Chapter 14
Re-entering the Jianghu
During the time Little Monkey was in seclusion on Zhongnan Mountain for about five years, the Nine Heavens Master re-entered the jianghu (martial world). The moment the Nine Heavens Master reappeared, the entire martial world began to stir, tremble, and boil with agitation.
The Nine Heavens Command, a golden invitation that emerged with the Nine Heavens Master, became a nightmare that caused martial artists to lose sleep for many nights.
What was the Nine Heavens Command? The Nine Heavens Command was just an ordinary piece of paper dyed with gold ink and stamped with the Yin and Yang seal. However, the ultimatum written on the paper carried the power of the Nine Heavens Master, thus making it a terrifying symbol for the people of the martial world.
There was every reason to be terrified. Ten martial arts sects that disobeyed the Nine Heavens Command were utterly annihilated within three days of receiving the invitation. Since the Golden Sword Sect, which was famous and brilliant in the martial world of the plains, was among them, there was indeed reason to be terrified.
The Nine Heavens Sect was a gathering place for all kinds of dark martial artists; they were malicious, cunning, and full of schemes and tricks. The white martial artists, who were used to fighting simply and who protected the honor of martial artists with their lives, were crushed and suppressed right from the start.
Only the five major powers—the Shaolin Temple and the Wudang Sect, the Emei, Kunlun, and Beggar's Sects—and the five great families—the Gongsun, Murong, Tang, Shang, and Huo families—were able to endure. The Kongtong Sect, which was one of the original six major powers, had already fallen under the control of the Nine Heavens Sect long ago.
Most of the remaining white martial arts sects, apart from the five major powers and the five great families mentioned above, were wiped out by the Nine Heavens Sect's annihilation, leaving nothing behind.
To defend against the impossibly powerful Nine Heavens Sect, the five major sects and the five great families took the lead and established the White Alliance.
The location of the Alliance headquarters was designated as Songshan Mountain, where the Shaolin Temple was located, and the Alliance Leader was appointed as Venerable Hu Se, the Shaolin Abbot, who was the No. 1 martial artist in the jianghu.
The Second Leader was designated as Gongsun Yang, the Master of the Gongsun Compound, the No. 2 martial artist in the jianghu. The remaining white martial arts leaders, independent martial artists who preferred freedom, and even insurance agencies that wished to conduct good, honest business, flocked to join the Alliance.
It is easy to break a single stick of wood, but difficult to break many sticks bundled together. Unity is strength.
In this way, the Alliance gradually grew in power, reaching a state where it could challenge the power of the Nine Heavens Sect. The great battle between white and black, light and darkness, was now gathering momentum to begin. The victor of this battle would become the master of history and the one who wrote it. The losers would only remain as a folktale, a mere oral history. History naturally belongs to the victors.
This was the current landscape of the martial world at the time Little Monkey descended the mountain. Would he become an innocent casualty on this battlefield of the jianghu? The future is, after all, something that cannot be foreseen.
The full moon was shining brightly in the sky. The moon's attendants, the silver stars, seemed to enhance the moon's beauty, sparkling like scattered diamonds.
The gentle breeze carried the fragrant scent of flowers, rustling and blowing. The night was showing off its beauty to the fullest.
On this beautiful night, a young man was traveling with a horse. Both the horse and the man seemed intoxicated by the beauty of the night under the moonlight. The horse continued its journey slowly, one step at a time. The young man was also riding leisurely and calmly.
The horse was ugly, and the young man was a rarely seen ugly young man. They were indeed a matching pair, the horse and its master. After a while, the young man, seeming pleased, softly murmured a poem:
"In the long journey of samsara
The short human life is only
The size of a gulp of water.
A horse and a man
Who know not where they came from or where they must go
Will continue to walk until the journey ends."
The young man was Little Monkey, who had descended from Zhongnan Mountain. During the five years, his mind had become quite peaceful. He had learned to control the anger that used to erupt violently, and he gradually grew to love nature more and more.
Reading his Master's life story had somewhat changed his pessimistic worldview. His Master was a self-made man. He was able to establish the Quanzhen Sect without the help or rescue of others.
Little Monkey admired his Master. He strengthened his resolve, asking himself if he could not be like his Master. Was not constantly feeling hurt and suffering over having or not having parents, or being abandoned by them, merely a poison to his life?
Lineage and past background were not important. Only the impact of his actions on the world, on nature, and on humankind would determine his name and his history.
Under the moonlight, a horse and a man continued their slow journey. Their destination was Jinling City.
