Chapter 15: Farewell Letter

  Seeing Master Huichong lying on his back on the mountain slope, Xin Yuan hurried forward and, together with the little monk who had delivered the message, lifted up Master Huichong's head.

  Xin Yuan's voice called out repeatedly, and the young monk shouted anxiously.

  At last, Master Hui Chong let out a soft sigh and regained his composure.

  "Xin Yuan, don't mind Shifu, go quickly, go quickly, and bring back Geng Yuan for me!" Master Hui Chong pointed to the mountain below.

  "Master, what's going on? Where did Seventh Brother go?" asked Xin Yuan.

  "Xin Yuan, take a look, this is the farewell letter that Geng Yuan wrote to me!" Master Hui Chong's hands trembled as he handed the letter over to Xin Yuan.

  Xin Yuan unfolded the letter and saw that it read:

  "Respected Master, seeing your letter is like seeing you in person. Thank you for raising me all these years, thank you for taking me in and teaching me martial arts. I have always regarded you as my reborn parents, my recreated father and mother. However, Master, I have the right to know about my origins. Yesterday, that person named Feng Renrui called out my name, saying I'm called Feng Xiaobao, saying I'm a child of the Feng family... what's going on? I must go down the mountain to investigate clearly. Please forgive me for leaving without bidding farewell, allow me to go down the mountain. Once I've clarified my origins, I will return to the temple to apologize to you, Master. Your disciple bids farewell here, Master, goodbye! Please take care of your health, don't worry about your disciple." - Geng Yuan

  Xin Yuan read the letter in one breath, looked at Master Hui Chong, and Master Hui Chong held Xin Yuan's hand, instructing him to say: "Xin Yuan, hurry down the mountain, chase after Geng Yuan, and must intercept him. No matter what means you use, bring him back to me." Master Hui Chong looked up at the sky, remembering the prophecy his senior fellow apprentice Hui Ren made when he left Dunhuang more than a decade ago: "Geng Yuan eighteen, disaster will arise." Master Hui Chong sighed deeply: "Alas! Brother, your prophecy is about to come true. Geng Yuan and I, as well as the entire Biyuan Temple, are all going to face great calamity."

  "Master, don't worry too much, I'll head down the mountain now. With my footwork, I'm sure to catch up with Brother Gengyuan. Master, I'm off, take care of yourself." Xinyin bowed his head to Master Huichong and headed down the mountain.

  Xin Yuan bid farewell to Master Hui Chong, unfolded his light skill and extraordinary learning, traversed the forest and crossed the stream. In a short while, he was already walking on the road leading to Cangmen City.

  Xin Yuan had another purpose for coming down the mountain this time, which was to find out what had happened to his junior sister Yao Fenglan. Xin Yuan had always been thinking of Junior Sister Yao Fenglan and he vowed that he must find her.

  Chasing back to Gengyuan, he found his junior fellow apprentice Yao Fenglan. Xinyuan knew that his responsibility was great and didn't dare to delay for a moment. With the wind whistling under his feet, he quickly headed towards Cangmen City.

  Gengyuan, following the order of his master, Master Hui Chong, and his fellow disciple Xin Yuan, went to Qingyun Mountain to search for their sister Yao Fenglan. He searched around in the forest but couldn't find any sign of her. Feeling anxious and frustrated, Gengyuan lay down under a big tree to rest.

  Geng Yuan thought to himself, "Sister Yao Fenglan has secretly given the jade pendant to Xin Yuanyu as a token of their engagement. How infuriating! He stood up, kicking the trunk of the large tree with his foot, muttering to himself: "Sister, how could you overlook my feelings for you? I've been so good to you, but you don't seem to appreciate it at all. Can't you see that I've been sincere in my affections towards you? Humph! You, Yao Fenglan, should be mine. I won't let you be with Xin Yuan! Humph! Sister Yao Fenglan, do you know what the future holds for me? Now that I know my biological father is the richest man in Cangmen City and the Commander of the City Guard, don't you think I'm a young master of the Fang family? You're not going to follow me and enjoy wealth and glory, but instead you've set your sights on that poor Xin Yuan. You must be out of your mind! Humph! When I find you, I'll take you with me to enjoy wealth and glory." Geng Yuan thought this, and then kicked the large tree again with all his might.

  "But after searching for so many days, there's still no sign of my junior sister. Junior sister, where are you? Hmm, can't find her? No matter, I'll just go to the Feng family and acknowledge my ancestors, become the young master of the Feng family first, then I'll bring my men to the Biyuan Temple to welcome my junior sister, wouldn't that be even better? Right, let's do it!" Gong Yuan exclaimed in approval of his own idea, and actually jumped up.

