adaptation, never seen any. I hope you guys won't get bored with it, because I am guessing the reason it was skipped was due to the lack of action.

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He did not know that Cheng Guan left home to become a Buddhist monk in the Shaolin Temple when he was only eight years old; for more than seventy years he had single-mindedly study martial art, and had never left the Temple's gate for even one step. He had read extensively ancient books on martial art, his knowledge was vast.

In Shaolin Temple, Damo Hall specialized in researching their own martial art, while Bo're Hall actually specialized in researching the martial art of each house and sect under the heavens. The several dozen of eminent monks of the Bo're Hall were all proficient in one or more sects' martial art.

In the last years of Sui Dynasty, the monks of Shaolin Temple had helped Li Shimin flattening Wang Shichong[13]; from that moment on, their martial art has overawed the world. For the next thousand years their reputation did not diminish, admittedly it was because their Sect's martial art was broad and profound; but the fact that Bo're Hall researching other sects' martial art was also one of the principal factors. After acquiring thorough understanding of other sects' martial art, first, they would analyze the strength and weakness of each martial art style, to patch up the inadequacy of their own martial art; second, if they had any confrontation with other sects' experts, by knowing the ins and outs of the opponents' skill, they would gain great advantage.

As Shaolin disciples went out in Jianghu to perform their heroic deeds, when they returned, they would pay their respect to the Abbot and their own master first, and then they would go to Jielu Courtyard to report if there was any fault, next they would go to Bo're Hall to report what they saw and heard. If there was any style or move belonging to other sect worth having, the monk of Bo're Hall would then record everything. In this way, after accumulating such records for a thousand years, they knew various schools' martial art from all over the world like the back of their hands. Even if there was no talented person with outstanding ability and wisdom in the Temple, Shaolin Pai could still be considered the leader of the realm.

Cheng Guan single-mindedly studied martial art, he knew nothing about the way of the world, his conduct was rather stupid, but his understanding of each school and sect's martial art was very clear. When a scholar reads too many books, he is known as a 'bookworm'; this Cheng Guan Chanshi learned too many martial arts that he had become 'martial art worm'[14]. In all his life, other than sparring with his fellow disciples, he had never exchanged a move or half a style with outsiders; yet his knowledge of martial art studies was vast, he could even be considered the top among his peers, the monks of the Temple.

Cheng Xin said, "Turns out the two Nu Shizhu do not belong to any school or sect; this matter become slightly easier to handle. When that Miss' injury is healed, we can send them off from the Temple, then there won't be any future trouble."

Cheng Shi said, "Those two martial sisters' technique are compatible with each other, apparently they have a Shifu."

Cheng Xin said, "Even if they have a Shifu, it can't be a renowned master from a famous school or major sect."

Cheng Shi nodded. Abbot Hui Cong said, "The two Nu Shizhu are young and love to meddle. In this affair we have not made any serious error. Nevertheless, we must not fail to show courtesy, we must treat the two Nu Shizhu well. You are dismissed." Finished speaking, he stood up.

Cheng Xin smiled and said, "At first I thought there was a martial art in Wulin world who instructed these two young women, with the intention to humiliate our Sect; I was a little worried. Shaolin Temple has enjoyed our reputation for a thousand years, it must not fall in our hands." All the monks smiled and nodded their heads.

Wei Xiaobao suddenly said, "In my opinion, the name of Shaolin Pai's martial art is resounding, but actually it is only so-so."

Hui Cong had just about to go out the door, as soon as he heard it, he turned his head in shock. Wei Xiaobao said, "Jing Ji, Jing Qing, how long have you been training martial art?"

Jing Ji said that he had been training for fourteen years, Jing Qing for twelve years; they both admitted that their intelligence was low, and had not made any progress, hence they were extremely ashamed.

Abbot Hui Cong said, "We are studying Buddhism here, our aspiration is to understand the way to free ourselves, whether our martial art skill is high or low is inessentials."

Wei Xiaobao shook his head and said, "I think there's a major flaw in that argument. These two young girls are at most twenty years old, plus they were only stealing one move from the east, one style from the west, to create some hodgepodge three-legged cat moves of their own school or sect, yet they were able to beat Shaolin monks with more than ten years of training that we flee to the wilderness and piss in our pants in terror, without any ability to parry and die without a burial site. It seems to me that Wudang Pai, Kunlun Pai's one move or half a style is a lot more formidable than our orthodox Shaolin Pai's martial art."

