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Thread: Demi-God Semi-Devils

  1. #501
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thanks tigergee. Great update.

    I feel bad for XF. But he's still a great hero nonetheless.

  2. #502
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    Thanks for continuing to translate this story. I've been waiting for a long time for this... such a critical juncture of the story, and there's so much more in the written text than any of the TV versions. Checking for updates all the time now!

  3. #503
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    Some corrections, quite a lot of them actually (they snowballed, sorry). If you want me to stop then I can do that, on the other hand if you want me to produce more of them that is also a possibility.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    And as for that pair of husband and wife, we had committed a great sin towards them that could never be made.”
    "As for that pair of husband and wife, towards them we had commited a great sin that could never be unmade."

    “Why sin did you committed towards them?”
    What sin had you committed towards them?

    If the Khitan warriors actually do attack Shaolin then it is not too late to kill the baby then.
    If the Khitan warriors actually did attack Shaolin then it was not too late to kill the baby then.

    With his left hand while holding the reverend, he jumped and dodged to one side.
    While holding the reverend with his left hand, he jumped and dodged to one side.
    (Actually "He jumped and dodged to one side while maintaining his hold of the reverend" would be better, it does however change the structure a lot.)

    People seeing this was shocked, their jaws drop in disbelief.
    People who saw this were shocked, their jaws dropped in disbelief.

    That monk from Shaolin was asked by Brother Leader to teach you martial arts and guide you since childhood to keep you from straying from the wrong path
    I think you mean "keep you from straying from the right path" or possibly "keep you from walking down the wrong path".

    --------------------------------------------------------------

    As always, thank you for translating this tale.

  4. #504
    Junior Member tigergee2329's Avatar
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    Thanks for catching all that. I am very lazy when it comes to proofreading. If you catch any more mistakes please let me know. Or you could always copy it to a word document, fix up whatever needs fixing, then send it back to me. It would be much faster than quoting each line on this forum.

    (Btw, if anyone wants to help out and be a full time editor, feel free to jump on board.)
    Last edited by tigergee2329; 03-30-10 at 10:39 AM.

  5. #505
    Junior Member Linghu's Avatar
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    Dear Tigergee, Thanks very much for your hard work in continuing the translation. Words cannot express my appreciation.
    "The bitterest enemy of you is carnal desires of yourself."

    "The best fight is fight against carnal desires of oneself."

    - The Successor of the Prophet of Islam, Imam Ali peace be upon him

  6. #506
    Senior Member rati4u's Avatar
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    no updates to this great story? i am in tears

  7. #507
    Junior Member tigergee2329's Avatar
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    So sorry for going MIA the past few weeks. Been busy with school. I'm still working on it, but very very slow. This part of the story is my least favorite - it is such a bore to read and translate. I'll try to have something up next week.

    On other news I just got my hands on a set of meteor butterfly sword books. Very anxious to read it. And I think I might try to do some translating on that too as I read along. I am not too familiar with this story so it should be fun to read unlike DGSD where I already knew what will happen.

  8. #508
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    Good to hear you haven't dropped this story yet. Looking forward to reading the next post. Thanks!
    Quote Originally Posted by tigergee2329 View Post
    On other news I just got my hands on a set of meteor butterfly sword books. Very anxious to read it. And I think I might try to do some translating on that too as I read along. I am not too familiar with this story so it should be fun to read unlike DGSD where I already knew what will happen.
    Just an FYI, xJadedx already translated the first 7 chapters of this story. It would be great if you could pick up where he left off. Definitely looking forward to reading this story, probably more than Demi God.

  9. #509
    Senior Member rati4u's Avatar
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    Guys guys but thr r lots of us interested in DGSD as well....do you know some link where I can read DGSD? at least some chinese site which I can convert through language translators

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    Quote Originally Posted by rati4u View Post
    Guys guys but thr r lots of us interested in DGSD as well....do you know some link where I can read DGSD? at least some chinese site which I can convert through language translators
    It's not an easy read, but you can try via google translater here:
    http://translate.google.com/translat...b%2Findex.html

    I tried a while back when there was a long break in the translation posts here, but I found it too time-consuming trying to figure out how it's actually supposed to read. I can speak and understand Cantonese, but the word order is pretty out of whack. Wish I'd kept up with my Chinese school lessons.

