General Ciong stopped in his tracks and snapped, "Thian Cu Monk, are you going to defy the Emperor's envoy and become a rebel too?"
Thian Cu Monk's face was now completely red, his eyes glaring as he said, "General Ciong, you surely know that Pin-ceng and all the Shaolin disciples are not rebels. If any of the Pin-ceng disciples were to defy government officials, it wouldn't be against the government, but rather because the officials were acting arbitrarily against the people, relying on their power! There are indeed Shaolin disciples in the temple, but they are not rebels at all. Our temple is a sacred place of worship, not just anyone can enter. Therefore, according to the rules of the Shaolin temple, no one is allowed to enter."
"Remember Thian Cu Monk, we are officials representing the government, carrying the Emperor's orders! We will search the temple!"
"Sorry, the pin-ceng forbids it!" said the Thian Cu Monk.
"Good! That's called rebellion. If we force our way in, will you attack us?"
The Shaolin disciples had already jumped out and lined up, blocking the entrance, and their stance was clear. They would defend their monastery to the death, even if necessary, with bloodshed. But Thian Cu Monk shouted at his disciples.
"You stand back!"
Hearing this shout, the disciples were shocked and forced to retreat, although they were curious as to why their leader had stopped them and order them to retreat. Wasn't it clear that the commander had a bad intention about Shaolin?
Calmly, Thian Cu Monk faced the officers and said to a disciple behind him, "Bring me a jar of burning oil!"
Although the disciple was surprised and didn't understand, he quickly obeyed his teacher's command, and shortly afterward, Thian Cu Monk accepted the jar. Without hesitation, he poured the oil over his head, drenching his entire body from head to toe down to his feet.
"General Ciong, Pin-ceng is not a rebel, nor are all the Shaolin disciples. Although the government has helped us build this temple, this entire monastery is ours and our right. Therefore, Pin-ceng once again requests that General and all his troops leave this place, and Pin-ceng will meet His Majesty the Emperor in the capital to accept His decision. However, if General insists on violating our rights and entering the monastery, let alone arresting the Shaolin disciples, we will be forced to forbid."
"We carry a decree, carrying the authority of the Emperor! Even if you forbid us, we will go in and arrest the rebels!" said General Ciong.
"Then, Pin-ceng will burn himself to protest General's actions, and to prove that we are truly not rebels."
"Ha, go ahead!" said General Ciong, already angry because he was convinced that the Shaolin's people were rebels and opposed to the government's policy of building a canal, which was a major and important project.
Thian Cu Monk exclaimed softly, "Amitabha..... " then his mouth was slurring his prayers and his wand hit it hard on the floor in front of his feet. Blow it was so hard that it gave off burning embers grabbed the monk's feet which were wet with burning oil. Instantly the fire was burning and quickly the flames licked upwards and blazing.
"Master!" Several Shaolin disciples are shocked and jumped forward to save their teacher, but Thian Cu Monk was still standing tall exclaimed in a loud voice.
"Stop! Let Pin-ceng be sacrificed for the sake of the purity of the name of Shaolin. But remember Pin-ceng's message. The disciples of Shaolin are never rebels, but a warrior who always oppose evil and become protectors of the oppressed people!"
After saying that, Thian Cu Monk collapsed and his body continued to burn. Meanwhile, General Ciong had given the signal to his troops to stormed in. Seeing this, the Shaolin disciples jumping in the way.
"Ha, so you really want to fight and rebel?" the General snapped.
"No, we are defending our rights!"
General Ciong signaled, and his troops attacked. They were met by the Shaolin disciples, resulting in a fierce battle in the front hall of the Shaolin monastery, witnessing by the still-blazing fire burning the body of Thian Cu Monk.
The non-monk disciples, who had been hiding inside, also rushed out upon hearing that their teacher had set himself on fire, and fought together with their brothers outside. They rushed out into the battlefield, making the fighting even more intense.
One of the disciples, who was not a monk, was named Lie Koan Tek, a valiant warrior of Fujian. He possessed great skill, having mastered all the arts of Shaolin and was one of the warriors who defended the people that forced to do forced labor on the canal excavation project. Even among the other Shaolin disciples, he was considered a senior brother whose leadership was trusted.
Lie Koan Tek, who was approaching forty years old, had been lurking outside and saw everything that had happened. Therefore, as soon as he and his friends stormed out, he lunged at the man who appeared to be a government spy. Furious, he attacked the taost monk with his weapon, a steel chain, which had previously been wrapped around his waist.
The emaciated taoist monk, with missing teeth at the front, was Taoist Cun Bin, a taoist monk that used by the taoist monk that hostile to Shaolin to spy for General Ciong. Seeing a mighty man attack him with a steel chain, Taoist Cun Bin, who was also highly skilled, met the blow with his sword.
"Tranggg!" Sparks flashed as the chain met the sword, and both felt their arms tremble violently. However, Lie Koan Tek continued to attack with increasing ferocity, forcing the taoist monk to turn his sword to defend himself and counterattack. A fierce fight ensued between the two men.
General Ciong had led his assistants, most of whom possessed advanced martial arts skills, to attack the Shaolin disciples, aided by their troops. The scene was a frenzy of battle, while fires still burned the body of Thian Cu Monk.
The Shaolin disciples were extremely skilled warriors, and therefore, General Ciong and his companions felt overwhelmed. This was especially true since they could not possibly mobilize all their troops that still outside. The space in the front hall was too small for an open battle in which all five hundred soldiers could engage. Now, no more than two hundred soldiers were involved, facing approximately sixty Shaolin disciples.
These Shaolin disciples were skilled, especially the Lohan formation, with their staffs in hand. They were a very formidable formation. Members of the troops began to fall, injured or killed by the weapons held by the Shaolin disciples.
The fight between Lie Koan Tek and Taoist Cun Bin was very intense. No troop members came to aid the monk. This was not surprising. The troop members were, of course, only assisting the officers, and they were unfamiliar with the taoist monk, so they refused to help him. Thus, the fight between Lie Koan Tek and Taoist Cun Bin was intense, without any aggressive attacks, just one-on-one.
Taoist Cun Bin was desperately pressed, and even though he had used all his strength and unleashed all his sword techniques, the coils of steel chain light in Lie Koan Tek's hands still pressed and pinned him down. The taoist monk was forced to retreat, only able to twist his sword to parry and jump from side to side to avoid the strikes from the two ends of the steel chain in his opponent's hands.
"Singgggg!" The taoist monk tried to retaliate when he found the opportunity. His sword slid and struck his opponent's throat with a powerful and lightning-fast thrust. Lie Koan Tek tilted his body and shifted his feet away. The steel chain snaked toward the sword and entangled the sword with the chain's tip. Taoist Cun Bin was surprised and tried to draw his sword back. However, Lie Koan Tek took the opportunity to kick his opponent's left knee.
"Dukkk!" The monk's body fell. He was forced to release his sword, still looking at the end of the chain, and then roll away. However, with a single movement of his hand, the chain released the sword from its grip, and the sword slid toward the rolling body.
"Ceppp!" The sword plunged into the stomach, nearly piercing through, killing Taoist Cun Bin.
Seeing how his troops were unable to push back the enemy, and many of his troops had fallen, while his aides were also being crushed and some were injured, General Ciong was forced to give the signal for his troops to retreat. He also urged his aides to flee out of the monastery grounds, joining the troops that were still outside.