ll did not know that Xuan Ku had died.

Abbot Xuan Ci said: ‘You should watch carefully. Don’t mistake other people for him.’ Qing Song said: ‘I saw very clearly, he was wearing gray clothes made directly of cotton and had a square face, his eyebrows were slanted like this, his mouth and ears were big, it’s exactly him. Master, beat him, beat him.’

Qiao Feng felt a chill run down his spine. He thought: ‘That’s right. The murderer disguised as me to shift the blame onto me. Hearing me return, at first master was extremely joyful, but as soon as he saw my face, seeing me and his murderer look exactly alike, he then said: ‘So it was you. So you’re Qiao Feng. I developed such a good disciple with my own hands.’ Master and I haven’t met for more than ten years. From a child I already became an adult. My appearance wasn’t the same long ago.’ Recalling that Xuan Ku dashi had continuously said three ‘Good’ words before dying, he felt as if a knife was piercing his heart: ‘Master took serious attacks, but he didn’t know who the enemy was. When he saw me, realizing that I and the murderer have similar appearances, he was very sad and died because of grief. Having suffered serious injuries, master was already on the brink of death so certainly he couldn’t think carefully that: if I had really harmed him, why would I come to meet him the second time?’

Suddenly, a hubbub of human voices could be heard then a group of people trotted towards the ‘Institute of Faith Attestation’ before stopping outside it. Two monks bent forward and respectfully came in. They were the Precept Maintaining monk and the Rule Protecting monk who had fought against Qiao Feng at the foot of Mt Shaoshi. When that Precept Maintaining monk had just said: ‘Abbot…’ he saw Qiao Feng. An amazed and angry expression appeared on his face, showing that he did not know when Qiao Feng had come here. The other monks also frowned and fiercely goggled at Qiao Feng with glaring eyes.

With a stately expression, Abbot Xuan Ci slowly said: ‘Shizhu, you no longer belong to the Beggar Society, but you’re a famous figure in wulin. Today arriving at our monastery why did you strike dead Xuan Ku shidi? I hope to be counseled by you about that.’

Qiao Feng let out a deep sigh, knelt and bowed down to the corpse of Xuan Ku and said: ‘Master, at your dying moment you still said that this disciple harmed you so that you died with a grievance. I never dare to offend you, but the villain attacked you only because of me. Even if I died today to apologize to you I really wouldn’t resent it, but from now on the great wrong you suffered may not be avenged. I’ve violated the sanctity of Shaolin, please forgive me, master.’ All of a sudden, two ‘hu-hu’ sounds were heard, he had blown out two long gusts of air. The two oil lamps in the hall were immediately extinguished. In an instant, the hall went pitch dark.

When praying, Qiao Feng had already devised a plan to escape. Right after blowing out the oil lamps, he swung at the Rule Protecting monk with his left palm and hit his back. This palm attack only used Yin soft power therefore it did not injure his internal organs, but it sent his corpulent body flying out, breaking open the door of the hall in the process.

Hearing the sound of wind in the dark, all the monks thought that Qiao Feng was running away through the door. Each of them grasped at the body of the Rule Protecting monk using a grasping hand technique. They all thought the same, not wanting to use severe attacks to kill Qiao Feng, and only wanting to capture him to interrogate more about why he had killed Xuan Ku dashi. These more than ten high-level monks were first-class experts of Shaolin Monastery. First-class experts of Shaolin Monastery were naturally also first-class experts in wulin. The respective grasping hand techniques they used were different from each other, each of which had its own uniqueness. In a short period of time, the best grasping hand techniques of Shaolin School such as the Dragon Capturing technique, the Eagle-Clawed technique, the Tiger Catching technique, the Diamond Finger technique, the Stone Holding Palm technique… all were executed on the body of the Rule Protecting monk. The monks really had excellent martial arts, in the dark they could only hear the sound of wind, yet their stances did not miss even by a hair’s breadth. This time, that Rule Protecting monk tasted all kinds of sufferings. In a very short time, the important acupuncture points on his whole body were hit by various grasping hand techniques, his body was held up in the air and he was unable to talk. Perhaps no one had ever undergone this kind of experience before.

These high-level monks were very experienced therefore their improvisation methods were also remarkable. Some people immediately jumped onto the roof to guard there. And in a short while, the important places in the passages and at the front door and back door of the Institute of Faith Attestation were also occupied by experts. Needless to say, Qiao Feng was a tall and big man. Even if he morphed into a wild cat or a mouse, he would possibly not be able to escape either.

