Chapter 22 Chapter Twenty-One

Let me first sort out some of the records and narratives in these two books into a more concise and concise context, so that the "Synopsis of Secret Societies Since the Early Republic of China" originally written in classical Chinese will not be so contrived, while "Seven Seas" "Thunder" was also able to strip off its grotesque martial arts sensibility and return to a few basic facts. At the end of the book "Synopsis of Secret Society Since the Early Republic of China", there is a postscript written by a person signed "Liudu Longyin", which does not mention the content of this book; the whole article talks about Lu Yuan, one of the eight heroes of Jiangnan and a series of disciples. "Liudu Longyin" thinks that among the Eight Heroes, Lu Siniang, Bai Taiguan, Gan Fengchi and other deeds are the most famous.Even Lu Siniang assassinated Yongzheng and was attached to the association, and even created absurd rumors such as "Yongzheng and the Eight Heroes of the South of the Yangtze River turned out to be brothers of different surnames who were married to Jinlan".In fact, even "Jiangnan" is very suspicious; because half of the Eight Heroes are from Jiangbei, the collective name "Jiangnan Eight Heroes" is actually an abbreviation for Jiangnan people who are too self-respecting.If you want to rectify the name, it should be called "Eight Heroes from Jiangnan and North".Then, "Liudu Longyin" pointed out: Among the Eight Heroes, apart from being unworthy of chivalrous fame because of Heshen's obscenity and tyranny, Cao Ren's father, although he has great internal skills, changed his name and changed his surname, hiding his head and shrinking his tail, and his descendants are still in Manyi. It is ironic that the imperial court became a high-ranking official.Lu Minzhan was lost in Aojia, Zhou Xun was lost in decadence, Bai Taiguan received too many disciples, resulting in mixed successes, Gan Fengchi actually became a bandit when he was chasing down and down.Only Lu Siniang, who is a woman, can kill the supreme being in the world, can be called a hero; besides, it is Lu Yuan who can be called a hero.

Strictly speaking: Lu Yuan can even be called Gan Fengchi's master.It turns out that Gan Fengchi once studied under the beggar Zhang Changgong and was famous in Jinling for his boxing and bravery. Lu Yuan, a native of Fengyang Prefecture, Anhui.Since he was a child, he studied and practiced Qi with Chaoyuan Hezhen, the imperial family of the former Ming Dynasty.In this dynasty, Yuanhe's secular family was surnamed Zhu. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, he lived in seclusion in Lingyun Temple in Shouzhou, Fengyang Prefecture. There were four students, and the youngest and most intelligent and enlightened was the orphan Lu Yuan.

Chao Yuanhe's requirements for his apprentices are extremely strange: reading but not taking exams, practicing Qi but not martial arts.As a result, after ten years, three of the four apprentices ran away—two went to take the boy's test, and after that, they succeeded year after year, and they all achieved careers. He danced with a gun, and then took a job in the public school, and he also had a good background.Only this Lu Yuan, at the age of eighteen, still read and chant scriptures, carried water and planted vegetables, meditated and practiced Zen with Chao Yuan and He Chen every day, and it seemed that he was going to spend his whole life like this.

One day, Zhao Yuanhe summoned Lu Yuan, and immediately asked, "Don't you want to be successful in the future?" Lu Yuan said, "If you are successful, you will only be the emperor. Even if you become an emperor, you will inevitably teach people to fight out of the palace. If you die, you will die like ordinary people; if you don't die, you will be a peace." After hearing this, Chao Yuan and He Sheng laughed, and asked again: "Since there is nothing you can do in life, why don't you die immediately?" Lu Yuan remained the same. He replied calmly: "There's nothing wrong with it, except that the vegetables in the back garden haven't been watered yet." Chao Yuan and Chen smiled again, and said, "There are people who can do things in this world. Since you are going to die, why bother?" Are you still worrying about the work in the vegetable garden?" Lu Yuan replied without hesitation: "Master can worry about the future of the disciple, but the disciple still has to worry about the work in the vegetable garden." At this moment, Chao Yuan and Chang couldn't laugh anymore— — Instead of being able to laugh, he wailed loudly and burst into tears.After weeping, he said, "Your common sense and compassion can't even be matched by a teacher. The two of us are masters and apprentices, and this is the fate. You can go." As he said, he waved his hand.Lu Yuan was well aware of his master's temper, since Wei Ta left, there was no room for him to stay, so he threw himself down and kowtowed three times.Knock down only this head, unexpectedly a large square of marble floor tiles shattered.Lu Yuan came back to his senses again and suddenly realized: Chao Yuan and Chang waved their hands just now, and the place where the wind blew their sleeves was exactly the Dharma circle at his dantian.

