At dusk, the mountains are far away, the sky is cold and the white houses are poor.
Chaimen hears the barking of dogs, and returns home on a snowy night.
——"The Master Staying at Furong Mountain in the Snow" Liu Changqing (Tang Dynasty)
…
Taifu Xu stayed in the Shaolin Temple for more than ten days. Every day he drank tea and discussed Taoism with Abbot Kongjian and other elders, which was very pleasant.
Bai Fu followed Taifu Xu and listened to the lectures of eminent monks, and gained a lot.
In terms of martial arts, the elders of Bodhidharma Academy and Luohan Hall also made an exception and taught Bai Fu some classic moves from the 72 unique skills such as Vajra Subduing Demon Fist, One-finger Zen and Vimalakīrti Body Technique, etc.
Insufficient in boxing and kicking skills.
However, due to the strong opposition of Elder Kongka, these elders only taught Bai Fu the fist and kick moves, but did not pass on the inner skills of these moves to Bai Fu.
And the most precious treasures in Shaolin martial arts - Tripitaka, Yi Jin Jing, Marrow Cleansing Sutra and other classics are even silent about it.
Elder Kongka’s reasons are: First, without the control of Buddhism, these martial arts are beneficial and harmless. The Japanese stealing books is a lesson learned from the past.
Secondly, it goes against the ancestral teachings to teach the seventy-two unique skills of Shaolin to disciples outside Shaolin.
Elder Kongka’s opinion was also supported by most elders.
Bai Fu knew that his mistake in killing Hojo Katsu was the real reason for Elder Kongka's move. But he would not be soft-hearted if he was given another chance.
Because of Hojo Gate's kidnapping of Tang Li and Emei's book theft, Baifu hated the Japanese with deep hatred.
Bai Fu neither regretted nor bowed his head to admit his mistake to Elder Kongjia. He thought to himself: "Uncle Jiang has repeatedly warned the Tang Dynasty that the Japanese are ambitious. If you don't believe it, you will suffer in the future."
Elder Kongka and Elder Kongjian have always been on good terms and have always respected the leader, but this time they insisted on going their own way. Elder Kongjian sighed secretly and stopped trying to persuade the elders.
He faced Taifu Xu privately and lamented: "I originally hoped that after the great era, I could leave something more for Shaolin. However, most of the elders have deep sects, and the secret of Bodhidharma's shadow on the wall cannot be made public.
Anyway, everything is fate.
Throughout my life, I have been teaching Buddhism, advising everyone to separate themselves from appearances and enlighten themselves, and have saved countless people. Unexpectedly, in the end, I couldn't let go and became obsessed with appearances.
In fact, there is no such thing as ‘Shaolin’, it’s just an obsession of mine. In this life, I am bound by the word ‘master’ and cannot be freed.”
When my master passed away, he once said: 'Foolish disciple, what is Shaolin? Destroy it with a stick, and the ruins will be broken, and the world will be at peace.'
It cannot be destroyed or established. Such great wisdom I only understand today.
I will never be able to catch up with him in this life. I hope that when I get to the Western Paradise, I can continue to practice with the master..."
When Taifu Xu heard this, he folded his hands and said: "What the master said is thought-provoking. Like the white clouds in the sky, it will last forever."
…
On this day, the imperial court came to report with a horse. When Meteor's horse saw Taifu Xu, he got off his horse and secretly played to Taifu alone in a quiet room.
After hearing this, Taifu Xu turned pale and remained silent.
After a stick of incense, Taifu Xu's expression remained as usual. He ordered his son Che Shan and others to pack their luggage and set off immediately. Taifu Xu reluctantly said goodbye to Abbot Kong, and hurried to Xiangzhou with Bai Fu and others.
Something happened in Xiangzhou!
Previously, the reason why Taifu Xu arrived at the Shaolin Temple a few days later than Abbot Kong was because of a supernatural witchcraft incident that occurred in Xiangzhou before leaving. The people of Xiangzhou were panic-stricken and rumors spread everywhere.
Go to Xiangzhou to investigate.
It turns out that local people recently discovered a lot of tortoise-shell animal bones while farming. What is even more bizarre is that these tortoise-shell animal bones are also engraved with strange and mysterious symbols.
People rumored that these engraved tortoise shells and animal bones were the ghost symbols used by King Yama to demand his life! Strange phenomena appeared on the ground, and a disaster was coming. The people of Xiangzhou fled one after another, supporting their young and old. The prefect of Xiangzhou killed several people in the name of misleading the people with evil words.
