Chapter - 8 (8) (1/2)

Altogether Tian Di Hui had ten Halls. The two empty chairs in the middle of the room, one belonged the Third Prince Zhu, the other belonged to Zheng Wangye. Chen Jinnan took the remaining seat. Each Hall's Hall Master then reported the situation in various provinces.

Wei Xiaobao followed Guan Anji, Li Lishi, and the other warriors outside the door, he saw two, three hundred men standing in two rows shaped like a funnel, their faces showed excitement. A moment later, two men carrying a stretcher with Mao Shiba on it came out.

Li Lishi said, ”Mao Shiba, you are our guest, no need to be so polite.”

Mao Shiba said, ”I've long heard of Chen Zongduozhu's illustrious name, it's really like thunder piercing my ears. Today I have the opportunity to pay a formal visit, even if … even if I have to die today, my death …. my death won't be in vain.” His voice was still without any strength, but his face flushed, showing he was in high spirit.

They heard the sound of hoof beats was coming near, about a dozen horses were galloping near. Before they even arrived, the first three riders jumped down from their mounts. Li Lishi and the others rushed forward to greet them, they held hands with those three riders and talked; they seemed to know each other very intimately.

Wei Xiaobao heard one of them say, ”Zongduozhu is waiting ahead of us; Li Dage, Guan Fuzi, and other brothers, please come and see him …” These several people conferred with each other while still standing. Li Lishi, Guan Anji, Qi Biaoqing, Priest Xuanzhen, and the others, six people in all, mounted their horses and sped away with these incoming men.

Mao Shiba was disappointed, ”Chen Zongduozhu is not coming?” he asked. But nobody around him knew the answer to that question. They were all dejected because they could not see their Zongduozhu.

Wei Xiaobao said in his heart, ”Did someone owe you all ten thousand taels and did not pay? Or perhaps you lost your wife and your pants in gambling? Your granny, why are your expressions so ugly?”

After a long time, someone on horseback galloped by. He was conveying an order, mentioning thirteen names, telling them to meet with Zongduozhu. Those thirteen men were delighted; they rushed toward their mounts and galloped away.

Wei Xiaobao asked Mao Shiba, ”Mao Dage, is Chen Zongduozhu a very old man?”

Mao Shiba replied, ”I … I have never … never seen him. Everybody in Jianghu admires Chen Zongduozhu, but to see his … the Senior's face may be really difficult.”

”Hey, hey,” Wei Xiaobao laughed, in his heart he said, ”Humph, damn it, what an arrogant guy, what's so special about him anyway? Laozi does not want to see him.”

Seeing this situation, the crowd of warriors knew that most likely their Zongduozhu would not come. But they still cherished a one in ten thousand chance that he might, thereupon they all stood waiting at the main gate. After standing for a long time, some of them sat down. Someone advised Mao Shiba, ”Master Mao, you'd better go back to your room and rest. If our Zongduozhu arrives, we'll invite Master Mao to meet him as soon as possible.”

Mao Shiba shook his head and said, ”No! I am going to wait here. It's an honor to meet Chen Zongduozhu, if zaixia

[85] is not waiting outside, that … that will be too respectful. Ay, I wonder if during my lifetime, I, Mao Shiba, will have the good fortune to see the Senior's face.”

Wei Xiaobao had followed Mao Shiba from Yangzhou to Beijing. Listening to what he said along the way, Mao Shiba did not have any favorable impression of various Wulin personalities, but toward this Chen Zongduozhu, he showed a complete reverence. Unconsciously Wei Xiaobao was also infected by his sentiment, and did not dare to curse in his heart anymore.

Suddenly they heard hoof beats again, some people were galloping near. Those who sat on the ground leaped on their feet. Everybody craned his neck; everybody hoped that the person the Zongduozhu want to meet this time would be him. Sure enough, four envoys came by. Their leaders dismounted the horse and cupped his fist, saying, ”Zongduozhu wishes to invite Mao Shiba, Master Mao, and Wei Xiaobao, Master Wei, to grant him the favor of meeting the two gentlemen.”

Mao Shiba cheered, he leaped up from the stretcher, but ”Aiyo!” he cried, and fell back onto the stretcher. ”Go quickly, go quickly!” he called out.