This dharma circle is neither a meridian nor an acupuncture point, but a small universe that people who practice qi have heard of and visualized all the time.Chao Yuan and Chang Pingsu taught their disciples to practice qi, which is nothing more than sitting quietly to adjust breath, applying it to invigorate tendons, nourish qi, nourish blood and nourish mind, that's all.But with a swipe of the sleeve wind, it is another level of extremely clever kung fu to activate the dharma circle.To use an analogy: Ordinary people practice and use qi, just like people in this world build dams, dig a deep and wide pool near the upper reaches of the river, store it on weekdays to store rain, and wait for the opportunity to open it when there is drought. Gates for irrigation - this is the result of ordinary people practicing Qi.However, the magical function of the dharma circle is quite different; this dharma circle is like a huge generator added under the dam, and the rushing torrent of the flood will lead the water back to the upper reaches, so that the pouring water will collapse. Injecting into the place where the source came from, such a cycle and endless cycle, can grow endlessly-the French call this "lively".

What's even better is: before the Dharma circle is activated, no matter whether you are practicing external kung fu or internal kung fu, there will be moments of exhaustion and weakness.However, once activated, this body, blood, essence, and energy will form a self-sufficient and self-sufficient mechanism, and there will be no shortage of it.Unless the person who does the exercises goes too far on the seven emotions and six desires, he will never worry about being distracted and exhausted.In other words: with just a slight swipe of Chaoyuan and Yuan, Lu Yuan was enlightened and promoted to a "lively" state.

Among the Eight Heroes, Lu Siniang, Bai Taiguan, and Gan Fengchi are the most famous, but Lu Yuan's martial arts is the highest.However, Lu Yuan's behavior was deep and subdued, and the history of martial arts has always been known as the Yin Xia.When the Seven Heroes joined forces to kill Yin, Lu Yuan didn't use his skills to the fullest, but only blocked the door for the other six Heroes, making it impossible for Yin to use his poisonous hands.On the contrary, later generations of storytellers such as Shi Yukun handed down a story about Bao Zheng, a famous official in the Song Dynasty, who resolved the case, as well as the deeds of the knights in the Jianghu eradicating the strong and helping the weak, punishing the violent and peaceful; later, it was rewritten by Yu Yue, a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty. , has become a masterpiece handed down from generation to generation.And among the Seven Heroes, "Shen Zhongyuan, the Hidden Hero" is actually Lu Yuan's insinuation. "Shen Zhongyuan" is not as famous as "Nanxia Zhanzhao", "Xiaoxia Aihu" and "Golden Mouse Baiyutang" among others. Of course, this is also because of the word "hidden".Even in the notes of the Qing Dynasty, there is very little ink on Lu Yuan.As far as the world knows, the "Dharma Circle Gong" was passed down by Lu Yuan alone, and there were four branches, one was passed on to the Zhang family in Lanzhou, the other was passed on to the Shen family in Hubei, and the other two branches were passed on to Erli in Shandong.One of them, Li, moved to the outside of Guanguan in the early years of Guangxu, which was the origin of the "True Compassion, Forbearance and Limitless Dharma Circle Gong" in the three eastern provinces of later generations.This kind of kung fu has gradually escaped from the scope of martial arts, and it focuses on cultivating the mind and body and keeping fit. It was carried forward and spread by the last master Li Hongzhi, and its traces can be said to be all over the world, with tens of millions of followers.The other Li is Li from Jining Prefecture, Shandong Province, who is the ancestor of Li Shouwu.This branch is not only different from Lanzhou Zhang's drilling qi and blood points, but also different from Hubei Shen's Jingxiguan strategy, and it is also different from Northeast Li's dedication to self-cultivation and Taoism—Jining Li's emphasis is on the contrary. Some are similar to the collection, compilation, textual research, and exhaustive research of various internal exercises, and the lineages are passed down, like collectors of martial arts and archaeologists of martial arts.From this point of view, Jining Li's closeness to martial arts and martial arts did not violate the ancestral motto of "reading but not taking exams/practicing qi but not practicing martial arts" taught by Chaoyuan Heshang.There are countless small causes and conditions here.

