Before long, Yu Tuan’er’s face no longer underwent dramatic changes. Though she could not match a sixteen-year-old maiden, she had gained quite a bit of charm. Liu Yan and the other two bid farewell to Lin Bu and set out on the road to Mount Song.
Going to Mount Song was Fang Pingzhai’s idea. Liu Yan had never told them his real name. Yu Tuan’er just called him “you” this and “you” that, while Fang Pingzhai originally called him “Little Black,” but now opened his mouth only to say “my dear master” or “my dear black master.” Liu Yan never denied it. With his current strange appearance, even if Xiao Hong were before him, she might not necessarily recognize him. No one knew he was the Liu Yan whom everyone in the martial world pointed fingers at. Besides, regarding matters of life and death, he fundamentally didn’t care. What he cared about was always Tang Lici’s life. Whatever Tang Lici wanted to do, he was determined to sabotage. Master Puzhu and Tang Lici were birds of a feather. If he could prevent Puzhu from becoming abbot, this trip to Shaolin Temple would not be in vain.
As for Fang Pingzhai going to Mount Song, it was entirely to watch the excitement, because the Shaolin Temple’s abbot selection assembly had been ongoing for over a month without results. These few days were the final competitions, and once they ended, the whole world would know who would become abbot.
Quite a few people shared this sentiment. Before the three had even entered Mount Song’s territory, they already saw many martial arts practitioners on the road, some carrying swords, some carrying sabers, all heading toward Shaolin Temple.
“Hey, look, that person is staring at me.” Yu Tuan’er and Fang Pingzhai rode horses while Liu Yan sat in a horse cart. The three traveled along the winding mountain path, taking their time without any hurry. By the roadside, three or five purple-clothed men sat resting. Seeing the three pass by, Yu Tuan’er’s eyes sparkled with spirit, and immediately someone stared at her with lustful eyes.
“Oh my! Having someone look at you is a good thing. I’ve said long ago that you might have romantic fortune, romantic encounters. My words are never false.” Fang Pingzhai’s red fan fluttered. “Master, don’t you agree? The little girl by your side finally has someone wanting to look at her. Doesn’t that give you a sense of accomplishment? Very proud, aren’t you?” Liu Yan remained silent, but Yu Tuan’er smiled at the man staring at her. “Why are you staring at me?” The purple-clothed burly man startled, spat “Bah!” and leaped up, reaching out to grab her. “Looks like this girl actually likes being stared at – born with cheap bones! If you like it, come along with this master!” Yu Tuan’er cracked her horsewhip toward his wrist, frowning. “Why are you being so fierce? Who said I wanted to go back with you?” The purple-clothed man drew his saber with a swoosh, gave a great shout, and the blade’s momentum was like a rainbow as he chopped down at Yu Tuan’er. Judging by the force of this strike, not only did he want to break her whip, he actually intended to cleave both person and whip in half. Yu Tuan’er flicked her wrist, the whip tip coiled around the purple-clothed man’s wrist, and with a forceful throw, the large saber flew from his hand, clattering to the ground five zhang away. The purple-clothed man stared dumbfounded. Yu Tuan’er reined in her horse to look at him twice, not angry at all, only saying: “Next time when talking to people, don’t be so fierce. Opening your mouth to curse at people right away – how inappropriate.” She spurred her horse past him and left.
The purple-clothed men sitting nearby burst into thunderous laughter. Someone laughingly mimicked: “Lecher, next time don’t open your mouth cursing people right away – how inappropriate.” Someone nearly laughed himself breathless: “I said Old Mo’s martial arts were poor, going out he’d get taught a lesson sooner or later. Didn’t expect retribution to come so fast, hahaha, truly bringing shame to Panlong Stronghold!” Another said slowly: “Being lustful is one thing, but nearly getting lustfully had – Amitabha…” The purple-clothed man became angry from embarrassment. “This… this… you stop right there!” He chased after Yu Tuan’er. “Stop! Little girl! Which school or sect are you from? Facing your elders with such lack of respect?” At these words, the purple-clothed men behind him laughed even more uproariously, laughing until they swayed back and forth.
“I say, this brother,” Fang Pingzhai reined in his horse and turned around, sighing. “If a person doesn’t have first-rate martial arts, he should have a first-rate mind. If he doesn’t have a first-rate mind, he should at least have first-rate luck to mix in the martial world. As for you… you’re exceptionally outstanding in every way – martial arts: none, brains: none, looks: none, wealth: none, not to mention vision and luck. Look at this specimen—” He pointed at Yu Tuan’er with his horsewhip. “In your eyes she could pass for a beauty, which shows you’re either glaucoma-afflicted or cross-eyed, so you have no vision. As for luck – rest assured, I’m never wrong about this – brother, you absolutely don’t have the luck for roadside romantic encounters. If you think you do, you’ll definitely meet a female ghost.” Having suddenly said such a long speech, the purple-clothed man listened in bewilderment. Only after hearing the last sentence did he understand half of it, but it certainly wasn’t anything good. He immediately gave a great shout and threw a punch at Fang Pingzhai’s horse’s head.
