"Are you not ashamed?" As the head of the Precepts Hall, Nun Jing was meeting a disciple who showed no sign of remorse for the first time, and she was suddenly enraged, sternly questioning him.

  "Amituo fo, zui guo zui guo." Kong Jian's hand, which was manipulating the Buddhist beads, paused for a moment.

  Xuan Bei stared at Meng Qi in shock and dismay, his mouth agape, but he didn't know what to say. Once the words were out, there was no turning back!

  Is he really thinking so or just doesn't want to lose the chance of practicing on the upper level of the Sheli Pagoda?

  Foolish child, alas, foolish child!

  Xuan Bei's expression was a little disappointed, also a bit moved and relieved.

  Meng Qi stuck out his neck and said fearlessly, "Does the First Seat not know the principle of eradicating evil? When will the cycle of revenge end? Only by cutting off the roots can we avoid killing each other back and forth, increasing more sinful karma."

  "If evil people are allowed to roam free, it is merely a form of education, but it will inevitably lead to more good people suffering, isn't that adding to the sin? Killing for self-protection, cutting off the profession not the person!"

  "Shaolin is Zen, the Buddha is not sought outside, the nature is self-sufficient. The ancestors are enlightened ones, they are guides, and should not be worshipped as clay or wooden statues in the Buddhist hall. But you have forgotten the original intention of Zen, offering incense and worshipping the Buddha with your body, regarding the ancestors as spirits, bowing and paying respects, losing your original heart!"

  "The way of Zen is to seek the Buddha in one's own heart. Everyone has a Buddha nature, as long as they are not deluded by the four elements and the five aggregates. If one is already a Buddha, why do you still need to cultivate virtues, accumulate merits, and seek the Bodhisattva path?"

  "Hypocrisy! Heresy!"

  He can get angry and scold without reason, regardless of whether it makes sense or conforms to his own thoughts.

  "Monster! Where did you come up with such a wicked and heretical idea!" Wu Jing shouted loudly.

  As for Meng Qi's words, he who had studied Buddhist scriptures for many years was not without reason to refute, but as the first seat of the Precepts Hall, being two generations older than a junior who did not know how to repent, it was really unbecoming to debate with him!

  He turned his head towards Xuan Bei: "Do you have anything else to say?"

  Xuan Bei looked at Meng Qi with a deep and profound gaze, his hands clasped together: "Amitabha, the disciple has no way to teach, nothing to say. Please allow the disciple to personally abolish Zhen Ding's martial arts and send him to a nearby city to avoid this."

  Meng Qi lowered his head, feeling a sense of disappointment and regret, he had let his master down...

  Zhen Hui had been kneeling beside him, repentant, without any complaints about the punishment he had received. However, at this moment, seeing his master walk in front of his senior brother, his right palm gently pressed on his dantian, a golden light burst forth, and he finally lost control, his face pale with fear, crying out: "Senior Brother!"

  He is still just a child after all.

  The elixir field didn't hurt, as if it had been immersed in warm water, and the feeling was completely different from when An Guo's evil spirit moved his hand. However, Meng Qi could clearly feel that all of his inner strength was rapidly disappearing.

  Upon hearing Zhen Hui's wailing, he turned his head, forced a smile and said softly: "Young Master, don't be sad, study martial arts well. When we meet again in the future, don't let your senior brother get too far ahead of you, haha, by then you'll be an accomplished monk."

  Zhen Hui was no fool and knew there was no turning back. Her eyes were filled with tears: "Senior brother, you take care too!"

  "I will become a legendary hero." Meng Qi made an effort to alleviate the sudden sadness with his own smile.

  Then, Meng Qi made a vow under the guidance of Xuan Bei: From today on, I will not spread Shaolin martial arts outside - if I don't make this vow, I'll be locked in the bottom layer of the Sharira Tower for decades without seeing daylight.

  Xuan Bei pulled Meng Qi up and said to Kong Jian, "Master uncle, I will send Zhen Ding to Wu Liang to avoid the pursuit of the Crying Old Man's sect."

  Kong Jian stopped rotating his prayer beads, let out a sigh and said: "Zhēn Dìng, the Buddha's law is neither for evil people nor good people. As long as you can enlighten yourself in the future, put down your murderous heart, you can still become a Buddha on the spot, and the gates of Shaolin will be open to you."

