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Sparks flew, producing the buzzing sound of gold and iron [or simply: metals] colliding against each other, which even the wind and the waves could not overcome.

Even if Jin Zhengzong did not want to admit for ten thousand reasons, but whether in term of timing, or accuracy of the angle, Kou Zhong had displayed some kind of resembling-nature-itself, unassailable imposing manner. And it was dangerous to the extreme point, so that the long spear he carried was completely useless; on the contrary, it rigidly pushed him back to the multi-decked ship.

What caught Jin Zhengzong unprepared the most was the way Kou Zhong used the Moon in the Well; while the momentum rose up to its peak, unexpectedly he miraculously dropped three chi in the air. Not only his spear hit the empty air, he was forced to block the saber strike from a distant in panic, causing him to lose the key moment, while also failed to stop the opponent’s crashing ‘skiff thunder’.

Borrowing his falling down momentum, Kou Zhong used the tip of his toes to tap the stern of the boat, but he already powerless to raise more energy, and only able to utilize the reaction force to propel himself cartwheeling sideways to evade, and then soaring across the surface of the sea toward the already thrown boat.

Although Jin Zhengzong was confused by Kou Zhong’s unique school’s skill of changing direction in the blink of an eye, and thus was thrown into a difficult situation, his ability to counterattack in split-second changes was still not a small matter at all. In the narrow space, close distance combat, the tip of his spear moved suddenly to the left and to the right, so that it was quite strenuous for Kou Zhong to deal with it. Were it not that Kou Zhong already gained the initiative, also that it was a fight in the air, he would be done in only one move. If the fight continued, he might not have much of a chance.

The hand with which he held the saber, beginning from the five fingers all the way to the jianjing position [on the shoulder], all the meridians and acupoints were unbearably aching and was numb. It was only when this foot tapped the stern of the skiff did he manage to apply his qi to neutralize the opponent’s spear power invading hid body. From this, it could be seen how profound and strong the opponent’s power really was.

‘Boom!’

Propelled by the waves’ momentum, enhanced by Kou Zhong’s spiraling energy, the skiff pitilessly crashed against the starboard side of the warship, about five, six chi from the bow. Wood splinters splashed everywhere.

On the other side, Bu Tianzhi released a long rope, which extended perfectly straight for five zhang, reaching the middle between the two ships, just in time to meet Kou Zhong, who was flying back.

‘Crash!’

Violent rain as sharp as the arrows fell down wildly from the brewing, accumulated black cloud above. Immediately the sea turned dark and the sky hazy; the murky and boundless wind and rain completely enveloped men and boats.

Originally Kou Zhong was still afraid that the opponent would shoot fiery arrows, but now naturally he did not have to worry about it anymore. He was about to reach out and grab the rope shot by Bu Tianzhi when suddenly from behind him, in the midst of the wind and the rain, there was thousands and hundreds streaks of bright light filling the whole sky to attack him.

In that instant Kou Zhong already knew that he could not evade. Promptly he somersaulted and stretched out his foot to tap the end of the rope, which originally could take him back to the safe place – and changed direction to leap high into the air, to dodge the opponent’s swift-and-severe-without-equal strike.

This moment, due to the light tap by the tip of his foot, the long rope changed shape from a line to a wave, so that Jin Zhengzong, who was coming to pursue and attack, hit an empty space. But he remained calm. The thousands and hundreds spear shadows converged into one, swiftly tapped the tip of the rope, which was withdrawn back like a spirit snake. Unexpectedly he was able to borrow the reaction force to soar at an angle and continued his attack toward Kou Zhong, who was still flying in the air.

Watching this, everybody, from both sides, was stunned. The howling wind and torrential rain, the perilous situation that could make their boats capsized were completely forgotten, but they all felt that this desperate battle on the crest of the waves was strange and dangerous that it made them felt as if they were out of breath.

Kou Zhong laughed aloud and said, “Jin Xiong is really brave!”

While talking, the Moon in the Well in his hand hacked down and hit the spear, which was moving up to pierce his abdomen.