Wei Xiaobao was also very happy, he thought, ”Everybody has been calling me 'Gong-gong' too much, but nobody has ever called me 'master'. Ha ha … laozi is now Wei Xiaobao, Master Wei.”

Two envoys took over the stretcher and hang it between two horses. Then they slowly walked. The other envoy gave his ride to Wei Xiaobao, while he took another horse to ride on, and followed behind the procession. The six of them travelled less than three li on the main road, before they turned right onto a small lane. Along the way they met two or three men, either sitting or walking, either patrolling or guarding. The leader of the envoys stretched out his middle finger, ring finger and little finger and turned the fingers downward. The two guards nodded their heads; they also stretched out their fingers in secret signal. Wei Xiaobao noticed that the signals these people were showing were all different; he did not know the purpose of those signals.

After travelling for twelve, thirteen li, they arrived at a courtyard in front of a big building. The man guarding in front of the gate loudly announced, ”The guests have arrived!” And then he opened the gate. Li Lishi, Guan Anji, and two men that Wei Xiaobao had never met before came out. They cupped their fists and said, ”Master Mao, Master Wei, welcome! Our humble Society's Zongduozhu requests the pleasure of seeing you.”

Wei Xiaobao was utterly delighted; the thought, ”Looks like my 'Master Wei' will stay after all!”

Mao Shiba struggled to stand up, he said, ”How can I see Chen Zongduozhu like this? It's really … really … Aiyo!” In the end he failed to get up and had to lie on the stretcher.

Li Lishi said, ”Master Mao is injured, no need to be overly courteous.” He let the two guests to enter the main hall.

A man told Wei Xiaobao, ”Master Wei, please sit here and have some tea. Zongduozhu wishes to have a chat with Master Mao first.” Straight away he took Mao Shiba in.

Wei Xiaobao drank a cup of tea, a servant served him four dishes of light refreshments. Wei Xiaobao took a piece and thought, ”Compared to the ones in the Imperial palace, this light refreshments is far too inferior, it can't even reach the level of Lovely Spring Courtyard's.” Unavoidably the high regard he had of Zongduozhu's status was reduced a little bit. However, his stomach was really hungry, so he ate not a few of these despised light refreshments.

About the time needed to eat a meal later, Li Lishi and the others, four people, came out again. One of them was an elderly man with grizzled beard, who said, ”Zongduozhu requests the pleasure of seeing Master Wei.”

Wei Xiaobao busily chewed the pastry in his mouth and swallowed it hard into his belly. After wiping his hands onto the front of his clothes, he followed the four people inside. They stopped in front of a side room's door. The elderly man raised the curtain on the door and said, ”Little White Dragon, Wei Xiaobao, Master Wei has arrived!”

Wei Xiaobao was pleasantly surprised; he thought, ”Unexpectedly he knew my made-up nickname, Mao Dage must have told them.”

A middle-aged man dressed in scholar attire inside the room stood up; with a smile across his face he said, ”Please come in!”

Wei Xiaobao walked in. His eyes were rolling in confusion. Guan Anji said, ”This is our humble Society's Chen Zongduozhu.”

Wei Xiaobao raised his head slightly to take a look; he saw the man had a kind expression, but his eyes were like lightning as he gazed directly toward Wei Xiaobao. He could not help but was startled; he bent his knees and kowtowed to that man. The scholar stooped down to help him up and said with a laugh, ”No need to be overly courteous.” As his arms were being pulled by the scholar, Wei Xiaobao's entire body was hot; he trembled involuntarily and was not able to continue his kowtow.

The scholar said with a laugh, ”This Xiao Xiongdi captured and killed the number one warrior of Machuria, Oboi; he has taken revenge and swiped out the grudge of our countless Han people compatriots who have died under Oboi's hands. In just a few days his name has shaken the land under the heavens. To be able to make a name this early in life is truly hard to come by, from the ancient time up to this day.”

Actually, the skin on Wei Xiaobao's face was quite thick; if someone else had praised him like this, he would immediately blow his own trumpet. However, in front of this Zongduozhu who did not flaunt his own prestige, unexpectedly he could only hum and haw without able to say anything. The Zongduozhu pointed to a chair and said with a smile, ”Please sit down!” While he sat down himself first.

