Tianlong: Starting with Mantuo Manor as fertilizer

Xie Buruo, thick-skinned as ever, remained unfazed by these words and asked innocently, "What scriptures?"

The monk Xuanbei didn't explain further, but said "excuse me" and began to grope him.

He first took out the Cloud Island Master's notes, glanced at them twice, and then put them aside.

Then, he took out a wooden box from the pouch at Xie Buruo's waist.

The monk Xuanbei raised an eyebrow and glanced at Xie Buruo, only to see that the other party remained calm and composed.

He stretched out two withered fingers, about to open the box.

Suddenly, the wind howled.

Another old monk leaped through the hole in the roof of the temple.

He was holding a person in his right hand and casually threw him to the ground; it was none other than the escaped island lord.

Xie looked up and saw that the island lord looked exhausted, clearly having already received a good beating.

His clothes were charred black in every way, as if he had just crawled out of a fire.

The old monk who had just entered looked around, then paused, staring at the broken bronze mirror. He turned to Monk Xuanbei and asked, "Where are the scriptures?"

Xuanbei shook his head: "That's all."

He twitched his fingertips slightly and opened the wooden box.

Inside the wooden box were a yellow pill, a letter, and an ancient book.

The ancient book has the words "Sitting in Oblivion" written on its cover; it is a musical score.

Disappointment flashed in Xuan Bei's eyes.

The old monk beside him suddenly brightened up and couldn't help but reach out to look at the musical score in the box.

He reached out halfway, but managed to restrain himself and put his hands together in prayer position.

"Amitabha Buddha, what a sin! In a moment of weakness, I was overcome by greed."

Xuanbei reached out and patted Xie Buruo on the shoulder, channeling his inner force to release the pressure points instantly.

"Young benefactor, I'm deeply sorry for your rudeness!"

As he spoke, he was about to return the wooden box.

Suddenly, he stopped moving, as if he had thought of something, and withdrew his outstretched hand.

Xie Buruo was startled only at this moment.

He had previously stuffed the Yi Jin Jing into the innermost layer of the wooden box.

Without knowing the mechanism, it would be extremely difficult to know.

Xuanbei had clearly let his guard down before, but for some reason he became suspicious again and took the wooden box back into his hands.

Although he did not know how to activate the mechanism, his mastery of the Great Vajra Pestle technique was unparalleled.

With just a light tap, the wooden box will crumble into dust, revealing the Yi Jin Jing (Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic).

Xie Bu Ruo glanced at Xuan Bei without showing any emotion.

He opened the wooden box again, took the sheet music in his hand, and slightly turned the pages.

It contains fingering instructions for all kinds of music.

It was indeed a genuine sheet music, not one of those fakes with a different cover.

The old monk next to him leaned closer, staring at the fingering instructions on the sheet music, shaking his head and uttering three "wonderful" sounds.

Xie Bu Ruo secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the other party was suspicious of the musical score, not the wooden box.

He thought to himself, "No wonder Murong Bo wanted to kill you. Now I finally understand his feelings."

He then remembered that Doctor Xue had been kidnapped by the island lord and hurriedly asked the old monk who had just come in.

"Master, a friend of mine has been kidnapped by this person. I wonder what his current situation is?"

The old monk then realized and said, "So you're Doctor Xue's good friend! That's a huge misunderstanding."

"Don't worry, I've saved Dr. Xue. He just suffered a head injury and hasn't woken up yet. He's been taken to the Medicine King's Hospital for treatment, so there's no need to worry too much!"

As he spoke, the old monk couldn't help but glance at the musical score again.

Xie Buruo's heart stirred, and he guessed the old monk's origin.

"If Master Xuanku likes this score, please feel free to take it and study it for a few days."

Xuanku was both delighted and surprised: "How do you recognize this old monk, benefactor?"

Xie Buruo said, "I once heard Senior Kang Guangling mention that he had a confidant in Shaolin, namely Master Xuanku."

"Just now I saw you lingering over the ancient score of 'Sitting in Oblivion,' so I suppose you must be a person who loves music. From this, I can deduce that it was you."

Xie Buruo had already taken the sheet music out of the box and handed it over.

"If you like, Master, you may make a copy. Senior Kang Guangling also made a copy a few days ago."

When Xuan Ku heard that his confidant had already made a copy, he immediately accepted it with a smile.

"Then this old monk will accept it without being impolite. I will observe it for a few days and then return it to you, benefactor!"

Xie Buruo smiled slightly, thinking to himself, "I'll gladly accept that copy of the *Yi Jin Jing*. Let's exchange one book for another; it's a fair deal!"

He didn't even consider that the sheet music wasn't actually his.

At this time, Monk Xuanbei had already searched the island lord as well.

After searching and still finding nothing, he suddenly spoke.

"To be honest, benefactor, there is a scripture hidden behind the bronze mirror in the Bodhi Courtyard of this temple. It is a Mahayana classic in which eminent monks of the past expounded the Dharma and enlightened the world."