Hui Cong, Cheng Shi, Cheng Xin, and the other monks looked very awkward. Although Wei Xiaobao's words were extremely offensive to hear, momentarily they found it very difficult to refute. They all thought, "Jing Ji and the others, four people's martial art skill is extremely disappointing, how can we say it is an orthodox Shaolin Pai's martial art?"

Yet Cheng Guan nodded his head and said, "What Shishu said makes a perfect sense."

Cheng Shi was surprised, "Why did Shixiong say it makes sense?"

Cheng Guan said, "Other people's hodgepodge martial art beats our orthodox martial art; there is something wrong here."

Hui Cong said, "People's natural endowments are not the same. Jing Ji and the others are not very good at martial art, but they are busy with receiving visitors to our Temple, it means they are rendering great merit in propagating Buddhist teaching. Jing Ji, Jing Qing, Jing Ben, Jing Yuan, the four of you delegate your receiving-visitors duty to others, you may devote your time in practicing martial art." Jing Ji and the others, four monks bowed in compliance.

The monks left Jielu Courtyard. Wei Xiaobao shook his head. Cheng Guan knitted his brows; he was deep in thought for half a day, then he also shook his head. Hui Cong and Cheng Xin looked at each other; they both thought, "These two, one old the other young, are both ignorant people, we should not pay them any attention." Without a word they walked out.

Cheng Guan turned his gaze toward the courtyard, where a maidenhair tree's leaf was floating slowly to the ground; he had a sudden inspiration. "Shishu," he said, "I want to see those Nu Shizhu."

Wei Xiaobao was ecstatic, "Nothing could be better than that," he said, "I am coming with you."

The two of them went to the Eastern Courtyard's meditation room. The old monk treating the girl in green's injury came out to greet them. Wei Xiaobao asked, "Can she die?"

The old monk replied, "The saber cut is not deep, nothing serious, she won't die."

"Wonderful, wonderful," Wei Xiaobao happily said, as he entered the meditation room.

He saw the girl in green was lying on the couch, her eyes were shut tight, her face was so white that it looked almost transparent, her neck was wrapped with cotton and a piece of plain white cloth, her right hand was outside the quilt, her five fingers were slender and looked delicate, it really looked like the fingers were carved from a piece of white jade. At the end of the fingers, there were five tiny round spirals. Wei Xiaobao's heart was greatly moved, he could not control his strong desire to stroke the beautiful, extremely adorable small hand. "I wonder if she still has the pulse," he said. Pretending to feel the pulse, he reached out to touch the hand.

The woman in blue had been standing at the foot of the bed. Seeing Wei Xiaobao walked in, her anger had already shot to the sky. "Don't touch my Meizi!" she shouted. Seeing he did not withdraw his hand at all, her left hand stretched out, she wanted to grab his wrist.

Cheng Guan flicked his middle finger toward the Yanggu [lit. positive valley] acupoint on the side of her left palm; he said, "You are using the Hao Family of Shanxi's qin na technique."

The woman in blue withdrew her hand, while sending her elbow out at the same time. Cheng Guan extended his finger to flick the Xiaohai [lit. minor ocean] acupoint at the base of her elbow. The woman in blue countered with a right backhand strike. Cheng Guan's middle finger flicked again, forcing her to stop midway and withdrew one step back. The young woman was startled and angry at the same time, she moved her fists like whirlwind, and in an instant she had already sent seven or eight punches.

Cheng Guan nodded his head continuously, while his finger also flicked seven, eight times. "Aiyo!" the girl screamed, the Qinglengyuan [lit. clear and cold abyss] on her right arm was hit by his finger, her arm immediately went limp. "Dead monk!" she cursed.

Cheng Guan was surprised. "I am alive," he said, "If I were a dead monk, how could I use my finger to flick you?"

Seeing his formidable martial art, the girl was actually scared, but she was unwilling to lose the argument; she cursed, "You are still alive today, you will be dead tomorrow."

Cheng Guan was startled. "How does Nu Shizhu know?" he asked, "Could it be that you have the foreknowledge?"

“Humph,” the girl said, “Shaolin Temple monks are oily-mouthed and smooth talkers.”

She thought Cheng Guan was joking with her, she did not know that although this old monk had a superb martial art skill, he was completely oblivious of other affairs. All his life he had never left the Temple. All the monks in the Temple strictly maintained Buddhist monastic disciple against wild talk, there had never been one person who told him any lie; thereupon he always thought that there was no such thing as untrue statement in the world.

