The soft guzheng melody drifted through the mountain range, carried on the wind.
"For those who are loved, time flies quickly." The leaves rustled on branches.
"For those in pain, time passes so slowly." Birds chirped in the mountains.
"Love, who can tell me the meaning of love."
The song ended as Mu Dishi stepped out of his thoughts. His voice was a low growl. "You dogs must wait for me."
Fifteen days later, Mu Dishi sat inside an abandoned temple. He watched as the burning flame of a candle swung back and forth. It had been ten years since he left the Central Plains. He was forbidden to return for ten years because he had lost the duel to Kuo Shifu after they exchanged three thousand moves.
Kuo Shifu was the only martial artist in the Central Plains that Mu Dishi still considered a righteous man. He would try to avoid Kuo Shifu as much as possible, but if Kuo Shifu stood in his way like before, he would have no choice but to disable the only righteous man in the Central Plains.
Mu Dishi wondered, it had been ten years since the last time he saw the three sect and four clans; did they still remember him? Maybe they might already have forgotten him, but he would never forget them. Their names were carved deeply inside his heart. Even in his sleep, he still murmured the names of these dogs.
Speaking of forgetting, there was also someone it was hard for Mu Dishi to forget as well. It had been five years since the last time he saw the boy. The boy left when he was just a child. He closed his eyes, trying to remember when and where he met the boy who had a brighter smile than anyone else.
As the memories of the past flooded back, he found himself reliving... and then the teahouse memory begins:
...walking into a small roadside teahouse in the outskirts of Tong Village.
He sat down and ordered his usual food. The teahouse owner knew him very well. Every time he stopped by, he would order the same food. It had been like that for six months.
A couple and their ten-year-old son got off their horses and walked to the teahouse. The couple and their son sat down at a table behind him. The woman was coaxing her son.
After listening to the woman speaking, he knew her very well. How could he not know the woman? After all, she had taught him a very good lesson in the past: to never trust anyone but himself. The lesson was taught in a very well-planned manner, filled with pain and humiliation. The woman's name was Lin Daiyu.
The man who sat beside her was her husband, Ma Shufen. In his eyes, Ma Shufen was no better than a stray dog. Only a stray dog would be willing to let their female dog breed with other stray dogs during heat cycle season, just as Ma Shufen had Lin Daiyu sleep with other martial artists to reveal their manual secrets.
Suddenly, four daggers flew toward the couple and their son. Ma Shufen grabbed a wooden bench and blocked the four daggers. The rest of the people in the teahouse ran for shelter. Ten Himalayan monks dressed in red robes walked toward the couple and their son.
When he saw Lin Daiyu hide her son behind her, her action was a bit surprising to him. Back then, she went above and beyond, even staged the death of her infant baby to make sure he fell into her trap by coaxing him with sweet words and offering him promises that were nothing but emptiness.
Lamas Kalama said, his voice calm but firm, "Amitabha. Please return what you've stolen."
Ma Shufen retorted, his hand gripping the bench tightly, "How could we steal it when it's originally ours?"
Lamas Kalama stated, his gaze unwavering, "You came to our monastery and stole it from us. The item was found by us."
Lin Daiyu countered, her voice sharp, "We are the original owners of that item."
He listened to the people who stood on two different sides arguing back and forth that the other had stolen from them. He wanted to laugh until all of his beautiful youthful teeth fell from his gums, or laugh until all of his critical vital points burst like a dormant volcano that suddenly erupts.
Actually, the item that they've mentioned belonged to him. He was the rightful owner of that item. He stopped chasing after that item because his mission was not to get some item that would lead him to his death. So far, anyone who had their hands on that item eventually ended up dead. It was such a bad luck item, so he didn't understand why everyone wanted it, even dying trying to get their hands on it. That was one of the two reasons he decided to leave it with Lin Daiyu since she went above and beyond and took it away from him. Another reason was, he hated this woman, her husband, and the entire Ma household to the bone. He purposely left the item with them for others who wanted that item to chase and kill them. By the looks of the couple right then, they must have been chased since the last time he saw them. He felt somewhat satisfied seeing the couple struggling to survive and being chased like dogs.
Lamas Kalama said, with a sigh, "Amitabha... please forgive this monk."
The ten Himalayan monks struck at the couple. Lin Daiyu pushed her son back toward the teahouse; she jumped forward to help her husband. One of the monks broke away from them and struck at the young boy. His palm strike hit the young boy right on the shoulder and sent him crashing onto a table in front of Mu Dishi. The young boy vomited a mouthful of blood.
The other eight monks quickly surrounded Ma Shufen and destroyed all of his seventy-two vital acupoints on his body. Ma Shufen's acupoints burst, and blood gushed out through his entire body. Ma Shufen fell backward dead on the ground.
Lin Daiyu called out in pain, her voice a wail, "Jingguo...!" She ran to her injured son. She quickly tapped on Ma Jingguo's front acupoints on his chest. Then she looked up and saw Mu Dishi. The moment her eyes landed on him, her face turned pale as a ghost. Her voice was a barely audible whisper. "You..."
Ma Jingguo grunted in pain, "Mother... it hurts." He started whimpering. "Mother... just give it to them. Please give it to them."
Lin Daiyu wiped her son's tears. Her voice was gentle but firm. "Alright, let's give it back to the rightful owner."
Lin Daiyu took out a dry sheepskin from inside her inner robe; then Lamas Kalama flew over and took it from her hand. She stood up and started attacking Lamas Kalama, but her inner strength was no match for the monks.
