(Sword Qi and Lines of Jade Smoke)

Early in the morning, Duan Zhengchun bid his wife and son farewell. Upon hearing Duan Yu say that Mu Wanqing had already slipped away with her mother the previous night, he seemed dazed for a long time. He let out a sigh, then inquired as to the status of Cui Baiquan and Guo Yanzhi. He was informed that the two had left early in the morning, travelling northwards. Following this, he took the three ministers and four imperial guards to meet with Emperor Baoding, before departing with the monks Huizhen and Huiguan for Luliang prefecture. Duan Yu escorted him for ten li past the eastern gate before turning back.

By now, it was afternoon. Emperor Baoding was within his palace, reading and reciting Buddhist scriptures, when a eunuch named Zhanshi from Duan Zhengchun’s palace entered with a message. “Reporting to your majesty. Your imperial brother’s son has fallen ill to some sort of strange disease. The imperial doctor has already been dispatched to investigate.” Emperor Baoding had been worried all along that Duan Yu might not have escaped from Crown Prince Yanqing’s poison without injury. He immediately sent two of his own eunuch’s to further investigate the situation. After an hour had passed, the two eunuch’s returned with news. “Your Imperial Crown Brother’s son’s disease is a serious one. His mind seems to be deranged.”

Emperor Baoding was inwardly alarmed. He immediately left his palace, heading towards the South Subduing Palace to personally investigate. As soon as he reached Duan Yu’s bedchamber, he could hear a cacophonous series of sounds without end. Peng peng, ping pang, ka la, qiang lang. It was as though many household utensils were being smashed. The servants outside the room immediately knelt upon seeing the Emperor. A look of panic was on their faces.

Upon entering the room, Emperor Baoding saw Duan Yu dancing in the middle of the room like a madman, tossing and throwing about all sorts of household items, including the tables and the chairs. The two imperial physicians were dodging this way and that way, a pitiable sight. Emperor Baoding cried out, “Yu’er, what’s wrong?”

Duan Yu was still quite clear-headed. However, the internal energy flowing throughout his body was simply too powerful, raging as though it were preparing to burst forth from his chest. If he waved his arms about and destroyed some things, he felt slightly more comfortable. Upon seeing Emperor Baoding enter the room, he called out, “Uncle, I’m about to die!” His two hands frantically drew circles in the air as he spoke.

Dao Baifeng was standing off to one side, tears flowing. She said, “Elder brother, Yu’er was perfectly fine this morning when he saw his father off. I don’t know how or why, but he’s suddenly gone mad.” Emperor Baoding consoled her, “Sister-in-law, it must be that the drugs he was poisoned with in the Ten Thousand Calamities Gorge have not fully been eradicated yet. It won’t be too hard to cure.” He said to Duan Yu, “How are you feeling?”

Repeatedly stamping his feet, Duan Yu replied, “My entire body feels swollen and is incredibly painful.” Emperor Baoding saw that the skin on his face and his hands seemed unblemished and perfectly normal, without the slightest sign of swelling at all. This, clearly, was a case of Duan Yu’s mind being confused. He couldn’t help but furrow his forehead.

As it were, this was caused by his draining of a small half of the internal energy reserves of those five master martial artists last night. At the time, he hadn’t noticed anything amiss, and after he had seen his father off, he went home and took a small nap. In the midst of his slumber, his internal energy began to circulate improperly, and instantly began to rush about wildly. Duan Yu had immediately jumped up and began to exercise the steps of the Graceful Steps Upon the Waves. But as he moved faster and faster, the energy in his body only grew more and more agitated, growing even wilder and even less controllable. Right away, he began to shout and howl, terrifying everyone in the household.

An imperial physician opined, “Your majesty, his pulse is incredibly strong and vigorous right now. It seems as though his blood vessels have become enormously dilated. In your humble servant’s opinion, a little bit of bloodletting may prove helpful. May we try it?” Thinking to himself that this idea might have some merit, Emperor Baoding nodded. “Fine. Go ahead and bleed him a little.” The imperial physician replied, “Yes sir!” Opening his medicine bag, he retrieved from within a porcelain box a particularly large and fat leech. Leeches were considered to be an excellent way to bleed a patient, as it could draw away a patient’s blood conveniently but not cause pain. Grabbing onto Duan Yu’s forearm, the imperial physician carefully placed the leech directly on top of a blood vessel. But as soon as the leech touched Duan Yu’s body, it began to writhe and squirm. No matter what the imperial physician did, it refused to bite Duan Yu. The imperial physician was startled. He forcefully pressed the leech down against Duan Yu’s blood vessels. After some time passed, the leech’s body grew stiff. It had actually died. The imperial physician, having humiliated himself in front of the emperor, began to sweat. He hurriedly withdrew a second leech from his medicine bag, but to no effect; it, too, ossified and died.

