July seventh, the Qixi Festival – the most beautiful time for stargazing and romance. Cool as water on the celestial steps, sitting to watch the Cowherd and Weaver Girl stars. Above, magpies formed silver bridges; below, campfires dotted the landscape. Looking out, it was a brilliant scene indeed.

“Yang Langzhong…” A delicate gasp, starry eyes with laughter, amid ten thousand kinds of alluring charm, jade arms encircled the neck and spoke the next words.

“Mmm… you’re being naughty…”

Last year at this moment, if someone had softly called out the name of “Yang Langzhong the Romantic,” naturally the one calling would undoubtedly be a beautiful woman. With a face full of tender love and affection, the beauty’s delicate form would lean forward. On such a fine Qixi night, whether the charming lady was a daughter of a good family or a female hero from a famous sect, as long as that romantic figure stood before her and she heard that deep, gentle voice, any young woman would pour out her poetic feelings, smiling and blooming like flowers.

“Yang Langzhong…”

This year at this time, on the Qixi Festival, another call rang out, but this shout didn’t sound like orioles or swallows – instead it carried a somewhat sinister, ghostly chill.

Under the scattered starlight, the caller had a face full of pockmarks, without soft clouds or silk garments. That person was less than five feet tall, with fierce eyebrows and vertical eyes, holding a large saber. He was called the “Huaixi Sky General” – this was him.

“You’re being treacherous!” With a thunderous sound, the saber struck like lightning, instantly delivering a heavy blow that fell upon the wooden box.

With a bang, the wooden box jumped up, wood chips scattered everywhere – a truly frightening sight.

The fire had been burning for a full seven days. Looking around, the commander’s camp was in complete disarray, full of burn marks. Sharp arrow feathers were still embedded in the tent walls. If not for the commander’s flag still fluttering in the wind outside the tent, no one could tell this had once been the dignified main headquarters. Outside the tent, soldiers constantly ran back and forth, making everything appear even more chaotic. The generals, all exhausted, sat on the ground like prisoners of Chu facing each other. They could be heard cursing and sighing – some lamenting being born at the wrong time, others crying that death would be better than life. But regardless of what they said, just thinking of the imperial punishment that would come later made everyone wish they were dead.

“Lord Gao, we’ve searched all along the foot of Mount Song but found no trace of Yang Langzhong.”

“Damn Yang Suguan!” The messenger received a kick and immediately rolled away. Gao Tianwei jumped up and cursed furiously, “If that boy plays any more tricks, I’ll file a complaint to the Golden Throne! I’ll have his entire Yang family executed!”

“Don’t be angry… maybe Yang Langzhong met with some mishap and was harmed by the bandits… we shouldn’t wrongly blame him…” This person spoke weakly – it was Zhao Renyong. This was his first time accompanying the army on campaign, yet he encountered a great defeat, naturally lamenting being born at such an unlucky time.

Song Gongmai covered his face with both hands and sighed, “Brother Zhao, there’s no corpse of his in the Dharma Academy, and no trace of him anywhere on or off the mountain. If he… if he fled in fear of guilt, we’ll all be in trouble.” Zhao Renyong looked at Lu Yun and sighed, “Staff Officer Lu, with Yang Langzhong’s whereabouts unknown, do you also think he fled in fear of guilt?”

Lu Yun, hearing the question, was completely unlike his usual eloquent self, just lying quietly like a dead man. This deputy staff officer had been ambushed in the Dharma Academy, severely wounded, and carried back. Since then he had only lain on soft cushions, sleeping daily. Seeing him sleep so peacefully, he should have reached the South Heaven Gate and was preparing to be welcomed in by the messenger.

Song Gongmai looked grave, Zhao Renyong held his forehead sighing deeply, even An’dao Jing was speechlessly bewildered. Everyone watched Gao Tianwei’s great temper, but not one person spoke to console him.

On the first of July, the righteous and evil leaders met and agreed to three contests. In the final battle, unexpected changes occurred – “Literary Yang and Martial Qin” fell into the Dharma Academy’s secret passage. Everyone waited anxiously for the two to emerge, but neither came out. Instead, they saw the Dharma Academy catch fire and two signal cannons, one red and one blue, were fired.