  11. #511
    Senior Member rati4u's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by stanman View Post
    It's not an easy read, but you can try via google translater here:
    http://translate.google.com/translat...b%2Findex.html

    I tried a while back when there was a long break in the translation posts here, but I found it too time-consuming trying to figure out how it's actually supposed to read. I can speak and understand Cantonese, but the word order is pretty out of whack. Wish I'd kept up with my Chinese school lessons.
    I tried a lot but not able to understand this way.... looks like I've to just waittttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

  12. #512
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    It's been several months w/o any update. Looks like no one is doing this novel so I'm gonna give it a try. This's the 1st time I've ever translated a JY novel, moreover TLBB is bloody hard to translate, so there may be lots of mistakes. Also, I don't read previous posts so there may be lots of inconsistencies regarding choices of words b/w my translation and those of former translators as well. If u see anything wrong, pls feel free to give me feedback.

    IMPORTANT: What I'll be doing may get in the way of some previous translators. If anyone doesn't like it, just give me a message, I'll delete my translation from this forum right away. No hard feelings. Cheers.

    ---------

    Tian Long Ba Bu - Chapter 16 cont.

    Zhiguang continued: ‘Chief Wang was very wary of you at first, but later, seeing you make fast progress in learning martial arts, behave generously and chivalrously, treat people with clemency, treat him with great respect and prudence, and act to his liking in every aspect, he gradually became really fond of you. Afterward, as you made more contributions and gained more prestige, from the people at the top to the people at the bottom of the Beggar Society, each and every one honored and submitted to you, even outsiders also knew that the upcoming Chief of the Beggar Society would be no one but you. However Chief Wang had still been undecided about you all along because you’re a Khitan. He tested you with three difficult problems, you got them done one by one, but only after you’d achieved seven feats did he entrust the Dog Beating Stick to you. In the Taishan convention that year, after you defeated nine strong enemies of the Beggar Society in succession, he then all the more resolutely installed you as the Chief of the Beggar Society. As far as laona (老衲 – old kasaya, a term a Buddhist monk calls himself with) know, for the past several hundred years, there has never been another Chief of the Beggar Society who had to go through so many hardships like you did.’

    Qiao Feng lowered his head and said: ‘I only thought that enshi (恩师 – kind master) Chief Wang intended to train me, making me undergo many hardships so that I’d be able to take on important missions, but it turns out... but it turns out...’ Saying to here, in his heart he already almost believed that it was true.

    Zhiguang said: ‘I only know as far as here. After you had started to serve as the Chief of the Beggar Society, seeing rumors in jianghu all having it that you acted heroically and valued justice, benefited the common people, behaved without partiality, reorganized the Beggar Society and made it thrive, inwardly I felt happy for you. Also, hearing that you’d several times ruined vicious schemes of Khitan people and killed some of their notable figures, I thought that, in that way, our previous fear of nourishing a viper in our own bosoms had become almost as groundless as the fear of the Qi people (杞人之忧 – the fear [of the sky collapsing] of the Qi people – referring to groundless fears). This incident should never have been mentioned, but somehow someone uncovered it? This is unlikely to be any good to the Beggar Society or Chief Qiao yourself.’ Saying to here, he let out a deep sigh. There was a sorrowful expression on his face.

    Elder Xu said: ‘Zhiguang dashi (大师 – great monk), thank you very much for relating past events making everyone feel as if they were personally on the scene. This letter...’ He raised that letter with his hand and continued: ‘was written by that leading hero to Chief Wang. In the letter he made every effort to dissuade Chief Wang from handing over the Chief of the Beggar Society position to Chief Qiao. Chief Qiao, you may as well have a look at it.’ When he finished saying, he held out the letter.

