The Villain's Counterattack

After the competition, Murong Fu and Qiao Feng washed up briefly before returning to the venue to discuss martial arts with Abbot Xuan Ci. The discussion between the three great masters was extraordinary. Although they did not discuss their own unique skills, their general insights and precautions still fascinated many martial artists in the audience and they were reluctant to leave.

As the setting sun dyed half the sky red, Murong Fu invited Qiao Feng and Abbot Xuan Ci to spend some time in a spacious training ground in Shaolin. A table full of food and wine, both meat and vegetables, made Abbot Xuan Ci's mouth twitch. This bastard was getting more and more outrageous.

Seeing this, Qiao Feng laughed heartily, but he consciously placed the wine and meat on his side and pushed the exquisite and delicious vegetarian food in front of Abbot Xuanci. "Brother Murong has always been unrestrained and is accustomed to making people angry. I hope Master Abbot will not blame you."

Abbot Xuanci shook his head helplessly and said, "Although I know that Mr. Murong has no ill intentions, Shaolin is a pure Buddhist place, so I hope you will restrain yourself a little."

Murong Fu waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "For those of us in the martial arts world, drinking big bowls of wine and eating big chunks of meat is the true joy. There's no fun in dwelling on these trivial details all day long. As the saying goes, wine and meat pass through the intestines, but remain in the Buddha's heart. This is the quality that a monk of a high level should possess."

Abbot Xuanci looked at him as if he were a fool, shook his head, and said, "If you can't even uphold the Confucian precepts, how can you become a Buddha? The three realms of Buddhism are precepts, concentration, and wisdom. Without the precepts, how can one enter concentration? Without concentration, where does wisdom come from? Unless one is born with an extraordinary Buddha nature, it is better for us Buddhists to practice step by step according to the rules. Your words, donor, are not an exaggeration in the eyes of true Buddhas, but in my opinion, they are just an excuse for those who indulge in alcohol and meat to avoid the Confucian precepts."

Murong Fu gave him a thumbs-up and praised him, "It's true that you can't fool a true master. It's true. He speaks according to his state. If he were a true Buddha, why would he need to observe precepts? If he indulges in wine and meat and loses control of himself, he won't be able to reach a high state. That's enough of this joke."

As he said that, Murong Fu clapped his hands. The four maids left a sandalwood box and went away. Murong Fu opened the box and saw stacks of letters inside, divided into three stacks of different thicknesses.

"This part is the intelligence of the Western Xia Kingdom, of which the information about the Western Xia Yipintang accounts for the majority. They intend to expand, and their target is directly targeting the Central Plains martial arts world, especially the Beggars' Sect, which is the first to bear the brunt. Brother Qiao needs to be careful." Murong Fu took out the stack of information and placed it in front of him. Qiao Feng took it with both hands, said thank you, and slowly unfolded it to read it carefully.

"This section contains intelligence from the Tubo Kingdom. Whether you read it or not is irrelevant. I will be the prefect of Yazhou for the next three years. Any Tubo invaders who want to enter the Central Plains must first pass through me." Murong Fu spoke with great confidence. Abbot Xuanci chanted a Buddhist chant and cast his eyes on the thickest stack. He couldn't help but speculate, "Could this last section be the intelligence from the Liao Kingdom?"

Murong Fu gave a thumbs-up and praised, "Master, you're truly amazing! This is exactly the information from the Liao Kingdom. The Liao Kingdom was filled with aristocrats, with the Yelu clan, the royal family, and the Xiao clan, the most powerful. Empress Xiao had two sons. The eldest, Yelu Zongzhen, was kind and generous, while the second, Yelu Chongyuan, was extremely brave and possessed considerable military strategy. When Emperor Shengzong passed away, he left a will to pass the throne to his eldest son, Zongzhen. However, his empress favored the second son and plotted to make Chongyuan emperor."

"Yelu Chongyuan, however, was a man of great loyalty and strategy. Empress Xiao's decision to dethrone the eldest son and enthronize the youngest son violated the dignity of the imperial family, so he schemed to eliminate Empress Xiao's power. He then joined forces with his brother, Yelu Zongzhen, to foil Empress Xiao's scheme, allowing Yelu Zongzhen to ascend the throne and become emperor. He then became the crown prince and was given the title of Grand Marshal of the Army. Yelu Zongzhen even promised to pass the throne to him in the future as a reward for his kindness."

Upon hearing this, Abbot Xuanci forced himself not to look at Qiao Feng, his expression changing. Murong Fu smiled at the two and asked, "What do you think of Yelu Chongyuan?"

Qiao Feng and Abbot Xuanci exchanged bewildered glances. Finally, it was Abbot Xuanci who spoke first: "If this is not great benevolence and righteousness, then it is great treachery and evil."

