ragginovel Chapter 577 Snowstorm at Shaoshi Mountain (Part 2)
Chapter 577 Snowstorm at Shaoshi Mountain (Part 2)
Chapter 577 Snowstorm at Shaoshi Mountain (Part 2)
The time it takes for an incense stick to burn passes in the blink of an eye.
After many monks of the Ji and Chun generations died in battle, the remaining Shaolin disciples gradually realized that this group was probably beyond their ability to deal with. Rather than throwing their lives away in vain, they decided to plan their next move carefully...
So the surviving monks all started running towards the back mountain. During this time, they died, fled, or simply accepted their fate, which I won't go into detail about.
As for the masked men, as we mentioned earlier, they knew it was impossible to wipe out the enemy completely, so they didn't bother to pursue them.
Finally, they all gathered in front of a small meditation hall deep inside the temple and waited silently.
Before long, the masked man in black, led by Meng Qi and two other masked men, leisurely arrived at this place.
"Master, this is Jichen's residence." Upon seeing the young master arrive, one of them stepped forward and reported, "You see..."
"I'll do it," Meng Qi said, waving his hand.
Upon seeing his gesture, the crowd immediately parted to make way for him.
Meng Qi strolled leisurely to the entrance of the meditation hall and then said loudly, "I have long heard that Master Jichen is the number one master of Shaolin today. I have come here today to learn from him, and I hope that the master will condescend to have a session with me."
There's nothing wrong with what I'm saying.
But to say it in the current context would be rather hypocritical.
"Amitabha."
A moment later, a calm voice was heard softly chanting Buddhist mantras.
As the sound arose, the door to the meditation hall opened from the inside.
Master Jichen had an old face and white hair and beard. He wore a coarse cloth robe with many patches and a string of simple wooden prayer beads around his neck.
He walked out of the door slowly, his steps unsteady, just like an ordinary old man.
But in that instant, all the masked people around instinctively tensed up, as if facing a formidable enemy.
They were like a pack of jackals who had seen a lion; they instinctively arched their backs, bristled their fur, and prepared to pounce and attack.
of course there are exceptions.
Among this group, the most skilled martial artists, as well as the masked man in black, were still able to remain calm.
"Benefactor Meng, how have you been?" Ji Chen spoke without beating around the bush, directly pointing out that the person in front of him was Meng Qi.
Meng Qi was very accommodating. After hearing this, he hesitated for a second before taking off the cloth covering his face.
Previously, he didn't even allow others to call him "Young Master" because there were still many living monks in the temple at that time. But now, these people are either dead or have fled, leaving only the dying old monk in front of him. So, after thinking about it, he stopped trying to hide it.
"Master, you have excellent eyesight, recognizing me so immediately." Meng Qi then sincerely praised the other party, because in his opinion, the other party should not have been able to see through him, and he was not sure why he was able to.
In terms of martial arts and internal strength, Meng Qi has almost never fought in public. Even when he does fight, he never uses his "real skills". Therefore, the people in the martial arts world who have seen his true martial arts skills are basically dead people, except for his own people in Yuxiu Manor.
As for his appearance, considering that Meng Qi's mask was quite well done, with his face below the cheekbones completely covered, the probability that Ji Chen, an old monk who had only seen him once or twice at several large gatherings of martial arts practitioners in the past, would be able to recognize him after so long was extremely low.
Then there's the voice... Well, that's even less reliable than appearance. Unless your voice is as distinctive as Sun Yixie's, who can remember it after hearing it a few times? Besides, there are far more people with similar voices than with similar appearances, so it's hard to use that as a basis to confirm someone's identity.
“Alas…” Unexpectedly, Master Jichen quickly offered his answer, “Only at this moment can I see things so clearly.”
But no one present could understand his answer.
"The master's words contain a profound meaning that we truly cannot fathom." Meng Qi did not delve further into the matter, since he believed the old monk was nearing the end. The current issue was simply how to eliminate him with minimal cost. "However... what we intend to do, master, should not be too difficult to guess, should it?"
“This old monk has no need to guess, nor can I stop you all.” Ji Chen said, then bowed his head and clasped his hands together. “I only ask that Benefactor Meng…” He paused, “and that Benefactor Zhu behind you…” The latter half of his sentence was referring to the masked man in black, “that he may remember Heaven’s benevolence in protecting life, and return to the right path as soon as possible, so as not to add to his karmic retribution.”
Not good.
This was the first thought that popped into Meng Qi's mind.
Because at this moment, Ji Chen's words, and the tone of his voice, sounded too calm, too sincere...
This, on the contrary, terrified Meng Qi—he felt that this was not the reaction a "human being" should have.
The more shrewd and knowledgeable a person is about human nature, the more afraid they are of encountering people whose words and actions exceed their comprehension.