The saber and spear clashed; in the dark sea sparks of sharp light were clearly visible – as beautiful as fireworks, while also giving up the impression of intense, full-forced battle.

‘Qiang!’

Both combatants felt like they were struck by lightning.

Kou Zhong shot up, Jin Zhengzong was unexpectedly able to borrow the reaction force to move sideways toward his own ship, while at the same time hurled his spear, which swiftly flew toward Kou Zhong, who was still ascending into the air.

Kou Zhong groaned inwardly, knowing that this spear has sealed his fate that he would not be able to return to Bu Tianzhi’s side.

It should be noted that both ships were sailing at high speed in the storm. If he borrowed the impact force of spear and saber’s collision to cast himself toward the rope that Bu Tianzhi shot for the second time, there was great possibility that he might be able to catch the end of the rope again.

However, he simply could not but block the spear that Jin Zhengzong hurled at him. And this split second delay was enough to bring the ship farther away, so that there was absolutely no chance that he would be able to catch this life-saving rope.

Making a prompt decision, Kou Zhong shouted loudly, “Zhi Shu, you go first. Kou Zhong will catch up with you later.”

Like lightning flashed, the saber mercilessly shot down the hateful spear into the billows below. At the same time, he borrowed the reaction force of the impact to shoot at an angle toward the multi-decked ship – full of the enemies – coming rapidly toward him.

Jin Zhengzong was one step ahead of him landing on the deck. A large amount of seawater was bursting into the hold from the crack opened by the skiff crashing against the hull. The skiff was still deeply embedded on the starboard bow, destroying the balance of the hull, so that the ship was helplessly jolting and spinning between the waves.

The first to meet Kou Zhong was Ku Ge’s double axe, but how could Kou Zhong be stupid enough to disregard everything and meet this attack head-on? Casually his saber hacked down on him, sending Ku Ge tumbling on the deck, while at the same time he borrowed the reaction force to shoot sideways, to evade more than a dozen Korean martial art masters, men and women.

If any one, or maybe two, of these people had seventy-, eighty-percent of Jin Zhengzong’s power, he definitely would not last long.

As he was forced to visit this ship, he already made up his mind that after wantonly wreaking havoc for a little while, he would immediately jump down into the sea to flee for his life. Even if he had to swim for ten days and ten nights before he could reach the land, it would be better than having his corpse being chopped into pieces by the people on this ship.

With his feet firmly planted on the solid deck, he rushed toward the viewing platform above the bridge. Four, five Korean warriors swarmed on him. Without even looking, Kou Zhong’s Moon in the Well flashed, one after another the people – along with their weapon – were hacked down by him that they fell to the left and tumbled to the right in utter defeat.

The hull started to tilt. When it looked like it was about to capsize, suddenly it regained its balance.

Kou Zhong seized this opportunity to rush toward the observation deck. He crashed and broke the railings, and then from the other side he somersaulted toward the passageway on the deck next to the bridge to avoid the enemies from four sides, eight directions swarming toward him amidst the wind and the rain.

At this time both the sea and the ship were enveloped in pitch-black darkness; the heaven and the earth were filled with the shaking-the-ears-and-deafeningly-rumbling noise of the rolling waves. In the raging sea the enemy’s shout appeared to have the spirit but without the power, so that everybody could only wait helplessly for the next attack of the wave.

Kou Zhong was about to jump into the sea when a net of sword qi came down on him.

Relying on his instinct, Kou Zhong knew that hid formidable opponent, Jin Zhengzong, has arrived. On the surface this man looked scholarly and gentle, who would have thought that in fight, he was even more dauntless than anybody else? Promptly the person followed the blade with two strikes in succession, each strike with endless changes following it.

‘Clang! Qiang!’

It was only then did Kou Zhong manage to break away from the sword net and staggered backward. He laughed aloud and said, “Jin Xiong indeed did not brag; you are outstanding in using any weapon.”

Without saying a word, Jin Zhengzong’s sword sprinkled several dozens sword flower; his feet moved suddenly to the left, suddenly to the right as he attacked violently.