"Several people entered the temple today, and in the chaos, they were picked up by someone, I don't know."

"Did you see anyone acting strangely just now?"

Seeing that among the crowd, only Tan Qing had not yet been brought to justice, Xie Buruo decided to make him take the blame.

"Among those who were chasing me and Doctor Xue was Tan Qing, who also had a 'soul-chasing staff.' I saw him groping around in front of that bronze mirror."

Before he could finish speaking...

The island owner also chimed in.

"Not bad, not bad, I saw it too! No wonder that fellow wasn't in a hurry to help us repel the enemy, he was stealing the scriptures!"

He had no real relationship with Tan Qing, and seeing that everyone else had been arrested while Tan Qing had escaped, he felt even more resentful.

Moreover, what he saw was indeed true.

As for whether the other party obtained the scriptures or not, he naturally did not know.

The island lord put himself in the other's shoes, thinking that if he were in that situation, even if he obtained the scriptures, he would pretend nothing had happened.

As for Xuanbei's claim that the lost texts were Mahayana scriptures, he didn't believe a word of it.

If it were truly a Buddhist scripture, why would such a large-scale search be necessary, involving everyone being searched?

Upon hearing this, Xuanbei's eyes lit up.

"It seems the scriptures are in the possession of this man."

Xie Buruo seized the opportunity to fan the flames: "This Soul-Chasing Staff belongs to Tan Qing, a disciple of Duan Yanqing, the leader of the Four Evils, known as 'The Most Heinous.' The loss of the scriptures at your temple was likely premeditated!"

Yue Laosan heard this and knew that Xie Buruo was taking the opportunity to frame him. He opened his mouth to speak but his voice was hoarse.

But then I thought about it again. My eldest son has always been ambitious and exceptionally intelligent. If he really made such an arrangement, it wouldn't be impossible.

Moreover, their own boss is plotting against the Dali Duan family, and the only thing that can rival the Six Meridians Divine Sword is the Yi Jin Jing.

The monk Xuanbei pondered for a moment, muttering to himself.

"If that's the case, how did he know the location of my Buddhist scriptures? Could it be that one of the Four Evils is privy to Buddhist secrets?"

He glanced at Yue Laosan and felt that this matter needed to be thoroughly investigated.

Xuanbei summoned several disciples and told them to take Xie Buruo to rest first. He then ordered Yue Laosan and the others to be imprisoned.

After finishing these tasks, Xuanbei and Xuanku went together to the abbot's room.

At this moment, all the senior monks of the Xuan generation and the heads of various academies of Shaolin Temple have gathered here.

After Xuanbei entered, he briefly recounted what had happened in the Bodhi Courtyard from beginning to end.

Xuanci listened in silence for a moment, then sighed deeply: "It seems that Shaolin Temple is destined to suffer this calamity today."

Xuan Ku offered words of comfort: "The theft of the Yi Jin Jing is indeed a great tragedy. Fortunately, this scripture is written in Sanskrit, so even if an ordinary person obtains it, they would not be able to understand it."

"Even if someone truly understands Sanskrit, in the end..."

Having said that, Xuan Ku stopped talking.

All the monks in the hall understood.

Although the Yijinjing is hailed as the supreme treasure of Buddhism.

However, since the founding of Shaolin Temple, apart from a handful of monks including Bodhidharma, even the most talented monks in the temple have been unable to fathom its mysteries.

Among them, there are quite a few who have spent decades of arduous practice only to gain nothing.

Xuanbei added, "The most suspicious person at present is Tan Qing, the Soul-Chasing Staff, who has been hiding his whereabouts. Of course, our temple's disciples cannot be ruled out either. I will investigate them one by one in the next few days."

Abbot Xuanci nodded in agreement.

Xuanbei then said, "If the Four Evils truly planned this in advance, how did they know that the Bodhi Monastery contained scriptures? Could it be that one of them was actually well-versed in the inner workings of Shaolin?"

Abbot Xuanci shook his head: "This matter is too far-fetched; it's probably just a coincidence."

Xuanbei wanted to say more, but Xuanci stopped him.

Xuan Ci then turned to Xuan Ji beside him and asked, "What did Polo Star say?"

Xuanji sighed, "We caught him red-handed, what can he say? He just remains silent. I wonder how many of our Shaolin scriptures he has already read."

"Several years ago, he had already secretly read the Martial Arts Manual, but at that time he claimed that he had read it by mistake. I never expected that this time he would go even further and dig a tunnel directly to the Sutra Repository."

……

Xie was led to a side room.

After the monk who was leading the way left, he closed the door behind him and shut all the windows.

Then, he poured himself a glass of water, climbed onto the bed, and sat facing the wall.

After confirming that there was no sound around, he took out the wooden box, turned it over and over with both hands, and took out the small oilcloth packet. He opened it and took a look.

All I could see was a thin, yellow booklet with a few strange, crooked characters written on the cover.

Xie might as well open the Yi Jin Jing (Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic), dip his fingertips in water, and gently wipe the pages.

A picture of a monk appears amidst the winding, curving characters.