Return of Condor Heroes (199 page)

“The mother deer searched for her two babies. Then she lowered her head and cried, licking her children’s bodies. In her heart was a mixture of happiness and sadness. She told the two fawns, ‘A love relationship is predestined. Meetings have to end, and we rarely have much time. Today I’m your mother. I’m afraid I can’t protect myself. Life and death are everywhere. And danger came too early.’ The two fawns were small and didn’t understand her meaning. And so the mother deer pointed them to a beautiful place with water and grass, tears flowing from her eyes. Then she said, ‘Our time has ended. I fell into a hunter’s hand by accident and was about to be killed. I begged the hunter so I could come back to see you, and today I’ll die. I pity you, having to be motherless so young and living by yourself.’”

Having heard this, Xiao Longnu recalled how her own life would also be cut short. She thought about these few sentences -- ‘Life and death are everywhere, and danger came too early’ and ‘I pity you, having to be motherless so young and living by yourself.’ She couldn’t bear it, and tears were flowing from her eyes. Yang Guo knew perfectly well that the white-eyebrowed monk was only telling a Buddhist tale but the tale of the mother deer and her children was very sad, and so he also was moved.

The white-eyebrowed monk continued the story, “Having finished saying this, the mother deer left her two fawns. The two of them cried, weeping in sorrow and following her closely behind. The babies were small and couldn’t run fast but they scrambled, tumbling down and getting up, to follow their mother, not willing to let her go. The mother deer paused. She turned around and said, ‘Babies! You can’t come along. If the hunter sees you, we mother and babies will all be finished. I’m ready to die, only fearing that you two are still weak. Nothing is permanent in the world. Everybody has to leave. I am ill-fated, causing you to lose your mother when you are still small.’ And then she fled to the hunter. The two fawns didn’t fear the hunter’s arrows and arrived after her.”

“The hunter saw that the mother deer was trustworthy, giving up her life to keep her words, and that her determination surpassed that of humans. Besides, he saw that the three deer were not willing to leave one another. He felt pity and decided not to kill her. The three of them shouted out in happiness, thanking the hunter. The hunter then told this story to the king, and the whole nation applauded and stopped evil killings.”

The monk in black listened to this story, tears streaming down his face. He said, “The deer were righteous. The mother deer was compassionate, and her offspring were filial. In no way can I compare to them.”

The white-eyebrowed monk said, “If there is compassion, any killing intention will disappear.” While saying this, he looked at Peng Zhang Lao who was nearby, as if he was also explaining all this to him. The monk in black responded, “True!” The white-eyebrowed monk continued, “If one wants to make amends that also is virtuous. It’s better than repenting and doing nothing. From today on, we should do good deeds.” Then he let out a small sigh, “Even I, in my life, have done many bad things.” Having said this, he shut his eyes and was deep in thought.

Even though the monk in black understood his master’s teaching, he was still troubled, finding it difficult to control himself. He lifted his head, only to see that Elder Peng was staring at him with a cat-like smile, his eyes looking as if they were shining lights. The monk in black was startled, feeling like he’d seen such a person somewhere before. He felt very uncomfortable with this meaningful look, and so he immediately turned his head away to avoid the gaze. But after a short while, he couldn’t bear it and turned back to meet those eyes.

With a smile Elder Peng said, “The snow has been coming down hard, don’t you think?”

The monk in black replied, “Yes, it’s been coming down hard.”

Elder Peng then said, “Come. Let’s go look at the snow.” Having said this, he pushed the door open. The monk in black repeated, “Good, let’s go look at the snow.” Then he got up to go stand side by side with Elder Peng at the door. At this time even though Yang Guo was behind the wall, he could sense that Elder Peng’s eyes were really strange and ominous.

Elder Peng said, “What your master said is right. Murder is wrong in any case. But the power in your body is overflowing. If you don’t let it out, your heart feels very difficult. Is that right?” In a daze, the monk in black replied, “It’s true!” Elder Peng said, “You might as well strike this snow man. Hit him, and you won’t sin.” The monk in black looked at the snowman and lifted both arms, eager to try. By now the two monks had been here for about half an hour, and the thin beggar’s body was thoroughly covered with white snow, even his eyes couldn’t be seen. Elder Peng urged, “Use your palms. Hit this snowman. Hit…Hit…Hit!” His words were soft, filled with encouragement. The monk in black channeled energy to his arms and said, “Good, I’ll hit!”

