The Deer and The Cauldron

[foxs]

Gubrak, you are welcome, thanks for dropping by. Sky, KChill, it was good to hear you are alright. I was going to ask. Crazee, it is almost the end of dry season, is it? Sorry guys, my home computer did not survive the move, I have limited resources in my translation effort. Please bear with me.

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Wei Xiaobao’s injury was light, plus Shaolin Temple’s metal cut wound medicine was extremely effective; after recuperating for aboutten days, he was completely healed. He was the current Emperor’s proxy, he held a place of honor in the Temple, nobody would dare to ask about his business. Since nobody knew about this, as long as he did not say anything, others would not find out.

During his recovery, Cheng Guan recorded the two women’s each style and each move clearly, he also figured out a way to counter each one. As soon as Wei Xiaobao was healed, he passed on each move each style to him. Although the moves Cheng Guan taught him were quite diverse, they were based primarily on the ‘Picking Flower Grab and Capture’ technique. ‘Picking Flower Grab and Capture’ was Shaolin Pai’s profound martial art, it used pure and profound internal energy as the foundation, the moves were not complicated, but were powerful and elegant, without the slightest degree of aggressiveness.

According to Zen Buddhism legend passed down from generation to generation, at the assembly on Lingshan, Sakyamuni Buddha picked a golden Boluo flower and showed it to the crowd. The audience was silent, no one understood his meaning, only Revered Monk Jiaye [Kasyapa] broke into a smile. Buddha said, “I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle [D]harma [G]ate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa.[3]”

Mahakasyapa was one of Buddha’s ten main disciples, he was known as ‘the first toutuo[4]’, the Zen Buddhists revered him as their forefather. Shaolin Temple can be classified as Zen Buddhism, who pays particular attention of self-awareness. Thinking about Buddha picking the flower, Kasyapa smiled. Without a word, he had already comprehended the meaning; wasn’t that a state of comprehension beyond amazing?

The people of later generation used the term ‘picking flower’ as a name for this qin na [grab and capture/grappling] technique. Naturally each move was beautiful and each style elegant, a lot more interesting to watch than ordinary flipping of the hand or pulling of the leg. It’s just that Wei Xiaobao did not have any foundation in internal energy cultivation, using this kind of refined and elegant technique against a martial art master, as soon as the opponent lightly pushed, he would be immediately thrown down and rolled around several times on the ground. He fell down until his nose turned blue and his eyes swollen, needless to say, he would either wail or laugh loudly. Luckily those two women did not have any internal energy either, hence the technique he learned would come in handy in dealing with them. Cheng Guan thought that the opponents were a couple of girls, they must not treat them roughly, hence the reason he put emphasis on this kind of technique.

When Wei Xiaobao learned martial art from Hai Dafu, because he was under supervision, he received double benefits: learning the move and how to use it, as a result, he did learn something from Hai Dafu. Later on Chen Jinnan gave him a martial art manual, which he only learned several times, and then he stopped altogether because it was too difficult. As for the six moves taught by Cult Leader Hong, husband and wife, he only practiced carelessly to get the general idea; he stopped practicing as soon as he left the Divine Dragon Island. The reason he learned martial art this time was to get that green-clothes girl as his wife. He had made an oath that in order to be her husband, he was willing to climb the mountain of blades or go down a deep fryer, when he died he would enter the eighteenth level of hell. It was indeed not a small matter; surprisingly, he trained very diligently. He learned every move every style, and sparred with Cheng Guan.

After training for several days, his laziness came back, suddenly he thought about Shuang’er, “That girl’s martial art is not weak, most likely she will be able to deal with these two girls. I only need to have Shuang’er by my side as my escort, I don’t need to personally practice martial art.” But then he had a second thought, “I must use my own skill to get that green-clothed girl. It would be great to smell the fragrance of her face. If I ask Shuang’er to seal her acupoint and then I smell the fragrance of her face, I would appear too gutless, that green-clothed girl will look down on me even more. Besides, if I ask Shuang’er to do this kind of thing, although she would obey me, in her heart she must be grieved, I must not wrong her too much. Even if their faces both look happy, I have to be fair, both of them must be discontented.” In the end, he made a strenuous effort to learn the style.

One particular day Cheng Guan said, “Shishu, You are diligently learning this martial art, actually …actually it won’t do you any good. If you grab me like this, and I reacted using my internal energy, your wrist … your wrist will be … will be …”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “My wrist will be ‘crack!’ broke in two."

Cheng Guan said, “You are my superior, no way would I use my internal strength against you, Shizhi absolutely will not dare. However, in Shizhi’s opinion, practicing Shaolin Long Fist from the start, step-by-step in proper order is the way to go.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Why do you say that what we are practicing right now is not the way to go?”

“This style does not have any internal energy foundation,” Cheng Guan replied, “If you are facing a martial art master, it does not matter how ingenious the changes are, inevitably you will fail and be wiped over the floor. It is only useful to deal with those two Nu Shizhu.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed. “That’s wonderful,” he said, “The only reason I learn this is only to deal with those two Nu Shizhu.”

Cheng Guan looked at him with a baffled expression, he was completely lost. He said, “Supposing Shishu will not come across those Nu Shizhu again in the future, won’t the effort of learning this martial art be wasted? Not to mention you will delay the time to learn proper martial art.”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head and said, “If I can’t see this Nu Shizhu again, I will definitely die; what use will learning proper martial art be?” What Cheng Guan said was ‘those two Nu Shizhu’, but Wei Xiaobao was referring to ‘this Nu Shizhu’.

