I am Zhao Zhijing, a poor Taoist priest, and I have disciples all over the world.

Chapter 144: Twenty Years in the East, Twenty Years in the West
"After Ogedei died, the Empress Naiman took power and deposed the Crown Prince, replacing the eldest son Guiyou with the successor."

"It was not until Guyuk died that Mengge seized the Mongolian Khanate. According to the original development, Mengge would have died at the hands of Yang Guo under the city of Xiangyang a dozen years later."

At this time, the Mongolian court was undergoing a reshuffle of the original forces because of the regent status of Queen Naimanzhen, and Kublai Khan, who later established the Yuan Dynasty, had not yet gained real power.

Because of this incident, the Mongolian army's pace of advancing southward temporarily slowed down.

However, in recent times, masters in the Southern Song Dynasty's martial arts world have sneaked into the Central Plains one after another and carried out several attacks on local rulers or powerful figures.

Experts from the Mongolian side came one after another, but gained little, which made the situation of ordinary Han people even worse.

Along the way, Zhao Zhijing killed many people openly and secretly, and also saved many people, but it was just the tip of the iceberg of the Central Plains under Mongolian rule.

There were many travelers coming and going in this inn. Zhao Zhijing took Guan Man'er to choose a corner seat and heard a lot of miscellaneous news.

Among them were fragments of news that a large number of Mongolian masters were rushing to various parts of the Central Plains. If they failed to capture the daring Southern Song assassin, they would gather south and take revenge on the Southern Song underworld.

The man who spoke in a low voice looked around. Although Guan Man'er was tall, he was obviously still a child. Zhao Zhijing did not carry any weapon and did not look like a man of the world.

"Shaolin Temple has been closed for a long time. Now, in order to continue the inheritance, it has finally opened its gates a little bit. This time, after hearing the news, many people from all over the country came to worship under the Shaolin Temple."

"That's nothing to say. Groups of Mongolian masters come to capture assassins, and Shaolin Temple is a holy place for martial arts, so naturally we have to go to Songshan to see what's going on."

The man drank a sip of wine with his companion at the table and continued, "Since we are going to open the mountain gate anyway, we might as well take the opportunity to recruit some people."

Although it is said that the mountain is closed, it actually means not to participate in the disputes in the martial arts world, rather than having no contact with the various sects in the martial arts world.

Zhao Zhijing was very clear about the closure of Shaolin Temple. He knew that the cause of everything could be traced back to decades ago, even longer than the first Huashan Sword Contest.

Speaking of the fire-maker who caused great changes in the Shaolin Temple, he was originally just an ordinary servant in charge of making fire in the temple's kitchen.

Because the monk in charge of the kitchen had a bad temper and often beat him, even making him vomit blood, Huogong Toudao began to learn martial arts secretly out of resentment.

It must be said that this Fire Monk was also a stubborn person. He endured for twenty years until he felt that his martial arts skills were better than those of all the masters in Shaolin Temple, and then he started to take revenge.

It is true that twenty years in the east and twenty years in the west.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival that year, Shaolin Temple held its annual Dharma Hall Competition as usual. In front of all the monks in the temple, Huogong Toudao cursed the Dharma Hall's abbot, Kuzhi Zen Master, as a complete idiot.

The disciples of the Dharma Hall could not tolerate his rebellious behavior, and they all stepped forward to fight with him. As a result, all nine disciples were seriously injured.

When Zen Master Kuzhi saw that the martial arts he used were all from the Shaolin Temple, he asked him the whole story and then went out to compete with him personally.

The two fought for more than five hundred rounds. Master Kuzhi could have won, but he couldn't bear to hurt Huogong Toudao's life, so he was about to stop.

As a result, Huogong Toudao misunderstood and thought that Master Kuzhi's move to stop the fight was to take his life. In addition, he was sinister by nature, so he killed Master Kuzhi fiercely and seriously injured him.

That night, Zen Master Kuzhi was seriously injured and died. The fire monk who had escaped during the chaos sneaked back into the temple and killed the monks in charge of the kitchen and several monks who had grudges against him in the past.