Little Monkey calmly walked into Jinling City, leading his horse. Although it was a bustling and prosperous city, it was clean and tidy, and the citizens clearly exhibited the demeanor of disciplined city dwellers. Little Monkey was pleased as he observed the city's appearance. This is a good city to live in, he thought to himself. Since the city was built on the riverbank, even the air he breathed was clean and fresh.
After a while, his stomach growled with hunger, so he walked into a restaurant in the city center. The restaurant was clean and inviting.
A waiter soon arrived and asked, "What would the young master like to order, sir?" Little Monkey replied to the waiter, "My horse is outside. Please give it water and a full meal. For me, a pot of wine, a plate of braised and fried beef, and a bowl of noodle soup." He then looked around the restaurant.
All the tables were filled with guests, peacefully eating and chatting. It was indeed a peaceful city.
Just then...
Five men walked into the restaurant entrance, speaking loudly and boisterously. They wore tight black uniforms and each carried a sword, clearly identifying them as martial artists. To be more precise, they were martial artists who were arrogant due to the shine of their earrings.
The five martial artists who walked in, talking loudly without any respect or consideration for their surroundings, acted as if they held no one in high regard. The moment they entered, the guests who were eating scrambled to pay and hurried out.
Little Monkey pretended not to notice the five men and continued to quietly eat his noodle soup. Little Monkey's demeanor suggested he was the only person in the whole world. When the five men saw Little Monkey's behavior, they looked at each other and nodded. The one who seemed to be the leader looked at Little Monkey and shouted:
"Where did this creature born from a cross between a man and a monkey come from? Ptooey! How ugly! This animal must want a beating, acting so disrespectful even after seeing us, the Five Jinling Dragons!"
The Five Jinling Dragons. The Five Jinling Dragons were a group of five brothers. They were local ruffians and thugs in Jinling City, and they had been given positions as high-level disciples in the Jinling sub-branch of the Nine Heavens Sect.
Like giving a tiger wings, once these naturally aggressive men became disciples of the Nine Heavens Sect, the citizens of Jinling City were in deep trouble.
Little Monkey, who was eating his noodle soup, stopped moving. He squinted his eyes toward the Five Jinling Dragons.
"Are you the Five Jinling Scabby Dogs who are so famously well-known throughout the martial world?" he asked.
Little Monkey's expression was a subtle, disdainful smile. He seemed to be deliberately provoking them. The Five Jinling Dragons, who had never been spoken to like this in their lives, erupted with anger.
They each drew their swords and attacked Little Monkey simultaneously. They attacked with all their might, fueled by rage and fury, so their momentum was fierce and fast.
Five swords converged from different angles and with various forms. The sword attacks of the Five Dragons, who were high-level martial artists and accustomed to working together, were precise. They were so neat and meticulous that not even a fly could escape.
When he saw the combined attack of the Five Dragons, Little Monkey smiled faintly and said with a sarcastic laugh, "The Five Jinling Dogs are not bad after all." He then twisted his body and dodged.
Due to Little Monkey's dodge, the Five Dragons' attack was wasted. The Five Dragons' anger had reached the top of their heads. Their tightly gritted teeth and red-rimmed eyes suggested that if they were truly dragons, Little Monkey would have been reduced to ashes.
In fact, Little Monkey was deliberately provoking them. Ever since he came down from Zhongnan Mountain, he had been eager to test the Snake and Weasel Sword Technique. Now, it was like finding a well when thirsty. Punishing the arrogant five brats while testing his sword technique. How perfectly convenient!
The Five Dragons' second combined attack. This was a technique that had always thrown their enemies to the ground—a sword form that had a one-hundred percent success rate.
It looked as if a great sword net had fallen upon Little Monkey's body. The sword attack was incredibly fast. The Five Dragons were indeed high-level martial artists. It was a shame that they had gone down the wrong path.
Just then, Little Monkey suddenly drew the sword slung on his back and gently performed a sword form. Little Monkey's speed in drawing the sword was as fast as the speed of light, making the Five Dragons' speed seem to be lagging behind his movement by millions of miles.
The first form of the Snake and Weasel Sword Technique. A sword form he had named "Cobra Seeking Prey" by himself. Little Monkey's sword came out unpredictably, like the tongue of a snake. Then, the sword tip suddenly stabbed toward the hands of the Five Dragons holding their swords.
The sword attack seemed like a single strike. But it was actually five strikes. The Five Dragons only felt a slight scrape from the sword tip. In reality, they had been stabbed once each by the sword tip.