"kill!"
Meng Qi panicked, he was scared... He didn't know why the word "kill" had slipped out of his mouth.
The masked men around him didn't think as much as he did. They just sensed something about Ji Chen that they couldn't quite put their finger on. If they had to describe it, it was that the group's martial arts level was just at the point where they could tell that "this bald monk's level is far above mine, to the point that I can't even see where he is anymore." This almost made them feel suffocated.
Therefore, the order to "kill" the other party was also an order that allowed them to relax their tense nerves.
Each of them unleashed their full power, instantly leaving dozens of fatal wounds on Master Jichen's body, not even counting internal injuries...
But after a coordinated attack, these masked men all retreated immediately, as if no one wanted to stay by Ji Chen's side for even a second longer.
The wind is still blowing.
The snow has turned red again.
Master Jichen was still standing, but he was no longer moving.
He stood there like a withered pine tree or an old rock, hands clasped together, head bowed, his body covered in blood.
After a long while, Meng Qi finally dared to approach and reached out to feel the pulse point on the other person's neck.
It wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't touched it, but the moment he did, his expression changed drastically.
“He…” Meng Qi turned around and looked at the masked man in black, who was “Benefactor Zhu” in Ji Chen’s words, or rather, the “Shuye” we all know.
"What's wrong?" the young master asked curiously. "Is he still alive?"
“No… he’s dead.” Meng Qi frowned. “But…” As he spoke, he glanced at the other masked men around him, as if to confirm whether anyone else had noticed this. “He… had no internal energy at all.”
Upon hearing this, the masked men were all shocked and pale.
They could hardly believe that someone without internal energy had just managed to intimidate them like a pack of wild beasts reacting to stress.
"What do you mean? Was his martial arts crippled?" the young master asked again.
"No..." Meng Qi came to his senses and thought about it calmly, "It's more like... he transferred all his life's skills to someone else before we arrived."
At this point, everyone, including Meng Qi, belatedly perked up and turned their attention to the meditation hall.
Because at that moment they all realized that there might be other people inside.
Their guess was correct; there was indeed another person in the inner room of the meditation hall, a person named Bai Ruhong.
"Golden Beggar," "Silver Path," "Bronze Scholar," and "Iron Monk" are four masters known to everyone in the martial arts world, and all four can be called eccentric heroes; however, "Silver Path" Bai Ruhong has not been seen in the martial arts world since he was seriously injured by the Bliss Gu a few years ago.
Of course, he wasn't always in a "useless" state. In fact, not long after Master Bai was brought to Shaolin Temple by Master Chun Kong to recuperate, Miao Yinzi secretly visited him once and gave him a healing pill from the Xuanqi Sect.
This elixir wasn't made by an "enthusiast" like Huang Donglai, but by a proper "playful" Taoist priest in their Xuanqi Sect's alchemy room. So, after Bai Ruhong took it, his body gradually recovered.
He never went down the mountain after that, because Miaoyinzi had given him a message on behalf of Budongzi, saying: "After this calamity, you have gained an opportunity that many of your fellow disciples and uncles on the mountain have never had. You might as well stay in Shaolin and discuss Buddhism with Master Jichen. Before long, the two of you will see the 'Great Path to Heaven'."
So Bai Ruhong settled down, and this Taoist priest, who was actually a pseudonym and had hardly studied any Taoist teachings, started studying and discussing various scriptures with Master Jichen every day.
Two and a half years passed in the blink of an eye, and by this time, the two of them had already surpassed Miaoyinzi in terms of cultivation.
Please don't get excited, everyone. The "Taoist cultivation" I'm talking about here isn't the kind of concept linked to "combat power," but rather the kind of cultivation that comes from "enlightenment."
From the perspective of those who cultivate the Tao, this is not really a strange thing or an isolated case, because there is no essential difference between "enlightenment after a thousand years" and "enlightenment in a single day". Once you have attained enlightenment, you have attained enlightenment, and how much time you have spent is not important.
"Heavenly secrets," "calamities," and "destined connections"... whether they come or not is never something that humans can decide.
Even the good or bad of an event, or the life or death of a person, may not be as people generally perceive them to be.
Bai Ruhong, who was considered by the old Taoists to be completely unsuitable for cultivation because of his "poor aptitude and talent" and his "stubborn" nature; who was accepted as a "nominal disciple" of the Xuanqi Sect by Budongzi out of pity; who claimed to be a Taoist for decades, but only began to read scriptures after being "disqualified"... Now, he has attained enlightenment before Miaoyinzi.
“Esteemed benefactors, there is no need to be afraid.”
When the group of masked men cautiously crept into the inner room of the meditation hall, Bai Ruhong, sitting on a futon with his back to the door, spoke with his eyes closed.