  Those who have committed many evil deeds can also attain great enlightenment and become monks, Shaolin will not refuse the intention of those who abandon their evil ways to follow Buddhism. Of course, as a school that has achieved spiritual enlightenment through martial arts, there are methods to verify the authenticity of repentance.

  Meng Qi nodded silently and allowed Xuan Bei to pull him along, their footsteps quiet as a lotus flower, disappearing by the window.

  Zhen Hui bit her lip tightly and gazed longingly at the sky outside, as if still expecting her senior brother to return suddenly.

  …………

  Wu Liang City, where land and water meet in the south and north.

  The golden lotus flowers disappeared, and Meng Qi found himself at the dock, surrounded by coolies sweating profusely, with many travelers taking boats southward.

  Xuan Bei stood quietly in front of Meng Qi for a while before sighing and saying, "Go to the capital, no matter what, the Su family will have to accommodate you."

  "Su's family?" Meng Qi asked slightly astonished, could it be that this body's secular surname is Su?

  Xuan Bei didn't say much more, because when he entered the temple, Meng Qi was already over ten years old and wouldn't have forgotten his own noble status. He looked at Meng Qi deeply once again and said with a heavy heart: "Today we part ways, and I can no longer take care of you. Take good care of yourself."

  "Yes, Master." Meng Qi suppressed the surge of sadness and for the first time, sincerely paid his respects as a disciple.

  Xuan Bei took a light breath, wanting to say something more, but ultimately didn't utter a word. He let out a long sigh and turned his head to leave.

  Under his feet grew a cluster of golden lotus flowers, supporting him as he vanished into thin air, and the passing pedestrians and porters all seemed to see nothing.

  Looking in the direction where his master disappeared, Meng Qi stood still for a moment, then let out a breath and turned to walk towards the guest boat.

  Without the feeling of martial arts, he had experienced it before, and it was not particularly difficult to bear. After all, the physical enhancement brought by Jinzhong's cultivation, the improvement of vision and hearing after opening the eyes and ears, were all based on the flesh, even if the martial arts were abolished, at most there would be some weakening, but they would not disappear.

  The moves and knife techniques that have been learned will not be forgotten even if the dantian is destroyed, it's just that some changes are difficult to complete.

  So even if he encounters a cunning thief who covets his wealth, Meng Qi, with four sharp weapons on him, will not be intimidated.

  As for the Shu family, Meng Qi didn't plan to go back. He had no memory or feelings towards it, so why bother going there and getting into trouble? He just needed to find out about the situation later and avoid being implicated.

  However, he himself used his "real name", and was expelled halfway through, coinciding with the "growth spurt" of changing body shape during puberty. After a year or so, even Shaolin monks couldn't recognize him, let alone the mysterious Su family?

  He had made up his mind to take a boat east and then south, first passing by Xi Jian Pavilion to see if Qian Wei was there. If she wasn't, he would temporarily seek refuge with her until he recovered his martial arts skills. If she had already gone out on a journey, he would continue south to find Zhang Shixiong at the Zhen Wu Sect - The Huahua Sword Sect was located in Huanzhou, where there were many mountains and treacherous waters, with miasma everywhere, making it difficult to travel, and now he had lost his martial arts skills.

  Before long, Meng Qi, who was carrying a large sum of money, found a building boat heading to Hua Zhou - Xianjian Pavilion and Zhenwu Sect were located in the north and south of Hua Zhou respectively.

  He changed into a scholar's attire, wearing a linen headscarf, a Confucian robe, and a long sword hanging from his waist. The Red Sun Suppressing Evil Knife, the Bloodthirsty Sword, and the Horse-Slaying Sword were all wrapped in cloth and carried on his back. As he walked along the road, he attracted many admiring glances, a true elegant young gentleman.

  Normally, Meng Qi would have been delighted to enjoy these gazes, but now he didn't dare to be distracted in the slightest. Who knew if there were any spies from the Crying Old Man's sect here? He had to hurry to the vicinity of the Washing Sword Pavilion as soon as possible.

  The junk boat set sail, Meng Qi stood on the deck, leaning against the railing and gazing out at the rolling waves that seemed to stretch on forever, making one feel carefree and exhilarated.

  And he recalled the various things of Shaolin, thinking of his master and younger brother, thinking of Wu Jing who was too jealous and resentful, thinking of Crying Old Man and Ze Luo Ju, a hundred emotions surged, with sadness, melancholy, loss, also resentment, anger, hating to slaughter those villains under his knife.

