Martial Arts Crossover: My Wife is the Top Scholar

Chapter 63 Zhang Zhenren and the 23 Things About the Emei Patriarch

Chapter 63 A Few Things About Master Zhang and the Emei Patriarch

Li Zhaoting's speculation is correct.

The mastermind's plan was intricately linked, not targeting a single expert, but rather all the high-ranking members of the Beggars' Sect, especially the sect leader.

Different strategies should be adopted for different people.

Some people like beautiful women and use their beauty to seduce them.

Some people crave fame and use words to sow discord.

Some people are stupid and foolish, trying to deceive others with morality.

Some people, though seemingly upright and virtuous, use treacherous schemes to manipulate others.

What's the point of bringing down Qiao Feng?
As long as Ren Ci is alive, the succession of the Beggars' Sect leader must consult his opinion, making it difficult for them to resort to underhanded tactics.

In other words, if the target is only Qiao Feng, then after Qiao Feng is forced to leave, Hong Qigong will become the leader of the gang.

Hong Qigong would never associate with evil people.

Fortunately, although Hong Qigong arrived a step too late, Li Zhaoting managed to save Ren Ci by holding the line in time.

The clues left by Ren Woxing at the end, although it is said that a dying person's words are good and the deceased should be respected, are likely to be misleading considering the meticulousness of the mastermind.

The area of "Northern Land" is too large.

There are countless sects in the "Northern Lands".

Where should I begin my search?

Even if we were to investigate, it would be the Beggars' Sect or the Six Doors that would do it. Heaven help us, Li Zhaoting's original goal was to find Bai Yujing through Young Master Zhu.

My involvement in the Beggars' Sect's affairs was completely accidental.

The primary responsibility lies with Kumārajīva.

Kumārajīva kidnapped Duan Yu.

After Duan Yu escaped, he encountered Li Zhaoting.

What followed was a drinking contest at Songhelou Restaurant.

At this point, it's too late to run!
I'm really not a troublemaker!
Li Zhaoting really wanted to give his master a good beating.

He's just looking for trouble for his apprentice!
Things went as Li Zhaoting had predicted.

Hong Qigong, who was learning the Dog-Beating Stick Technique at the Junshan headquarters, suddenly received intelligence that someone was going to assassinate Ren Ci. Hong Qigong rushed to the rescue, but was tempted by delicious food on the way.

Hong Qigong's greatest hobby was eating.

Fine food and wine were Hong Qigong's lifelong pursuit.

While dining at the restaurant, Hong Qigong learned that the head chef was a retired imperial chef. The restaurant had just hired a famous chef and was eager to make a name for itself, so it had the head chef prepare hundreds of dishes and invited gourmets from all over the country to taste them.

Hong Qigong smelled the aroma and his appetite was whetted.

The dishes have already been laid out.

Eating doesn't take too long.

Hong Qigong quickly immersed himself in the food, which was all exquisitely prepared. Each dish required great skill, and Hong Qigong became happier and happier as he ate.

Before I knew it, I had missed my appointed time.

By the time Hong Qigong recovered from the delicious food and rushed to Plum Manor, the battle was already over. If Li Zhaoting hadn't arrived, Ren Ci would likely have been killed.

Ren Woxing's personality is too arrogant.

Ren Ci's personality is too kind and benevolent.

This is an irreconcilable contradiction between right and wrong.

Upon learning from Li Zhaoting about the devastating internal strife within the Beggars' Clan and the machinations of the mastermind behind it all, Hong Qigong broke out in a cold sweat and instinctively glanced at his index finger.

When martial arts practitioners commit serious mistakes, they often use the act of cutting off fingers or hair to remind themselves to repent and reform. If they commit the same mistake again, both the mistake and the punishment will be settled together.

In fact, the people who do this most often are neither heroes nor villains, but womanizers.

A flower thief might genuinely repent, or perhaps to save his life, he might wear a pearl flower behind his ear. The pearl flower is made of silver and has a few tassels sticking out.

This is called "upholding righteousness and abstaining from silver flowers." If evil thoughts arise in one's mind, and one winks or makes faces, the tassels of the pearl flowers will touch the corner of one's eye to remind the flower thief not to make a mistake.

If one does not repeat the offense, it is considered a reformation.

If someone repeatedly refuses to change their ways, anyone can kill them.

If someone wearing flowers is picking flowers, everyone can kill them!

In addition, wearing the beaded hairpin requires a highly respected martial arts elder to act as a guarantor. If the philanderer is incorrigible, the guarantor will hunt him down with all his might.

In the world of martial arts, who can avoid making mistakes?
How many people can clearly say whether they are good or bad?
It's always good to have a backup plan.

