Book 14 Chapter 2 – Extraordinary Treasure of Thousand Years
The three took a different route this time, they went up the mountain from the direction of the monastery’s rear wall. Naturally there would not be 808 steps leading up to the top here, instead, there was steep hill and dangerous cliffs.
While crossing a brook winding through the foot of the cliff, Xu Ziling made a suggestion, “If the three of us rob that thing together, later on when those monks describe the heist, I guarantee that anybody would know that it was the three of us who did it. Presently we have enemies everywhere, if added to that number a bunch of monks and nuns with superior martial art skill, so much so that we provoked Ning Daoqi, our days would definitely be not easy.”
Ba Fenghan and Kou Zhong nodded in agreement.
Due to the fact that not too long ago the three of them made public appearance at the Man Qing Yuan, plus their body build was different than ordinary people, if in the latter half of the night there were some people stealing something as a group, only the world’s greatest idiot [orig. stupid egg] would not be able to guess that it was them.
Frowning, Kou Zhong said, “But some things are going to be difficult to conceal. For example, our spiraling energy has become a wonder skill that is well-known throughout the world; we can’t simply disappear after all these are done.”
Xu Ziling smiled and said, “On that, you don’t have to worry. My spiraling energy has reached the level where I could send and withdraw at will, with the speed that is according to my wishes. To deliberately deceive people, I guarantee that there won’t be any flaw.”
The other two were emotionally moved.
With envy in his voice, Kou Zhong said, “When will I be able to achieve a level like that?”
Ba Fenghan said, “There is no need for you, Zhong Shao, to imitate Ziling. Everybody’s talent is different, and everybody utilizes unique method in his growth, so it is best if you let everything runs its natural course.”
When Kou Zhong nodded acknowledging the instruction, Ba Fenghan said to Xu Ziling, “We’d better lie low someplace, and then when you succeed in snatching the treasure, we’ll cover you to retreat.”
Xu Ziling shook his head and said, “In any case, you must not show yourselves and fight, or it will reveal our true identity.”
After a short pause, he sighed and said, “This time we must not use force, we can only rely on the Jade Annulus of He Clan’s unusual capability, to wait for an opportunity and make our move. If a fight broke with all those monks, there won’t be any difference whether I am alone or the three of us fight together. Therefore, we can only have me, alone, to do the job, alone to try our luck. You two wait for me here. When I jump down the cliff, then you promptly cover for me. This kind of support will be most effective.”
Kou Zhong was greatly amazed, “Xiao Ling, you have always been uninterested in the Jade Annulus of He Clan and my desire to vie over the world; why this time you are so proactive?”
Xu Ziling was nonchalant, “The most fundamental reason is that at the bottom of my heart I agree with the Jade Annulus of He Clan, this kind of unusual treasure: virtue is the only thing worth talking about. Next, I am also curious; the Jade Annulus of He Clan might represent our three persons’ three different dreams.”
Ba Fenghan nodded, “In my opinion,” he said, “The Jade Annulus of He Clan represents a stepping stone, which would make me take a step to the highest peak of martial art way. In Zhong Shao’s opinion, it is the crucial point in his strive for the world; he would rather toss the treasured jade annulus into the sea than to let it fall into Li Shimin’s hands.”
And then, staring at Xu Ziling, he asked, “But Ziling, what vision do you have with the Jade Annulus of He Clan?”
Xu Ziling took a deep breath and said, “When I sensed the presence of the Jade Annulus of He Clan, there was a mysterious tranquility welling up in my heart, as if hidden deep within the jade annulus was some kind of secret truth of the universe that cannot be measured; therefore, the desire to seek it grew in my heart.”
From the bundle on his back Ba Fenghan took out a set of tight nightwalker outfit, which he handed to Xu Ziling and said, “There’s not much time, you need to make your move right now. Perhaps tomorrow Liao Kong will have the Jade Annulus of He Clan moved out someplace else.”
