Chapter Fourteen: Reversing Cause and Effect

  The following is:

  Last time, Zhang Jiao and Yue Fei almost simultaneously raised their guns to their heads, the two men smiled at each other, and everyone believed what Yue Fei said.

  Zhang Jiao accompanied by a smile said to Yue Fei: "May I ask you to tell us the name of your teacher Zhou Tong, so we can go visit him?"

  "Sir, his surname is Zhou, his name is Cong, his courtesy name is Juchen, and his Taoist name is Tiebi Daoren."

  " Iron Arm Taoist? This name sounds familiar, how come I just can't remember?"

  Zhang Jiaotou was in a state of confusion. Next to him, Li Jiaotou interjected: "Is it not the 'Tian' number one teacher from the Imperial Fist Institute in the capital? The instructor of the 800,000 imperial guards, one of the Five Tigers General of Liangshan, Lin Chong's master, known as 'Shaanxi Great Hero Iron Arm Zhou Tong', Mr. Zhou?"

  Yue Fei shook his head: "I know Mr. Zhou's name is Dou, but I don't know if he is the great hero of Shaanxi, Iron Arm Protector. The teacher has never mentioned it to me."

  "Hurry, let's go visit Mr. Zhou, I met him in Tokyo and I recognize him," said Li Jiao Tou, leading Yue Fei with Zhang Jiao Tou, like two little fans running towards the end of the village.

  The three of them arrived at the small hut and saw Mr. Zhou sunbathing on a large stone slab, sleeping lazily.

  Three men tiptoed up to Mr. Zhou, Yue Fei was about to speak when Li Jiao Tou hastily stopped him, and the three of them waited aside.

  It was about the time it takes to burn an incense stick when Mr. Zhou woke up and sat up, looking at Yue Fei and the other two, asking: "Who are these two?"

  Yue Fei replied: "These two are village instructors who have been invited here today to pay their respects to our teacher."

  Zhou Dong waved his hand and said, " Outsiders are not allowed to see, please go back."

  Li Jiaotou hastily knelt down on the ground, clasped his hands together and said: "I am not an outsider. In those years when Wu Doutou came to Dongjing Bianliang, Lin Jiaotou had me lead Wu Doutou to the Yuquan Hall to meet Mr. Zhou. My name is Li Zhong, do you still remember?"

  Ladies and gentlemen: The Yuquan Hall was established by Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin, as a martial arts hall representing the highest martial arts in the country. The Yuquan Hall has one chief instructor appointed by the emperor himself. There are three great instructors under heaven, earth and man, with Zhou Tong being the "heaven" instructor, holding the most respected position.

  After Wu Song killed the tiger, County Magistrate Sun Guoqing sent Wu Song to deliver the tiger's bone marrow to Cai Jing in the capital to curry favor with the powerful. Wu Song lingered in the capital and met Lin Chong. Lin Chong thought Wu Song was born with divine strength and a straightforward character, making him a promising recruit, so he had Li Zhong take him to meet Zhou Tong. Zhou Tong was immediately pleased and personally taught Wu Song for several months, accepting Wu Song as his registered disciple. This is an old story.

  Mr. Zhou heard this and looked at Li Zhong carefully, "Are you Xiao Zhongzi?"

  Li Zhong hastily nodded in agreement.

  Mr. Zhou paused for a moment, recalling past events, and couldn't help but shed two lines of heroic tears. "My several foolish disciples, not listening to their master's advice, were blinded by the word 'righteousness', resulting in an early death, with the white-haired sending off the black-haired, it's truly bitter."

  Honorable judges: The disciples collected by Zhou Tong are as follows:

  The Great Hero Lu Junyi

  Lin Chong, the second apprentice

  Three Disciples of Sakyamuni

  Si Tu Di Wang Ting Yu

  Wu Tudi Sun Li

  Six Heroes Wu Song

  Young apprentice Yue Fei

  Yue Fei and Li Zhong did not dare to make a sound, after a long time, Mr. Zhou calmed down and said to Li Zhong: "I lost my composure, Xiao Zhongzi, you come over, what's the matter?"