The little Buddhist novice Qing Song used a fire-striking knife and a flint to light the oil lamps in the hall. The monks then immediately discovered that they had wrongly caught the Rule Protecting monk.

The head of the Damo Institute (in an earlier paragraph JY called this building the Damo Hall) Xuan Ku ordered that every monk in the monastery keep watch on his own position and not act chaotically. The monks all thought that even if Qiao Feng had been bolder he would never dare to penetrate into an extremely dangerous place like Shaolin Monastery alone to commit murder, he definitely had strong aid, it was likely that he had other schemes to take advantage of the confusion, and they themselves were not allowed to fall victim to the tactic of luring the tiger out of the mountain.

More than 10 high-level monks in the Institute of Faith Attestation and the monks who were led by the Precept Maintaining monk then searched carefully everywhere in the vicinity of the Institute of Faith Attestation. Almost every stone was turned over, and every thicket was hit with stick. This time, even though the monks were lenient and cherished the lives of all living creatures, many toads, shrews, grasshoppers and ants were still accidentally injured.

After busying themselves for more than 2 hours, the only thing they had not done was digging up the ground, but where could they find Qiao Feng? All the monks constantly clicked their tongues saying that this was strange, and sometimes they unavoidably said a few insulting sentences. Even though the 10 precepts of Buddhism warned against using ‘Evil Words’, they were unable to pay attention to it. Right after that, they moved the corpse of Xuan Ku dashi into the ‘Sarira Institute’ for cremation and carried the Rule Protecting monk to the ‘Institute of Medical King’ to cure the injuries. They were all in very low spirits and rather silent, feeling that this time they had really lost face. Shaolin Monastery was packed with experts, and in terms of martial arts and reputation, each of these more than 10 high-level monks had a resounding name in wulin, yet they had let Qiao Feng, with bare hands and being alone, come and go as he pleased. They could not have even the least idea how he had escaped, much less killing or capturing him.

It turned out that Qiao Feng had anticipated that as soon as an unforeseen event happened, the monks would certainly search everywhere all around, but they would definitely not care about the room in which they had just gathered a moment ago. Therefore, after sending the Rule Protecting monk flying out with a palm attack, he had immediately bent his body and got into the space underneath the bed on which Xuan Ku dashi had usually slept before his death. With his 10 fingers inserted into the bed base, he had been pressing his body close to it. Even though someone had already glanced at the space under the bed, he had not seen him. After the body of Xuan Ku dashi had been moved out, the execution monk shut the door of the Institute of Faith Attestation, hence no one came in anymore.

Lying horizontally underneath the bed, Qiao Feng heard the monks cause a commotion for a long time then the sounds of human voice gradually disappear. He thought: ‘Waiting until dawn, it won’t be easy to escape. If I don’t leave here now, then when should I?’ He then quietly came out from under the bed, gently pushed open the door, jinked and hid behind a tree.

He thought, even though by now the human voices had stopped, how could it be that the high-level monks of Shaolin had given up and loosened their guard at this point? The Institute of Faith Attestation was located at the western extremity of Shaolin Monastery so he only had to go westward to enter a cluster of mountains. As soon as they came out of Shaolin Monastery, the monks would have to spread out, so even if he met them, they would definitely not be able to intercept him. But he did not want to fight Shaolin monks at all and only hoped that someday he would be able to capture the real murderer, take them to the monastery and explain the whole thing. If today he fought and defeated one more monk, he would make another enemy for nothing. If he accidentally wounded or killed someone, the consequence of it would be even more unthinkable. He thought he himself had vanished from the western part of the monastery so the monks would certainly guard the paths in the west most tightly, therefore he should go through the monastery and leave from its eastern part.

He immediately stooped and quietly went under the cover of the trees. After going past four buildings, he hid behind a sacred fig tree. Suddenly he saw two monks waiting in ambush behind a tree right in front of him. Those 2 monks were not moving a bit therefore it was hard to detect them in the dark, but with his sharp eyesight he had seen the flashes of the precept knife (戒刀 – jie dao – a Buddhist’s knife that, according to the precepts of Buddhism, must not be used to harm living creatures) that a monk was holding in his hand. He thought: ‘How dangerous! Had I gone a little bit too fast just now, I would definitely have been spotted.’ He waited behind the tree for a while, but those 2 monks remained motionless all along. This ‘Waiting for windfalls’ method was unexpectedly very dangerous. If he made a move, he would be seen by those 2 monks instantly, but he also could not afford to be locked in a long stalemate and stay motionless all the while.