Kou Zhong said, “You’d better make yourself look a bit older. After you leave, we will chant sutras for you, while thinking about how to handle the aftermath of the stolen treasure at the same time. The most important thing is that the three of us are unanimous: we will categorically deny everything. Just be careful! My good Xiongdi.”
Xu Ziling crouched down on the glazed roof tile at the top of a temple building. The Copper Hall was already in sight, while the main gate and the brightly illuminated White Stone Plaza were on the other side. He did not see even half a shadow of another human being.
At the same time, he clearly sensed the Jade Annulus of He Clan inside the Copper Hall.
It was a very strange feeling.
It appeared that this rare and precious piece of jade, which name has been passed down throughout the ages, was emitting some kind of energy that was beyond anything that anybody could understand.
In just a short period of a dozen breaths, the emission of this strange energy seemed to be doubled.
Even with his level of self-cultivation, Xu Ziling was affected that a sense of restlessness appeared in his heart, so that he nearly wanted to turn around and leave.
It was only now did he truly understand why all the monks in the monastery must keep away from the jade annulus.
This moment he put on the mask, transforming himself into an old man. As long as he hunched his back a bit, he could guarantee that even an acquaintance would find it difficult to identify him. Moreover, with the hood covering his jet-black hair, there was no flaw at all. On his back was a solid wooden sword that Kou Zhong carved for him, to confuse others’ ears and eyes even further.
Xu Ziling took a deep breath. The true qi rose up from the yongquan acupoint on the sole of his right foot, and in an instant it roamed around his entire body.
The jittery feeling disappeared.
He could not help wondering inwardly and clicking his tongue in amazement, but was also greatly puzzled.
If the Jade Annulus of He Clan’s influence could be dissolved this easily, why did the monks in the monastery dread it like a tiger?
But this moment he did not have time to worry about it. Raising a mouthful of true qi, he flew down the Hall and wound his way around the Copper Hall toward the main door facing the White Stone Plaza.
The names of Buddha sprang up everywhere.
The sound of fluttering clothes came from four sides, eight directions.
‘Dang! Dang! Dang!’
The Dhyana Hall’s bell tolled.
Xu Ziling already anticipated all of these; without paying the slightest attention he dashed toward the door, grabbed the two large brass rings and, exerting his energy, yanked them out.
The Hall’s door began to open.
A burst of cold stream assaulted his face; so cold that his blood nearly froze, the true qi in his body was dispersing randomly, making it hard for him to breath.
Xu Ziling made a split-second decision; hastily he scattered the wandering energy and raised his inner power. The cold air immediately disappeared, everything was back to normal.
Not daring to tarry, he immediately rushed inside the Hall.
He felt as if he had just entered a copper shield, or perhaps wandered inside a bronze bell.
The walls on all four sides were densely packed with tens of thousands small Buddha images made of cast copper, none was not exquisitely carved, lining the Hall’s wall between the cast copper column with no beam, bringing out the richness of the texture, resulting in splendorous and majestic, glistening with golden light, hallowed ambience.
The light from the outside shone in from behind, casting his long shadow on the wall of the middle of the Hall, as well as to the door on the opposite side, making him suddenly overcome with a peculiar feeling of a ‘thief-lacking-in-confidence’.
And his shadow also fell onto the small copper table in the middle of the Hall, as well as several round meditation mats sitting behind the small copper table.
A pure white, flawless, glittering-jewel like jade seal [orig. ruler’s seal, symbol of authority], was sitting nicely on the copper table, aloof from worldly affair.
The seal was engraved with five intertwined dragons, the craftsmanship was superb as if it was made in Heaven, but other than lacking a horn, the splendor was inferior to gold.
Xu Ziling’s spirit was shaken.
Chapter 2 - Part 2
Outside the door, there was continuous sound of fluttering sleeves, but no one rushed into the Hall.