Hearing the girl said that Shaolin Temple monks were oily-mouthed and smooth talkers, he thought, “Could it be that in the vegetarian dish today there was too much soy bean oil?” Extending his sleeve, he wiped his lips, but did not see any oil. He rolled his tongue around in his mouth, but did not feel anything greasy or slippery.

While he was still in the state of bewilderment, the woman in blue hissed, “Get out! Don’t wake my Shimei.”

“Yes, yes …” Cheng Guan said, “Shishu, let’s get out of here.”

Wei Xiaobao was staring at the girl lying on the couch, he was already not in his right mind for quite some time. He grunted his acknowledgement, but did not move a single step. The woman in blue slowly walked toward his back, suddenly her palms shot out, she gave him a violent push. “Ah!” Wei Xiaobao screamed, he was sent flying out of the room, and ‘Bang!’ he landed heavily on the ground. “Aiyo, aiyo!” he cried out, unable to crawl up.

Cheng Guan said, “That was the ‘rivers pour away by the day’, part of the Laoshan Pai’s palm technique. But Nu Shizhu did not use it properly.” While his mouth was prattling, he walked out of the room to help Wei Xiaobao up and said, “Shishu, the palm push that she did, altogether there are thirteen ways to deal with it. If you did not want to fight with her, then there are six ways to dodge it, any one of those six may be used easily. Supposing you want to strike back, you can employ wrist hook, elbow strike, finger flick, reverse acupoint sealing, arm seizing, diagonal block, or backward kick, seven techniques; each technique can be used to neutralize her.”

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[13] Li Shimin was the personal name of second Tang Emperor Taizong, Wang Shichong was a general of late Sui, opponent of early Tang.

[14] Bookworm: orig. 书呆子 (shu daizi) - bookish fool; Cheng Guan was a 武呆子 (wu daizi) - martial art fool.

[edwin0823]

Thanks for the update fox....long live the fox...

[crazee]

Yippee....#2

Wow, even being a monk XB cannot restraint himself....
Sinseh...XB to check pulse

Thanks Foxs, dry it may seem but it gives us an insight of the shaolin administration. Is it really the way Shaolin way run ? It'll be interesting to know how JY get to know the insides of the clans or are they purely fiction ?

Now I understand why Shaolin is so famous. They actually have a research department...errr and I suppose they also do reverse engineering to study other skills.
Imagine, the chinese were actually way ahead in such technology but failed to apply them fully into the modern management world.

[Gubrak]

Ah ... third ...
Thanks Foxs

[foxs]

Edwin, Gubrak, you are welcome. I think there's no worry about who posts first here. But I appreciate it nonetheless. Crazee, I wouldn't be surprised if it was close to reality. Any established and thriving organization should do that anyway.

Here's another 'boring' part. I am going out of town today, I don't think I can post anything this weekend. Will try something by Monday afternoon, US time.

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Wei Xiaobao was thrown down that his back and arms were hurting, he was not in a good mood at all. “Why do you tell me all this now?” he asked, “What’s the use?”

“Yes,” Cheng Guan said, “Shishu’s admonition is correct, your Shizhi [martial nephew] was wrong. If I told you beforehand, even if Shishu did not mean to make things difficult for her, if you only wanted to evade, you would not have to be thrown like that.”

Wei Xiaobao’s heart was moved, “Those two girls are very vicious; when we meet again later, they would immediately punch and kick me, which would be hard to ward off. This old monk is very familiar with those two girls’ martial art; just with a flick of his finger he forced them away that they did not dare to come over anymore. I want to take that girl to be my wife, I must swindle the old monk that he will be with me to protect me.” But then he had a second thought, “This old monk is so old, I don’t know how many more days he will live; supposing he is gone tomorrow, won’t that be really bad for me?” Thereupon he said, “Just now you flicked your finger several times and that girl is immediately tamed. What kind of martial art was that?”

Cheng Guan said, “It is called ‘one finger Dhyana’; Shishu does not know it?”

“I don’t,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “Why don’t you teach me?”

Cheng Guan said, “Shishu’s order ought to be followed. This ‘one finger Dhyana’ is not difficult to learn; if you know the accurate location of acupoints, and the power on your finger can penetrate the opponent’s acupoint, then you can do it.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted, “That’s wonderful,” he hastily said, “Quickly teach me.” He thought that if he could master this skill, he only needed to flick several times, the girl in green would not be able to move a single step, and then if he wanted her to be his wife, wouldn’t that be easy? Besides, the words ‘not difficult to learn’ were more important to him; all the amazing martial art skills in the world, nothing exceeded this. In an instant he was beaming with joy, his heart was unbearably itching.