It is said that Lu Yuan got the "Dharma Circle Gong" in the past, bid farewell to Chao Yuan and Chen, and began a life of wandering around the world.He does some part-time jobs for others during the day to earn enough food and clothing; at night, he finds some ruined temples and nunneries for shelter.In short, he is a lonely family, with no desires and desires, but he is also at ease.One day I came to the surface of Nanjing, looking for an errand to unload rice for a grain company, and I made a promise to the head of the contractor: I will unload rice for a fleet of ships from Zhenjiang for a period of three days. The catty of white rice is all unloaded. In addition to food and lodging, day laborers can also earn a few pennies. This kind of money is called "little lace".Lu Yuan secretly carried out the "Faquan Kung Fu", he could carry 400 catties of white rice on one shoulder, and 800 catties on his two shoulders;In less than two hours, a hundred or ten people gathered around the pier, vying to see this Dali Erlang's ability.As expected, there is such a Gan Fengchi with a big sarcoma on his forehead among the crowd.

Gan Fengchi was originally a disciple of Zhang Gongdu, a chivalrous beggar. He can use 18 kinds of hidden weapons, such as rope darts, flying coins, sleeve arrows, and caltrops, and he is proficient in all kinds of knives, guns and sticks; he is very famous on the ground in Nanjing figure.In addition, this person has a strong nature, hates evil like hatred, and is good at dealing with injustices; whenever there is any dispute in the back alley, as long as someone shouts: "Go ask "Gan Tuzi" to straighten it!" One day Gan Fengchi passed by the pier, saw Lu Yuan's energy among the crowd, and admired him very much, thinking that he must have supernatural powers and thaumaturgy, but he had other affairs and had no time to get acquainted, so he went again the next day Visit the pier.Unexpectedly, the head of the contractor told him: Dali Erlang finished unloading the grain and rice overnight, and took the "little lace" early in the morning and left on the road.

Gan Fengchi snorted and sneered when he heard the words, and said: "I think that man has a lot of strength, which can be more than ten of you. Yesterday on the pier, he was busy back and forth by himself, which saved you bugs—— Jobs. How? In the end, you only pay others for "little lace"?" Seeing this man's coming intentions, the contractor's family suddenly became unkind, how could he spare him?Immediately he let out a grunt, and said, "I'll let you mind my business? Come on!" Suddenly, seven or eight strong men sprang out from all directions——someone recognized the big sarcoma on the forehead of the opponent's guy, and before he had time Pulling away, Gan Fengchi's fists and palms had already been thrown, and his teeth were broken and his bones were broken.Gan Fengchi still refused to give up after beating someone, so he went to find an ingot of two taels of silver from the pocket of the contractor's house, and said, "Gan Tuzi is the most unkind and unrighteous thing that people hate, and I will do it for you justly." That's right." After saying that, he leaped forward and flew ten feet away, and jumped again and again, but the person was gone.

