by Jin Yong
Peachtree Trunk Fairy said, "If the younger you are, the stronger you get, then a three year old child would be the strongest then?"
"That's not true. A three year old child can't be the strongest. A two year old child would be stronger than a three year old," Peachtree Flower Fairy said.
"You're also wrong. A one year old child would be stronger than a two year old," Peachtree Trunk Fairy said.
"A foetus that hasn't come out from his mother's womb would be the strongest then," Peachtree Leaf Fairy said.
They kept on going north and had finally entered the boundary of Henan. Unexpectedly, they met with two more groups of heroes coming from the east and the west. They already had more than two thousand people with them before. But after adding those two extra groups to their main group, they now had more than four thousand people with them. These four thousand people just slept anywhere at night. It didn't matter whether it was on grass, forest or wild hill, they just put their heads down and slept. But foods and drinks were a big problem. After many days, at the restaurants and drink shops on the towns that they were going through, they broke all the pots, tables and chairs because they didn’t get enough to drink and eat. They were all angry and destroyed the restaurants.
Linghu Chong saw that these Jianghu's heroes were quite violent but they were also very loyal and frank people. If Shaolin Temple didn't want to release Yingying, then both sides would get into a bloody battle and the outcome would unavoidably be horrible. Everyday, he waited for news from Dingxian and Dingyi Shi Tai. He was hoping that due to the two Shi Tai's reputations, Abbot Fangzheng would agree to release Yingying and avoid the catastrophe from happening. Only three days remained until the fifteenth of the twelfth month and they were now less than a hundred li from the Shaolin Temple but there was still no news from the two Shi Tai. The way they were going to Shaolin temple with banners flying and drums beating, everyone must have heard of their advance. But so far, there was no movement from the other party at all as if nothing was happening. Linghu Chong raised this issue with Zu Qianqiu and Ji Wushi and they also felt worried about this.
That night, the group stayed in an open field. Sentries were put on the outside of the group to prevent possible night raids from the enemy. The wind was blowing coldly and the grey clouds hanged low on the sky. It appeared that a big rain was about to pour down. The open field was filled with cooking fires in tens of li in every direction. Not restrained by any military command, the group of warriors acted more or less as a mob as they gathered together singing and shouting loudly shaking the ground. There were also people with swords and sabres out competing with each other while some were wrestling. Everywhere, it was noisy and filled with shouts.
Linghu Chong thought, "It's best if I don't let these people step on the grounds of Shaolin Temple. Why don't I go first to ask Great Master Fangzheng and Fangsheng? If I can get Yingying out, wouldn't it be a great celebration for everyone?" At this thought, his whole body felt hot. After he thought more on this, he changed his mind,
"But if I fight the Shaolin's monks just by myself then I'll be captured or even killed. I'm not worried about dying but there'll be no one to preside over these people. Without a leader, there will be chaos in this group of heroes and they wouldn't be able to get Yingying out. More over, many of these several thousands of courageous and upright friends would probably be killed on Mount Shaoshi. If I acted rashly and ruin this matter, how would I be able to apologise to all these people?"
He stood up and looked around him. Looking at the people besides the piles of fire, he thought, "If they're not doing this for Yingying, they wouldn't have submitted to me at all."
Two days later, they arrived on Mount Shaoshi and were just outside of the Shaolin Temple. During these two days, even more warriors joined their group. The people he had met on that day on Five-Tyrant Ridge's gathering including Huang Boliu, Sima Big, Blue Phoenix as well as White Flood Dragon's Clan leader Shi and the "Yangtze River's Pair of Flying Fish" had all come. There were still many heroes that Linghu
Chong didn't manage to see who had come as well. Conservatively, they had around five to six thousands people now.
Several hundred drums were beating shaking the ground and trembling the sky. The group was beating the drums for a long time but not a single monk came out of the temple. Linghu Chong roared out his command, "Stop the drum!" The beating sounds gradually became lighter until they finally stopped. Linghu Chong took a deep breath and in a clear voice said, "Junior Linghu Chong and many friends from Jianghu have come to pay a visit to Shaolin's Abbot. I ask respectfully to be granted a meeting." Linghu Chong attached abundant of internal energy into his voice and he was heard from many li but there was still no sound from inside the temple. Linghu Chong spoke again and yet there was still no response from the temple. Linghu Chong said, "Brother Zu, please offer our visit card."
