ides, this Kung Fu is only useful when the opponent is attacking with his inner energy and can’t be used to attack in offense. At the time when the opponent suddenly felt that his inner energy was discharging in a steady stream, undoubtedly he would turn pale with fright, but it doesn’t take long for that amount of inner energy to regenerate. Why was I so sure that they would definitely return? Because as soon as the cow-nose found out that he didn’t really lose any bit of his essence, he would know that my ‘Minor Art of Energy Absorbing to the Ground’ is only bluffing and there’s nothing dreadful about it. I never liked playing deceiving tricks, that’s why I never used it before.”

“Xiang Wentian never deceives people, but for his sworn brother’s sake, he made an exception today,” Linghu Chong grinned.

“Nah, I wouldn’t say that I never deceive people. But for insignificant players like that Priest Song-Wen, your brother I would really disdain to deceive him,” Xiang Wentian showed a grin before continuing. “If I want to deceive someone for some reason, it has to be something huge, something earthshaking, something everybody will be talking about afterwards.”

At those words, the two of them broke into laughter. Even though they held their laughter low so as not to be heard by the enemy above, but the laugh was thoroughly delighted.

__________

[1] It is tradition for a Buddhist monk to burn scars on his head using incense sticks to show his sincerity.

[2] Buddhists believe that if one persists in matters of the mortal world, he will not be able to attain the true meaning of Buddhism. But while mortal life is only a transient phase of a true Buddhist’s incarnation, he should work wholeheartedly in releasing people in the mortal world from pain and sufferings.

[3] Bodhidharma (also known as Pu Tai Ta Mo in Sanskrit and Daruma Daishi in Japanese) was an Enlightened Buddhist Master who is credited with reviving Buddhism in China and founding martial arts. Bodhidharma began his life as a royal prince in Southern India in the Sardilli family in 482 A.D. In the midst of his education and training to continue in his father’s footsteps as king, Bodhidharma encountered the Buddha’s teachings. He immediately saw the truth in Lord Buddha’s words and decided to give up his esteemed position and inheritance to study with the famous Buddhist teacher Prajnatara. Bodhidharma rapidly progressed in his Buddhist studies, and in time, Prajnatara sent Bodhidharma to China, where Buddhism had begun to die out, to introduce the Sarvastivada sect Buddhist teachings to the Chinese. Bodhidharma arrived in China after a brutal trek over Tibet’s Himalayan Mountains surviving both the extreme elements and treacherous bandits. Upon arrival in China, the Emperor Wu Di, a devout Buddhist himself, requested an audience with Bodhidharma. During their initial meeting, Wu Di asked Bodhidharma what merit he had achieved for all of his good deeds. Bodhidharma informed him that he had accrued none whatsoever. Bodhidharma was subsequently unable to convince Wu Di of the value of the teachings he had brought from India. Bodhidharma then set out for Luoyang, crossed the Yangtze River on a leaf, and climbed Bear’s Ear Mountain in the Songshan Mountain range where the Shaolin Temple was located. He meditated there in a small cave for nine years. Bodhidharma, in true Mahayana spirit, was moved to pity when he saw the terrible physical condition of the monks of the Shaolin Temple. The monks had practiced long-term meditation retreats, which made them spiritually strong but physically weak. He also noted that this meditation method caused sleepiness among the monks. Likening them to the young Shakyamuni, who almost died from practicing asceticism, he informed the monks that he would teach their bodies and their minds the Buddha’s dharma through a two-part program of meditation and physical training. Bodhidharma created an exercise program for the monks, which involved physical techniques that were efficient, strengthened the body, and eventually, could be used practically in self-defense. When Bodhidharma instituted these practices, his primary concern was to make the monks physically strong enough to withstand both their isolated lifestyle and the deceptively demanding training that meditation requires. It turned out that the techniques served a dual purpose as a very efficient fighting system, which evolved into a marital arts style called Shaolin Kung Fu. Martial arts training helped the monks to defend themselves against invading warlords and bandits. Bodhidharma taught that martial arts should be used for self-defense, and never to hurt or injure needlessly. In fact, it is one of the oldest Shaolin axioms that “one who engages in combat has already lost the battle.” Bodhidharma, a member of the Indian Kshatriya warrior class and a master of staff fighting, developed a system of 18 dynamic tension exercises. These movements found their way into print in 550 A.D. as the Yi Jin Jing, or Tendon Altering Sutra. We know this system today as the Luohan (Priest-Scholar) 18 Hand Movements, the basis of Shaolin Temple Boxing and the Shaolin Arts.

[4] It is tradition to attach small bells to a horse in China. The pleasant ringing of the bells also are useful as signals to inform pedestrians about the coming of the running horse so they would have plenty of time to move out of the way.

[5] A type of dart that shoots out from one’s sleeves.

[6] This idiom came from a story recorded in the book Shi Ji (Historical Records) by Sima Qian: In the battle with the army of Zhao, Han general Han Xin ordered his troops to form a battling formation with their backs to the river. With a mighty Zhao army in front of them and no way to retreat to behind their backs, the Han soldiers had no choice but to conquer or die. Even though the Zhao army was much larger than the Han army, the Han soldiers fought with all their might and crushed the Zhao army. This is one of the most famous battles in Chinese history. Later people use this idiom to describe one’s determination to conquer or fight to death.