A worried look on his face, the other physician interjected, “Your majesty, he must have been poisoned by some sort of powerful toxin. Even the leech was poisoned to death.” He had no idea that Duan Yu had swallowed the “King of Ten Thousand Poisons”, the Cinnabar Toad. Any sort of serpent or vermin, upon smelling Duan Yu, would fearfully scurry far away. Even the most venomous of vipers would be cowed into submission, much less a mere leech.

Emperor Baoding was extremely worried. He asked, “What sort of poison is it, for it to be so incredibly lethal?” The physician replied, “In your humble servant’s opinion, your nephew’s pulse seems to be incredibly dry. He must have been poisoned by some sort of extremely hot poison. But as to exactly what that poison might be? Well…that is….forgive your humble servant’s inadequacy…” The other physician said, “I disagree. His pulse appears to have a deficiency of Yin. The toxin must be cold in nature. A hot toxin may neutralize it.” In reality, Duan Yu’s body was not only bursting with powerful, vigorous, masculine Yang internal energy from the Yellow Browed Monk, the Divine Crocodile, and Zhong Wanchou, but also with the soft Yin internal energy from Ye Erniang and Yun Zhonghe. Each of the physicians could only grasp half of the problem, and thus were unable to come up with the real answer as to why he was so ill.

Emperor Baoding listened as the two physicians debated each other incessantly. They were the finest medical minds Dali had to offer, and yet their diagnoses differed so radically. However, it was unarguable that his nephew’s illness was bizarre to the extreme. Stretching out the ‘Shi’, ‘Zhong’, and ‘Wuming’ fingers [the index finger, the middle finger, and the ring finger, respectively], he gently touched the “Lique” acupoint on Duan Yu’s wrist. The scions of the Duan family had a strange characteristic; unlike ordinary people, whose pulses flowed through the “Cunkou” point, theirs flowed through the “Lique” point. This was what physicians termed the “Reversed Juncture Pulse”.

Upon seeing Emperor Baoding demonstrate a profound knowledge of medicine with this simple movement, the two famous physicians were in awe. One of them said, “This is written in medical books: ‘A Reversed Juncture Pulse on the left hand is the sign of nobility; one on the right hand is a symbol of wealth. For both hands to have a reversed juncture is a sign of great nobility and great wealth.’ His highness, the South Subduing Prince, and his nephew all have ‘Reversed Juncture Pulses’ on both hands.”

The other one opined, “One needn’t test their acupoints to know that these three are of great nobility and wealth.” The first one replied, “That isn’t the point. For his nephew to have two ‘Reversed Juncture Pulses’ is a sign that although this illness is certainly fearful, it will not prove to be a serious problem.” The second physician disagreed. He secretly thought to himself, “What, no one who is both rich and noble can die young?” But he didn’t dare say this aloud.

Emperor Baoding found that his nephew’s pulse was both strong and quick. If it continued, how could his heart possibly stand the strain? He exerted the slightest bit of pressure with his finger, trying to discover any irregularities within Duan Yu’s internal energy’s circulatory system. Immediately, his own internal energy began to flow towards Duan Yu, disappearing without a trace. Greatly astonished, he hurriedly released Duan Yu.

He was unaware that Duan Yu had already learned the “Divine Art of the Northern Darkness” and mastered the ‘Shoutaiyinfei’ channels of absorption. The ‘Lieque’ acupoint just so happened to be part of that set of meridian channels. When he exerted his internal energy, he only filled Duan Yu’s body with even more internal energy.

Duan Yu cried out, “Ow!” His entire body began to violently shake, trembling without end.

Emperor Baoding retreated two steps. He said, “Yu’er, did you somehow come across Ding Chunqiu of Xingxiuhai?” Duan Yu replied, “Ding…Ding Chunqiu? Your nephew doesn’t know the person.” Emperor Baoding replied, “Rumors say that he is an old man with the appearance similar to that of a Taoist divinity in paintings.” Duan Yu replied, “I’ve never met him before!” Emperor Baoding said, “This man is learned in heretic and evil martial arts, and is a master at dissolving and destroying the internal energy of others with some sort of skill called the “Great Art of Energy Dissipating. He can cause the internal energy which a martial artist has cultivated all his life to be destroyed in a day. There is nobody in the wulin world who does not utterly despise him. If…if you never met him, how could you have learned this evil skill?” Duan Yu hurriedly replied, “I have never…never learned such a skill. ‘Ding Chunqiu’ and the ‘Great Art of Energy Dissipating’…this is the first time I’ve ever heard of either.”