Cheng Guan said, “I wonder Shishu’s ‘tendon altering sutra’ internal energy cultivation has been trained to which level? Would you please try to flick your finger?”

“How do you flick your finger?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

Cheng Guan bent his finger and flicked. ‘Chi’ a burst of powerful wind shot out, a dead leaf on the ground floated up.

Wei Xiaobao laughed, “That looks fun,” he said. Copying Cheng Guan, he bent his right hand thumb to hold his middle finger, and then flicked the middle finger out. Naturally this time there was no sound, nothing happened; even no dust was stirred the least bit.

Cheng Guan said, “Turns out Shishu has not trained ‘tendon altering sutra’ internal energy cultivation. If you want to train this internal energy cultivation, you must train Bo’re [Prajna/Wisdom] Palm first. Let me spar with you in Bo’re Palm, I want to see the depth of Shishu’s palm strength, then I can teach you the ‘tendon altering sutra’.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “I don’t know Bo’re Palm.”

“Not a problem,” Cheng Guan said, “Let us spar in ‘Picking Flower Grab and Capture’.”

“What ‘Picking Flower Grab and Capture’? I have never heard of it,” Wei Xiaobao said.

An awkward expression appeared on Cheng Guan’s face, he said, “How about we try something more basic? ‘Vajra [Budda’s warrior attendant] Divine Palm’ should be fine. You don’t know it either? How about ‘Boluomi [Pineapple? Not sure.] Hand’? Don’t know as well? How about ‘Scattering Flower Palm’? Ah right, Shishu is still young, you have not learned these different palm techniques. How about ‘Weituo Palm’? ‘Subduing Tiger Fist’? ‘Luohan Fist’? ‘Shaolin Long Fist’?” Each time he mentioned a fist technique, Wei Xiaobao shook his head.

Seeing Wei Xiaobao did not know any fist technique, Cheng Guan did not get angry; he said, “Our Shaolin Pai martial art must be trained in sequence. When one enters our school, one must learn ‘Shaolin Long Fist’ first. After he masters it, then he will learn ‘Luohan Fist’, afterwards ‘Subduing Tiger Fist’. When he has appropriate foundation in both internal and external energy, he may learn ‘Weituo Palm’. If he does not want to learn ‘Weituo Palm’, he can train 'Great Compassion Great Sorrow Thousand-Leaf Hand' instead …”

Wei Xiaobao’s lips started to move, he wanted to say, “I know this 'Great Compassion Great Sorrow Thousand-Leaf Hand'.” But he stopped himself immediately, realizing that the 'Great Compassion Great Sorrow Thousand-Leaf Hand' Hai Laogong taught him, perhaps nine out of ten moves were fake; no matter what, he could not say that he ‘knew’ this technique.

He heard Cheng Guan continued, “Either the ‘Weituo Palm’ or the 'Great Compassion Great Sorrow Thousand-Leaf Hand', one with intelligence and diligence will need about seven or eight years to master. If his comprehension is strong, he can continue with ‘Scattering Flower Palm’. After he masters the ‘Scattering Flower Palm’, not many disciples of Wulin’s other sect can defeat him. Whether he can continue with Boluomi Hand depends on his temper. Take Jing Ji, Jing Qing, those several martial nephews for example, they all trained in ‘Subduing Tiger Fist’, but they don’t have the patience to train martial art, their progress is rather slow. In ten years’ time, Jing Qing perhaps can train ‘Weituo Palm’. Jing Ji cannot concentrate in learning martial art, I think it would be better for him to specialize in Vajra Sutra’s Zen meditation.”

Wei Xiaobao sucked in a mouthful of cold air; he said, “You said that that ‘one finger Dhyana’ is not difficult to learn, but from ‘Shaolin Long Fist’ followed by those other fist and palm techniques, all the way to mastering the ‘one finger Dhyana’, how many years must I train?”

Cheng Guan said, “This thing is actually recorded in the ancient book in Bo’re Hall. During the Later Jin of the Five Dynasties period, there was this Fa Hui Chanshi in our Temple, he had the innate intelligence, in less than thirty-six years from the time he entered the Temple, he had already mastered the ‘one finger Dhyana’; his advancement was amazingly quick, no one, before or after him, ever have the same progress. I guess he must be a great martial art scholar in his previous incarnation, so he brought with him many martial art skills from his previous existence. Next in line was during the establishment of the Southern Song Dynasty, there was this Ling Xing Chanshi, who spent less than thirty-nine years. Those two are rare talent with divine-given wisdom and intelligence, geniuses who are hard to come by in hundreds of years, who make other people full of admiration; a model older generation, someone who younger generation can only imagine.”

