DEMI GODS AND SEMI DEVILS Book 1 of 5 (Adventures of The Youth) by Jin Yong

Luan And Feng Exhange Nests Part 3

Duan Zhengchun accepted it, then said, "My imperial brother actually is inside at this very moment. This is the perfect time for you to meet him." He said to Cui Baiquan and Guo Yanzhi, "Gentlemen, please take some refreshments for now. We will speak shortly." He then brought Huizhen and Huiguan deeper within the palace.

Actually, at this moment, Emperor Baoding had already retired into the warm pavilion and was having a tranquil conversation with the Yellow Browed Monk. Duan Yu sat next to them and listened quietly. Upon seeing Huizhen and Huiguan, he rose to his feet. Duan Zhengchun handed the scroll over to Emperor Baoding, who opened it. The letter was addressed to them two, and was filled with such flowery language as "long respected your illustrious name, but never had the fortune to meet you," "rule over the south, acting with vast benevolence," "admired by thousands of people, of exceptional ability and wisdom," "guardian of the Buddhist truth, glorifying the saintly path," etc. etc. etc. Finally, it came to the meat of the letter. "My younger martial brother, Master Xuanbei, will be heading towards your respected area with his four disciples. On the basis of our shared worship of Buddha and of our friendship within the wulin, I respectfully request that you take good care of him." The letter was signed, "The lowly disciple of the Shaolin monastery, Xuanci, pays a hundred respects."

Emperor Baoding rose while he read the letter to show the respect he held for Shaolin. Huizhen and Huiguan politely stood off to their side. Emperor Baoding said, "The two of you, please be seated. All of us followers of Buddha's teachings and, as members of the wulin, share the same heart and arteries. Whatever the abbot of Shaolin requests, we will certainly exert all of our efforts to comply with. Master Xuanbei's understanding of Buddhism is extremely subtle, and his martial arts level is deep and profound. I admire him to the extreme. Might I ask when he will grace my humble abode? We eagerly anticipate his arrival."

Huizhen and Huiguan suddenly felt to their knees. With a series of 'dong' sounds, they kowtowed repeatedly. They began to cry bitterly.

Emperor Baoding and Duan Zhengchun were both startled. They thought to themselves, "Can it be that Master Xuanbei has died?" Emperor Baoding stretched his hand out and helped them up. "Both of us are members of the wulin. You cannot be so polite towards me." Huizhen stood up and indeed said, "My master has passed on to Nirvana." Emperor Baoding thought to himself, "This letter must have been intended for Master Xuanbei to personally present to me. Can it be that he died within the borders of Dali?" He said, "Master Xuanbei has returned to the western heavens. The Buddhist family has lost an eminent monk, and the wulin has lost a skilled exponent. This is mournful news indeed. May I ask when Master Xuanbei entered Nirvana?"

Huizhen replied, "A month ago, my martial uncle, the abbot, received a letter stating that the 'Four Greatest Evils of the World' were headed towards Dali with the intention of making trouble for your majesty and for the South-Subduing Prince. The Duan dynasty of Dali reigns supreme over the southern world. Naturally, you wouldn't fear such a trifling group as the 'Four Evils'. But the abbot feared that you two might not know of this news and fall into their ambush. Thus, he sent Master Xuanbei and we four disciples to come here and inform you. This is why we came."

Emperor Baoding felt a deep sense of gratitude. He thought to himself, "No wonder Shaolin has been held in the utmost respect for the past hundreds of years. He has taken it upon himself to safeguard the wulin. Although we are located in the distant south, he has so much concern over our well-being. Although in his letter, he asked that we take good care of Master Xuanbei, his actual intent was to station him here to assist us." He immediately bowed slightly and said, "Abbot Fangzheng is a man of great kindness and thoughtfulness. I do not know how we brothers can repay him."

Huizhen replied, "Your majesty, you are too modest. Our group rushed southwards upon receiving his directive. On the 28th of last month, we arrived at Dali's Liangzhou prefecture and took shelter for the night at Shenjie monastery. Who would have imagined that on the morning of the 29th, as we four disciples woke up, we saw that our master...our master had been murdered. He died in the main hall of the Shenjie monastery...." As he came to this point, he was sobbing so much that no further words could come out.

Emperor Baoding let out a long sigh. He asked, "Was Master Xuanbei killed by means of poison or hidden weaponry?" Huizhen replied, "No." Emperor Baoding, the Yellow Browed Monk, Duan Zhengchun, and Gao Shengtai were all startled. They thought to themselves, "With Xuanbei's level of martial arts, unless he was struck by hidden weaponry coated with a poison that would kill on contact, even if the enemy had ambushed him from behind, he wouldn't be completely defenseless and die on the spot. Within Dali, what evil master martial artist has such a high and vicious level of ability?"

Duan Zhengchun said, "Today is the third. The 28th of last month was four days ago. Yu'er was kidnapped on the night of the 27th. Emperor Baoding nodded. "It wasn't the 'Four Evils'." For the past few days, Duan Yanqing had been focused on keeping guard over Duan Yu. He definitely wouldn't have had the time to travel such a great distance to commit murder at the Shenjie monastery. In addition, even if it were Duan Yanqing, he wouldn't have been able to silently and stealthily kill Xuanbei in the blink of an eye.

Huizhen said, "As we propped up our master, we felt that his entire body was icy cold. He had gone to Nirvana hours ago. There was no trace of any battle having occurred within the main hall. We rushed out of the temple, and the monks of Shenjie monastery assisted us as well. But within a ten-li radius, we couldn't find a single trace of the murderer's passing.

Emperor Baoding gloomily said, "Master Xuanbei not only died on behalf of the Duan family, but perished within the borders of Dali. No matter how one views it, we two brothers definitely cannot let this go unpunished."

Huizhen and Huiguan immediately dropped to their knees, kowtowing in thanks. Huizhen spoke again. "After the four of us discussed the situation with Abbot Wuye of Shenjie monastery, we decided to temporarily keep our master's remains at Shenjie monastery. We didn't dare to cremate him on the spot, so as to allow our martial-uncle, the abbot, to see him with his own eyes. The other two disciples rushed back to Shaolin to report the situation to the abbot. This humble monk and Huiguan rushed to Dali to report the situation to your imperial majesty, and to the South-Subduing Prince."

Emperor Baoding said, "Abbot Wuye is of venerable age and eminent virtue. His knowledge is broad and he knows many anecdotes regarding the wulin. What did he have to say?"

Huizhen replied, "Abbot Wuye said: 'There is an eighty or ninety percent chance that the murdered was a member of Gusu's Murong family."

Duan Zhengchun and Gao Shengtai exchanged glances. Both of them thought to themselves, "Once again, it's Gusu's Murong family!"