Emperor Baoding felt that Duan Yu wouldn’t lie to him, much less try to dissipate his own internal energy. Suddenly, another thought hit him. “I know! It must be that Crown Prince Yanqing learned this heretic skill. Somehow, he must have found a way to implant the art within Yu’er’s body, with the intention of using Yu’er to harm me and brother Chun. Hmph, this man claims to be the ‘Most Evil Man in the World’. He lives up to the reputation!”

He saw Duan Yu randomly scratch and tear at his body, ripping his clothes to utter shreds. Bloody lines began to appear on Duan Yu’s body. It was only with an effort that he managed to refrain from howling out, but continuous groans escaped from his lips. Dao Baifeng repeatedly tried to console him, “Yu’er, just endure it for a bit longer. Everything will be alright soon.” Emperor Baoding thought to himself, “What a difficult problem…I must seek advice from the Heavenly Dragon Monastery.” He said, “Yu’er, I am going to take you to pay your respects to a number of elders. I’m sure that they will have some way to cure this vile poison!” Duan Yu replied, “Yes sir!” Dao Baifeng hurriedly retrieved a new set of garments for her son to change into. Emperor Baoding escorted him out of the palace. Each mounting a chariot, they rode for Mt. Diancang.

The Heavenly Dragon Monastery was located outside of the city of Dali, being situated in the northern peaks of the Diancang mountains. Its formal name was the ‘Sublime Sage Monastery’ [Chongsheng Si], but the citizens had become accustomed to simply calling it the Heavenly Dragon Monastery. Its was built on the shoulders of Mt. Diancang, facing the waters of a river, an utterly lovely sight The monastery had three pagodas which were built during the Tang dynasty. The largest one was sixteen stories high, stretching over seventy meters. At the top, the following words were inscribed in metal: “Virtuously Built by Yuchi Jing, Loyal Officer of the Great Tang.” Of the five treasures of the Heavenly Dragon Monastery, the three pagodas were considered to be the chief.

Many of the ancestors of the Duan family who became Emperor eventually discarded their thrones and became monks here, at the Heavenly Dragon Monastery. Thus, the Heavenly Dragon Monastery became the family temple for the imperial family of Dali. It was the most respected and venerated monastery in all of Dali. After each former Emperor came here, upon their birthdays, their sons and grandsons would come to the monastery to pay their respects. And each time they paid their respects, they would build a new building as a gift. The temple possessed three pavilions, seven storied buildings, nine halls, and a hundred mansions, all of them huge in size and majestic in beauty. Even the most famous Buddhist mountain temples of the central plains, such as Wutai, Putuo, Jiuhua, or Emei could not match its splendid opulence. Only, it was situated too far to the south, and thus its fame was not as great.

During the journey, Duan Yu listened to his uncle’s instructions and suppressed the incessantly clashing and raging energy streams within him. As the pain subsided slightly, he arrived with his uncle in front of the monastery. Emperor Baoding was very familiar with the Heavenly Dragon Monastery, having often come here, and immediately searched for the abbot of the monastery, master Benyin.

In terms of familial relationship, Abbot Benyin would be considered Emperor Baoding’s uncle. However, as a monk, he did not need to pay Emperor Baoding the respects due to a king, nor did Emperor Baoding need to treat him as he might ordinarily treat a family elder. The two met with each other on equal terms. Emperor Baoding explained how Duan Yu was kidnapped by Crown Prince Yanqing, how he had been poisoned with a vile venom, and how he had been afflicted with an evil skill that caused him to dissolve the internal energy of others.

Abbot Benyin mumbled to himself for a short period of time, then said, “Please accompany me to Muni [as in Sakyamuni] Pavilion and meet with my three apprentice-brothers.” Emperor Baoding said, “I have disturbed the tranquil meditations of so many master monks. My sin is grievous indeed!” Abbot Benyin replied, “The son of the South Subduing Prince shall one day be the heir to the throne of Dali, which will be a true blessing to the people of the country. Your experience and internal energy can only be above that of my own. For you to come and ask me for help can only mean that this is a difficult problem indeed. I cannot help you by myself, and must consult with my apprentice-brothers.”