  Li Zhong said respectfully: "The young master has come, mainly to visit the teacher and wish the teacher good health. Also, Kirin Mountain may have bandits coming to commit crimes, hoping that the teacher can teach us how to protect the villagers' lives and property."

  Zhou Tong nodded in agreement: "Seeing injustice on the road and lending a helping hand is the duty of us martial artists. Moreover, I have spent some time in this village, so even if the villagers are not very welcoming to me, I will still help out and do my part."

  Li Zhong and Zhang Yi, two village heads, were overjoyed and hastily returned to the village to inform all the elders.

  The elderly in the village learned that the "Tian" number one master of the Yuquan Hall was in their village, extremely surprised and delighted, hastily changed clothes, brought gifts, and led a group of people to see Zhou Dang to apologize.

  The villagers were rough and clumsy, so they let the elderly accompany Zhou Tong to talk, while the others cleaned up the objects in Zhou Tong's house and moved them back to the ancestral hall in the village.

  Ladies and gentlemen: The Agong House is a place prepared for officials to collect public grain in the village, it is the most luxurious house in the village.

  Zhou Tong knew that these country people were kind at heart, so he let everyone go back to the village and stay in his grandfather's house.

  After tidying up, the elderly invited Zhou Tong to take a seat in the ancestral hall.

  After the ceremony, the village elders proposed that Mr. Zhou teach and guide the young people in the village to defend against bandits.

  Zhou Tong replied, "I have taken in seven disciples in my lifetime, and Yue Fei is the last one I will take. From now on, I won't accept any more disciples. However, the young men from the village can be taught by Yue Fei, and as for other matters, I can also assist. A small bandit like that is not worth worrying about."

  Ladies and gentlemen: Zhou Tong has a far-sighted vision, knowing that Yue Fei will establish his own foundation in the future. The sons of Qilin Village are the best choice, and this arrangement can make these sons take Yue Fei as their master from an early age, bringing great prestige to Yue Fei.

  The crowd of fathers and elders heard what Zhou Tong said, and also saw the skill of Yue Fei at noon, so they put down their worries and left with joy.

  …………

  In the evening when he was reading, Yue Fei asked about Mr. Zhou's past experiences. The master smiled and said: "Achievements, fame, wealth, and fortune are all fleeting like clouds in the sky, like fallen flowers flowing away with the water. Those who cultivate the Tao should not take these things seriously."

  Yue Fei asked about the deeds of several of his fellow disciples. The master sighed and said, "Your fellow disciples, Shi Wen Gong was infatuated with wealth and was secretly dismissed by me, only to be captured by Lu Junyi and die at Liangshan. Lu Junyi, Lin Chong, Sun Li, and Wu Song were all deceived by the 'righteous' words of Song Jiang, also known as Black Three, and died unjustly; Wu Song barely escaped with his life but lost both arms, and became a monk at Liuhe Temple on the banks of Qiantang River. Luan Tingyu was trapped by love, during the battle at Zhu Family Village, Luan Tingyu was tricked by Wu Yong's 'Tiger Leaving the Mountain' plan, when he returned to the village his fiancée, Flute-Playing Niangzi, had already been forced into marriage with Short-legged Tiger Wang Ying; himself could not defeat Lin Chong and Sun Li working together, in a fit of anger he wandered the earth, whereabouts unknown. I have lived my life undefeated, yet most of my disciples were ruined by a small, insignificant prison guard with no strength to bind a chicken, what a joke."

  Yue Fei didn't want to bring up Mr. Zhong's painful past again, so he changed the subject and told him in detail about his battle with the two instructors at noon.

  The master then asked Yue Fei: "You actually want to ask why I didn't teach you any martial arts techniques, right?"

  Yue Fei saw that his little thoughts had been seen through by Mr., so he could only nod in agreement.

  Master stroked Yue Fei's head with kindness and said: "You are the last disciple of your master, also the greatest hope of your master. Your master has used all his life experience on you. Your several senior fellow disciples were trapped by emotions, righteousness, etiquette and law. I want you to be 'reasonably confident'. I only taught you how to cultivate your body and use force, but not specific fighting techniques, because I don't want you to 'reverse cause and effect'."

  "Is it possible for the consequence to become the cause?" Yue Fei didn't quite understand.

  To know what happens next, see the next episode.