Chapter Ninety-Eight: An Uninvited Guest

"Oh?" Dong Jianguo said in surprise. "You went to see Elder Hall Master Murong?"

"Yes." Chen Ding'an nodded.

"Well, well! For your son, you really spared no expense. You used your one chance to meet him on the boy." Dong Jianguo chuckled. "Seems you have very high hopes for your son."

"Of course. He is my son, Chen Ding'an's son. Naturally, he inherited my fine genes. And I dare say his future achievements will absolutely be no less than mine. No— not just mine. He may even surpass his grandfather." Chen Ding'an said with absolute certainty.

Dong Jianguo, however, shook his head in disbelief. "Save the praise for someone else. We'll see soon enough. You can boast all you like now, but don't let him embarrass you later."

"Embarrass me?" Dong Jianguo went on. "That aside, I’m actually beginning to accept your thoughts about the future. If your son is too useless, then the one who suffers will be my girl. So let me make this clear in advance: if Chen Hao doesn't satisfy me, I won't agree to this marriage."

"Oh? So even a disabled man plans to renege on the arrangement?" Chen Ding'an sneered.

Dong Jianguo waved a hand. "We only spoke of it verbally. Nothing was put down in black and white. There is no question of reneging. You treasure your son as if he were a gem; is my Xin girl not my precious daughter? For the sake of the children's future, so what if I break a promise?"

Chen Ding'an smiled without concern. "Relax. I won't let you down."

"It had better be so." Dong Jianguo said solemnly. "I also hope my girl can find an outstanding man as her husband. If your son truly is as exceptional as you say, I certainly won't object. On the contrary, I will support it wholeheartedly."

"Just wait and see." Chen Ding'an seemed full of confidence.

"Fine, let's not talk about that for now. Tell me instead what exactly you learned from Hall Master Murong, and why you ended up in such a miserable state. In my memory, this is the first time I've ever seen your fine young master Chen in such a sorry condition. Did you fight with Hall Master Murong?

That can't be right. As far as I know, Hall Master Murong hasn't sparred with anyone for many years. To me, the reason must be that the old gentleman simply cannot find an opponent. Besides, his seniority is so high that if he fought someone, people would accuse him of bullying the young..."

Chen Ding'an shook his head. "Of course I didn't spar with the old hall master..."

Then he recounted to Dong Jianguo everything that had happened in the Inner Martial Hall of the Shaolin Temple, without hiding a single detail.

"Oh? Hall Master Murong really showed Chen Hao that astonishing woodcutting art of his? And he even told Chen Hao that if fate allowed, they would meet again?" Dong Jianguo sounded genuinely surprised. "Then what you said was indeed true. Even Hall Master Murong regards Chen Hao differently; otherwise he would never have said such a thing to him. By rights, the old hall master’s connection with your Chen family ended with your father’s generation.

Accepting a meeting with you was already entirely out of consideration for your father. From what I know, Elder Hall Master Murong should have left the Shaolin Temple long ago. The reason he has not done so, it seems, was that he had been waiting for you. Heh heh—this boy Chen Hao really is no ordinary fellow."

"So letting your girl marry him is absolutely a bargain for your Dong family!" Chen Ding'an said smugly.

"Bah! Stop acting noble after taking advantage of me!" Dong Jianguo said unhappily. "You still haven't said why you ended up in such a mess! Since you didn't fight the old hall master, and since the old hall master has left the Shaolin Temple, I doubt the people of Shaolin would be so blind as to pick a fight with you.

The men of the Inner Martial Hall, out of respect for the old hall master, would never lay a hand on you. As for those clowns in the Outer Martial Hall... Hmph!"

From Dong Jianguo's tone, it was clear he held the Outer Martial Hall in very poor regard.

Chen Ding'an shook his head and laughed. "Don't speak of others like that. Perhaps the Outer Martial Hall seems unremarkable to you and me, but there is no denying that in the secular world they are already considered the pinnacle of martial arts.

And Shaolin has stood for so many years not merely because of its martial skill. Its accumulation over the centuries is something people like us cannot compare with. In culture, in martial heritage, and in influence, it is immeasurable."

Dong Jianguo curled his lip but said nothing. He knew Chen Ding'an was right. It was only his own temperament that made him look down on those whose strength or power fell beneath his own—a common failing among martial practitioners.

After a while, Dong Jianguo began to look impatient. Chen Ding'an naturally knew it was because he had still not answered the question. After thinking it over, and just as Dong Jianguo was about to explode, Chen Ding'an finally spoke.

"My son and I ran into some trouble on the way down the mountain, and that's why we ended up like this."

Dong Jianguo looked curious. "Finally, the real story. What trouble?"