This was the rare, priceless and unique treasure, the Jade Annulus of He Clan, which the warlords of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods were falling over each other in their eagerness to obtain, the land under the heavens’ one and only priceless treasure from the tale ‘Returning the Jade Annulus to Zhao’, which was on everyone’s lips for all eternity, the one Qin Shihuang use to obtain the world and unify China.
At this moment, suddenly Xu Ziling felt that his connection with his own country’s thousand-year history could not be broken.
A gentle and reserved voice calling out the name of Buddha came from the door, followed by, “Pinseng [lit. impoverished monk, a humble term use by monk of himself] Bu Chen [his name literally means ‘not to be angry’ or ‘no hatred’] is the chief of our Temple’s Four Great Protector Vajra, with specific responsibility of guarding the treasure. If Shizhu [benevolent master (term used by a monk to address a layperson)] is willing to get back on the right path, Bu Chen promises to let Shizhu leave.”
Xu Ziling took a step forward and stretched out his hand to grab the treasured jade annulus.
A burst of difficult-to-describe ice-cold air penetrated the palm of his hand and entered in.
Deliberately changing his voice, Xu Ziling let out a harsh laughter and said with voice full of furious rage, “Since Laofu dares to come to take the treasure, I have enough confidence that I am going to be able to leave. I just don’t know whether Bu Chen believe it or not.”
A cold humph came from the outside, followed by a strong, overbearing voice shouting, “Ignorant fanatic, you dare to come to Buddhist’s peaceful place and display shockingly bad behavior. If you don’t lay down the treasured jade immediately and leave the holy temple, don’t blame my, Bu Chi’s [lit. not stupid/foolish] demon staff for not showing mercy.”
Xu Ziling quietly raised his true qi, while very carefully he sucked the cold air from the jade annulus into the palm of his left hand, passing through the yangyu meridian on the outside of his elbow, to the jianjing acupoint on his shoulder, and down toward dai meridian, and as the final stretch of the journey it went to du meridian on his back.
Right now his biggest problem was that his qi has been dispersed, plus he received the Jade Annulus of He Clan’s influence; if he could not change the situation, his only option was to obediently accept Bu Chen’s ‘kind intention’ by abandoning the treasure and covering his head and sneaking away like a rat.
Hence his most critical priority was to see whether he could rely on the Secret to Long Life’s fantastic inner qi to tame this treasure.
Cold qi was everywhere. Xu Ziling felt as if his meridians were about ready to burst, the jittery feeling in his heart seemed to be ready to explode at any time, the hair on his body stood on its roots, and his eyes, ears, mouth and nose seemed to close up that the pain was unbearable.
Only the zuqiao acupoint inside the yintang [not sure what it is, 印堂] on the space between his eyebrows still had clarity, so that he did not turn crazy.
While clenching his teeth to bear the pain, struggling hard to fight the threat of fire deviation, he roared in laughter and said, “Anybody dares to enter the Hall door even for half a step, I will apply my inner power to crush this trinket, so that nobody will get it.”
Another deep and low voice outside the door said, “Pinseng Bu Tan [not greedy]. Shizhu is mistaken; for such thing as sacred treasure, it is the deepest mystery of God and Buddha who will determine its fate, absolutely not for a mortal to decide. If Shizhu can destroy this treasure, it is simply the Will of Heaven!”
This moment, Xu Ziling’s mind was fully focused on the Jade Annulus of He Clan, also concentrated the cold qi inside the meridians in his entire body; he was already at the stage where he could not bear anymore.
The most frightening was that his whole body was unable to move a single step; even if he wanted to put the Jade Annulus of He Clan down, he did not have the strength to do so.
Suddenly his energy and qi rose up violently.
He clearly felt a huge Buddhist monk was coming down on his back, and yet he had absolutely no way of dodging or dealing with it.
At the beginning he was still able to control the speed of the cold air going through his meridians, hoping to add to, and fuse with, the burning hot yang power within his body, to take full advantage of it.