The white-eyebrowed monk lifted his head and let out a long sigh. In a low voice he said, “Where there is a murderous intention, there is sin.”

But then he heard a crashing sound. The monk in black shot out both of his palms, sending the white snow flying. The thin beggar’s body was struck, his pressure points unsealed, and so he let out a loud miserable ‘ah’ cry, which echoed into the distance. Xiao Longnu softly cried out, her hands grabbing Yang Guo’s.

The monk in black was shocked. He yelled, “There was someone in the snow!” The white-eyebrowed monk quickly came out and bent down to examine the body. The thin beggar was struck by the extremely powerful palms of the monk in black, and thus he was killed violently. The monk in black was all confused and became dully still.

Elder Peng acted like he was frightened and said, “This person was really strange. Why did he hide in the snow? Eh, why was he holding a knife?” Elder Peng had used his “Soul Absorbing Technique”, urging the monk in black to kill the thin beggar. He was very pleased with himself. Still, he couldn’t help being puzzled and thought to himself, “Surprisingly this servant had endurance, hiding very still in the snow. Could it be that the snow was blocking his ears and so he didn’t hear me urging that man to hit him?”

With a dull look in his eyes the monk in black could only cry out, “Master!” The white-eyebrowed monk said, “Such a pity. It wasn’t you who killed this person, yet it was you who did it.” The monk in black crouched down on the snow and his voice trembled, “I don’t understand.” The white-eyebrowed monk said, “You only knew that this was a snowman so you didn’t mean to hurt people. But your palms were wickedly powerful, without restraint. How can it be said that you didn’t have murderous intentions?” The monk in black said, “I certainly had murderous intentions.”

The white-eyebrowed monk looked at Elder Peng with a long steady gaze. His eyes were gentle, yet filled with grief. Simply with just this look, Elder Peng’s great ‘Soul Absorbing’ spell vanished. The monk in black suddenly cried out, “You are one of the Beggar Clan’s elders. It now came to my mind!” The cat-like smile on Elder Peng’s face disappeared in an instant. He frowned and shrewdly said, “And you are Iron Palms Chief Qiu. How did you become a monk?”

This monk in black was precisely Iron Palms Qiu Qianren. Years ago, on Mount Hua, he suddenly regretted all that he’d done and became a monk under Reverend Yideng’s tutelage. And this white-eyebrowed, old monk was Reverend Yideng, who was in the same league as Wang Chongyang, Huang Yaoshi, Ouyang Feng, and Hong Qigong. Qiu Qianren shaved his head and became a monk named Ci’en, following a Buddhist’s path and diligently mending his ways. But he’d done many despicable things in the past, making it very difficult to eliminate the monster in his heart. Facing the many temptations in the world, he couldn’t resist hurting people. And so he’d made a pair of strong manacles so that whenever his mind became troubled, he could shackle his hands and feet, keeping his evilness in check. At this time Reverend Yideng, who usually secluded himself in Hunan, had received a letter asking for help from his disciple Zhu Ziliu. So he and Ci’en were now on their way to the Passionless Valley. Nobody could have expected that they would run into Elder Peng on this remote mountain. Ci’en actually had no intention to hurt people.

In over ten years since becoming a monk, although Ci’en had violated some rules, this was actually the first time he had taken someone’s life. His mind was greatly disturbed, feeling that over ten years of his Buddhist study was all for nothing. He gave Elder Peng a vicious stare, with raging fire in his eyes.

Reverend Yideng knew that this was a critical moment. If one used force to stop him from getting into a fight, his evilness would multiply. Like a bursting flood, once released, there would be no redemption. Having thought this, he only looked at Ci’en with kindness, hoping that his evil thoughts would just melt away when he came to his senses. He kindly stood by him and gently chanted, “Amituofo, Amituofo!” He repeated this several times until Ci’en stopped staring at Elder Peng and came back to sit in the house, breathing heavily.

Elder Peng had known earlier that Qiu Qianren’s martial skills were weighty but he didn’t recognize Reverend Yideng. Seeing the snow-white eyebrows, he mistook Reverend Yideng for a weak monk on the verge of death and paid him no attention. He only thought to use his ‘Soul Absorbing’ skill to control Qiu Qianren and achieve his goal. Who would have thought that as soon as Reverend Yideng looked at him, he felt as if his heart was crushed by a thousand-catty weight, he was not able to use his magical skill. By this time he’d almost wet his pants. He wanted to flee but this Qiu Qianren was also nicknamed “Iron Palms Floating on Water.” His lightness skills were strange; he didn’t even leave footprints on the snow. It looked like he wouldn’t be able to escape so he only hoped that Qiu Qianren would listen to the words of the white-eyebrowed monk, who was persuading Qiu Qianren not to harm him. He shrank himself in the corner of the room, frightened. And as Ci’en’s pants grew heavier, his heart also thumped wildly.