Kou Zhong was fighting and retreating at the same time. He found that Jin Zhengzong’s sword move was substantially different from his spear technique; it was brimming with pliable and tough feeling. Inwardly he shivered slightly, knowing that the opponent was afraid he might escape into the sea, hence he intentionally entangled Kou Zhong to the death.

At this point both sides could only rely on their night vision to see, albeit with difficulty, the opponent’s figure in the midst of the rainstorm; as for other changes, they could only guess purely by instinct.

The multi-decked ship’s leaning was even more severe. From everywhere came the sound of objects being overturned and broken, mixed with alarmed cries and screams of the people; the chaos was like the arrival of the end of the world.

Other people have disappeared from view, only the two of them remained in the life and death battle.

‘Bang!’

A giant wave crashed against the side of the ship; seawater assaulted both men’s head and face with the tremendous power of ruthless nature. Even with both men’s stable stance, they still failed to stand up, and were thrown against the wall of the cabin.

Kou Zhong began to understand why Jin Zhengzong was the only one coming to him to give him bad luck. Taking advantage of the wall, he climbed onto the observation deck above the bridge. The scene entering his eyes made him could not help but was shocked.

The sea waves have conquered both the ship and the people.

Like solid walls the huge waves from four sides, eight directions were closing in with a toppling-the-mountain-and-overturning-the-seas momentum. Because water has entered the hold, the deck under the multi-decked ship’s observation deck was already under water, which was still pouring down in torrents.

The people on the ship were lifted and thrown down, and tossed around sideways like small figurines. The waves rose up and down in countless changes, so much so that there were waves above the waves. In the dark no-moon-and-no-stars, amidst-the-howling-wind-and-torrential-rain – night, the originally firm and imposing multi-decked ship has been reduced to a wreck with cuts and bruises all over.

After leaning his head sideways to dodge a cask, which flew from who knows where, once again Kou Zhong had to face Jin Zhengzong, with a sword in his hand – who was coming to attack.

By this time Kou Zhong no longer had the desire to continue fighting zealously. Feigning a move, he flashed toward the bow and leaped down onto the deck.

Like a shadow attached to his body Jin Zhengzong ran after him, the tip of his sword was aimed at Kou Zhong’s back, as if Kou Zhong has become the sworn enemy who killed his father.

As soon as he landed, Kou Zhong rolled over, simply because the ship was leaning to the left, plus there was a huge wave coming, so that he was unable to stand.

The entire multi-decked ship, which was as if it was soaring above the clouds and sailing in the mist – sank into the valley between two giant waves. And then, above, below, and all eight directions, were all seawater. While Kou Zhong was tossed around without him able to do anything, suddenly the seawater receded in all directions, and then the multi-decked ship emerged above the surface of the water. The torrential rain was still pouring down like it was coming from an overturned tray. This kind of confused-and-disoriented, could-not-tell-right-from-left feeling was really difficult to describe even one in ten thousand.

‘Bang!’

Kou Zhong finally crashed onto the ship’s railings.

By this time everybody was concerned over their own little life, no one had the time to care who was the enemy, and who was their comrade.

In the dark, Jin Zhengzong leaped up near the ship’s upper deck; he finally gave up his continuous quest for Kou Zhong.

‘Crash!’

Amidst the shouts and the screams, the mast, under continual beating of the gale – broke off, carrying the unbearably worn-out, suffering-mortal-wound sail with it, and fell in the direction of Jin Zhengzong.

Kou Zhong jumped up and cried out, “Watch out!”

Making a somersault, he plunged into the roaring angry sea, while crying out in his heart, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please take a good care of yourself!”

Xu Ziling suddenly woke up.

Actually, using the word ‘wake up’ was not too appropriate, because he had not slept at all.

It was some kind of an indescribable – different from when he trained the ‘Secret to Long Life’ in the past – mental state, his body felt fuzzy, relaxed and peaceful, where he saw motion within the stillness, where time seemed to stop completely.