Someone firing cannons meant battle had begun. Mount Song was surrounded by enemy forces. The court generals, worried about the safety of the Shaolin monks, didn’t dare rashly send troops and only dispatched people up the mountain to investigate. But before the scouts could leave the main camp, that group of desperate Nu Cang bandits had already launched a surprise attack on their position. These villains were utterly ruthless – their first strategy was to set fire to the grain supplies. The court was caught off guard, and food supplies and provisions were burned to nothing in one fire. For days now, troops from all routes had yellow faces and thin muscles, everyone struggling to hold on. This was why Gao Tianwei had that outburst.

Literary Yang vanished without trace, Martial Qin no longer appeared, the Dharma Academy mysteriously caught fire – naturally the Shaolin monks were shocked and suspicious. The monks joined with Wu Dingyuan and entered the academy together to search. They didn’t see half a dragon scale of the “Hidden Dragon,” but saw one sitting dead person and one lying living person. Everyone was frightened and didn’t dare disturb Tianjue’s remains, only carrying out the living Lu Yun.

Without treacherous ministers causing trouble or factional intrigue, the commander had from beginning to end remained mysterious and secretive. Looking at the old monk Tianjue’s absurd and unfathomable behavior – with this pair of precious master and disciple creating obstacles in every way, the court’s many experts, despite having passionate hearts and martial skills, under such incomprehensibly stupid arrangements, who could avoid defeat? Now the old monk simply threw up his hands, “Amitabha,” and returned to paradise – delighting that group of demons and tormenting all the court’s civil and military officials. What kind of ghostly trick was this?

One hundred thousand troops had marched south in great force without achieving an inch of territory. Looking at Liu Angtian’s poor recommendations and Yang Yuan’s inadequate supervision, who knew how many people would be implicated by Yang Suguan. Yet this central army commander’s whereabouts were unknown – alive he couldn’t be seen, dead his corpse couldn’t be found, as if he had fled. This tormented the court generals to death.

With things having reached this state, though the people didn’t say it aloud, in their hearts they hated Yang Suguan and Tianjue, this master-disciple pair, to the extreme. They wished they could whip their corpses three hundred times and devour them alive to slightly ease the grief and resentment in their hearts.

Another messenger came from outside the tent, saying, “Lord Song, Lord Shi Ping has sent back word that the Henan Provincial Administration Commissioner doesn’t dare open the granaries without authorization. Unless there’s the Grand Seal of the Acting Northern Commander, he regrets he cannot lend grain.” Song Gongmai didn’t kick him out, just waved his hand and said quietly, “I understand… I understand…”

Without Yang Suguan’s official seal, neighboring prefecture and county officials wouldn’t open their granaries for emergency relief – this was reasonable. But with the entire camp’s troops grumbling, how could they fight? When soldiers got hungry, they would definitely slaughter horses to eat. One military horse was worth at least fifty taels of silver – two thousand horses would be one hundred thousand taels of bright silver. But forcing them to endure hunger would lead them to rob civilians under the hardships of cold and hunger, bringing disaster to all living beings.

Unable to find food supplies, they also couldn’t scatter like birds and beasts. Between two evils, choosing the lesser, Song Gongmai wept bitter tears. He called a messenger and took from his pack a thick stack of silver notes, about ten thousand taels of silver, saying quietly, “Everyone should return to the capital quickly. This is my personal money. When passing through states and prefects, buy grain from the people. If the silver isn’t enough, just ask me for more.”

“Thank you, Lord Song.” The other generals watched with smiles, crossed their arms over their chests, and said this sentence in unison – this could be considered their summary.

“Reporting to the Abbot, Benefactor Wu has arrived.”

The Qixi Festival was the most sorrowful night Shaolin Temple had experienced in nearly thirty years. After three great battles, the Dharma Academy had become a sea of fire, the court’s great army had fled north in panic. Yang Suguan, originally the central army commander, hadn’t returned to his main camp, nor was his corpse in the Dharma Academy. For a full seven days his whereabouts had been unknown – truly worrying.

Wu Dingyuan pressed his palms together and said, “This junior Wu Dingyuan from Xiliang pays respects to the Abbot.” He then waited to one side for Lingzhi’s instructions. Lingzhi pressed his palms together and turned to look – three people walked shoulder to shoulder into the small chamber. The front two were monks – Lingyin and Lingzhen. Behind them was a tall figure, none other than the one called “Tianshan Successor” – Wu Dingyuan.

