Chapter 24: What's meant to happen will happen

  After sending Xin Yuan away, Master Hui Chong sat up with difficulty. He walked out of the hidden cave and stood in a high place to look at the small road leading out of the mountain; then he turned back into the cave and muttered to himself: "Alas! Fenglan, where are you? Xin Yuan, you must catch up with Gengyuan and bring him back to me."

  A monk who returned to investigate the news at Biyuan Temple reported: "Master Hui Zhi and Master Hui Chong, everything is calm and peaceful at Biyuan Temple. The Japanese devils and Han traitor security teams didn't come at all."

  Upon hearing this news, several elderly monks who were of the same generation as Master Hui Chong, all clamored to return to their temples.

  "In this damp and gloomy cave, if we stay any longer, we'll all get rheumatism. Huichong, you're getting a bit paranoid, our humble Biyuan Temple isn't exactly famous, who would care whether we exist or not? If you won't return to the temple, then just stay in this cave, we don't want to stay here another moment, let's all go back to the temple with Master Fangzhang!" said an old monk with a white beard.

  "Ah, Shizhong Shixiong is right." Master Fangzhang Hui Zhi took over the conversation and glanced at Master Hui Chong, "Shidi, you're just a bit too nervous!"

  "Wisdom Master, it's not that I'm being paranoid. Do you know why there are no Japanese soldiers or security guards at Biyuan Temple yet? It's because Yuan Ren took his fellow disciples to cause a ruckus at the city gate. With six of them trapped in the tiger's den, their fate uncertain, my heart is already breaking into pieces. If anything were to happen to the monks in the temple, I...I..., alas!" Master Hui Chong pounded his chest and stamped his feet, filled with regret.

  "What? Yuan Ren and his six fellow disciples disobeyed your orders and went to Cangmen City? Isn't this absurd? What kind of place is Cangmen City, where ghosts and traitors roam everywhere? Isn't it like moths flying into the fire? As the eldest disciple, how could Yuan Ren lead his fellow disciples to their deaths? How irrational! Alas!" Master Hui Zhi slapped his thigh in dismay.

  "Master brother, there's something even worse!" Master Hui Chong's eyes were already brimming with tears.

  "Isn't it just my niece Fenglan who hasn't returned yet? What kind of trouble is this? Perhaps Fenglan was feeling cooped up at Biyuan Temple and wanted to go out for a stroll, so let her go out for a stroll then. Her martial arts skills are that good, ordinary people can't do anything to her, you don't have to worry." Master Huizhi comforted Master Hui Chong.

  "Alas! Fenglan still hasn't returned, and there's no news of him either. Of course, it makes me worried. The trouble I'm talking about isn't related to Fenglan, but something that makes me even more anxious - it's about Gengyuan, this young man who believed the slanderous words of Feng Renshui, a flower thief, and went down the mountain to Cangmen City. He wants to clarify his own life story, and has gone to Cangmen City to find Feng Renshui. He wants to figure out whether Feng Renshui is really his biological father." Master Huichong shook his head and said.

  "What? Gongyuan went down the mountain to find Feng Renshui?" Several old monks were shocked and opened their mouths wide, "Huisheng, what are you waiting for, quickly send someone to chase him back!"

  "Alas! I knew it, Geng Yuan has gone down the mountain. Then I immediately sent Xin Yuan to chase after him. Hopefully, Xin Yuan can bring him back." Master Hui Chong said anxiously, slapping his thigh.

  "Thinking back, it's all so clear! Master Hui Chong, when your junior fellow monk Hui Ren left Biyuan Temple for Dunhuang, he left behind a prophecy: 'In the year of Gengyuan 18, disaster will strike.' This year just happens to be the 18th year of Gengyuan, could it be that this is the year of great calamity for our Biyuan Temple? Master Hui Chong, when you brought Gengyuan back all those years ago, we all advised you to send him away, but you refused. Now look what's happened! We're facing retribution, aren't we? Our Biyuan Temple is going to be struck by great disaster!" An old monk with a white beard scolded Master Hui Chong.