"Halfway down the mountain, we met a group of people coming up." Chen Ding'an spoke at an unhurried pace. "Their dress was very uniform: all black suits. Even though the sun wasn't glaring, they still wore those obnoxious sunglasses, making themselves look like something out of The Matrix."

"Black suits and black shades... they definitely don't sound like tourists," Dong Jianguo said with a nod.

"Of course they're not tourists. Tourists wouldn't take that kind of mountain path, and they wouldn't know the exact location of the Inner Martial Hall," Chen Ding'an said. "The road to the Inner Martial Hall is a steep mountain path, with no signs at all. Even hikers on bicycles wouldn't choose such a place to climb. Those people were clearly coming with some sort of purpose."

"And then?" Dong Jianguo asked again.

"And then..."

...

Dong Jianguo looked at the neatly dressed group before him, and could not help but feel puzzled. Just as he was about to speak, the other side spoke first.

In truth, the other party was equally surprised to see Chen Ding'an and Chen Hao. "Hello. May I ask whether you two are just coming down from the mountain?"

Seeing that the other side was reasonably polite, Chen Ding'an did not pretend not to hear. He nodded naturally. "That's right. May I ask why all of you are here? The path here isn't easy. Are you tourists here to hike?"

One of the men shook his head. "We're not tourists. Tourists wouldn't dress like us to climb a mountain. We came up for an important matter."

Looking at the two of them, the man added, "From your clothing, it seems you aren't locals either. Could you be lost tourists?"

Hmph. Testing each other... Chen Ding'an thought to himself. It seemed neither side wished to reveal its identity.

"We... more or less," Chen Ding'an answered vaguely. Then he asked, "May I ask what brings you up the mountain? Is there anything you need help with?"

The man gave him a meaningful look. "Heh. It seems this gentleman does not trust us very much. We mean you no harm. We merely encountered something unexpected on the way up, so we asked a few more questions. If you are offended, then let us part ways here."

Having said that, the man led the others forward, intending to pass by Chen Ding'an.

But Chen Ding'an had no intention of letting them go so easily. Although they had not revealed their purpose for coming up the mountain, Chen Ding'an guessed that most likely they were headed for the Inner Martial Hall of Shaolin Temple.

He knew that the reason it was called the Inner Martial Hall was that it almost never dealt with outsiders. If not for the fact that his father and the old hall master were friends, he himself would never have been able to step through the doors of the Inner Martial Hall.

And from what Chen Ding'an understood of the old hall master and the Inner Martial Hall, these people were absolutely not friends of the monks there. Since they were neither friends nor tourists, and since they had openly said they were coming here on business, then whatever it was, it was unlikely to be anything good.

The greatest possibility was that they had come to challenge the Inner Martial Hall. After all, although the Inner Martial Hall was not well known to the outside world, people in the martial world knew a thing or two about it. In the past, many martial artists from outside had wanted to use the Inner Martial Hall to make a name for themselves. Yet most of those people had come in high and mighty, only to leave in complete disgrace.

Because within the Inner Martial Hall there was an existence beyond the ordinary, almost saintly—Hall Master Murong. At least, that was how Chen Ding'an judged him.

But today the situation was somewhat different. Hall Master Murong had just left the Inner Martial Hall not long ago. Moreover, from the looks of it, he must not have met these people, and did not know that uninvited guests had arrived at Shaolin Temple. Otherwise, with his personality, he would never have left at such a time.

Since he and Chen Hao had already received Hall Master Murong's kindness, and since the man was his father's friend, there was no way he could stand by and do nothing.

So just as the other party was about to pass by him, Chen Hao spoke up. "Hold on."

The other man frowned and turned to look at Chen Ding'an. "May I ask what else you want, sir?"

Chen Ding'an kept his tone as calm as possible. He did not wish to make enemies for no reason. Perhaps they really were friends of the Inner Martial Hall whom he did not know. If he acted too rashly, it could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.

"May I ask what exactly brings you up the mountain?" Chen Ding'an said.

The man shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I cannot tell you about our business. I hope you and we can each go our own way and not meddle. Something dangerous may happen shortly, so for your child's sake, you'd best hurry down the mountain."

Hearing this, Chen Ding'an could already be certain that these people had definitely not come to Shaolin on some friendly visit. So he no longer bothered with courtesy and said bluntly, "You must be headed for the Inner Martial Hall, I assume?"

At those words, the man actually smiled. "So, sir, you really do know about the Inner Martial Hall. I suppose you came down from there just now? In that case, you must also be a martial artist?"

Chen Ding'an stopped hiding it and nodded directly. "You're right. I am indeed a martial artist, and I have some ties to the Inner Martial Hall.

From the looks of all of you, it doesn't seem like you're here for a friendly visit. If you're not guests, then I'm sorry, but I cannot let you go up the mountain..."