Cheng Guan was even more baffled; he asked, “Could it be that Shishu has been hit by that Nu Shizhu’s poison and thus must find her to get the antidote, otherwise your life would be difficult to protect?”

Wei Xiaobao said in his heart, “I was talking about the matter between a man and a woman, where did this old monk get that idea?” With a grim expression he said, “Exactly, exactly, I was hit by her poison; the poison has entered my five viscera and six bowels, into the bones and marrows of my entire body, only she can neutralize it.”

“Aiyo!” Cheng Guan exclaimed, “Our Temple’s Cheng Zhao Shidi is adept at neutralizing poison, let me ask him to come here to examine Shishu.”

Suppressing his laugh, Wei Xiaobao said, “No need, no need, the poison that hit me is actually slow to take effect, she is the only antidote, other people are useless. The old monk Cheng Zhao is even more useless.”

Cheng Guan nodded. “Turns out only she has the antidote,” he said. Wei Xiaobao was saying ‘only she was the antidote’, Cheng Guan erroneously assumed that ‘only she has the antidote’. One word makes the meaning entirely different.

The old monk was anxious, he muttered to himself, “Ay, Shishu is being hit by the strange poison of this Nu Shizhu’s unique school, luckily it is slow to take effect …”

The girl’s martial art was actually very broad and diverse, the techniques Cheng Guan came up with to counter her were not a few either, some were more challenging than the others, Wei Xiaobao did not have any martial art foundation at all, how could he learn everything in such a short period of time? Every day he sparred with Cheng Guan, oftentimes he treated this white-bearded old monk as that beautiful young green-clothed girl.Sometimes he went as far as speaking with him frivolously and treated him tenderly. Luckily Cheng Guan did not understand anything, he thought this young martial uncle had a deep comprehension of Buddhist teaching, and that he was using a profound Buddhist allegory. Cheng Guan blamed himself for being stupid for failing to grasp the essence of the attainment of the spiritual learning.

One day the two of them were talking about the two girls’ saber technique in Cheng Guan’s meditation room when the Bo’re Hall monk on duty came to the door and said, “Fangzhang Dashi [great master abbot] is inviting Shishuzu and Shibo [grand martial uncle and martial (older) uncle] to the main hall to discuss something.”

The two of them went to the Hall of Great Strength[5] and saw several dozens of guests in the Hall, some were sitting down, some were standing up. Abbot Hui Cong Chanshi was sitting on the second seat of honor to accompany the guests. On the main seats of honor sat three people. The first one was wearing Mongolian nobleman attire, he looked about twenty or so; the second one was a middle-aged Lama, thin, short and swarthy; the third one was a military officer, from his uniform it looked like he was a commander of the army, about forty something years old. Standing behind these three were a mix of several dozen military officers, Lamas, and about a dozen or so men in civilian clothing. They all looked strong and heroic, obviously they knew martial arts.

Seeing Wei Xiaobao entering the Hall, Abbot Hui Cong stood up and said, “Shidi, honored guests are descending on our Temple. This is His Highness Prince Galdan [ge’er dan] of Mongolia, this is Da Fashi[6] Great Lama Chang Qi of Tibet, and this one is Ma Bao, Ma Daren[7], a military commander under Ping Xi Wang’s banner.” Turning toward the three guests, he said, “And this is Lao Na’s Shidi, Hui Ming Chanshi.”

Everybody could see that Wei Xiaobao was young man with a flippant expression, a complete picture of a frivolous teenager, yet unexpectedly he was a Chanshi of the same standing as the Abbot himself; they were all astonished. Prince Galdan could not help but laughing; he said, “This little eminent monk is really young and fascinating. Ha ha … odd, very odd.”

Wei Xiaobao put his palms together and said, “Amitabha, this big prince is really big and amusing. Hee hee … strange, very strange!”

Galdan angrily said, “What’s so amusing and strange aboutme?”

Wei Xiaobao replied, “Whatever is fascinating and odd about the little monk is the same as whatever is amusing and strange about Your Highness; it’s hard to differentiate between the elder and younger brother, one is just as bad as the other.” Finished speaking, he sat down on the seat below Abbot Hui Cong, while Cheng Guan stood behind him. Hearing Wei Xiaobao, everybody thought that it was an unfathomable truth, and they all secretly praised him.

Abbot Hui Cong said, “I wonder what instruction the three honored guests have by gracing our humble Temple with your presence.”

Lama Chang Qi said, “The three of us came across each other by accident along the way. Upon talking to each other, we agreed that Shaolin Temple is the Mount Tai and Big Dipper constellation [i.e.the ultimate] of martial art study in the Central Plains, worthy of our admiration. The three of us are uncouth people of the borders, what we see and hear is shallow, thereupon we come to your precious temple together to admire. We will be much honored to see the eminent monks’ respected example.” Althoughhe was a Tibetan Lama, he spoke with good Beijing bureaucratic language, his voice was sharp, clear and bright, his manner in speaking was elegant.

“We do not dare,” Hui Cong said, “In Mongolia, Tibet and Yunnan, three places, Buddhist teaching is usually flourishing. The three gentlemen have received Buddha’s illumination for a long time, your wisdom and self-awareness must be clear, what other direction we can hope to give you?” Chang Qi Lama was talking about martial art study, but Abbot Hui Cong was talking about the Dharma. Although Shaolin Temple was renowned all over the world for its martial art, yet all the eminent monks of the Temple took diligently cultivated Buddhist doctrine as the proper way, they always thought that the martial art study was merely a minor detail to protect and sustain the Buddhist teaching.

