Under the sky

Chapter 313

A strong man in monk's robes opened the door.

There were nine people sitting in the room. Even the room of the Meditation Hall, the largest inn in Zezhou, seemed crowded with nine people sitting there.

The man in monk's robes looked downstairs at the hall filled with distinguished guests and people outside the door. Buddha's Birthday is truly the biggest celebration in Shaolin.

Are there so many people who believe in Buddhism?The man wearing monk's robes does not believe in Buddhism, but he believes in money.He is not a real monk, not even a lay monk, and the ring scar was removed a few days ago.

He found an empty table in the room and sat down.They all come for the same purpose.

"Tomorrow is the Buddha's birthday. It's the last day. We have to take action." The strong man in green clothes sitting at the table peeled the peanuts, threw them up, and raised his head to catch them.

It is not that simple to assassinate Jue Ru who controls a province. Even if the White Horse Temple is less guarded due to the Buddha's birthday, and even if Jue Ru is not like a smelly wolf who is always on guard against assassins, Jue Ru is a senior monk of Jue generation and was once the abbot of Zhengyu Hall. With such martial arts and the guards of White Horse Temple, it is not so easy for the ten night list assassins to succeed.

5000 taels is not easy to earn. They have gathered here for three days. With the help of needles, several people have used different methods to sneak into the White Horse Temple.

"Everyone is here." The strong man in blue sitting on the bed said, "500 taels per person, life and death are determined by destiny. Don't think about your escape when you attack, just leave if you miss a hit. The monk is not dead, only 50 taels." You have to die to get two household expenses."

"We only have three days to set up, so it's a bit urgent." Another assassin wearing monk robes said, "Is there any other way to get close?"

"I didn't think of any other way." The man in blue shook his head, "It's just the rush that gives me such a thick bonus."

"I know." The strong man peeling peanuts threw another peanut into the air, "Tell me the plan again."

■

As the largest temple in Shanxi, although the White Horse Temple is not as popular as the Shaolin Temple, a seven-day water and land dojo is held at the foot of the mountain on the Buddha's birthday.More than 100 monks and more than [-] lay disciples in the temple went to support the ritual, and more than [-] monks had to be borrowed from nearby temples to chant.

White Horse Temple is the headquarters of Shaolin in Shanxi.Due to the dispute over the isolated cemetery, more than [-]% of the land in Shanxi is not controlled by Shaolin, making it the smallest among the four provinces.After Jueru was demoted, he served as the abbot of Baima Temple and governor of all affairs in Jin Dynasty.

Jueru is not idle.There is an endless stream of believers coming to worship, and the White Horse Temple is packed with people.He presided over religious services and gave instructions for the day's chores. As soon as the temple door opened at Chenshi and believers poured in, he took the lead in chanting sutras. He did not rest for two hours and took a nap until noon. In the afternoon, he inspected various places or handled miscellaneous tasks in the study.His two disciples, Liao Zhi and Liao Shang, were stationed at the White Horse Temple together. Liao Zhi was sent to supervise the water and land monastery, while Liao Shang stayed by his side to wait for orders.

After seven consecutive days of rituals, he felt exhausted. In the afternoon of this day, he had finished reciting sutras and returned to his study. Following his routine of the previous few days, he would send Shang away and rest for half an hour in the study.

Just as Liao Shang was about to leave, Jueru said, "Wait a minute, Master has something to say."

Liao Shang asked with concern: "Master, won't you take a break?"

Jueru said dissatisfied: "When Shaolin is gone, I can rest until I die."

Liao Shang comforted him and said, "Master, Shaolin's restructuring has not been finalized yet."

Jueru said angrily: "When it comes true, what else can I do?"

Liao Shang made a grimace: "Master, you used to be nicknamed Xiaokou Amitabha. In the past two years, you either had a grimace or lost your temper. If this continues, your nickname will have to be changed. It depends on whether you are called Angry-faced Vajra or Suffering-faced Lord."