"Yes," Zu Qianqiu complied as he carried the prepared visit box which stored the card with Linghu Chong's name and the names of leaders from various sects. He went up to the main gate of the Shaolin Temple and knocked on it a few times. When there was no still no sound coming from the temple, he lightly pushed on the gate. The gate wasn't bolted and it opened easily. He looked inside and couldn't see anyone
around. He didn't dare to go into the temple without authorisation so he turned around to report to Linghu Chong. Although Linghu Chong's martial art was high, he still didn't have much experience and had never led a large group of people before. With this unanticipated situation before him, he didn't know what to do. He was momentarily stupefied and speechless.
Peachtree Root Fairy said, "All the monks in the temple have all escaped? Let's go inside! If we see any shiny head, we'll kill him straight away."
Peachtree Trunk Fairy said, "You said all the monks have all escaped. If so, where are you going to find some shiny heads to kill?"
Peachtree Root Fairy said, "Don't nuns also have shiny heads?"
Peachtree Flower Fairy said, "It's a monk's temple, how can there be nuns in there?"
Peachtree Root Fairy quickly pointed his fingers at a person. "This man here isn't a monk, he's also not a nun, but he has a shiny head."
Peachtree Trunk Fairy asked, "Why do you want to kill him?"
Ji Wushi interrupted, "How about we go in and take a look?"
Linghu Chong replied, "That's good. Brother Ji, brother Old, brother Zu, and clan leader Huang, please accompany me into the temple. Everybody please pass this order to restrict your subordinates from acting wildly and tell them they must not be rude to any Shaolin monk. Also they can't burn any grass or trees on this mountain."
Peachtree Branch Fairy said, "Then you can't even pull out any grass?"
Linghu Chong was feeling worried about Yingying so he strode purposefully into the temple. Ji Wushi and the other three people followed behind him.
After entering through the gate, they walked on a stone path and went past the front courtyard and the front hall, and arrived at the Great Hero Precious Hall. In the hall, they saw the majestic likeness of Rulai Buddha. They saw the floor and the table were covered with a thin layer of dust. Zu Qianqiu said, "Could it be that all the monks in the temple have escaped?" Linghu Chong chided, "Brother Zu, don't say this word 'escape'."
The five people stood quietly and tried to listen for any sounds. But apart from the clamoring noise from the group outside the temple, there was no sound at all coming from the temple.
"The Shaolin monks must be hiding around the place to ambush us," Ji Wushi whispered.
Linghu Chong thought, "Abbot Fangzheng and Great Master Fangsheng are all eminent monks. Why would they use deceit? But knowing that a lot of unorthodox sects came together to attack, the Shaolin monks may have wanted a battle of wits instead of strength. That's not unusual." He saw that Shaolin Temple was a huge place but saw no sign of anyone. A sense of dread started to wash over him as he worried about what they might have done to Yingying.
The five of them
looked around and listened to all directions as they walked further in. After passing two large courtyards, they arrived at the back hall. Suddenly, Linghu Chong and Ji Wushi stopped at the same time and made some hand signals. Old Man and the other two people immediately stopped. Linghu Chong pointed to a side room on the northwest side and quietly walked there. Old Man and the other three people followed him. They heard light groaning sounds coming from the inside of the room. Linghu Chong stopped in front of the door and pulled his sword out. He then extended his hand to push the door open while leaning his body to one side to protect himself against projectiles from inside the room. As the door creaked open, they again heard the light groaning sound from inside.
Linghu Chong turned his head to look inside the room and was greatly surprised to see two old nuns on the floor. He recognized the nun facing towards him as Dingyi Shi Tai. With her face pale and her eyes closed, it looked as if she had died. His body shot forward like an arrow going into the room. Zu Qianqiu called out, “Chief, be careful!” as he followed him in. Linghu Chong went around Dingyi Shi Tai’s body to have a look at the other person lying down. As expected, she was Heng-Shan School’s leader Dingxian Shi Tai.