    Zhiguang said: ‘Let me take a look first, to see if it’s truly the original letter.’ When he finished saying, he received and held the letter in his hands, read it one time and said: ‘Correct, this is really the leading big brother’s original handwriting.’ Once finishing saying, he slightly transferred power into his left-hand fingers to torn off the foot of the letter where there was the sender’s name then put it in his mouth. With a bending of his tongue it was already swallowed into his stomach.

    When Zhiguang torn the letter he had taken several steps towards the bonfire, thus he was a bit further apart from Qiao Feng. Moreover, he was putting the letter paper close to his eyes as if there was insufficient light and he could not see clearly, therefore when he torn off and put the bottom part of the letter in his mouth, the letter paper were just several cun (寸 – Chinese inch ~ 3.33 cm) away from his lips. Qiao Feng could never have expected this old monk of noble character and high prestige to use this cunning trick. With a roar of anger, he struck out with his left palm hitting the monk’s acupuncture points from a distance. His right hand immediately grabbed the letter, but it was still a bit too late, as the signature at the foot of the letter had already been swallowed by the monk down his throat. Qiao Feng struck out another palm to unblock his acupuncture points and angrily asked: ‘You... What are you doing?’

    Zhiguang smiled and said: ‘Chief Qiao, once you have become aware of who you are, perhaps you will want to seek revenge for the murders of your parents. Chief Wang already passed away so there’s no need to mention him. But laona don’t want to let you know the name of this leading big brother. Laona also participated in the ambush against your father and mother that year, laona shall expiate all the crimes by myself, if you want to kill me or cut me to pieces, please do not hesitate to do so.’

    Seeing Zhiguang lower his eyes and droop his eyebrows, looking merciful and stately, even though Qiao Feng was very sad and angry, he could not help having a feeling of respect for the monk. He then said: ‘Whether this matter is true or fake, at the moment I still don’t know. Even if I wanna kill you, there’s no hurry to do so now.’ When he finished saying, he gave Zhao Qiansun a sidelong look.

    Zhao Qiansun shrugged his shoulders as if he was totally unconcerned about it and said: ‘That’s right, me included as well, you must give me my share of this debt. Just kill me whenever you like.’

    Grandpa Tan loudly said: ‘Chief Qiao, everything should be considered carefully. Don’t act recklessly. If you incited the Hu Han conflict (Hu - 胡 – referring to minority people in northern and western China in feudal times), every person of exceptional ability in the Central Plains would become your enemy.’ Even though Zhao Qiansun was Grandpa Tan’s love rival, at that time he still raised his voice in support of him.

    Qiao Feng let out a cold laugh, feeling utterly confused and not knowing how to reply. He then had a look at the letter in the firelight, only seeing it read: ‘My elder brother Jianran (剑髯 – sword beard/whiskers – Wang Jiantong’s nickname), after several nights of discussion, your idea of handing over your position has always been unchanged. However, after thinking about it carefully for several days, I still believe that it is inadvisable. Brother Qiao is a man of extraordinary talents. He has made many great contributions and behaved himself courageously and righteously. Not only is he the outstanding figure in the Begger Society, but in the whole of wulin in the Divine Land (神州 – China’s old name) there are only a very few people who can come close to him. If this talent inherits your position, it is only natural to expect that the prestige of the Beggar Society will expand at some time in the future.’

    Reading up to here, Qiao Feng felt that this senior held himself in extremely high esteem, so in his heart he was very grateful to him for that. He continued reading:

    ‘But there’s not a day that I don’t think about the bloody battle at Yanmen pass and the shocking situations at that time. This child doesn’t belong to our ethnic group, his father and mother died because of both of us. In the future if he doesn’t know about his origin then there’d be no problem. Otherwise, not only will the Beggar Society be destroyed in his hands, wulin in the Central Plains will also have to face a massive catastrophe. At the present time, the people whose wits and martial arts can rival those of that child are extremely rare. It’s not an outsider’s job to interfere in the Beggar Society’s important internal affairs, but our friendship is far beyond what is usual, moreover, the involvement of this matter is too huge, please give it careful consideration.’ The signature at the foot of it had already been torn off by Zhiguang.

