The monks were crying because of the venerable monk Jiaomu’s death but some of them were still able to take care of the wounded by bandaging up their wounds and carrying them into the guest rooms.

Suddenly there came an incessant banging from the vat underneath the huge bell. Not knowing what kind of monster was present, the monks looked at each other with blank faces. Not knowing what to do started to chant the ‘Sutra of the High King’ [Gao w.a.n.g Jing]. But the banging continued through all the chants of ‘Help the Sufferers’ and ‘Amida Buddha’. Finally, a dozen or so of the more courageous monks pulled the huge bell back up again with a huge thick rope. As soon as they lifted the vat, a huge ball of meat came rolling out from underneath it. Scared beyond words, the monks scattered. That ball of meat suddenly stood up, it turned out to be Han Baoju. Being covered for the last half of the fight, he had no idea what had happened. Looking around, he noticed monk Jiaomu had died and all his sworn brothers were greatly injured and almost panicked. He walked over to Qiu Chuji and was about to strike down at his head with his ‘Golden Dragon Whip’.

“Third Brother, NO!” Quan Jinfa shouted.

“Why not?” Han Baoju demanded in anger.

“You… just can’t,” was all Quan Jinfa could get out because of the pain in his abdomen.

Even though both of his legs were wounded, Ke Zhen’E’s mind was still working fine. He took out the antidote for his poison and instructed the monks to give the right amounts to both Qiu Chuji and Han Xiaoying, all the while explaining what had happened to Han Baoju. Enraged, Han Baoju was about to go chasing after Duan Tiande when Ke Zhen’E shouted: “We’ll find that b.a.s.t.a.r.d sooner or later. First help those of your brothers who suffered internal injuries.”

Both Zhu Cong and Nan Xiren had suffered severe internal injuries and that kick to Quan Jinfa’s stomach was quite a blow too. Zhang Ahsheng’s collar bone was broken and his chest was. .h.i.t as well, knocking him out temporarily. Once he woke up, it turned out he wasn’t in any mortal danger. He immediately began helping others in the temple.

The monks of the Fahua Monastery [Temple of Oriental Zen] sent a couple of errand runners to report the events to Abbot k.u.mu at the Yunlou Monastery [Cloudy Pavilion Temple] and also began to make funeral arrangements for the monk Jiaomu.

After several days, the poison in Qiu Chuji and Han Xiaoying’s body was eradicated. Being the medical expert that he was, Qiu Chuji immediately began combining herbs and treating Zhu Cong and others as well as ma.s.saging and snapping bones back into place. Luckily, everyone’s kung fu base was strong enough so that the internal as well as the external injuries were not serious. After several more days, everyone was able to sit up again. One day, all eight of them gathered in one of the monk’s rooms and reflected on how they were manipulated into fighting each other, resulting in the death of the monk Jiaomu and injuries to all parties. All of them were silent, not knowing what to say.

After a while, Han Xiaoying finally broke the silence: “Everyone knows about priest Qiu’s intelligence and wit, and the seven of us didn’t exactly begin wandering the world yesterday. Yet we were all manipulated into this by some little n.o.body. If this ever gets out, everyone in the martial world will laugh at us. Reverend, do you have any idea as to how to clean up this mess?”

Qiu Chuji had been blaming himself for the last couple of days, thinking that if only he had sat down and calmly talked with the monk Jiaomu then all of this could have been avoided. So, in deference, he turned to Ke Zhen’E: “Big Brother Ke, what do you say?”

Ke Zhen’E’s temper was bad to begin with; after his eyes were blinded it got even worse. The fact that Qiu Chuji himself brought down all seven of them combined was, in fact, what he considered to be one of the biggest embarra.s.sments of his life. Coupled with the fact that the pain in his legs from the sword wound was still throbbing, he was barely able to hold back his indignation. He sneered and replied: “Priest Qiu uses his sword skills to take down anyone in his way and never needs to respect anyone. Why consult us over this matter?”

Qiu Chuji was taken aback for a moment, but immediately realized that he was still angry about the matter. He stood up, cupped his fist, and bowed to the Seven Freaks. “I was wrong in my actions; I was too rude and headstrong. This entire matter is entirely my fault and I ask you all for your forgiveness.”

Zhu Cong and the rest of the Freaks returned the gesture. Ke Zhen’E pretended not to notice and coldly replied: “I say the seven of us have lost all of our rights to meddle in the affairs of the martial world. We should settle down here, fishing, chopping wood, or whatever. As long as Priest Qiu does not come around again, we would at least be able to spend the rest of our lives in peace.”

Qiu Chuji blushed a little from that verbal slash. After a brief pause, he suddenly stood up and said: “Since I was at fault this time, I will never dare step into this area again. As for retribution for monk Jiaomu’s death, it will all fall on my shoulders and I will kill that b.a.s.t.a.r.d with my own hands and avenge him. Having said all that I need to say, it’s now time for me to leave.”

Qiu Chuji bowed towards everyone again and began to walk out.

“Stop!” Ke Zhen’E shouted.

Qiu Chuji turned around and said, “Does Big Brother Ke have something else to say?”

“You have injured all of us,” Ke Zhen’E replied, “and you expect all of this to just disappear because you said a couple of words?”

“Then what does Big Brother Ke want? As long as it is within my abilities I will try my best to do it.”

“We just can’t let this slide right now,” Ke Zhen’E answered, “so it would be nice if Reverend gives us something more.”

Although the Seven Freaks were all very righteous and moral individuals; they were also very proud and acted very strangely, making them well deserving the t.i.tle of “Seven Freaks”. Each is a master of kung fu and they always worked together, so they had never come out on the short end of a struggle when going up against others in the martial world. Several years ago they got into a fight with the Huaiyang Clan; the seven of them killed over one hundred or so of the Huaiyang Clan members on the sh.o.r.es of the Yangtze. Back then Han Xiaoying was still a child, but she still managed to kill two foes. The name ‘Seven Freaks of the South’ became famous throughout the martial world. Defeat by the hands of Qiu Chuji did not go down very well with any of them. Add that to the fact that the monk Jiaomu, a good friend of the Freaks, died, one could argue, because of Qiu Chuji’s rashness. But there was still the fact that a woman WAS hidden inside the temple and she WAS the widow of Guo Xiaotian, as Qiu Chuji had claimed. This made the Freaks partly to blame; however, at this moment, the Freaks had forgotten about that.

“I was. .h.i.t by your projectile,” Qiu Chuji replied. “And if it wasn’t for Big Brother Ke’s antidote, I would have been dead a long time ago. So for this fight, I wholeheartedly admit defeat.”