The way he speaks now is completely different from the righteous and chivalrous person he used to be, whose voice was like thunder in spring and whose imposing manner was overwhelming.
Nowadays, Bai Ruhong speaks in a tone similar to that of Master Jichen, both being calm and patient, guiding and persuading.
"Like my old friend Jichen, I have lost my inner strength." Seeing that the people did not respond, Bai Ruhong continued, "The person who obtained our inner strength is no longer here."
To be honest, Meng Qi and the others breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
And even they themselves didn't know why... they didn't doubt at all that Bai Ruhong was lying.
"May I ask... who is the person who obtained your inner strength?" Meng Qi then realized that the person the other party mentioned would be a great threat in the future, so he simply asked.
But Bai Ruhong did not answer him. Instead, he said, "May I... allow Benefactor Zhu to come in and have a chat with me?"
Logically speaking, this is undoubtedly a dangerous invitation. What if Bai Ruhong is lying and actually has martial arts skills? If the young master enters the room and Bai Ruhong suddenly attacks and kidnaps him, the situation today will be very difficult to predict.
But before Meng Qi could refuse, the young master quickly replied, "Alright, since the Daoist has something to say to me, I'll listen."
After saying that, he didn't hesitate and walked towards the other room.
Meng Qi was a sensible man. Since the young master had said so himself, he would not question or dissuade him. So he immediately made a few hand gestures, signaling the other masked men to leave with him, leaving Bai Ruhong and the young master to talk one-on-one in the room.
Soon, the young master also sat down on a prayer mat and removed the black cloth covering his face.
"Master Bai, is that right?" With the young master's intelligence network, it wouldn't be difficult for him to recognize the name of the person in front of him.
"Indeed." Bai Ruhong then opened his eyes and looked at the other party calmly. "Greetings, Benefactor Zhu."
"Why don't you ask Master Jichen how he is first?" The young master's second question was quite aggressive.
“No need,” Bai Ruhong replied in a deep voice. “My old friend has completed his mission and is going ahead... I will say a few more words and then follow him.”
"Is that so..." the young master muttered casually, then added, "Speaking of which, the Taoist priest and the master both seem to recognize me? Why is that?"
This is indeed abnormal, because there shouldn't be many people in this world who know what the illegitimate son's surname is.
"If I said it was because you possess the appearance of a true dragon, would you be pleased?" Bai Ruhong asked.
"Heh..." the young master sneered, "What is a 'true dragon'? Wasn't our founding emperor a true dragon? But he was born into poverty. According to the Taoist priest, did he already possess the so-called appearance of a true dragon when he was begging for food?"
"Then what do you think a true dragon is?" Bai Ruhong countered.
"Ascending to heaven to become a dragon makes one a true dragon; a dragon descended to the grass is like a bastard." The first half of the sir's statement was somewhat reasonable, but the latter half was simply a vulgar insult.
“What a bastard who has fallen into the abyss…” Bai Ruhong said, “It seems that your determination to ‘ascend to heaven’ is not something that I can resolve with just a few words.”
"Master, you still haven't answered my question. How did you recognize me?" The young master continued to press.
Bai Ruhong ignored what he said and continued, "In my life, I have also been just as persistent... But if a 'person' is too persistent, it is easy to fall into 'demonic' ways... I suppose my master saw this back then, which is why he was unwilling to accept me onto the mountain..."
Seeing that the other party seemed unwilling to reveal how he knew his identity, the young master did not ask a third time, but instead continued, "So, Daoist Master, you have now let go of your attachments? And you want me to let go as well?"
“That’s not it either.” Bai Ruhong shook his head. “If one can see through it, karmic obstacles will not exist. There is nothing to begin with, so how can one talk about picking up or putting down?”
"Heh..." the young master chuckled, "Is the Taoist priest here to preach to me?"
“Alas… I have indeed said too much…” Bai Ruhong sighed, and continued, “I know that you still have a trace of goodness in your heart and are not an evil person. However, the karmic burden you carry is too heavy, and in the future it will become the calamity of many people… Therefore, I can only advise you that as long as you can still retain that one good thought in the ‘final’, you will still be a true dragon among men and will not become a demon.”
Upon hearing this, the young master remained silent for a long while before coldly saying, "What if I fail to retain that so-called good intention as the Taoist priest said, and ultimately become a 'demon'?"
No sooner had he uttered those words than Bai Ruhong suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist.
"Then remember my last words..." Immediately afterward, Bai Ruhong leaned forward and quickly whispered seven words in the young master's ear.
After hearing this, the young master was stunned for a few seconds, then turned to look at the other person with a complicated expression.
Unexpectedly, in just a few seconds, Master Bai had already lost his life.