Chapter Ten: The Lankavatara Sutra

  Chen Yunfeng, although a transmigrator, still had some memories of Chen Daniu's soul that he merged with. Everything in this mountain village from childhood to adulthood was like his own personal experience. Paying respects to the elderly was also something he should do.

  Chen Yunfeng, having cultivated his martial arts and achieved some small success, was not planning to directly enter the Jianghu. With his still unimpressive abilities as a third-rate martial artist, he would have just as many chances of dying as he had tricks up his sleeve.

  After resting at home for a night, he left Wangshan Village early the next morning and headed to Fan Chuan City. Carrying a tattered cloth bundle, Chen Yunfeng easily entered this city already occupied by the Mongols. Looking at the Mongolian soldiers still galloping in the city, Chen Yunfeng let out a faint sigh of sorrow.

  In the Southern Song Dynasty, 126 years had passed since its founding. All the emperors were surrounded by treacherous officials, and there were countless infamous treacherous prime ministers. The emphasis on literature over military affairs still prevailed in the Confucian-governed Great Song Dynasty, and it was already a stroke of luck that the weak army and scarce generals could maintain the situation against all odds.

  He didn't like the corruption of the Song Dynasty, nor did he like the cruelty of the Mongols. Anyway, it would be that way in the future. If he deliberately mixed into the imperial court or raised troops to rebel, then his plan to roam freely between heaven and earth would also be ruined.

  "Crack." A crisp whip sound made Chen Yunfeng, who was watching from the side of the road, quickly turn his head. In the middle of the road, a man in his fifties had already been whipped to the ground by a Mongolian knight, who didn't even glance at the guy on the ground before riding away on horseback, leaving the old man struggling on the ground.

  Chen Yunfeng watched the departing Mongolian soldiers with a cold gaze. In his mind, anyone who invaded the Central Plains was a scoundrel, regardless of whether they were eventually assimilated into the Huaxia culture or not. At least the Mongolian soldiers in front of him were no better than the little devils of later generations.

  "Old man, what's wrong with you? Do you need help?" Chen Yunfeng quickly walked up to the old man and squatted down to ask in a low voice.

  The old man was dressed in a simple linen garment, his hair disheveled from the fall earlier. Except for a lash mark on his back that had torn through his clothes and revealed a streak of blood, he seemed to be unharmed otherwise;

  The old man was helped up by Chen Yunfeng with a trembling body, but he muttered to himself:

  "The Jin people are gone, the Mongols have come, but we ordinary people can only become their targets for bullying. Young man, just help me to the side of the road, I've had my share of such whips more than once, alas..."

  Chen Yun's mouth trembled slightly as he looked at the several long patches on the old man's back, which should be the result of his frequent flogging by Mongolian soldiers.

  He helped the old man to the side of the road, and the old man found a familiar face and left. Chen Yunfeng, however, couldn't calm down the knot in his heart for a long time. Seeing these scenes, he somewhat understood Guo Jing, who had been taught since childhood to guard the Han people's territory.

  That wooden head, although stubborn, can give up everything in his family for the country and the people. In a sense, his reputation as a great hero is more real than others who gain fame by fighting and killing on the rivers and lakes.

  However, Chen Yunfeng still didn't like him. Who made him find a beautiful wife like Huang Rong? Anyway, the envy, jealousy and hatred in his heart when watching The Legend of the Condor Hero had never stopped.

  On the street, he found a ready-made clothing store and changed into this hemp robe, which was slightly better than those little beggars around him. As he walked on the street, several people wanted to throw two steamed buns at him. Chen Yunfeng put on a slightly more spirited long gown and bought a donkey in Fan Chuan City's livestock market, rode it and left.

  "Oh no......"

  Chen Yunfeng, who was traveling forward, heard a cry for help when he was not far from the southern city of Luo. Originally, he didn't want to get involved in other people's business, but he rode his horse over to take a look. A Mongolian soldier was tearing at the clothes of a woman in her thirties. On the ground, a seven or eight year old boy had been killed on the spot by a curved knife. A tall Mongolian warhorse was grazing on the grass nearby.

