At the foot of Shaoshi Mountain, Yang Yunfan and Chen Zishan stood on horseback and looked from afar. They saw a pagoda standing, Zen bells ringing, and a treasure land deep in the forest, lush and green. Yang Yunfan couldn't help but think of the Tang Dynasty poet Shen Quanqi's "Visiting the Shaolin Temple" and couldn't help but chant:
I sing a long song while wandering through the treasure land, leaning against the Pearl Forest.
The wild goose pagoda is as old as the wind and frost, and the dragon pond is as old as time.
The cyan garden is clear in the evening sky, and the blue sky is overcast in autumn.
On the way home, the clouds are cloudy at night, and the cicadas are singing everywhere.
The two rode horses and arrived in front of the Shaolin Temple. When they looked up, they saw a black-framed gold plaque with three large bronze characters on it: "Shaolin Temple."
After entering the gate, ancient cypresses stand tall on both sides of the temple, stretching straight into the sky. Like the angry-eyed Vajra holding a vajra in the main hall, they silently guard this Buddhist holy land.
The cypress trees on both sides looked old and their bark had cracked, but they remained unbroken despite the wind and rain. The bell tower and drum tower face each other, arranged on the left and right sides.
In the middle of the courtyard is a path paved with ancient bricks. After years of walking, the ancient bricks have become dark, stained by the vicissitudes of ordinary years.
The entire temple is built on the mountain, in a long and narrow area, long but not wide. The higher you go, the higher and steeper the mountain becomes, as if you are climbing.
Shaolin Temple has the Mountain Gate, the Main Hall, the Dharma Hall, the Patriarch Bodhidharma Hall, the Thirteen Halls, the Luohan Hall, the Xuannv Hall, the Sutra Pavilion, the Heavenly King Hall, the Guanyin Hall, the Ksitigarbha Hall and other halls.
In the middle of the temple, there are main halls connected one after another. Each main hall houses statues of Buddhist figures of different identities.
The entire temple is antique, with ancient bricks, tiles, and trees. Every scene and thing has gone through history. Every building looks old and profound, and contains profound and broad meanings.
It was already midnight when the two of them arrived at the Shaolin Temple. After the gatekeeper, the Zhike monk, learned of their purpose, he first asked the young novice monk of the temple to arrange a Zen room for the two of them, and then told them that it was getting late and they should rest for the next day. Then report to the abbot. The two of them thanked each other and went to sleep.
Early the next morning, the two of them were woken up by a bang...bang...bang...sound. They put on their clothes and came outside the door. They didn't know what was going on when they saw a group of monks going to the front yard of the Shaolin Temple. A clearing gathered and left. It turned out that the bell of the Drum Tower was ringing.
Chen Zishan grabbed a little monk who was running away and asked him why. The little monk put his hands together and replied, "The two donors don't know something. Today is our temple's annual martial arts competition. The winner can be elected as the head of the Luohan Hall. Today is the final, if you go late you won’t be able to see it.” After saying that, the little monk ran over.
The two were stunned when they heard this. They had planned to visit Master Pukong, the abbot of Shaolin Temple early in the morning. Unexpectedly, they were crowded by a group of young monks and arrived at the open space in the front yard of Shaolin Temple.
I saw two seats in the middle of the front yard. On one of them sat a fat monk, dressed in red robes and holding a string of prayer beads. His face was full of wrinkles, his beard was white, and there was a smile on his kind-hearted face. The person is Master Pukong, the abbot of Shaolin Temple.
Sitting on another seat was a thin, dark monk, wearing a cassock on the floor. He put his left hand on his chest, with a string of rosary beads hanging in his hand. His fingers were playing with the rosary beads slowly. The sleeve of his right arm was empty. His sleeves were swaying with the wind, and it was obvious that his right arm was broken. He looked at everyone with bright eyes. This person was Pu Xuan, the abbot of the temple.