  "It's not like that. How many years have passed and we haven't heard any bad news? In Cangmen City, anyone who is unfavorable to Feng Renhao has been secretly calculated by Feng Renhao and died without a place to bury them. Our Biyuansi Temple has been so quiet in recent years, on the one hand, because we have nothing to do with that Feng Renhao, and on the other hand, it's because Gengyuan is not yet eighteen years old. Hmm, now that Gengyuan is eighteen years old, what about it? Disaster will follow, right?" Another old monk chimed in.

  "Isn't that right? For over a decade, Feng Renhe has spent a huge amount of manpower searching everywhere for the whereabouts of his so-called son, Feng Xiaobao, and even came to our Biyuan Temple to investigate in secret, but there was no result. So how did Feng Rensui suddenly know that Geng Yuan is the Feng Xiaobao they were looking for?" asked Master Hui Zhi, looking at Master Hui Chong.

  "It wasn't until yesterday evening that Feng Renrui, the flower thief, made a ruckus. This Feng Renrui is the younger brother of Feng Renhao, and people call him 'Wind Flowing Fox'. With his vicious 'Soul Snatching Powder', he's been causing trouble everywhere, doing all sorts of evil deeds to women. This kid's martial arts aren't bad either. When he fought with Geng Yuan, he tore Geng Yuan's upper garment and discovered a tattoo of a green snake on his back. Feng Renrui thought that this green snake pattern was only found on Feng Xiaobao's body, so he concluded that Geng Yuan must be the Feng Xiaobao he was looking for. That's why Feng Renrui shouted out loud, saying that Geng Yuan was indeed Feng Xiaobao. This made Geng Yuan curious about his own origins, and he took it upon himself to come down from the mountain. I'm ashamed of my failure in teaching my disciples, which has brought danger to our temple. I apologize deeply to everyone."

  "Oh, so that's how it is! Younger brother, now we've got a grudge against this Feng Renhe!" said Master Hui Zhi.

  "So, I had everyone hide in the mountain cave to prevent Feng Renhao's revenge. This Feng Renhao, I know him, his heart is more venomous than a snake or scorpion. In order to take away Geng Yuan, to make Geng Yuan serve him, to make Geng Yuan become his son, he will definitely slaughter everyone in Bisheng Temple. It's better for us to be cautious and prevent trouble before it happens." said Master Hui Chong.

  "So, by the time of Geng Yuan, he already knew his own name was Feng Xiaobao?" asked Master Hui Zhi.

  "He just wanted to get to the bottom of this matter, so he came down from the mountain." Master Hui Chong said.

  "So, Yuan Ren and his five brothers wanted to kill Feng Renshui, to help us Bisheng Temple eliminate the disaster, that's why they went to Cangmen City and caused a big disturbance?" asked Master Hui Zhi.

  "Yes. Yuan Ren and his five brothers knew that if they let Feng Renshui tell Feng Renhao the news that Feng Xiaobao was in Gengyuan, Feng Renhao would immediately lead troops to Bisheng Temple, and Bisheng Temple would surely suffer a disaster. So, they risked their lives to go to Cangmen City for the sake of Bisheng Temple. Now there is news from Cangmen City that Yuan Ren and his brothers killed a group of Japanese patrol soldiers, exposing their tracks, and the Japanese and traitor troops are searching for them throughout the city. Alas! I don't know how they six are doing now." Master Hui Chong sighed.

  "Junior brother, this is where you went wrong. Whether or not Gengyuan is the real Xīao Bǎo, you know best. You should have told him earlier and let him understand his own origins. That way, no matter what others say, he wouldn't be so affected." said Master Huìzhì.

  "I was going to tell him again on his 18th birthday. His birthday is July 21st, and there are still over ten days until then, who knew something like this would happen." Master Hui Chong said dejectedly.

  "Alright, we are all Buddhist monks who understand that everything is just a matter of fate. The incident in the year Gengyuan, whether it's good or bad fortune, everything is predetermined by heaven, so let's just go with the flow. Now that things have come to this point, there's no use saying anything more. Let's first return to Biyuan Temple and think of a solution later." With these words, Master Hui Zhi slammed his hand on the table, and all the monks immediately returned to Biyuan Temple.