Galdan said, “I heard that Shaolin Temple’s previous generations passed on altogether seventy-two special skills, which overawe the world, not often to find a match. Is it possible for Fangzhang Dashi to ask the eminent monks to demonstrate them one by one so that Xiao Wang [little king, referring to self] and the others could have our eyes opened?”

Hui Cong said, “It is only proper to let Your Highness know that the hearsay of the Jianghu is not to be trusted. Our humble Temple’s monks are diligently cultivating Zen meditation in order to reach true enlightenment. Although some of us have spare time to practice martial art, it is nothing more than to have a strong and healthy body. Trivial small skills, not worth mentioning.”

“Fangzhang,” Galdan said, “You are indeed frank and candid. All we ask is that you demonstrate these 72 unique skills, we only want to watch, not to steal it; why should you be narrow-minded?”

ShaolinTemple’s reputation was simply too great, over the last thousand years, nearly every month there were people who pay a visit asking for advice. Some came with sincerity because they really wanted to learn, some with evil intention to pick a quarrel. The monks of the Temple always politely declined. Even if the visitors were extremely arrogant, the Temple’s monks always treated them with due respect, and would never argue. Only when the visitors resorted to violence would the monks be forced into fighting back. Otherwise, they would always send off the visitors with good wishes. Something like this Prince Galdan just said, Abbot Hui Cong had heard countless times. He simply smiled and said, “If the three gentlemen are willing to expound the Zen teaching and discuss the Buddhist doctrine, Lao Seng [old monk] will convene the monks to respectfully listen to your discourse. As for some martial art, our Temple always follows the rule that we do not dare to show off our meager skills before an expert, to be presumptuous toward the visiting benefactors.”

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[3] From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower_sermon. Mahakasyapa actually means ‘Great Kasyapa’.

[4]Toutuo is Buddhist monk who did not shave his head.

[5]The main hall of a Buddhist temple containing the main image of veneration.

[6]Reminder: fashi is one who has mastered the sutras.

[7]Reminder: daren [lit. big man] is a title of respect toward government official.

[tweety365]

LOL, WXB is learning martial arts to get a woman.

I've always hated the way WXB acted toward this particular girl. I don't like the girl, but I also don't like WXB relentlessly stalking her. Shuang’er is still the best. He should appreciate her more.

Thanks, foxs.

[smurf120]

Terrible that he wants more what he can't have instead of appreciating what he does have. sad.

[tweety365]

Terrible that he wants more what he can't have instead of appreciating what he does have. sad.

So true. Aside from being more physically beautiful, the girl in green cannot compare to Shuang'er in terms of temperment and personality. Shuang'er may not be drop dead gorgeous, but she is described as being very pretty and cute. I suppose the grass is greener on the other side and the things you can't easily obtain are always better

[bchin22]

He does worse than merely stalk her. Let's just say that in the real world, somebody like him would have gotten life in prison. This is one of the reasons I've always hated WXB. He's beyond lecherous.

LOL, WXB is learning martial arts to get a woman.

I've always hated the way WXB acted toward this particular girl. I don't like the girl, but I also don't like WXB relentlessly stalking her. Shuang’er is still the best. He should appreciate her more.

Thanks, foxs.

[Gubrak]

This time wxb act too much. All just only for this green girl. Seems thie girl has an outstanding beauty. A bit boring section of the story, hope Foxs still enjoy translating.
Thanks Foxs.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs. How do you like your new home so far?

[crazee]

I suppose it always the case of the more difficult it is to get, the more one yearns for it.

Thanks foxs, that was quite a long one...
The temperature here is quite constant thruout the year but of late the it seems that it's getting hotter....

[foxs]

Tweety, Smurf, Bchin, Gubrak, I had the same thought: it was no more than physical beauty. So shallow ... Sky, thanks for asking. It is not the perfect house, but it will work for temporary shelter. We want to buy a house someday. Crazee, which part of Malaysia do you live? KChill, I forgot to ask the other day, the only Myrtle Beach I know is in South Carolina. Is that where you went? At first I thought you went to a Californian coast somewhere.

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Galdan’s eyebrows stood up as he loudly said, “In that case, Shaolin Temple only enjoys unearned reputation. The Temple’s monks’ martial art is not as good as dog fart, not worth a qian.”

Hui Cong smiled and said, “Everything is life is indeed fabricated, is indeed not as good as dog fart, not worth a qian. The Five Aggregates [from Sanskrit ‘skandha’] are empty, our bodies are empty, reputation is no more than worldly possessions. Your Highness says our humble Temple only enjoys unearned reputation; that is the truth.”

Galdan had not expected this old monk did not get the least bit angry; he could not help but was startled. Standing up, he laughed loudly while pointing his finger at Wei Xiaobao and said, “Little monk, are you also not as good as dog fart, not worth a qian?”

Wei Xiaobao giggled and said, “Naturally Big Prince surpasses Little Monk. Little monk is indeed not as good as dog fart, not worth a qian. Big Prince is definitely as good as dog fart, and worth a qian. This is called you win by a gambling chip.” Immediately some people from among those who stand snickered.