He slightly considered then picked up a small stone and flicked it out. He used his power very skillfully, making the stone go slowly at first but go fast afterward. When the stone started to fly out, there was no sound at all, but after it had gone for 7 or 8 zhang’s (1 zhang = 3.333m), the sound of the air being pierced through became intense. The stone hit a big tree, making a strange sound. Those 2 monks stooped down and rushed towards that big tree.

Qiao Feng waited until the 2 monks went past him then he jumped up and climbed into a compound at his side. In the moonlight he saw clearly a horizontally inscribed board which read ‘Bodhi Institute’. He knew when those 2 monks saw nothing unusual, they would definitely return, therefore he did not stop and walked fast straight towards the backyard, passed through the front hall of the Bodhi Institute, then leaned his body and entered the rear sanctum.

In the blink of an eye, he saw the shape of a man, who was exceptionally fast, flashing by from behind him. He had rarely seen a lightness skill this fast.

‘What a skill! Who’s this man?’ Startled, Qiao Feng withdrew his palms to protect his body and turned around. He could not help but burst out laughing as what he saw before him was only a man whose one palm was being placed in an obliquely upward position to protect his front, his chest being drawn in and his back being stretched. It turned out that there was a screen placed in front of the Buddha statues in the rear sanctum, and a very big copper mirror was installed on the screen. The mirror had been polished to a high gloss and Qiao Feng’s own image was reflected in it. The copper mirror was engraved with 4 Buddhist metrical lines. As there were several oil lamps in front of the Buddha statues, in the dim light, he could vaguely see them: ‘All the elements that have a form; Are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows; like dew and also like lightning; Like this should they be contemplated.’ [一切有为法，如梦幻泡影，如露亦如电，当作如是观.] (These 4 lines were taken from the Diamond Sutra)

Qiao Feng smiled and turned around. When he was about to take a step, suddenly his mind felt as if being heavily hit by something. He was dumbstruck. He only knew that at this moment he had just thought of an abnormal important matter. But he was confused and could not ascertain what that matter was.

After standing there in a trance for a short while, he unconsciously turned around again and looked at the copper mirror. Seeing his own back, he came to realize all of a sudden: ‘A little while ago I had a view of my own back, where did that happen? I’ve never seen such a big copper mirror, how could I see my own back clearly like this?’ When he was still entranced, suddenly he heard footsteps outside the institute. Some people were walking towards the sanctum.

At that pressing moment, having nowhere to hide, he saw 3 Buddha statues standing side by side in the sanctum. Without delay he leaped on the altar and hid behind the third statue. He heard the footsteps of 6 people in total who came in the rear sanctum abreast in 2 rows. Each of them sat down on a bulrush mat. From behind the Buddha statue Qiao Feng peeped out and saw that all the 6 people were middle-aged monks. He thought: ‘If I run away from the rear sanctum now, if these 6 monks’ martial arts are mediocre, they won’t be able to detect me, but if just one of them has profound internal energy, and keen eyes and ears, he’ll notice me right away. For the moment I’d better quietly wait and see here for a while.’ Suddenly he heard a monk on the right-hand side say: ‘Shixiong (older apprentice bro), this Bodhi Institute is an empty place, what sutra does it have? Why did master tell us to guard here, saying something like to prevent the enemy from stealing?’ A monk on the right-hand side smiled and said: ‘This is the secret of the Bodhi Institute. It’s no use talking much about it.’ The monk on the right-hand side said: ‘Humph, I see that you may not know either.’ The monk on the left-hand side could not bear the incitement. He said: ‘How come I don’t know? ‘Yi Meng Ru Shi’…’ (一梦如是 – literally ‘A Dream like This’, I use the pinyin for the sake of faithfulness) When he had just said half of the sentence, he suddenly became cautious and stopped talking. The monk on the right-hand side said: ‘What’s ‘Yi Meng Ru Shi’?’ The monk who was sitting on the second bulrush mat said: ‘Zhi Qing shidi (younger apprentice bro), normally you’re not gossipy and meddlesome, why do you keep asking nonstop today? If you wanna know about the secret of the Bodhi Institute, then just go ask your own master.’

