Chapter Four: The Clay Bodhisattva
“What suggestion does Senior Brother have?”
Bu Jingyun’s thoughts were too deep to fathom, and Qin Shuang understood at once from the casual question.
“Why don’t we split up and meet again at the destination?”
There seemed to be a faint smile in Qin Shuang’s gaze as he looked at Bu Jingyun.
Bu Jingyun looked back at him as well. In the red cloak and expressionless face, no one could ever guess what was on Bu Jingyun’s mind.
“Then we’ll meet at the destination.”
The emotionless words came from Bu Jingyun’s mouth, yet Qin Shuang found them oddly familiar. After ten years, he had long grown used to them.
Bu Jingyun’s choice was unsurprising. Whatever thoughts he harbored, they would be to his own advantage.
After parting from Bu Jingyun, Qin Shuang abandoned his horse, concealed his face, and relied on his deep foundation of skill to make his way to Peerless City.
There he obtained the blade capable of unleashing a love that could overwhelm a city, a single stroke that could bring one city to ruin.
Soon after, he reunited with Bu Jingyun before the Temple of Clear Tranquility.
“I wonder where Senior Brother went? You were a little late in arriving,” Bu Jingyun said casually, though his cold face made the words sound half-inquiry, half-accusation.
“Senior Brother is getting on in years. I merely wandered into a wine shop. Does Junior Brother have any objections?”
Qin Shuang looked at Bu Jingyun with a frosty expression. Fortunately, the two were accustomed to speaking this way; to outsiders, it would seem as though they were about to come to blows.
“You can say that to Master,” Bu Jingyun replied. Though he was somewhat startled by Qin Shuang’s change, his face betrayed nothing. He could not help but probe a little.
“That’s true. After all, I’m getting older and should be settling down. I ought to tell Master and take Kong Ci as a concubine.”
Qin Shuang seemed to be smiling, yet nothing of it showed on his handsome face. Bu Jingyun knew, however, that Senior Brother was deliberately saying this to needle him.
“Hmph.”
Bu Jingyun shot Qin Shuang an unhappy look.
“Ride on!”
Seeing Bu Jingyun ride off, Qin Shuang urged his horse after him.
“You say things I already know. Do you think Master wouldn’t know as well?”
“What are you trying to say?”
Bu Jingyun looked at Qin Shuang in alarm and uncertainty. Ever since they had come out, this Senior Brother had seemed wrong in every way.
“The time for Zen has come. What harm is there in my changing a little? Come along. When the moment arrives, you’ll understand naturally.”
Qin Shuang paid no heed to Bu Jingyun’s questions, nor did he care whether Bu Jingyun would report him to Xiong Ba. Right now, Qin Shuang had cast off all restraint and was following his own heart. He no longer needed to consider anything else.
When they reached a place where horses could no longer pass, the two left their mounts behind and continued on foot. Halfway there, they saw a woodcutter resting with his granddaughter.
“Old sir, may I ask the way to the Temple of Clear Tranquility?”
Qin Shuang looked at the woodcutter and his granddaughter and smiled gently.
“What a lovely little girl!”
The woodcutter stared at Qin Shuang in astonishment. That face, that fate...
Meanwhile, a little earlier on the other side, Duan Lang had already found the Temple of Clear Tranquility.
After a round of argument, and with Buddhist doctrine twisted beyond recognition, the two men finally came to blows, since in the end truth mattered only under the fist.
With interference from others, the box containing the Fire Monkey was stolen, and their battleground gradually spread beyond the temple grounds.
Qin Shuang, after speaking, faintly heard the sounds of fighting. He raised his head toward the source, and Bu Jingyun followed his gaze. Before long, the two combatants appeared before them.
“Senior Brother has such profound inner strength, such keen senses!” Bu Jingyun was inwardly astonished. This was utterly unlike Senior Brother’s usual conduct. Just how much was he still concealing?
“Master, Duan Lang, the Fire Monkey belongs to the Heaven Shaking Alliance.”
For once, Qin Shuang revealed a domineering edge.
“So the Heaven Shaking Alliance is this overbearing?”
The monk was extremely displeased. First Duan Lang, then the Heaven Shaking Alliance—this Fire Monkey was truly a hot potato.