Galdan was furious; he wanted to leave his seat and use force against Wei Xiaobao immediately, but then he had a second thought, “This little monk’s seniority in Shaolin Temple is very high, perhaps there is something wrong here, which I don’t know yet.” Panting with rage, he struggled hard to suppress his anger.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Your Highness does not need to lose your temper. You must know that the smelliest thing in the world is not dog fart, rather, it is one’s words. There are some people, who, when they speak, stink to the high heaven, just like … just like … hey, hey, I don’t need to say it. As for not worth a qian, it is not the lowliest thing. The lowliest thing is someone who owes other tens of million, hundreds of million taels, yet refuse to pay. Whether Your Highness owe others money or not, you alone know it in your heart.” Galdan was stunned with his mouth agape, temporarily he did not know how to respond.

Abbot Hui Cong said, “Shidi’s words contain profound Buddhist allegory; my admiration, my admiration. Affairs of life, karma and retribution, everything has its cause and definitely has its fruit. Committing evil deeds will result in evil consequence. Not worth a qian is no more than ‘without virtue, without malice’, it is a lot better than owing innumerable evil debts.”

Eminent monks of Zen Buddhism were constantly in search of Zen truth. In actuality, Wei Xiaobao was saying those things only to ridicule Galdan’s casual remark, yet in Abbot Hui Cong’s ears, it concealed deep crucial points.

Listening to the Abbot’s explanation, Cheng Guan was immediately enlightened; he could not help but sighing in admiration, “Hui Ming Shishu is young yet virtuous,” he said happily, “He had attained the wonderful comprehension of the truth. Lao Na has been studying under him for several months, when I meditate recently, my brain seems to be clearing up a lot.”

A little monk babbled nonsense, two old monks echoed each other; to outsiders, they seemed to be deliberately trying to embarrass Galdan. Galdan’s face turned deep red; suddenly he sprang up from his chair and pounced on Wei Xiaobao. The hosts and the guests were sitting opposite to each other, separated by a distance of approximately two zhang [±20 feet/6 m], but his movement was vigorous and nimble, quickly he arrived in front of Wei Xiaobao, both hands formed a couple of claws, one clawed Wei Xiaobao’s face, the other clawed his chest. Before the claws even arrived, Wei Xiaobao had already felt a strong gust of wind enveloping his body. He wanted to dodge, but there was not the least bit of leeway, and had no choice but to resign himself to extinction.

Abbot Hui Cong’s right hand sleeve lightly brushed away to block in front of Galdan. As Galdan’s powerful force collided with his sleeve, Galdan felt the chi and blood inside his chest bubbling up, as if he was hitting a thick steel wall, lined with a layer of cotton on its surface. Without being able to control his own body, he staggered back three steps. He made a strenuous effort to halt, but unexpectedly he could not control his feet and was pushed back three more steps. In the meantime, the incoming force vanished, but in that instant, his own strength also vanished without a trace. He was greatly shocked; his knees went soft and he fell sitting down. “Bad,” he thought, “This time I am greatly humiliated.” He had just had that thought when he suddenly realized that his buttocks came in contact with a hard wooden board; unexpectedly he was returning to his own chair.

The force behind the flick of Abbot Hui Cong’s sleeve was soft and dispersed, there was no trace of aggressiveness at all. The force that collided with the opponent was exceptionally accurate, it was just enough to push Galdan back to his own chair. If the force was slightly stronger, Galdan would undoubtedly crash and break the chair, and he would tumble backward. If the force was slightly lighter, Galdan would not reach the chair so that when he fell down, he would sat on the ground.

When some of the visitors who happened to have profound martial art witnessed how Hui Cong’s light flick with his sleeve was brimming with an outstanding attainment in martial art training, they could not help but bursting out in loud cheer.

Not being humiliated on the spot, Galdan was somewhat consoled. Quietly he took a deep breath and felt that his internal energy was not damaged; the old monk did not injure him internally at all, hence was delighted. But then he recalled that just now he was so hot-headed, yet it seemed that he was not humiliated; he realized that in fact he had made a complete fool of himself, immediately his face turned red. Hearing some people behind him cheering, he presumed that they were not cheering him being beaten by the old monk; his anger flared again.

Wei Xiaobao was still shaken. Hui Cong turned around and said to him, “Shidi, your mental power is indeed superior, external force coming fiercely, you neither see nor take any notice. The ‘Collection of Great Treasures Sutra’ says: ‘Like a man in a forest of thistles and thorns, being motionless means the thorn will not harm him. Rashness does not arise in his heart, anxiety will fade away happily. Rashness moves in his heart, the thorns will immediately prick him.’ The ancient sutra says, ‘When the heart is bitter, there will be no mood for happiness.’ Shidi is young, yet unexpectedly your meditation cultivation has reached the extremely high state of ‘constantly not in the mood, constantly motionless’; your root is indeed very deep, you have great wisdom and great intelligence.”

How would he know that not only Wei Xiaobao did not have the power to fight back, even if he had the desire to dodge, he simply could not? Galdan’s pounce was too fast; it was called the ‘thunderbolt surpass the covering of the ear’; it was not that one did not want to cover his ears, but rather he did not have time to cover his ears. With a clear heart Abbot Hui Cong was always looking for orthodox skill, normally he diligently and single-mindedly trying to reach the ‘non-self’ realm; therefore, when he saw Wei Xiaobao surprisingly did not care about either his own life and death or safety and danger, he could not help but admiring him completely. As for him warding off Galdan’s attack using the ‘worn-out cassock skill’ by sending his force via the flick of his sleeve, he felt it was not worth-mentioning instead.

