render their assistance. The flag leaders accepted the order and went their separate ways.

Not too long afterwards an old monk acting as the welcoming host went down the mountain accompanied by Wen Cangsong; he said, “The Temple Abbot and all elders are closing themselves in meditation; they cannot receive any guest.”

The Ming Cult leaders’ faces changed as they heard this. Zhou Dian indignantly said, “This is the Cult Leader of the Ming Cult, personally came to the Shaolin Temple to pay a visit; the Senior Monks do not want to see him, don’t you think this is a bit rude?”

That ‘welcoming host’ monk [Translator’s note: I can’t think of a single English word for this. Literally it means ‘receiving guest’.] lowered his head with knitted eyebrows; his face full of anxiety, he said, “Can’t see!”

Zhou Dian angrily stretched out his hand to grab his collar. Shuo Bude raised his arm to block, he said, “Zhou Xiong, don’t be rude.”

Peng Yingyu said, “Since the Abbot is in seclusion, then it will be the same if we can see Reverend Kong Zhi or Kong Xing.”

That ‘welcoming host’ monk clasped his palms and said with an icy-cold voice, “Can’t see!”

Peng Yingyu said again, “How about the Head of the Damo Hall or the Head of the Luohan Hall?”

That ‘welcoming host’ monk maintained his cold and indifferent look. “Can’t see!” he said.

With a thundering voice Yin Tianzheng roared, “Bottom line: are you or are you not going to see us?” Both of his palms shot out with an earth-shattering force, ‘bang!’ he hit and broke a nearby pine tree into two; the top part, still with branches and leaves on it, collapsed to the ground, taking three crow nests with it.

The ‘welcoming host’ monk began to show fear on his face, he said, “You have come from afar, it is only proper for us to see you, but our elders are meditating in seclusion. Please come back later!” He bowed and clasped his palms, then turned around to leave.

Wei Yixiao’s shadow flashed, blocking in front of the monk, he said, “I wonder how should we address Reverend?”

The ‘welcoming host’ monk said, “I can’t say lowly monk’s Buddhist name.”

Wei Yixiao stretched out his hand and lightly slapped the monk’s shoulder twice; he laughed and said, “Very good, very good! You repeatedly said ‘Bu Jian’ [Can’t see] two words, turned out you are ‘Bu Jian Da Shi’ [Reverend ‘Bu Jian’ or Reverend Can’t See], you are Kong Jian Shen Seng’s [Divine Monk Kong Jian – the same ‘Jian’ character as ‘Bu Jian’] martial brother. I wonder if the Yan Luo Wang [King of the Underworld] called you, ‘Bu Jian Shen Seng’, will you answer him?”

As the ‘welcoming host’ monk took the slap, a cold air flew from his shoulder to his chest; his body shook, his teeth chattered and his mouth made ‘ge, ge’ noises. Enduring all these he leaned sideways and slipped past Wei Yixiao; trembling and staggering all the way he ran back up the mountain.

“This fellow’s internal strength is not Shaolin’s,” Wei Yixiao said.

Immediately Zhang Wuji recalled Yuan Zhen’s internal strength, and admitted that Shaolin’s internal strength was extraordinary. He said, “Bat King has slapped him twice with the ‘han bing mian zhang’ [cold-ice soft palm]; how can his grandmasters and his masters ignore it? Let us go up the mountain, I want to see if the senior monks truly do not want to see us.”

Everybody knew a fierce fight would be unavoidable, Shaolin Sect was known as the Wulin world’s ‘tai shan bei dou’ [Mount Tai and Big Dipper – meaning ‘the ultimate’]; over the last thousand of years it had enjoyed the reputation as the Undefeated Sect in the Jianghu. In the battle that would happen today finally they will see between the Ming Cult and the Shaolin Sect, which one was strong and which one was weak. Everybody’s spirit was boosted a hundred folds; picking up their speed they climbed up the mountain. They realized Shaolin Temple’s martial art experts were as abundant as the cloud; so the intensity of the incoming big battle would not be a small matter.

Less than the time needed to drink tea later they had arrived at the pavilion in front of the temple. Zhang Wuji recalled how as a kid he followed his grandmaster going up this mountain and saw the Shaolin Sect’s Three Divine Monks right here in this pavilion. Although it was only a few years, but back then he was a lone thin and sickly kid; while today he was the Cult Leader of the Ming Cult, with all the honor and respect belonged to the position. He felt like the two visits were a world apart.

He saw that two of the pillars of the stone pavilion were broken; the stone table in the middle of the pavilion was turned upside down on the ground.

Shuo Bude laughed and said, “Shaolin Monks are brave and fierce; these two pillars are broken recently. It looks like they had a big fight only a few days ago and have not had any chance to fix it.”

Zhou Dian said, “After winning the battle today, we can come back and tear this pavilion apart.”

They waited at the pavilion, expecting a lot of martial art experts to come out of the temple; after exchanging pleasantries they were going to ask straightaway why Yin Liting fell under such a cruel hand. If the monks did not give them a satisfying answer, then they will resort to violence. Who would have thought that after waiting for half a day they did not see any movement from the temple. A moment later they saw that some people came out from the back of the temple and were going toward the mountain, from the distant it looked like there were forty, fifty people.

