Surrounded by enemies, Meng Qi was not fazed. He drew out his long saber and pulled the itinerant peddler's long sword away. Then he crouched his legs, allowing the old man's dagger to stab at his back, yet making the thin sword of the Huqin elder hit a bit above the crucial point on his back.
That had also caused the woman of the couple to miss Meng Qi's throat, hitting his chin instead. The low-lying knife, however, cut toward his legs.
Although the itinerant peddler in front had not succeeded, he could not help let out a snicker. He showed weakness on purpose earlier, resulting in the success of this ambush.
"Thud, thud, thud!" A cluster of sounds like arrows penetrating leather rang out, as the itinerant peddler's laughter froze on his face.
He saw his compatriots' weapons hit the little monk as if hitting on an iron block, with only a bit of penetration. Very little blood spilling out from his body, the little monk retrieved his long saber and performed the move "Sweeping the World".
Seeing a head fly across with blood spraying like a fountain, the itinerant peddler felt as if he was in a rain of blood, then he saw the beheaded body of the woman of the couple shake and fall softly to the ground.
"His Thwart Kung Fu is at such a high level!" regretfully thought the itinerant peddler, not expecting such a young monk to be so well-trained in Thwart Kung Fu!
Meng Qi ignored the men behind him, which were the Huqin elder and the old man from the teahouse, and he suddenly cut across diagonally, blocking the low-lying blade where the man's legs were split open. Meng Qi's long saber swiped downward and blood was sprayed out once again, spilling onto the white tape on his legs.
Then he slid his feet, strangely falling backward and sliding past the shoulders of the old man from the teahouse.
Heads were flying in the air and blood was spraying everywhere, yet Meng Qi only had a shallow cut across his chest.
Seeing everything, the itinerant peddler was petrified. He lost his cool and turned his body in shock, like he was trying to get away from evil ghosts.
Suddenly, everything was hazy in front of him. When it all cleared, he saw the handsome young monk blocking his way.
"Go to hell!" he yelled, and then frenetically stabbed toward the middle of Meng Qi's eyes, not wanting to stick around.
The injured Meng Qi bit his teeth and laughed, feeling particularly ferocious. He lifted his left hand and clenched the itinerant peddler's long sword. Meng Qi did not care that the sword cut his hand really deep and blood was spilling out. He pulled back the sword and waved his long saber.
"Noooo..." The itinerant peddler's scream suddenly stopped. Then, blood sprayed all over Meng Qi's face.
The Huqin elder on the opposite side was shaking all over, he belted out an odd scream and started running for his life. Meng Qi chased after him hurriedly.
"Is this what they call exchanging a small injury for a big one?" thought Meng Qi. When the fight ended, Meng Qi let out a foul breath, wiped off the dirty blood from his face, and walked toward the survivors in the teahouse.
The rich childe, his servant girl, and the guards watched this scene silently without realizing what had happened until streams of blood sprayed out and skulls were flying one after another. It was not until the monk, who seemed to have walked out from a bloody prison, approached them from the front that they came to their senses. Shaking from the fright, they knelt down and begged for mercy.
"Master, Master, I've always been a dedicated Buddhist, please have mercy on my worthless life," the rich childe begged through tears.
"I, a poor monk, only wanted to ask for directions. Could you tell me the way to Mount Shaohua?" Meng Qi let out a smile. But under all that blood, the rich childe and his crew only thought the smile was scary and ferocious.
A guard, who had just managed to stop trembling, honestly gave the information to Meng Qi.
Meng Qi nodded slightly, then a repulsive addiction arose from inside him. "I see that fate will bring you all closer to Buddha..." said Meng Qi.
"No, Master! I'm not ready to see Siddhartha Gautama just yet, I still have an 80-year-old grandma, and a 3-year-old child to take care of. I will give you whatever you want!" The rich childe started crying with fear.
"I just want to borrow the donor's horses, will you grant me this favor?" asked Meng Qi. The more they were getting scared, the more Meng Qi was enjoying playing the "senior monk".
The rich childe looked at the blood stains on Meng Qi's face and did not dare to refuse. "It is my great honor to grant Master this favor, so the horses are yours," the rich childe answered.
"I am not a thief, this pendant is yours, think of it as collateral," Meng Qi explained. He realized it was getting late and he did not want to frighten them further.
The rich childe's face was suddenly full of tears as he said, "Master, I willingly present the horses! It's my offering for Buddha, how could I accept collateral!"
He frantically waved his hands, unwilling to accept the jade pendant because he thought that it was a test, and that if he had accepted the jade pendant, his head would no longer be attached to his body.