The reason he ‘woke up’ was because he heard the rustling noise of someone sweeping the floor outside the Luohan Hall.

His heart shivered greatly. Who the hell was out there? If it was the ‘Heavenly Lord’ Xi Ying, he would not have such good intention. If it was a monk who came back to clean, how come he ignored the debris filling the whole hall, but only cared about sweeping the dead leaves outside the hall?

Even if he was ignorant of the disastrous situation inside the Luohan Hall, the sweeping ought to start inside the door of the temple hall; he could not have been this finicky.

All kinds of questions were flashing through his clear, bright, and empty mind at the lightning – or sparks from the flint – speed.

Slightly opening his eyes, Xu Ziling was immediately shocked. Turned out the sky has turned completely bright.

That was to say that he had been sitting in the Luohan Hall for the entire night, yet it felt like just a short moment, which was hard for him to believe.

Xu Ziling slowly rose up to his full height and walked over toward the hole on the wall that An Long crashed against the previous night. Looking out, he saw the sun has already risen to the top of the pagoda. Under the bright sun, a stooped-backed old monk wearing grey robe was engrossed in sweeping the flower garden.

With a slight smile Xu Ziling said, “Dashi, good morning!”

The old monk’s crooked back suddenly straightened up; he immediately became magnificently tall and straight, there was no longer any sign of decrepit old man. But he did not turn around. Neither warm nor fiery, he spoke leisurely, “It’s not early anymore! Shizhu [benefactor] must not blame laoxiu [(sic) lit. old sleeve; perhaps it’s a typo, usually it was old cassock] for disturbing you.”

Xu Ziling already knew that this was not an ordinary monk; very likely he was a very able person of Buddhist school who came here in response to Xi Ying. If it was so, then there was a great possibility that he was of the ‘Four Great Holy Monks’ level; otherwise it would differ in no way from throwing away his life.

Embarrassed, Xu Ziling said, “Xiaozi [this kid] must be hindering Dashi from cleaning up the Luohan Hall; I’m the one who should have asked Dashi not to blame me. Hey! How about I take the responsibility of cleaning up inside?”

The grey-robed monk slowly turned around and said cheerfully, “It’s great that Shizhu has that intention! Sweeping the Buddha Hall is laona’s [old cassock] responsibility; how could I borrow someone else’s hand?”

Staring intently at him, Xu Ziling saw that this old monk’s eyebrows had turned completely white. On his stately countenance, there was an air of auspiciousness and peace. The bridge of his nose was at least a cun higher than average person. His countenance looked strangely clear and unique.

His eyes were half-open half-closed; the expression showing in his eyes was reserved, giving Xu Ziling the impression that the opposite party was a very able person with an extremely deep spiritual cultivation.

Slightly shrugging his shoulders, Xu Ziling calmly said, “Since Dashi insists, then I thank you for Dashi’s trouble. Xiaozi does not dare to disturb you much longer.”

When he turned around to leave, suddenly a ‘boom’ resonated on his eardrums. Right this instant, his mind turned into a blank space. Other than this noise, there was nothing else. Stranger still, the Du Meridian on his entire spine seemed to vibrate as if it was of the same natural frequency with the sound; it was extremely comfortable, the feeling was weird beyond human comprehension.

Shaken, Xu Ziling halted his steps and said with a sigh, “Dashi, this move is very formidable, what kind of gongfa is that? I am afraid it is not inferior in any respect to Zhu Yuyan’s Tianmo Sound.”

The monk did not answer him directly; he spoke indifferently instead, “This is the Buddhist’s incantation which power can subdue devil and overcome demon, the key is the great diamond [or Vajra] wheel seal bound in my hand, through special musical incantation that can excite the qi meridian in Shizhu’s body to vibrate correspondingly, and produce an unfathomably positive effect.”

Still had not turned around, Xu Ziling said, “All of a sudden Dashi bestowed Xiaozi incantation blessing; what’s the purpose of this?”

The monk kindly replied, “Because Shizhu is a man of great knowledge, great intelligence.”