  The woman's struggles and cries for help ignited a wave of anger in Chen Yunfeng's heart. These Mongolian soldiers, since occupying the land of Great Song, had made Han people and other ethnic minorities their targets of plunder. Now, they were burning and killing without any restraint.

  He turned over and dismounted, then said in a low voice:

  "Stop."

  Mongolian soldiers were stripping a woman of her clothes, but upon hearing Chen Yunfeng's shout, they immediately stood up and with a "swoosh" sound, drew out the curved knives from their waists and shouted loudly in Mongolian.

  Chen Yunfeng didn't understand the language of the minority ethnic group, he gestured for the woman on the ground to leave, but she suddenly threw herself onto the already dead young man's body and burst into loud wailing.

  "Wah wah......"

  Just as Chen Yunfeng's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, the Mongolian soldier swiftly raised his curved knife and charged towards him. Seeing the ferocious appearance of the Mongolian soldier, Chen Yunfeng, who was fighting for the first time, couldn't help but feel a little tense in his heart. He dodged the curved knife by shifting his body to one side with the tip of his foot, circulated his true energy and threw a punch at the Mongolian soldier's shoulder.

  "Hmph."

  A fist filled with true energy directly hit the Mongolian soldier's shoulder, and the great force knocked the Mongolian soldier into a stumble, almost rolling to the ground. The Mongolian soldier who was hit by the fist had a painful expression on his face, gritting his teeth and shouting loudly as he charged up the mountain again with his knife raised.

  Chen Yunfeng's body shape shifted again to avoid the curved knife and moved behind the Mongolian soldier. His fist, filled with true energy, burst out once more, and this time his massive fist struck the opponent's back, directly hitting the vital point of the Mingmen acupoint.

  "Uh..."

  The Life Gate acupoint is a fatal point on the Governor Vessel, located between the second and third vertebrae. Chen Yunfeng, who had practiced recognizing and striking acupoints, certainly did not miss his target. With this punch, the Mongolian soldier let out a mournful cry from his throat, his body stiffened, and he fell to the ground, dead.

  Seeing the Mongolian soldier had fallen, Chen Yunfeng quickly took down the package he had robbed from him and picked up his curved knife. He walked to the woman who was still crying and shouting...

  "Sister-in-law, hurry up and leave, this Mongolian soldier is already dead, but there are still many Mongolian patrol soldiers around, once discovered, it will be dangerous."

  "Xiao Bao, my Xiao Bao is dead, how can I be worthy of his deceased father..."

  The woman still held the body in her arms, constantly wailing with grief. Chen Yunfeng felt a pang of anxiety in his heart, but he didn't know how to comfort this bereaved mother.

  "Hiss...... Thud." Before the ear-piercing whistling sound had stopped, Chen Yunfeng saw that a feathered arrow had been stuck into the chest of the wailing woman, the quivering arrow shaft still shaking. He quickly turned around to look and saw that a group of five Mongolian cavalrymen were rushing towards them from about 100 meters away.

  "Hiss...hiss...hiss..."

  A string of feathered arrows flew towards Chen Yunfeng, who was still not at home. With a lazy donkey roll, he picked up the corpse of a Mongolian soldier from the ground and blocked two rounds of arrows. By then, some Mongolian soldiers had already closed in.

  He had no intention of fighting with this group of Mongolian cavalry, and he knew that he was not a match for a group of cavalrymen. Chen Yunfeng turned over and jumped onto the war horse that the Mongolian soldier had ridden earlier, slapping its buttocks hard, and in the horse's neighing sound, he galloped forward quickly.

  A team of Mongolian patrolmen arrived, the leader jumped off his war horse to inspect the scene, waved his hand and chased in the direction Chen Yunfei had fled.