Let's not talk about gossip, let's say that Lu Yuan received some small coins, but he didn't feel wronged, so he went to the morning market to buy some sesame seed cakes, and ate them while wandering around, enjoying himself.It is also because he is aimless, it is "everything is beautiful / let nature be as you like"; when it was almost noon, but felt thirsty, he found a nearby tea booth to rest.Xu came to pack rice at night and was tired, so he quenched his thirst. The sleepiness came up, and he simply fell asleep on the earthen steps by the pavilion with his head tilted.When he woke up, the old tea seller had already returned home with a load of tea buckets from the stove, but outside the pavilion squatted under the shade of a tree, a burly man with a fierce face and a big tumor on his forehead.That strong man is naturally Gan Fengchi. Seeing Lu Yuan woke up, he quickly got up and bowed his hands in salute. After reporting his name, he knelt down and said: "I saw your lord on the pier yesterday with incomparable divine power. Practicing home skills. I came here specially, and please give me some pointers." Lu Yuan rubbed his sleepy eyes, stretched his waist, and said, "My name is Lu Yuan. I have neither respect nor drive. I'm already a self-made man: don't break me. I do have a few catties of strength." ——You want me to give you advice, and I have nothing wrong with giving you advice—but what do you need so much energy for? Do you also want to pack rice for others?” Listening to his words, Gan Fengchi didn't seem to have the intention of sternly rejecting him. He was overjoyed at the moment, and said complacently: "There is nothing more satisfying for a man in this world than being a chivalrous man, fighting for justice, and avoiding violence and peace. Gan Fengchi was once trained by the beggar Zhang Changgong, and learned a few Divided into art. However, if you walk in the rivers and lakes and commit crimes, you have to ponder and temper more in the art of martial arts before you can become a superior person, so—" "Didn't you just talk about fighting for a long time?" Lu Yuan said, "I can't do it. If you want to learn how to fight, brother, just kneel down!" How could Gan Fengchi give up like this?Immediately, he walked forward on his knees and said: "It is inevitable for a chivalrous warrior to teach some unkind and unrighteous people. It is inevitable. If you punish a few fierce and cruel sticklers and save a few weak and kind people Isn't it also considered a meritorious deed?" Lu Yuan laughed when he heard this, and said, "What kind of ruffian did you punish? And what good people did you rescue? Let's listen." Gan Fengchi became more energetic now, and then he gave a general account of his daily experience of avenging people's grievances. A pass.In the end, he took out the small ingot of silver from his bosom, held it in front of Lu Yuan, first told him about justice on the wharf, and then said: "These contractors on the water and land wharf are all cannibals. An insect that sucks blood and sucks bones, beat him once, and he will be honest for a long time.” “This money is also spent on him, and it is also spent on me—what’s the difference?” Gan Fengchi couldn't help being startled when he heard the words, and secretly said: Since I walked the rivers and lakes, I don't know how many deeds I have done to rob the rich and help the poor. The Buddha is alive.But this person is not only ungrateful, but also has a look of contempt for my help, isn't he an idiot?Just thinking of this, Lu Yuan said again: "You are upholding justice for me today and robbing people of money; how do you know that you will not uphold justice for yourself in the future and rob people of money? Back then, Xueshi Su and Zhang Dun swam across the bridge together. Have you ever heard of the story, brother?" Gan Fengchi is a white man, so he has never heard of it.Lu Yuan said in response: "Back then, Xueshi Su and Zhang Dun were classmates. One day when they were swimming together, they encountered a dangerous bridge that was about to be broken. Zhang Dun, relying on his lightness and agility, ran across the bridge in a few steps and jumped again. Returning to the bridge, he laughed at Xueshi Su for being cowardly, but the scholar said: "You will definitely kill people in the future. Zhang Dun was puzzled, and asked him why, the scholar said: "You don't even care about your own life, how can you care about the lives of others?" "In the future, Zhang Dun will kill the old party and cause a huge disaster. Those who are decapitated are not all people who can be killed. From this, we can see that there are people who can't help but intensify the world. So I said you can help me today If you rob money, you may not be able to rob money for yourself in the future, that's the reason." "That Zhang Dun killed good people indiscriminately. Brother Lu, why don't you tell Gan Mou his whereabouts, and I will go and eliminate this