Chapter 225 Shaolin's Misfortune (Part )

July 1st, early morning.

Li Xian sent people to send Wujian, who survived the disaster, as well as the bodies of Yuanji and Wuguan, back to Shaolin Temple.

In the main hall, Shaolin Abbot Xuanming was in charge personally. Several elders from the Xuan and Yuan generations, as well as many disciples from the Guo, Jing and Wu generations gathered together. At a glance, there were as many as forty or fifty people.

The remains of Yuanji and Wuguan were placed in the center of the hall. The monks gathered around them, all with solemn expressions, some sad, some angry, some worried, and some frustrated. The hall was completely silent, except for Wujian's wailing, which sounded like a death knell and struck everyone's heart.

"Master Abbot, this is roughly what happened."

The servant of the Li family who escorted Wujian back to the temple had just told the monks everything that had happened in the Shande Building in Xuzhou on June 19. Many of the details were told by Wujian himself.

"Thank you for sending them back to Shaolin." Xuanming forced himself to remain calm and said with a wry smile, "After you go back, please thank Mr. Li Xian for me. I already know all the reasons and processes of this matter, and I will never blame the donors in Xuzhou. Please rest assured, Mr. Li Xian, on this matter."

"Master Abbot, please accept my condolences!"

"Thank you!"

Xuanming was in no mood to greet the Li family at the moment, so he gave an order and asked the monk to escort the people out of the hall.

After the Li family left, Xuanming's calm face suddenly showed a trace of anger, and he said in a deep voice: "Yuan Ku, which one is this?"

"Abbot, including Yuanji and Wuguan, this is already the eleventh one." Yuanku sighed.

"what?"

Hearing this, Wu Jian was startled, and then he looked at Xuan Ming with horror, and asked in surprise: "Abbot, what did you say? What is the eleventh?"

Wuchan walked forward slowly, helped Wujian up, and explained in a low voice: "Brother Wujian, in fact, not long after you set out for Xuzhou, Shaolin disciples who were on business outside were ambushed and killed one after another. During this period, the temple has been plagued by bad news. We never expected that this time even our great-grandfather Yuanji would be..." Before he could finish his words, Wuchan's eyes turned red, his throat choked, and he could not utter another word.

“Abbot, these people have repeatedly bullied our Shaolin, and have become even more aggressive. Now they have killed Senior Brother Yuanji…” Yuankong said in grief and indignation, his voice trembling, “without even leaving a complete corpse. This is really too much. This is intolerable. This matter cannot be easily forgiven!”

"All eleven monks died by the sword, and their deaths were extremely tragic. They were fierce and domineering, which was indeed the style of Qin family martial arts. And from the surviving disciples, we learned that the murderer mentioned something about Hexi Qin family and 'Xuan Shui Xia Juan', so the murderer must be Hexi Qin family." Guo Shan said angrily, "Abbot, elders, this matter is obviously because Hexi Qin family is resentful about the matter of 'Xuan Shui Xia Juan' and deliberately provoked our Shaolin. If we don't do something, we will not only be looked down upon by Hexi Qin family, but also laughed at by the world."

"Then what do you want to do?" Yuan Ku asked.

"Declare war on the Hexi Qin Clan!" Guo Shan said firmly, "Otherwise, Qin Ming will really think that we are afraid of him. The Hexi Qin Clan dares to be the enemy of our Shaolin. We must make the Qin family pay the price to comfort the souls of our eleven fellow disciples in heaven!"

"Brother Guoshan is right. The Hexi Qin Clan killed our Shaolin disciples with cruel means and despicable behavior. We can no longer swallow our anger."

"It has been more than a day or two since the Hexi Qin Clan threatened to seek justice from Shaolin. But I never expected that they would be so ruthless!"

"They did it ruthlessly, so we will do it even more ruthlessly!"

"Yes! We will kill the Qin family in Hexi and wipe out their Manchu clan to avenge Uncle Yuanji and all the fellow disciples!"

"Kill the Qin family in Hexi! Kill the Qin family in Hexi!"

For a moment, everyone in the main hall was filled with anger. The monks and novices who usually had kind faces were now forced into a desperate situation. They suddenly became furious and their faces turned red.

The gods of the past have now all turned into evil spirits, vowing to compete with the Qin family of Hexi and fight to the death.

"Everyone shut up!"

Xuanming saw that the noise in the hall was getting louder and louder, and his face darkened. He shouted, "This is a pure land of Buddhism, how can you talk about fighting and killing all the time?"

"Abbot, it was clearly the Hexi Qin family who provoked us first. Are we going to keep silent about this?" Guo Shan said unconvincedly. "The Qin family has already started a fight with Shaolin. If we continue to endure the humiliation, I'm afraid that more than eleven people will die, but twenty-one, thirty-one, forty-one or even more."

"What you said makes sense." Yuankong pondered, "Now that so many monks have died in vain in Shaolin, human life is of paramount importance. We must seek an explanation from the Hexi Qin Clan. Moreover, the matter of 'Xuan Shui Xia Juan' has nothing to do with Shaolin, so why should we endure this injustice? Abbot, how about... I take people to the Hexi Qin Clan and confront Qin Ming face to face?"

"No!" Yuan Ku tried to dissuade him. "We are now at loggerheads with the Hexi Qin Clan. Even if we want to explain to them when we meet again, I'm afraid Qin Ming won't be patient enough to listen. Since they have already killed someone, it means they have no intention of reconciling with us. Therefore, if we rashly go to the Qin Clan, we will surely face death and danger. It is definitely not a wise move."

"Good, good! What the abbot said is correct. We are all disciples of Buddhism. How can we increase our karma?" Guo Xin advised, "We should think about this matter carefully. If we are like other sects in the martial arts world, just showing off our courage without considering right and wrong, then where is the reputation of Shaolin? Where is the Buddhist precepts? What is the difference between us and those tigers and wolves of the Qin family?"