Jueru smiled and said, "Screw you, grandson. Are you following your example, Junior Brother Jing, by teasing Master?"

Liao Shang had no choice but to say, "Just go and leave. Junior brother Liao Jing has grandchildren, but the poor monk does not."

Jueru smiled and said, "Do you want to return to secular life?"

Liao Shang smiled bitterly: "I don't dare, I'm afraid Master will kill me with one palm."

"I haven't hacked you, junior brother, so what are you going to do?" Jueru poured tea at the Banyue table and drank it, saying: "After today's Buddha's birthday is over, Master will go back to Shaolin and ask the abbot if the reform of Shaolin is true. , if it is true, we have to find a way to make some noise, and at least fight to the death."

Before the Buddha's birthday, the abbot held a meeting among the four councils to discuss restructuring. Although the proposal was pending, the news had already spread.White Horse Temple is less than four hundred miles away from Shaolin Temple. Jueru listened to Xiao Qinggu's suggestion and planted an informant in Shaolin. The newly appointed abbot of Zhengyi Hall, Wu Geng, was his personal disciple. As soon as the four-house discussion was over, Wu Geng sent someone to inform him privately. Feel like.

When he heard the news, Jueru was furious. It was only because it happened to be the Buddha's birthday in April and everything was busy that he delayed it.In the past few days, he had been thinking about how to quarrel with Juejian, and he also remembered that Juejian's actions in the past two years were all aimed at lay monks, and he was afraid that he would not be able to convince him.

Jueru thought deeply: "It has been difficult to implement the new policy since ancient times. There are six monks in the four courtyards and eight halls, and half of the monks are in charge of the place. They want to find a way to mess up the matter until the abbot and Juekong's grandsons are dead. Change the proposal.”

Liao Shang clasped his hands together and said, "Amitabha, Master, kou karma, kou karma."

Jueru said: "Master asked you to stay to give some instructions. While I am away, you and Tomoyo will be in charge of White Horse Temple, and Master will sort out all the big and small things." He pointed to a small pile of files on the left side of the desk, " These are urgent matters, you and I will supervise them together. On the right side are urgent matters or major matters, which will be dealt with when Master comes back. After the Buddha's birthday, we still have to clean up. There are past practices to follow, so just follow them."

Seeing Shang nodded, Jueru ordered a few more things to be done.There was a sudden shout outside the door, and Jueru frowned and said, "What happened outside?"

The guarding disciple replied: "There are drunk believers who accidentally broke into the back hall and are chasing them away."

Jueru murmured: "Which lay disciple is he drinking in the temple in broad daylight?"

There was another "dong" sound outside the door, as if someone was knocking on the window, and Jueru asked strangely: "What's going on?"

"Bang!" The door was pushed open, and two monks broke in, shouting: "Abbott, this is bad!"

Seeing that the two of them were strangers, Jueru asked suspiciously: "Who are you two?"

Only the sound of breaking wind was heard, two monks shot out hidden weapons from their sleeves, and the sound of wind was strong.Jueru was shocked, but fortunately he was very skilled in martial arts and ducked down to avoid it at the critical moment.

There were several "papa papa" sounds, and the windows on both sides opened at the same time. Dozens of cold rays of light shot towards Jueru's body, locking him three feet away.Jueru waved his sleeves and robes and knocked down all the hidden weapons. Suddenly, the figure shook. Two assassins on the left and right jumped in from the window with daggers and spears. The two monks broke into the door and threw chain darts from their sleeves and robes.

The front and left sides were all blocked. Jue Ru hurriedly stepped back, using both hands to grab the two chain darts with his dragon claws. With a burst of Yi Jin Jing's true power, he pulled the two monks in front close to him to block the left and right killers.

Liao Shang was shocked to find out that his master had been assassinated. He shouted that there were assassins and slapped the two killers using chain darts with both hands.

Jueru stepped back and bumped into the desk, knocking it away a foot and slowing down slightly.Two more people broke into each other outside the left and right windows. There were ten assassins. They attacked at the same time. The four people blocked the retreat.

