Chapter 625: Exposing His Identity?
“Master Fang Zheng, are you planning to snatch it by force?” Song Qingshu snorted coldly.
Master Fang Zheng chanted a Buddhist mantra, “Amitabha! The Marrow Cleansing Scripture belongs to Shaolin. How can it be considered snatching? It is simply returning it to its rightful owner.”
“Are the three masters planning a relay battle, or will you attack all at once?” Song Qingshu glanced around, unable to suppress a mocking laugh.
“This…” Master Fang Zheng hesitated. His original plan was to join forces with the other two to quickly retrieve the manual, but now that Song Qingshu had exposed it, he could no longer admit it openly.
Among the three, Xu Zhu was not a concern, but Fang Zheng and Xuan Cheng were both highly esteemed figures with decades of renown. If they teamed up against a younger opponent, their reputation in the martial arts world would surely suffer. However, if they didn’t join forces, given the martial arts prowess Song Qingshu had just displayed, Fang Zheng wasn’t confident he could retrieve the manual on his own.
While Fang Zheng hesitated, Xu Zhu suddenly spoke up. “Although this benefactor’s martial arts are formidable, he is constantly preoccupied with suppressing the cold poison in this female benefactor’s body. This inevitably hampers his abilities. If my two senior uncles, both highly respected figures, were to act now, it might be seen as taking advantage of someone’s weakness. How about this: let this battle be mine to handle? As a junior monk of low status in the temple, the outcome would not tarnish Shaolin’s reputation.”
Fang Zheng and Xuan Cheng exchanged glances and nodded in agreement. Letting Xu Zhu handle the matter was indeed the best course of action—not only would it silence any critics, but Xu Zhu’s astonishing martial arts, as the personal disciple of that individual, also earned their private admiration.
“In that case, you may retrieve the lost manual for Shaolin,” the two said in unison.
Song Qingshu sneered internally. This Xu Zhu appeared honest but was cunning at heart. In Shaolin, monks with the “Xu” prefix were of the lowest rank, usually new entrants to the temple. If someone underestimated Xu Zhu because of this and treated him as an ordinary junior monk, they would suffer a great loss. Xu Zhu’s martial arts were far superior to most of the senior monks in the temple.