Night of the Broken Gliph

“Looking for me?” Yuen Yau placed his wooden fish and stick down in a daze and stood up. “Bring me over.”

And he followed behind the monks.

After Yuen Tin betrayed Apex Temple, Yuen Yau became the leader of the disciples, and even those who broke through to the three-chambered state treated him with great respect. After all, Yuen Yau was Mute’s direct disciple, and he would most likely become the next abbot of their institution.

Yuen Yau reached the small pavilion of their temple, which was used to receive guests.

This was a structure commonly found in religious sects known as the Reception Pavilion. However, this building was rarely found in today’s world after Buddhism and Taoism declined. It could only be found in the few remaining religious sects in the North and here at Apex Temple in the South. Apex Temple was a Buddhist sect after all.

Yuen Yau walked towards Man Fai and his mother, bowing to them. “I heard that this benefactor asked to see me. May I know how I can help you?”

“I met the seventh teacher of Cloud Palace and he instructed me to come to Apex Temple with this for Master Yuen Yau, who would have an arrangement.” Man Fai carefully took out a pouch he had been holding onto.

Yuen Yau frowned.

Initially, he did not have any negative feelings towards Chui Yim, but he had a part to play in Yuen Tin betraying the sect, thus, Yuen Yau naturally bore dislike towards this seventh teacher.

The pouch felt warm the moment Yuen Yau took it; Man Fai obviously protected it like it was a precious item. The thought of this made Yuen Yau feel like laughing.

What does Chui Yim want?

However, Yuen Yau’s expression changed drastically when he opened the pouch.

He immediately closed it as if it contained something grave, which left the little monks behind him confused. The monks were aware of how calm and steady Yuen Yau was despite his young age, and it was rare for his emotions to fluctuate as suddenly as they did just now.

“Come with me.” He looked at Man Fai very seriously and turned to Man Fai’s mother. “Please take a rest, benefactor. I’ll return after I bring the little benefactor to meet Master.”

The other monks were greatly surprised at Yuen Yau’s words. Their abbot was currently in night class, where he rejected any visitors. So, what was it that made Yuen Yau determined to visit the abbot during such a time?

Man Fai’s mother was brought to rest while Man Fai followed Yuen Yau towards the huge temple in the middle of the sect.

Man Fai was as confused as the monks. He hugged the pouch all day and even hugged it to sleep, thus he could roughly feel that it was paper even without opening it, rather than some precious treasure. But since it was given to him by the seventh teacher, he treated it with great care.

What he never expected was for Yuen Yau to be so serious after receiving the item.

After some time, both of them arrived at the temple. Rather than walking in, Yuen Yau knelt in front of the temple and got Man Fai to do so as well. He didn’t even knock on the door!

Man Fai was currently at a loss, but his mature character had him following Yuen Yau’s instruction without another word. Seeing how steady Man Fai was, even Yuen Yau couldn’t help but take another glance at him.

It was unknown how long before the temple door opened.

A strong smell of burning incense wafted out from the temple, making Man Fai’s nose itch. Yuen Yau stood up and went inside the temple. It was then that Man Fai realised why there was no need for them to knock; the moment they reached the door, or even before, the person inside the temple already knew about their arrival.

Mute was kneeling in front of a huge Buddha statue, looking at Yuen Yau in confusion.

Yuen Yau did not utter a word and handed his master the pouch with complete seriousness. Mute took it lightly, opening the pouch.

There were two things inside – a letter and a scroll.

It was the Thousand-Leaves Hand.

Mute's hand trembled as his eyes shrunk. In ancient times when Buddhism and Taoism still ruled the world, their power greatly surpassed many organizations of today such as Four Seasons Heaven or Imperial Sunset Palace. And even amongst them, the strongest was the Thousand-Leaves Sect.

The name “Thousand-Leaves” came from how the sect was able to enjoy spring all year round because they possessed a great treasure.

While enjoying this weather, their ancestor was enlightened and created the powerful Thousand-Leaves Hand.

It was the most well-known style of their sect, even more so than Mount Meru Strike. Instead of keeping the style for himself, this ancestor spread the style, which consisted of five levels, to the sect's disciples, but they mostly ended up only reaching level two, with only a few reaching level three.

However, this could not erase the superiority of this powerful style. In those days, their founding master could transform a single hand movement into a thousand hands and palms, possessing the power to seize the wonders of heaven and earth. Many descendants of the Thousand-Leaves Sect could only lament their own lack of talent, unable to recreate the glory of their founding master.

Fortunately, after many years, a profound monk gained enlightenment with the Buddhist Zen concept of ‘condensing Mount Meru into a mustard seed,’ unifying countless variations into one and creating Mount Meru Strike, which helped the Thousand-Leaves Sect gain glory once again.

The Thousand-Leaves Hand became an important foundation-building technique after the sect’s disciples were unable to master it properly, until a rebellious monk of theirs that was locked in the mountains in the back garden turned over a new leaf and successfully reached level five of the Thousand-Leaves Hand, bringing the sect to the peak again and making it the strongest sect in his generation.

This rebellious monk was none other than their abbot – Ka Yi.

Compared to how surprised Mute was to receive the Flower Garland Scripture, Mute was less shocked, but it was still enough to leave him speechless.

He took out the letter that was written with elegant and dynamic handwriting just like there was a ball of flame on the paper. “Take good care of this boy. He’s highly talented and fated with the Thousand-Leaves Hand. You can pass the Thousand-Leaves Hand to your little monk, but you must teach the kid the Universe Divine Style.”

Mute looked up at Man Fai subconsciously.

Despite feeling uneasy being in a foreign place, his eyes were still shining and flowing with calmness, resembling stars cleansed by the rain.

So this is the person that the seventh teacher, who was born with Zen, regards highly?

After a long thought, Mute spoke to Yuen Yau in sign language. Yuen Yau was shocked, but it was what he expected.

The Thousand-Leaves Hand was so powerful that it was known as the best foundation to learn for zen martial arts, and the style started from the basics. Even if one was unable to reach the last level of this style, they would have extremely strong basics just by picking up the first two levels. This was also the reason the Thousand-Leaves Sect was one of the strongest Buddhism sects in the past.