The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 450 Shaolin’s Dilemma

Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Xiao Feng knew that Murong Fu was under tremendous pressure to fight against nearly half of the aristocratic families in the entire Song Dynasty alone, so he gathered his troops and headed straight for Yanmen Pass. On the other hand, Xixia and Tubo heard about the civil unrest in Liao and Song Dynasty, and took action one after another.

The Liao Dynasty was strong, and rumors of Liao Emperor Yelü Hongji's travels abroad deterred the Western Xia from making any rash moves. Tubo and Liao had no ties, and it was even less likely they would attack the Liao. However, the Song Dynasty was different. The Song Dynasty had always been the target of their bullying and invasion. Previously, Murong Fu's presence had given the Song Dynasty a slight advantage over the Western Xia and Tubo, and the two countries had suffered losses in their military operations.

This time, it was reported that the wealthy families of the Song Dynasty and even the imperial court took action against the Murong family, but the Murong family retreated forcefully and fought back, causing problems with financial taxation. Under the chain reaction, officials forced the people to rebel in various parts of the Song Dynasty, and large-scale and small-scale peasant uprisings broke out, which gave Xixia and Tubo an opportunity.

The Western Xia invaded on a large scale and fought fiercely with the Song Dynasty's border troops. Fortunately, the Western Xia Yipintang had been defeated by Murong Fu before, which allowed the Beggar Gang to barely cope and avoid suffering any losses.

On the other hand, the Tubo invasion caused great suffering to the border troops. This was probably because of the chaos in Sichuan and Shu, and the excessive greed of the civil officials, which resulted in insufficient supply of food, fodder and equipment for the border troops. Even if some were delivered, most of them were defective, which almost caused a military mutiny.

In order to support the Tibetan army's attack on the Song Dynasty, the Tibetan national teacher Jiumozhi came out again and went straight to Shaolin.

Nowadays, the Murong family is unable to take care of themselves and is fighting fiercely with the wealthy families of the Song Dynasty. It is impossible for Shaolin to mediate and can only stand aside and not help either side. It also took the initiative to bear the heavy burden of assisting the border troops to resist Tubo. After all, the Liao Kingdom does not need their efforts, and they really cannot shirk the pressure from Xixia on the Beggar Gang.

It was precisely because of this that Jiumozhi wanted to suppress Shaolin and force them to withdraw from the Sichuan-Shu border, and then use Tibetan masters to disrupt the rear and support the army in attacking cities and strongholds.

It is said that things were not going well for Shaolin. Originally, there was civil strife in Liao, so it was a good thing that their pressure was greatly reduced. In addition, Qiao Feng returned to the Xiao family to coordinate and promote peace between Song and Liao as much as possible. Murong Fu used the Lingjiu Palace on Piaomiao Peak to destroy the Yipintang of Xixia, relieving the pressure on the border between Xixia and Song Dynasty.

Only Tubo remained, and with the support of the Murong family and the manpower and resources of hundreds of Gusu College students, it was as stable as a rock. But at this moment, the wealthy and powerful Song Dynasty families, driven by profit, began to suppress the Murong family and plunder the Murong Trading Company's vast wealth.

Abbot Xuanci and the others were familiar with Murong Fu and knew him to be a man of unyielding character. As expected, the many wealthy families never gained any advantage. Young Master Murong preferred to suffer losses on both sides rather than allow them to gain even the slightest advantage, even planning a counterattack that brought enormous losses to both sides and even the Song Dynasty court.

Abbot Xuanci had thought about mediation, but he was unable to persuade the Murong family to back down. After all, they were the real victims, and Master Murong had proven time and again that he was capable of protecting his family's wealth. The other party's behavior would not be tolerated, but those wealthy families continued to attack despite the losses.

The Shaolin monks' face was no longer a priority. Not only did the Murong family, but even other powerful families refused to give them face. The Murong family even withdrew from Sichuan, putting the Tubo front at a disadvantage. Even worse, upon seeing the Murong family withdraw, the powerful families immediately intervened in the Sichuan and Shu officialdom, causing trouble for the region and even extending their influence to the border troops.

This was a difficult situation for Shaolin. It took three high-ranking monks of the Xuan generation to stabilize the situation, and they had to ask for help from the Dali Kingdom.

One day, the continuous ringing of bells suddenly rang out from Shaolin Temple, signaling the gathering of all monks. Thousands of monks quickly assembled, arranging themselves by generation, their ranks arranged in a well-organized procession. Abbot Xuanci, leading a group of senior monks from the Xuan generation, stepped forward and explained the situation: seven monks had come to Shaolin.

They are the abbot of Qingliang Temple in Wutai Mountain, Master Shenshan, Master Shenyin, Master Guanxin of Daxiangguo Temple in Kaifeng Prefecture, Master Daoqing of Pudu Temple in Jiangnan, Master Juexian of Donglin Temple in Lushan, Master Rongzhi of Jingying Temple in Chang'an, and the Indian monk Zhe Luoxing.

The weakest of the seven monks is also a first-rate master. The Master of Shenshan and Abbot Xuanci are known as the two great Arhats who subdue dragons and tame tigers. In terms of martial arts alone, the master is even better than Abbot Xuanci. He is definitely a top-notch master.