Wei Xiaobao also sat down. But Li Lishi and the others, four people, remained standing. Zongduozhu smiled and said, ”Master Mao Shiba told us that at the foot of Victory Hill in Yangzhou, by using a ruse Xiao Xiongdi has killed an officer of the Qing army, the Black Dragon Whip Shi Song, and thus making a debut and render your first merit. This is already out of the ordinary. I wonder how did Xiao Xiongdi capture Oboi?”

Wei Xiaobao looked up, their eyes met, he could not stop his heart from thumping, in that instant the big talk and nonsense filling his heart suddenly vanished completely. When he opened his mouth, only the truth came out: how he obtained Kangxi's favor, how Oboi was being rude, how he cooperated with the young emperor in arresting Oboi, and so on. It's just that out of his respect toward Kangxi's loyalty, he did not mention anything about the young emperor stabbed Oboi on the back with a dagger. As the matter stands, he did mention how he threw the ash from the incense burner to Oboi's eyes and how he smashed his head with the copper incense burner, fully aware that if it was not a third-rate way of dealing with the enemy, then it was definitely a second-rate; yet he was unable to conceal it any longer.

The Zongduozhu listened attentively without asking any question, when Wei Xiaobao finished, he nodded and said, ”So that's what happened. Xiao Xiongdi's martial art skill is not of the same school as Master Mao's, I wonder which honorable master is your teacher?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”I only learn a little bit of martial art, it can't be considered coming from any honorable master. The Old Turtle did not really teach me martial art, all he taught me was fake martial art.”

Although Zongduozhu was a man of vast experience and broad knowledge, he had not heard of any 'Old Turtle'; ”The Old Turtle?” he asked.

Wei Xiaobao laughed aloud and said, ”Old turtle is Hai Laogong. His real name is Hai Tianfu. Mao Dage and I were captured by him and were brought to the Palace ...” Speaking to this point, he suddenly realized he had made a mistake. To the Tian Di Hui people he said that Mao Shiba and he were captured by Oboi, and now he said it was Hai Laogong who brought them to the Palace; how could the previous story not match the latter one? Luckily his ability in telling lies and covering up was top-notch; thereupon he said, ”This old fellow was acting under Oboi's order to capture us, two people. I supposed Oboi was a very high ranking official, naturally he would not easily do the job personally.”

”Hai Tianfu? Hai Tianfu?” Zongduozhu muttered to himself, ”There is such character in the Tatars' Palace? Xiao Xiongdi, show me the martial art he taught you.”

Even if the skin on Wei Xiaobao's face were thicker, he knew that in all honesty his martial art skill was not too brilliant; he said, ”The old turtle only taught me fake martial art; he hated me for poisoning his eyes blind, so he did everything possible to harm me. This martial art is truly shameful.”

The Zongduozhu nodded, he waved his left hand, Guan Anji and the others, four people withdrew outside the room and closed the door behind them. Zongduozhu asked, ”How did you poison his eyes blind?”

In front of this heroic-spirited and imposing Zongduozhu, Wei Xiaobao felt that telling lies was extremely difficult; it was a lot more comfortable to tell the truth, a feeling that he had never experienced before. Thereupon he told him how he poisoned Hai Laogong blind, how he killed Xiao Guizi, how he masquerade as him and live as a little eunuch in the Palace. Zongduozhu was amazed and amused at the same time. He reached out with his left hand toward Wei Xiaobao's crotch and found that his pen1s and testicles were intact, Wei Xiaobao had not been 'purified' at all, indeed he was not a court eunuch. Zongduozhu could not help but letting out a sigh of relief as he smiled and said, ”Wonderful, wonderful! I have a difficult problem in my mind and have not found the solution for a while. Turns out Xiao Xiongdi has not been purified, you are not a court eunuch!” Slapping lightly on the table with his left hand, he said, ”It's settled then! Yin Xiongdi has a successor, the Green Wood Hall has a leader.”

Wei Xiaobao had no idea what he was talking about, he only saw Zongduozhu's delighted expression, apparently he had found solution to the difficult problem weighing down his mind; Wei Xiaobao could not help but feeling happy as well.