Who would have thought that as he absorbed the cold qi, the mysterious force from the Jade Annulus of He Clan suddenly grew exponentially? Like a surging tide and rolling waves it rushed into his system, turning itself into a vast and mighty, violent cold stream, so that his own true qi was smashed and crumbled into pieces.
When any meridian was unable to withstand the incoming pressure and burst, that would be the stage when fire-deviation was irreversible.
While crying in his heart, ‘my life is finished’, the heavy Buddhist staff struck his back.
With a loud bang Xu Ziling’s mind was severely shaken, his tiger-body violently shook, but to his own surprise he did not hear the sound of his flesh snapped and his bones shattered.
Instead, he heard a stifled grunt from behind.
‘Poof! Poof! Poof!’
Along with the sound of heavy breathing, he also heard footsteps going away, so he knew that the attacker was jolted by the reaction force and was staggering back out of the door.
The instant he was hit by the staff, Xu Ziling felt his body relaxed.
It was as if the cold qi that was nearly causing him to suffer fire-deviation suddenly found a venting point, so just like a bursting dam, the flood of water was using the Buddhist staff as the channel to discharge out of his body.
Furthermore, his body suddenly felt empty and floating; the feeling was so unbearable that his knees nearly gave up to bring him down to the floor,
Xu Ziling did not dare to be negligence; he promptly aroused his inner qi.
A wonderful thing happened.
The ‘snatching the heaven and the earth’ essence of the burning hot true qi from the yongquan acupoint of his left foot mixed with the Jade Annulus of He Clan’s cold energy still from its source invading his body from the palm of his left hand.
Realizing what happened, the quick-thinking Xu Ziling, this time learning from experience, regulated his true qi to synchronize its speed with the incoming cold qi from the Jade Annulus of He Clan, so that the two converged at the ocean of qi below his dantian, the most important acupoint shengsi qiao [life and death opening/orifice].
‘Bang!’
He heard the sound of heavy object falling to the ground and repeated shouts from behind him.
Xu Ziling did not have the leisure to wait. He knew that if he did not immediately bring the Jade Annulus of He Clan’s fantastic cold stream invading his body under control, this time he could forget about leaving this place alive.
With an abrupt intake of a mouthful of qi, he dispelled the jittery feeling and restlessness, which came from the Jade Annulus of He Clan’s influence, completely out of his mind and flung it far away into the ocean, while tightly guarding a bit of sobriety and calmness in his zuqiao acupoint, and putting his mind completely on the ocean of qi.
This was the basic skill ‘concentrating the mind to enter the acupoint’ taught by Fu Junchuo. It’s just that when Fu Junchuo taught him, she had never dreamed that he would use it under this special case that nobody has ever heard about.
One hot, one cold, two qi power coming from two different sources, like arrows entering the qi ocean.
Xu Ziling knew that this was the moment between life and death, success and failure. His spirit was as clear and quiet as the moon in the well, with the mind controlling the strength, transforming the true qi within his body into a vortex of strange energy, like a winding stick or a long snake, coiling itself around the cold qi from the Jade Annulus of He Clan entering his acupoints.
If he had not had rich experience mutually linking his qi with Kou Zhong’s yin and cold true qi, this moment his natural reaction would be trying to expel the terrifying cold qi invading his body with all his strength, and would not attempt to use it for his own.
After training the ‘converging yin and yang’ with Kou Zhong, within his true qi, there was yin hidden in the midst of yang, removing the danger of lone yang growing uncontrollably, but the true qi was still yang and hot; the yang was still dominant, with yin as the supplement.
Only the cold qi from the Jade Annulus of He Clan was greatly different from Kou Zhong’s; it grew and multiplied without end, brimming with vitality. Xu Ziling was unable to specifically define the cold qi from the Jade Annulus of He Clan. It was very different from any qi energy generated within the human body; it carried an irresistible force, enormous without equal.
