The big monk spoke very seriously, to the point where Wang Longhu was a bit taken aback.
All this was just too ahead of its time.
There was no choice, Wang Longhu had to invite the big monk inside, have him thoroughly detail the entire incident from beginning to end, only then did Wang Longhu understand what had truly happened.
"Just half an hour ago, Master Yan Jie was found unconscious by his apprentice on the stone marked by Guanyin’s foot at Xiandie Rock, with sixteen fractures all over his body and severe internal organ damage,
because it was raining, there were no traces of the perpetrator at the scene. When the ambulance took him to the hospital, Master Yan Jie still had a shred of consciousness, asking someone to find me at Yingzhou Zen Temple to meet him,
Although I’m of the Wen City Martial Arts Association, I have quite a friendship with Master Yan Jie. Before he entered the ICU, he said a few things to me, asking me to protect the Buddha statue, ensuring the Marrow Cleansing Scripture should never be taken out of Dong County," the big monk slowly recounted.
Upon hearing this, Wang Longhu, who had just changed clothes, couldn’t help but snort: "Aren’t monks supposed not to lie? This old monk hid it well, seems the Buddha statue was never lost, it has always been in his possession."
"You’re only half right," the big monk shook his head, "Master Yan Jie indeed didn’t lose the Buddha statue, but it’s not in his possession, it’s somewhere else."
"What’s the difference? Big monk, you rushed here looking for help means you have a purpose. You want me to protect the Buddha statue, making sure it isn’t snatched away?" Wang Longhu sat down, poured himself a cup of hot tea and asked.
With the impending typhoon, the weather was cooling significantly, and having just finished martial arts practice from the sea, a cup of hot tea seemed like a blessing.
Wang Longhu just felt his whole body’s pores warming up, with a wave of warmth surging throughout his body.
"Yes, I hope using your strength, we can ensure the Marrow Cleansing Scripture isn’t taken by any martial artist forces, carried out of Dong County. Before this, whether it’s the Tide Gang or overseas organizations, or forces from Hong Kong and the Australian District, although coveting the Buddha statue, due to national prestige,
they’ve never dared to openly act, even searching for the whereabouts of the Buddha statue, they did so secretly and stealthily, fearing any unlawful act, let alone harming Master Yan Jie asking for clues,
however, this time is different, Master Yan Jie was injured like that, the group responsible clearly intends to break faces, they’ll do whatever it takes to get the Buddha statue, and to prevent more martial artists from getting involved, I need your help, to work with me to find the Buddha statue."
"This..." Wang Longhu scratched his head: "Master, isn’t the Wen City Martial Arts Association short of its own people? Running into trouble still needs to find someone like me, who started halfway."
The big monk hopelessly said: "This is the reason why I said the group intends to break faces, in Dong County usually it’s only me and a martial artist skilled in daggers on the island guarding, if anything happens that we can’t solve needing extra hands, we’d notify Wen City’s side to send more martial artists to help.
But this time the typhoon Coral landed, the cross-sea embankment is completely blocked, cars can’t come in from outside, people inside can’t go out, now Dong County is an isolated island, everything we must figure out ourselves."
"So, the group even considered the impact of the typhoon, seems they’ve been planning it for a long time," Wang Longhu exclaimed, such meticulous arrangements, obviously not something ordinary people could do.
"Because I also don’t know how many people the force brought this time, to play it safe, I came to ask you for help, as a Ming Jin master having you is better than five or six ordinary martial artists, if you are willing to help, things will be much easier," the big monk earnestly said.
It was evident he was genuinely short on manpower, though there was one thing that left Wang Longhu quite puzzled.
"Can’t you ask for help from the Dong County police, Master? If they step in, the matter shouldn’t be too hard to handle."
"Then you’re underestimating martial artists, even professionally trained special police, though with strong physiques, capable of subduing criminals, but you must know, real martial artists and those showy ones are different,
real martial artists never hold back when they act, they truly express martial arts’ essence ’kill enemy’, even if armed, within tight or close proximity, formidable martial artists won’t even give you a chance to draw,---enough to kill,
the group arriving in Dong County is unidentified, who knows if they’ll be ruthless, calling the police will only increase sacrifice, hence I can only call on martial artists for assistance." Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on No(ᴠ)ᴇlFire.nᴇt
"Alright then, what do you want me to do," Wang Longhu asked.
"Before entering ICU, Master Yan Jie told me some things, he mentioned that due to worrying Buddha statue getting lost in his possession years ago, he secretly hid it somewhere called Jiuchai Village in Dong County, depositing it in a local temple,
later one year the temple didn’t install lightning rods, struck by lightning catching fire, a couple then moved the Buddha statue out, we need to go find that couple."
As a Dong County native, he knew of Jiuchai Village, just at the prior location of Banping Mountain where he dined with Dong Liang.
Over ten years ago, before Banping Mountain and Dong County’s main island built the bridge, getting there only by boat, could be said a place far from the main island, out in nowhere.