Xu Ziling laughed unhurriedly and said, “If Dashi is implying that Xiaozi and Buddha are brought together by fate, you are wrong! Although Xiaozi has respect in my heart toward Buddhism, I do not have any intention of either entering the door or practicing the religion [usually in Buddhism context].”

The monk spoke softly, “If the realization is pure, that is already practicing the religion; how could there be any difference between entering or exiting the door? Coming into contact with the world is the same as withdrawing from the world; entering the door is the same as exiting the door, ordinary heart is the same as Buddha’s heart.”

Xu Ziling turned around in astonishment, “How should I address Dashi?”

The monk put his palms together and said, “Zhen Yan [lit. true statement, i.e. incantation in Buddhism].”

Xu Ziling was emotionally moved, “Turns out it’s Zhen Yan Dashi,” he said, “No wonder you are proficient in Zhen Yan Zhou Fa [lit. incantation and magic spell method]. Dashi’s words imply Buddhism subtleties; I wonder if you wish to enlighten me, this mischievous piece of rock?”

Zhen Yan Dashi smiled and said, “Not only Shizhu is not a mischievous piece of rock, you are indeed brought together by fate with Buddha, brought together by fate with Zhen Yan. This morning laoxiu [sic] came early to sweep, and saw Shizhu sitting in meditation with your eyes closed between the Luohan Buddha, your hands naturally producing all kinds of poses [or gestures[1]], finally returning to the Shi Wu Wei Yin [lit. carrying the no-fear print/image], producing understanding in laona’s heart. Laona has yet to thank Shizhu.”

Surprised, Xu Ziling said, “If Dashi did not inform me, I really did not know that my hands made all those movements. What is Shi Wu Wei Yin?”

Reverend Zhen Yan slowly sat down, his face revealed a bemoaning-the-state-of-the-universe-and-pity-the-fate-of-mankind solemn Buddha’s appearance. His left hand open, the palm facing up, the back of the hand resting on his knee.

Xu Ziling could not help imitating him sitting cross-legged. Nodding his head, he said, “Dashi is right. This was certainly the posture I adopted when I woke up; I just did not know that it has such a pleasant-to-hear name. Hey! Shi Wu Wei Yin.”

Zhen Yan Dashi smiled and said, “Others use handprints to trigger the heart, but Shizhu triggered the handprints from the heart; if that is not the root of intelligence, I don’t what it is.”

Xu Ziling mused inwardly that if Kou Zhong heard this, it would be terrible, because he would bite Xu Ziling to leave home and become a Buddhist monk. Smiling wryly, he said, “I don’t think it has anything to do with the root of intelligence; it’s analogous to ‘think during the day, dream during the night’. Simply because before entering the quietness, I was practicing many different kinds of Luohan Buddha’s images, so that when I sat in meditation, unconsciously those poses came out!”

Laughing involuntarily, Reverend Zhen Yan said, “It’s all right if Shizhu is unwilling to admit it, but Shizhu cannot deny that you have interest in our Buddhism handprints. Buddhism has three secret sayings, I wonder if Shizhu is willing to listen?”

Puzzled, Xu Ziling said, “Dashi is a very able person outside of the world; why do you seem to be very interested in me, a mere layman? Aren’t you afraid that I am a malefactor who break the law and commit crimes, so much so that I am the wicked person who destroyed the Buddha images inside the Hall?”

Instead of replying, Zhen Yan Dashi asked, “What does Shizhu know about sitting in meditation? How to do Zen meditation?”

Frowning, Xu Ziling said, “Such a profound question, I am afraid I will have to trouble Dashi to give directions.”

Zhen Yan Dashi nodded in praise; with solemn expression he said, “Sitting down without giving rise to a thought, meditating without seeing the natural instincts being in disorder; outside, no need to appear meditating, inside, no confusion to fix your mind. Meditating outside, fixing the mind inside, hence it is called fixed-mind meditation. Immediate flash of understanding, yet obtaining the original intention.”

