Chapter 37: Shameless

Everyone present had their attention drawn to Cao Mao and He Zhiyu at this moment; no one cared what Qian Yang said to Tian Shi.

Tian Shi was quite impatient at first, but his complexion changed again and again as Qian Yang spoke.

Only Wu Chengyu, who had no interest whatsoever in the matter of adultery and elopement, and who felt indignant in his heart because of Shaolin Temple's overbearingness, had been watching Tian Shi the whole time and took everything in.

Qian Yang's voice was very low, but Wu Chengyu's extraordinary hearing still caught every single word and sentence of his; now Wu Chengyu's expression was equally spectacular.

"Senior Brother Tian Shi, there is more to today's matter than meets the eye; you must listen to me.

Although I exhausted my tongue and used every trick to seduce women, finally persuading this woman to elope with me, from beginning to end I never took her chastity.

You know me; I only like those young misses so tender they're practically dripping water. This woman's looks are indeed extraordinary, but she's too old — she really doesn't suit my appetite.

Senior Brother Tian Shi, do you still remember Uncle Master Ku Hen? Uncle Master Ku Hen did something wrong back then and was hunted down; with no other choice he fled into our Shaolin Temple to renounce the world and become a monk. At the time I was ordered to serve as his little novice attendant. Senior Brother Tian Shi knows little of Uncle Master Ku Hen's affairs, but I know them in great detail.

He mentioned a treasure trove back then — inside were not only countless gold, silver, and jewels, but also quite a few martial arts secret manuals. Unfortunately, aside from one household surnamed He, no one else knew the treasure's location, and that He household had long since vanished without a trace. Uncle Master Ku Hen took that dharma name precisely because he hated himself for being unable to find the treasure.

This junior brother privately fled down the mountain, breaking countless precepts, and has often regretted it bitterly; no matter what, my Tian Yang's heart holds only Shaolin — I have always been a Shaolin disciple, putting Shaolin's interests first.

During this journey through Jiangnan, I unexpectedly actually managed to track down the whereabouts of the He household's heir — it is precisely this woman before us, He Zhiyu.

That is why this junior brother thought of every method to make her fall for me at first sight, not hesitating to agree to elope together.

This junior brother's idea is very simple: as long as I subdue this woman and find the treasure, then hand it over to the Abbot, I can redeem my sins of privately fleeing down the mountain and breaking precepts."

By the time he finished speaking, Tian Shi's eyes were also fixed tightly on He Zhiyu; his breathing grew a few degrees more rapid, and his gaze was full of greed.

Qian Yang knew Tian Shi's heart had moved, and immediately struck while the iron was hot: "The matter of the treasure — right now only you and I know. With this treasure, Senior Brother Tian Shi's status in the temple will be incomparable to before; not to mention the Dharma Hall's First Seat would be easily within reach, even the Abbot's position would have a few parts confidence."

Only now did Wu Chengyu finally understand what was actually happening; this elopement incident unexpectedly had nothing to do with lust between men and women — a treasure had popped out of nowhere behind it all.

Men die for wealth, birds perish for food; in Jin Daxia's novels alone, the disputes arising over treasures are innumerable.

The Li Zicheng treasure in "Flying Fox of the Snowy Mountain," the Great Buddha of Tianning Temple in "Liancheng Jue," the ancient Gaochang Kingdom treasure in "The White Horse Neighs in the West Wind," the Forty-Two Chapters Scripture in "The Deer and the Cauldron," the Jianwen Emperor's treasure in "Sword Stained with Royal Blood" — the number of people who died for them is not merely in the hundreds.

Especially martial artists — they seem to have an irrepressible impulse to search for treasures.

Who would have thought that even the background story of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" would actually contain traces of a treasure? This never appeared in the original work, and it precisely shows that this world is the real one — not only the Five Absolutes and the Nine Yin Manual can represent the jianghu; one absolutely cannot rely entirely on the original novel to make judgments.

But Wu Chengyu also absolutely never expected that such a clichéd story would actually play out before his eyes; according to experience, anyone who gets caught up in a treasure affair rarely has a good ending. Most importantly, this Tian Shi before him has clearly already been moved.

"Good grief, this is big trouble. I just want to go back to my hometown and be a peaceful rich young master — why is it so hard? As expected, wandering the jianghu, one must not enter a broken temple." Wu Chengyu thought this while holding A Ku and slowly retreating backward, wishing he could find a place to bury his head.

At this moment Cao Mao finally lost patience entangling with He Zhiyu; he wanted to push aside Niu Dajie and the others and forcibly take He Zhiyu away.