Meng Qi collected himself and said, "Amitabha, I, a poor monk, thank the donor for your generosity."
The rich childe breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I should thank the Master for his blessings."
Meng Qi suddenly thought of a line, then half-smiled while looking at the rich childe's personal property and said, "I, a poor monk, also noticed that fate also exists between the donor's belongings and Buddha."
A depressed expression appeared on the rich childe's face. Trying to be a devoted Buddhist, he gave his silver bag to Meng Qi and said, "I wish Master would use this dust to mold his golden body and bless all humanity."
"Wow, he actually gave it... Is this what it feels like to beg for alms? To be a mendicant monk?" Meng Qi thought. He curled his lips and stopped talking, then waved Qi Zhengyan and the others to come over and check the bodies, and find some water and food.
Moments later, Xiang Hui led four horses and tied the food and water on the sides of the horses. Then he looked at Meng Qi, who had just bandaged his wounds. Xiang Hui had a big smile on his face as he said, "Divine monk, when do we set off? We'd better not linger with only three days left."
Meng Qi replied softly, "Let's be on our way now."
To be honest, Meng Qi thought that after witnessing the battle, Xiang Hui would change his attitude toward him. After all, he did display all of his abilities in the battle. Meng Qi felt that he and Xiang Hui were on the same level because he was just as adequately trained in Thwart Kung Fu. Meng Qi was not expecting Xiang Hui's admiration and ingratiation.
"Is he doubtful of defeating me in a battle?" Meng Qi thought.
Upon hearing Meng Qi's answer, Xiang Hui immediately mounted the horse. He grabbed the reins like a pro, waiting to leave.
Meng Qi looked at the horse before him and felt perplexed. After all, he had never ridden a horse before, but he was now a Kung Fu master which meant he was very light on his feet. As long as he did not have to fight on the horse, he would be fine.
"Ma-master..." Suddenly, Little Zi, the young girl, nervously opened her mouth.
Meng Qi and Qi Zhengyan both turned to look at her, not saying a word.
Little Zi said in tears and frustration, "Master, I, I don't know how to ride."
"That is a problem." Meng Qi frowned, looking at Little Zi and thought, "She is just an ordinary girl, she won't be able to learn in such a short time and under such urgent circumstances."
Suddenly, Meng Qi thought of his conversation with Jiang Zhiwei, who suggested that he should learn the Lightness Skill. Jiang Zhiwei was indeed correct. "If you can't even keep up with others, how can anyone protect you? Even if they had the kindness of a Bodhisattva!" recalled Meng Qi.
Seeing that Meng Qi and Qi Zhengyan were both silent, Little Zi felt so nervous that she began trembling and said, "Master, I, I can learn to ride. Please don't leave me behind!"
She did not know anyone here. The only thing she could do was to hold on to the seemingly kind Meng Qi, even though they had just met. If she were left behind, she would be assaulted, sold to ***places, and would not be able to do a thing.
Meng Qi looked her up and down, noticing that her clothes were covered with blood stains. He realized that this was because she had followed his orders to check the dead bodies.
He remembered that although Little Zi was afraid of corpses, she still obeyed and completed the task. Meng Qi sighed in his heart and thought, "Heaven helps those who help themselves..."
"It is a little too late to start learning now, Little Zi. If you don't mind riding with a little monk on one horse, then jump on," said Meng Qi. He chose a Buddhist name for himself on purpose to show his religious identity so that Little Zi would not get the wrong idea.
Meng Qi thought that he could leave her behind without feeling guilty, but since he wanted to be good, he should try to think through all the details.
Little Zi wondered for a second, and then her black, paint-like eyes seemed to have been covered with a layer of mist. She put her hands together and said, "Master has the heart of a Bodhisattva. I'm very grateful."
Xiang Hui subconsciously curled his lips from behind. If it were up to him, he would not bring along such a weak little girl who could not even tie up a young chicken. He would have just found a place to have his fun with her and left her behind.
Qi Zhengyan did not contradict Meng Qi's decision either. He still held that unsmiling face as he looked at Meng Qi and nodded a little.
"Little Zi, sit behind me, and remember to grab on to my frock," Meng Qi said while helping her mount the horse.
He had hardly finished speaking when a thought popped into his head, "Allowing an unfamiliar girl to sit behind is a little inappropriate." Hence, he changed his mind and said, "Little Zi, you'd better sit in the front, I'm afraid that you might fall off."
