Poor Taoist Qiu Chuji

Chapter 92: Buddha has all forms, Tao has all laws

Carrying the token, Dai Chungui came down from Mount Zhongnan. He did not ride a horse, but traveled on his own two legs. His speed was quite amazing, far exceeding the speed of an ordinary horse.

This ability is both a natural gift and a family inheritance.

It's just a pity that this skill is useless for living in the underworld.

Now that he finally had the chance to hold his head high, Dai Chungui was willing to do it even if it meant going to die. He even felt from the bottom of his heart that the sooner the better.

Three days!

It only took Dai Chungui three days to run from Zhongnan Mountain to Daxing Prefecture. He entered the city during the day and sneaked into an alley opposite the Marshal's Mansion at night. He looked in from afar and then used the hidden weapon techniques he learned from Quanzhen Sect to throw the token, which hit the gate of the Marshal's Mansion hard.

Although Qiu Chuji told him before departure that he only needed to deliver the token and the declaration of war to Zhongdu and did not need to be too high-profile so as not to have difficulty in escaping, Dai Chungui thought that simply delivering the token and the declaration of war would not attract attention and would easily be looked down upon.

If his lightness skill was only suitable for long-distance running but not for climbing walls and climbing roofs, he would have wanted to hang the token and declaration of war directly on the head of the bed in the master's bedroom.

"Who is it!" The muffled sound of the token being nailed into the gate certainly startled the guards. Some of the guards continued to guard the gate, while the other part rushed to the alley quickly, with their swords already drawn halfway.

Dai Chungui showed up, facing the guards, showing the letter of war in his hand and said: "I am a disciple of Quanzhen Sect, Dai Chungui, and I am here to deliver the letter of war to the Marshal's Mansion on behalf of Taoist Master Qiu Chuji of our sect. Within seven days, I will take the head of Jin Wushu and bring it back to Quanzhen to offer sacrifice to the dead souls of the Central Plains."

As Dai Chungui said this, the guards who could understand Chinese stopped and showed surprise on their faces.

Dai Chungui threw out another declaration of war at this time, then slowly retreated back into the shadows.

"Catch him! Don't let him run away!" The leader of the guards shouted, interrupting everyone's distraction.

A group of guards chased into the shadows, but they could only see Dai Chungui's back, running farther and farther away in the darkness, and in the blink of an eye he disappeared.

"Notify all barracks and send people to search for this man." Holding the letter of challenge in his hand, the leader of the guards gave heavy orders to his soldiers as if it weighed a thousand pounds. Then he turned around and delivered the letter of challenge to the palace and presented it to the commander-in-chief for his personal reading.

At this time, everyone in the Marshal's Mansion was awakened by the noise just now.

Wanyan Zongbing, who had just rested for a while under the effect of the tranquilizing incense, was also awakened by the noise outside. He barely propped up half of his body, coughed a few times, and shouted to the outer room: "What happened?"

The personal guard who had been guarding the outer room came in immediately, and several maids also came in carrying clothes, medicine, and braziers.

"A thief has delivered a letter of war." The guard said as he handed the letter of war, which had been checked and found to be free of poison, to Wanyan Zongbing.

Wanyan Zongbing took the letter of challenge, tore open the seal, and opened it to see only one line of words.

I will take your head within seven days. Since you are brave and resolute, you should not retreat, right?

The signature is Qiu Chuji of Quanzhen Sect.

"Qiu Chuji of Quanzhen Sect? Did he kill Qin Hui?" After reading the letter, Wanyan Zongbing showed no surprise or anger on his face, and calmly placed the letter on the bed.

"Yes!" the guard responded with his head down.

"Only letters, but is there anything else?"

"There's another token!"

The guard said this and presented the token with both hands.

Wanyan Zongbing took it, played with it in his hand for a while, and then actually laughed.

"Want to intimidate the imperial court from afar?"

"What a beautiful thought!"

"Ha Shi, go find some old ginseng to make soup for me. Three days later, I will put on my armor and wait for him at my house. However... he has to walk to Daxing Prefecture too!"

"Take this letter and the token, go around the government offices in Daxing Prefecture, and finally throw them into the Yirenyuan!" After saying this, Wanyan Zongbing lay down again, ready to rest, as if he didn't take the matter seriously at all.

······
It was the fifth day after Dai Chungui went to deliver the declaration of war that Qiu Chuji went down the mountain carrying his long mace. In other words, he actually had less than five days left to travel and kill Jin Wushu.

All the way to Zhongdu, Qiu Chuji seemed to be walking slowly, but in fact, he was as fast as shrinking the distance. Each step he took was four or five meters long, maintaining a fairly stable frequency and rhythm.

After walking for two days and two nights, Qiu Chuji never stopped or rested, but he was still full of energy.

The upside-down rotation of the breath in his body can effectively restore his mental and physical fatigue.

When he was about forty or fifty miles away from Daxing Prefecture, an old monk wearing a cassock and holding a staff blocked Qiu Chuji's way.

"Fellow Daoist Qiu! Go back to where you came from!" The old monk made a Buddhist gesture with one hand and advised Qiu Chuji.

"Old monk, are you from Shaolin?" Qiu Chuji asked.

"It's Shaolin!"

“Besides this humble monk, there are several fellow disciples of the Zhi generation and a senior uncle of the Kong generation in Shaolin. Even if you have a body of iron and steel, you cannot withstand the attacks from us.” The old monk advised Qiu Chuji.

"Buddha can change his appearance in a thousand ways, but Taoism has unified all things." Qiu Chuji sneered.

"Amitabha!" Upon hearing this, the old monk's eyes turned fierce and he swung the staff in his hand towards Qiu Chuji.