    After reading the letter, Qiao Feng stood in stunned silence. Seeing that, Elder Xu held out another letter paper and said: ‘This is Chief Wang’s personal letter, you should recognize his handwriting.’

    Qiao Feng received it. He only saw the letter paper read:

    ‘Instructions to Vice-Chief Ma of the Beggar Society, the Elder of Merit Propagation, the Elder of Rule Enforcement, and the other Elders: If Qiao Feng has any deed that is pro-Liao (辽 – a rival empire of Song) and anti-Han, and helps Khitan fight against Great Song (宋 – a Chinese dynasty), the whole Society must join forces to kill him, and make no mistake. Poisoning and assassination can both be applied. The killer will get credit for and not be guilty of doing so. Wang Jiantong personally penned.’

    The date written at the end of the letter was: ‘Great Song, the 6th Yuanfeng year, the seventh day of the fifth month.’ Qiao Feng remembered clearly that it had been the day he had taken over the Chief of the Beggar Society position.

    Qiao Feng knew without doubt that these several rows of words were really enshi Wang Jiantong’s handwriting, thus, he was no longer uncertain about his origin. However, recalling that enshi had always acted like a kind father, being strict in teaching but also very affectionate, Qiao Feng found it hard to believe that he had secretly written and left behind this order on the day he (Qiao Feng) had taken over the Chief of the Begger Society position. He felt heartbroken. Tears streamed down his face, drop by drop falling on the instructions of Chief Wang.

    Elder Xu slowly said: ‘Chief Qiao, please don’t blame us for being disrespectful. Originally only Vice-Chief Ma knew about these instructions of Chief Wang. He kept them very carefully and never told anyone about them. In the past several years you behaved straightforwardly, and didn’t have any action that was pro-Liao and anti-Song and helped Khitan to oppress Han people, so Chief Wang’s instructions were naturally of no use. It wasn’t until the tragic death of Vice-Chief Ma that Madam Ma found out about this order. At first, everyone suspected that Vice-Chief Ma was killed by Murong gongzi (公子 – young nobleman) of Gusu, if you settled this score for brother Dayuan then there’d be no need to expose your origin. Laoxiu (老朽 – old senile – a term that old men call themselves modestly) thought about this again and again, because of the big picture I wanted to destroy the letter and Chief Wang’s order, but... but...’ Saying to here, he looked at Madam Ma, and said: ‘Firstly, because Madam Ma earnestly wants to avenge her husband’s death, it’s impossible to just let the wrongs that brother Dayuan suffered remain unsolved or let him die with an eternal grievance. Secondly, Chief Qiao supported Hu people, a conduct that has really endangered our Society...’

    Qiao Feng asked: ‘I supported Hu people? Where did you get this from?’

    Elder Xu said: ‘The two words ‘Murong’ are a Hu surname. The Murong clan is the descendant of Xianbei people. Just like Khitan, they are an uncivilized ethnic group.’ Qiao Feng said: ‘Huh, so it was because of that, but I didn’t know anything about it.’ Elder Xu continued: ‘Thirdly, a lot of people in the Society already know that you’re a Khitan, it’s no good concealing it.’

    Qiao Feng looked into the sky and and let out a sigh. It was not until now that the depressing doubts and suspicions that had been in his mind for quite a while were cleared up. He asked Quan Guanqing: ‘Quan Guanqing, you knew that I’m a Khitan descendant so you opposed me, didn’t you?’ Quan Guanqing said: ‘Yes.’ Qiao Feng asked again: ‘The Four Elders Song, Xi, Chen, Wu listened to you and tried to kill me also because of this reason?’ Quan Guanqing said: ‘Correct, but they only half believed me and couldn’t make a decision. When the situation became critical they also chickened out.’ Qiao Feng said: ‘The clue about my origin, where did you get it from?’ Quan Guanqing said: ‘This matter involves outsiders, so excuse me for not being able to tell you. You should know that paper cannot wrap fire. No matter how you conceal your origin, someone would eventually find out about it. The Elder of Rule Enforcement has also already known about it for a long time.’

