ENG
Bitter Lake's expanse, no end in sight,
The ferry of enlightenment, he sought day and night.
Low means may tempt, but yield no gain,
True greatness takes flight, in honor's domain.
Years ago, Yellowbrow crossed the Bitter Lake on a towered ferry. Upon disembarking, he discovered some strange fish clinging to the ship's hull. These fish, known as He Luo, had a single head but ten bodies, making them bizarre and fearsome.
When the fish saw Yellowbrow approaching, they wondrously bowed and made noises, indicating their desire to follow him and escape the Bitter Lake. Yellowbrow laughed and said, "With your strange forms, others would surely reject you. But I find it interesting to take in what ordinary people would not." With that, he accepted these strange fish as his disciples, clothed them, and taught them how to read and transform into human forms. He even allowed them to practice freely within the realm of the New West.
One of the fish guais was particularly robust and had a fierce temperament. After mastering some techniques, it would ambush at various spots in the temple, waiting for opportunities to attack Yellowbrow when he went out, striking without mercy. Yellowbrow, however, enjoyed these encounters and would seriously engage in combat with the fish guai. Most of the time, he would simply sweep it out of the hall with a swing of his Spikeshaft Cudgel.
Through repeated defeats, the fish guai realized that close combat was futile. It independently devised a technique involving throwing snowballs with its limbs, hitting targets with uncanny accuracy. Once, in the Forest of Felicity, even Yellowbrow was hit several times by snowballs, nearly freezing into an ice block.
Instead of getting angry, Yellowbrow was delighted and unprecedentedly bestowed a new title upon the He Luo fish guai—"Monk from the Sea." He then assigned it the task of cleaning the inner courtyard, which conveniently allowed it to ambush anyone it wished to, especially Yellowbrow himself.
Ah, though they followed the same master, the disciples' experiences and purposes in their practice varied greatly, leading to vastly different treatments.
The story opens on Bitter Lake, a vast, featureless body of water. Yellowbrow crossed it on a towered ferry and, when he landed, found strange fish clinging to the ship’s hull. These fish were called He Luo and were physically bizarre: a single head with ten separate bodies. When Yellowbrow approached, they bowed and made noises that showed they wanted to follow him and escape the lake.
Yellowbrow decided to accept those fish as his disciples. He clothed them, taught them to read, and taught them how to transform into human forms. He let them live and practice freely inside the realm called the New West, giving them a chance to change their lives away from the Bitter Lake.
One of the He Luo, described as especially robust and fierce, behaved differently from the others. After learning some fighting techniques it began ambushing people in the temple, waiting for Yellowbrow to go out and then attacking him without mercy. Yellowbrow enjoyed the fights and took them seriously, meeting the ambusher in combat when it attacked.
In most encounters Yellowbrow defeated the fish by sweeping it out of the hall with his weapon, the Spikeshaft Cudgel. The fish realized it could not win in close combat, so it invented a new tactic: using its many limbs to throw snowballs with surprising accuracy. In the Forest of Felicity it hit Yellowbrow several times with this snowball technique, nearly freezing him into an ice block.
Instead of getting angry, Yellowbrow was pleased by the fish’s creativity and gave it a new title: “Monk from the Sea.” He assigned the fish to clean the temple’s inner courtyard, a duty that conveniently let it continue ambushing people, especially Yellowbrow himself. The story ends by noting that although all these He Luo shared the same master, their experiences, purposes, and the way Yellowbrow treated them varied greatly.