The small sized Jade Annulus of He Clan, only three cun square, stored some kind of seemingly endless, inexhaustible terrifying energy.
The two streams of qi finally converged at the ocean of qi.
Xu Ziling raised a mouthful of true qi again, he spun his own true qi to wind around the cold qi.
‘Boom!’
He was completely at a loss of what happened; only all his meridians felt expanding, and then immediately shrinking. Swelling and shrinking, he felt his nerve was being pounded by a big iron hammer.
Chapter 2 - Part 3
Countless bizarre scenes, constantly flashing in his brain between the swellings and the shrinkings.
The sky full of stars, the vast emptiness, the fantastic realm that cannot be described with words.
The space and time expanded without boundary.
‘Wah!’
Xu Ziling vomited a mouthful of fresh blood. After his meridians were swelling and shrinking nobody knows how many times, he finally regained his clear-headedness.
The cold qi in his body has disappeared completely, replaced by an extremely strange sensation; the meridians in his whole body seemed to be basking in the warmth of the sun. It was unspeakably comfortable.
The cold qi from the Jade Annulus of He Clan seemed to stop pouring in into his body.
Xu Ziling was still unclear of what was going on; only his mind and spirit felt clear and bright, and there was an indescribable ecstasy welling up in his heart.
Turning around abruptly, he went out.
The space outside the door was packed full of monks.
Just outside the door, a bent Buddhist staff was lying on the ground. Seeing this, even Xu Ziling himself shivered inwardly. That was the representation of two violent, ferocious genuine forces clashing against each other.
On the stone steps outside the door, three Great Protector Vajra were supporting the big and tall monk with terrifying build. The latter’s body was still trembling, with blood trickling down from the corner of his mouth, and a disbelief expression on his face.
Xu Ziling knew the monk was injured by the jolt; inwardly saying ‘I’m sorry’, he wiped the blood on his lips, with the extraordinary treasure of thousand ages, the Jade Annulus of He Clan, in his left hand, he walked over to the landing at the top of the stone steps.
Stars dotted the sky like chess pieces on the board, the night breeze was blowing gently.
The Jade Annulus of He Clan radiated an indescribably glorious rays, the glittering of the treasure was overflowing.
Everybody, including the Four Great Protector Vajra, backed off.
Astonished, Xu Ziling looked at the treasured jade annulus resting in the palm of his hand, secretly wondering why he was now completely immune to the effect of the Jade Annulus of He Clan’s peculiar power?
Suddenly he remembered that he was in disguise as a hunchback old man, but now it was too late to remedy it.
One of the Protector Vajra, an old monk around sixty years old with grizzled eyebrows, put his palms together and said, “Shizhu can withstand Bu Chi’s full-power staff strike with your back, clearly your power is unrivaled; I wonder how should we address you?”
From his voice, Xu Ziling recognized him as the chief of the Four Great Protector Vajra, Monk Bu Chen. In his heart he was ashamed of the praise, but this moment he had no other choice. Altering his voice, he let out a howl of laughter while throwing his head back and said, “Where is Liao Kong? I was about to look for him to settle a debt.”
Bu Chi struggled to free himself from his companions’ support; taking a step forward, he shouted, “What a scoundrel! Even if you handed over the treasure right now, don’t ever think of leaving.”
Xu Ziling was playing the role of an arrogant and conceited old man, who considered everyone else beneath him. Naturally he had to continue to be believable; laughing aloud, he handed over the Jade Annulus of He Clan and said with a cold humph, “If you have the ability, come and get it!”
Bu Chi immediately frowned, while taking two steps back in succession.
Another tall and thin Protector Vajra put his palms together and said, “I wonder what gratitude and grudges does Shizhu have against our humble Temple’s Chanzhu, that you came here to settle a debt with him?”
Xu Ziling had a sudden realization: he knew that they were afraid of the Jade Annulus of He Clan’s terrifying energy radiation; that’s why they were stalling for time, hoping that Liao Kong, who was meditating in his private chamber, would come promptly to handle this situation himself. Thinking that if he did not leave now, what was he waiting for?