The temple’s precious treasure had perished, the Luohan Hall’s head seat was severely injured, Yang Suguan was still nowhere to be found. The entire temple had no other support and could only look to Lingzhi’s actions. Cold air drifted over, and Lingzhi’s eyes also seemed bewildered. Wu Dingyuan stole a glance and saw this abbot’s face was haggard – apparently he hadn’t rested these past days, only worrying about various future great matters.

Under weak candlelight, Tianjue had been dead for many days and his corpse was already emitting a putrid smell, but his facial features remained lifelike. Those deep, sorrow-filled eyes seemed to still pity the world’s suffering.

Lingyin was the Discipline Academy’s head seat. With Tianjue dead and Lingding severely injured, he had now become the temple’s second-ranking figure. Seeing the abbot’s wordless silence, he said, “Junior Brother Yang still hasn’t appeared, and no one knows exactly who killed our master uncle.” He paused, looked toward Wu Dingyuan, pressed his palms together and continued, “Benefactor Wu, you’ve worked in government for many years – can you help the abbot share his worries?”

Wu Dingyuan had been a constable and was naturally friends with coroners – examining corpses and investigating cases was his expertise. Presumably for this reason the abbot had asked him to come verify the corpse and discuss major plans.

Wu Dingyuan nodded and bent down to look as instructed. He saw Tianjue’s body was thin as firewood, but on that withered chest was a wound – narrow in front, wide behind, deep as an inch – clearly a knife wound. Without doubt, this wound was the cause of death. Cold sweat beaded on Wu Dingyuan’s forehead. Though there had been many experts in the Dharma Academy at the time, if you asked who was the foremost knife expert, there was no need to think.

Lingzhen said loudly, “Wu Dingyuan! Tell us who killed our master uncle!” Tianjue was virtuous and highly respected. Though this old monk was in his twilight years, he was Shaolin’s first expert, a grand master who looked down on the world. Who had the ability to kill him? Wu Dingyuan sighed, knowing what Lingzhen was implying. His expression became gloomy and he didn’t respond.

Seeing his silence, Lingzhen immediately grabbed his collar forcefully and shouted, “You, Constable Wu! Are you also trying to shield the murderer?”

Wu Dingyuan snorted and lightly waved his iron hand, pushing him back a step. Lingyin quickly pulled his junior brother aside and pressed his palms together, “Benefactor Wu, that day when our master uncle Tianjue passed away, only Benefactor Lu was guarding at his side. Perhaps he saw the real murderer. He’s now severely injured, so naturally we can’t conveniently question him… but… but this poor monk heard he has deep friendship with that person…” Speaking to this point, he seemed not to know how to phrase it and could only lower his head and chant Buddha’s name.

Wu Dingyuan shook his head slightly and simply said it for him, “The master wants me to persuade Brother Lu to come forward and identify the real murderer?”

Lingyin pressed his palms together, “The benefactor speaks too seriously. We’re just afraid this Benefactor Lu might go astray and want to ask Sir Wu to guide him from the side – no other intention.”

Life having reached this point was truly tiresome. Wu Dingyuan sighed with deep feeling, only lowering his head without speaking.

If Tianjue was truly killed by Qin Zhonghai, Shaolin would inevitably engage in all-out war with Nu Cang. But Shaolin was a martial arts sect while Nu Cang was a small court – without tens of thousands of troops and heroes from across the land assisting, how could great things be accomplished? But to make the heroes willingly sacrifice their lives, they couldn’t do without a powerful witness coming forward.

With human evidence and physical evidence, heroes across the land would share a common enemy, the court’s great army would give full support – everything would naturally fall into place.

Seeing him nod, Lingyin and Lingzhen both showed joy on their faces, but Lingzhi still said nothing. Wu Dingyuan looked toward the abbot and saw this high monk’s gaze was profound, as if he had something to say but found it difficult to speak. Wu Dingyuan was slightly startled and thought, “That’s not right. The abbot asking me to come here is definitely not just to have me persuade Brother Lu – it’s not that simple. He must have another purpose.”

Wu Dingyuan’s heart awakened and he recovered his alertness. He quickly looked around in all directions, instantly his heart trembled and he couldn’t help making a sound of surprise. Lingzhi said in a deep voice, “What did the benefactor see?”