Wei Xiaobao asked, “How many years did you spend from the time you started training martial art until you master the ‘one finger Dhyana’?”

Cheng Guan smiled and said, “Shizhi has started training Shaolin Long Fist when I was eleven, I have been very lucky to have Hui Zhi Chanshi as my benevolent master, so I got to learn martial art at a lot higher pace than my fellow disciples. By the time I was fifty-three, I was able to comprehend my prying into our school’s sutra of this finger technique.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Since you were eleven, until you were fifty-three, you were able to comprehend the kneeling in front of the door bolt (he did not know that the expression ‘lue kui men jing’ [comprehend the prying into the school’s sutra], what he heard was ‘lue gui men shuan’). So altogether you spent forty-two years before you master it?”

Cheng Guan was very proud of himself, he said, “To be able to master the ‘one finger Dhyana’, in the thousand plus years of our Sect’s history, Lao Na [old cassock] ranks the third.” After a short pause, he continued, “It’s just that Lao Na’s internal energy cultivation is only average. Strictly speaking about finger power, I am afraid my rank is lower than seventieth.” Speaking to this point, he could not help but feeling dejected.

Wei Xiaobao mused, “I don’t care if you rank the third or the seventy-third, Laozi did not bring any martial art skill from my previous incarnation, neither did I start training in my mother’s womb. If I have to spend forty-two years to master this finger technique, that girl and I will both be old man, old woman in our fifties or sixties; Laozi might as well train a fart!” He said, “Other people’s little miss only trains for one or two years, you must train for forty, fifty years to beat her; it’s extremely disappointing.”

Actually, Cheng Guan had already thought about this fact as well, all along he had been pondering about it. “Yes, yes!” he said, “Our Shaolin martial art is this inferior to others’, it’s really … really not … not too good.”

“What do you mean not too good?” Wei Xiaobao said, “It’s practically very bad. All of a sudden our Shaolin Pai is unable to grab Wulin’s cow’s ear, horse’s ear. You are the Head of Bo’re Hall, if you don’t think of something, won’t you let down the several thousands, several tens of thousands years of Shaolin Temple’s eminent monks? When you die and see that Fa something Chanshi, Ling something Chanshi, and my Shixiong, Hui Zhi Chanshi, everybody will ask you, saying that you only eat and defecate, but don’t care about anything else, you don’t want to think of a way to protect Shaolin Pai’s prestige, won’t you be so ashamed that you want to die all over again?”

Cheng Guan’s old face turned deep red; he was completely terrified. Repeatedly nodding his head, he said, “Shishu’s instruction is very true, when Shizhi comes back, I will peruse the ancient books in the Bo’re Hall, to see if there is an ingenious technique that can be learned in a short time.”

“That’s right,” Wei Xiaobao happily said, “If you cannot find any, our Shaolin Pai needs not mingle in the Wulin world anymore. We might as well invite those two little misses to let the older one becomes the Abbess, the younger one becomes the Head of Bo’re Hall. Let those two teach us martial art. Compared to our stupid head stupid brain clumsy martial art, theirs must be a lot stronger.”

Cheng Guan was startled, he asked, “Those two Nu Shizhu, how can they be our Temple’s Abbess and Head?”

“Who told you not to be able to find a martial art that can be trained quickly?” Wei Xiaobao said, “Fangzhang will lose face, you will lose face; that need not be mentioned, from now on Shaolin Pai will lose its foothold in Wulin, the several thousand monks of our Temple will have to do obeisance to these two little misses as their new masters. Everybody will question what’s the use of many dozens of years of training Shaolin martial arts? The two little misses only train for a year or half a year and they can ‘crack, crack, crack’ break Shaolin monks’ hands and feet. Everybody will think that preserving their hands and feet is more important, hence they might as well respectfully ask the Little Miss to be the Head of Bo’re Hall!”

This speech had made the sweat on Cheng Guan’s forehead streaming down his face; his hands did not stop trembling as with a trembling voice he said, “Yes, yes! Asking those two ladies to be our Temple’s Abbess and Head, ay, that … that will be too humiliating.”

“Isn’t that so?” Wei Xiaobao said, “By that time we cannot call ourselves Shaolin Pai anymore.”

