HEAVEN SWORD DRAGON SABRE Book 2 of 2

Casualties Of The Lion-Slaying Assembly Part 2

The old monk laughed and said, "Because of fate two benefactors have come over here, just happened to visit this little temple, which is about to carry out a great undertaking: reconstructing the main gate, and repairing the inlay of the golden idol. The benefactors' money and jewelry must be donated. If not, you are offending the Buddha; and then you will be in great trouble."

Zhao Min was indignant. "Isn't that the misdeed of the robbers?" she asked.

"It's sin! It's sin!" the old monk said, "We, eight brothers, used to kill people and burn their houses; we robbed and did all kinds of shady businesses. But recently we laid down our sabers to follow the teachings of Buddha, and so we became casual Buddhist monks. Benefactors have been brought here by karma; the fat sheep has arrived to our door on its own account. Ay, you have made things difficult for us who have left our homes; we are no longer able to keep our purity."

Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min were very shocked; they did not expect these eight monks were former big bandits. This old monk had been speaking quite bluntly. It sounded like he was going to kill them; he did not even try to keep it a secret, neither did he show any intention to let them go.

Another fierce looking monk said with a laugh, "Miss Benefactor need not be afraid; while we eight monks are robbing and plundering, we lack a mistress to take care of the temple. You have such a beautiful face, truly as if the 'Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa' [Guanyin Bodhisattva, the Goddess of Mercy] descends to the earth. Even if Buddha himself saw you, his heart would have been moved. Wonderful! Wonderful!"

From her pocket Zhao Min pulled out some seven, eight golden ingots and a string of pearls, and placed them all on the table. "All I have is here," she said, "We, brother and sister, are also Wulin people. Gentlemen must respect the Jianghu's 'yi qi' [spirit of loyalty, code of brotherhood]."

The old monk laughed and said, "So you two are Wulin people, nothing can be better than that. I wonder which school do you belong to?"

"We are Shaolin disciple," Zhao Min said. Shaolin Pai was the number one major sect in the Wulin world. Zhao Min was hoping that these if eight men were not Shaolin disciples, perhaps one of their friends or relatives were somewhat related to Shaolin.

The old monk was startled, his eyes suddenly shone with murderous look. "Shaolin disciples?" he said, "That's truly unfortunate! You two babies should really blame yourself for belonging to the wrong school."

He reached out to pull Zhao Min's wrist. Zhao Min quickly withdrew her hand so the old monk ended up grabbing empty air. Zhang Wuji realized the critical situation they were in. Both Zhao Min and he were heavily injured; it was extremely difficult to fight the enemy. They had battled countless well-known Wulin characters these past several years; would they lose their lives today in the hands of eight nameless lowly robbers? No matter what, he could not let Zhao Min being disgraced without him doing something. Thereupon he said, "Min Mei, hide behind me. I have a way to deal with these eight lowly thieves."

Zhao Min's brain was usually full of bright ideas and clever tricks, but this moment her hands were bound and she was unable to do anything about it. "What kind of people are you?" she asked.

The old monk replied, "We are renegades that the Shaolin Temple chased away. To come across other Sect's Jianghu people, we can sill show mercy and not make our moves; but to come across Shaolin disciples, we cannot do anything but kill you. Little Miss, this brother actually wanted you to be the custodian of the temple, but after finding out that you are a Shaolin disciple, we have no other choice but to kill you first, so that we will not leave any witness behind."

With a low and deep throaty voice Zhang Wuji said, "Good, huh! You are Yuan Zhen's disciples, aren't you?"

"Ah!" the old monk exclaimed in surprise, "That's strange! How did you know?"