Noon.
Although the snow has become lighter, the sky and earth are already covered in silvery white.
The ground is covered with snow, and people step on the snow, making a squeaking sound.
Xiao Ding and the other four people just walked through the gate of Shaolin Temple and saw the abbot Master Qingxuan leading a crowd outside the Tianwang Hall to greet them.
Apparently someone had notified it in advance.
Ye Rongqiu has changed into men's clothes, with a long sword hanging on his waist, looking heroic. She and Xiao Ding walked in front side by side, and their appearance was not inferior at all.
Xiao Ding looked at ease, as casually as if he had returned to his own home, smiling with hope.
Liu Changfeng returned to his usual indifferent expression, holding the scabbard tightly in his left hand and looking intently.
Zhou Ziheng was smoking his pipe as usual, squinting and looking around.
These four people can make people stop and watch wherever they go.
But no one took a second look at them.
All the monks bowed and stood solemnly behind Master Qingxuan, the abbot, with their hands clasped together, their eyes looking at their noses, and their noses looking at their hearts.
Master Qingxuan put his hands together in a salute: "Amitabha, donor Ding is hiking in the snow. I was not far away to greet you. Please forgive me, forgive me."
Xiao Ding and Ye Rongqiu both bowed and clasped their fists in return. Xiao Ding said with a smile, "Master Abbot, you are serious. The lower class people come uninvited and are very troublesome."
Master Qingxuan smiled slightly, nodded and said sideways, "Where are you, some donors, please!"
In the abbot's room, tea is over.
Master Qingxuan stood solemnly on the left and right with Jingxuan and Jingkong.
Putting down the tea cup, Master Qingxuan looked at the crowd and said solemnly: "Liu Changfeng, the 'Changfeng Swordsman' of Wudang, and Zhou Ziheng, the 'Yijian Hengzhou', the two benefactors have retired from the world for twenty years. Although their voices and appearances have changed, their expressions have changed." Still, I still know it."
Liu Changfeng and Zhou Ziheng leaned forward and clasped their fists. Zhou Ziheng laughed and said, "The abbot really has good eyesight!"
"Alchemist Ding is the only young master I have seen in the past thirty years. Looking at the world today, no one among his peers can match him. There is also this young knight who must be very accomplished in swordsmanship. He is obviously a disciple of a famous master. But I am so blind that I cannot see the origin of the donor. I am extremely ashamed. Amitabha!"
Ye Rongqiu said with a smile: "I am a junior scholar in the world of martial arts. I am not well-known. It is normal for Master Abbot to not know the origins of this junior."
Although she is young, her experience in the world is no worse than that of Xiao Ding. This time on the mountain, it is difficult to distinguish between friends and foes, and the good and the bad are mixed together. The origin of the master will never be revealed casually.
Master Qingxuan glanced at Ye Rongqiu and said with a smile: "The donor is too modest."
Then he turned to look at Xiao Ding, clasped his hands together and said, "Donor Ding seemed to have something to ask me last night. Please enlighten me!"
Xiao Ding stood up, walked back and forth for a few steps with his hands behind his back, and said slowly: "Then please forgive me for speaking frankly. The mysterious man sent letters thousands of miles away and asked for a plan to capture the dragon in Shaoshi Mountain. This matter has been widely spread in the world. I didn't arrive until yesterday. At the foot of the mountain, someone spied on me last night. They were looking for a man in black, but he escaped. When he was returning angrily, he was led to Shaolin. "
After a pause, he continued: "We still don't know whether the man in black is a friend or an enemy. Even if I am a comrade or an opponent of Shaolin, I may not be sure. Tomorrow, all the sects and martial arts comrades will come, including There must be people from the Blue Dragon Society waiting for the opportunity to take action. It can be seen that the chaos in the scene tomorrow is really worrying."
