Chapter - 448 Will the Encounter While Lion-slaying Cause a Calamity? (4) (1/2)
Zhao Min's brain was usually full of bright ideas and clever tricks, but this moment her hands were bound and she was unable to do anything about it. ”What kind of people are you?” she asked.
The old monk replied, ”We are renegades that the Shaolin Temple chased away. To come across other Sect's Jianghu people, we can sill show mercy and not make our moves; but to come across Shaolin disciples, we cannot do anything but kill you. Little Miss, this brother actually wanted you to be the custodian of the temple, but after finding out that you are a Shaolin disciple, we have no other choice but to kill you first, so that we will not leave any witness behind.”
With a low and deep throaty voice Zhang Wuji said, ”Good, huh! You are Yuan Zhen's disciples, aren't you?”
”Ah!” the old monk exclaimed in surprise, ”That's strange! How did you know?”
Zhao Min interrupted, ”Actually, we are on our way to Shaolin Temple to see Chen Youliang Dage [big brother], to support Yuan Zhen Da Shi ['great master' – reverend] to become the Shaolin Temple Fangzhang [abbot].”
”Shan zai! Shan zai! [exclamatory remark used by Buddhist monks, means 'good, peace']” the old monk said, ”Our Buddha reaching perfection, restoring all living beings.”
”That's right,” Zhao Min said, ”We must join our hearts and minds, accomplishing virtuous acts together.” As she said that, all eight monks broke out in laughter.
Turned out these eight monks belong to the same party as Yuan Zhen and Chen Youliang; they were inducted by Chen Youliang to be Yuan Zhen's disciples. For the past few years, Yuan Zhen had coveted the Abbot position and thus recruited capable people from everywhere. However, Shaolin Temple monastic discipline was strict, each time they accepted a disciple, the disciple must undergo a rigorous examination by the monastic authorities, a detailed verification of their family background and origins, so that Yuan Zhen found it difficult to do whatever he pleased. Consequently, he cooked up a plan with Chen Youliang, to recruit the warriors of underworld organizations, pirates and bandits, and gathered them outside the Temple as Yuan Zhen's disciples, yet they were not Shaolin disciples. They were waiting for an opportunity then together they would take this great undertaking.
Yuan Zhen's martial art skill was very profound and he was able to defeat the Jianghu warriors into submission as soon as he put his hands into it. These Wulin characters had always been admiring Shaolin's fame as the prestigious upright Sect; they had also seen Yuan Zhen's divine martial art skill, therefore, they willingly submit under his tutelage. There were a small number of disciples who were not willing to betray their own original school. Yuan Zhen immediately removed these people. That was the reason they had not been exposed even though they had been engaged in this deceitful scheme for a long time.
When that old monk said 'Our Buddha reaching perfection, restoring all living beings' he actually was saying their secret code. If the other party replied with 'the blooming flower meets Buddha, the heart draws near to Lingshan [a mountain in Guangxi]'; then they would know that they belonged to the same school.
As Zhao Min heard the undertone of the old monk's words, she knew they were Yuan Zhen's disciples, and she deduced that Yuan Zhen had his eyes on the Abbot position; but how would she know they had agreed on some secret code to communicate to each other?
”Fu Dage [big brother Fu],” a short and stout monk said, ”This little girl says something about supporting our master to become Shaolin Temple Fangzhang; where did she learn it from? This is a very important matter, we must inquire clearly.” Although these eight people had become monks, they still addressed each other as 'Dage', 'Erge' [second brother], and so on; the habit they acquired when they were still involved in the 'lu lin' world. ['lu lin' means 'green forest', usually refers to the criminal world]