Record of the Missing Sect Master

Chapter 36

Master Deru was Abbot Ciyuan’s youngest disciple.

It’s said that, for the entire year, in every season, other than practicing martial arts, he knew only how to read scripture.

If there was no work to do, he could stay indoors for an entire day, without even changing position. If no one looked after him, then he himself wouldn’t go look for food and would probably simply starve to death like that.

Although the Abbot did want his disciples to be fascinated by scripture, the Abbot also thought that it wasn’t good for him to always be like this and so tried teaching him to play chess, but he couldn’t learn it at all. The Abbot then tried teaching him tea ceremony, yet he still wasn’t able to learn. The Abbot thus gave up on teaching him about matters related to cultivating mental refinement and started teaching him the basics of preserving his own life. Regardless of anything else, if this disciple ever decided to go down the mountain alone one day, then at the barest minimum, he should know how to ask for alms.

The matter of asking for alms was at least something Master Deru still knew how to do.

But unfortunately his form was too rough and burly, his eyes too large, so he always gave people a fiendish and demonic impression. Moreover, he had a slow-witted disposition, so when he knocked on people’s doors, he’d stand there with the alms bowl, staring at the person unblinkingly when the door opened, scaring the other party until their faces paled and the door was slammed in his face. While watching this scene from afar, the Abbot even felt his usual pleasant and amiable countenance start to crack.

Later, the Abbot patiently taught him again a few more times, telling him that he must maintain a gentle atmosphere, before this disciple finally succeeded in learning it.

The Abbot felt as if he had just accomplished something momentous, and even had the sudden feeling that it was probably fine even if this was the only thing his disciple ever learned in a lifetime. He then brought this person back to Shaolin.

And even later, when Bodhi Prison was built, and Shaolin and Wudang needed to take turns sending people over as guards, the Abbot once again turned this idea over to his disciple.

Although this disciple was foolish, his martial arts was quite good, and it would be a pity for someone with such a suitable appearance as a guard not to be sent over to watch the prison. Moreover, being able to go every other month and hone his character could perhaps be a good thing.

The Abbot certainly had some unspoken expectations. Because no one could be sure about what the future held, if there ever came a day when he himself and the other disciples weren’t around and there was need for Deru to appear, then he hoped that this person would be able to shoulder some responsibility.

But it wasn’t until today that he felt some remorse, in a time far too late for regrets. His disciple was so foolish that he didn’t even know that he had been drugged!

Sweat slowly seeped out of Abbot Ciyuan’s forehead, and feeling his disciple about to break through those sealed acupoints, he once again increased his internal energy to press the other down.

Upon seeing this, the Masters standing on the side hastily moved, surrounding the two of them in a circle and adding in their own internal energy. Like fighting against a long, torrential river, they finally managed to to hold Deru thoroughly in place. But his consciousness remained muddled, and he was unable to recognize anyone, only able to howl incessantly in a hoarse voice.