He looked at Master Qingxuan and said: "As far as I know, there are already several troublesome big demons in the Jianghu who have sneaked in here, and there are naturally not many other Qinglonghui gang members. It can be seen from this that openly informing the Jianghu martial arts Comrade, it is unwise to hide this letter about the secret of the Qinglong Society in Shaolin. With the abbot's behavior, it is impossible to be so hasty, and I really can't figure out the reason."
Master Qingxuan looked sad and sighed: "Donor Ding's heart is indeed like a mirror, and he hit the nail on the head. When I received the letter from a friend from outside the customs, I was extremely shocked. This letter is related to the safety of the martial arts. If any of the contents are leaked, it will cause a bloody storm in the world, and even affect the life and death of the entire martial arts world."
Master Qingxuan took a sip of fragrant tea and continued: "This matter is of great importance, so we immediately sent people to Wudang Zui Taoist to come and discuss the important matter. After spending the night together, Zui Taoist and Lao Na decided that he should go find Duan Wuhen, the 'Linglong Shou'" .Because there are rumors in the world that Duan Wuhen spent a whole year casting a kind of lock that no one can open except him. But..."
Xiao Ding smiled and said: "But this matter is unusual. We must not place our hopes on an iron lock, so Duan Wuhen smelted and synthesized it with Tianwai fine iron, and finally cast a knife that can cut continuously. The box, which is indestructible by fire, also contains the "Thunderbolt Hall" automatic firearm. If the box is hit by an external force, the built-in automatic firearm will detonate. In this way, even if the box accidentally falls into Xiao Xiao's hands, others will There is no way to get a glimpse of the contents of the letter hidden in the box. It is difficult to seize something from the hands of the three elders of Shaolin. Even if you can seize it, it is just a worthless object. Because the key that can open the box must be It was kept separately and secretly."
Xiao Ding paused and continued: "This plan is absolutely perfect. Shaolin is already heavily guarded. There are many masters in the temple, and the reputation of the three elders is resounding throughout the world. The Qinglong Society would not dare to blatantly come to seize the letter. Could it be... …”
Master Qingxuan took a deep breath and whispered the Buddha's name: "Amitabha, just as Donor Ding said, this plan was originally foolproof. But I never thought that on the winter solstice last month, the leader of the Qingcheng Sect, Zhao Wuji, suddenly visited. Only then did I realize that the plan had been leaked."
Ye Rongqiu frowned and said, "Did the head of Qingcheng receive any information?"
Xiao Ding smiled lightly and said: "He should not be the only one who received it."
Master Qingxuan looked at Xiao Ding and said, "Donor Ding is indeed very smart. That's right, not only Zhao Wuji, the head of Qingcheng, but also Xuan Lingzi, the head of Wudang, Chen Xuanguan, the head of Kongtong, the two elders of Huashan Songhe, and Emei Master Fan, the leader, Elder Wei, the left guardian of the Beggar Clan, and others also came one after another, because all the major sects received a letter from Shaolin at the same time."
Xiao Ding and Ye Rongqiu looked at each other and remained silent. Because they knew they couldn't interrupt Master Qingxuan at this time.
Master Qingxuan said solemnly: "Our sect recently received a secret letter. The content is shocking. It is related to the life and death of the righteous path of martial arts. I would like to go to Shaoshi Mountain on the day of the winter solstice to discuss countermeasures. Shaolin Qingxuan respectfully acknowledges you."
Master Qingxuan smiled helplessly and said: "These words were written in the letters received by the major sects. Whether it is the tone or handwriting, they are all the same as Lao Na."
Zhou Ziheng, who had been silent all this time, took two puffs of cigarette and said loudly: "What a good method, what a good method. The gang of thieves from the Qinglong Society knew that they could not get the secret letter, so they used the name of Shaolin to smuggle themselves into the rivers and lakes. Spreading rumors everywhere forced Shaolin to tell the truth. There are many people with mixed eyes, so it is naturally easier to fish in troubled waters. I believe they have already secretly planned how to seize the secret letter."
Ye Rongqiu continued: "They must have spread information in both black and white. Presumably, after the winter solstice, the area around Shaoshi Mountain must have been filled with dragons and snakes."