Just as Hong Qi was about to cut off his index finger, he suddenly realized that Li Zhaoting was missing. After asking Dan Qingsheng, he learned that Li Zhaoting had gone to the dungeon to examine the body while he was in a daze.

The autopsy results were inconclusive.

The one who released Ren Woxing was a suicide squad member.

Carefully trained "ordinary" assassins.

He was of impeccable character and background, with mediocre martial arts skills, and was just an ordinary servant.

Just like Qiao Tai, who guarded Xiao Jun back then.

Who would have thought that a hardworking, kind-hearted woodcutter like an old ox would have several lives on his hands?
The more ordinary the assassin, the more troublesome they are.

No one could find any relevant clues.

Even if he were still alive, we wouldn't be able to get any clues from him.

The assassins knew nothing.

The assassin's only order was to release Ren Woxing.

That being the case...

—Li Zhaoting has found a clue!
There are four keys to the iron gate where Ren Woxing is imprisoned, one for each of the manor owners. The fact that none of the keys have been lost indicates that they were looking for an opportunity to press the model and have someone make a copy of the key.

Who can access the secrets of the four manor lords?

Who makes the keys?

The second master, Hei Baizi, coveted the Star Absorbing Technique and wanted to use the key as a bargaining chip to negotiate with Ren Woxing. He secretly made a copy of the key. Did Hei Baizi leak the secret?
wrong!

The correct process is:

I. The mastermind accidentally learns that Ren Woxing is imprisoned in Plum Manor in West Lake, and at the same time learns that the previous leader of the Beggars' Clan, Ren Ci, is also in Plum Manor, and a plan begins to take shape in his mind.

Second, have someone secretly bewitch Hei Baizi, for example, by finding an opportunity to beat him up, verbally humiliating his martial arts skills, guiding Hei Baizi's ambition, making him want to become stronger, and getting him to contact Ren Woxing.

Third, no matter how cunning Ren Woxing is, if he wants to obtain the Star Absorbing Skill manual, he can only exchange it for a key.
Fourth, Hei Baizi secretly plotted to steal the keys of the three brothers, press out a model, and find a key-making craftsman to make a key, in order to lure Ren Woxing.

Fifth, the mastermind behind the scenes doesn't need any scheming; as long as they find the person who makes the key, they can accomplish everything. There's also the possibility that the craftsman was arranged by him.

He remained behind the scenes from beginning to end.

There was no deliberate scheming.

I just stood behind and gave it a gentle push.

What a terrifying psychological tactic!
This person is cunning and unpredictable, sending chills down your spine.

Inside the dark, foul-smelling cell, there was a worn-out iron plate. Originally, it contained the mantra of a martial arts technique. Ren Woxing, imprisoned for many years and knowing he could not escape, had carved the mantra of the Star Absorbing Technique onto the iron plate of the cell. Later, upon learning that someone wanted to release him, Ren Woxing, of course, would not allow the technique to leak out. He used his handcuffs to wear down the entire technique, leaving only a broken piece of iron.

Li Zhaoting didn't care about the Northern Darkness Divine Art, let alone the mere Star Absorbing Technique. He just sighed that the leader of the Sun Moon Divine Cult ultimately failed to stir up any trouble.

Hong Qigong arrived at lightning speed.

"Young Master Li, do you have any leads?"

"Chief Hong, who told you that Elder Ren would be assassinated by villains? Is he a member of the Beggars' Sect?"

"His name is Tiezhu, a fifth-bag disciple of the Beggars' Sect, and a grand-disciple of Xu Chongxiao. His basic martial arts skills come from Qingliang Temple. He is usually quite upright and has a good reputation within the sect."

"Please help me look into two things."

"what's up?"

"First, we need to count how many locksmiths are in the area, especially those skilled in key duplication, as well as goldsmiths, silversmiths, and craftsmen with engraving skills."

Secondly, look for locksmiths who have never suddenly become rich, moved away, or died suddenly from illness. Don't look for wealthy or powerful families; look for small, family-run businesses, preferably small shops run by husband and wife.

Investigate discreetly, without revealing your identity.

All we need to do is collect the list.

Find a clever little beggar to do it.

Li Zhaoting came up with two directions for solving the case.

Hong Qigong noted down the requirements and arranged manpower.

The Beggars' Sect is very good at intelligence gathering.

Even the beggars on the streets are spies.

Wherever there are people, there are beggars.

Where there are beggars, there are members of the Beggars' Sect.

Li Zhaoting doesn't need to worry about the matters at Plum Manor.

Hong Qigong is the real person in charge.

