Li Xiu sheathed his sword as usual and continued walking towards Wuru Peak.
"I'm saying, you're spitting blood. Why don't we go down the mountain first and come back another day?"
Xiao Zhao looked at the bloodstains on the ground and couldn't help but worry as she spoke to Li Xiu.
Li Xiu waved his hand to indicate that he was fine.
He had already come this far and had even fought a life-and-death battle with the Three Dus, which only further strengthened his determination to go up the mountain and see for himself.
His internal injuries were not minor, and for ordinary people, it would take at least ten days or half a month of rest and not be able to fight with others.
Li Xiu practiced the Nine Yang True Classic and the True Qi automatically flowed through his Dantian and all the meridians, just by quietly walking for a while he would recover as before.
Seeing that Li Xiu was stubborn, Xiao Zhao didn't say anything more and just followed behind him.
The mountain road was rugged and distant, it took the two of them half an hour to get to the foot of the Wuru Peak.
They walked even slower as they went up, because they only knew that Damo was meditating on Wuru Peak, but they didn't know exactly where on the peak it was.
As they reached the upper part of the middle peak, they were not far from the top, when suddenly a natural stone cave caught Li Xiu's eye.
The cave was square and the entrance was about ten feet high and several feet deep, facing the sun.
In front of the cave there were dense trees and dense flowers and plants, and the air was extremely fresh.
Standing at the entrance of the cave, looking down the mountain, everything was in view and the mind became open and calm.
Although he hadn't seen the inside, Li Xiu was almost certain that this should be the place where Damo was meditating, because this place was so suitable for cultivation and meditation, it was rare to the extreme.
Walking closer to the cave entrance and looking inside, he saw a flat stone platform on the ground.
At the end of the cave there was a stone wall, and on it was a person in the posture of meditating with his head against the wall, his wrinkled clothes were vaguely visible, like a faint ink painting!
Li Xiu put the Yitian sword aside and sat cross-legged on the stone platform, his expression carefully examining the Damo shadow wall in front of him.
Gradually, in the vagueness, Li Xiu seemed to be able to see a blurry figure climbing the mountain and walking here, seeing this cave and nodding with satisfaction.
At some point, the figure began to sit upright here, with legs crossed and hands in a mudra, meditating in concentration.
Sometimes birds would fly in and out of the figure's shoulder, but neither the figure nor the birds were aware, the figure had forgotten the mundane world and all living beings, and the birds just treated the figure as an ordinary stone!
As the sun rose and the moon fell, repeatedly, the figure would come out of meditation, move his hands and feet, and stand at the cave entrance to observe the mountains, grass, trees, sun, moon, and stars!
He wouldn't teach the Dharma or recite sutras, he would just sit in meditation all day!
Time passed quickly, with white clouds and green dogs, nine years passed in a flash, and one day the figure realized what he had been thinking in his heart, his eyes flickered with a divine light and his face showed a heart-felt smile, like a fish leaping out of water or a flower blooming on a branch, like sprouting grass and trees!
Sitting on the ground, Li Xiu didn't know why his face also showed a smile, a yearning.
He was indeed indifferent by nature, but no matter who saw beauty or greatness, their mind would shake and show respect!
In these nine years he confined himself to this inch of land, day and night obsessed with what he was thinking, sincere in his thoughts, and finally attained the great way, creating the Muscle/Tendon Change and Bone Marrow Cleansing unparalleled classics!
With such perseverance, intelligence, and wisdom, how many people in the world can compare?
After a moment, Li Xiu took a deep breath and stood up, his mind settled.
Now that he had experienced it through imagination, it was time to solve the doubts in his heart.
How was this Damo shadow wall formed?
If it were said to be due to Damo sitting here for a long time blocking the sunlight causing his shadow to be cast on the stone, Li Xiu wouldn't believe it very much.
The stone wall in front of him was white, but there were light black veins that made up the shadow of Damo, like a faint ink brushstroke.
Generally, rocks can't change their own veins, let alone the shadow of a person for nine years.
Not to mention a hundred years of tree shadow, or a thousand years of mountain shadow.
As for the story of Damo's sincere efforts to convert the stubborn stone and make his figure penetrate into the stone, Li Xiu thought it was not very reliable.
Li Xiu walked towards the Damo shadow stone and tried to reach out and touch the light black veins.
"Hey, what are you doing? Isn't this disrespectful to Damo?"
Xiao Zhao was originally watching Li Xiu sitting on the stone platform, attentively observing the shadow stone.
She thought that although this man was a little cold-blooded, he at least understood the words sincerity and respect!
But who knew that after a while, this man would reach out to touch the Damo shadow stone!
Li Xiu turned and looked at Xiao Zhao, and his words frightened her so that she did not dare to speak again.
Li Xiu didn't mind her speaking too much, he knew that Xiao Zhao was always like this.
In the movie, a deceased person requires the person coming after them to perform three bows and nine knocks in front of him.
However, Xiao Zhao obediently followed the tradition, otherwise Zhang Wuji would not have received the "Heaven and Earth Great Shift" technique.
The dead are great, especially in ancient times, let alone Damo, a half-Buddha like character!
In front of the Damo shadow stone, it was disrespectful to walk around and look at it recklessly, let alone Li Xiu wanted to touch it with his hand!
After being looked at by Li Xiu, although his gaze was not fierce, Xiao Zhao also knew that it was definitely not a compliment or praise.
When Li Xiu reached out again, she slightly opened her mouth but did not speak to stop him.
As he touched the stone wall, a feeling of cold roughness came from his fingertips, and there was no other sensation.
Li Xiu put his whole hand on the stone and wiped it, but he saw no color fall off on his palm.
He then became even bolder and actually used his true energy to pull a small stone off the shadow stone.
However, when he looked, he saw that the small pit was still a dull black color, not just on the surface.
Xiao Zhao felt that this was a bit too much.
He had actually damaged such a sacred place. If someone came after them, they would see a small pit on the Damo Shadow Wall and wonder what had happened.
Xiao Zhao wanted to say something to Li Xiu, but Li Xiu glared at her and silenced her.
Li Xiu turned his head halfway, but suddenly realized that it would be inconvenient if he had to deal with Xiao Zhao's warnings every time he made a big move.
It would be troublesome.
Xiao Zhao watched as Li Xiu turned his head away and then strangely turned back again, staring at her.
Xiao Zhao felt a chill down her spine and recognized the familiar gaze.
She remembered the fear that the knife hand had instilled in her.
"No, please don't! I promise I won't talk so much anymore!"
Xiao Zhao's face was filled with bitterness and her arms pleaded as she took a step back and begged for mercy.
However, it was useless as usual. Li Xiu took a step forward and approached Xiao Zhao.
Xiao Zhao tried to defend herself, but the gap in their martial arts skills was too great.
Li Xiu easily knocked her arms aside and then used a knife hand to knock her unconscious.
Li Xiu placed her down and felt a sense of peace.
He turned his focus back to the Damo shadow stone in the cave.
Strange, faint noises could be heard coming from a small, four-sided cave on the Wuru Peak in the back of the Shaolin Temple.
At first, the noises were controlled, but they gradually turned into knocking and then into loud rumbling that shook the forest.
[ 'Damo' Buddhist monk Bodhidharma ]