Because of this incident, the senior monks in the Shaolin Temple had a big dispute. The abbot of the Arhat Hall, Kuhui, who failed to rescue Master Kuzhi in time, fled to the Western Regions in anger, which led to the establishment of the Western Regions Shaolin lineage.

The head of the Bodhidharma Hall and the head of the Arhat Hall died and left, and the monks in the temple became more disunited, causing the Shaolin Temple, which was once the leader of the martial arts world, to decline for decades and had to close the temple for recuperation. Therefore, until the second Huashan Sword Contest, no masters from the Shaolin Temple participated.

During this period of time, the world of martial arts was naturally changing. Because of Wang Chongyang, the best in the world, the Quanzhen Sect quickly rose to become the orthodox sect of the Xuanmen Sect and gained the reputation of being the best sect in the world.

"It seems that when we go up the mountain tomorrow, we have to pay attention to the masters from Mongolia."

Zhao Zhijing and Guan Man'er finished their meal and had heard most of the news, so they did not stay in the lobby any longer and went straight back to their room to rest.

The next day, before dawn, Zhao Zhijing left the inn early and rushed to the Shaolin Temple in Songshan.

Shaolin Temple is located in Shaoshi Mountain, the western peak of Songshan Mountain. Because it is located in a dense jungle, it is named Shaolin Temple.

After Master and Disciple Zhao Zhijing arrived at Mount Shaoshi, they gradually slowed down their pace of climbing the mountain to avoid being misunderstood by the disciples guarding the mountain as coming to cause trouble.

It was already late October. The fallen leaves on the mountain road that had not yet been cleared were all golden yellow, and the red leaves on the trees were in full bloom. When the autumn wind blew, the scenery became even more unique.

When they arrived at the mountain gate, the disciple in charge of guarding the mountain saw that there were guests and took the initiative to greet them.

"Please stay, benefactor. This is the gate of Shaolin Temple. If you want to visit the scenery of Shaoshi Mountain, please find another way."

Zhao Zhijing knew that the abbot of Shaolin Temple at that time was Zen Master Tianming, but according to seniority, it would be rude for him to ask to see Zen Master Tianming directly.

He took out the visiting card and said, "I am Zhao Zhijing, a disciple of Yuyang Zhenren of the Quanzhen Sect. I am going up the mountain this time to visit Master Wu Se of your temple."

This Master Wu Se was originally a hero in the green forest. After joining the Shaolin Temple, he still maintained his heroic and open-minded character. Moreover, it can be calculated that he is of the same seniority as Zhao Zhijing, and is the most suitable candidate.

When the disciple guarding the mountain saw Zhao Zhijing mention the name of Quanzhen Sect, and that the Seven Quanzhen disciples were well-known in the martial arts world, and that Uncle Wu Se did have a wide circle of friends, he did not dare to neglect him and took the visiting card and was about to go back to report.

But he had walked less than ten steps when he suddenly remembered something and hurried back to ask, "Master, are you Master Zhao from the Jade Maiden Peak of Mount Hua?"

Zhao Zhijing had never thought that his fame had spread to Shaolin Temple. "I dare not. I am from the Jade Maiden Peak of Huashan Mountain."

The disciple guarding the mountain confirmed Zhao Zhijing's identity again and hurried back to the temple to report the news. Zhao Zhijing then waited patiently at the mountain gate and looked at the scenery around him.

After about a cup of tea, a tall monk came down with the disciple who was guarding the mountain.

"I am Wu Se, a poor monk. Nice to meet Taoist Zhao!"

Zen Master Wu Se was about forty years old, with a square mouth and a wide nose, and his speech and behavior were full of heroism. If it were not for his bald head and the monk's robe, he would have been a hero in the world.

Zhao Zhijing returned the greeting and said, "I have long heard of Master Wu Se's great name, but I have not had the chance to meet you. I am taking the liberty to come and visit you. I hope you will forgive me."

Monk Wu Se smiled cheerfully and waved his hand, saying, "My reputation is not worth mentioning. I have long heard of Taoist Zhao's great name."

"Since you have come from afar, please follow me to the temple for a chat."

　Thanks to Chuge Qixue, qidian Dacongming and Ryouk86 for their monthly tickets!
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(End of this chapter)