disaster." Gan Fengchi raised his head and slapped his chest, and said righteously: "This is a real man who acts chivalrously. true colors." Lu Yuan saw that this person didn't even know the dynasties and generations of Su Xueshi and Zhang Dun, so he couldn't help regretting his slip of the tongue.However, seeing that he is upright, bold and simple, he is a loyal man, so he can be enlightened.So he smiled casually and said: "Brother Gan just asked me to give you one or two pointers, but I would like to make an appointment with Brother Gan—if there ever comes a day when Brother Gan has the idea of ​​killing people and robbing money, but it's not for the sake of it." To uphold justice for others, can you ask Brother Gan to abolish his martial arts and never do any more chivalrous things?" "What's so difficult about this?" Gan Fengchi said as he stretched out his five claws, grabbed the tumor on his forehead, and said, "I heard a doctor say: the tumor on my head is the gate of life; the tumor is there for life, and the tumor goes away. I will swear a curse in front of Brother Lu today—if Gan Fengchi has the evil idea of ​​greedy people and money for his own selfishness in the future, he will grab and pick off this tumor, and Brother Lu will not bother to do it!" This section is the previous relationship between Lu and Gan.Inserting this section is enough to see that "Faquangong" originally created by Lu Yuan did not have any mission of fighting for justice, eliminating violence and peace.Lu Yuan taught Gan Fengchi a set of exercises that day, the purpose was only to enlighten Gan Fengchi's truth that "things in the world cannot be done according to one's own will".To put it bluntly, Lu Yuan has long noticed a situation: those who call chivalry and love to fight against injustice, the more proud they are, the easier it is to lose their sense of proportion; , it is inevitable that the interests of being a hero will not be put first.The agreement between Lu and Gan was fulfilled later. According to many scattered and brief historical sources—including the folklore of the Eight Heroes in the South of the Yangtze River—Lu Yuan died of illness at the age of ninety-eight in Jining, Shandong.Li Mou, a closed disciple who told him before his death: There are three things that he regrets the most in his life; one is to prevent Gan Fengchi from calling him his master, and to marry Jinlan with him, and make an appointment to be a brother with a different surname.Because of this, Lu Yuan inexplicably became one of Gan Fengchi's other brothers of the same rank, and was among the Eight Heroes.The second is that since Gan Fengchi got acquainted with Yin Hezhen because of Gan Fengchi's affection, but failed to convert the obscene monk in time, in the end he had to help the Six Heroes stop violence with violence.As for the third - Lu Yuan said to Li with great emotion: "I think I was enlightened by my first teacher Chao Yuanhe. What I remember here must be the skill of the word "hidden". The purpose of hiding away is to find out the truth of life. I have only followed the teacher for ten years, and I was still ignorant. I said a few words that were very interesting to the ears of the teacher. He taught me and accomplished the exercises. If I just hang around like this and wait to die, after decades of hungry to eat and thirsty to drink water, even if I am muddled like an ant or a mayfly, it will still be a "hidden place" "Extreme" - the so-called inaction, no worries, and no hindrances. But in the early years, when I played Zen words, fought against the enemy, those truths that the words arrived but the intentions did not arrive all the time. Today, I have nearly a hundred Humans are becoming more and more ignorant: What is the reason for this Gou Quan's life? The years have passed, and I have committed countless evils after all!" That Mr. Li is a simple and honest man. Hearing the master say such a heavy word, he was at a loss for a while, knelt down in response, kowtowed several times, and said: "Master has neither committed crimes nor caused trouble. He walks in the rivers and lakes." For seven or eighty years, we just accepted a few disciples and passed on a few sets of exercises. If you don’t like the disciples, the disciples will cut off their own meridians, and for the rest of their lives, they are determined not to disgrace the master.” Lu Yuan smiled when he heard the words, and said: "If you are like this, wouldn't it be another regret for the teacher? Just listen to me." It turned out that this Lu Yuan talked about himself, and he didn't regret that he passed on his skills at random, set foot in the rivers and lakes, and even couldn't reach the state of "extreme invisibility" like ants and mayflies.What he said about the third regret is actually a very profound thought.As a person who cannot live like ants and mayflies, even if he tries his best to escape from the world, it seems that he will inevitably meet and