Cheng Guan was even more full of admiration, he said, “Vajra Sutra says, ‘no self, no people, no living things, no long life’; unexpectedly Hui Ming Shishu has reached that state. Some other day he must have reached the Aruduoluo[8], three-despise three-enlightenment.”

Galdan had been in an uncontrollable rage, listening to these two old monks showering praises to this little monk, he roared, “Halisiba’er, nimahong, jianubiding’er!” Several warriors under his command behind him quickly waved their hands, several yellow rays flashed, nine golden projectiles separately flew toward Hui Cong, Cheng Guan and Wei Xiaobao’s chests.
The two sides were very close to each other, plus Wei Xiaobao and the others did not understand since Galdan gave the order to throw the projectiles in Mongolian, hence the projectiles were totally unexpected.

The nine projectiles came swiftly and were already at their chests. Hui Cong and Cheng Guan simultaneously cried out, “Aiyo!” Hui Cong still used the ‘worn-out cassock skill’ by flicking his sleeve to wrap around three projectiles. Cheng Guan joined his palms together with the move ‘saluting three precious treasures[9]’ to catch the three golden projectiles in his palms. ‘Pop!’ the three projectiles flying toward Wei Xiaobao all hit his chest.

These nine projectiles arrived almost at the same time, Hui Cong and Cheng Guan were going to help him, but it was simply too late. They were all shocked, but they only heard ‘plink, plink, plonk’, the three projectiles fell to the ground. Wei Xiaobao was wearing his treasured vest, the golden projectiles could not harm him.

Instantly the main hall was abuzz with sensation. Everybody saw how this little monk was very young, yet unexpectedly had mastered Shaolin Pai’s highest internal energy cultivation, the ‘Jin Gang Hu Ti Shen Gong[10]’; it was indeed inconceivable. They all thought, “No wonder this little monk belongs to Shaolin Pai’s ‘Hui’ generation, of the same standing with Shaolin Temple’s head monk, Hui Cong Fangzhang, who has made his name for several decades.”

Actually, Hui Cong and Cheng Guan’s techniques in catching the projectiles were also extremely brilliant; were it not for their internal energy cultivation had reached the stage of perfection, what they did would be very difficult to accomplish. It’s just that Wei Xiaobao’s ‘skill’ was too marvelous that the crowd did not pay attention to these two old monks.

While the crowd was still in awe, Chang Qi Lama laughed and said, “Little eminent monk’s ‘Jin Gang Hu Ti Shen Gong’ has been trained to such level, it is indeed not easy. However, it seems to me that this divine skill still has some shortcoming, it is still unable to shake the secret projectiles off completely, to such an extent that the monk robe is poked by three small holes.”

According to old legend, when this ‘Jin Gang Hu Ti Shen Gong’ has been trained to reach the pinnacle, there will be a layer of invisible force field around the body, so that before the enemy’s weapon or secret projectile even reaches the body, it will be shaken off immediately. However, it was no more than a legend circulating among the Wulin world, nobody knew whether there was a real person who had really trained to that level. When Chang Qi Lama said those words, people knew he was simply trying to ‘look for a bone in a chicken egg’, he was bent on playing down the opponent’s marvelous ability.

Being hit by the three golden projectiles, Wei Xiaobao’s chest was really painful, one of the projectile hit really close to his wound that the pain penetrated deep into his bones and marrow; he could not even breathe, how could he speak? All he could do was forcing a laugh. Yet the crowd thought that his cultivation had reached such an extremely high level that he did not feel it was worth the trouble to respond to Chang Qi’s pointless provocation. Quite a few people mused, “You said his divine skill has not been trained to perfection, I want to see if I shoot you three projectiles, whether three big holes will appear on your chest or not, not just three small holes appear on your clothes.” It’s just that they came together, so it was inconvenient to ridicule their companion.

Seeing Wei Xiaobao’s fierceness, Galdan’s rage immediately vanished. He thought, “Shaolin Pai’s martial art is indeed formidable.”

Chang Qi continued, “Finally Shaolin Temple’s martial art has indeed increased our knowledge; definitely it was not an unearned reputation, not as good as dog’s fart. However, we heard that your precious Temple has given shelter to women, which is rather deficient in following the clear regulation of monastic discipline.”

Hui Cong’s countenance sank; he said, “Great Lama is wrong! Our humble Temple does not accept female benefactors to enter the Temple to worship Buddha; where did you get the idea that we give shelter to women?”

Chang Qi laughed and said, “But the Jianghu is abuzz, a lot of people are saying that.”

Abbot Hui Cong smiled and said, “Why would we want to pay attention to rumors in Jianghu? Ultimately we must be like Hui Ming Shidi, external force coming fiercely, our hearts will be unmoved. That is the self-awareness of the wonderful truth, the evidence of true enlightenment skill.”

Chang Qi Lama said, “I heard that in this young eminent monk’s meditation room hidden an outstandingly beautiful woman, furthermore, it was he who kidnapped her with force. Could it be that Hui Ming Chanshi’s heart is also completely unmoved by this beautiful woman?”

By this time Wei Xiaobao had been able to catch his breat; he was shocked and thought, “How did they know?”

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[8] Transliteration of Sanskrit term, Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi - "Obtaining no greater passing over, all pervading perfect awakening" (Courtesy of Ace High).

[9] Referring to the Three Precious Treasures of Buddhism: the Buddha himself, his teaching (Dharma) and his monastic order (Sangha).

