XuanTong

XuanTong is a senior Shaolin monk and XuanNan’s junior martial brother. His final appearance brings the unresolved frost poison into the center of a dispute at Xue MuHua’s residence: after enduring its recurring effects for days, he enters meditation, lays aside his weapons, and dies. XuanNan understands the death not as defeat by the poison but as XuanTong’s realization of the Tathata and attainment of Nirvana.

Identity and Introduction

XuanTong travels with a group of Shaolin monks led by XuanNan. When they meet Deng BaiChuan and the other members of the Gusu Murong family at a pavilion, XuanNan introduces XuanTong as his junior martial brother. The monks are on their third journey to the Basin of Swallows, where they intend to deliver an invitation from their abbot to the Murong family.

The Frost Poison

At the pavilion, XuanTong is among those affected by the unusual frost poison. He and the others spend the time needed to eat a meal trying to dispel its chill. XuanNan and fellow martial artists use their internal energy to help, but the poison returns after briefly easing. The effort continues until dusk, and even repeated doses of the Six Solar Energy Pill fail to repel it. XuanNan concludes that neither the pills nor their internal energy can suppress the poison, and proposes seeking the help of Divine Physician Xue.

The poison’s recurrence leaves XuanTong weakened and frustrated. When a later confrontation breaks out, XuanNan tries to clarify the dispute and stop the fighting. XuanTong instead emerges and attacks, accusing the opponents of harming people with poison. His action is presented in the context of the days he has spent enduring the poison and his inability to release that frustration; it turns an attempt to settle the conflict into another fight.

Enlightenment and Death

During the clash, XuanTong suddenly lays down his twin Buddhist knives, sits on the ground, and smiles with his eyes closed. XuanNan tells the others not to interfere, checks XuanTong, and finds that he has stopped breathing. He joins his palms and recites a prayer for the dead.

XuanNan then interprets the death as a spiritual event: he says that XuanTong perceived the Tathata in meditation and attained enlightenment. The other Shaolin monks begin to cry and prepare to fight the two scholars, but XuanNan tells them to stop and to rejoice for their martial brother. The fighters on both sides withdraw, and the confrontation ends. XuanTong’s death thus brings the immediate conflict to a halt while leaving the poison itself unexplained and without a cure in this scene.

Narrative Role

XuanTong’s brief arc contrasts bodily affliction with the spiritual meaning XuanNan assigns to his final act. His attacks show how the recurring poison aggravates an already unstable encounter; his sudden stillness reverses that momentum, disarming the fight without resolving its underlying cause. The scene presents his death through the responses of the living: XuanNan’s interpretation redirects grief and retaliation toward reverence, and the combatants fall back.