The monk named Zhi Qing did not ask anymore. After a while, he said: ‘I’m going to the back to pass water.’ As he finished saying he stood up. From the right-hand side he went to the side door on the left. When he passed by the back of the monk who was number 5 counting from the left, suddenly he raised his right foot and kicked that monk in the ‘Xuanshu acupuncture point’ on the back. The Xuanshu acupuncture point was located beneath the 13th vertebra. That monk was sitting cross-legged on a bulrush mat therefore his Xuanshu acupuncture point was right on the edge of the mat. After he was hit by Zhi Qing’s tiptoe, his body slowly fell rightwards. Zhi Qing had kicked very fast without making any sound. Next he kicked the 4th monk in the ‘Xuanshu acupuncture point’ then kicked the 3rd monk. In a very short time he had continuously downed 3 monks with his kicks.

From behind the Buddha statue Qiao Feng saw that clearly. He was very surprised because he did not understand why infighting suddenly arose among these Shaolin monks. He saw Zhi Qing raise his foot and kick the 2nd monk on the left-hand side. When the tiptoe just touched his acupuncture point, 2 of the 3 monks whose acupuncture points had been hit by him fell down from the bulrush mats. Their heads hit the brick floor of the sanctum, creating peng peng sounds. The monk on the left-hand side was startled and jumped to his feet to look carefully. Catching a glimpse of Zhi Qing knocking down the monk behind him with a kick, he was even more frightened and asked: ‘Zhi Qing, what are you doing?’ Zhi Qing pointed outside and said: ‘You see. Who’s coming?’ That monk turned around and looked outside. Zhi Qing then raised the right foot and quickly threw a kick at his back.

As this kick was executed very fast, it should be impossible to miss. But this sneak attack was reflected clearly in the copper mirror in front of them therefore that monk slanted his body and dodged it. He struck back with his palm and asked: ‘Are you crazy?’ Zhi Qing executed his stances like the wind. When they exchanged the 8th stances, that monk’s lower abdomen took a punch then he received a kick. Seeing Zhi Qing use Yin, soft and ruthless stances, which were absolutely not techniques of Shaolin School, Qiao Feng felt even more surprised.

That monk knew that he was no match for Zhi Qing, therefore he shouted loudly: ‘Spy. Spy…’ Zhi Qing strode forwards and hit him in the chest with his left fist. That monk immediately fell down and lost consciousness.

Zhi Qing quickly ran to the copper mirror. He extended his right forefinger and gave the word ‘Yi’ (一 – A) in the first line of the Buddhist verse a push. Through the mirror Qiao Feng saw him follow that by pushing the word ‘Meng’ (梦 – Dream) in the 2nd line. He thought: ‘That monk said the secret was ‘Yi Meng Ru Shi’. There’re 4 ‘Ru’ words (如 – Like) on the mirror, which one should be pushed?’

He only saw Zhi Qing extend his finger and push the 1st ‘Ru’ word in the 3rd line, then push the word ‘Shi’ (是 – This) in the 4th line. When his finger had not yet left the surface of the mirror, chugging sounds were heard. The copper mirror already slowly turned over.

This was a good chance for Qiao Feng if he wanted to run away at this moment, but he got curious and wanted to see exactly why this Shaolin monk wanted to harm his fellow disciples and what there was behind the copper mirror. He thought maybe they had something to do with the murder of Xuan Ku dashi.

Before being hit by Zhi Qing, the first monk on the left-hand side had shouted loudly. There were more than 100 monks being on patrol all around in Shaolin Monastery, hence as soon as they heard the shouting, they rushed to where it had started. Not just a few footsteps were heard on all sides east, south, west, and north of the Bodhi Institute.

Qiao Feng hesitated: ‘I mustn’t let them spot any trail of me.’ But he thought after the monks arrived, they would focus their eyes on Zhi Qing, he would have a great chance to extricate himself therefore there was no need to hurriedly escape. He saw Zhi Qing reach into a small hole behind the copper mirror to search but find nothing. At this moment, the footsteps from the north had already drawn near the outside of the Bodhi Institute.

Zhi Qing stamped his foot. Obviously he was totally disappointed. When he was about to turn around and leave, suddenly he lowered his body to look at the back of the mirror then cried out happily in a low voice: ‘It is here!’ He stretched out his hand to take out from the back of the copper mirror a small package and put it into his bosom. He then wanted to find a way to flee, but at this moment there were a lot of monks gathering all around and there was no way out already. Zhi Qing swept around then immediately rushed out through the front door of the Bodhi Institute.