The Five Dragons covered their bleeding wounds with their hands and threatened Little Monkey in a defeated tone:
"Your martial arts are quite good. If you dare, wait here. You will see what kind of disaster awaits you for provoking the Nine Heavens Sect!"
"Hahaha, the Nine Heavens Sect? Never heard of it. Why should I be afraid of whatever sect that is? No need to wait. I'll come with you to your sect right now."
With that said, Little Monkey placed a silver ingot on the table and walked out of the restaurant. Then he called out to the Five Dragons:
"Alright, you go first. I'll follow behind."
The head of the Jinling sub-branch of the Nine Heavens Sect was a martial artist named Tiebi Bei Chi (Iron Brush Bei Chi). He was a top martial artist famous in the dark martial world. He was skilled in martial arts. He was vicious. He was cunning. He was full of evil schemes. These were the attributes that made Bei Chi particularly notorious.
Today, Bei Chi was exceptionally furious. The news that the Five Dragons, who were his trusted, capable men from his sub-branch, had been defeated by an unknown young man with a single sword move had damaged his reputation.
And look at the young man standing there, acting as if he didn't care about him. The way the young man stood with his hands behind his back, as if enjoying the breeze, infuriated him intensely.
Bei Chi decided he would punish this young man himself. He would send this person who sought death to the point of no return.
"Since you dare to provoke the Nine Heavens Sect, young man, I assume your martial arts are not bad. Our sect will soon rule the martial world. Why don't you join us, young man? I guarantee you a good position."
Hoping to recruit him before fighting, Bei Chi tried to persuade him. It would be better if the matter could be resolved peacefully without a fight. However, Little Monkey was not the type to be a subordinate. He was the type to be a leader.
"I am not the kind of person to work under others, sir. If you want to start, you may start now. If you lose, consider your sub-branch shattered."
Little Monkey's voice was calm. He seemed not to have even the slightest worry. This was the mark of a person with self-confidence. Bei Chi began the attack. He unleashed his most trusted martial art, the Thousand Illusions Iron Brush Technique. He was determined that the young man would fall with a single move.
The shadows of the iron brush flew wildly, threatening Little Monkey's vital points. Just then, a flash of sword light appeared. The sword burst out from amidst the iron brush shadows and stabbed rapidly toward Bei Chi's throat. It was a terrifying sword strike.
Bei Chi's eyes blurred. He felt a chilling sensation in his throat. Then, blood gushed from the main artery in his neck, and he slowly collapsed to the ground.
It was truly one move. The Cobra Seeking Prey form. The first move of the Snake and Weasel Sword Technique.
Bei Chi, a top martial artist from the dark jianghu and the sub-branch leader of the Nine Heavens Sect, had become the first test subject for the Snake and Weasel Sword Technique. Little Monkey had only used the move partially when fighting the Five Dragons, but against Bei Chi, he had attacked with full internal energy. The sword move, imbued with about fifty years of internal energy, was so fast that Bei Chi did not even have time to blink.
As soon as Bei Chi collapsed, the Nine Heavens Sect disciples drew their weapons and attacked Little Monkey like madmen.
Why were these mostly dishonorable martial artists so loyal to Bei Chi? Shouldn't they have run away as soon as their sub-branch leader died? This was due to the Nine Heavens Master's ability to rally people. Most dark martial artists felt that the white martial artists looked down on them, bullied them, and constantly pursued and eliminated them, without seeing their own moral failings. In a way, they felt inferior.
When the Nine Heavens Master rallied them by appealing to this sense of inferiority, most dark martial artists willingly joined him and served him loyally. It was like the sentiment of we live together, we die together.
That was why the disciples of the Jinling sub-branch did not flee but fought to the death. Since he was fighting against many people, Little Monkey could no longer hold back. He was furious. The bloodthirsty, savage nature of the beast within him, which he thought he had controlled, seemed to be coupled with his anger. Little Monkey looked like a ghost. His eyes flared fiery red.
Little Monkey had unleashed his anger. Sun Bu'er's sword danced in Little Monkey's hand like a great dragon. The Snake and Weasel Sword Technique displayed its full power.
Like rice plants being reaped by a sharp sickle, the Nine Heavens Sect disciples fell in heaps. Some with severed necks. Some with limbs cut off. Some with their guts exposed. The whole surrounding area was filled with the smell of blood and was truly sickening.
The Jinling sub-branch of the notorious Nine Heavens Sect, which threatened the entire martial world, was destroyed by Little Monkey in a short amount of time.
