Death Scripture

The battle was more like a solo performance by Maid Lotus.

She dared not to use the swordcraft of the Death Scripture again. Since the beginning, she used a variety of tricks, such as slap, point, claw, punch, pat, poke, scratch and hammer. Before the monk could become familiar with it, she would immediately change to the next one.

There was nothing new about Maid Lotus’s tricks since New Moon Hall was good at strange evil secrets. In terms of punching and kicking, they were not even as good as the derived Barren Sect. In the seemingly innocent actions of Maid Lotus, there were actually hidden all kinds of things, such as needles and poisons. Sometimes she would shoot out subtly hidden weapons as if she was juggling.

On the contrary, Fayan responded with only one trick: he punched straight ahead, without any variation.

The old monk was skinny and his fist was not much bigger than a child’s. He seemed to have little strength and his punch was not swift; however, each punch was effective, making it difficult for Maid Lotus to approach.

Being a killer, Maid Lotus did not have any advantage in the face-to-face battle. Besides, her Internal Strength had recovered by only 30 to 40 percent. She could thus do nothing but retreat under the enemy’s pressing offensive.

After more than ten moves, she was seven or eight steps away from the monk. Unless she pulled out a sword, she could not hurt the monk in any way.

Gu Shenwei could vaguely recognize Fayan’s tricks, which were the same as Lianye’s. The old monk used the strength that passed the empty space, which meant that although the fist did not touch the target, the strength inside had been transmitted to the other side.

Gu Shenwei was gathering strength in his hands and was ready to hold the saber’s handle, waiting for the signal from Maid Lotus. The plan was that as they glanced at each other before the battle, Maid Lotus would lure Fayan into Gu Shenwei’s attacking range, and then he would suddenly attack.

However, Maid Lotus seemed to be forced to retreat in one direction, leaving Fayan farther and farther away from Gu Shenwei.

Maid Lotus suddenly stopped and knelt down on one leg. “Master is so formidable and I am willing to admit defeat.”

Gu Shenwei moved his finger slightly. He was more than ten steps away from Fayan, which was not the best distance, but he had no choice; he should either take action now or battle with the old monk face to face like Maid Lotus had done.

Several monks leaned forward, so Gu Shenwei had to give up his plan to attack. The enemies were tightly guarded, leaving no chance of success for him.

Then he discovered that Maid Lotus sincerely admitted defeat.

“Is benefactor feeling better?”

“Master was so magnanimous, I have now recovered by 60 to 70 percent. ”

The monks who were watching the battle were very surprised by his words. Gu Shenwei was even more shocked. Relying on pills and the Divine Rotation, Maid Lotus managed only with difficulty to stop the qigong deviation. But her Internal Strength was greatly damaged, thus how could she recover so fast after the fight with the old monk?

“This old monk is so bold to ask a favor from you.”

Knowing what Fayan meant, Maid Lotus stood up and walked up to Taoist Duansheng who had bruises all over owing to the itch, then she took out a pill and said, “Open your mouth.”

Despite the pain, Taoist Duansheng tried to kneel down and open his mouth and let Maid Lotus throw the pills in.

Gu Shenwei noticed that the pill seemed green, exactly the same as the Blood Coagulation Pill.

The drug worked immediately. Taoist Duansheng was safe from the inch and pain; however, he was exhausted and could only lay on the ground groaning in a low voice.

Saving Taoist Duansheng was contrary to Maid Lotus’ original intentions. She said to the monk, “This man is a lone bandit who burns, kills, rapes, loots, and commits any imaginable misdeed. Why is Master still giving him a chance to live?”

Fayan smiled without saying a word, and Maid Lotus suddenly understood what he meant. She was a devil who killed people unrelentingly herself, yet the monk had spared her life, let alone a lone bandit.

“There are no evil people in the world.”

It took a while before the old monk spoke again. Maid Lotus kept quiet, but Gu Shenwei could not help but say, “If there are no evil people, who committed such evil things? Did those innocent people really deserve to die?”

This was a strange conversation. The “wicked” in the eyes of ordinary people were Dragon King and Maid Lotus, while the “good” was Fayan; however, the latter was defending the “evil”.

Fayan shook his head gently, “Nobody deserves to die. There are always countless evils in this world, but people who are evil often have good thoughts. Those who rob may think to use the money to support their mothers, those who bully may have even more kindness and benevolence for their brothers, and what a general wants is to end the war which killed thousands of soldiers.”

The old monk paused briefly and continued talking, “Those who feel resentful, will love more deeply. They hate because they love. People do evil things for love, but no one does evil things for evil. Everyone has a benevolent heart, and sometimes they are bewitched by the evil spirit and misinterpret the meaning of love, hence they do evil things. As the Buddhist doctrines say, ‘Lay down your blade and become a Buddha.’ ”

Gu Shenwei knew what brought about his aversion to Fayan. When you force yourself to do something contrary to your intention, you have someone who understands the situation, just like a mirror. Though not interfering with you, it reflects all of your nastiness, so how can you not be angry with that mirror?

“It’s all the same.” Out of control, with his veins visible on his face, Gu Shenwei said, “Those who don’t deserve to die are dead, and those who deserve to be killed still have to be killed.”

He made eye contact with Maid Lotus and the anger in his heart disappeared immediately.

Maid Lotus looked so calm that she seemed to have accepted the old monk’s statement wholeheartedly, but she also seemed indifferent. Gu Shenwei found himself in the trap – undue anger was an indication of defeat. He could not do as Fayan pleased anymore.

