The construction of Shaolin Temple was progressing in full swing. With Huo Yuanzhen investing large sums of money, the hundreds of craftsmen worked enthusiastically, rapidly building roads, grounds, and walls.
The four monks under Huo Yuanzhen's command were all busy with their tasks. Since Huizhen and Huiming arrived, Yikong became more proactive, taking on responsibilities like overseeing construction and even handling shopping errands.
However, Huizhen and Huiming were no fools. They knew that Yikong was trying to outdo them, so they also busied themselves with tasks, making Huo Yuanzhen, ironically, the one with the least work to do.
This suited Huo Yuanzhen just fine. He didn't want to waste his time overseeing the progress of construction; he had more important things to focus on.
Training the Pure Boy Skill!
This was Huo Yuanzhen's heart's desire. Unlike the martial arts techniques extracted from the system, which he could instantly learn, the Pure Boy Skill was something he had practiced before, requiring slow and steady practice.
Huo Yuanzhen's martial arts talent was average. Compared to the obsessed Yijing, he was far behind, though slightly better than Yikong. With his moderate aptitude, progress in internal cultivation was slow. If not for this, it wouldn't have taken him more than ten years to only just develop a faint sense of energy.
During this period, apart from narrating Journey to the West, Huo Yuanzhen spent nearly all his remaining time on training the Pure Boy Skill.
Twenty days passed.
On this day, thousands of people gathered at the foot of the mountain, all coming to listen to the Journey to the West. Huo Yuanzhen had been narrating for some time, and he had reached the part about the Kingdom of Women.
This part of the story was one of the most exciting episodes in Journey to the West. Tang Seng was somewhat moved by the queen of the Kingdom of Women, which was the only time he showed interest in a woman throughout the entire journey.
Huo Yuanzhen added some colorful embellishments to the story, bringing it close to an adult level, which naturally attracted a large number of listeners. Even some of the craftsmen would take a break to come and listen for a while.
Sitting at the table, Huo Yuanzhen looked out at the bustling crowd in the Shaolin courtyard, which was quickly taking shape. The sight brought a smile to his face.
Today, Huang Feihong was also present, sitting near the front, looking at Huo Yuanzhen with admiration.
Since the day he saw Huo Yuanzhen shatter a stone with his head, Huang Feihong had been filled with deep respect for him. He had been coming to Shaolin almost every day, begging Huo Yuanzhen to teach him martial arts.
But Huo Yuanzhen had never agreed. The reason was simple—apart from Iron Head Skill, he didn't know any other martial arts. Even if he were to fight Huang Feihong, he would likely be defeated in a few moves.
So Huo Yuanzhen kept up the mysterious persona, keeping Huang Feihong interested. Tomorrow marked nearly a month since his first system lottery, with the exception of the special draw on Dragon Boat Festival. He could finally try again and see if he would win a martial arts technique to teach Huang Feihong.
Huo Yuanzhen cleared his throat and said, "Now, the queen of the Kingdom of Women, with her gentle song and dance, her robes half-unbuttoned, revealing…"
Many listeners salivated, eager to hear exactly what she revealed.
Just then, a commotion rose from the back of the crowd.
Huo Yuanzhen lowered his gaze, and saw a group of ten or so burly men in blue clothes walking up from the foot of the mountain.
These men were all strong and carried weapons—some had steel knives, others carried wooden sticks, and a few wielded red-tassel spears.
However, none of these weapons were particularly refined, and their clothing was plain, clearly not that of official or martial arts professionals.
Huo Yuanzhen, having seen many situations, knew that such a group was most likely a gang of local hooligans.
Sure enough, one of the lead men swaggered to the front of the crowd. He glanced around, then kicked the chair of a young man who had brought a seat from home, sending him tumbling to the ground.
"Move, let me sit here."
The young man, kicked to the ground, was angry but didn't dare to speak up.
"Damn, the mountain road really is hard to walk on," the lead thug muttered, his body big and muscular, his belly round, and he wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve before looking up at Huo Yuanzhen, who was sitting at the table.