“Humph,” Peng Yingyu said, “They are deploying people to set an ambush.”

“Let’s go into the temple!” Zhang Wuji said.

Immediately, with Yang Xiao and Wei Yixiao on his left, Yin Tianzheng and Yin Yewang on his right, Tie Guan Daoren [Priest Tie Guan], Peng Yingyu, Zhou Dian and Shuo Bude, Four Wanderers behind him, Zhang Wuji entered the temple gate. Upon entering the ‘da xiong bao dian’ [great hero precious hall] they saw the sacrificial table in front of the image of Buddha was laying on its side, the incense burner fell and the ashes were scattered on the ground; but they couldn’t see anyone there.

Shuo Bude laughed coldly and said, “As the Shaolin Sect people saw us coming, they were panic-stricken and confused that they knocked the incense burner over. Funny, very funny!”

In a clear voice Zhang Wuji said, “Ming Cult’s Zhang Wuji, joined by Yang Xiao, Yin Tianzheng, Wei Yixiao, and the other Cult Leaders have come to pay a visit. We wish to see the Abbot.” His voice was not loud, but it was supported by abundant power that it echoed on the copper bell and the big drum hanging inside the hall, creating a buzzing noise throughout the hall.

Yang Xiao, Wei Yixiao and the others looked at each other, thinking, “Jiaozhu’s internal energy is so profound, it truly is amazing. Even if Yang Jiaozhu [Cult Leader Yang] were still alive, his internal energy would still be inferior to this. It looks like in the incoming battle today our victory is imminent.”

Zhang Wuji’s voice could be heard in the front and rear courtyards, and all over the Shaolin Temple; yet after waiting for half an afternoon nobody came out.

“Hey!” Zhou Dian shouted, “Shaolin Temple Monks! Brothers! Are you playing hide and seek? Are you pretending to be a new bride?” His voice was louder than Zhang Wuji’s, but the copper bell and the big drum were not buzzing.

They waited for a little bit longer; still nobody came out. Peng Yingyu said, “Suddenly I got a bad feeling about this temple; something is really wrong.”

Zhou Dian laughed and said, “You are a monk entering a temple; this is your appropriate place, what do you mean something is wrong?”

“Ah,” Tie Guan Daoren suddenly said, “Here is a piece of meditation stick cut by a blade.”

“Ah!” Shuo Bude exclaimed, “There is a blotch of blood here!”

Zhou Dian laughed, “They must have remembered the battle of the Brightness Peak,” he said, “Our Jiaozhu’s reputation has spread far and wide, Shaolin Temple hangs high the truce flag! You see, they were so panic-stricken that they ran away dropping everything, including their weapons.”

Tie Guan Daoren shook his head, “That’s not right!” he said.

“Why not?” Zhou Dian asked.

Tie Guan Daoren said, “What about this blood stain?”

Zhou Dian replied, “Most likely they cut themselves in fright …” Speaking to this point he stopped, since he realized his idea was too far fetched. Right that moment a gust of wind blew, rising everybody’s sleeve. “It’s nice and cool!” Zhou Dian exclaimed. Suddenly they heard a loud crashing noise from the west, a big pine tree about a dozen ‘zhang’s away from them fell down.

The crowd was startled; immediately they jumped toward the collapsed tree. The tree grew on the southeast corner of the courtyard; there was nobody in the courtyard, so nobody knew how such a big tree fell down just by a puff of wind and in the process crashed half of the surrounding wall. They examined the broken part only to see the core of the tree to be already ruptured, clearly it was shaken by someone with profound skill; so the tree had already withered and dried up, and not fell down because of the wind just now.

They looked around their surrounding and one after another exclaimed, “Ah, it’s strange!” “There was heavy fighting in here!” “So fierce, so many people were injured!” The courtyard was full of traces of intense fighting: there were blade marks and imprints of fists and palms on the green flagstones below, on the trunk and branches of the surrounding trees, and on the enclosing walls. They could also see bloodstains everywhere; obviously the battle was truly bloody. There were also deep footprints on the ground, a sign that the combatants were martial art experts who stake their whole internal energies.

Zhang Wuji said, “Quickly grab that ‘welcoming host’ monk, we need to ask him clearly.”

Wei Yixiao, Shuo Bude and the others quickly dispersed to look, but the ‘receiving guest’ monk had disappeared without any trace. The Five Elements Flags also looked everywhere. A little over an hour later all the Flag leaders came back one after another with their report: nobody was found in the temple, but they saw traces of violent battle everywhere. Many of the halls and rooms had bloodstains in them, along with broken blades and other weapons, but not a single body was to be seen.

“Left Emissary Yang, what do you think?” Zhang Wuji asked.

“This battle happened two, three days ago,” Yang Xiao replied, “Could it be that the entire Shaolin Sect is annihilated and not a single one survived?”

“Wasn’t there a few dozens people went out the temple from the back just now?” Shuo Bude asked.