Yang Guo had listened to Yideng telling the three-deer story. Now he thought about how no living things could escape death. Even though that thin beggar was wicked and deserved to be damned, his sudden encounter with this disaster was actually quite shocking. And more than that, he saw that Ci’en’s palm strength was strangely fierce. Who was this monk with such powerful martial skills?

Then he heard Ci’en panting for air and loudly crying out, “Master, I was born an evil person. Heaven wouldn’t let me repent. Although I didn’t mean to kill people, I finally couldn’t avoid taking somebody’s life. I’m not a monk anymore!”

Yideng said, “Sin, sin! Let me tell you another Buddhist tale.” Ci’en rudely retorted, “Why should I still listen to your Buddhist tale? You’ve been deceiving me for more than ten years. I don’t believe you anymore.” With two ‘ge-la’ ‘ge-la’ sounds, the chains on his hands and feet snapped. Yideng gently said, “Ci’en, what’s done is done. You don’t have to get angry.”

Ci’en stood up. Facing Yideng, he shook his head. Then he turned his body around and struck Elder Peng’s chest with both palms. With a loud crashing sound, Elder Peng collided with a wall and flew out into open space. After having been struck by these ‘Iron Palms’, his muscles and bones shattered. Even if he had ten lives, he would still be dead.

Hearing this loud crash, Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu jumped in fright and, side by side, came out of the room. They saw Ci’en raising his hands up high, with his eyes shining with murderous lights. He loudly shouted, “What are you looking at? Once started, I might as well go all the way. Today this old man will start killing.” Having said this, he channeled energy to his arms and was about to use his ‘Iron Palms’ again.

Reverend Yideng walked to the door entrance, shielding Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu’s bodies. He sat down cross-legged and recited Buddhist verses. Then he said, “You haven’t gone too far on the wrong path. You can still return. Ci’en, do you really want to sink beyond redemption?”

Ci’en’s face turned blue and then red. His mind was extremely chaotic, with good and evil battling it out. Today his mind had been troubled since they encountered the snow, and it was also stirred up by the “Soul Absorbing Skill”. More than that, he’d killed two people, making it very difficult to control himself. One minute Reverend Yideng was his gracious master who had been helping him, and the next he actually became his biggest personal enemy.

For a moment he stood there stiffly. Then his evil thoughts became stronger and stronger. Suddenly he gave a loud shout and attacked Reverend Yideng with his palm. Reverend Yideng brought his hand up to his chest, his body slightly swaying, as he blocked that palm strike. Ci’en angrily said, “You surely won’t be able to defeat me!” Then his left palm struck again. Reverend Yideng raised his hand, yet he didn’t counterstrike. Ci’ en shouted, “Aren’t you clever? You don’t hit back. Then you’ll die in vain. Don’t blame me!”

Even though his mind was disturbed, his words actually made sense. His ‘Iron Palms’ and Reverend Yideng’s “One Yang Finger” both claimed victories in battles, and years ago they were ranked equal in the martial world. Yideng’s Buddhist study was the basis of their master-disciple relationship. But speaking of martial skills, even if Yideng used the “One Yang Finger” against the ‘Iron Palms’ skill it actually would be somewhat inferior. In a one-way attack, using his whole strength to counterstrike, he might only win by a small margin, but as time went by, Yideng would eventually be killed or severely injured. Bravely, Yideng was willing to sacrifice himself, and received Ci’en’s palm strikes without hitting back. He only hoped that Ci’en would realize his mistakes and repent. This act of not using force against force was actually a battle between good and evil.

Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu witnessed how each of Ci’en’s ‘Iron Palms’ was like an axe striking Reverend Yideng. Coming to the fourteenth strike, Yideng let out a ‘wa’ sound and coughed up blood. Startled, Ci’en said, “Aren’t you going to fight back?” Yideng gently responded, “Why should I fight back? What good is it if I win? What good is it if you win? We must fight with ourselves, restrain ourselves!” Ci’en was confused, muttering, “Must fight with ourselves, and restrain ourselves!”