Just then, Tian Shi, who had been coldly watching from the sidelines, stepped forward a few paces, came to Cao Mao's side, and spoke.

"Layman Cao, please wait; the matter of your honored wife — perhaps we can negotiate further."

Cao Mao's face darkened at these words; when he turned his head to look at Tian Shi, the tendons on his neck cracked audibly.

"I wonder what teaching the Shaolin Sect's high monk has to offer; Cao here washes his ears and listens respectfully, not daring to be negligent." The words were respectful, but the tone was extremely stiff, almost forced out word by word, spoken through gritted teeth.

Tian Shi took a step forward; at this point he no longer pressed his palms together in salute: "The Buddha is compassionate; there is great love in the world, and the love between men and women is also within that great love — it must not be betrayed.

Although this Miss He has become Layman Cao's wife, at this moment the two of you are already estranged at heart, and there will never be a day of reconciliation. Spilled water cannot be gathered up; a broken mirror cannot be made whole. If you spend the rest of your lives facing each other day after day, it will only add resentment — truly the suffering of life.

This junior brother of mine made a momentary misstep, yet he also comes from an orthodox sect, and he has not done anything that heaven and man would condemn. Once he returns to Shaolin Mountain, after my Master punishes him, he will naturally be expelled from the temple and return to secular life as an ordinary person.

He has already fallen deeply in love with Miss He and is unwilling to part from her for this life; Miss He is willing to leave her family and follow him — she must also have given her heart to my junior brother.

If Miss He goes with you today, my junior brother and Miss He will never see each other again for this life, leaving only the pain of lovesickness; I expect Layman Cao will also have no peace for the rest of his life.

In this poor monk's view, it would be better for Layman Cao and Miss He to separate right here. Layman Cao takes your thousand-gold daughter home; Miss He follows my two junior brothers and me to Shaolin Mountain.

In this way both sides are satisfied, everyone is happy — I wonder what Layman Cao thinks? Are you willing to grant this?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone present froze on the spot, their thoughts halting; who could have imagined that a Shaolin high monk would actually speak such shameless words.

Just now he was only shielding his own junior brother, using power to suppress others — although shameless, it was also Shaolin Temple's consistent modus operandi, and no one was surprised.

But in the blink of an eye, Tian Shi actually wanted to take He Zhiyu away as well, forcing Cao Mao to separate, and the honored wife became Miss He.

Only Wu Chengyu knew why Tian Shi would suddenly change his mind; this monk was indeed even more shameless than imagined.

After Tian Shi spoke, he turned his head to look at Niu Dajie and the others: "This poor monk and all of you are outsiders; we originally shouldn't meddle in others' family affairs. Why not let this serve as a witness for Layman Cao, Miss He, and my junior brother — it can count as a good deed, and Shaolin Temple will surely be grateful for your noble righteousness."

A fine "shouldn't meddle in others' family affairs" — Tian Shi's meaning was very clear: let Niu Dajie and the others not meddle in idle matters, otherwise they would inevitably offend Shaolin Temple.

By the time everyone reacted, their faces had all turned extremely ugly; Lu Dage's face contained anger, and Niu Dajie no longer cared about anything.

"You thieving monk — first you force others, and now you want to abduct this woman too. I see you're the same as that pretty-faced little monk; fundamentally you're also a lecherous monk."

At this moment, as the party directly involved, Cao Mao could no longer endure; no man could bear such a bizarre and great humiliation.

He no longer spoke, raising the Dianqiang spear with one hand, its tip pointing at Tian Shi from afar.

Thank you Nicholas Baihan, 12321456, Reader 0685, Dr Driui, Nine Gates Commander Wang Daren, A Rookie's Counterattack, Chaochao Eaten by Books, Rafi Spring, Yuan Yuan Yuan Qing, Electric Fan Style Eye, Little Girl Selling Systems, Feng Qi Yun Yong, Reader 6338, Reader 6253, Cat Someone Doing Evil, Reader 0700, Murong Yanzhao, Reader 6826, Rolling in Mud, Reader 6559, Reader 9958, Catching Island Dead Soldiers, Cramping Swordsman, Reader 6576, ABCDEWYF, Reader 2115, Reader 3223 for your monthly tickets.

Also, yesterday there were over 50 people voting for recommendation tickets, obtaining 251 recommendation tickets; 251 — this number is just right. There's a length limit here so I can't write them all out; I'll just bow and thank everyone.

I've also finally realized the FLAG I set in my previous book — when there are many people I won't thank them here anymore; this sentence has finally come true.

But none of it would be possible without everyone's support.





(Chapter End)