The combined presence of seven masters had forced Shaolin to sound the alarm, summoning thousands of monks from across the monastery to reinforce their presence. Abbot Xuanci's reaction was indeed unequivocal: these seven masters had indeed come with ill intentions. Shenshan Shangren was at odds with Shaolin, and this time, he was using the imprisonment of the Indian monk, Polo Xing, to embarrass them.

The cause of the incident was clear. It was said that monks from outside were good at chanting scriptures, especially monks from Tianzhu, the birthplace of Buddhism, who were treated with courtesy by Shaolin. Na Polo Star pretended to ask for scriptures to secretly spy on Shaolin martial arts. After being discovered, he resorted to another trick. He pretended to be injured and secretly dug a tunnel, and went to the Sutra Library to steal martial arts.

One has to say that the Shaolin Sutra Library is just like the name of a Buddhist temple. It opens the door for people to come and go. It's okay for Xiao Yuanshan and Murong Bo to hide in the Sutra Library for thirty years. After all, they are top martial arts masters. The foreign monk Polo Star is just a first-rate one, yet he was able to lurk for several years before being discovered.

It was probably the work of the Sweeping Monk, who had secretly tricked him into revealing himself. Otherwise, how could he have been discovered by Shaolin Xuanchan so coincidentally? However, by this time, Naboluoxing had already mastered three of the 72 Shaolin unique skills, and who knew how many more he had yet to practice. This had angered the Shaolin monks, who ultimately decided to imprison him in Shaolin to prevent the 72 skills from being passed on to others.

While the 72 Shaolin Kung Fu techniques are Buddhist, and their names bear many Buddhist references, they bear little relation to Indian martial arts. They were created by martial arts masters from the Central Plains, and their power is so extraordinary that even the Divine Mountain Monk covets them. It's said that the Qingliang Temple on Mount Wutai, where the Divine Mountain Monk resides, also possesses several unique martial arts. While their internal gong techniques aren't as impressive as the Yi Jin Jing or Xi Sui Jing, they're definitely on par with other Shaolin internal gong techniques. However, their boxing and kicking skills aren't comparable to the 72 Shaolin Kung Fu techniques, let alone those of the Indian temple where the foreign monk Polo Star resides.

As the saying goes, "A tall tree attracts the wind." The Shaolin 72 unique skills are famous far and wide, and there are countless martial artists at home and abroad who covet them. The foreign monk Polo Star was sent to Shaolin by his senior brother Zhe Luo Star to steal martial arts. In their eyes, Buddhism is secondary, and martial arts are the foundation. Only by defeating the opponent can they preach, otherwise it will be in vain.

Zhe Luoxing sent his junior fellow monk, Poloxing, to steal the secret manual, but failed and was instead detained. This was a loss of a top-notch expert. He then sent for help, but Poloxing was nowhere to be seen. He then went in person. On his way, he encountered Master Shenyin of Qingliang Temple. Both were among the best of the best, and a fierce battle ensued. After a lengthy battle, the two monks developed a mutual admiration, chatting and laughing while exchanging names. Upon learning the reason, they discovered they shared a mutual hostility toward Shaolin, perhaps even a desire to gain control of it. This led them to assemble other high-ranking monks (those with exceptional martial arts skills) to demonstrate their power over Shaolin.

The monks on the sacred mountain were very good at speaking. After some sophistry, they asked Shaolin to invite Polo Star. Polo Star refused to admit that he had stolen Shaolin martial arts and only said that he had read Buddhist scriptures and Buddhist teachings. The Shaolin monks were very displeased. Master Xuansheng was tough and directly challenged him, forcing Polo Star to use the Shaolin unique skills "Prajna Palm", "Mahā Finger" and "Vajra Fist".

But Zhe Luoxing continued to make a fuss, saying that the names of these three martial arts showed that they were Indian martial arts, and that they must have been brought from India by Bodhidharma, and that they originally existed in India. Abbot Xuanci then told him the origins of the three martial arts one by one, but Zhe Luoxing naturally didn't believe it, or rather, he pretended not to believe it and deliberately didn't want to believe it.

Abbot Xuanci ordered someone to bring the original versions of the three martial arts and asked the monks to read them. Guanxin, Daoqing, Juexian and Rongzhi only read the preface and postscript and believed that this was Shaolin martial arts and definitely not from India. However, Shenshan Shangren and Zheluoxing read the entire set carefully.

Afterwards, the two of them worked in unison, secretly memorizing the three martial arts books. They first translated the scriptures into Sanskrit, and then recited them in Chinese, trying to classify the three unique skills into Indian martial arts. They also imitated a few of them temporarily. Although they only had the basics and could not fight against the enemy, they did look somewhat similar.

Master Xuansheng was a straightforward person, but also very wise. He directly challenged Zhe Luoxing, wanting to test the attainments of this Indian monk in these three martial arts. However, he was fooled by Zhe Luoxing with the many Indian martial arts. At this moment, a clear voice suddenly came from outside the door, and it turned out that a Buddhist master had arrived.

This man has a solemn appearance and is extremely skilled in martial arts. Who else could he be but the Tibetan state master Jiumozhi?

Jiumozhi had an excellent appearance and attracted everyone's attention as soon as he appeared on the stage. He then made a shocking statement, claiming that he had mastered the essence of the 72 Shaolin unique skills. He then displayed four unique skills in succession, namely "Vajra Fist", "Prajna Palm", "Mahā Finger" and "Kasaya Subduing Demon Skill". Each move was exquisite, which shocked the Shaolin monks and made them feel inferior.