969 A Roll (1/2)

Jueqing had become a Buddhist monk when he was eight. At the age of twenty-seven, swayed by a couple of his benefactors' words, he resolutely chose to secularize himself. But as an orphan, both parents of whom had died, he had no relatives that he could go to after leaving the Four Noble Truths Temple. Though his Master Shifu gave him several taels of silver, it was not even enough to pay for accommodation in an inn.

Having been a receptionist monk for many years, he had a decently wide knowledge about the ways of people, especially about the importance of money. So before he told his Master Shifu his decision, he had done some careful thinking about his future life.

First, he needed a new name, and the three Chinese characters \”Shi Qingjue\” had instantly popped into his mind.

Then, he needed money or something that could be traded for money. He had pondered over this issue for a full day, and the steward monk had scolded him because of this, which had given him another reason to choose secularization. Eventually, he had come up with an idea.

That was a month ago. He had heard that someone wanted to buy information about the family backgrounds of eminent monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple. The one who had told him had even joked, \”Even if that guy only offers ten taels of silver for one Buddhist monk, then since there are so many monks in the Four Noble Truths Temple, the total price would be huge, right?\”

And just like that, Shi Qingjue left the temple that he had been familiar with since childhood and walked to southern Jade City, thinking that things would be very simple. However, it turned out that he couldn't get in touch with the Dragon King or the Unique King, and that rumored mysterious buyer who was collecting intelligence on Buddhism monks was also nowhere to be found.

Less than one day after he left the temple, Shi Qingjue began to feel afraid, but there was no way back for him now. It was impossible for him to return to the Four Noble Truths Temple. He had no professional skills, and he didn't dare kill people. Uproarious nights in southern Jade City was heavenly in other people's description, but after experiencing it himself, he found that it was nothing but a mixture of noises and chaos. The roads were muddy, and the pedestrians were callous. It was no place for a secularized Buddhist monk at all.

As luck would have it, he had encountered sabersman Gao Yang.

Gao Yang was bragging about how he had obtained the respect of both the Dragon King and the Unique King. All of his listeners regarded it as a joke, but Shi Qingjue, who had happened to pass by and hear it by accident, had taken his words seriously. He had walked up to Gao Yang, respectfully cupped his hands before his chest, bowed, and then asked, \”You know those two people?\”

Gao Yang had glanced at him briefly before deciding that he would take in this young Buddhist monk and have him serve as his helper and attendant.

Shi Qingjue had claimed that he had a treasure of the Four Noble Truths Temple to sell. In fact, Gao Yang hadn't really been listening to him and just continued describing how tough he was and what a good place southern Jade City was. This was merely a petty occurrence that happened in a tavern, but Xu Xiaoyi's informer had overheard their conversation, put it down in an intelligence report, and submitted it to his superior.

If it weren't for Gao Yang's nonsense in the report, then Xu Xiaoyi wouldn't have even regarded it as an intelligence report worth reading. The task of collecting information about the Buddhist monks had been progressing so slowly that he had almost forgotten about it.

Zhong Heng's attention was on the kung fu competition that concerned the election of the Lord of Jade City, so he had merely browsed through it and then ignored it.

But Gu Shenwei's interest in the Four Noble Truths Temple had never diminished, so he had decided to meet this Shi Qingjue who claimed to have a roll with all of the monks' names on it.

Old Man Mu finished the job with ease. The old man whose acupoint had been struck by him was a common sabersman of the Heavenly Mountain Sect. Apparently, the secularized Buddhist monk hadn't caught the attention of Zhang Ji or the Unique King yet.

Old Man Mu pointed at Shi Qingjue and then said to the Dragon King, \”This is a talent who just defeated two old prostitutes in southern Jade City. If we send him to the Waning Moon Hall, he will defeat them all without using a weapon in less than a month.\”

With a red face, Shi Qingjue nervously moved his feet but still felt indescribably satisfied.

Gu Shenwei hadn't told Old Man Mu to take him to a brothel, but it seemed to have worked very well. Currently, Shi Qingjue gave him a feeling that he was excited and mild, which meant that he was in a very good mood to socialize with others.

\”I've seen you before,\” said Gu Shenwei.

\”Yes. The Dragon King has a good memory. I used to be a receptionist monk in the Four Noble Truths Temple and I once received Dragon King with the head monk.\”

\”Where's the roll?\”

\”Er, I'm willing to hand the roll over to the Dragon King, but there are some terms-\”

Old Man Mu interjected. \”Women. He just needs women. What a poor Buddhist monk. Suppressing his sexual needs for so many years must have been really tough for him.\”

Shi Qingjue hurriedly shook his head. \”No. I've already… I've already experienced… \”

Old Man Mu watched him in surprise. \”You're indeed a Buddhist monk. You comprehended it pretty quick;y. But as an experienced hand, I have to remind you about something. Though you think that you don't care about women at all, after one night, you'll be eager to go there again. It's just like metempsychosis: cyclical and endless. Only people like me-\”

Gu Shenwei stopped Old Man Mu's endless nagging. \”Tell me your terms.\”

Shi Qingjue suddenly knelt down. \”I want to join the Dragon Army. This is all I ask. I don't want to be an official and I don't want money. Just let me be a common soldier. I'll try to make contributions all by myself. The Dragon King doesn't have to offer me any help.\”

Old Man Mu pouted and shook his head, thinking that by no means could this monk get any help from the Dragon King even if he handed over the whole Four Noble Truths Temple to him.

Gu Shenwei didn't answer him immediately. He peered at him for a while. It was not until the look on the monk's face switched from expectation to panic that he said, \”Rise. You're now a member of the Dragon Army.\”

Rejoicing, Shi Qingjue stood up and said, \”Please give me a writing brush, an ink stick, an ink slab, and some paper. I'll write down all the names from memory.\”

\”Write them? There are many monks in the Four Noble Truths Temple. You remember all of them?\” Old Man Mu asked in amazement.

A slightly complacent look appeared on Shi Qingjue's face. His kung fu was just average, and he wasn't a brilliant talker either, but he had a very good memory. \”Our temple… The Four Noble Truths Temple has 1,326 Buddhist monks. 126 of them are there for a short stay. There are more than 6,000 recorded eminent monks, but only 284 are still alive. Does the Dragon King want information on all of them or just the living ones?\”

It had been many years since the establishment of the Four Noble Truths Temple. There were many eminent monks whose identities were special. The succession of teachings from masters to disciples were all recorded in the roll that started from the Buddha himself to monks currently living in the temple, spanning over a time period of thousand years. Of course Gu Shenwei wasn't interested in all of them. After being informed of this, he had requested Shi Qingjue to write down the information about those who were still alive.