"Brave and resourceful, and quite loyal to his brother, this man must be a true character." Qiao Feng suddenly asked, "What methods did he use? How did he cut off Empress Xiao's wings? At the time, Empress Xiao supported him to the throne, so she probably wasn't too wary of him, and might even have exposed her power to him. If this man used these advantages to kill Empress Xiao, I'm afraid..."

Murong Fu took out letters one after another and threw them on the table. Some of them were from more than 20 years ago. Qiao Feng picked up a few recent ones, but found that the person who needed attention was not only the Crown Prince, but also his son Yelu Nerugu. This man had a sinister temperament, was extremely ruthless in his dealings, and was quite unfriendly to the Song Dynasty.

Abbot Xuanci, however, focused on the earliest few pieces of intelligence, took them out one by one and examined them carefully. Sure enough, he saw in the third letter that the Khitan master Xiao Yuanshan was ordered to disguise himself as an ordinary person and enter the Central Plains, intending to steal Shaolin martial arts to strengthen the power of Queen Xiao.

The source of this intelligence was precisely Yelü Chongyuan, who was supported by Empress Xiao at the time, and the information leaked from his mouth was quite credible. It seemed so at the time, but later, Empress Xiao's wings were cut off one by one by him and his brother Yelü Zongzhen, which made it very suspicious.

Abbot Xuanci nodded secretly. The intelligence network of the Gusu Murong clan was very powerful. When the old donor Murong secretly told him this information, he was probably using it to cut off Empress Xiao's power. You must know that Xiao Yuanshan was the chief instructor of the personal army of the Queen of Liao, Shan's tent.

"Is the Liao Emperor, Yelü Zongzhen, ill?" Qiao Feng suddenly exclaimed in surprise, his gaze casting towards Murong Fu, who nodded slightly. "That's why I've come this time. The Liao Emperor, Yelü Zongzhen, is not skilled in martial arts and is now ill. The Grand Marshal, Yelü Chongyuan, is extremely brave and possesses considerable military strategy. I'm afraid he'll outlive the Liao Emperor."

"Who do you think will inherit the throne after the emperors of those two countries die?" Murong Fu's words made the two men look at each other in confusion, and finally gave the same answer: his son Yelu Hongji.

"If Yelu Hongji were to become emperor, what would happen to Yelu Chongyuan and his son?" Murong Fu asked again. Qiao Feng pondered deeply, then shook his head and said, "According to intelligence, the Xiao family isn't completely wiped out. The Liao Kingdom still has many aristocratic factions. Yelu Chongyuan and his son are representatives of the royal family and nobility. Even if Yelu Hongji were to become emperor, he would only recruit and employ them, not eliminate them."

Abbot Xuanci was silent for a moment and suddenly said, "They are likely to rebel."

"Oh," Murong Fu couldn't help but be very curious after hearing this, and asked with a smile: "Master, why do you say that?"

Abbot Xuanci glanced at him and sighed softly, "Human hearts are extremely complex and fickle. This incident is the fault of the Liao Emperor, Yelü Zongzhen. He shouldn't have promised to pass the throne to him when he ascended the throne. This led Yelü Chongyuan to believe that he would become the Liao Emperor and that the Liao Kingdom would eventually fall into the hands of them, father and son."

"If this continues, Yelu Chongyuan and his son will harbor the illusion that this is our kingdom. Once Yelu Zongzhen dies and passes the throne to his son, Yelu Hongji, it will inevitably infuriate Yelu Chongyuan and his son. When they discover that the dream they've held onto for over twenty years is all illusory, they will inevitably go mad and use some harsh or insidious means to take back everything that belongs to them. And as the Grand Marshal of the Liao Kingdom, Yelu Chongyuan has exactly this ability."

After hearing what Abbot Xuanci said, Murong Fu couldn't help but admire him secretly, and then asked, "Then how should we deal with this huge change that may happen?"

Abbot Xuanci was silent for a moment after hearing this, then shook his head and smiled bitterly, "We can do nothing. Individual strength is nothing compared to the national trend and the millions of troops. Amitabha~, Patron Murong chose Tubo, handed Xixia to Boss Qiao, and finally asked me to deal with the most powerful Liao Kingdom. I'm afraid Patron Murong will be disappointed. I'm likely unable to deal with the Liao Kingdom."

"Then, shall we switch?" Murong Fu looked at him with a smile. Abbot Xuanci thought carefully and felt that it was really difficult to deal with the Tubo Kingdom by himself. They had a large army and were too far away from Songshan. Only Murong Fu, the governor of Yazhou, could handle it.

Although Xixia Yipintang is a gang force, it is located in the northwest and is not close to Songshan. They also hold official positions in Xixia. If they are not careful, it will bring huge trouble to Shaolin. In this way, it seems that the Liao Kingdom is the most suitable country for them to deal with.

"Amitabha, Buddha said if I don't go to hell, who will? I will accept this from Liao. If the critical moment comes, I hope you can help me."

"If you have an order, I won't refuse."

"It depends on the situation. I'm actually quite unhappy with Yelu Chongyuan and his son."