Wu Dingyuan’s thick eyebrows furrowed tightly, “Have you all noticed there are no signs of fighting here?”

This small chamber was exactly as usual – first, no signs of fighting; second, no sword or blade marks. Many bowls and earthen vessels on the ground remained intact – it really didn’t seem like a place where martial arts experts had dueled. Wu Dingyuan pressed his palms together and bowed to the abbot, “It’s not that this one wants to make excuses for anyone. It’s just that this stone chamber shows no signs of battle at all. No matter how fast Qin Zhonghai’s martial progress, to say he could kill Master Tianjue with one knife, leaving him completely unable to resist – this one finds it hard to believe.” Hearing these words, Lingzhi immediately pressed his palms together and nodded. Lingzhen beside him flew into rage and shouted, “Bullshit! After someone dies, you can move them anywhere you want. After Qin Zhonghai killed our master uncle, he could carry the person here to create false clues – what’s difficult about that?”

Wu Dingyuan sighed, “Master Lingzhen, look at Master Tianjue’s appearance…” He glanced at the corpse and said quietly, “Could he possibly be moved?”

The three monks were slightly alarmed and all looked toward Tianjue together. Before them, this divine monk sat cross-legged on the ground, his right hand slightly raised as if wanting to caress something. Wu Dingyuan said, “This one worked as a constable in Xiliang for seven or eight years and handled at least a hundred murder cases, but I’ve never seen such a death state.”

Lingzhen was about to curse when Lingzhi pressed his palms together and said, “If the benefactor has insights, please speak freely.”

Wu Dingyuan said, “Before death, people lose bowel control and breath, eighty to ninety percent of bodily strength dissipates, and they’ll usually fall to the ground. Unless frozen to death, dying suddenly, or dying with great sorrow or hatred, there’s absolutely no possibility of remaining upright.” He paused and continued, “Looking at Master Tianjue’s condition, he must have had some unfulfilled wish, which is why he died with eyes wide open.”

Lingzhi showed a sighing expression, “Sir Wu is indeed a famous constable from Xiliang – extraordinary. My master uncle indeed had a great aspiration.”

Wu Dingyuan’s expression changed, thinking of the blood characters he had seen that day, and immediately said, “World aspiration?”

Lingzhi and Lingyin exchanged glances, instantly chanting Buddha’s name in unison and pressing their palms together, “Amitabha! Good indeed, good indeed.”

“I establish world aspiration, must reach the supreme path. If this vow is not fulfilled, I swear not to achieve equal enlightenment.”

Lingzhi lowered his head and eyes, quietly chanting these explanatory words, “These lines come from the ‘Infinite Life Sutra,’ excerpted from ‘Must Achieve Right Enlightenment, Chapter Seven’ – this was my master uncle’s most beloved scripture. In dharma assemblies of sacred multitudes, with virtue honoring Samantabhadra, my master uncle’s lifelong wish was to create a Buddha kingdom, making all kings, ministers, and great officials under heaven sincere and diligent, ultimately achieving right enlightenment.”

Hearing of the great compassionate vow of the monk Tianjue, Wu Dingyuan naturally felt deep admiration. That day when he rushed toward the left corridor, the first thing he saw was this “Must Achieve Right Enlightenment” written in blood, fierce and dragon-like in its calligraphy. He hadn’t expected it to have such profound classical allusions. Wu Dingyuan said quietly, “In the abbot’s opinion, who wrote those blood characters?”

Lingzhi sighed slightly, “According to this old monk’s speculation, this ‘Must Achieve Right Enlightenment’ was written by the Hidden Dragon.” Wu Dingyuan made a sound and asked, “How can you tell?” Lingzhen’s face showed hatred as he said loudly, “What more is there to question? This person was mocking our master uncle!”

Lingzhi knew his junior brother was crude and unlearned, so he quickly explained, “Please think, benefactor. Whoever wrote these characters was no ordinary person. If not profoundly learned and well-versed in Buddhist texts, how could he understand the Infinite Life Sutra? How could he recite ‘Must Achieve Right Enlightenment’? At that time in the corridor, besides Literary Yang and Martial Qin, there were only our master uncle and the Hidden Dragon. That Qin Zhonghai, though acting wildly and rebelliously, if you wanted him to leave threatening messages using Buddhist scriptures, he surely couldn’t do it.” Qin Zhonghai was crude, unlearned, wild, and violent – these scriptures certainly couldn’t have come from his hand. Wu Dingyuan nodded and murmured, “According to the abbot’s meaning, who murdered Master Tianjue…”

Lingzhi sighed deeply, “Please look at my master uncle, benefactor.”