Linghu Chong stooped down and called out, “Shi Tai, Shi Tai.”
Dingxian Shi Tai slowly opened her eyes. She was really sluggish at the beginning but there was a flash of happiness in her eyes as she recognised him. Her mouth moved like she was trying to say something but she couldn’t get any sound out. Linghu Chong stooped even lower, “It’s Junior Linghu Chong.” Dingxian Shi Tai’s mouth moved again and managed to whisper really lightly. Linghu Chong managed to hear her saying, “You... you... you...” He saw her injuries were really serious and didn’t know how much longer she would live. Dingxian Shi Tai uttered a few more words, “You... You promise me...”
Linghu Chong hastily said, “Yes, yes. Whatever Shi Tai orders, Linghu Chong will do it. Even until my body turned to dust, I will still accomplish it.”
Thinking of the two Shi Tai dying in Shaolin Temple on his account, tears started to flow down his cheeks. Dingxian Shi Tai whispered, “You... you’re certain that you can promise... promise me?”
Linghu Chong replied, “I promise!”
Dingxian Shi Tai’s glimmered with happiness. “You... you promise to take charge of... take charge of Heng-Shan School family...” After saying these few words, she was out of breath.
Linghu Chong was greatly surprised, “Junior is a male, I can’t be your noble school’s leader. But Shi Tai be at ease, no matter what kind of difficulty or calamity your noble school is in, Junior will do my best to undertake the burden.”
Dingxian Shi Tai slowly shook her head, “No, no. I... I’m passing you Linghu Chong, the Heng-Shan School... Heng-Shan School’s leadership. If you... you don’t agree, I’ll die... die with an unfulfilled wish.”
Zu Qianqiu and the other three people were standing behind Linghu Chong. They all felt Dingxian Shi Tai’s last wish was too unthinkable. Linghu Chong’s heart was in great confusion and felt that this was a really difficult matter to decide on. But he saw that Dingxian Shi Tai only had a short time to live. With blood welling up in his heart, he promised, “Alright, Junior agrees to Shi Tai’s request.”
Dingxian Shi Tai smiled and whispered, “Many... many thanks! Heng-Shan School’s hundreds of disc... disciples, from now on they’ll all bother... bother young hero Linghu.” Linghu Chong was alarmed, indignant, and grieved, “Shaolin temple is so unreasonable, why would they be so violent towards Shi Tai, Junior...” Just then Dingxian Shi Tai’s head lolled to one side and her eyes closed. Greatly alarmed, Linghu Chong quickly extended his hand to check on her breathing but she had stopped breathing. His heart was grieved. He turned around and touched Dingyi Shi Tai’s hand. Her cold hands indicated that she had been dead for a long time. Indignation and sadness washed over him and he found himself choked with tears.
Old Man said, “Master Linghu, we must avenge the two Shi Tai. All those bald donkeys have run away from the temple. Let’s burn this Shaolin Temple to the ground.”
Linghu Chong’s heart was filled with grief and indignation; he slapped his thigh and said, “Alright! Let’s burn Shaolin Temple to the ground.”
Ji Wushi hastily said, “No! No! If Sacred Lady is still imprisoned in here then she’ll also be burnt to death.”
Linghu Chong had said that absent-mindedly. He felt cold sweat breaking out from his back as he conceded, “I was confused. If brother Ji didn’t remind me, I would’ve ruined this matter. What should we do now?”
Ji Wushi replied, “Shaolin temple has many rooms, it’ll be hard for the five of us to search all the places. Chief, please pass an order to call two hundred brothers to come in and search the temple.”
Linghu Chong said, “Right. Brother Ji, please go out and get more people.”
“Yes,” Ji Wushi replied and turned his body around to go out.
Zu Qianqiu called out, “Don’t let those Peach Valley Six Weirdos come in.”
Linghu Chong lifted the bodies of the two Shi Tai and put them on a bed. Kneeling down, he kowtowed a few times to them and silently prayed, “Disciple will do my best to avenge both Shi Tai. You can rest easy in heaven about the Heng-Shan School family.” He stood up and looked carefully at the injuries on the two bodies but didn’t see any cut or traces of blood on them. It was also inappropriate for him to lift their gowns to investigate further. He guessed that it was masters from Shaolin who must have used their palm’s inner energy and caused fatal internal injuries.