“You are right, I was rude,” Gu Shenwei apologized sincerely. “What Master said was abstruse and profound, thus I can’t understand it. I still have to think about it.”

Fayan lowered his sight and bent down slightly. He accepted Dragon King’s apology, but he was aware that the two evil spirits would not lay down the blade just for a few words.

On the other side, Taoist Duanshang was normal again. He was in rags and his hair was unkempt, and it seemed that he was a crazy beggar instead of a Taoist.

Dragon King’s eyes were filled with anger, so clearly, Fayan’s words exerted no influence on him. After having dashed into the desert for several li, Dragon King shouted, “We will meet again!”

Maid Lotus muttered, “It won’t be long.”

Maid Lotus and Gu Shenwei were just pretending to be polite with the old monk, while a disciple who stood behind Fayan was deeply moved. “Master Shifu, I still think about the brotherly love, which is good. But I also want to kill Dragon King for revenge, which is evil. This is how good turns into evil.”

Fayan extended his hand and pressed it on the disciple’s head, saying nothing.

Lianqing understood something but was also confused. He wanted to put down his blade, but seeing Dragon King standing there, he could not suppress his rage. Finally, he roared and suddenly knelt down on his knees. “Your disciple is incompetent and does not understand anything. Please punish me.”

Fayan sighed. “Now that you are able to walk again, let’s continue our journey.”

Lianqing understood what Master Shifu meant and did not want to provoke him too much. So he stood up, nodded silently, entered the tent, then shouldered up the heavy luggage, and headed for the South, not even looking back once.

The monks were really swift; they tore down the two tents quickly and passed through them.

Fayan was the last one to leave. Before he left, he bowed and said, “Please do me a favor and try not to harm innocent people.”

To the old monk, the two young men in front of him were better than over a hundred bandits miles away.

Gu Shenwei did not say a word. Before the monk was about to leave, Maid Lotus asked, “Is it the divine kung fu Sumeru Mustard that the Master had used?”

“It is not much of a divine kung fu, but its name is indeed ‘Sumeru Mustard Mantra’.”

After having pronounced these words, the old monk looked at the two men as if saying something profound. Following the disciples, he gradually disappeared in the night.

“The monk’s Internal Strength is good for us. I have seen the description of the divine kung fu Sumeru Mustard in a book in New Moon Hall, but I didn’t expect it had so many advantages, and that it was complemental to the Wayless Qigong.”

After the monks had walked away, Maid Lotus explained to Gu Shenwei that she felt a warm air entering her Dantian every time she received a punch from the distance by the monk. It was the punch that saved her from the ice cold she suffered. After the battle ended, not only was she not injured, but she also recovered a lot.

Gu Shenwei understood what Maid Lotus meant. She was interested in the monk’s divine kung fu, and so was Gu Shenwei actually. “Be careful,” he warned. “Don’t be fooled by the monk’s trick. I’ve got the Breaking Obsession theory.”

The Breaking Obsession was a scripture written by master Lianxin. It was capable of removing the killing desire. Being the disciples of Fayan, Lian Xin and other monks had one thing in common. They were fond of meddling in others’ business. They often accepted the evils as disciples since Lianxin used to raise tigers and Lianye and Lianqing were renowned bandits. Gu Shenwei had to take precautions against Fayan.

“We could find a way to get the real divine kung fu,” Maid Lotus had made up her mind since she had just suffered the qigong deviation, she desired the recipe more than Gu Shenwei did.

“Your Divine Rotation was not bad either and is very helpful for recovering.” Gu Shenwei wanted to seize the opportunity and find out as much as possible. Although Maid Lotus promised to tell him everything, it was possible that she would soon change her mind.

“I made great contributions by stealing the Wayless Book. The Master of New Moon Hall passed the manual to me, which made me recover very quickly. If…there were people around now, I would write the manual down and give it to you as soon as we left the desert.

Maid Lotus had a sincere look. Gu Shenwei placed too much trust on her before that he excised the Wayless Qigong without being cautious, and that made him suffer the qigong deviation. Therefore, he simply replied, “Ok.”

They packed their luggage and were going to ride their horses to break through the bandits’ attack. Though the bandits would not harass the monks, they would not let Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus go.

A figure flashed out, kneeling on the ground far away, “Please fairy forgive me! Help me, please!”

It was Taoist Duansheng who was in rags. He felt something wrong with his Internal Breath not long after running away. Knowing that he was set up by his opponent when he was in a panic, he ran back to beg for mercy after much hesitation.

Maid Lotus was sitting on a horse, feeling regret for the Blood Coagulation Pill. Had it not been for the old monk, she would never have wasted such a rare pill on Taoist Duansheng.

“I am Dragon King’s guard, what are you asking me for mercy for?”

The Taoist Duansheng immediately understood what she meant and ran in front of Dragon King’s horse on his knees. “Dragon King, please let me join the Great Snowmountain. Taoist Duansheng will be your slave from now on, and will do whatever you want me to do.”

Taoist Duansheng was a renowned bandit, so he should be humble after taking a pill. Gu Shenwei became more cautious of New Moon Hall’s evil secrets. “If you want to join the Great Snowmountain, tell the truth first. What benefits have Golden Roc Fort given to you to send you to kill me?”

“Golden Roc Fort?” Taoist Duansheng raised his head and showed a surprised look. “I haven’t heard that people from Golden Roc Fort participated in slaughtering Dragon King… It was He Sancai who incited the action. He said that after obtaining the title of “Bandit King” he could win the acknowledgment of some party. Though he did not give more details, we all believe that this party was either the Central Plain or the Norland.”

Gu Shenwei knew which one it was.