Wu Dingyuan was full of doubts and immediately crouched down to look at Tianjue’s corpse. He looked for a long while without seeing anything unusual and was about to turn back to ask Lingzhi when suddenly lightning flashed and thunder roared. A blue light shot into his eyes and in the blink of an eye flashed away again, like a ghost manifesting.

Wu Dingyuan was greatly shocked and quickly activated his night vision, focusing intently on Tianjue’s corpse. He saw that blue light, though faint, was reflecting from deep within the wound. Though only a small fragment, it didn’t escape his eyes. Wu Dingyuan’s face turned purple as he turned to look at the two high monks. He saw Lingyin’s face was blank, as if not knowing what had happened, but Lingzhi was tightly pursing his lips and nodding – clearly he had known all along.

Wu Dingyuan’s face showed shock and terror as his whole body trembled slightly. He thought, “Divine Sword Dragon Capture… Dear heaven, who exactly killed Master Tianjue?” Lingyin and Lingzhen looked at each other, both not knowing what mystery they were creating. Lingzhen showed impatience and said loudly, “Abbot! What are you dawdling about like an old woman? Regardless of who killed our master uncle – if it wasn’t Qin Zhonghai then it was the Hidden Dragon! Let’s quickly charge up Nu Cang and kill them all for revenge! Why are we still dawdling here?”

Hearing his angry roar, Lingzhi immediately said sternly, “Get out!”

Lingzhen was stunned and softened, quickly saying, “Abbot, you… what are you doing?” Lingzhi said grimly, “I command you to leave in the name of the abbot!” This rash monk was naturally quite annoyed at being driven away by the abbot, but Lingyin knew something was wrong and immediately gently pushed his junior brother, saying quietly, “Let’s go out first. Don’t make the abbot angry.”

After Lingzhen and Lingyin left one after another, Wu Dingyuan knew Lingzhi must have important matters to entrust to him. He quickly stood up and said, “Abbot, what… what exactly is going on…” Lingzhi sighed. He paced back and forth several times, as if thinking how to begin speaking. Wu Dingyuan didn’t dare interrupt, only lowering his head with hands at his sides, his mind repeatedly circling around that “Divine Sword Dragon Capture.” Thinking of this strange sword’s great power, his heart was filled with extreme fear.

The secret passage was dark, oppressive, and heavy. Except for Lingzhi’s low footsteps, there was no other sound. After a long time, suddenly Lingzhi gave a long sigh, “Benefactor Wu, do you know who is the most terrifying assassin in the world?”

Wu Dingyuan slowly shook his head and was about to say he didn’t know when suddenly his heart awakened and he said in a trembling voice, “You… you mean the Hidden Dragon…”

Lingzhi’s face was grave as he nodded lightly, “You suffered from the Hidden Dragon when you went down to the secret passage that day, didn’t you?”

Wu Dingyuan was shocked and alarmed, quickly saying, “That day we walked to the end of the secret passage and found passages to the left and right. While we were still discussing which way to go, we were ambushed by a strange formation. If not for my brother’s quick eyes and hands, I’m afraid this one would have… heh…” Thinking of Lu Yun being stabbed by a sword and still unconscious, he couldn’t help sighing.

Lingzhi said deeply, “The attacker chose to strike at the junction of three passages. No matter which direction the enemy came from, he could wait for them like a hunter and fight with ease. This is undoubtedly the Hidden Dragon’s style.” Hearing these words, Wu Dingyuan naturally felt lingering fear. That day the “Hidden Dragon’s” formation was beyond comprehension. He had barely escaped from the predicament when the man suddenly thrust out a sword – truly first-class scheming and calculation.

Lingzhi continued, “The Hidden Dragon doesn’t rely on fighting techniques when he strikes – he only attacks from hiding. Mountain forests and springs, heaven and earth – none are not his arena battlegrounds. This person’s assassination arts are supernaturally crafted, his disguise and impersonation skills come naturally. In former years, before the court’s expeditionary army even set out, many commanding generals would mysteriously die in their tents – this was the handiwork of this Hidden Dragon military advisor.”