With a big laugh he said, “That debt can be settled later! Right now I am terribly itching; who’s going to play with me?”
His right hand grabbed the pomegranate wooden sword, his left hand held the Jade Annulus of He Clan, he dashed down the stone steps.
An enormous force, like an impenetrable wall, pressed down on Bu Chen, four men.
Bu Chen, who bore the brunt of the attack, brandished his staff, sweeping across him. Obviously he did not want Xu Ziling to get close to them. What he was afraid of naturally was not Xu Ziling, but the Jade Annulus of He Clan in his left hand.
Xu Ziling noticed that although the sweep looked simple and ordinary, within the sweep there were countless changes and follow-up moves, coupled with fantastic and mysterious footwork. It was indeed not easy to ward off.
The most formidable thing was that the sweep of the staff started slowly, but turning fast, with a powerful qi shrouding him so that he could not get away.
At the same time, he also felt the Jade Annulus of He Clan’s ‘extraordinary power’ was diminishing. If he ever got himself entangled by these monks’ terrifying formation, the final outcome would be he had to fight with all his might and perish here.
Other than Bu Chi, who kept out of the way due to his injury, the short and stout Bu Ju [no fear] and the tall and thin Bu Tan brandished their staffs simultaneously.
Xu Ziling was well aware that if he did not take the advantage to escape while he was not under siege yet, he might never get a chance to flee.
A wild roar.
The pomegranate wooden sword sliced through; it heavily attacked Bu Chen’s sweeping Buddhist staff. His left hand, carrying the Jade Annulus of He Clan, made a circle in the air.
The three monks’ attack suddenly halted.
‘Bang!’
Qi forces collided.
Xu Ziling cried inwardly, ‘I am lucky!’ Borrowing the reaction force, he flew up.
A few somersault later, he was already above the Copper Hall’s roof, and to his surprise he found out that the entire Copper Hall was surrounded by staff-wielding monks, while the dozen or so monks hiding on the top of the Hall called out the name of Buddha in unison, waiting for the moment Xu Ziling landed on top of the Hall.
Shocked, Xu Ziling immediately raised a mouthful of qi.
A fantastic thing happened.
Previously, he had never tried to take a breath while flying in the air, but only used the residue of power within his body to continue, which naturally could not compare with the new power he generated when he started to soar.
But this moment was completely different.
The true qi within his body was like the breaking out mountain flash flood; it surpassed the previous one, as if the meridian itself was full of infinite power. This kind of feeling was like his entire body was able to circle in the air.
‘Hu!’
Xu Ziling made another somersault over the Copper Hall’s roof, while at the same time he evaded Bu Ju and Bu Tan’s, who were also flying in the air in hot pursuit, attacks.
By the time Bu Ju and Bu Tan landed on top of the Copper Hall, Xu Ziling was already approximately ten zhang away from the top of the Hall.
More than a dozen monks immediately raised their qi, as well as their voices, as they threw the Buddhist staffs in their hands toward him.
Certainly none of the Jing Nian Chanyuan’s monks did not have superior martial art skill. These dozen or so Buddhist staffs were very accurate. But Xu Ziling was not the target; rather, the staffs were surrounding him, closing up any escape path he might take, so that the staffs became an inescapable net closing in on him.
The sound of qi splitting the air filled the space above the Copper Hall.
Yet Xu Ziling remained calm without the slightest hint of fear. He suddenly sank down.
This moment two Buddhist staffs shot out at the speed of lightning.
The toes on Xu Ziling’s two feet pointed out, separately touching the head of the staffs.
‘Pow! Pow!’ His direction changed. Like a lightning coming out of a clump of black cloud he flew horizontally over another big Hall. Under the helpless look of the monks surrounding the Copper Hall, he crossed over, and flew in the direction of the rear courtyard.