Despite the victory, the third challenge continued.
The Abbot however did not fall from the same strike that felled his brothers earlier.
(! Fascinating! Abbot is using his meticulous finger techniques to deliver moves that do not connect but deflect the overwhelming strength of the Dharma-raja's moves. He's trying to exhaust the foe's energy.)
No, Crispy. Don't do this. Not now!
Praise be to Buddha, Dharma-raja, please stop now...
The Abbot lowered his defenses out of concern for his foe and that was all it took.
Hehe, this is a good chance!
It was a clean hit. The Shaolin Temple lost the fight!
Ugh!
Master!
Hahahaha, Abbot Wuyin, it seems like I've won by half a move.
Dishonorable scum! Abbot was worried about your injury thus he held back. Yet you took the chance to launch a sneak attack! How can such a victory be justifiable.
Fuck these guys. I'm done defending them.
Nothing is too deceitful in war. Strength comes in all styles, how is this not justifiable for a victory? Abbot, do you not agree?
You...
Enough said. *Cough*... Dharma-raja indeed possesses unmatched intelligence and courage. I.. humbly concede defeat. You have won the fight. Wuse, go fetch... the Sutra of 42 Chapters...and hand it to Dharma-raja now.
Buddha be praised! Buddha be praised!
Hahaha! AHAHAHAH!
The Dharma-raja gleefully claimed his prize and left the temple with his disciples, victorious.
It wasn't you fault. You don't have to blame yourself.
Sigh. It is a great pity that the Sutra, the treasure of our temple, has been taken away by that vicious monk.
Yeah, what a pity. But the way I see it, he managed to defeat the Abbot only because he played dirty, not because he was superior in terms of martial arts.
Or was it? To be honest, a win is a win. He did not cheat. He made them agree to a change of rules. Every single one of them had the opportunity to decline.
I think so to- Whoops!
What's the matter?
No no, Buddha be praised! I've made a blunder. I've just violated three disciplines!
What were they?
The disciplines against three negative emotions: covetousness, anger, and obsession. I violated covetousness because I hoped my abbots could've saved the Sutra; I got so angry because the Dharma-raja caused us trouble; Finally, I became so obssessed with figuring out who was stronger in martial arts. Sigh. It seems that I have lots more to work on to be an ascetic.
(If everything is in accordance with Buddhist's principle of Emptiness of All Causes, that is to say, giving up every obsession, then why are there so many rules in Shaolin Temple? Why not just give the sutra away instead of fighting three rounds. Ah, I better not say it!)
Brother, what is so important about this Sutra? Does it contain top martial arts knowledge?
The Sutra of 42 Chapter is just a Buddhist sutra. In fact, our chief duty is to study Zen and Buddhism, but not to practice martial arts. Yet the purpose of practicing martial arts is to improve our physical and mental health so that we can focus on studying Buddhism.
The true treasure of our temple will never be those books of martial arts. It's the Buddha's wisdom.
Oh, I see. (That's so strange. Why did the foreign monk want it then? There must be a secret behind it.)
Do you know that foreign monk? He has mastered such powerful martial arts.
I've asked my abbot about it. The man is called Likong who was conferred Dharma-raja by Tibet, and he is the Goshir of Tibet. A hundred years ago, the Tibetan Buddhism, also called Vajrayana, was divided into three branches. They are Dalun Temple, Jinlun Temple and The Clan of Blood Blade.
They have unique skills respectively and each have their own heads. It seems they do not get along with the sects of central China.
Yeah, I've heard that the Nameless One wreaked havoc in the Jinlun Temple. So the Dharma-raja Likong is their successor.
There isn't much else to do in the Shaolin Temple except to self-explore...
There's nothing in it now. Since the old man with white hair... Ah! Oh, no.. Master has asked me to keep it a secret...
Huh? He didn't stop us from going in anyway.
There was nothing inside, but I found a small chest containing some healing pellets. I took them, of course. Could this cave be a prison of some sort?
At the northern corner of the Temple lies the Depository.
Eh..screw you guys. I want some of that sweet martial arts secrets.
Greetings, Abbot!
?
They turned their heads and I snuck past them quickly.
Even if they notice anything missing, they'll probably blame it on that Tibetan monk anyway. Sadly I did not find any secret arts manual.
Only porn and viagra.
They're gonna have to go thru Nofap July I guess.
Sigh.
Master, why were you sighing? You sound particularly depressed.
Do you know what are the eight sufferings?
I'd love to hear about it.
The suffering of birth; During birth, the baby cries because it feels as if it's being cut by the cold wind. After birth, the sufferings of old age, sickness, and death would all come. There is no bliss at birth.
The suffering of old age. In old age, our eyes grow blurry, our ears become deaf, our teeth fall out, and our legs can't walk very well. We no longer have much control over our body.
The suffering of sickness. The human body is a false combination of the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. Perhaps there is more fire than water, or more air than earth, or more water than fire. In general, if the four elements are not in balance, we become sick. We may suffer headaches, footaches, sore arms, backaches, haert pain, and so on.
The suffering of death. When a person dies, the four elements disperse and his spirit is dragged off by the karmic wind. Death entails unspeakable suffering.
The suffering of being together with those you hate. Sometimes we may detest a person and want to get away from him. Yet, no matter where we go, we keep meeting him. The more we hate him, the more we run into him. This is also a form of psychological suffering.
The suffering of being apart from those you love. People experience psychological suffering and trauma because of love. They love their parents, children, spouses, and so on. But if circumstances force them to separate, they experience the suffering of being apart from those they love; such partings are unbearably painful. Xu Zhen here is a great example.
The suffering of not obtaining what you want. If you seek something, you covet for it. If you cannot obtain it, you'll experience all sorts of afflictions. Before obtaining it, you are anxious to get it. Once you've gotten it, you constantly fear of losing it. Your mind is never peaceful or happy. You always feel uneasy.
It is very difficult for us to overcome them and see them as empty. Just try to be lenient whenever it is possible.
Ok.