Cheng Guan asked, “Then … then what should we call ourselves?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “We might as well bluntly call ourselves Shaonu[15] Pai. Shaolin Temple becomes Shaonu Temple. We must take down the signboard above the mountain gate, erase that ‘Lin’ character and change it to ‘Nu’ character. Only one character. That should be easy to do.”

Cheng Guan’s face turned ash-grey. “That won’t do, that won’t do!” he hastily said, “I … I am going to think of something. Shishu, please forgive Shizhi for not keeping you company you anymore.” Putting his palms together, he saluted, then turned around and left.

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[15]The character ‘shao’ of Shaolin means ‘young/little/lesser/minor’. Shaolin means ‘lesser forest’, Shaonu means ‘young maiden’.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks for the update foxs.

[tweety365]

I actually find this conversation between Cheng Guan and WXB hilarious. This old monk is good nature and gullible.

Thanks foxs. Hope you have a nice weekend.

[Gubrak]

Less competition here, that's why i got third.
Thanks for the translation Foxs

[crazee]

Sigh....fourth again.

Hi Foxs. Thanks, It actually not dry. WXB is really something. He really goes all out to get him the wife he wants.... and wow he gets to meet a monk who is an expert in Wuxia.

BTW, have a good trip down town ?? Well I live practically in town.....

[ah-gi]

Thanks a lot, foxs.

[aliderhamy]

Less competition here, that's why i got third.
Thanks for the translation Foxs

we here ... just its a more mature audiance on this thread

[foxs]

Sky, Tweety, Gubrak, Ah-gi, you are welcome. Crazee, you are funny ... I did not go 'downtwon', I went out of town, in fact, I went out of state ... Ali, it's that, or you guys are my only audience ...

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“Wait a moment!” Wei Xiaobao called, “This matter must be kept in strict confidence. If anybody in the Temple knew about it, it will be highly improper.”

“Why?” Cheng Guan asked.

“Nobody will believe you,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “They won’t know if you have thought of something. Those two young ladies are still recuperating in our Temple, if everybody is frightened, they might do obeisance and take those women as their masters. Shaolin Pai is such a big Sect, how can we scatter away just like that?”

Cheng Guan said, “Shishu’s direction is very true. This matter concerns the rise and fall, the existence or perishes of our Sect; absolutely it must be kept secret.” He was very grateful in his heart, thinking that although this martial uncle was young, his insight was far-reaching; indeed he deserved to be the respected Senior. If not for his clear sight and superior judgment, Shaolin Pai will inevitably become Shaonu Pai. Thousand-year fame cannot be redeemed in ten thousand years.

Seeing him go in a hurry, with the sleeve of his robe trembling, an obvious sign that he was in extreme panic, Wei Xiaobao thought, “Now that the old monk will stake his old life to find something, he is bound to find something. Everybody else would find a hundred mistakes in my speech, but as long as he did not say anything to anybody, this stupid monk won’t find out that I am swindling him.”

Thinking about the flowery countenance of the young woman lying on the couch, his heart was like a frisky monkey, his mind was like a cantering horse. He wanted to re-enter the room to look at her again. But after turning around and walking for only several steps, he suddenly saw the flashing blue skirt behind the curtain on the door. Thinking about the ruthlessness of the woman in blue, while he did not have Cheng Guan by his side to protect him, if he entered the room alone, he would definitely pay dearly. Without any other choice, he sighed and returned to his own meditation room.

The next day he woke up early in the morning and went straight to the Eastern Courtyard to visit. The old monk who treated her injury put his palms together and greeted him, “Good morning Shishu.”

“Is the Nu Shizhu’s injury getting better?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

The old monk replied, “That Nu Shizhu came to her senses in the middle of the night; realizing she was in our Temple, she insisted on leaving immediately, while saying rude words. Shizhi persuaded her nicely, but she said even if she died, she did not want to die in little ... little ... little monk's temple."

Hearing him humming and hawing, Wei Xiaobao knew that if the little miss did not scold him as 'little pervert thief', then she must have said 'little wicked monk'. "And then what happened?" he asked.

The old monk replied, "Shizhi advised her to leave the next morning, the Nu Shizhu struggled to get up, her Shijie helped her out. Shizhi did not dare to stop them, besides, that Nu Shizhu's injury won't be a problem anyway, so I had to let them go. I have reported this matter to the Abbot."

Wei Xiaobao nodded; he was quite disappointed, thinking, "Once this little miss left, I don't know where she is going. I don't even know her name or her surname, how am I going to find her?" He blamed the old monk for not handling this matter at the best of his ability and grumbled for a while. And then he had a second thought, "Those two girls are beautiful, they will greatly stand out from the masses. When they make their move, they have all schools all sects' martial arts in it; it should be possible to find them eventually." Thereupon he strolled toward Bo're Hall.