In just two breaths, the tin staff that was coming down made six moves on its own, all of which looked like madness.

It was the crazy Shaolin stick technique. However, no matter how crazy this fighting style was, it couldn't provoke Qiu Chuji.

Before the staff even touched him, the protective Qi force naturally pushed the old monk away, and he hit a big tree heavily, breaking the tree in half.

At the same time, a total of six old monks, accompanied by a dozen middle-aged monks, emerged from the forest holding rattan sticks.

The old monks were all wearing cassocks and mopping the ground, while the middle-aged monks were covered in copper powder with a strong medicinal smell. Apparently, the copper powder was mixed with secret medicine passed down from generation to generation in Shaolin, which could improve the ability to resist attacks and the ability to recover qi and blood in a short period of time.

In order to prevent Qiu Chuji from entering the city, Northern Shaolin probably even spent all its resources.

"Ahem! Fellow Taoist, you have great skills. I am ashamed to be inferior to you, but... my destiny is to return to the gold, and Buddhism is to save all living beings. Fellow Taoist... please don't be the evil demon that hinders the Buddha from spreading the Dharma." The old monk who was shocked out by Qiu Chuji had his eyes wide open, his beard on his face was flying all over the place due to the stirring of true energy, and he was spewing blood, but he couldn't stop talking nonsense.

Qiu Chuji was too disdainful to talk to him, as they had no common ground.

As he took a step forward, the old monk's face changed.

"Everyone! Form the Eighteen Arhats formation!"

"Master Qiu! No matter how capable you are, you can never break this Arhat Formation. We only need to delay you for half an hour, and then thousands of elite soldiers will surround you. You won't be able to escape even if you have wings."

Qiu Chuji still said nothing, but just kept walking forward, showing complete disrespect for the monks.

Eighteen monks stepped forward at the same time, and then surrounded Qiu Chuji in a unique formation. They did not rush to attack, but began to adjust their breathing, allowing the eighteen people to adjust as one.

As for working together, of course the fewer people there are, the easier it is.

If there are more people forming a formation, what is required is not simple tacit understanding, but "rules".

When to take a step, when to breathe, when to turn, when to inhale and exhale true energy... these all have strict regulations. Everyone in the formation only needs to follow their own rhythm and rules and strictly adhere to the formation.

Watching the auras of the eighteen monks gradually blending into one, a huge pressure surged like a tsunami, but Qiu Chuji only treated it as a breeze on his face.

"Eighteen Arhats of Shaolin, please teach me."

The overlapping sounds are like the sound of huge bells or the chanting of heavenly dragons.

The next moment, the shadow of the stick appeared in the sky, as if covering the sky and the sun.

Eighteen monks and eighteen rattan sticks. At this moment, the shadows of the people and the sticks intertwined and woven together to form a big net that enveloped Qiu Chuji.

As far as the eye can see, there is no loophole or flaw.

The eighteen monks all used different stick techniques and rotated true qi, but when combined together, they formed a more complete and powerful whole.

This mutual compensation is similar to the Quanzhen Sword Technique and the Jade Girl Sword Technique, except that the combination of the Eighteen Arhats is more varied and more tolerant. Even if several monks are rushed and attacked by their opponents and are repelled by exchanging injuries, their vacant positions will be immediately filled by others to ensure the coverage of this stick net.

At this moment, at every important acupoint of Qiu Chuji's body, there was a strong force that wanted to penetrate into him like a needle.

But the main purpose of these forces is not to attack, but to entangle and tangle.

Apparently, these Shaolin monks also knew that Qiu Chuji's hard Qigong was powerful and it was difficult for them to break through his defense, so they secretly hid this method of trapping him.

This is also the reason why all monks use rattan sticks. This rattan stick is made of hundreds of years old vines in the mountains that have been soaked in tung oil and compacted for many years. It is not only harder than fine iron, but also has excellent toughness. When driven by true qi, it can be used as both a stick and a whip.

"What a show!" Qiu Chuji remained calm and pushed out with a palm.

Snapped!
Like fairies scattering flowers, several monks flew straight backwards. Not only were their bodies strangely twisted, but the strong rattan sticks in their hands also shattered into pieces in an instant.

If it were the Qiu Chuji from a month ago, he might have been entangled by their stick formation and would have found it difficult to escape.

But at this time, Qiu Chuji had already completed the transformation of the energy quality in his body, and he could crush his opponent with his move.

No matter what your method is.

No matter how beautifully the egg flies, it will only shatter if it hits a stone.

clap clap!

Two more palm strikes, and the remaining monks all flew out in unison.

The old monk of the Kong generation, who had been hiding in the dark, ready to launch a sneak attack at any time and decide the outcome with one blow, was now so frightened that cold sweats were pouring down his forehead. How could he dare to make a move?
Qiu Chuji’s behavior is so inhuman!

He only made a slight move, but it was already so high that people could not see where his upper limit was.

“Retreat, this Taoist has reached the same level as Bodhidharma, and we are not able to defeat him!” The old monk of the Kong generation shouted, swooped down, picked up two monks who were closely related to him, and then flew away like a strange bird.

"Come on! Don't leave!"

"After all, if you don't go to hell, who will?"

A sword energy broke through the air and pierced through the vest of the old monk of the Kong generation from a distance of ten feet, causing him to fall to the ground on the spot.

　I've looked up some information and found that the generation names of Shaolin Temple in Jin Yong's novels are not the same as the generation names of Shaolin in reality. The generation name "Kong" appeared in The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, but it seemed to have existed before that, ranking behind the generation name "Xu" and before the generation name "Zhi".

　　
　
(End of this chapter)