Between the elbows and armpits of the transformation, there are enemies on all sides, and everyone is fighting with no regard for their own safety.This group of night list killers knew that Jueru's counterattack would be fierce. One, two or even more of them might die, but it was impossible for Jueru to deal with attacks from all directions at the same time.

With two "pop" sounds, Liao Shang hit the backs of the two chain dart monks with his palms.Jueru had retreated to the desk. He grabbed the table with his right hand and swung it. The table weighing dozens of kilograms swept past, blocking the weapon on the right. He reached out with his left hand, grabbed an assassin's arm, and pulled him close to the guard. Staying on the left side, there was a "pop" sound, and the man was pierced by the weapon.

He felt like he was rising from the ground, but after all, he was a step too slow. He was in mid-air, and his thighs hurt. He was pierced by an unknown weapon. He couldn't help but fall, and he staggered. All kinds of short-term soldiers were already coming to greet him.Feeling like a trapped beast still fighting, he grabbed his claws to the left and right and dug into the abdomens of the two assassins. A figure rushed towards them, but it was his disciple Liao Shang.Liao Shang knocked down the enemy in front and saw that his master was injured. He was so busy that he didn't have time to think carefully and threw his master to the ground. Six weapons were fired at him at the same time.Liao Shang yelled, grabbed the calves of the two assassins, and shouted loudly: "There are assassins!"

Feeling that his disciple was risking his life to save him, he made a sharp move on the ground, moved his body a few feet, and turned around.He was already prepared. When he saw a short dagger stabbing him, he swung his left hand and struck the opponent's door with his right palm, beating the man's skull to pieces.

The guard disciples heard the sound and rushed over. Seeing that the assassin missed a single hit, the remaining five jumped out of the window to escape. Jue Ru was about to give chase when his thighs hurt sharply and blood flowed. They were afraid of an ambush and were worried about their disciples, so they had to stop.

The guard disciples poured in. Jueru pointed at the window and shouted: "Hurry up!" He limped quickly to see Shang.I saw Shang lying in a pool of blood with only one breath left. Jueru shouted loudly to the medical monk, and Liao Shang whispered: "Master... you have to smile more... to smile..." Before he finished speaking, The person has expired.

Feeling heartbroken, he shouted loudly and asked the disciple guarding the door why he let people in, only to find out that the guarding disciple was already dead.

The two assassins who used chain darts were seriously injured and took advantage of the chaos to commit suicide. They knew how they would be tortured if captured alive.The remaining five assassins blended into the pilgrims, but the guard disciples failed to catch up.

The medical monk quickly arrived to treat Jueru's wounds. Jueru endured the pain and ordered the evacuation of the pilgrims at Baima Temple. He sent someone to recall Zhi and ordered a thorough investigation. Only then did he find out that the ten assassins took advantage of the Buddha's birthday to act as pilgrims, monks, and servants. The workers sneaked in and took action while Jueru was resting alone in the study. The needles from the night list pretended to be drunk believers to attract attention. They took the opportunity to assassinate the disciples guarding the door and then broke in. The crashing sound Jueru heard in the room was the door guard being killed. The sound of stabbing with your mouth covered.

If he hadn't left Shang behind today, I'm afraid he would have died long ago.Who wants to assassinate him?The first thing Jueru thought of was lay monks.Which lay monk hates himself so much that he must die?Such a large amount of money is definitely not something ordinary people can raise. Could it be that they feel empty?But why?
Jueru originally wanted to go to Shaolin to ask for an explanation in person, but now he could not go immediately due to his injury. He tossed and turned all night and could not sleep. He was heartbroken that his disciple had died, so he got up and went to the body to chant sutras in person.

At noon on the second day, Jueru was about to write a letter to inform Shaolin about his assassination. His disciple learned about it and hurriedly came to report it and whispered a few words in his ear.Jueru's expression changed and he said: "See you, of course you have to see me!"