[10] Jin Gang – Buddha’s warrior attendant or diamond (or hard metal), hu ti - protect the body, shen gong – divine ability.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks for the update foxs. And good luck with your future home.

The girl in green is not but trouble! Hopefully she doesn't make another appearance anytime soon.

[crazee]

Thanks for the update foxs. And good luck with your future home.

The girl in green is not but trouble! Hopefully she doesn't make another appearance anytime soon.

Yeah.... trouble....nothing but trouble. looks like she attracts trouble...of course no entirely due to her fault but somehow things get eventful when she is around.

Thanks Foxs. looks like you're settled down already.... and that's pretty fast.

As for myself...I'm from central Malaysia the "Nine States"...migrated all the way south and staying at the tip..Johore Bahru but works in Singapore.

[Gubrak]

Luckily wxb has his treasured vest
Thanks Foxs

[crazee]

Luckily wxb has his treasured vest
Thanks Foxs

I don't mind wearing one here..... we have muggers slashing ppl just to rob them of their money.....

[foxs]

Sky, thanks. It might take me quite some time to buy a house. It is much more expensive here ... Crazee, my brother also lives and works in Singapore, but he is going to marry a Malaysian. Gubrak, thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.

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Then he immediately understood, “That’s right, that Miss wearing blue clothes ran away. Obviously she went back to their teacher to report. Looks like these men are the reinforcement she sent; today they are here to rescue my wife. He said I have a beautiful woman in my room, in that case, after my wife ran away, she has not met with them.” At once he smiled and said, “Whether there is a beautiful woman in my room or not will be evident as soon as you look. Gentlemen, there is no harm in you going to look.”

In a loud voice Galdan said, “Alright, we will search the Temple. As the water receded, the rocks appear.” Finished speaking, he rose up and waved his left hand. “Search the Temple!” he ordered. The men under his command started to move toward the back of the Hall.

Hui Cong said, “Your Highness wants to search our Temple, I wonder under whose order?”

Galdan said, “My order is enough, why must I receive other people’s order?”

Hui Cong said, “You are mistaken. Your Highness is a Mongolian Prince, if we were in Mongolia, you may give order at will. Shaolin Temple is not within Mongolian borders, hence we are not under Your Highness’ jurisdiction.”

Galdan pointed to Commander Ma and said, “He is an imperially appointed official, with him issuing the order to search the Temple should be enough.” He saw how superior Shaolin monks’ martial arts were, plus they had many more people. If a fight broke, the several dozens men on his side would not be their match. Thereupon he added, “You are defying the Imperial Court’s order; that can be considered rebellion.”

“Defying the Imperial Court’s order, Shaolin Temple will not dare,” Hui Cong said, “However, this gentlemen is a military official under the Ping Xi Wang of Yunnan’s banner. Even if Ping Xi Wang’s power grew, it won’t reach Henan province.”

Hui Cong actually was an astute man, it was only when discussing Zen’s truth that he gave no thought to worldly affair. Apart from that, he was quite knowledgeable in other affairs; he was completely different from Cheng Guan who did not understand anything about the outside world.

Chang Qi Lama laughed and said, “This young eminent monk has agreed, why should Fangzhang Dashi use that pretext to stop the search? Could it be that the beautiful woman is not in Hui Ming Chanshi’s room, but actually in … in … hee hee … in Fangzhang Dashi’s meditation room?”

“Amitabha,” Hui Cong said, “Sin, sin. Why would Dashi utter such words?”

Suddenly someone behind Galdan spoke in a delicate voice, “Your Highness, my Shimei was clearly captured by this little monk, quickly tell them to hand her over, otherwise we definitely won’t let this matter drop, we will burn Shaolin Temple to the ground.” It was a female voice, but the one speaking was a man, with sallow complexion and face full of beard.

As soon as Wei Xiaobao heard it, he knew this person was that girl in blue in disguise. She put some yellow wax on her face and stuck some fake beard. He was unable to restrain his ecstasy, “These past several days I was worried because I did not know my wife’s school or sect, I did not know her name or surname. She turned her back on her husband and ran away, where would I go to find her? Now I know that they belong to this Mongolian Prince’s group. Very good, very good. She won’t escape from me.”

Hui Cong also recognized her; he said, “Turns out this is the Miss who came to our Temple and injured people the other day. There was another Miss who was mending her wound in our Temple; she is not coming with Miss this time?”

The girl angrily said, “Afterwards my Shimei was captured and brought to your Temple. That old monk was his accomplice, it was him who defeated my Shimei.” While saying that she pointed to Cheng Guan.

Wei Xiaobao was greatly alarmed; he mused, “Aiyo! Not good! The old monk Cheng Guan cannot lie, this affair will be exposed. What should I do?” Momentarily he was at a loss of what to do.

The girl pointed to Cheng Guan and loudly said, “Old monk, tell me, tell me, am I telling the truth?”

Cheng Guan put his palms together and said, “Please tell us where did the Nu Shizhu, your respected Shimei go? My Shishu was hit by her violent poison, only she has the antidote. Nu Shizhu is infinitely merciful, please beseech your respected Shimei to quickly grant the antidote. Although Hui Ming Shishu’s wisdom is profound, he is free and does not care about life and death, considering life and death as the Nirvana, the Nirvana as life and death, but … ay …”

He was babbling a string of incoherent sentences. Although other people could not comprehend what he was saying, they all knew that the girl was not in the monastery; moreover, Wei Xiaobao was poisoned by her and was looking for her for the antidote, otherwise his life would be difficult to protect. Everyone could see Cheng Guan’s simple appearance, his words were extremely sincere, they all believed he was not lying. They thought, “Even if the woman was indeed hidden in the Temple and the Abbot allow us to search, Shaolin Temple has hundreds of rooms and thousands of residence, how could we search everything in such a short period of time? If we really want to search, most likely we will only invite a rebuke in vain.”