Two young apprentice monks led the way, with Abbot Benyin directly behind him and Emperor Baoding with his nephew in the rearmost position. They took a left at the Auspicious Crane Gate, passed by the Billowing Heaven Gate, the Jade Pavilion of the Pure Capital, the Boundless Hall, the Three Principals Temple, the Great Tushita [a heavenly realm] Courtyard, the Rain and Flowers Courtyard, and the Prana Terrace. Finally, they arrived at a long corridor. The two apprentice monks respectfully stood outside the doorway, halting their steps. Following the corridor, the three headed westwards, arriving at a number of rooms. Although Duan Yu had often come to the Heavenly Dragon Monastery, he had never come here before. Those rooms were all built out of pinewood. The wooden pillars were simple and unadorned and in perfect shape. They looked totally different from the splendid and majestic buildings which the three had passed on their way here.

Abbot Benyin clapped his hands together a few times, then said, “Amitabha! Benyin has come across a difficult problem which I cannot solve. Forgive me for interrupting your studies, my apprentice-brothers.” From within a room, someone spoke, “Please enter, abbot!” Slowly, Benyin stretched out his hand and pushed the door open. The door creaked and squeaked as it opened; clearly, it was opened or closed only very rarely. Duan Yu followed Abbot Benyin as the latter walked walked inside. Earlier, he had heard Benyin say he would consult with ‘three apprentice-brothers’, but there were four monks inside, seated on cattail hassocks. Of the three monks that could be seen, two of them had withered appearances, with the third one possessed of a large frame. The fourth monk was situated towards the east, and was facing the wall, still and unmoving.

Emperor Baoding recognized the two withered, skinny monks; one was named Benguan, the other was named Benxiang. They were Abbot Benyin’s elder apprentice-brothers. The large, stalwart monk was named Bencan; he was Benyin’s younger apprentice-brother. He only knew that Muni Pavilion housed three elder monks with the names ‘Guan,’ ‘Xiang’, and ‘Can’; but did not recognize the fourth monk. He immediately bowed low and paid his respects. A slight smile on their lips, Benguan and the other two returned his salute. Perhaps the monk facing the wall was rooted to the floor, or his studies had reached a critical juncture and rendered him unable to turn his attention away; regardless, he did not pay the slightest attention to Emperor Baoding. Emperor Baoding knew that the two characters, ‘Mu’ and ‘Ni’, referred to stillness and quiet. In the Muni Pavilion, the fewer words that he spoke, the better. Thus he was succinct and terse in describing the evil poison flowing in Duan Yu’s body. He finished by saying, “I earnestly hope that you four can benevolently give me some pointers.”

Benguan mumbled to himself for some time while measuring up Duan Yu. He said, “Apprentice brothers, what do you think?” Bencan replied, “Even though it would cost some energy, it might not render us incapable of mastering the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’.”

Upon hearing the four words, “Liu Mai Shen Jian” [Six Meridians Divine Sword]”, Emperor Baoding felt a shock in his heart. He thought to himself, “In my youth, my father once told me that the Duan family’s ancestral homeland had an infinitely powerful skill known as the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians.’ But according to my father, this was just a legend, and no one in our family history was recorded as actually having mastered this technique. Moreover, no one actually knows if this technique is really as powerful as the legends say. From the words of master Benguan, it seems as though such a wondrous skill actually exists!”

His thoughts turned in another direction. “Judging from his words, they intend to drive away the poison from Duan Yu’s body by using their own internal energy, but doing so would tire them out and obstruct their attempts at mastering the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’. But Yu’er has been poisoned with an evil toxin and an evil skill has been implanted in his body; both are deadly and strange to the extreme. If the five of us do not combine our strengths, how can he be cured?” Although he felt extremely apologetic, in the end, he did not decline the suggestion. Benxiang did not say a single word. He rose to his feet, lowered his head, furrowed his eyebrows, then took a slanted position at the northeast side of the room. Benguan and Bencan each returned to their respective positions as well. Abbot Benyin said, “Shanzai, Shanzai!” [Shanzai is a Buddhist exclamation, usually signifying a good deed being done]. He took a position towards the west-southwest.