  Geng Yuan no longer went to the mountains to wander around. He quickly rushed to Biyuan Temple, wanting to take some luggage with him.

  The vast Biyuan Temple, not a single monk. Because they were afraid that Feng Renshui would bring in devils and traitors, causing the people of the temple to suffer, Master Hui Zhi and Master Hui Chong led the crowd to hide in the cave behind Qingyun Mountain.

  The four gates of Biyuan Temple were all locked, but Geng Yuan didn't hesitate. He sprang up onto the wall and jumped into the temple with a few swift movements. He pried open a window of the Jin Guang Hall and slipped inside. He found a piece of paper and first wrote a letter to Master Hui Chong, folding it neatly and putting it in his pocket. Then he left the Jin Guang Hall and came to the pagoda forest behind the temple, where he pulled out a cloth bag from one of the stone pagodas. The bag contained incense money that he had secretly taken while serving at the Daxiong Treasure Hall.

  Gengyuan patted the cloth bag with his hand, took out a silver dollar from inside and admired it for a while before putting it back into the bag. Then he picked up the bag and left the pagoda forest, heading towards the cave behind Qingyun Mountain. Gengyuan knew that if he were to bid farewell to Master Huichong in person, the master would definitely not agree. It was better to give the letter he had written to a young monk and have him deliver it to Master Huichong instead, thus avoiding a lot of trouble.

  On the mountain slope not far from the cave, he saw Master Hui Chong and Xin Yuan together, talking about something. He used his lightness skill to hide in the woods behind the mountain slope where Master Hui Chong and Xin Yuan were, this time closer, Gengyuan heard clearly. Master Hui Chong gave Xin Yuan the temple's treasure of Biyuan Temple - the manual of "Floating Infinity Fist".

  Geng Yuan was indignant, but he didn't dare to make a move. He secretly made up his mind that he must get the "Floating Extreme Fist" from Master Hui Chong, which was given to Xin Yuan.

  Now, he decided to leave Qingyun Mountain and uncover his origins.

  Geng Yuan left by the original route without letting Master Hui Chong and Xin Yuan discover him.

  At a mountain pass on Qingyun Mountain, Geng Yuan found a mobile sentry, that little monk. He had the little monk deliver the letter to Master Hui Chong and then left without looking back down the mountain.

  Gengyuan continued on his way without stopping, and by the time the sun was slightly west, he arrived at Bayintown, more than 20 miles away from Biyuantemple. As a young man, Gengyuan had followed the monks from the temple down the mountain to beg for alms and had been to this prosperous commercial town before. The town was bustling with many hotels, so Gengyuan decided to eat his fill first.

  Geng Yuan entered a very stylish tavern, he put down the weapon in his hand - Gongzi fan on the table and shouted loudly: "Waiter, bring wine and dishes!"

  A young fellow came running over with a bow: "Sir, what can I get for you? Please give your order."

  "A plate of steamed mutton, a bowl of egg drop soup, a dish of peanuts, and bring half a catty of wine." Geng Yuan had money on him, so he spoke with confidence.

  "Alright! One steamed mutton, one bowl of egg soup, a plate of peanuts, half a catty of roasted wine, and the kitchen is ready!" The young waiter sang out the menu, his body spinning around as he took down a teapot, a tea cup, a saucer, and a pair of chopsticks from the counter, placing them on Geng Yuan's table. "Sir, your meal will be right up, please have some tea first." He poured tea for Geng Yuan, made a inviting gesture to him, and then went off to attend to other things.

  Before long, the young man had brought up all the dishes and wine, and Gengyuan was helping himself to food and drink, feeling very comfortable.

  Suddenly, a group of people walked into the tavern. The leader was a fat man wearing an ill-fitting Japanese military uniform, waving a fan and followed by four Japanese soldiers. As soon as they entered, the fat man bowed and gestured to the four Japanese men with a "please" posture, smiling obsequiously. He led the four Japanese soldiers to a table and stood aside, shouting at the waiter: "Hurry up with the good wine and food! What are you waiting for?" The fat man glared at the waiter.

  "Yes, Translator Li!" The young waiter received his orders and went off to inform the kitchen.

  Fat Translator walked around the main hall of the tavern with his hands behind his back, staring at Geng Yuan for a moment before suddenly pointing at him: "The rebel from Biyuan Temple, seize him!"