Although he had met this person a few times, it was only a quick glance. Jueru didn't pay much attention to his identity at the time. He dug out the image from the old file and confirmed that Song Liaoxin's appearance had changed and he was standing in front of him with his hands shackled. identity.

"You said something big happened in Shaolin and you have to tell the poor monk face to face?"

After the drastic change in Shaolin yesterday, Song Liaoxin came over overnight. He had grown his hair and felt that the gangsters arranged along the road did not give him any trouble.He heard that Jueru had been assassinated at the foot of the mountain, and went to the temple to ask for an audience. The White Horse Temple was heavily guarded and could not allow him to come in.

Song Liao changed his mind and asked to see the abbot, but he was still rejected. He had to borrow pen and paper to write a letter with the words "Shaolin has changed, please see the abbot" and asked someone to pass it on to him.After Liao Zhi received the letter, he came to see Song Liao Xin. Seeing that there were many lay disciples on the left and right, Song Liao Xin did not dare to speak for fear of leaking secrets. He could only explain the matter to Jueru.Ling Zhi was afraid that he was an assassin, but still refused, so Song Liaoxin could only confess his identity in Ling Zhi's ear. Ling Zhi was very suspicious, and then allowed him to put on shackles to see Jueru.

Song Liaoxin saw that there were lay disciples outside the door, so he asked for paper and pen, and wrote: "Juekong coup, the abbot and the four principal monks died."

Jueru was shocked.Song Liaoxin winked, and Jueru understood in his heart that he let all the left and right retreat, leaving only Zhi. Song Liaoxin then said that Juekong had a coup. The situation was chaotic at that time. In addition to the fact that many righteous monks were killed in the fire of Wenshu Monastery and Juekong Temple, the situation was chaotic. No other details of the situation are known.

Jue Ru wanted to be disbelieving, but it was consistent with yesterday's assassination. He questioned him carefully and saw Song Liao's response was fluent. He couldn't help but feel sad and angry. He smashed the coffee table with his palm and cursed Jue Kong. He complained that Jue was confused. Bury the Shaolin Temple.

After hearing the news, Zhizhi was also very upset and said hurriedly: "How about you escape to Songshan Mountain? Junior Brother Liaojing will protect the master."

After Jueru's grief and anger passed, he immediately calmed down, thought for a while, and said: "If you escape, you and I, master and disciple, are just ordinary martial artists. It is useless to escape into Songshan Mountain. Juekong will not let Songshan go."

Knowing: "Why don't you wait for the news?"

Song Liao thought to himself, "It's already too late when we get the news. The lesson from what happened to Peng Xiaobei is not far away."

Song Liaoxin was an unknown master and had defected. Jueru was half convinced but still had two doubts. When he heard what he said, he thought that if he had waited for the news to come, Juekong would have taken action earlier and Peng Xiao Beggar's defeat was due to Xu Fangge's control of his confidants and the removal of all of them. Beggar Peng was seriously injured at that time and was unable to come forward to call for help. He had to make an immediate decision in this urgent matter.Fortunately, Xiao Qinggu reminded him to recruit all his disciples to Jin. He accepted a total of eight disciples. Xiao Qinggu was in Songshan, Liao Shang died last night, and Liao Wu was in Shaolin for fear of misfortune. Apart from Zhi, there were four remaining disciples. They all hold important positions in Jin.

"Understood, I will write a letter to Shaolin, saying that the poor monk was assassinated yesterday and died of his injuries in the middle of the night. Stabilize Juekong." Jueru said, "I wrote a letter in my hand and immediately sent it to Songshan Mountain in a hurry, eight hundred miles away, and sent my confidants. People guard the intersection to inquire about information. If Shaolin sends a small number of people to inquire, let them go. If Shaolin sends a large force, be prepared to meet the enemy."

You know: "Zezhou is only four hundred miles away from Shaolin Temple. Why don't you lead your disciples to attack Shaolin? If Juekong is undefended, he can attack in one fell swoop. If the news is false, it will only be a wasted trip."