“May I ask which two hall masters of the Heaven Shaking Alliance have arrived?”
“Qin Shuang of the Frost Hall!”
“Bu Jingyun of the Flying Cloud Hall!”
“I have never heard that the hall master of the Frost Hall, Qin Shuang, is such an overbearing man. Since you want the Fire Monkey, let us see your true skill!”
The monk was also a straightforward man. Since he intended to keep the Fire Monkey safe, he was naturally prepared to face all manner of trouble.
“Please.”
Qin Shuang gestured with one hand, then diverted part of his attention to the woodcutter.
The monk glanced at the woodcutter and his granddaughter and said, “This place is dangerous. Please take your granddaughter and leave, old sir.”
The woodcutter thanked him repeatedly and hurried off.
The monk tossed the box containing the Fire Monkey onto a tree branch.
Bu Jingyun faced Duan Lang. They could hardly be called strangers to enmity. Duan Lang had lost in the struggle for the position of Flying Cloud Hall master and had long nursed resentment, especially toward Xiong Ba’s predetermined appointment.
Bu Jingyun looked down on this former defeated opponent. Unaware of the full story, he could not understand Duan Lang’s state of mind and simply thought him a man who could not accept defeat.
Added to that was Duan Lang’s betrayal of both the Heaven Shaking Alliance and Peerless City, making him all the more objectionable.
The two spoke only a few words before the clash became inevitable.
Bu Jingyun’s Cloud-Piercing Palm, one of Xiong Ba’s three supreme arts, carried the ever-changing essence of clouds within its power. Its movements were elusive and impossible to predict, yet immensely destructive.
It was perfectly suited to Bu Jingyun. In his hands, the Cloud-Piercing Palm could unleash one hundred and twenty percent of its might.
As for Duan Lang’s Blazing Sun Sword Art, it was an inherited mastery he had trained since childhood. The Blazing Sun Inner Method was also the ultimate skill of the Southern Ridge Sword Chief.
The two fought—one with palm techniques that were ethereal and unstable yet tremendously powerful, the other with a fierce sword style, the Fire Scale Sword pouring out surging sword qi.
It was a match of worthy opponents, a splendid contest.
Qin Shuang confronted the monk, who cultivated the inner method of Shaolin’s supreme arts and wielded the Tathagata Divine Palm.
The two exchanged blows in a back-and-forth struggle. With Qin Shuang deliberately suppressing his own power, their battle sent streams of force scattering in all directions.
Among the martial world’s ranks, the four present could not be called the very strongest, but they were certainly first-rate experts.
Four first-rate experts fought with exhilarating intensity, and after several exchanges, their ultimate techniques came forth in unison.
“Cloud-Piercing Palm!”
“Blazing Sun Sword Art!”
“Frost Fist!”
“Buddha’s Light Shines Everywhere!”
With all four ultimate moves unleashed at once, their stances were shaken off balance. At that very moment, the box on the tree toppled over, and the Fire Monkey escaped, nimbly leaping up into the branches.
“The Fire Monkey!”
It was the woodcutter’s granddaughter who cried out. The woodcutter hurriedly covered the little girl’s mouth.
Hearing the shout, the four men looked up at once. Duan Lang seized the opening, leapt into the air, and shot straight toward the Fire Monkey in the tree.
After grabbing it, he vaulted away from the branches. The monk also abandoned his entanglement with Qin Shuang and hurried after the Fire Monkey.
Just as Bu Jingyun was about to rise and pursue them, Qin Shuang said, “Junior Brother, don’t chase after it.”
Bu Jingyun stopped and looked at Qin Shuang, waiting for an explanation from his Senior Brother.
“Our goal is the Mud Bodhisattva, not the Fire Monkey.”
Bu Jingyun was astute; in an instant, he understood his Senior Brother’s meaning and turned to look at the woodcutter and the little girl.
“Mud Bodhisattva!”
“Mud Bodhisattva, how long do you intend to keep hiding? The world says your disguise skills are unmatched, and indeed they are! What a pity for this little girl.”
Qin Shuang took a half-step forward, yet his body barred Mud Bodhisattva’s path, his eyes carrying a smile.