With a sharp voice the girl shouted, “Clearly you have captured and brought my Shimei into the Temple, perhaps you have already killed her. You are evil monks who offend the Heaven and disregard reasons, you must have had destroy her body to leave no trace, naturally we won’t find her.” Toward the end, her anger mixed with anxiety that her voice turned into sobbing.

Galdan nodded, “That makes sense. This … this little monk is not a good person.”

The girl pointed to Wei Xiaobao and cursed, “You are an evil man, that day in the brothel you fooled around with a lot of bad women, when you saw my Shimei’s beauty, you were having an evil thought. It must be because my Shimei was unwilling to … unwilling to come with you that you killed her. If you can go to the brothel, what other bad things you can’t do?”

When Hui Cong heard this, he showed a faint smile, thinking that it was absurd. Cheng Guan did not know what kind of place was a ‘brothel’, he thought it was a place similar to Shaolin Temple’s Jielu Courtyard, Damo Courtyard, or Bodhi Courtyard[11]. He thought, “Xiao Shishu is fearlessly forging ahead, diligently doing good works and practicing Buddhist teachings. This is the ‘forging ahead vigorously boluomi[12]’ of the six paramita. Leading a pious life in a brothel is also very good!”

In his heart, Wei Xiaobao was very anxious; he was afraid she would go into the details and narrate how he deliberately created some trouble.

Suddenly from behind Commander Ma a man stepped forward, cupped his fist and said, “Miss, Xiao Ren[13] knows that this Chanshi is practicing strict and refined monastic discipline; he would never set foot in a brothel. I am afraid it was a baseless rumor.”

As soon as Wei Xiaobao saw him, he was delighted. Turned out this man was Yang Yizhi whom he had met in Beijing. He was escorting Wu Yingxiong to Beijing. Presumably Wu Yingxiong had returned to Yunnan and now he came to Henan with Commander Ma. All along he was hanging his head low and stood behind other people, thereupon Wei Xiaobao did not immediately recognize him.

The girl angrily said, “How do you know? Do you know him?”

“Xiao Ren knows this young Chanshi,” Yang Yizhi respectfully replied, “Our Heir Apparent also knows him. This young Chanshi has shown enormous kindness toward our Wangye’s [master king] family. Before he left home, he was a Gong-gong in the Imperial Palace. Consequently, there must be no such thing as going to a brothel, or forcing your respected Shimei, and so on. Please Miss understand.”

When the crowd heard him, “Oh!” they exclaimed. They all thought, “If he was a court eunuch, naturally he could not visit a prostitute, even more impossible for him to kidnap a woman and hide her in the Temple.”

Looking at everybody’s expression, the girl realized that they did not believe her; she grew even more angry. With a shrill voice she said, “How do you know he was a eunuch? If he was a eunuch, why did he say he wanted to take … to take my Shimei as … as his wife? Not only this little monk talked nonsense, that old monk is also oily-mouthed and a smooth talker, they love to take advantage of other people.” While saying that, she pointed her finger at Cheng Guan.

The crowd could see that Cheng Guan was over eighty years old, with a rather dumb expression. Only a while ago they heard him stammering, when he was trying to express his thought with difficulty. It would be almost impossible to find someone more ‘oily-mouthed and smooth talking’ than he was. Hence they did not believe the girl even more. They all thought that because they listened to her one-sided wild fantasy today they had come to Shaolin Temple and made a fool of themselves; they were quite regretful.

Yang Yizhi said, “Miss, you did not know that before he left home, this young Chanshi was very famous; he was the Gui Gong-gong who has put that big treacherous court official Oboi to death. Our Prince was framed by some crafty scoundrels, he was in danger of suffering an unredressed injustice if not for this young Chanshi vigorously explaining the facts in front of His Majesty. This great kindness and great favor so far has not been repaid yet.”

Everybody had heard the name Xiao Guizi who killed Oboi, they all knew that he was Kangxi’s most favorite little eunuch. They could not help but exclaimed, ‘Oh!’ while their faces showed admiration.

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Yang Xiong, long time no see. Is your Heir Apparent well? It was a minor matter of the past, why do you keep mentioning it?”

Yang Yizhi came along to Mount Shaoshi with Commander Ma. Other than Ping Xi Wang’s people, Galdan and Lama Chang Qi’s people did not know his name and surname. Hearing Wei Xiaobao greeted him as ‘Brother Yang’, they had no doubt that they knew each other. They heard Yang Yizhi continued, “Chanshi’s benevolence comes from your heart, being of service to others, you say it was a small matter, but our Wangye is endlessly grateful. Although His Majesty is an enlightened sage, knowing right and wrong, black and white, and would be able to clarify in the end, yet were it not for Chanshi stated the actual truth at the earliest possible time, the twists and turns of this matter might be difficult to say.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “You are too kind, you are too kind. Your Wangye is also too polite.” But in his heart he said, “I really wish to pull down your traitor-to-China Wangye. It was the Emperor who was the enlightened sage and ascertained the truth on his own; I was only doing a favor without costing me anything, which I had to do anyway. Finally the good karma that day bears the fruit today as this man came out to help me out of trouble.”