    (to be continued)
    Last edited by forgot password; 11-19-10 at 02:39 AM. Reason: amending notes, typos

  13. #513
    Senior Member Han Solo's Avatar
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    Thanks for the translation.

    Btw, Liao is not a Chinese dynasty but rather another competing country.

    Han Solo
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    Quote Originally Posted by bliss
    I think they're probably at the same level as or one level below Ah Qing, which is about the level of a 2nd or 3rd generation Quan Zhen disciple.
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  14. #514
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    I could hardly believe it when I saw this thread bumped to the top again. I clicked on it just expecting some more random comments, but saw the new post!

    forgot password, I can't tell you how happy I am that someone's decided to take up this project again. Your first post was superbly translated and flowed very well. Thanks so much for attempting this. I wish my Chinese reading skills were up to snuff so that I could lend a hand.

  15. #515
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thanks for the nice update forgot password! Looking forward to the next update.

  16. #516
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    Finally an update.

    Thanks!
    Rose blooms best near death
    You are in full bloom, Pal!

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    Thanks so much for taking up this project FP
    I have not yet gone through your post, just so excited that I will be able to read this novel through. I have been consciously avoiding places with any referance of DGSD (forum thread,series etc) so as not to spoil the fun , my prayers have at last been answered

  18. #518
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    Even when watching the tv adaptations, I always feel so sad and sorry for Qiao Feng. His story is just too tragic. Such a great hero, but alas, he has to endure so many hardships for the benefits of other people.

    I get emotional just reading this update. Thanks for translating, forgot password. Much appreciate it.

  19. #519
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    Folks, thanks for your feedback and words of encouragement.

    I couldn't translate much this weekend even though this part of the novel is my favorite as my gf would kill me if I spend too much time at the computer.

    Anyway, here's the new update.

    ---------

    Tian Long Ba Bu - Chapter 16 cont.

    In a twinkling, thoughts in Qiao Feng’s mind surged up like tidal waves, for a moment he thought: ‘They’ve gotten jealous, making up all kinds of lies to frame me. Even if I, Qiao Feng, am all by myself, I won’t surrender and will fight bravely to the death.’ But immediately he also thought: ‘Enshi’s order is absolutely genuine. Zhiguang dashi is a person of high virtue and good reputation, and doesn’t bear any resentment towards me, why should he set up this dirty plan? Elder Xu is an important senior figure of our Society, how can it be that he has the intention of overthrowing the Society? Impartial Judge Shan Zheng, Grandpa Tan, Granny Tan all are renowned seniors in wulin. This Zhao Qiansun guy is screwy but he’s also not a zilch. How can this matter be false when they all tell the same thing?’

    After listening to the words of the people like Zhiguang and Elder Xu, the mood of the beggar crowd was totally confused. Some people had already heard that he was a Khitan descendant, but they only half believed it, the other were only made aware of it at that moment. They found the evidences authentic, as it seemed even Qiao Feng himself believed so already. Qiao Feng had always been kind and fair to his subordinates, his abilities, virtue and martial arts were admired by everyone, hence no one could have thought he was a Khitan descendant. But the enmity between Liao and Great Song was extremely deep and countless Beggar Society disciples had died at the hands of Liao people over the years, therefore letting a Khitan serve as the Chief of the Beggar Society was really out of the question. However, no one dared to speak out to demand his expulsion from the Society. For a short time, the apricot forest became quiet, only the sounds of everyone’s heavy breaths could be heard.