"Hey, monk, listen up. This is Dengfeng County, and our Lord Niu says that anyone making money here has to pay a fee. You've been telling stories here for a while now, making a lot of silver, haven't you? We've been nice to you because you're a monk, and we haven't caused you trouble. But you're still being stubborn and haven't paid. Now, we've had to come all the way up here, so don't expect to get off easy. You'll need to pay up, and don't forget the handling fee for our trouble."
Hearing the name "Lord Niu," many of the onlookers showed fear on their faces.
Huo Yuanzhen stood up from the table and waved for Huang Feihong to come over.
"Huang Feihong, who is this Lord Niu? What are these people doing here?"
Huang Feihong glanced at the men and scoffed, then explained, "Abbot, Lord Niu is just the head of a local martial arts school. His real name is Niu Er, and he's a local from Dengfeng County. He's the brother-in-law of Chen Ding, a local thug. His martial arts are mediocre. He once taught me a few moves, but he's nothing special. He's just a good-for-nothing who everyone in the county hates. The men with him are all his disciples, and they're nothing more than troublemakers. They're notorious for causing trouble and extorting people."
"I see," Huo Yuanzhen said, understanding the situation. "How many of them can you handle?"
Huang Feihong didn't realize that Huo Yuanzhen couldn't fight, and assumed he was testing him. He bit his lip and said, "If it were Niu Er himself, I'd be no match for him. But these guys are nothing. I can take on three… maybe five."
Huo Yuanzhen sighed. From Huang Feihong's words, it was clear that even he wasn't confident of handling three of them, and five was pushing it.
Normally, this could be resolved with just paying the fee, but Huo Yuanzhen was absolutely unwilling to pay.
Not only was he frugal, but if he let these thugs extort him, how could he ever recruit disciples under the banner of martial arts?
After counting, Huo Yuanzhen saw that there were twelve thugs. Huang Feihong could handle three, Yijing could probably deal with five, and Yikong, Huizhen, and Huiming each had some skill—one could take on one thug, but two would be a stretch.
That meant there was one thug left without anyone to handle him, and it looked like Huo Yuanzhen might have to take him on himself.
But no matter what, Huo Yuanzhen could not let the thugs get away with this. He steeled himself and signaled to the monks and Huang Feihong to stand behind him.
Looking at the lead thug, Huo Yuanzhen bowed and said, "Amitabha. This man's greed for wealth, women, and power is the root of all evil. I advise you to abandon your ways, do good, and stop committing wrongs. The seeds of your actions today will eventually lead you to suffer the torment of hell. Repent before it's too late. Cast down your weapons, come before the Buddha, and atone for your sins. Then quickly leave this place, lest the consequences come upon you…"
"Enough!" the thug yelled, standing up abruptly and pointing at Huo Yuanzhen with a trembling hand. "You damn bald donkey, enough of your nonsense. Just give me a straight answer: are you going to pay or not?"
Huo Yuanzhen smiled, "Pay, or not pay, what will happen?"
"If you pay, we leave. If not…" The thug grinned maliciously, holding up his steel knife. It was the only real weapon among them.
Huo Yuanzhen chuckled, "You dare threaten me? You have no idea what you're dealing with. Brothers, let's go!"
Yikong whispered, "Abbot, we are monks, we should practice compassion and mercy. Fighting with knives and swords…"
"Forget about that! They're going to tear down our temple! Get them!"
Yijing and Huang Feihong couldn't hold back anymore. Huang Feihong had been itching to teach these guys a lesson for a while. With the monks backing him up, he was the first to charge forward.
Yijing followed closely behind, as the top fighter of Shaolin, he wasn't about to let a bunch of thugs push him around.
The thugs were caught completely off guard by the monks fighting back. In a single exchange, Huang Feih
ong knocked one thug into a nearby table.
One thug tried to raise his spear, only to be hit in the chest by a sharp strike from Yijing.
Before the other thugs could react, the group of monks surrounded them.