Carrying a box of human nutritional supplements back to his room at the guesthouse, Chen Jue first went out with Zhou Gang to have dinner at the base cafeteria.
The cafeteria food tasted good, with plenty of fish and meat as well as vegetarian dishes suitable for monks. To Chen Jue's surprise, however, the Shaolin warrior monks seemed to have no restrictions against eating meat.
After all, martial artists sought to strengthen their bodies, and eating nothing but vegetarian meals would cause nutritional imbalances.
Although some plants could also provide protein or fats, the common belief that "meat eaters are strong, while vegetarians are frail" had been deeply rooted for thousands of years.
Of course, Shaolin Temple monks who had taken the monastic vows had to maintain a vegetarian diet, but these warrior monks were probably exceptions within the temple.
Historically, for example, after the thirteen staff-wielding monks protected the Prince of Tang, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, specially appointed the monk Tan Zong as a great general. He also issued an edict permitting the monks of Shaolin Temple to train monastic soldiers, kill, drink alcohol, and eat meat. This was even recorded in inscriptions at Shaolin Temple.
After dinner, Chen Jue returned to his guesthouse room and looked through the tournament schedule Commissar Yao had sent him.
The tournament would last three days. An opening ceremony would be held at the base's indoor recreation hall the next morning, followed by bouts in numerical order. The first day would feature the preliminary rounds, the second the qualifying rounds, and the final day the finals.
Of course, this was the schedule for civilian practitioners like Chen Jue and experts from the martial arts schools. The competition for soldiers like Zhou Gang was scheduled separately. They would spend the first