HEAVEN SWORD DRAGON SABRE Book 2 of 2

The Hidden Military Strategy Manual Part 1

Taking Xie Xun by the hand, Zhang Wuji was about to walk away when suddenly Xie Xun said, "Hold on!" Pointing to an old monk among the Shaolin crowd he called out, "Cheng Kun! Come out! In the presence of the heroes from all over the world, I want you to clearly explain all kinds of gratitude and grudges of the past."

The crowd of heroes was startled; they only saw a hunchback old monk with a nondescript face. Definitely he did not look like Cheng Kun. Zhang Wuji was about to say, "He is not Cheng Kun." But he heard Xie Xun say, "Cheng Kun, you might change your appearance, but you can't change your voice. I only heard your cough, but I know who you are."

The old monk grinned fiendishly and said, "Who would listen to such nonsense from a blind man like you?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, Zhang Wuji recognized him immediately. That day on the Brightness Peak, when he was held captive inside the cloth sack, he had heard Cheng Kun's lengthy speech. He clearly remembered his voice. This time Cheng Kun deliberately made his voice sound throaty and his disguise was perfect, but in the end he could not change his voice.

Zhang Wuji leaped up to cut Cheng Kun's escape route. "Yuan Zhen Dashi, Cheng Kun Qianbei [senior, older generation]," he said, "A real man is straightforward and upright. Why don't you show your true face?"

Turned out Cheng Kun had disguised himself and mingled among the crowd. All along he managed to hide his true identity. But when the lady in yellow subdued Zhou Zhiruo, which he did not anticipate, he could not restrain from coughing lightly. Ever since he turned blind, Xie Xun's ability to distinguish sound grew. Besides, he harbored a deep hatred toward Cheng Kun; naturally, he would remember Cheng Kun with an 'inscribed in the heart, engraved on the bone' kind of memory. To Xie Xun's ears, this light cough was no less than a thunder in the midst of a clear blue sky; he recognized him immediately.

Cheng Kun realized his plot had fallen through and he had been exposed. Straightening his back up he shouted, "Shaolin monks, listen to this: The Devil Cult has come to disturb the holy place of Buddha. They are here to despise our Sect. Everybody must fight together. Show them no mercy."

His followers immediately responded; they unsheathed their weapons and charged forward to fight.

Because his martial brother, Abbot Kong Wen, had fallen into the hands of the Temple's rebels, Kong Zhi was forced to suppress his anger for quite a long time. This time, hearing Yuan Zhen issue an order to fight against the Ming Cult, he knew that his temple's monks would suffer countless damage if a tangled battle ensued. Taking everything into consideration, in the end, the lives of the monks in his temple were more important. Thereupon he shouted, "Kong Wen Fangzhang has fallen into this rebel Yuan Zhen's hands. All disciples must capture this traitor first then we'll save Fangzhang." All of a sudden there was great confusion on the peak.

Zhang Wuji saw that Zhou Zhiruo was still kneeling on the ground; she looked utterly dejected, he felt sorry for her. Zhang Wuji came to her, unsealed her acupoints, and helped her get up. Zhou Zhiruo pushed his arm away and leaped toward the crowd of Emei disciples.

They heard Xie Xun say in loud and clear voice, "Everything that happens today is between Cheng Kun and I, two people only. All kinds of gratitude and grudges ought to be concluded by us, two people, alone. Shifu, my entire skill came from you; Cheng Kun, my whole family was murdered by you. Your great kindness and deep animosity, we will settle it between us today."

Cheng Kun realized that Kong Zhi had disregarded everything by giving the order; he also knew that the honest Shaolin Temple monks were simply too numerous compared to his followers, which were only about a tenth of the entire Shaolin disciples. It looked like his ambition to become the Shaolin Abbot had also turned into an illusion. He thought, "Xie Xun has committed all kinds of evil deeds. If I subdue him, I can push all the blame on him. His martial art came from me, plus he is blind; I don't see any reason why I cannot defeat him." Therefore, he said, "Xie Xun, I don't know how many heroes and warriors of Jianghu lost their lives in your hands. Today, you are taking the bunch of Devil Cult's devil heads to come to Shaolin and create trouble in Buddhist paradise, going against the heroes of the world. I regret teaching you martial art in the past. Now I have to clean up my own school; I have to punish you, a renegade disciple who betrayed his school's forefathers." He then strode toward Xie Xun.