He had just pulled the tiger's tail. Little Monkey would now have to face the fierce retaliation of the Nine Heavens Sect for this act. Everything is indeed the result of karma.
The entire compound of the Jinling sub-branch was flooded with blood. Little Monkey stood dumbly in the pool of blood, holding the sword, which was dry due to the blood. Anger. And the bloodthirsty feeling that always accompanied the anger. Could he still not erase this feeling?
During the five years, he had seriously contemplated the martial arts principles written in Wang Chongyang's manuscript. Since Wang Chongyang's martial arts were based on religious teachings and nature, he had assumed he had been able to remove some of the evil aura clinging to his body.
Now, unexpectedly, he had killed many people. Among them, some deserved to die, but many may not have deserved to die.
Little Monkey stood dumbly, pondering. Was his nature a fatal, unremovable characteristic? Or was it because he had not understood all of his Master's martial arts?
As the saying goes, The wind carries the scent of flowers, and people carry news of people—the news that the entire Jinling sub-branch had been annihilated spread throughout the martial world like wildfire in a short time.
The Nine Heavens Master was furiously angry because of this news. The people of the white martial world, however, were joyful and excited. If only the white martial artists knew that the young man was Little Monkey...
The Rain God was sadly pouring out his tears with all his might. The rain was so fierce that it seemed the world would be flooded by the rainwater in a short time, and with the wind joining in, the weather was truly dreadful.
This was the kind of weather when most people would stay indoors, except for matters of life and death. It was surprising to see someone traveling in this kind of stormy weather.
A man riding a horse steadily along a forest path. The man wore a bamboo hat to protect himself from the splashing rain. He had a sword slung on his back. It was Little Monkey.
Just then...
With a faint whooshing sound, three sharp, gleaming objects came flying toward Little Monkey from the trees on either side of the forest path. The whooshing sound was lost in the noise of the rain and wind, making it harder to hear than the buzz of a mosquito.
It was a perfectly executed assassination, taking advantage of the heavy rain. Little Monkey's body suddenly shot forward like an arrow, causing the five silently thrown hidden weapons to hit each other and fall to the ground.
Little Monkey's body stood firmly, about the length of a horse and a bamboo pole away from his horse. He calmly looked around and spoke softly:
"Friends, there's no need for sneaky actions. Please come out."
Just then, three men emerged from the trees. These three men were very tall. Their bodies were massive and strong. Their temporal veins were bulging, clearly indicating they were top internal energy experts.
"Who are you, friends?"
The man in the center of the three men gave a sarcastic smile.
"We are the Three Borderland Ogres. The Nine Heavens Master has issued a death sentence for you, boy. Our Master has decided to temporarily postpone his plan to conquer the martial world and clear you out of this world first. Our Master regards his subordinates as blood brothers, siblings, and comrades. We must take your life for the sake of our comrades in the Jinling sub-branch."
Little Monkey listened with a faint smile to the leader of the Three Ogres. The Ogre leader was a good speaker. He could speak in an interesting manner.
As soon as he finished speaking, the man on the far right of the Three Ogres slightly moved his wrist. Small, pale blue needles flew out like a swarm of flies toward Little Monkey. These needles were smeared with potent poison.
It was a second attempt at a surprise attack. It was an underhanded attack with hidden weapons while distracting him with words. It was a malicious act. Little Monkey would not tolerate it.
He used a move from the Snake and Weasel Sword Technique, adapting it to the situation. The move was the "Cobra Emerging from the Cave" form.
Little Monkey's sword flashed out of its sheath. The circular energy waves emanating from the sword tip brushed aside the flying needles.
The sword tip, which was closely followed by the energy waves, then surprisingly stabbed the throat of the man on the far right of the Three Ogres. That was not all. Little Monkey's sword tip scraped the necks of the remaining two Ogres as well. The momentum of the sword was so fast that it seemed like only a single strike. Within the blink of an eye, the three Ogres lay on the ground. They did not even have time to defend themselves.
The Three Ogres, who had been famously notorious in the western borderlands, had lost their lives to an unknown young man in a remote part of the forest. They were the second test subjects for the Snake and Weasel Sword Technique.
Little Monkey shook his head and sighed in frustration. His sigh was, "I overdid it again."
The Lion King does not reduce his effort when catching a young rabbit. He uses the same amount of effort regardless of the size of the prey.
Similarly, Little Monkey, when fighting an enemy, never underestimated them and always fought with his full strength, zeal, and determination. Therefore, anyone who faced him was more likely to be sent to the point of no return.