Little Zi did not object and moved to the front. Meng Qi jumped on and wrapped around her to grab the reins.
A flash of redness appeared on Little Zi's face, but she did not feel too embarrassed because Meng Qi was still just a child of 12 or 13.
While riding one horse and leading another, Qi Zhengyan said softly, "Junior Brother Zhen Ding, I was worried that you lacked Jianghu experience."
Meng Qi knew that Qi Zhengyan was referring to his decision to let Little Zi sit in the front instead of the back. He replied embarrassingly, "Indeed, I'm very inexperienced. I was even tricked by that itinerant peddler, but that's not the biggest mistake. I shouldn't have gone into the teahouse to ask for directions in the first place. If I'd just asked anyone on the road, then we would not have met those killers chasing after us..."
After the battle, he recalled everything carefully, analyzing the mistakes. He realized that he was still too immature and naive.
Meng Qi clearly knew that his talent could not compare with people like Jiang Zhiwei or Zhang Yuanshan. If he was not self-critical at least three times a day to make up for it, then the future would be bleak.
After he patiently finished listening to Meng Qi's words, Qi Zhengyan twisted his head. While looking toward the front, he said quietly, "I, too, was negligent."
"Ha." Meng Qi laughed to himself, saying no more. He took off his jade pendant, threw it behind, and it landed in the arms of the rich childe.
Then, he whipped the horse to leave and his laughter was mixed with the sound of the hooves, while yelling, "This money is for the horses."
The rich childe caught the jade pendant, then watched as Meng Qi in a gray frock disappeared in the distance. After the rich childe came to his senses, he muttered to himself, "He actually gave me money..."
The pendant looked quite valuable, it was really smooth and transparent.
He could never have imagined that under such circumstances, a little monk who killed people as if they were grass, would give him money.
Didn't people always say that if those mendicant monks were common folks, they would be greedy and voracious!
"Young master, he seemed more like a monk than those senior monks that often come around..." The pretty servant girl was perplexed as well.
...
"Not mendicancy?" Qi Zhengyan watched as Meng Qi tossed his jade pendant, a little shocked, and said, "This is the World of Samsara, you must be flexible.
"Nobody knows us here, we'll leave as soon as the task is complete."
Meng Qi lost his usual smile, and said sternly, "If we give in to temptations and break moral boundaries when there is no one around or when we are in a new place, then how are we different from those without moral boundaries? Even in the World of Samsara, we should be disciplined. Otherwise, after a few tasks, sooner or later, things will change. We could incarnate into the Embodiment of Asuras and then we'd fall into eternal darkness."
Meng Qi never actually thought about it on a deeper level. He just believed that he should have discipline and boundaries, and not turn into someone who he himself would want to kill in the end.
And because of the little Jade Buddha, he did not want to carry the jade pendant around either.
When Qi Zhengyan lifted his head to look at the road ahead, his tone was a little concerned. "But is it possible to be disciplined? If Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms gave you a task that would challenge your bottom line, and kill you if the task was not completed, would you want to lose your life? Would you still follow the path of the Buddha?"
"I..." It was hard to answer Qi Zhengyan's extreme ideas. Meng Qi just sighed and said, "It's hard to imagine it at present until that moment comes... but we do need to store some Karma points, just in case they need to deduct them for the failure of the task."
Dust was flying in the air and the sound of hooves was loud. Meng Qi and Qi Zhengyan both fell silent, focusing on the road.
Two days later, the four were getting close to the Shaolin Temple. Since they did not care whether the horses were tired or not, they just kept going. Any killers that were after them were nowhere to be seen.
"We'll abandon the horses at the next crossing because we'll reach our destination through these woods." Meng Qi repeated his and Qi Zhengyan's decision to Xiang Hui and Little Zi.
Judging by the present circumstances, the killers did not expect that they could be so fast, therefore the killers could not keep up. But Meng Qi and Qi Zhengyan both believed that the killers still had means of communication, be it pigeons or other methods. They could inform other skilled killers nearby to block them. Thus, they had to travel on small roads.
"If we traverse through the mountains, there are "paths" everywhere. Even if Duo Ercha has many skilled killers, they can't totally block us, even with his army here!"
Little Zi and Xiang Hui had no objections to their decision.
Now the dawn was drawing near and the rain was pouring down. The road was getting harder to see. Meng Qi suddenly felt the horse trip on something and he flew into the air, taking Little Zi with him.
Then, a few dozen white arrows made strange sounds, darting in the rain, through the woods, and straight at Meng Qi, Qi Zhengyuan, and the others.