Wu Dingyuan turned to look at Tianjue’s corpse, his face showing reluctance, “Abbot, you are too benevolent. When you caught this person back then, why didn’t you just kill him with one stroke? This Hidden Dragon military advisor is so sinister and formidable – why did you keep a tiger as a menace?”

Lingzhi shook his head and sighed, “Benefactor, oh benefactor, you think too highly of Shaolin Temple. All these years, Shaolin could only imprison him, not kill him. Even imprisoning him required proper courtesy – first, no torture; second, no humiliation. Otherwise, punishment would follow.”

Wu Dingyuan looked completely shocked, “Punishment would follow?”

Lingyin, seeing his alarmed expression, immediately lowered his hand pointing to the ground, “Does the benefactor know what this place is?” Wu Dingyuan said blankly, “Isn’t this a dungeon?” Lingzhi sighed, “Our temple is a dignified Buddhist gate, not a government office – why would we need to build prison cells?” He lowered his head toward the ground and said quietly, “This was originally Shaolin Temple’s dog hole.”

With surprises coming one after another, Wu Dingyuan naturally stared in amazement, saying blankly, “Dog hole?”

Lingzhi said, “A hundred years ago, if Shaolin disciples were expelled from the temple, they had to leave through this secret passage. When encountering such traitors, the elder masters wouldn’t be polite and would set up traps and ambushes, called ‘Eighteen Bronze Men’ and ‘Thirty-six Stakes.’ It wasn’t until the Empress Dowager of Jingfu Palace issued an edict that the court mobilized civilians to expand this secret passage that it was converted into a prison cell, no longer allowing people to enter or exit.” Wu Dingyuan broke into cold sweat and said in a trembling voice, “The Hidden Dragon and the Empress Dowager… the Empress Dowager… are… acquainted…” He didn’t know how to phrase it. These two – one was the nation’s motherly figure sitting in the Forbidden City, the other was a demon commanding thousands and killing like hemp. To say these two had any connection was truly hard to believe.

In the complete silence, only Lingzhi’s quiet voice could be heard, “Please think carefully, benefactor. Nu Cang’s first chair is Qin Baxian. This person holds the title of Wude and the official rank of Grand Commander, always mentioned alongside your Lord Liu. The third chair is ‘Right Phoenix’ Shi Qian, a jinshi graduate and a civil official of the Wu Ying court – look how noble these two are in status. Could the Hidden Dragon sit in the second chair without some background?” Wu Dingyuan was shocked and said in horror, “He’s also from the court?”

Lingzhi sighed slightly, “More than just being from the court. He is Prince Jingjiang, Zhu Yang.”

Wu Dingyuan was greatly shocked and said in a trembling voice, “He… he’s from the royal family?” Lingzhi nodded, “Correct. The ‘Hidden Dragon’ is originally surnamed Zhu, given name Yang, self-styled ‘Prince Jingjiang.’ This Nu Cang right military advisor is of noble birth – he is the third son of the former Longqing Emperor.”

These words struck like a thunderbolt, leaving Wu Dingyuan bewildered and speechless for a long time.

The Longqing Emperor was the legitimate royal line of this dynasty, having sired the two brothers Wu Ying and Jingtai. Years ago Wu Ying met with disaster and Jingtai succeeded. For thirty years the nation had been storm-tossed and politically unstable because of these two. Seeing the world was already in such turmoil, who would have thought there was a third imperial son?

Wu Dingyuan’s whole body trembled as he said, “So that’s why… no wonder you didn’t dare kill him.”

Lingzhi said quietly, “When we captured this person years ago, the three great factions of Jiang, Liu, and柳 all decided together to keep him under house arrest. That’s how this difficult task was sent to Shaolin Temple. The emperor even issued an edict instructing us to treat this person well and not to humiliate or abuse him, otherwise punishment would follow.”

Having heard such a long story, Wu Dingyuan stood speechless in a daze. He looked around and said quietly, “Abbot, where has he… where has he gone now? Has he rejoined Nu Cang?”