Qiao Feng thought: ‘Going out like this, it’s impossible for this man not to be captured instantly.’ At this moment, he suddenly felt the sound of wind. Someone was rushing into the place where he was hiding. Qiao Feng located this person by hearing the wind. Stretching out his left hand, he grabbed the left wrist of the enemy. He then raised his right hand and exerted pressure on the Shendao acupuncture point on his back, sending out his internal energy. The whole body of that man immediately went numb, felt exhausted and became unable to move. After catching the enemy, Qiao Feng looked carefully at his face and saw that this man was unexpectedly Zhi Qing. He was startled but immediately understood: ‘That’s right! This man is just like me, also wanting to hide behind the Buddha statues. Luckily he also chooses the 3rd statue, perhaps because this statue has the portliest body. Why did he rush out of the front door first then quietly come in through the back door? Ah, there’re 5 monks lying on the floor, when outsiders enter and ask, those 5 monks will all say that he has escaped through the front door, everyone will then be unlikely to search in this Bodhi Institute. Oh dear, this man is really good at scheming.’

Qiao Feng considered, his hand still holding Zhi Qing. He then put his lips next to Zhi Qing’s ear and said in a low voice: ‘If you make a noise, I’ll take your life in a palm attack, get it?’ Zhi Qing nodded.

At this moment, 7 or 8 monks rushed in through the main entrance, 3 of whom were holding torches. The sanctum immediately lit up. Seeing that there were 5 monks lying on the floor of the sanctum, they immediately clamored: ‘That villain Qiao Feng’s carried out a murderous scheme again!’ ‘Hum, they’re Zhi Zhan and Zhi Yuan shixiong’s!’ ‘A’yo! No good! Why was this copper mirror lifted up? Qiao Feng has stolen the sutra of the Bodhi Institute!’ ‘Hurry up and report to Abbot.’ Hearing these people commenting noisily, Qiao Feng could not refrain from smiling bitterly: ‘This debt is again passed on to me.’ In a short period of time, there were more and more monks gathering in the sanctum.

Qiao Feng felt Zhi Qing struggling, wanting to pull free. He understood his intention: ‘The monks are gathering in the sanctum. Zhi Zhan, Zhi Yuan and the others haven’t regained consciousness. If this Zhi Qing guy wants to escape, this moment is a good chance. Even if he arrogantly appears in the sanctum, no one would have a doubt as they all think that I’m the culprit.’ He immediately had another thought: ‘It seems this Zhi Qing guy isn’t clever enough. A little while ago, why did he need to hide here? Had he come out from the sanctum, why would someone possibly have had interrogated him?’

Suddenly, the human voices in the sanctum stopped, no one said a word anymore. After that all the monks said in unison: ‘Paying my respects to Abbot. Paying my respects to the Damo Institute’s Chairman. Paying my respects to the Nagarjuna Institute’s Chairman.’ (Lol, this sounds so weird! Could someone please help me find an English equivalent of 参见 that is officially used in face-to-face formal meetings?)

Soft pai-pai sounds were heard. Someone had used his palm to wake Zhi Zhan, Zhi Yuan and the other 3 monks up. Then someone asked: ‘Is it Qiao Feng who did this? How could he know about the secret of the copper mirror?’ Zhi Zhan said: ‘It’s not Qiao Feng. It’s Zhi Qing…’ All of a sudden, he jumped up and scolded: ‘Good, good! Why did you sneakily attack your fellow disciples?’

From behind the Buddha statue Qiao Feng was unable to see who he was scolding.

He only heard one man cry out in fear: ‘Zhi Zhan shixiong, why do you pull me?!’ Zhi Zhan angrily said: ‘You kicked the 5 of us down and stole the hidden sutra. How daring! Abbot, the traitor Zhi Qing illegally opened the copper mirror of the Bodhi Institute and stole the sutra!’ That man cried out: ‘What? What? I’ve always been with Abbot, how could I come here to steal that hidden sutra thing?’

An aged hoarse voice sternly said: ‘Close the copper mirror first then relate what happened.’

Zhi Yuan went put the copper mirror back to its original position. This time, Qiao Feng saw clearly in the mirror the situation of the monks in the sanctum. He saw a monk gesticulating, looking very agitated. When Qiao Feng looked at him, he could not help feeling startled as it turned out this man was Zhi Qing. Surprised, Qiao Feng involuntarily turned his head and looked at the monk at his side who had been captured by himself. He saw that this man’s appearance was completely the same as that of the Zhi Qing in the sanctum. If looking at them carefully, he might notice some tiny differences, but in a glance, it was really impossible to tell them apart. Qiao Feng considered: ‘In the world, people with similar appearances like this are extremely rare. That’s right, perhaps they are twin brothers. This plan is unexpectedly pretty clever. One became a monk at Shaolin Monastery and one waited outside. When there was an opportunity, the other one disguised as a monk and came in the monastery to steal sutra. That real Zhi Qing didn’t get away from the Abbot even by a single step so of course nobody would suspect him.’