"There is nothing to discuss! They have already bullied us. Even if we make a long-term plan, I am afraid that Qin Ming will kill all of us Shaolin disciples sooner or later!" Guo Shan immediately refuted, "The martial arts of the world originated from Shaolin, and this reputation was also earned by Bodhidharma with his punches and kicks! What's the point of beating wooden fish and chanting Buddhist scriptures all day? Think about Master Yuanji, if his martial arts were no different from Master Yuankong and Master Yuanku, how could he be slaughtered without any ability to fight back?"

"Guo Shan, you are too murderous..." "Guo Xin, you are too cowardly!"

For a while, there was a lot of discussion in the main hall, with the pro-war and pro-peace factions arguing with each other.

This situation made Wuchan look very ugly, and there was a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

Suddenly, Wuchan knelt down in front of Xuanming with a plop. His sudden action made the noisy hall suddenly quiet.

"Wuchan, what are you doing..."

"Abbot, this is all because I accidentally lost the 'Xuan Shui Xia Juan'." Wu Chan said with guilt in his eyes, "Now that my great-grandmaster Yuanji and all my uncles and fellow disciples have been brutally murdered, I am to blame for this, and my crime is unforgivable. Even if the Hexi Qin family has a thousand sins, they should not let my Buddhist pure land be stained with blood, and they should not cause my Buddhist disciples to go on a killing spree because of them. As the saying goes, one person has his own responsibility for his own actions. Since it is my disciple's fault, why not... why not..."

"How about that?"

“Why not let me shoulder the responsibility alone?” Wu Chan’s eyes flashed with determination, and he pleaded, “I am willing to avenge my uncle Yuanji and all my deceased uncles and brothers, to comfort their souls in heaven.”

Hearing this, Xuanming could not help but frown and asked, "You just said that even if the Hexi Qin family has committed a thousand crimes, Buddhist disciples should not kill people. If you go to seek revenge, wouldn't that also be a violation of the precept of killing?"

“Disciple…” Wuchan couldn’t stop his tears from flowing down as he said this. He suddenly kowtowed to Xuanming nine times. Under the complicated gazes of the crowd, Wuchan tearfully pleaded, “Disciple, please expel me from Shaolin… In this way, even if I kill people in the future, I will never tarnish the reputation of Buddhism…”

"what?"

As soon as Wu Chan said this, everyone's expression changed.

Xuanming's eyes turned red when he heard this. He looked at his disciple, whom he had watched grow up, with trembling eyes, and his heart was suddenly filled with mixed feelings.

"Wuchan, what nonsense are you talking about?" Guoshan asked anxiously, "What have you done wrong? This matter has nothing to do with you. How can the abbot expel you from the mountain gate..."

"Wuchan, why don't you admit your mistake to the abbot and take back the nonsense you just said."

"Please help me, Abbot Wuchan..." Wuchan knelt on the ground and begged bitterly while crying.

"No!" Xuan Ming said resolutely, "Your character is best known to me. You are innocent, so how can I expel you from Shaolin without knowing the truth? Don't mention this matter again. I will never agree to it!"

Guo Shan's eyes lit up, and he said anxiously, "In fact, we should ask Luo Tianjin for help in this matter. It was because of him that we intervened in the feud between the Pan and Qin families. Now that we have been wronged, he can't just stay out, right?"

"If we rashly drag the Xianwang Mansion into this, I'm afraid..." Yuan Ku pondered, "I'm afraid it will backfire and offend the Lord of Luo Mansion instead."

"This won't do, and that won't do. Are Master Yuanji and the monks really going to die in vain?" Guo Shan was angry and annoyed, muttering to himself, "It's true that we are disciples of Buddhism, but being a disciple of Buddhism doesn't mean we can be slaughtered at will. Killing people and setting fires will earn you a golden belt, while doing good deeds will leave you without a corpse. Humph! I'm not afraid of death, I'm only afraid of dying unclearly!"

"No one will die in vain." Xuanming said quietly, "The eleven monks will not die in vain. I will give them a satisfactory explanation for this matter. However, whether this incident was done by the Hexi Qin family... is still unknown."

"During this period, Qin Ming has been wantonly slandering our Shaolin in the martial arts world, saying that we are all show and no substance. He also keeps saying that he wants to settle accounts with us. Who else could it be but them?"

“This is exactly the same tone as the person who killed Master Yuanji’s great-uncle that night.” Wu Jian nodded repeatedly, “That person also said that all of us Shaolin disciples are full of benevolence and morality, but in fact we are full of evil intentions.”

"My Shaolin has stood in the martial arts world for hundreds of years, and has never had such a mess." Yuankong sighed, "Not only have we been splashed with dirty water, but our disciples have also been massacred. It's really..."

"enough!"

Xuanming suddenly felt upset and waved his hands impatiently, saying, "First bury Yuanji and Wuguan properly. I will seek justice from the Hexi Qin family and will never let anyone trample on the dignity of Shaolin!"

Upon hearing this, the monks were overjoyed. Yuankong asked, "What does the abbot mean..."

"Since we are upright, there is no need for us to hide our heads and show our tails like the Hexi Qin Clan, doing despicable and dirty things behind the scenes that cannot be seen in public." Xuanming said solemnly, "Usually we are the ones who uphold justice for others. Today, Shaolin is in trouble, so naturally we need someone to stand up and uphold justice for us."

"Who does the abbot want to find to come forward?"

"I will send out a call for heroes immediately. I will invite Lord Luo of Xianwang Mansion and the leaders of the six major sects to go to Hexi on the second day of August to seek justice for Shaolin!"

……

(End of this chapter)