Lingzhi suddenly smiled, “Today’s Nu Cang Mountain is different from the past. Without Qin Baxian in charge, it’s just a bandit stronghold. The Hidden Dragon is noble imperial blood – do you think he would willingly submit to Qin Zhonghai’s commands? Even back then, if not for those words ‘In the year of Wuchen’s end, the Dragon Emperor moves in the world,’ why would he have condescended to be Qin Baxian’s deputy and be mentioned alongside common people as dragon and phoenix?” Wu Dingyuan’s whole body shook violently as he said in a trembling voice, “You… you’re saying he… he rebelled for Emperor Wu Ying…”

Lingzhi nodded and suddenly reached out to place his hand on Wu Dingyuan’s head, saying solemnly, “Benefactor, oh benefactor, when you and I first met years ago, this old monk could tell at a glance that you must be a person of great wealth and honor. Sir Wu, what blessed fortune you have to see the imperial countenance!” Wu Dingyuan smiled bitterly, holding his head and slowly sinking to the ground, “Master, why… why are you telling me these things?” Lingzhi crouched down and whispered in his ear, “This old monk has recently observed celestial phenomena and seen comets entering the Dipper constellation, with the Purple Forbidden Star being invaded. I know the world must face great disaster. Now that the Demon King Qin Zhonghai has descended, the treacherous minister who will unify the government will also emerge from his cocoon. From then on, all living beings will suffer – no one can stop it.” Wu Dingyuan said in alarm, “You… you mean Jiang Chong…”

Lingzhi’s face showed compassion, “Though Jiang Chong is bad, he’s actually quite loyal to the current sage. This old monk fears it’s someone else. As long as this person remains hidden, no one can deal with him. Even if Jiang Chong acts, he probably couldn’t withstand him.” He paused, his gaze fixed on Wu Dingyuan’s face as he sighed, “With the situation like this, if righteous heroes in the world want to survive, there’s only one path to take.” Wu Dingyuan’s face was iron-gray, his throat dry and hoarse as he said, “Please speak, Abbot.”

Lingzhi sighed, “The current plan is for only the ‘One True Dragon’ to come forward and rally the world’s righteous people, otherwise we’ll all die without burial grounds.” Wu Dingyuan’s eyes went dark as if struck by lightning. Thinking of how he had risked danger for the sheepskin years ago and nearly died miserably in Shenji Cave, rotting into boneless white remains, cold sweat immediately poured out all over his body. He said frantically, “Master… are… are you joking?” Lingzhi paid no attention and immediately faced Wu Dingyuan, bowing deeply and pressing his palms together, “This old monk Lingzhi pays respects to the foremost person of righteous martial arts. Respectfully requesting the True Dragon to lead the heroes in resisting demons and eliminating evil. Shaolin disciples are at your complete disposal without complaint.”

Seeing his serious manner, Wu Dingyuan was even more frightened and said loudly, “Abbot! This matter absolutely cannot be! Dingyuan has limited talent and learning, holds a lowly official position – I cannot handle great affairs!”

Wu Dingyuan wasn’t being ungrateful – it’s just that in chaotic times, holding high position often meant being beyond one’s control. Sometimes one would even suffer cruel persecution and die horribly. Looking at Qin Baxian twenty years ago, Liu Jing one year ago, today’s Qin Zhonghai, tomorrow’s Yang Suguan – which one wasn’t in deep water and scorching fire? How could he willingly descend into this sea of suffering and jump into the fire pit?

Lingzhi advised, “Brother’s words are greatly mistaken. Sir Wu, you are the True Dragon inheriting the arts of Tianshan. Consider how Qin Baxian was called a bandit and villain, but actually his heart constantly held the world in mind – much stronger than his son. As a person of Tianshan, you should naturally serve the current dynasty, seeking fortune for the ten thousand people and the world.” Wu Dingyuan breathed heavily in panic, waving his hands frantically, “Abbot, I beg you – regardless of who killed Master Tianjue, Constable Wu can help you catch them, just… just don’t bring me into this…”

Lingzhi sighed, “Sir Wu, Sir Wu, don’t you understand yet? Whether it’s Qin Zhonghai or Nu Cang Mountain, if we want to deal with them, Shaolin also has good generals and talents to handle it.” Speaking thus, he glanced at Tianjue and sighed heavily, “What worries my heart lies within the inner chambers…”

Wu Dingyuan cried out loudly, immediately covered his ears and ran to rush out the door, but Lingzhi blocked his path and wouldn’t let him leave.

The Divine Sword Dragon Capture, the masterless dragon robe, the inexplicably murdered divine monk Tianjue, the mysteriously originate