Emperor Baoding said, “Yu’er, these four elders of yours have decided to use their own internal energy to drive out the poison in your veins, not caring about the loss of their own strength. Quickly kowtow and thank them!” From the expression on his uncle’s face as well as that of the four monks, Duan Yu knew that this was no small matter indeed. He immediately fell to his knees and kowtowed to each of the monks in turn. Each of them smiled faintly and nodded in response. Emperor Baoding said, “Yu’er, rest on your knees. Don’t think about anything at all, and definitely don’t exert so much as an ounce of your internal energy. If you feel some strange sensations, don’t be alarmed; this is normal.” Duan Yu acknowledged the instructions, then sat down as instructed.

Benguan held up his right thumb and, exercising a precise amount of force, pressed it against the “Fengfu” acupoint behind Duan Yu’s skull. The force of his Solitary Solar Finger gradually emerged. The “Fengfu” acupoint was roughly an inch beneath the hairline, and belonged to the “Du” meridians. Next, Benxiang struck the “Zigong” acupoint of Duan Yu’s “Ren” meridians. Bencan struck the “Daheng” acupoint of his “Yinwei” meridians. Abbot Benyin struck his “Youmen” acupoint of his “Chong” meridians. Finally, Emperor Baoding struck his “Qingming” acupoint of his “Yinjiao” meridians. A human body has seven channels and eight meridians; of the eight meridians, the five of them ignored the “Yangwei” and the “Yangjiao” meridians. All five of them exercised the Solitary Solar Finger, attempting to purify his body of any toxins or evil energies with their pure Yang energy, driving them out through the acupoints of his “Yangwei” and “Yangjiao” meridians.

These five masters of the Solitary Solar Finger had each achieved a very close level of attainment within it. With a ‘chi-chi’ sound, five streams of pure Yang energy entered Duan Yu’s body at the same time. Duan Yu’s body suddenly trembled and was filled with an incredibly warm sensation that was indescribably comfortable, as though he were soaking in the sunlight during winter. The five people’s fingers moved in unison. They felt as though after their energies entered Duan Yu’s body, they would gradually vanish, never to reappear. Duan Yu had not fully mastered all of the aspects of the “Divine Art of the Northern Darkness”, but with the five masters pouring the pure Yang energy of their Solitary Solar Finger into his body, he was helpless to resist, and the energy began to collect in his ‘sea of energy’ at his “Shanzhong” acupoint. The five elite experts of the Duan family gazed at each other, startlement and bewilderment covering each and every one of their faces.

Suddenly, a powerful cry was heard. “WUHUA!” Everyone’s ears shook with the sound, a buzzing noise filling them. Emperor Baoding knew that this was an extremely high-level Buddhist technique known as the “Lion’s Roar” [Shizi Hou]. Within the roar was hidden an extremely deep internal force, easily capable of terrifying opponents or astonishing friends. The monk who was facing the wall spoke. “A powerful opponent is arriving in but a few days, and the centuries-old fame of the Heavenly Dragon Monastery is dangling above a precipice. As for this mewling babe, regardless of whether he has been poisoned or afflicted with some evil skill; is it really worth it to waste internal energy over him at this critical juncture?” These sentences were filled with an awe-inspiring dignity and majesty.

Abbot Benyin said, “Martial-uncle, your instructions are wise!” With a wave of his left hand, the five people retreated at the same time.

Upon hearing Abbot Benyin address that man as ‘martial-uncle’, Emperor Baoding hurriedly said, “I was unaware that elder Kurong was present, and am guilty of being remiss in paying my proper respects.” As it were, elder Kurong was of the highest ranking generation in the Heavenly Dragon Monastery. He had secluded himself into isolated meditation for decades now, and none of the monks of the Heavenly Dragon Monastery had ever seen his actual face. Emperor Baoding, as well, had only heard of him but had never met him before. In the past, he had heard that elder Kurong was in secluded meditation at the Two Trees Courtyard, but no one had mentioned him in over ten years. He had assumed that elder Kurong had achieved nirvana [i.e. died].

Elder Kurong continued, “One must consider a matter’s relative importance and urgency. The date of our appointment with the Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel, from the Great Snowy Mountain, is almost upon us. Zhengming, why don’t you join us in discussing the matter.” Emperor Baoding replied, “Yes!” In his heart, he thought to himself, “The Great Snowy Mountain’s Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel possesses a deep and erudite understanding of the dharma. I wonder what he connection he has with us?”