Galdan look at him from top to bottom, sizing him up, and then said, “Turns out you are the little eunuch who killed Oboi. Even in Mongolia I have also heard your reputation. Oboi was known as the number one warrior of Manchuria, in that case you did not learn your martial art from Shaolin Temple.”

Wei Xiaobao said with a laugh, “My martial art is extremely lacking, not worth mentioning at all. The number of people who taught me martial art is actually quite a few. This Yang Dage once taught me the move ‘sweeping a thousand army’ and the move ‘flowing water from a high mountain’.” Finished speaking, he stood up and demonstrated the two moves he mentioned. He did not use the slightest bit of force, so others could not see the level of his martial art skill; however, undoubtedly the style was from ‘Mu Family Fist’.

Yang Yizhi said, “It was because Chanshi demonstrated these two moves in front of His Majesty that he understood clearly that our Wangye was framed by a personal enemy.”

The girl’s expression was not as angry as she previously looked. “Yang Dage,” she said, “This little … this man is a eunuch? Has he really shown kindness to Ping Xi Wang mansion?”

“Absolutely,” Yang Yizhi replied, “There are many people in Beijing who knew about this.”

The girl hesitated a little bit, and then she asked Wei Xiaobao, “In that case, you were … you were joking with us, sisters, like that, what is your intention?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “I was not joking, of course I have an intention.” In his heart he said, “My intention is to marry your Meizi, but there are too many people here, of course I cannot say it out loud.”

“What is your intention?” the girl asked.

Wei Xiaobao only showed a faint smile without saying anything. Everybody else thought, “Since he has an intention, naturally it is inconvenient to expose it in the presence of everyone.”

Chang Qi put his palms together and said, “Fangzhang Dashi, Hui Ming Chanshi, we have come here on impulse, please forgive our offense, we are taking our leave now.”

Hui Cong put his palms together to return the propriety and said, “Good guests coming from afar, please enjoy vegetarian dish with us first. However, this Nu Shizhu …” he thought that you disguised yourself as a man and sneaked into the Temple, we did not look into it, and that’s that. But by inviting you for a vegetarian meal, we are inevitably breaking the Temple’s regulation too much.

Chang Qi laughed and said, “Thank you very much, thank you very much! To avoid giving Fangzhang Shixiong too much trouble, all of us won’t eat this vegetarian feast.” Immediately they all bade their farewell and walked out. The Abbot and Wei Xiaobao, Cheng Guan and the other walked them out to the mountain gate.

-----------------------------------------------------------
[11] In Chinese, the literal translation of the word ‘brothel’ is actually ‘prostitute courtyard’, the exact same word of the other ‘courtyards’. Actually, it can also mean ‘institution’.

[12] From Sanskrit word: paramita, in Buddhism, means to cross over to the other shore. Paramita may also be translated as perfection, perfect realization, or reaching beyond limitation.
According to Mahayana Buddhism, there are six Paramitas:
1. Dana Paramita, the perfection of generosity (布施波羅蜜)
2. Sila Paramita, the perfection of ethics (持戒波羅蜜)
3. Kshanti Paramita, the perfection of patience (忍辱波羅蜜)
4. Virya Paramita, the perfection of joyous effort, vigor / enthusiastic perseverance (精進波羅蜜)
5. Dhyana Paramita, the perfection of concentration (禪定波羅蜜)
6. Prajna Paramita, the perfection of wisdom (智慧波羅蜜)
(Courtesy of Gubrak)

[13] Reminder: xiao ren means ‘little/lowly person’, usually used by a commoner or subordinate to address government official.

[crazee]

Wow..... first heh heh heh....

Are we seeing the last of the 2 ladies.... troublesome and resourceful.
I suppose that's the result of making women angry.... very dangerous.
.
Oh, Foxs, your brother is in Sg ? and getting a Malaysian for a wife ?
Wow, the world is really small eh ?

Again, thanks for the update

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs. Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend.

[Anh Nam]

Thanks for the update Fox. I really appreciate it.

[crazee]

Thanks foxs. Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend.

Interesting, I thought Labour day is on May 1st ?
Pardon my ignorance....

[Gubrak]

Thanks Foxs

He thought, “Xiao Shishu is fearlessly forging ahead, diligently doing good works and practicing Buddhist teachings. This is the ‘forging ahead vigorously boluomi’ of the six buluomis. [Translator’s note: sorry, I have no idea what this is.] Leading a pious life in a brothel is also very good!”

波羅蜜 – boluomi actually from Sanskrit word: paramita, in Buddhism, means to cross over to the other shore. Paramita may also be translated as perfection, perfect realization, or reaching beyond limitation.

According to Mahayana Buddhism, there are six Paramitas:

1. Dana Paramita, the perfection of generosity (布施波羅蜜)
2. Sila Paramita, the perfection of ethics (持戒波羅蜜)
3. Kshanti Paramita, the perfection of patience (忍辱波羅蜜)
4. Virya Paramita, the perfection of joyous effort, vigor / enthusiastic perseverance (精進波羅蜜)
5. Dhyana Paramita, the perfection of concentration (禪定波羅蜜)
6. Prajna Paramita, the perfection of wisdom (智慧波羅蜜)

(taken from various source from internet)

[smurf120]

poor Mongolians - how embarassing! WXB has great luck with friends whereever he goes.