He saw Cheng Guan was sitting on the floor, with several hundred books piling up all around him. He had his hands supporting his head, and seemed to be very deep in thought; his eyes were bloodshot, most likely because he did not sleep at all the previous night. Looking at his appearance, it was obvious that he had not found anything good. He saw Wei Xiaobao walking in, but he simply stared at him blankly, as if he did not see him at all. Unexpectedly he was so immersed in his thought that he was completely oblivious of everything around him.

Seeing his distressed expression, Wei Xiaobao wanted to utter some words of encouragement, telling him that the two young ladies had left and that he had nothing to worry about for now. But then he had a second thought, "If he did not work diligently, how could he come up with good result? I am afraid as soon as I tell him, this old monk will goof off."

Quickly one month had passed. Wei Xiaobao often took a walk toward Bo're Hall. He saw Cheng Guan was getting thinner to the bone and looked alone and helpless, his countenance was wan and sallow, and never said anything to him. He looked like an idiot, sometimes he would stand up and punch and kick for a while, and then he would shake his head and sit down again. Wei Xiaobao only thought that this old monk was very stupid, after working hard for more than a month, he was still unable to find anything useful. He did not know that each one of Shaolin Pai martial arts paid particular attention to strong foundation, slow progress was preferable to a fast one. A crash course was precisely Shaolin martial arts' big taboo. Although Cheng Guan knew almost all martial arts under the heavens, for him to violate his own Sect's rule by creating a crash course technique was actually akin to asking him not to conform to the teachings he had been following all his life.

The weather was gradually getting warmer. Wei Xiaobao had been staying in the Temple for several months. Recently, there was not a day pass by when he did not think about that girl in green several dozen times in a day.

One particular day he felt stifled and was extremely bored. Taking his money, he went down Mount Shaoshi to the west, toward a small town of considerable size called Tantoupu. He went to a clothing store and bought a set of clothes, head covering, shoes and socks. Then he changed in a cave outside the town, putting the monk robe and shoes into a bundle, which he then slung over his shoulder. When he looked at his reflection on a mountain stream, he looked like a son of a wealthy family.

Returning to the small town, he went to a restaurant and indulged himself with chicken, duck, fish and meat. "I'll find a casino and gamble for a bit," he thought. Knowing that gambling establishments are usually located in alleys, he went through the streets and alleys, looking to the east and glancing to the west.

Each time he entered an alley, he listened to shouting and drinking sounds. By the time he entered the seventh alley, finally he heard someone shouted, "Pair of earth, heavenly nine king, sweep the decks!" As soon as these words entered his ears, he felt an indescribable comfort in his heart; compared to the 'Namo Amitabha Buddha' that he heard all the times in Shaolin Temple, it was like comparing the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss with the eighteen layers of hell.

He quickly went to the door and stretched out his hand to push it. A man in his forties, wearing a hat at a crooked angle, came out, and looked at him with squinted eyes. "What do you want?" he asked.

From his pocket Wei Xiaobao took out an ingot of silver and tossed it back and forth from one hand to the other, and said with a laugh, "My hands itch, I want to lose a few taels."

"This is not a casino, it's a brothel," the man said, "Xiao Xiongdi, you want to visit a prostitute, come back in several years."

Wei Xiaobao had been craving for some gambling for a long time, as soon as he heard the words 'pair of earth, heavenly nine king, sweep the decks', even if the sky was falling, he simply must bet. What's more, coming to a brothel was just like coming home; how could he be willing to leave? He laughed and said, "Just find me several free ladies and prepare some tea, tonight Shaoye [young master] wants to have three tables of drinking party." And he stuffed the silver ingot worth two taels into the man's hand and said with a laugh, "To buy you a drink."

The turtle slave[16] was greatly delighted; seeing the visitor was a grand customer, immediately his face was blooming with smile. "Thank you for Shaoye's gift!" he said. Raising his voice, he called out, "We have visitor!" while respectfully invited him to enter.

The female brothel keeper came out to greet him. Seeing it was a fourteen, fifteen years old teenager with luxurious clothing, she thought, "This kid stole money from his home and come here to squander it; must rip him off heavily." With a giggle she pulled his hand and said, "Xiao Shaoye, we have a rule here, just like the lucky poster on the door[17]. You want to see a girl, you must pay up front."