  In the places under the iron hooves of the Mongolian soldiers, every ordinary people were trembling with fear, Chen Yunfeng galloped his horse and hurriedly crossed Shaanxi and the Yellow River, only then did he slightly let out a breath.

  Along the way, those Mongolian soldiers were looting everywhere. He hastily learned from the great heroes and killed a Mongolian soldier with his bare hands, but unexpectedly he was chased by a large group of Mongolian soldiers and had to flee in disarray. His ability at most could only defeat three or five well-trained ordinary soldiers. Fortunately, he seized a Mongolian war horse and escaped their pursuit.

  He sold his war horse cheaply at the ferry and found a boat to leave what was called enemy-occupied territory, entering Henan province and passing through Ye County, heading straight south. Half a day later, in front of Shaolin Temple on Mount Song, Chen Yunfeng had become a slender scholar wearing a white robe and riding a fine horse.

  Found the guest monk, Chen Yunfeng took out 100 taels of gold as incense money, on the condition that he needed to copy several Buddhist scriptures back home to recite for his elderly parents' blessings. The guest monk did not dare to take liberties and soon the abbot of Shaolin Temple, Tianming Chan Master, came out.

  Tian Ming is not very old, nor does he have the legendary long white beard of an old monk. As the current abbot of Shaolin Temple, Tian Ming is only in his fifties. Although he is also a high-ranking martial artist, he has sealed off the mountain gate and strictly forbidden monks from going out. This place is not far from the Yellow River, and once the Mongolian army crosses the river, Mount Song will no longer be an absolutely safe place.

  "Amitabha Buddha..."

  Tian Ming Fang Zhang saw Chen Yunfeng from afar and shouted Buddha's name as he walked over, Chen Yunfeng also joined his hands together in a salute to him before smiling and saying:

  "Heavenly Master Tian Xian's virtue is lofty and his prestige is great. It is a great honor for me to see the master's demeanor."

  "Chen Shi was pleased with the guest's politeness, and upon hearing that the guest monk had donated 100 taels of gold as incense money, he wanted to copy some scriptures to take home for his family's blessings. He didn't know what kind of scriptures Chen Shi needed, so the old monk offered to arrange for someone to prepare brushes, ink, paper, and a quiet room for him." Tian Ming joined his hands together in respect and looked at Chen Yunfeng, saying:

  At this time, Chen Yunfeng was not considered a master, although his sturdy physique and heavy footsteps were those of a martial artist. Tian Ming would not have suspected anything; after all, many rich families' young masters had the habit of practicing martial arts to strengthen their bodies, especially in this chaotic Southern Song era.

  Although warriors were despised by scholars, in fact those high-ranking officials were also practitioners of martial arts, and only a small number of pedantic Confucians would become bookworms.

  Chen Yunfeng had already calculated this before he came, and he absolutely wouldn't directly ask for the Lengya Sutra. He smiled and said:

  "In the Mahayana Buddhist scriptures, there are many sutras such as Lotus Sutra, Nirvana Sutra, and Earth Store Bodhisattva's Original Vow Sutra. I am copying these back home for the elderly to use, but there are too many and they don't have that much energy."

  The Mahaparinirvana Sutra and the Lotus Sutra are enough to save people, and with the Lankavatara Sutra as an explanation of the Buddha's teachings, it is sufficient. The abbot can arrange a clean room for me, and in about two or three days, I will be able to copy them out and return home to pray for blessings for my parents.

  Chen Yunfeng finished speaking and stepped back, the scriptures in this temple are countless, if they were to copy them all together, they would be exhausted to death. He was not worried that Shaolin Temple would give him a copied version of the scriptures, as there is currently only one volume of the Lankavatara Sutra in the scripture hall, which is the most basic scripture and is always recited by the monks.

  "Amitabha Buddha... Very well, Master Chen, please proceed to the guest house. Bring Master Shi with you, and on the way, ask Master Jueyuan of the Scripture Storage Pavilion to select some scriptures and send them to the Pure Chamber." Tianming said in a low voice, chanting the Buddha's name.