80 CHINESE SECRET SOCIETIES. 



of Kun-tat, and they immediately knelt down, and prayed for 

 assistance, protesting with tears against the injustice they w r ere 

 suffering. 



The Lady Koeh approached the kneeling priests, and exhort- 

 ing them to calm their grief, said, " This is no place to linger. I 

 invite you to come to my humble dwelling, and abide there a day 

 or two before returning to the monastery ; this will be safer, 

 and will not delay you much." 



It is unnecessary to say that the priests gladly accepted the 

 invitation, and remained with the lady some days, until they 

 could with safety return to the Temple of the " Spiritual King." 



It is now necessary to bring to notice five men, named Go-thien- 

 seng, Png-tai-iu, Li-sek-te, Tho-pit-tat, and Lim-eng-Chiau. 

 These men were originally employed as horse dealers in the pro- 

 vinces Che-Kiang and Shantung ; one day they were accidentally 

 passing the temple of the " Spiritual Temple," where they met 

 the five priests, Choah, Pung, Ma, Li, and Ho. The horse- 

 dealers entered the Temple, and held a conversation with the 

 priests, after which they united with them as brothers, swearing 

 to assist them to the death in avenging their wrongs. 



There was also a Taoist named Tan-Kin-lam, a hermit dwel- 

 ling in the cave of the " White Heron." One day as he was vi- 

 siting the surrounding villages, (where he had gained a great 

 reputation by reciting the Taoist Scriptures, and was much 

 honoured for his good deeds) he met four men, Tho-hong, 

 Toleng, Ho-Khai, and Tan-phiau, who communicating with 

 him by secret signs and ambiguous sayings, made known 

 to Kin-lam that they wished to go to the Temple to meet 

 with the five priests, Choah, Pung, Ma, Ho, and Li. They all 

 proceeded towards the Temple, but on arriving there, found that 

 the priest? had been harassed and pursued by the Mandarin 

 troops, who had forced them to escape. — The brethren had for- 

 tunately managed to get to a place called the Dragon and Tiger 

 Mountain, where they met with the five Tiger Generals, Go- 

 thien-seng, Png-hui-sing, Tiuu -keng-Chiau, Iuu -bun-tso, and 

 Lim-tai-kang, who brought the priests up to the mountain, re- 

 ceived them kindly, and hearing their story, pitied them exceed- 

 ingly. 



The Tiger Generals asked the priests to stay with them two 

 or three months, and promised at the end of that period to go w r ith 

 them to the Flowery Pavilion of Hung,t where they would gather 



f Ang-hoa-Teng. 