Yang Xiao replied, “Quite possibly they were the Shaolin Sect’s enemy. They were left behind to take care of things in here; but as they saw our large group arrived they slipped away.”

Peng Yingyu said, “Judging from the turn of events, I think you are right. That ‘welcoming host’ monk must be an impostor; it’s a pity we could not capture him. But among the enemies of the Shaolin Sect, which one is this powerful? Could it be the Beggar Clan?”

Zhou Dian said, “The Beggar Clan is indeed big, and has a lot of martial art experts, but they don’t have the ability to wipe out the entire Shaolin Temple that not a single survivor is left. Only our Ming Cult has this kind of ability; but we clearly did not do it, do we?”

“Zhou Dian, can you not spout nonsense?” Tie Guan Daoren said, “Our Cult obviously did not do it, do you think we don’t know?”

“Reporting to Jiaozhu,” Yan Yuan, the Flag Leader of the Thick Earth came to report, “It looks like the eighteen arhats in the Luohan Hall have been shifted, but there was no footprint around.”

The leaders knew that Yan Yuan and his Thick Earth Flag were experts in building and construction, so his suspicion must not be unfounded. “Let us take a look,” they said.

Upon entering the Luohan Hall, they saw quite a bit of blood splattered on the walls and broken blades and meditation sticks strewn on the floor.

“Yan Xiong,” Zhou Dian said, “What’s unusual about these eighteen arhats?”

“Each Luohan arhat was moved from their original position,” Yan Yuan replied, “At first I thought there was another door somewhere, but after carefully examining the wall, I did not see any secret passageway anywhere.”

Yang Xiao was deep in thought for half an afternoon before he finally said, “Let us push these arhats and take a look.”

Yan Yuan leaped toward the platform and pushed the long-eyebrowed arhat to the side, exposing the wall behind it, but there was nothing unusual there. Yang Xiao also leaped to the platform to take a closer look at that long-eyebrowed arhat. “Uh,” he suddenly exclaimed, “There is a character on the back of this arhat.” He turned the arhat around. To their astonishment, the crowd saw a ‘mie’ [extinguish] character as big as a human’s head.

The Luohan arhats were inlaid with gold, but by now a large ‘mie’ character was engraved on the glittering golden back with a sharp object. The engraving was about a ‘cun’ [an inch] deep that the clay inside was exposed. The engraving was new, obviously it was done not too long ago.

“What’s the meaning of this ‘mie’ character?” Zhou Dian wondered, “Ah, right! It must be the Emei Sect attacked the Shaolin Temple; Miejue Shitai left this to demonstrate her power.”

The group of heroes thought his idea was too unthinkable; they all shook their heads. While speaking they turned all the arhats around. Other than the Subduing Dragon Arhat on the extreme right and the Crouching Tiger Arhat on the extreme left, a large character was engraved on the back of every arhat. From right to left there were sixteen characters which read: ‘First execute Shaolin then extinguish Wudang, only our Ming Cult is fit to be Wulin world’s king!’

Yin Tianzheng, Tie Guan Daoren, Shuo Bude and the others called out together, “This is a treacherous plan to shift the blame!” They realized these sixteen characters were a threat to incite terror; they recalled how the Shaolin Temple’s monks suffered an unexpected calamity, and the blame was put upon the Ming Cult’s head. Everybody was anxious and grieved at the same time.

“Let us quickly scrape off these characters to avoid injustice toward us,” Zhou Dian called out.

Yang Xiao said, “The enemy intention is obviously malicious; scraping off these sixteen characters may not be necessarily useful.”

This time Zhou Dian felt what he said made a good sense, so he did not argue. “What should we do, then?” he asked.

Shuo Bude said, “This is actually evidence. If we can find the person who hatched this treacherous plan, we can take him here and confront him with these sixteen characters.”

Yang Xiao nodded his agreement.

Peng Yingyu said, “Xiao Seng [little/lowly monk] still have a question, I need the Left Emissary Yang’s enlightenment. The person who carved these sixteen characters obviously wanted to shift the blame to our Cult; placing the responsibility of Shaolin Sect’s destruction on our head, so that the Wulin world’s heroes would rally together to attack us. Then why did he turn these arhats to the wall? Why didn’t they leave these large sixteen characters facing outward? If it wasn’t because of Flag Leader Yan’s attentiveness, nobody would know there are characters on the back of these Luohan arhats.”

Yang Xiao was deep in thought. “Come to think about it,” he said, “There must be someone else who turned these arhats back. Most likely there is someone helping our Cult in secret. We owe him a big debt of gratitude.”

“Who is this person?” the crowd asked almost simultaneously, “How did Left Emissary Yang know?”

Yang Xiao sighed and said, “This is a complicated mystery, I cannot possibly know everything …”

“Ah!” he has not finished his words when suddenly Zhang Wuji loudly exclaimed, “‘First execute Shaolin, then extinguish Wudang,’ I am afraid … I am afraid Wudang is facing a terrible disaster.”

“We must leave immediately to render our help,” Wei Yixiao said, “We might also find out which dog has done it all.”

“We can’t wait much longer,” Yin Tianzheng also said, “We must leave now. These bandits have already left one or two days ago.”