Song Liaoxin said: "Juekong gathered his troops and headed for Shaolin. I saw it with my own eyes."

He just said one side of the story and felt it was difficult to make up his mind. Then he thought again, since he believed it, he had to believe it completely, not just half of it. He immediately said: "It takes time to gather soldiers and horses, and it is inevitable that lay disciples will mix in to capture Shaolin." Too hasty."

Jueru sent his confidants to inquire about the news in detail, and at the same time he wrote a book and gave it to his four disciples, ordering them to immediately lead the monk soldiers from the Jin region to come for support.That night, Jueru summoned his close monks and asked Song Liaoxin to explain the situation in detail. The monks were half-convinced and confused.Jue Ru said: "The matter is decided by the poor monk. The survival of Shaolin depends on this."

When everyone heard what the abbot said, they all said: "I respectfully respect the abbot's decree."

Jueru said to Song Liao, "If this poor monk proves that what you said is true, he will let you go. First, I will ask you to rest in the temple for a few days."

On the second day, Jueru summoned all the lay disciples to the square in front of the Mahavira Hall. The lay disciples all gathered together without knowing what they were doing.Zhizhi came forward and said a few words to the scene. Suddenly, hundreds of monks and soldiers emerged from the eaves of the left and right halls, holding bows and arrows and shooting at the lay disciples. More than two hundred monks and soldiers held shields and knives to block the exits in front and behind.The square was open, and most of the lay disciples were killed by random arrows. The remaining ones didn't know where they were. They kept begging for mercy and crying out, as if they hadn't heard anything. They shot all the more than [-] lay disciples, except for a few. The one with better kung fu breaks out.

Jueru occupied the White Horse Temple and notified various sects in Jin that Juekong had rebelled and was not in the right position. He called on the world to attack him.

At this time, Juekong was unconscious due to injuries.He was only in coma for one day, and Song Liaoxin was only one day quick to deliver the news to Baima Temple. In just one day, earth-shaking changes took place.

It was not that Juekong had no plans. He expected that the assassination might fail. Before he fell into coma, he ordered his subordinates to lead a thousand disciples to attack the White Horse Temple after Juewen surrendered the monks from Wuming Temple. Although the 1000 men were few, they were lightly armed and fast, and could arrive within two days of four hundred miles. They took the opportunity to sneak attack on Jueru who was unaware of where he was.There are still [-] lay disciples in the temple who can serve as internal responders. If Sueru is dead, he will take over the White Horse Temple without any blood.

However, Jueru was well prepared, but the 1000 people were ambushed, and more than half of them were killed or injured.

■

"Have you heard? Abbot Jueru plans to retreat to Shangdang." In the inn, the guests were talking.

"Why did I hear that Abbot Juewen was planning to retreat to Luoyang? It was said that there were too many wronged souls in the Shaolin Temple to stay there, and it was easier to give orders in Luoyang."

"How is this possible? This battle was not fought by Abbot Juewen, and the leader of Juekong is not a vegetarian."

"Shit! Which of these monks is not a vegetarian?"

"The first seat of Juekong is a lay monk!"

"He has not returned to secular life!"

Several guests actually started arguing over whether Juekong should be a vegetarian or not.

Ming unknown was listening quietly in a corner of the inn.

After Song Liaoxin left, he woke up without knowing it.He did not chase the master. He only relaxed his hands and feet a little and concluded that it would be difficult to catch up with the master without being discovered due to his injuries. He only stood at the window to confirm that the master was heading north.He left the village early the next morning, and when he was heading to the border of Jin, he saw a thousand cavalry sent by Juekong roaring past.

When he saw a lay disciple entering the inn with blueprints, he quietly got up and left quietly.Shaolin may issue a wanted warrant for him, although it may not work in Jin, but he still has to find a secluded place to recuperate.

The seeds have bloomed and are now about to bear fruit.Even if the intelligence is unknown, one does not know what kind of results it will bear.

(End of this chapter)