With a wooden expression Wei Xiaobao said, "Do you think I am a newly hatched bird who has never visited a brothel before? We are the experts here, Laozi opens this kind of establishment at home." He groped his pocket for a pack of banknotes, roughly three, four hundred taels, and slapped it onto the table. He said, "A table of tea five qian, including one girl. A 'flower head' is three taels, the servant who pours tea five qian, the Auntie five qian. Laozi is in a very good mood today, I'll double everything."

A succession of brothel shoptalk without half a word of layman term had caught the procuress off-guard; she was stunned and stared blankly for half a day before finally she laughed and said, "Turns out Xiao Shaoye is of the same profession, I was mistaken. I wonder which courtyards does Xiao Shaoye open?"

Wei Xiaobao said, "In Yangzhou Laozi opens Li Chun Yuan [Lovely Spring Courtyard] and Yi Qing Yuan [Harmony Passion Courtyard], in Beijing I open Shang Xin Lou [Bountiful Heart Balcony, 'lou' - multi-storied house] and Chang Chun Ge [Carefree Spring Pavilion], in Tianjin I open Rou Qing Yuan [Tender Feeling Courtyard] and Wen Ju Lou [Yearning for Chrysanthemum Balcony]; six affiliates." Actually these six establishments were Yangzhou's famous brothels, otherwise, he would not be able to fabricate six brothels' names in such a short period of time.

Listening to him, the procuress thought, 'Oh my goodness, the big boss of six courtyard affiliates is here; his business must be very big.' Thereupon she laughed and asked, "What kind of girl would Xiao Shaoye like to accompany you to have a heart-to-heart talk?"

Wei Xiaobao said, "I suppose a little place like this won't have a Suzhou girl. Do you have any Datong[18] girl?"

The procuress' face showed an awkward expression as she said in a low voice, "We do have one, but she is fake goods; actually she is a Shanxi Fenyang[19] girl, she can only fool someone with more money than sense, but not a connoisseur."

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, "Just call all the girls in the courtyard, Shaoye will reward everybody three taels each."

The procuress was greatly delighted; she passed on the order for all the girls to come. In an instant the room was crammed with twittering and squawking girls. In this little town brothel, naturally the girls had rough hands and thick feet, with faces adorned with coarse rouge powder. Each one pulled his hand or embraced his waist; everybody was doing her utmost to curry his favor. Wei Xiaobao was really happy. Although these prostitutes had thick eyebrows, high cheekbones or mouths as big as sacrificial bowl, which were practically several points more ugly than himself, but since he was little, he was determined to be the rich man and show extravagance in the brothel. Today his life-long dream had come true, hence he was immensely proud of himself. Pulling the prostitute by his side, he planted a kiss on her lips, and was assaulted by a flourishing stench of green onion and garlic that he almost threw up.

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[16] This is literal translation. FYI, 'turtle' in Chinese can also mean 'son of a b1tch' or 'b@stard'.

[17] Referring to poster, envelope, etc. made of red paper, used especially at Chinese Ney Year.

[18] A prefecture level city in Shanxi.

[19] A county level city in Luliang prefecture, Shanxi.

[tweety365]

LOL, the stench of green onion and garlic was too much Too funny!

Thanks foxs!

[smurf120]

2nd!!!!!!! Foxs - I was away in Europe the last two weeks - but I tried to follow your posts whereever I could get free wifi! But my phone had trouble signing in so I could not comment.

The old monk is so gullible. I really don't like Ah Ke (green girl) - I hope I like her more in this "adaptation".

I almost spat out my water when I read

"assaulted by a flourishing stench of green onion and garlic that he almost threw up."

Thanks for great work!

[Gubrak]

Third !!! (again).....

Thanks Foxs

[crazee]

Aww.... fourth again!!!.... is it because of the time diff ? I' +8hrs GMT so I suppose always late, well one day i'm going to stick up late and........No 1 heh heh heh...

Thanks Foxs,
Wow, did not know there are so much to learn about going to a brothel....I'll be lost and ripped off my clothes if I were to enter one, and visit a brothel to have a girl breathing garlic...... spare me please!!! Pay for the torture !!!

Well, what a lonely XB, have to pay for company...so sad and heart broken too.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs. Hope you had a great out of town trip!

WXB, a kid, visiting a brothel and kissing a prostitute just doesn't sit right with me. Why can't JY make his age a little older?

[IcyFox]

Maybe you guys can aim to be the 1st person before Foxs instead.

(Meaning, comment just before Foxs posts an update. LOL)