With both hands behind his back, Zongduozhu was walking back and forth in the room, while talking to himself, ”Not a single one of our Tian Di Hui's conducts and deeds was without any precedence. Everything starts with me, why should I care about people being shocked or about public criticism?” This literary-style speech of his was even more confusing to Wei Xiaobao.

The Zongduozhu said, ”There are only you and me, two people right now, you don't need to be afraid to be embarrassed. I don't care whether the martial art Hai Tianfu taught you was fake or real, perform it and let me see.”

Only then did Wei Xiaobao understand that the reason he sent Guan Anji, four people, out of the room was to avoid him being afraid of making a clown of himself. Seeing he had no other excuses, Wei Xiaobao said, ”It's what the old turtle taught me, it's none of my business; if it is too laughable, you may curse him good.”

The Zongduozhu smiled and said, ”Just go on with your practice, don't worry!” Thereupon Wei Xiaobao started to perform his style, a small part of the 'Great Compassion Great Sorrow Thousand-Leaf Hand' Hai Laogong taught him, some of which he had already forgotten, but he still remembered most of it. Zongduozhu watched with rapt attention. After Wei Xiaobao finished performing the style, he nodded and said, ”From the way you move, apparently you have learned Shaolin Temple's 'big grappling technique', is that so?”

The 'big grappling technique' was the one Wei Xiaobao learned first, naturally he knew his mastery was even worse; actually, he wanted to avoid doing it clumsily to save his own face, but Zongduozhu seemed to know everything. Without any choice he said, ”The old turtle also taught me several grappling technique to be used in fighting the young emperor.” And then he performed several moves of the 'big grappling technique'.

The Zongduozhu smiled slightly and said, ”Not bad!”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”I knew you would laugh when you see it.”

”I am not laughing at you!” the Zongduozhu said with a smile, ”I like what I see. I think your memory, as well as your comprehension, are not bad; you are a talented individual. That move 'white horse kick back', Hai Tianfu deliberately taught you incorrectly, but you turned it into 'carp props its gills'; you can make slight change automatically, you did not rigidly adhere to dead moves. That is very good!”

Wei Xiaobao had a sudden inspiration; he thought, ”Apparently Zongduozhu's martial art skill is a lot higher than the old turtle's. If he is willing to teach me martial art, I, Wei Xiaobao, will definitely become a real hero, no longer a fake hero.” Leaning his head sideways, he stole a glance toward Zongduozhu; it so happened that Zongduozhu's cold, electric eyes were gazing at him. Wei Xiaobao was always a mischievous person, even in front of imposing Empress Dowager, he still dared to face her up, but in front of this Zongduozhu, he did not dare to be wanton at all. As their eyes met, immediately he averted his gaze.

Zongduozhu said slowly, ”What do you think the purpose of our Tian Di Hui?”

”Tian Di Hui is fighting the Qing, restoring the Ming,” Wei Xiaobao replied, ”Helping the Han people to kill the Tatars.”

Zongduozhu nodded, ”Exactly,” he said, ”Are you willing to enter our Tian Di Hui and become a brother?”

Wei Xiaobao happily said, ”That's wonderful!” In his mind, each and every one of Tian Di Hui members was a hero and a warrior, he had never imagined that he could become one of the Society's brothers. He thought further, ”Even Mao Dage is not a Tian Di Hui brother, could I be better than him?” He said, ”I am afraid … I am afraid I am not good enough.” In that instant his eyes were shining as his heart was swayed between thoughts of personal gains and losses. He felt that it was an out-of-this-world undeserved good luck that most likely it was not real, perhaps Zongduozhu was only joking with him.

The Zongduozhu said, ”It is possible for you to enter the Society. It's just that our business is fighting the Qing, restoring the Ming, regarding our Han people's rivers and mountains as heavy, and our very own lives as light. Moreover, the rules within the Society are very strict, if you violate it, your punishment will be very heavy. You must think it over very well.”

”I don't need to think,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Whatever rule you have, I will abide by it. Zongduozhu, if you let me join the Society, I will die happy.”