encounter people under the manipulation of nature.Once the encounter is handed over, it will naturally have even a slight impact on people, things, things, and feelings.In this way, why is it hidden?So what's the point of trying to hide?On the other hand, if the hidden meaning is not to live in seclusion and escape from the world, then what can be explored and sought after?When Lu Yuan said this, he sighed unconsciously.That Li is a straightforward person, seeing this situation, he also felt miserable, swallowed and said: "Master thinks this way, then as an ordinary person, if you live a day, you can't hide it for a day?" When Lu Yuan heard this, he said "Hey".He said in a low voice, "My dear boy, you are right; if you live a day, you can't hide a day, why don't I go and die?" As he said, he pointed forward with his hand, immediately reversed the dharma circle, and vomited upside down. , died with a smile. When Li saw his master died, needless to say, he wailed heart-piercingly.But what is the meaning of Lu Yuan's finger before his death?Li looked around, but saw the flat land outside the house, and the green peaks in the distance, but there was nothing in between. After all, this naive person has his naive stubbornness.While crying, Li silently took the position of Master's finger.After Lu Yuan was buried, he counted every step and every step, and frequently looked back to measure the position, just in case there was any mistake.When he thought about it: since the master was about to die with regret, and suddenly pointed out something as if he had realized something, there must be an institutional reason for his departure.This is indeed a mistake, but a karma has been made. As far as Lu Yuan is concerned: Li's unintentional words fulfilled his thought of "ninety-eight years old, but he owes a death".To put it bluntly: only by death can one be completely freed from the obsession of "seeking concealment".As for Li, who walked along the road, he suddenly came to the boundary of Fengyang, Anhui.He thought to himself: Doesn't Master want me to come to the place where he was born? Because the postscript written by "Liudu Longyin" for "The Score of Secret Society Since the Early Republic of China" is very brief and almost vague in the section where Li went to Fengyang Mansion, and it is impossible to know the beginning and the end.On the contrary, there is a short story in the book "Seven Seas of Thunder" (written by "Piaohua Lingzhu"), which tells how a young beggar named Li Jiasan walked thousands of miles from Jining to Fengyang to bury his master. It is very similar to the experience of Li, a disciple of Lu Yuan.It's just that in "Thunder in the Seven Seas", there are more details about the coffin being buried.Let's say that Li Jiasan arrived on the ground and was about to lower the coffin into the ground, but he felt that the coffin was light, as if there was nothing there.This Li Jiasan was very surprised, he called the dibao to testify, opened the coffin and opened his eyes, only to find that the body had disappeared.There is only one handwritten yellow scroll left in the coffin, with the inscription "The Dharma circle is long hidden and everything is illusion". Li Jiasan just picked up the scroll, and the writing on the seal was annihilated.When he opened the front page again and read it word by word, it turned out to be a manual for controlling the operation of the legal circle—the so-called operation manual later.The strange thing is that I don't know what kind of brush and ink was used to write this exercise manual. Once Li Jiasan read it, the handwriting will disappear in real time like the eight-character inscription on the cover, and will never be seen again.Fortunately, the words and sentences are sparse and few, and Li Jiasan is a diligent disciple who has studied this skill for a long time. After reading it, he knew it was the master's handwriting.It is also because this is a thaumaturgy that uses the mind to control the flow of qi and blood; internally casts the viscera and externally captures the muscles and bones. Others don't notice it. Li Jiasan read and practiced it, and in an instant he has achieved a solid and solid magical skill.When he read the final scroll, there was not a single word in the yellow scroll, but Li Jiasan knew his teacher's lifelong learning like the palm of his hand.This is the beginning and end of the "Dharma Circle Gong" taught by the Li family in Jining.It's just that "Thunder in the Seven Seas" writes about this strange incident with the pen of a novel.This rumor proves one point: Among the four branches of Lu Yuan's family, only the Li family in Jining has never called on disciples in the name of "Faquangong"-it doesn't even have any name that can be memorized and passed on, because From the beginning of Li (or Li Jiasan)'s body, this branch has been full of subtle words and righteousness; what is the name and why is it not?It is in the realm of "hidden".