From within his bosom, Abbot Benyin withdrew a resplendent golden letter, passing it over to Emperor Baoding. Emperor Baoding accepted the letter. It weighed heavily in his hand. This letter was exceptionally bizarre; its ‘envelope’ was actually an extremely thin layer gold beaten into the shape of a envelope, with the words written in Sanskrit using platinum [‘white gold’]. Emperor Baoding could read it. The words were, “Respectfully Presented to the Sublime Sage Monastery”.

He withdrew the actual letter from the envelope; it, too, was made out of an exceptionally thin sheet of beaten gold. Once again, the words were written in Sanskrit. The general meaning was, “Many years ago, I had a chance meeting with the honorable Murong Bo. In the course of our meeting, we conversed at length about the various martial arts in the world. Mr. Murong held your temple’s “Divine Sword of the Six Meridians” in the highest esteem, and deeply regretted not having the opportunity to visit you to see it himself. I recently have heard that Mr. Murong passed away; my sorrow is boundless. I respectfully request that your revered monastery transmit to me the manuscript of the “Divine Sword of the Six Meridians”, so that I might burn it in sacrifice before Mr. Murong’s tomb. I will arrive in a number of days; I hope that my wish might be granted.”

The letter was signed, “Jiumozhi, disciple of the Great Wheel Temple of the Great Snowy Mountain, pays his deepest respects.” The words on the letter were also written using platinum; the carefulness and worksmanship displayed was nothing short of exquisite. Clearly, it had been crafted by a master artisan who had expended boundless efforts in making it. The letter and envelope alone could be considered an overwhelmingly priceless treasure, displaying the obvious wealth and opulence of the Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel.

Emperor Baoding had heard before that Jiumozhi, the Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel, was the national protector and dharma king [an extremely high rank in Tibetan Buddhism; the Golden Wheel Monk of ROCH was originally also titled ‘dharma king’] of the nation of Tibet. He had heard that the man possessed a staggering intellect and a clear understanding of Buddhism. Every five years, he would hold lectures where he would expound at length on various scriptures. Many high monks and men of great virtue of the western regions would converge at the Great Wheel Monastery of the Great Snowy Mountain to ask for clarifications regarding difficult-to-understand parts of various scriptures. After the discussions were complete and the people began to depart, there would not be a single person who was not joyful and full of praise. Emperor Baoding himself had once desired to travel there to listen to the readings of the scriptures. This letter described him as having discussed martial arts with Gusu’s Murong Bo, and even becoming intimate friends with him; clearly, then, the man was also an extremely skilled martial artist. For such a man of great intelligence and wisdom, it would be perfectly normal for him not to practice martial arts. If he really were to be a martial artist as well, then he must be a formidable character indeed.

Abbot Benyin said, “The ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’ is a precious treasure of our monastery, passed down from generation to generation. It represents the highest level of martial arts learning which the Duan family of Dali possesses. Zhengming, Dali’s Duan family’s most advanced martial arts technique resides here, in the Heavenly Dragon Monastery. You are not a monk, but a secular man; therefore, even though you are our nephew and possess a deep understanding of many abstruse martial arts concepts, we could not divulge it to you.” Emperor Baoding said, “Yes, I understand this rule.” Benguan said, “Not even Zhengming and Zhengchun knew that our monastery possessed the manuscript for learning the ‘Divine Sword of the Six Meridians’. I wonder how it is that Gusu’s Murong family learned of it.”

Duan Yu, listening, suddenly thought of the ‘Blessed Reading Ground’ within the cave near Mt. Wuliang, and its empty shelves. One of the shelves had been marked “the Duan family of Dali”, with two additional markings on it: “Solitary Solar Finger, missing” and “Divine Sword of the Six Meridians, missing.” He thought to himself, “My Dear Goddess scoured the land for the martial arts manuscripts of every family and school in the world, but was never able to acquire my family’s “Solitary Solar Finger” and “Divine Sword of the Six Meridians.” He felt delight in his heart, but also some melancholy as he imagined how much the Dear Goddess must have regretted their absence.

He heard Benguan angrily say, “The Enlightened Lord of the Great Wheel can be considered a world-famous monk of high standing. He must have lost his wits! How can he demand this manuscript from our monastery? Zhengming, as our brother abbot knows, ‘If he comes, he comes not with good intentions, but with ill will.’ This matter is of the utmost importance, and we ourselves dare not handle it by ourselves. Thus, we invited martial-uncle Kurong to lead us in handling the situation.”

Benyin said, “Although our monastery does indeed have this manuscript, I am ashamed to admit that none of us are capable of learning the divine skill written upon it. We can