Fire in the Thousand Buddha Hall

Early the next morning.

Mo Wenjian was still sleeping in, but several of Shaolin Temple's Gang Force national martial arts grandmasters had already gathered.

"In just a few days, the Buddha's Child went from not even having begun the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic to reaching the Gang Force realm. He is only one step away from Shatter the Void and See the Indestructible Spirit. What do you seniors make of this?" Master Xingshan did not state his intentions outright, instead raising the question tactfully.

"The Buddha's Child is the reincarnation of the Buddha. Now he draws ever closer to reclaiming his Buddhahood. It is a cause for celebration!" Master Xingzhi, who had stepped down as head of Bodhi Hall, had originally had no hope of reaching the Gang Force realm. With Mo Wenjian's help, however, he had not only used a Six-Revolution Golden Pill to complete six qualitative transformations of his Qi and Blood, but had also become the first person in Shaolin Temple to enter the Dao through martial arts. His heart was full of gratitude toward Mo Wenjian.

"Naturally, that is a good thing for the Buddha's Child, but it may not be good for Shaolin Temple!" After a moment's hesitation, Master Xingshan sighed, his face full of worry.

"What do you mean by that?" Master Decai could not help frowning deeply, feeling very displeased with Master Xingshan's words.

"In just a few days, the Buddha's Child first brought out the Marrow Cleansing Classic, then the Heavenly Gang Thirty-Six Fists, and even gave us Six-Revolution Golden Pills. Not only can these raise our strength to a new level, but they can also fundamentally deepen Shaolin Temple's foundations. If the Buddha's Child reaches Shatter the Void and See the Indestructible Spirit and suddenly ascends in broad daylight, not only will we miss our Buddhist affinity, but Shaolin Temple will miss it too!" Having laid the groundwork, Master Xingshan finally voiced the worry in his heart.

"Amitabha. The Buddha's Child has not only bestowed upon us a heaven-sent fortune, but also left Shaolin Temple one. We should be content. You must never give in to the three poisons of greed, anger, and delusion!" Master Shanhui was the oldest and had the deepest understanding of Buddhist teachings. He had already reached a state of nonattachment to material things. Having them was certainly cause for joy, but without them, he would not insist on obtaining them.

"Amitabha. I have an entirely different view. Bodhisattva Guanyin reincarnated as Miaoshan to experience the suffering of the mortal world, and the Dragon-Subduing Arhat reincarnated as Jigong to uphold justice in the mortal world. The Buddha's Child must have a mission in reincarnating into the mortal world. If the Buddha's Child reaches Shatter the Void and See the Indestructible Spirit in just a few days, then returns to the Great Thunderclap Temple in the Western Heavens and reclaims his Buddhahood, he will miss his mission, and this reincarnation will become meaningless. We may disregard Shaolin Temple, but we must think of the Buddha's Child!" Master Deyuan knew the art of speaking very well. Although his intention was still to persuade Mo Wenjian to stay, the angle from which he presented it was entirely different.

"If I do not enter hell, who will? To help the Buddha's Child better fulfill his mission, I am willing to go against my Zen heart and try every possible means to persuade him to stay. If I offend him in the process, even if he holds me accountable someday, I will willingly accept any beating or punishment!" Master Dezhi spoke with stirring fervor, but in truth he was acting out of self-interest. He wanted Mo Wenjian to stay at Shaolin Temple and did not want him to leave too soon.

"That you have such awareness is truly a blessing for Shaolin Temple. But do you have a plan for exactly what to do?" Master Shanhui was unattached to material things. He would neither try to persuade Mo Wenjian to stay nor try to drive him away, appearing above worldly concerns.

The eminent monks looked at one another, but none had a practical solution.

The atmosphere in the room grew completely cold, and the monks all felt somewhat awkward.

Not only was Mo Wenjian immensely powerful, but his identity was also extraordinary.

For the moment, the eminent monks could not think of any suitable method at all.