The smile vanished from Zongduozhu's face, he said grimly, ”This is an extremely important matter, a matter of life and death, it's not a child's play.”

”Of course I know,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”I heard people say that Tian Di Hui walks in the way of chivalry, justice and loyalty, its business is startling-the-sky and moving-the-earth kind of great undertakings, how can it be a child's play?”

The Zongduozhu smiled and said, ”It's good that you know it. When you enter the Society, you must make 36 oaths and have to avoid ten strict prohibitions.” Speaking to this point, his expression turned heavy. He said, ”These prohibitions are not applicable to you since your age is still very young, but there is one: 'toward my brothers, I must be faithful and true, I must not lie and swindle.' This one prohibition, do you think you can accomplish?”

Wei Xiaobao was slightly startled, he said, ”To you, Zongduozhu, naturally I won't dare to lie. But toward the rest of the brothers, must I tell the truth all the time?”

”Minor matter you may not tell, important matter you must tell,” Zongduozhu said.

”That's right,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”But when I gamble with the Society's brothers, can I or can't I use tricks and cheat?”

The Zongduozhu had never thought he would ask this kind of question; showing a faint smile he said, ”Although gambling is not a good deed, the Society's rules do not have anything against it. However, if you cheat on them and when they find out they want to beat you, the Society does not forbid it either. Would you like to take a beating and get the worst of it?”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”They won't know. Actually, I don't need to cheat; my confidence in winning is nine out of ten.”

Tian Di Hui's members were Jianghu warriors; gambling and drinking were their second nature, nobody ever consider it wrong. Zongduozhu no longer paid him any attention. After staring at him for a while, he said, ”Are you willing to do obeisance and take me as your master?”

Wei Xiaobao was ecstatic, immediately he threw himself in front of him and kowtowed repeatedly, while calling, ”Shifu!”

This time the Zongduozhu did not help him up; after Wei Xiaobao had kowtowed a dozen times, he said, ”It's enough!” Wei Xiaobao happily stood up. The Zongduozhu said, ”I am surnamed Chen, called Jinnan. This three-character name 'Chen Jinnan' is what I use in Jianghu. Since you have become my disciple, you must know your Shifu's real name. My original name is Chen Yonghua, 'yong' from 'yong yuan' [forever/eternal], and 'Hua' from 'zhong hua' [China].” When speaking about his real name, he lowered his voice.

”Disciple will firmly keep it in my heart, I won't dare to reveal it,” Wei Xiaobao said.

Chen Jinnan looked at him carefully for half a day, he said slowly, ”You and I are master and disciple now, we should not conceal anything from each other. Let me tell you frankly: your glib tongue, your craftiness and your excessive cheating is completely unsuited to your master's disposition; I do not like it at all. Therefore, the reason I accepted you as my disciple is out of consideration of our Society's major mission.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Later on disciple will change.”

”Changing rivers and mountains is easy, changing a man's character is much harder,” Chen Jinnan said, ”You won't change much. You are still very young, your temper is rather unstable, so it's not that bad. In the future you must always remember my words. I always treat my disciples with strict discipline, if you violate our Society's rules, scheming against anything upright, break the law and commit crimes, your master will take your life. It is as easy as turning my hand, and I will not show any mercy.” To prove it, he reached out with his left hand. 'Crack!' he grabbed and broke a piece of wood from the corner of the table, and rubbed it between his hands. Wood splinters rained down on the floor.

Wei Xiaobao stuck out his tongue and did not pull it back for half a day. Presently, the delight in his heart was difficult to be chased away. He said with a laugh, ”I am not going to do any bad thing. As soon as I commit an evil deed, Shifu will grab me on my head and rub it. Besides, I only need to do several bad things and Shifu, you won't have any disciple to whom you can pass on your skill.”

”No need to do several bad things, only one is enough,” Chen Jinnan said, ”Then you and I won't be master and disciple anymore.”

”How about two things?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

With a straight face Chen Jinnan replied, ”You must be more serious to me, less smooth talking. One bad thing is one bad thing; do you even need to haggle over it?”

”Yes!” Wei Xiaobao complied, but in his heart he said, ”What if I do half a bad thing?”