Lamas Kalama did two back flips, then struck hard, flying forward toward Lin Daiyu, "Fire Palm Strike!" Lamas Kalama's Fire Palm Strike sent Lin Daiyu fifty feet away. Lamas Kalama put his hands together. He sighed. "Amitabha."
Ma Jingguo ran to Lin Daiyu, crying, "Mother...!" He knelt down beside his dying mother and held her right hand. "Mother... how are you feeling?"
Lin Daiyu said, her voice weak, "I am okay." She raised her left hand and touched Ma Jingguo's face. "Jingguo, promise me two things. First, you must live with that beautiful smile on your face. Do you know... your smile can take away a person's pain?" Ma Jingguo nodded. "Secondly..." She coughed a mouthful of blood, but she did not want Ma Jingguo to see it, so she decided to swallow it down. Her breathing became shallow. "Look at the person at the table." Ma Jingguo looked at the man sitting not far from him. "You must stay by Dishi Shushu's side. I can't repay him for what I've done to him. Can you do that for me?"
Ma Jingguo nodded, his voice thick with tears, "I will do that."
Lin Daiyu said softly with tears in her eyes, her voice a whisper, "Your Shushu is a very pitiful person, just like me. We are both someone else's pawns. In this world... we don't have anyone who will be willing to stand beside us... other than our shadows..." She reached out her fingers and wiped Ma Jingguo's tears; she smiled. Her hand slowly fell from his face, lying motionless on her abdomen.
Ma Jingguo cried softly, shaking his mother gently, "Mother... wake up... mother... mother..." The ten-year-old cried, hugging his dead mother who was lying on the ground.
Lamas Kalama said, his voice solemn, "Amitabha... may your souls ascend to heaven."
Mu Dishi thought it was funny for this monk to pray for the two dead people's souls to ascend to heaven. This monk was such a hypocrite. How could their souls ascend to heaven when they left their little dog behind? These two people would never ascend to heaven. The only place their souls would go was straight to the eighteenth level of hell.
As the ten Himalayan monks turned and walked away, Mu Dishi stood up and said coldly, his voice cutting through the quiet, "Wait..."
Lamas Kalama and the nine monks turned around.
Mu Dishi said with cold eyes, his voice devoid of warmth, "That sheepskin belongs to me. Return it to its rightful owner."
A younger monk replied, his voice defiant, "It's ours."
Mu Dishi said, a cruel smile touching his lips, "I didn't know that monks wanted to join the collection of corpses in the Mu Treasure Cave. How could your soul ascend to heaven... if you are not free of attachment?"
Mu Dishi's eyes didn't even flinch when the young monk struck and flew at Mu Dishi. He dropped a golden needle from his sleeve in between his fingers; he sent the golden needle at the charging monk. His action was fast; the nine monks only saw a tiny sparkle, and the charged monk stopped in his tracks, screaming in pain, covering his left eye.
With his eyes still glaring coldly at the monks, he put on his black, soft metal glove. The eight monks charged at him; he sent out a single guzheng string at the eight monks. In a matter of seconds, he blinded the eight monks. The eight monks screamed in pain, covering their eyes with their hands.
Lamas Kalama flew over with his Fire Palm Strike at him. He caught Lama Kalama's hand and countered with his left palm, sending Lamas Kalama thirty feet away, losing the sheepskin along the way. Lama Kalama vomited a mouthful of blood.
He said, his voice low and mocking, "If I were you, I would not use my inner energy right now."
Lama Kalama sighed, his voice raspy, "You are a young man, but your inner energy exceeds mine. This monk cannot believe I would lose to a young man."
He scoffed indifferently, his tone dismissive, "You didn't lose to me. You lost because of your greed for wanting to enter the Mu Treasure Cave."
Lama Kalama sighed, resigned, "Amitabha."
He picked up the sheepskin. He saw five butterflies on the right side of the sheepskin. It brought back memories.
He slowly folded the old sheepskin and tucked it away inside his inner robe. He walked to the teahouse owner and gave him a big gold ingot. He then walked away toward Tong Village.
Two days later, when he led a horse pulling a wagon full of food passed by, he saw Ma Jingguo still standing under a tree. Ma Jingguo brightened up with a big smile when he saw him. Ma Jingguo walked clumsily toward him.
Ma Jingguo said, his voice hopeful, "Dage."
He said coldly, his voice like ice, "You dog, don't call me that."
Ma Jingguo followed him, undaunted, "My mother said to call you Dishi Shushu, but since our age is not that much different, I would rather call you dage."
He turned around and said coldly, his eyes piercing, "A dog like you is not allowed to call me by name."
Ma Jingguo swallowed his saliva. He adjusted his tone. "Alright, Xiao Shushu."
He said, waving him away, "Go away. Don't follow me."
Ma Jingguo insisted, his voice determined, "Xiao Shushu, my mother wanted me to stay with you."
He snapped, his patience thin, "For what? Go away."
Ma Jingguo insisted, standing his ground, "My mother said to stay by your side and repay the debt that she owes you."
Mu Dishi, a man of few words, rolled his eyes at Ma Jingguo and turned to walk away. Yet, the boy's persistence was great; Ma Jingguo quickly followed him up the mountain to a secluded area. Standing in front of them was a big solid rock door.
He said, his voice echoing slightly, "Once you enter this cave, you can never get out if I don't open the door. This stone door weighs ten thousand pounds. I am the only person who can open the door."
Ma Jingguo said, looking up at the massive door, "I will listen to you."
He sent out a single golden needle into a small open hole; it turned on the traps inside the cave. The ten thousand-pound door slowly pulled up. He and Ma Jingguo walked inside the dark tunnel into the cave.