Just as the eminent monks were staring blankly at one another, a warrior monk came running over in a great hurry.

"Terrible news! The Thousand Buddha Hall is on fire!"

The Thousand Buddha Hall was, in the literal sense, a hall where countless Buddha statues were enshrined.

The Thousand Buddha Hall represented the Buddhist faith and was Shaolin Temple's most important sacred site.

With the Thousand Buddha Hall on fire, Buddha statues were bound to be damaged.

To Shaolin's monks, that was disrespecting the Buddha and desecrating their faith.

In a sense, it was more serious than all six halls catching fire.

The eminent monks dared not delay and hurried toward the Thousand Buddha Hall.

The Thousand Buddha Hall was a complex of more than three hundred Buddhist halls clustered together.

The smallest hall enshrined only one Buddha statue, while the largest enshrined several hundred.

The fire had begun spreading from a small hall. With the air dry and the wind howling, it spread extremely quickly.

In the blink of an eye, a fifth of the Thousand Buddha Hall had become a towering sea of flames.

"Shaolin Temple has endured for a thousand years and has long had a well-established system for preventing fires and disasters. How could the fire in the Thousand Buddha Hall keep growing?"

As a former abbot, Master Xingshan found this incomprehensible.

Within Shaolin Temple, there were thirty-six locations specifically set aside for water vats.

The water in those vats was kept specifically to guard against fires.

Normally, as soon as a fire appeared, Shaolin's monks would put it out with water.

The fire in the Thousand Buddha Hall was growing fiercer and fiercer. That was clearly not normal.

"The monks who refill the votive oil in the halls' eternal lamps kept the lamp oil in a small hall to make their daily work easier. An eternal lamp fell over in the large hall next door, and the fire quickly spread to the small hall. Once all that lamp oil began burning, the fire became very difficult to put out with water!"

Master Xingku, who had just succeeded to the position of abbot, could not help showing a look of grief and bitterness.

As the saying went, a new official lights three fires upon taking office.

Master Xingku had just succeeded to the position of abbot, and his first fire had burned the Thousand Buddha Hall. This was no good omen.

Master Xingku had become abbot thanks to Mo Wenjian, and his appointment had never quite conformed to Shaolin Temple's rules.

With something this serious having happened, if word reached the jianghu, there was no telling how many rumors it would stir up.

Confucian scholars were accustomed to blaming problems such as locust plagues, floods, and droughts entirely on the emperor's lack of virtue.

The common people, poisoned by Confucian thought, would certainly lay the blame for this fire at Master Xingku's feet.

Master Xingku's heart was practically sinking to the bottom of a valley.

"What are we to do?"

Master Xingzhi, who had just stepped down as head of Bodhi Hall, was unquestionably very devout in his Buddhist faith.

Watching the sea of flames burn ever more fiercely and thinking of the growing number of Buddha statues being damaged, Master Xingzhi was as frantic as an ant on a hot pan.

The best way to handle it was to tear down some of the halls and create a firebreak.

But the problem was that none of the eminent monks dared lay a hand on a Buddhist hall.

He thought back to the Jingnan Campaign during the Ming dynasty.

When a portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang was raised atop the city walls, Zhu Di's army immediately stopped its assault on the city.

Even an army, a force of slaughter, placed such importance on ethics and morality.

The monks of Shaolin Temple were very devout in their Buddhist faith.

Who would dare commit an act condemned by all under heaven and lay hands on a Buddhist hall?

A Buddhist hall burning down could be understood as a warning from the Buddha.

But if they tore down a Buddhist hall with their own hands, they would have no excuse.

"Terrible news! The water has run out!"

A warrior monk came running over in a hurry with the bad news.

Shaolin Temple was located atop Mount Song, so they had to fetch water from the foot of the mountain.

There was no telling how much time a round trip would take, and carrying water in buckets was a worryingly inefficient process.

Just as Shaolin's monks were at their wits' end, Mo Wenjian finally arrived, rather late.