Xu Ziling pondered for a moment, and then he suddenly understood, “Was it because Dashi just now watched Xiaozi sitting in meditation with fixed mind that you thought Buddha and I are brought together by fate, thereupon you are enhancing the transformation? Ay! I really just want to master some kind of gongfa, so that I can lure Xi Ying out and kill him. I do not have any other intention.”

Zhen Yan Dashi’s eyes emitted abstruse, unfathomable, unusual rays brimming with wisdom. He said, “Such a forthcoming, sincere, completely without greed, without care – person like Shizhu can be considered rare, even among the Gate of Emptiness. For the last a hundred years, laona has visited a total of 5,652 famous temples and ancient monasteries, both in the Central Plains and aboard, finally I summed up all the prints produced inside the ‘Jiu Zi Ming Yan Shou Yin’ [lit. nine-character dark/deep sayings handprints]. Today, seeing Shizhu and I are brought together by fate, unexpectedly I poured out the secular thought and dusty mind in my heart; indeed it could be considered unusual.”

With deep veneration, Xu Ziling said, “Turns out Dashi has a hundred-year seniority. Oh! Xiaozi failed to venerate! This ‘Jiu Zi Ming Yan Shou Yin’ of Dashi must be extremely important, why not passing it on to the people in Buddhist schools? Ay! Isn’t Xiaozi meddling in other people’s business? With Dashi in town, how could the ‘Heavenly Lord’ Xi Ying dare to run amok?”

Reverend Zhen Yan shook his head and said, “Laoxiu’s time in this dusty world is already limited, plus it is difficult to find someone who is fated to receive the ‘Jiu Zi Ming Yan Shou Yin’. This ‘Jiu Zi Ming Yan Shou Yin’, when it is being used in Buddhism, it is Buddhism; when it is being used martial art, it is martial art. Laona serves Buddha wholeheartedly; in all my life I have never exchanged blows with anybody. Does Shizhu understand?”

Xu Ziling smiled and said, “Of course I do. As soon as Dashi spoke an incantation [zhen yan], even utterly vicious extremely evil disciples would have the ominous thought in his heart completely disappear. Ha! Isn’t that so?”

Zhen Yan revealed a hint of naïve smiling expression; auspicious and peaceful, he said, “Of course not. What’s more, if the target is of Xi Ying’s caliber, a martial art master with this kind of profound demonic power, and his will is as strong and solid like an unshakeable rock, any incantation would not be of any use; it will require Shizhu to protect the [Buddhist] law even more.”

Unconvinced, Xu Ziling said, “Since the ‘Jiu Zi Ming Yan Shou Yin’ can be used for religious practice, why do you have the problem of the recipient being worthy or unworthy?”

Zhen Yan Dashi said, “‘Jiu Zi Ming Yan Shou Yin’ appears simple, but it is actually complicated. People who are unworthy, because once they started they are unwilling to let go and abandon their original pursuit – will find it difficult to master it throughout their life. Frankly speaking, before watching Shizhu performing the poses in fixed-mind meditation this morning, Laona has never thought that ‘Jiu Zi Ming Yan Shou Yin’ can be used in martial art. But now my dusty heart is greatly moved. If Shizhu refuses, laoci [old shrine] tonight give up and return to the west, and most likely the result would be ruining the enterprise for the sake of one basketful.”

Smiling ruefully, Xu Ziling said, “Dashi, please speak, Xiaozi is washing his ears to listen respectfully.”

[1] Original: 印 (yin) From mdbg.net: to print/to mark/to engrave/a seal/a print/a stamp/a mark/a trace/image. Courtesy of Akolaw: A mudra: Sanskrit ‘seal’, ‘mark’, or ‘gesture’ – is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers. A mudra is a spiritual gesture and an energetic seal of authenticity employed in the iconography and spiritual practice of Indian religions. Translator’s note: Although not the most accurate translation, I opted to keep ‘Immortal Print’ (or perhaps change it to ‘Immortal Image’ – not sure at this moment), simply because it sounds better than ‘Immortal Gestures’ or ‘Undead Aquatic Mammal’.