  "One day when I achieve my goal of filming on location, I will surely return to the Western Regions and truly conquer the Evil Ridge!" Meng Qi said with a clenched fist.

  The river wind blew strongly, Meng Qi's clothes fluttered and made a rustling sound. His not yet fully developed body looked somewhat thin, and with his true feelings exposed, he appeared even more melancholic, making it difficult for others to approach him.

  Half a day later, the building boat arrived at the next dock, stopped to wait for goods, and Meng Qi and others went ashore, eating some food in a tea house on the side.

  Meng Qi held his teacup, without wasting time recalling what he had learned. All the knife and sword techniques flowed in his mind.

  Dada, suddenly, he heard the sound of horses galloping hastily, looked up and saw four fine horses dragging smoke and dust, approaching quickly.

  Four people on horseback all looked valiant, holding horse knives in their hands.

  "Bandits?" Meng Qi's heart skipped a beat, and he felt both angry and hateful. He drew out his Ice Thorn Sword and quickly stood up, about to rush towards the dock road leading to the city.

  They're actually chasing after us?

  Meng Qi's current speed was no match for the horses, and he was soon caught up by the four horsemen, who surrounded him near a teahouse.

  Because there were too many tables and chairs, Ma's bandits dismounted their horses and approached with knives from four directions.

  Not far from the forest, Yu was still sitting on horseback, watching his subordinates handle things in the distance. He smiled at the big man beside him and said, "Thanks to Master Ou for informing us, our goods will be handed over to you from now on."

  As for other things, he felt far inferior to the Shaolin monks, but when it came to harming people, he was much stronger than them!

  From the beginning, he knew that his thoughts could not be hidden from Xuan Bei and others, so he launched a preemptive strike by accumulating human resources, making some factions in Xizhou pay attention to Meng Qi's movements, using the white-headed bird as a signal.

  As expected, a water gang found Meng Qi at the Wu Liang dock, and he and several of his men each rode two horses to death, finally catching up.

  Wu Bangzhu chuckled and said: "Yu Da still being too polite, a martial artist with crippled skills like you is not even worth my personal attention?"

  "If the little bald donkey hadn't made a mistake himself, I really wouldn't have any way to deal with him. But now, hey, I'd like to see what other tricks he has up his sleeve." Yu sneered again, "Today, I'll kill him to test my blade!"

  He didn't take action himself, fearing that Meng Qi's martial arts had not been abolished and could summon thunder, so he let his subordinates go first.

  Four bandits blocked the teahouse, one of them loudly shouted: "We are here to settle a thousand-mile-old vendetta, those unrelated can leave on their own!"

  In Central Plains, bandits dare not go too far.

  Another sneered: "Little bald donkey, thinking that with Shaolin's backing, you dare to kill at the Upper Evil Ridge. Now you're stupid? This kind of strict and disciplined sect is the easiest to mess with!"

  "You little bald donkey, you look quite handsome, I'm rather fond of this one. If you kneel down and beg for mercy, maybe I'll take pity on you." A bald-headed bandit cackled with a strange laugh, as if Meng Qi was already a dead man.

  Seeing the guests around him scared and running around, four horse bandits also rushed over. Meng Qi was furious and laughed, subconsciously mobilizing his internal force, but he didn't feel any movement at all, and suddenly discovered his own powerlessness.

  But in such a situation, without internal strength, he felt the moves of the four horse bandits more deeply, saw them more clearly and more thoroughly.

  Time seemed to slow down, everything around him seemed to disappear, the accumulated experience, the secret books he had read, and the stories he had heard flashed through his mind one by one, and suddenly he had an epiphany!

  "Get out of here!" Four horsemen rushed up to Meng Qi and shouted loudly.

  Meng Qi's face was calm and quiet, his long sword flashed out, striking first and then retreating, like a ghostly apparition in front of the four horse bandits, using their eyes as hidden weapons!

  Ah!

  The four bandits let out a pained cry almost simultaneously, they threw away their horse knives, covered their eyes and rolled around in agony, with threads of blood flowing from between their fingers.

  Meng Qi looked at them with a proud expression, gazing at Yu Xuan in the distance. With his long sword pointing forward, he said loudly:

  "Even if a tiger falls into Pingyang, can it be bullied by you wild dogs?"