”You are my fourth disciple,” Chen Jinnan said, ”And maybe my last one. Tian Di Hui business is arduous, I do not have time to take a disciple. Your three Shixiong, two died in battle against the Tatars, one died in service during the recovery of Guoxing and Guangfu, Taiwan; they all died as real men sacrificing their lives for the country. Your master's status in Wulin world is not low, my reputation is not shameful, you must not do anything that will cause me to lose face.”

”Yes!” Wei Xiaobao said, ”It's just that ... it's just that ...”

”It's just that what?” Chen Jinnan asked.

”Sometimes it was not me who want to lose face,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”But I ended up losing face anyway, I can't help it. For example, I could not beat others, so others caught me and closed me up inside a jujube barrel, and was pushed around like some merchandise. Shifu, you must not blame me.”

Chen Jinnan frowned; he was angered, but was also amused. After heaving a deep sigh he said, ”Perhaps accepting you as my disciple is the biggest blunder I've ever made in my entire life. But for the sake of heavy responsibility over the important matter of the world, I have to brave a risk. Xiaobao, our Society has another important matter at hand, in everything you must listen to my instruction and do as I command, don't talk nonsense too much, then you will be all right.”

”Yes!” Wei Xiaobao said.

Chen Jinnan noticed that he was going to speak but hesitated, so he asked, ”What do you want to say?”

”When disciple talks,” Wei Xiaobao started, ”I only say something that makes sense to me, I don't want to talk nonsense at all. Yet you say that I talk nonsense, isn't that an unjust treatment?”

Chen Jinnan did not want to squabble with him, he said, ”Then the less you talk the better,” but in his heart he said, ”I don't know how many heroes and warriors under the heavens are showing respect in front of me, they do not even dare to breathe too loudly, but this cunning, uncouth and weird urchin insists on having this much useless words.” He stood up and walked toward the door. ”Come with me,” he said. Wei Xiaobao rushed to the door and lifted the door curtain to let Chen Jinnan go out, then he followed him to the main hall.

There were about twenty people sitting in the main hall, as soon as they saw their Zongduozhu come out, everybody stood at attention immediately. Chen Jinnan nodded, he walked toward the second chair at the head of the hall and sat down. Wei Xiaobao noticed that the chair in the middle was empty, and the chair above his Shifu's position was also empty; he was bewildered, ”Could it be that Zongduozhu is not the highest position?” he mused, ”How come there are two people above Shifu?”

Chen Jinnan said, ”Brothers, I have received a young disciple today.” Pointing to Wei Xiaobao he said, ”It's him!”

The crowd stepped forward; cupping their fists and bowing, they said, ”Congratulations Zongduozhu,” and then they cupped their fists toward Wei Xiaobao and one after another they offered their congratulations as well. Some of them appeared really happy, some looked greatly astonished, some looked like they did not believe it really happened.

Chen Jinnan ordered Wei Xiaobao, ”Go greet all Bobo, Shushu

[86].” Wei Xiaobao then went to kowtow to everybody. Standing on the side, Li Lishi introduced, ”This is Lotus Flower Hall's Xiangzhu, Cai Dezhong, Cai Bobo.” ”This is Great Obedience Hall's Xiangzhu, Fang Dahong, Fang Bobo.” ”This is Latter Family Hall's Xiangzhu, Ma Chaoxing, Ma Bobo.”

Wei Xiaobao kowtowed in front of these Xiangzhu one by one. Altogether there were nine Xiangzhu from nine Halls. Next he had to greet the people next in command of the various Halls. The nine Xiangzhu returned his kowtow by casual greeting, they said continually, ”I don't dare, Xiao Xiongdi please rise.” But unexpectedly other people did not received his kowtow; as soon as he was about to kneel down, they would reach out and stop him. Wei Xiaobao was quick, sometimes he already knelt down before the other side had time to stop; in this case, the other person would hastily kneel as well to return the propriety. Apparently they did not dare to assume the position as a senior.

There were more than twenty people in the hall, Wei Xiaobao could not remember everybody's name and duty, he only knew that each one of these people was a leading figure of the Tian Di Hui. He thought, ”As soon as I bowed to Zongduozhu and become his disciple, everybody treated me as one of their own, they even told me their real name and capacity within the Society.” In his heart he was very happy.

