Huo Ye's chest rose and fell; plainly his heart was far from calm. "With my own hand I cut off my arm," he said coldly, "and sent it to the Great Tingming Temple, giving back the powers that were the temple's. So why did you still hunt me down and scatter my wife and children from me? Since you were so set upon my death, why may I not pass the Great Tingming Temple's arts to others?

" The white-browed monk shook his head.

"Junior brother, one arm does not stand for all the powers. " Huo Ye laughed low in his throat. "Heh heh. Not every power in this body of mine came from the Great Tingming Temple either. Will you cripple those as well? I came out of the Great Tingming Temple, true enough—but in those days I fought my way out with my own two hands, and you did not dare bar my road.

Then I had a wife and a son, and you came looking for me again; it was for their safety that I was willing to cut off my own arm and give you back the Great Tingming Temple's powers!

" His face darkened.

"And after that?

You hunted me, you scattered my wife and children, you broke my home and destroyed my family! " "Go back? " Huo Ye's face went wooden.

"In those days I cut my way out by killing. If I am to go back, then by killing I must cut my way back in! " The white-browed monk's expression sank, and he sighed. "The Tathagata will be greatly disappointed.

That youth on the platform—he is your disciple, is he not?

You passed on to him the Eight Tingming Techniques, but you did not pass on the heart-method of our Great Tingming Temple, the Tingming Mahayana Sutra. " He looked toward Shen Mu, who was even then contending with a young man upon the dueling platform.

"The Tingming Mahayana Sutra is the dharma for subduing demons. Without cultivating that heart-method, the Eight Tingming Techniques may be refined to any height and still be nothing but an empty show. Today I have brought my disciple with me.

Chenghuai, come and pay your respects to your martial uncle!

" Behind him a tall, gaunt young monk stepped forward, a string of prayer beads hanging from his hand, and pressed his palms together in salute. "Martial uncle. " The white-browed monk's white brows streamed upward.

"Chenghuai is also a martial artist of the Spirit Fetus realm.

I lay my Zen staff here as the stake. Will you take the wager, junior brother?

" Granny Zhu's brows shot up and she was about to speak, when Huo Ye said without expression, "Rules and precepts—dogshit, every one of them.

I will take your wager. How does my head weigh against your Twelve-Ring Brahma Silence Zen Staff? " The white-browed monk nodded. "The weight is much the same.

" The Blind Elder, Granny Zhu, and Master Dan all frowned deeply and were about to urge him against it, when Huo Ye said flatly, "If my Shen'er loses, you take my head back to the Great Tingming Temple and show it to the Tathagata. If Shen'er wins, the Zen staff stays here, and you may roll back to wherever you came from, as far as your legs will carry you.

" "Very good. " The white-browed monk said to the little monk Chenghuai, "Today your master must reclaim the Great Tingming Temple's powers from one who betrayed the temple.

If you win, it shall be your merit. " Chenghuai assented, and stepped toward the dueling platform.

Upon the platform, the young man crossing blades with Shen Mu was a master of the sword, and he walked the road of Senior Brother Chu of the Lanjiang Five. His sword never left his body by more than three feet; but unlike Senior Brother Chu, his blade was not large—it was more like a dagger, eight inches long, small, and all the more vicious for it. This little sword would thrust out from strange places: from beneath an armpit, from between the legs; it would even slip inside his clothing, and dart out of his sleeve the very moment Shen Mu traded palm-force with him.

To ride a flying sword on qi, to wield the sword-control art with such mastery—this was little inferior to Yanqing, disciple of the Lanjiang Sect, and far beyond Senior Brother Chu. And beyond that, the man had attained a lofty mastery of combat skill besides.

His palm technique was profound and deep, its momentum like a towering mountain; the instant the force of his palm was released, mountain veins would bloom forth from his palm. Yet by now victory and defeat upon the platform were already clear. Shen Mu was mighty in strength and savage in force, swift in footwork; the young man had suffered badly the very first time they matched palms, for Shen Mu's vast and vigorous vital essence crushed his own outright!

What Shen Mu employed was the Nine Dragons Commanding Wind and Thunder; though only three of the nine layers of power burst forth, the young man's organs were already injured. For all the subtlety of his swordsmanship, the outcome was settled.

Shen Mu ran with tangled, staggering steps, like a thousand snakes writhing through the grass, east one instant and west the next, forward, then back, so that the young man could not tell from where his attack would come; the next moment a pain struck him between the shoulder blades, and a single palm from Shen Mu sent him flying. The young man landed, stared blankly for a moment, then bowed to Shen Mu on the platform. "My thanks to the young brother for his mercy.

" That last palm had indeed been printed upon his back, and with great force—yet the force was not harsh, and had not injured heart or lungs; otherwise, with Shen Mu's strength, he could have smashed every one of his five organs to powder! "Does my junior brother wish to rest?

" Mingyue had stood quietly waiting there all this while, and only once Shen Mu had defeated the young man did he speak. Shen Mu's gaze fell upon him. The monk was young in years, dressed in white robes of dyed cloth, untouched by a single speck of dust; even the shoes on his feet were white, and the man himself was fair and clean.

Though his head was shaved bare, he was still strikingly handsome, and made men feel a liking for him without knowing why.

He was about to answer that there was no need, when Granny Zhu's voice came suddenly: "Rest! You must rest! " Puzzled as to her meaning, Shen Mu nonetheless did as Granny Zhu said, sat down to rest, and regulated his breath. His Mystic Body Three-Cinnabar Art was suited to cultivation while in motion; though he had already fought more than ten martial artists, his vital essence was scarcely depleted, and he still stood at the peak of his state—only his body was somewhat weary.

Granny Zhu brought a cup of water up onto the platform, put it into Shen Mu's hand, and said in a low voice, "Shen'er, whatever means you use, you must win this time—you must not lose! Your Grandpa Huo has taken a wager against that old bald thief; he has staked his own life upon it! " Shen Mu's heart lurched, and he hurriedly looked toward Huo Ye, whose face was calm; his voice came to him: "Shen'er, the peerless Overlord Body absolutely cannot lose!

I believe in you. " Though he spoke so, Shen Mu was still somewhat shaken.

The people of the village were all his kin, but the ones dearest to him, after Granny Zhu, were Huo Ye. It was Huo Ye who in those years had shouldered the stone statue upon one arm and gone out of the village with Granny Zhu, and picked him up from the riverside, saving his life! If he were to lose, would he not have brought about Huo Ye's death? Master Dan, too, was frowning deeply.

Huo Ye believed Shen Mu to be the peerless Overlord Body and had faith in him—but Shen Mu was not an Overlord Body after all.

He now somewhat regretted having helped the village headman conceal that kindly lie. Had the truth been told them earlier, Huo Ye would never have staked his life.

It was precisely out of his trust in Shen Mu that Huo Ye had wagered his life against the white-browed monk! Suddenly a murderous light flashed in Master Dan's eyes: "If Shen'er loses, then kill this old bald donkey and the little bald donkey too.

Huo Ye must not be sent to his death!