He is known as a monster who confuses the people and incites troubles. However, the rumors have been suppressed repeatedly and have spread quietly from Xiangzhou to the point of shaking the country.
The Holy Emperor was furious, dismissed the governor of Xiangzhou and sent him to prison to investigate. He ordered Taifu Xu to go to Xiangzhou to investigate and deal with the new governor in person.
…
After Xu Taifu arrived in Xiangzhou, he asked the officers to bring up the tortoise-shell animal bones engraved with mysterious symbols. The officers did not dare to touch the tortoise-shell animal bones with their hands, so they put them into copper plates, covered them with red cloth, and frightenedly took away the copper plates.
Come up.
Taifu Xu carefully looked at these armor pieces, and he could probably tell that they were tortoise shells and ox shoulder blades. The hard tortoise shells or animal bones were engraved with simple symbols using knives.
How could there be carved symbols on ancient bones? Taifu Xu was quite curious and looked at them carefully. The more he looked at them, the more he realized that these were not ordinary carved marks.
Taifu Xu wrote several letters in his handwriting and invited contemporary scholars from Luoyang who were well versed in epigraphy. While waiting, Taifu Xu ordered people to clean all the tortoise shells and animal bones that could be collected and put them in the sun to dry.
After receiving the Taifu's handwritten letter, the great scholars immediately set out on the road and arrived in Xiangzhou one after another without stopping. Everyone conducted research on these tortoise-shell animal bones and found that their shape was neither a seal nor a seal script. They should be an ancient writing that had never appeared in the world.
The text lines are mostly straight, straight down, slightly thick in the middle, and slightly thin at both ends, making it look thin and straight.
The fonts are mainly rectangular, with a combination of square and circle, open and closed, and more or less traces of pictographic drawings. They are simple, vivid, and lifelike, and should be early Yin and Shang characters. Some characters are similar to large and small seal scripts, so they can be guessed.
Judging from the arrangement of the characters on the tortoise shell, although there are changes in the spacing between the characters, the characters on the entire tortoise shell are consistent, large and small, corresponding to the left and right, and well-proportioned. The writing structure, loops and echoes, are well organized, and it should be a chapter that records the content.
Several great scholars were extremely excited. After days and nights, they worked tirelessly to sort out evidence, read through literature and classics, and read out the names and posthumous names of several Yin kings. They could conclude that these inscribed oracle bones were indeed relics of the Yin and Shang royal families, and further inferred that
The area around Xiaotun in Xiangzhou is the Yin Ruins site recorded in ancient documents.
Taifu Xu hurriedly reported the matter to the imperial court and organized the great scholars to translate the oracle bone inscriptions.
After the arrangements were made, Taifu Xu rushed to Shaolin without stopping to deal with the matter of the Japanese Taoism.
I thought that the matter was over for the time being, and I was waiting for the great scholars to translate all the oracle bone characters and submit them to the court. Unexpectedly, something strange happened halfway.
When we arrived at Xiangzhou, it was already dark and almost dusk. Taifu Xu didn't bother to rest. After entering the city, he went straight to the Confucius Temple. The great Confucians lived here and translated oracle bone inscriptions.
In front of the temple gate, hundreds of soldiers with bright armor and swords and halberds guarded the door.
Taifu Xu snorted coldly, his eyes were like lightning, and he scanned the generals. The generals were as silent as cicadas, not daring to raise their heads.
Taifu Xu ignored the generals and quickly entered the palace.
As soon as Taifu Xu entered the temple gate, the smell of blood hit his nostrils. Crows of crows on the ground were frightened and flew up to the eaves of the temple, making an unsettling roar.
The Confucius Temple Square was stained with blood and had a horrible smell. It can be imagined that not long ago, a heinous killing scene took place here.
Taifu Xu stood alone in the center of the square. At first his face was as heavy as water, and then, a line of clear tears slowly fell from his cheeks.
Bai Fu has known Taifu for a long time and has never seen him look like this. Just as Bai Fu was about to step forward to comfort him, Zi Cheshang grabbed Bai Fu's arm and gently shook his head, signaling Bai Fu not to disturb Taifu and leave him alone.
quiet.
After a long while, Taifu Xu slowly walked out of the temple gate, without even looking at the generals, he boarded the carriage.
The coachman shouted loudly, whipped his horse and reined the horse, and the Grand Tutor's chariot galloped away.