A red shadow swayed, and the purple-clothed man fell backward with a thud, staring dazedly at the horse’s head – he had clearly thrown a punch, but somehow the horse’s head had vanished, and why he had suddenly fallen was utterly baffling. Getting back up, he turned to look at his brothers, only to see that those who had been laughing in a heap had all stood up with serious expressions. A middle-aged purple-clothed man strode forward: “I am ‘Nine Heavens Coiling Dragon’ Dongfang Xu. My stronghold brother has offended you, sir. When we return, I will certainly discipline him strictly. Please be magnanimous.” The purple-clothed man was greatly shocked, looking with alarm and anger at the yellow-clothed youth on horseback. This person was actually an expert that even the boss dared not easily provoke?
Once Fang Pingzhai made his move, Dongfang Xu knew this person’s martial arts were extraordinarily high. Making Da Hong take a tumble was already showing considerable mercy, so he immediately wanted to befriend him and spoke very politely. Fang Pingzhai was all smiles, his red fan waving: “Think nothing of it, think nothing of it. You all should have just come down from Shaolin Temple, right? Do you know how the abbot selection is going inside the temple?”
“The situation? Eh… they’ve been expounding Buddhist doctrine for a whole month,” Dongfang Xu smiled bitterly. “Originally there were many people in the temple watching the excitement, but over this month many have left. The old monks and young monks are all expounding doctrine and telling stories – quite boring.” Fang Pingzhai made an “oh” sound and waved his red fan: “Buddhist doctrine? Who’s winning?” Dongfang Xu said: “As of this morning, the winners are the four Zen masters Dacheng, Dashi, Dahui, and Dabao, plus Master Puzhu and the young novice Sanjie.” Fang Pingzhai made an “mm” sound: “I wonder if Shaolin Temple’s rules are truly fair, whether those broad-minded great monks, little monks, and old monks truly only revere Buddhist doctrine and devoutly turn toward Buddha. If they really are so open, just, and selfless, if I, an outsider to the temple, went in to expound doctrine and happened to win, I wonder if the various masters would acknowledge it or not? Hahaha…” Dongfang Xu was stunned: “You… you want to go expound doctrine?” Fang Pingzhai made another “mm” sound: “Can only Shaolin Temple monks expound Buddhist doctrine? I also have many books at home that I’ve memorized clearly. I also have a mind full of thoughts and a belly full of reasoning. Can’t I speak? Lip service is my greatest skill – my specialty! My advantage! Let’s go.” He lifted his horse’s reins and rode off leisurely.
Dongfang Xu was greatly amazed. Someone actually wanted to go compete with Shaolin Temple monks in expounding doctrine, and this person wasn’t even a monk. Such a rare spectacle – wouldn’t it be a shame not to watch the excitement? He waved his hand, and several men from Panlong Stronghold quietly followed behind Fang Pingzhai’s trio, returning to Mount Song’s Shaolin Temple.
“Are you really going to expound doctrine?” Yu Tuan’er frowned. “What does ‘expounding doctrine’ mean?” Fang Pingzhai’s eyes slightly closed, his manner quite pleased: “Expounding doctrine means telling ancient tales, telling stories.” Yu Tuan’er was bewildered: “Why does Shaolin Temple select an abbot by competing in storytelling?” Fang Pingzhai tapped her head with his red fan: “Because this is a very deep, very deep question, so deep that with your mind you’ll never be able to understand this difficult problem, so I won’t explain it in detail. I’ll just tell you one sentence: monks love to deceive people.” But Yu Tuan’er wasn’t stupid either, glaring: “Telling stories is deceiving people. You want to compete with monks in storytelling, which means you’re very, very good at deceiving people?” Fang Pingzhai was startled: “Eh… uh…” He patted his own head with his red fan: “Capsized in the gutter. Yes, yes, yes, I’m very good at deceiving people, I’m truly very good at deceiving people, I admit it. Satisfied, Master Aunt?” Yu Tuan’er smiled sweetly: “Even if you’re very good at deceiving people, I believe you wouldn’t deceive me.” Fang Pingzhai said: “You still have such confidence in me, aren’t you afraid of being too disappointed?” Yu Tuan’er shook her head and spurred her horse forward, the horse’s hoofbeats quite cheerful.
Who exactly were these two people? And who was sitting in the horse cart beside them? Following behind, Dongfang Xu thought more and more strangely, then waved his hand and whispered something to Da Hong, telling him to go down the mountain and pass word to the people behind. By the looks of it, today’s Shaolin Temple would be much more interesting. Once the people behind came up, even if Shaolin Temple wanted to settle things peacefully, that would be absolutely impossible.
Thirty li away was a party of seven from Biluo Palace. Though only seven people, they had three horse carts and twenty horses. The carts hung with jade pearls and golden bells, the horses all silver-maned white steeds with silver hooves like snow. Of the three carts, one reportedly carried Wanyu Yuedan, one carried a small rabbit, and one was empty – no one knew what this meant. Of the seven people, three drove carts, four rode horses, leaving sixteen fine steeds riderless. Some carried various packages – again, no one knew what this meant.
Biluo Palace was truly the mysterious palace of the martial world. Even when it entered the martial world, its actions still carried that same unfathomable strangeness. Yet as these three horse carts and twenty horses passed by conspicuously, not a single person in the entire martial world dared touch a hair of theirs.