Qiao Feng only heard Zhi Zhan successively related things like how Zhi Qing had asked about the secret of the copper mirror, how he himself should not have blurted out the 4 words, how Zhi Qing had pretended to go outside to pass water then sneakily kicked down 4 monks, and how Zhi Qing had fought against and flattened himself. While Zhi Zhan was recounting, Zhi Yuan and the other 3 monks repeatedly chimed in and confirmed that there was nothing false in his words.

Abbot Xuan Ci had all along had a disapproving expression on his face. Waiting until Zhi Zhan had finished relating, he slowly asked: ‘Did you see clearly? Was it really Zhi Qing without a doubt?’ Zhi Zhan, Zhi Yuan and the other monks said in unison: ‘Abbot, there’s no enmity between us and Zhi Qing, why should we frame him?’ Xuan Ci sighed and said: ‘There’s definitely something strange about this. A short while ago Zhi Qing was always at my side without leaving. The Chairman of the Damo Institute was also with us.’

As soon as the Abbot said so, none of the monks in the sanctum dared to make any sound. The Chairman of the Damo Institute Xuan Nan dashi said: ‘Correct. I also saw Zhi Qing accompany Abbot Shixiong. How come he could go to the Bodhi Institute to steal sutra?’ The Chairman of the Nagarjuna Institute Xuan Ji asked: ‘Zhi Zhan, when that Zhi Qing fought you, was there anything unusual about his stances?’ He was the person with the aged hoarse voice.

Zhi Zhan uttered a loud cry and said: ‘A’yo! Why haven’t I thought about this? When that Zhi Qing fought this disciple, what he was using weren’t the martial arts of our school.’ Xuan Ji said: ‘Then can you recognize what school those martial arts belong to?’ Seeing that Zhi Zhan was having a blank expression and was unable to answer, Xuan Ji asked again: ‘Was it Long Fist or a close-quarters technique? A Grasping hand technique? Ditang (Ground Tumbling Fist), Liuhe (Six Harmonies Fist), Tongbi (Full Arm Fist)?’ Zhi Zhan said: ‘He… He used very vicious martial arts. I was unaccountably hit by him several times.’

The Abbot and the elderly monks with the highest rank such as Xuan Ji and Xuan Nan looked at each other. They thought that today opponents of extremely good abilities had come to the monastery and used deceitful tricks to make everyone feel as if being in a thick fog, therefore the immediate plan was, on the one hand, speeding up inspection, and on the other hand, dealing with everything calmly and facing the fearful with no fear, otherwise turbulence would arise in the monastery and the disaster would perhaps become even harder to put in order.

Xuan Ci put his palms together and said: ‘The sutra hidden in the Bodhi Institute is a Mahayana sutra written by an eminent monk of an older generation in our monastery to promulgate Buddhism and assist human beings. If a Buddhist disciple acquires it and studies it intensively, he would naturally gain quite a few marvelous benefits. But if an ordinary person acquires it and doesn’t value it, the sin really wouldn’t be trivial. Shidi’s and shizhi’s (apprentice nephews), please return to your own institutes to rest. The ones who have duties carry them out as usual.’

Following his order, the monks dispersed. Only the people such as Zhi Zhan and Zhi Yuan were still nagging nonstop at Zhi Qing. Xuan Ji gave them a stare. Scared, Zhi Zhan and other people did not dare to talk anymore and went out side by side together with Zhi Qing.

After those monks had left, there were only three monks Xuan Ci, Xuan Nan and Xuan Ji in the sanctum. They were sitting on the bulrush mats in front of the Buddha statues. Xuan Ci suddenly said: ‘Amitabha, how sinful, how sinful!’ As he finished saying these 8 words, all of a sudden the 3 monks jumped up and went around to the back of the Buddha statue. From 3 different directions they sent their palm attacks towards Qiao Feng at the same time.

It was unexpected to Qiao Feng that these 3 monks had already discovered his own place by looking in the copper mirror. It was even more unexpected to him that these 3 senile elderly monks struck as soon as they finished saying and their palm attacks were fast and fierce like this. In an instant, he already felt his breathing had become heavy and the air in his chest was blocked. The joint attack of the 3 high-level monks of Shaolin Monastery was really no small matter. When he tried to tell the directions of the palm attacks apart at that urgent moment, he only felt that the 5 directions above him, below him, on his left, on his right, and at his back we