Li Zhaoting first visited his father-in-law, and then returned to Wuxi. Upon arriving in Wuxi, he heard that Tan Gong and Tan Po had been killed and had been slapped in the chest.

According to Wang Yuyan's deduction in the Wuxia Encyclopedia, the palm technique used to kill the two was the Shaolin Vajra Palm.

The Great Vajra Palm, Mount Sumeru Palm, and Prajna Palm are known as the Three Great Divine Palms of Shaolin. Only the head of the Arhat Hall or the elites of the Bodhidharma Academy are qualified to study the secret manuals.

Shaolin lay disciples, like Qiao Feng, could at most learn the Demon-Subduing Palm, which was equivalent to graduating from university and going to the Beggars' Sect martial arts school for further study with Xuan Ku's recommendation letter.

The Mount Sumeru Palm is the strongest palm strike from a distance in Shaolin. The palm strike is as powerful as Mount Sumeru itself, and it does not weaken with distance. It requires an extremely high foundation and sixty years of internal energy.

Prajna Palm is the number one palm technique of Shaolin. It was created by the eighth abbot, Master Yuanyuan. The palm technique is endless and can never be fully learned. The deeper one's understanding of Buddhism, the stronger the palm technique becomes.

The Great Vajra Palm is the most powerful palm technique in Shaolin, representing the pinnacle of Shaolin's masculine martial arts. It is fierce and domineering, possessing the divine power to split mountains and part waters, and can shatter boulders with a single palm strike.

On ordinary days, when Shaolin and Beggars' Sect exchanged martial arts techniques, they would use the Vajra Palm to fight against the Dragon Subduing Palm, and the Demon Subduing Staff Technique to fight against the Dog Beating Staff Technique, with each side having its share of victories and defeats.

In a friendly sparring match, the exchange should end when the point is reached.

However, the Beggars' Sect's martial arts foundation is clearly far inferior to that of Shaolin, especially the Dog-Beating Staff Technique, which only the sect leader is qualified to practice and must personally demonstrate.

With the Beggars' Sect leader taking the field, Shaolin cannot allow ordinary disciples to spar with him. Either the head disciple or the abbot will appear, and the abbot will definitely have to make a move.

According to the rules of the duel, the abbot of Shaolin must be proficient in either the Vajra Palm or the Demon-Subduing Staff Technique. Unfortunately, both of these martial arts are powerful and domineering.

If one practices the Great Vajra Palm and tries to comprehend other ultimate techniques like the Prajna Palm, the effort will often be twice as much for half the result. Due to this extremely special bug, the abbot's martial arts are limited.

The abbot's martial arts skills are often not the best.

They can't even be number one in public.

Both sides were aware of this bug; the Beggars' Sect had no jurisdiction over Shaolin's affairs, and Shaolin chose to acquiesce to it.

The abbot does not need unfathomable martial arts skills.

What the abbot needs is management skills.

Managing the sect is the abbot's main job.

As for interpreting Buddhist teachings, to put it bluntly, how many people consider Shaolin a Buddhist temple? Even Shaolin disciples don't think so; Shaolin is a hall of martial arts!
Of course, since Shaolin martial arts combine Zen and martial arts, there is a special institution called Longshu Academy responsible for annotating Buddhist teachings, and the head of all branch academies needs a graduation certificate from Longshu Academy.

Qiao Feng was not familiar with the structure of Shaolin Temple.

Xuan Ku taught him martial arts and cultural knowledge, and even gave him a letter of recommendation; he really didn't teach him anything else.

What's the point of teaching these things?
Should we make Qiao Feng the head of the Bodhidharma Academy?
Qiao Feng didn't know, and Li Zhaoting knew even less.

Fortunately, Wang Yuyan is here.

The title "encyclopedia" is well-deserved; it can eloquently recount the stories and anecdotes of various schools of thought.

"Does Miss Wang mean that, excluding the hermits who live in seclusion in the back mountains, there are no more than ten Shaolin monks who are proficient in the Vajra Palm? The Vajra Palm holds the same status in Shaolin as the Beggars' Sect's Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms?"

"As far as I know, that is indeed the case."

"Miss Wang knows so much."

"Young Master Li is too kind."

Do you know the structure of the Wudang Sect?

"Know a thing or two."

What about the Emei Sect?

"Know a thing or two."

"I've heard that Master Zhang had some romantic feelings for the founder of Emei when he was young. Is that true?"

Li Zhaoting posed a difficult question with a grin.

Wang Yuyan rolled her eyes at her with a half-smile.

Li Zhaoting: Suddenly I felt a chill down my spine!
Do you recognize the swordsmanship I use?

"Bamboo Shadow Swaying Sword Technique?"