When Yang Yunfan saw the old monk with a broken arm, he was startled for a moment, as if he remembered something. He looked at the broken arm, and his eye circles turned red unconsciously, filled with tears.
Master once told him that during Yongxi's Northern Expedition, when Master was ordered to escort him out of the encirclement, he was hunted by the Tianyin Sect of Liao Kingdom. Some martial arts people led by Master suffered heavy casualties. A Shaolin monk, in order to protect him, Yang Yunfan, his arm was cut off...
Just when Yang Yunfan was thinking a lot, the old monk with a broken arm seemed to notice the blazing gaze. He turned his head and looked at the two of them. Although he didn't know them, he nodded with a smile.
"Today, Shaolin Wuzong disciples are competing for the position of the head of Luohan Hall. It will be between Wuzong disciples Mo Chen and Mo Cheng. The two disciples must remember that the winner will be the head of Luohan Hall through a martial arts competition. The host and abbot will teach him personally. ." While everyone was discussing, a fat monk standing next to Master Pukong came out and said loudly.
"Please invite the two disciples to come forward. Brothers and sisters, please step back a little." The fat monk continued.
At this time, two strong martial arts disciples stood in the middle of the field, it was Mo Chen and Mo Cheng. The monks also retreated in a wise manner, leaving a large open space.
Chen Zishan on the side turned to Yang Yunfan with a smile and said: "Junior brother, I didn't expect that we would meet the disciples of Luohan Hall Wuzong in competition today. We are really lucky."
Master Pukong, who was sitting in the seat, seemed to sense what the two said. He glanced at them, smiled kindly, and then looked towards the center of the venue.
While the two were talking, the two Wuzong disciples in the field had already begun to spar; Mochen Kasyapa's legs were seen sweeping across Mo Cheng's lower body, and his hands were also turning his palms into fists to perform a Luohan Fist.
Mo Cheng also reacted quickly. Using a light skill combined with Manjusri's Izumo Kick, he managed to avoid the attacks from both the top and bottom. Then he activated the Nirvana Mind Technique, combined with the Skanda Fist, to attack Mo Chen from the side. …
The fight between the two lasted for nearly half an hour, and there was still no distinction between superiority and inferiority. Master Pukong and Abbot Puxuan in the seats also nodded frequently, with quite a bit of a formidable expression.
After the two fought for nearly a hundred rounds, Mo Cheng used the Seven Treasures Divine Photo Skill to show off a flaw. Mo Chen was overjoyed and struck with his palm. Unexpectedly, his punch hit nothing. He was shocked. Knowing something was wrong, he made a bow and tried to avoid Mo Cheng, but it was too late. Mo Cheng used the Wei Tuo Fist and the Great Sumeru Palm Technique to punch Mo Chen in the abdomen. It also flew out with this punch...
"Senior brother, your martial arts skills are indeed very strong. I am convinced that I lost." Mo Chen slowly stood up, sighed, and said with fists in his hands.
Although he was hit by this punch, firstly, Mo Cheng did not use all his strength in punching him, and secondly, Mo Chen's body was very strong, so this punch did not cause much damage to him.
"Junior brother accepted, and I won by luck. Junior brother's martial arts skills are almost the same as mine, but he has less fighting experience. Junior brother is talented and smart. If you practice more in the future, within a few days, junior brother's martial arts achievements will surely win. "It's me," Mo Cheng also said, cupping his fists and cupping his hands.
At this time, the fat monk next to Master Pukong came out and said loudly: "The winner of this martial arts competition final, Mo Cheng, will be awarded the title of "the first seat of Luohan Hall", and will be taught by the abbot and the host personally. The remaining disciples There is no need to be discouraged, you must practice diligently and strive for good results in next year's martial arts competition."
The two masters Pukong and Puxuan also nodded to each other with happy expressions on their faces. Among the younger generation of Shaolin disciples, only two disciples, Mo Cheng and Mo Chen, stand out. In the future, the important task of developing the Shaolin sect will have to fall on them.
