Unparalleled Double Harmony

Chapter 575 Snowstorm at Shaoshi Mountain (Part 1)

Chapter 575 Snowstorm at Shaoshi Mountain (Part 1)

Winter afternoon.

There was wind and snow.

The wind wasn't strong, but the snow fell thick and fast, like cotton wool.

In this weather, even the monks on Shaoshi Mountain inevitably become more relaxed than usual.

Apart from a few martial monks who were still guarding the mountain gate and the disciples responsible for shoveling snow, most of the Shaolin disciples stayed indoors to chant scriptures and worship Buddha that day, and did not force themselves to practice their skills in the wind and snow outside.

However, on such a quiet afternoon, with the sounds of wooden fish drums and chanting of Buddhist hymns, a deafening roar suddenly pierced through the wind and snow, echoing throughout this ancient temple with a history of thousands of years.

At first, no one realized what had happened.

Of course, it's not their fault. "Someone broke into Shaolin in broad daylight and knocked down the heavy gate of Shaoshi Mountain," which is simply unbelievable.

Therefore, although many young monks were startled and became somewhat agitated by the noise, the senior monks remained calm. They simply ordered the monks to be quiet and sent someone out to investigate.

However, none of those who went returned.

Not only did they not return, but amidst the sound of wind and snow, faint cries and screams could also be heard.

Seeing that the situation was not right, the high monks could no longer sit still, and they rushed out one after another with their disciples.

Then they saw a group of masked men walking slowly through the snow in a loose formation, and patches of bright red dyed on the white snow.

The stench of blood, along with the cold air from outside, assaulted the monks' nostrils, and the abrupt and intense sensory stimulation made them feel as if a ball of chilled chili oil had exploded in their heads.

What followed was a surge of shock, fear, anger, and anxiety.

Some might say that as monks practicing meditation, shouldn't they be free from anger and agitation? But their current reaction doesn't seem any different from that of people from ordinary martial arts sects.

To be fair, as long as they are still human and haven't truly attained Buddhahood, they will still have the emotions they should have in some extreme situations.

Furthermore, just because something exists doesn't mean it will be expressed or that it's uncontrollable.

Perhaps those disciples of lower seniority and less spiritual cultivation reacted much like ordinary people, but those monks of higher seniority at least managed to maintain their composure on the surface.

"Amitabha..." Among the monks present, the most senior and skilled in martial arts was Abbot Jifu of the Bodhidharma Academy. Therefore, he was the first to chant the Buddha's name and greet the group of masked men opposite him. "Why did you trespass into our temple in broad daylight and commit such a heinous crime without explanation?"

"Heh...you bald monk are truly laughable." At this moment, a masked man with a somewhat frivolous tone replied with a laugh, "Since we are all masked today and have started killing without explanation, naturally we don't want you to know too much. We only want your lives, and that's it...do you still insist on asking a few questions?" He paused, then continued, "Could it be that you expect to persuade us to 'lay down our butcher's knives and become Buddhas' after saying a few words to us? Hahahaha..."

As this man responded, the other masked men behind him were not idle either. They slowly strolled forward, casually finishing off some of the monks on the ground who were still breathing.

"Hmph..." At this moment, Ji Fu couldn't help but snort coldly. It seemed that he had truly broken the precept against anger. "What you say is right, benefactor. Then this humble monk will not waste any more words. Just focus on slaying demons and eliminating evil!"

As he uttered the final "yes," Ji Fu, who had already gathered his inner energy, leaped forward and unleashed a palm strike straight at the chest of the masked man who had spoken to him.

This palm strike was like a thunderbolt descending upon the world, its power shaking the heavens. The palm wind itself pulled a large clump of falling snowflakes in mid-air into a vortex shape, which then swirled around.

The masked man was not intimidated and immediately prepared to exchange a blow with the Shaolin monk.

However... just as he was about to raise his dominant hand, he seemed to suddenly remember something and quickly switched to his other hand.

As it turned out, he did manage to land a blow, but he suffered a great loss.

With a loud bang, the masked man was struck dumb, his blood surging, and he began to retreat hastily, his steps faltering.

Strangely, as he retreated, none of the other masked men behind him offered to help. Even those who stood in his path nimbly dodged away, showing no intention of pulling him up.

"Ugh..." Finally, the masked man staggered back several feet, finally kneeling on one knee, stopping, spitting out blood, and muttering, "Well... as expected of Shaolin, I underestimated you..."

He wasn't just being polite; he knew very well that even if he hadn't hesitated for a moment when he struck out and had used his dominant hand, the situation probably wouldn't have been much better.

This also shows that Shaolin's foundation is indeed solid. Even though many eminent monks, including Abbot Jizhen, are not in the temple today, there are still several figures who are equivalent to the leaders of other sects.

As an aside, at this point in time, excluding those novices or lay disciples who had not yet received their Dharma names, Shaolin basically had only five generations: "Zhan Ji Chun Zhen Su".

Among them, there are only a handful of monks of the "Zhan" generation, all of whom are over eighty years old and no longer participate much in temple affairs. Therefore, they have separate residences in the back mountains.

Those of the "Ji" generation are mostly in their sixties or seventies, and their total number is not large, but the top experts and leaders are basically concentrated in this generation.

Next are the middle-aged "Chun" generation and the young "Zhen" generation. These are considered the middle generation and are the backbone of the temple.

However, Chun Kong is an exception. As we mentioned earlier, he is essentially Master Ji Chen's "disciple" and a once-in-a-century genius in Buddhism. Therefore, he is the only one in the entire temple who is of the "Su" generation in terms of age and "Chun" generation in terms of seniority.

There's not much to say about the last generation, the "Su" generation; they're still just young monks.

Now, let's return to Master Jifu's side... Although he gained a great advantage with this palm strike, he was not at all calm. On the contrary, he even felt a sense of despair.

Because in his original estimation, anyone who took his palm strike head-on, even if they didn't die, wouldn't be able to stand up again in a short time.

But the reality was... the masked man on the other side never actually fell down; he just knelt on one knee and suffered some internal injuries.

Assuming that all these masked men possess martial arts skills similar to this one, then Shaolin Temple would likely be doomed today...

Of course, things didn't turn out the way he imagined.

Those dozens of masked men couldn't all be that strong; most of them were just somewhere between first-rate and super-first-rate. However... there were a few who were exceptionally strong.

Among those who were particularly strong, the one who had just exchanged blows with Ji Fu was considered to be at the bottom.