Standing solemnly behind Master Qingxuan all the time is Jingxuan, the dharma-holding elder of the Discipline Academy and the first Zen Master Jingkong of Bodhidharma Academy.
Jingkong clasped his hands together and said in a deep voice: "Yes, after the winter solstice, the number of martial arts people coming down from Shaoshi Mountain has been several times more than before, and there are many underworld demons who have retired for many years."
Jingxuan continued: "Although those demons do not dare to blatantly come to our Shaolin to look for trouble, in order to avoid causing trouble, our temple has closed the mountain gate after the winter solstice and will no longer receive pilgrims. We have also stepped up patrols to prevent the Qinglong Society from happening." In an emergency, our temple has urgently recalled many lay disciples and asked them to hide among the crowd in case of emergency."
Liu Changfeng still didn't move his eyebrows, and he said coldly: "I'm just curious, who is this person who knows the inside story so well and is familiar with Master Abbot's tone and handwriting?"
Master Qingxuan whispered the Buddha's name and said in a deep voice: "Amitabha! Donor Liu was worried about it, and Lao Na had also thought about it. The Blue Dragon Society's organization was so huge that it would be easy to bribe the disciples of a certain sect with money, sex, and power, but there were only three of them. Uncle Master and Master Zui knew about it, but not even the two nephews Jingxuan and Jingkong. The three uncles had already transcended worldliness and did not care about earthly matters. Master Zui wanted to enjoy the freedom of traveling around the world, even the head of Wudang He is unwilling to do it, and since he has joined the organization against the Blue Dragon Society, he will not leak this matter. "
"As for Lao Ji, he grew up in Shaolin since he was a child. He devoted himself to Buddha. After taking over the mantle of Master, he took the promotion of Shaolin as his own responsibility throughout his life. Although he cannot save all sentient beings, he has already achieved nothing. He will never do such a thing to harm his family!"
Master Qingxuan paused, raised his head and said with a smile: "As for you guys, I don't have to worry. 'One Sword Crosses the Boat' Zhou Donator has been a chivalrous and righteous man, and Liu Donor, the Changfeng Swordsman, also belongs to the righteous lineage of Wudang. This young man Xia immediately identified him as a famous empress, and after last night’s battle with Almsgiver Ding, I knew that he was an upright person with a compassionate heart, and that he was destined to be a member of our Buddhist sect.”
Xiao Ding seemed to feel that Liu Changfeng was a little embarrassed, so he quickly took over the words and said with a smile: "Master Mingjian! I think that the Qinglong Society has a lot of people from all walks of life. It is really easy to find someone who can imitate handwriting."
Master Qingxuan sighed and said: "No matter what, the news has been leaked and it has become a fact. After discussing with the leaders of the various factions, I decided that I can only follow the plan."
Xiao Ding said: "After discussion, the senior masters have decided that Master Abbot will issue a martial arts post and invite fellow Jianghu practitioners to gather at Shaoshi Mountain on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month to read out the secret letter in public, right? You are sure that the Qinglong Society will never let people from Jianghu If you know the contents of the secret letter, you will definitely come forward to snatch it. But masters from all the major sects of martial arts are gathered together. If they fight head-on, the Qinglong Society will have no chance of winning."
Master Qingxuan said sadly: "Yes, if we fight hard, it will be difficult for the Qinglong Society to gain the upper hand. There are many disciples of the major sects, and our Shaolin roots have been here since ancient times, so there are many top masters in each sect. But in such a lose-lose situation, This is what I never want to see."
Xiao Ding smiled and said: "Master, don't worry, the Qinglong Society will never dare to fight head-on with the major sects. First, they do not have enough manpower here to compete with the major sects when they unite; second, they have always I have been accustomed to acting in secret and have always done shady business. "
"The third one, I just found some useful information. I'm sure they won't mobilize troops to invade Shaolin." Xiao Ding blew the tea in the cup and took a sip gently.
