Yan Zi Wu, also called the Basin of Swallows, is the Suzhou residence of the Murong family and the place Shaolin repeatedly seeks out to invite Murong Fu to its temple. Its significance in the supplied episodes lies in this unfinished connection: the family’s expected appearance is delayed, while the journey to reach it brings Shaolin monks into contact with Murong’s retainers and an emerging dispute over a Shaolin monk’s death.

Identity and Setting

Yan Zi Wu is identified as the residence of the Murong family in Suzhou. Shaolin monks refer to it as the family’s home and make repeated attempts to deliver an invitation there. The location is thus not merely a name on the route: it is the expected meeting place between the family and Shaolin, even though Murong Fu is repeatedly absent.

Shaolin’s Repeated Visits

Shaolin’s abbot has twice sent people to the Murong residence, but those visits have not reached Murong Fu: the messengers learned that the senior Murong elder had died and that the young master had left. On a later attempt, the abbot dispatches the Head-Monk of DaMo Hall to Suzhou with an invitation, concerned that Murong Fu may still be away. The invitation asks him to visit Shaolin the following year, when the abbot intends to welcome him and personally address the misunderstanding.

A further delivery brings the monks XuanNan and XuanTong into contact with Murong’s retainers. They explain that this is the third time Shaolin has sent someone to the Basin of Swallows. Meeting the retainers elsewhere, XuanNan presents a red invitation card; Deng BaiChuan accepts it and promises that Murong Fu will attend Shaolin on Double Ninth Festival, pay his respects, and clarify the misunderstanding. The repeated journeys establish an appointment, but not yet the meeting itself.

The Murong Household and Unresolved Suspicion

The invitations reveal how closely Yan Zi Wu is tied to the Murong family’s public obligations. Shaolin’s approach is courteous and formal, and Deng BaiChuan responds on behalf of his absent young master. Yet his promise to clarify matters immediately raises a question for XuanNan: he wonders whether the Murong family was responsible for the death of the senior monk XuanBei. The residence therefore stands at the center of a relationship that is outwardly conducted through invitations and assurances but shadowed by an unresolved accusation.

Narrative Significance

Yan Zi Wu is presented through absence and anticipated arrival rather than through a description of its buildings or grounds. Shaolin’s repeated attempts to reach Murong Fu make the place a point of convergence for a future encounter, while the death of the senior Murong elder and the suspicion surrounding XuanBei’s death give that appointment weight. The location’s narrative function is consequently one of expectation: its absent master is being summoned, and the questions attached to the summons remain unsettled.