The sound of steps from two hundred heroes was then heard entering the temple as they separately went to search the area. Suddenly, someone shouted from outside the gate, “Linghu Chong’s not letting us in. But we want to go in, what’s he going to do?” It was Peachtree Branch Fairy’s voice. Linghu Chong scowled pretending not to have heard it. Then he heard Peachtree Trunk Fairy said, “We’ve come to the world’s famous Shaolin Temple. But we’re not allowed to go in and take a stroll in there, how can he treat us so unjustly?”
Peachtree Leaf Fairy said, “If we entered the Shaolin Temple and don’t meet the world’s famous Shaolin monks then that’ll be even more injustice.”
Peachtree Branch Fairy said, “If we can’t meet Shaolin temple’s monks then we can’t compare martial art against the world’s famous Shaolin School’s martial art. That’s even more injustice.”
Peachtree Flower Fairy said, “The most famous ones are in Shaolin Temple but we can’t see a single monk here. This is really strange.”
Peachtree Fruit Fairy said, “There’s no monk, that’s not strange. But the strange thing is there are two nuns.”
Peachtree Root Fairy said, “There are two nuns, that’s also not strange. What’s strange is that the nuns are not only old, they’re also dead.”
The six brothers were talking back and forth as they walked towards the back courtyard.
Linghu Chong together with Zu Qianqiu, Old Man, and Huang Boliu walked away from the side room. Once they were out of the door, they saw the group that was searching around inside the Shaolin temple. After a while, people started to come and continuously reported their findings. They reported that not only the monks were gone from the temple but also the porters and cooks had also gone. One person reported that the Buddhist scriptures, records, and appliances had also been moved away. Not even a bowl was left behind. Another person reported that the firewood, rice, oil, and salt had all been emptied out. Even the vegetables in the garden had been pulled clean.
Every time Linghu Chong heard a report, he was more and more disheartened. He thought, "The Shaolin Temple's monks cleaned this place up so thoroughly. So much so that they didn't even leave behind a single vegetable in the garden. They must've moved Yingying somewhere else too. The world is so big, where do I begin to look for her?"
Close to two hours later, the two hundred people had finished searching the thousands of rooms in the Shaolin temple. They had even sear
ched underneath the Buddha statues and the back of the Shaolin's name board. But not even a single piece of paper was found. There were people who were pleased with themselves saying, "Shaolin School is Wulin's number one school. But when they heard us coming, they unexpectedly ran away. This thing has never happened in more than a thousand year."
Another person said, "We're so powerful. So no one in Wulin dares to look down upon us."
But there was a person who said, "The Shaolin monks were definitely driven away from hearing our might, but what about Sacred Lady? We came here to meet Sacred Lady, not to drive away the monks."
Everyone thought that this was reasonable. When some people heard this, they hanged their heads down as if someone had died. There were some who looked towards Linghu Chong waiting to hear what he had to say. Linghu Chong said, "This is beyond our expectations. Who would have expected that Shaolin monks would leave their temple. I have no idea how to handle this situation. One person's thought is limited, if we have more than two then we would have more ideas. So please give me your opinions."
Huang Boliu said, "In my opinion, finding Sacred Lady is difficult while finding Shaolin monks is easier. Shaolin temple's monks numbered more than a thousand, they can't always hide forever. Once we found those Shaolin's monks, we'll definitely get a scent of where Sacred Lady is."
Zu Qianqiu said, "Clan leader Huang is right. We'll just stay inside this temple. Those Shaolin School's disciples would definitely not be willing to part with their thousand years old residence and allow us to live here. When they wanted to take back this temple from us then we'll ask them about Sacred Lady's whereabouts."
A person said, "Ask about Sacred Lady whereabouts? Why would they agree to tell us?"
Old Man said, "This so called asking is merely a polite way of saying it. We'll extort from them the answer. When we see any Shaolin monks, we'll capture them but not kill them. Then after we've captured eight to ten of them, are we still afraid that they won't tell us?"