Chen Jinnan waited until Wei Xiaobao finished greeting the people, and then he said, ”Brothers, after taking this young disciple, I also wish for him to enter the Tian Di Hui.”

”Nothing's better than that,” the crowd replied in chorus.

The Lotus Flower Hall's Xiangzhu, Cai Dezhong was an old man with white hair and white beard. He said, ”From the beginning, great teacher always produces brilliant student. The disciple of Zongduozhu must be a wise, brave, and all-around talented young hero. I believe that he will establish great merit in our Society.”

The Latter Family Hall's Xiangzhu, Ma Chaoxing was a short and stout man, with sincere smile on his face; he said, ”Today we meet Xiao Xiongdi of the Wei family, but I do not have anything as a first meeting gift. The one surnamed Ma has always a man of meticulous planning and careful accounting; let's do it this way: how about if Cai Xiangzhu and I become Xiao Xiongdi's sponsor as he joins the Society, consider it as our first meeting gift. What does Cai Xiong thinks?”

Cai Dezhong laughed aloud and said, ”Old Ma's careful accounting need not be mentioned, it is guaranteed to be a sound planning. This first meeting gift does not involve any money, count me in.” Everybody chuckled and laughed.

Chen Jinnan said, ”Two Bobo have enormous faces, and they are willing to be your sponsor. Quickly thank them.”

”Yes!” Wei Xiaobao replied. He stepped forward and kowtowed to express his gratitude.

Chen Jinnan said, ”According to our Society's rules, the good and bad words and actions of the brother entering the Society will be the great responsibility of the sponsor. This young disciple of mine is very sharp-witted; I am afraid with his quick-thinking head, he would not do the job abiding by the rules. Since Cai and Ma, two Xiangzhu are his sponsors, later on you will share some of my responsibility. If he ever do anything dishonorable, you must put your hands to discipline him, you must not be too polite.”

Cai Dezhong said, ”Zongduozhu is too modest. How can any disciple under Zongduozhu's tutelage be a dishonorable scholar?”

”I am not being too modest,” Chen Jinnan replied, ”Toward this child, I do not feel at ease; by helping me disciplining him, everybody is sharing my responsibility and taking some load off my mind.”

Ma Chaoxing laughed and said, ”Disciplining him, I do not dare, Xiao Xiongdi is young, if you have anything you are not clear, we all are brothers here, of course we will be frank and open-minded, so you won't have to be uptight.”

Chen Jinnan nodded and said, ”Let me thank you in advance.”

Wei Xiaobao thought, ”I haven't done anything wrong, but Shifu already worry that I will do bad things. Ah, right, he heard me on the trick I used to deal with the old turtle, he is afraid my old illness might flare-up and would treat him the same way. But the old turtle wanted to harm me, plus he was not my Shifu, so I poisoned his eyes blind. You are my real Shifu, you will teach me real skill, how can I fool with you? Yet you talk about it up front, everybody here will discipline me, then I won't be able to move at all.”

He heard Chen Jinnan said, ”Li Xiongdi, please set up a ceremonial hall, we will have a ceremony today to let Wei Xiaobao join our Society.” Li Lishi complied and went out to prepare the ceremony. Chen Jinnan said, ”According to the customs of the former days, whenever someone wanted to join our Society, the sponsor must examine and investigate his past history and present conducts, for at least half a year, at most one or two years. When everything has been verified, we then conduct the ceremony and have the person join the Society. However, Wei Xiaobao holds a governmental post in the Qing Palace, he is a very trusted-aide of the young Emperor, which will be very beneficial to our Society. We have to temporarily make an exception here, but not because he is my own disciple.”

The people said, ”We, brothers, understand.”

The Great Obedience Hall's Xiangzhu, Fang Dahong was a big and tall man, his black beard was long and shiny. With a loud and clear voice he said, ”We can have such a trusted brother handling matters at the side of the Tatars Emperor, is indeed a Heaven's blessing. The luck of the Tatars is numbered, the revival our Great Ming's rivers and mountains is promising. It is called 'knowing yourself and knowing the enemy, you will emerge victorious in every battle'. Who does not understand Zongduozhu's intention?”