    Suddenly there was a clear voice of a woman: ‘Uncles and brothers, my late husband unfortunately passed away. At the moment I can’t say for sure who murdered him. Thinking that my late husband was always sincere and steady, and though he wasn’t well-spoken he didn’t have any enemy in jianghu, I really can’t imagine why someone had to take his life. But they say that: ‘Tardily hiding valuable things induces thieves’ (慢藏诲盗 – a phrase in The Book of Changes), was it because my late husband had something important in his hands that until somebody else had they wouldn’t be satisfied? Was that they murdered him as a witness because they feared he would let out the secret damaging important affairs?’ It was Ma Dayuan’s widow, Madam Ma, who said these words. The purpose of these several sentences was very clear, directly suggesting that the murderer of Ma Dayuan was Qiao Feng and the purpose of his deed was to cover up the evidences of him being a Khitan.

    Qiao Feng slowly turned his head, looked directly at this timid-looking, dainty elegant woman who was wearing a full-length white mourning dress, and asked: ‘You suspect that I murdered Vice-Chief Ma?’

    All the time Madam Ma had been turning her back to Qiao Feng and looking down at the ground, at this moment she suddenly raised her head and looked at him. Seeing her eyes shining like gems and sparkling in the darkness, Qiao Feng was slightly afraid. He heard her say: ‘I’m an ignorant woman, showing my face in public is already unwise, how dare I randomly accuse someone else? But my late husband died with a grievance, uncles, I beg of you think about an old friendship, investigate and discover the truth to avenge my late husband.’ As she finished saying she gracefully bent down and unexpectedly kowtowed to Qiao Feng.

    She didn’t state that Qiao Feng was the murderer, but every word she said pointed towards him. Seeing her kowtowing to him, even though Qiao Feng was angry, it was inappropriate for him to have an outburst, he had no alternative but to kneel down to return the salute, and said: ‘Saozi (嫂子 – a term to call a wife of one’s older brother), please stand up.’

    Suddenly, on the left-hand side of the apricot forest the voice of a girl could be heard: ‘Madam Ma, there’s a doubt in my mind, may I ask you a question?’ Everyone turned in the direction of the voice and saw a young girl wearing a reddish gown. She was A’Zhu.

    Madam Ma asked: ‘What do you want to interrogate me about?’ A’Zhu said: ‘I dare not interrogate you. I heard you say that senior Ma had tightly sealed these letters with sealing wax, and when Elder Xu opened it, the painted imprint was still intact. Does that mean before Elder Xu opened the letters no one had seen their contents?’ Madam Ma said: ‘That’s correct.’ A’Zhu said: ‘Then, besides senior Ma, originally nobody else knew about the letter of that Leading Big Brother and Chief Wang’s order. So, words like tardily hiding valuable things induces thieves, murdered a witness just shouldn’t have been said.’

    Hearing these words of A'Zhu, everyone found them very reasonable.

    Madam Ma said: ‘Who are you? Why do you meddle in our Society’s important affairs?’ A’Zhu said: ‘I’m just a little girl, how dare I meddle in your Society’s important affairs? But since you all want to frame my young master, I can’t help but to discern based on reasons.’ Madam Ma asked again: ‘Who is your young master? Is he Chief Qiao?’ A’Zhu shook her head, smiled and said: ‘No. He is Murong gongzi.’

    Madam Ma said: ‘Huh, I see.’ She stopped paying attention to A’Zhu, turned towards the Elder of Rule Enforcement and said: ‘Elder Bai, the rules of our Society are as firm as a rock, if you violate them, how shall you be punished?’ The muscles on the face of the Elder of Rule Enforcement Bai Shijing slightly twitched, he said solemnly: ‘Deliberately breaking the rules, the seriousness of illegal deeds shall be increased by one level.’ Madam Ma said: ‘Then how about a person who has a higher rank than even you?’ Bai Shijing knew who she was pointing towards so he could not help casting a glance at Qiao Feng and said: ‘The rules of our Society were created by our ancestors. Everyone must comply with them irrespective of rank or position. The same contributions will be rewarded the same, the same offenses will be punished the same.’

    Madam Ma said: ‘The young lady is quite right to be suspicious of this. At first I thought so too. But in the evening of the immediate day before I received the sad news about my late husband’s death, someone suddenly sneaked in our house to steal.’

    Everyone was surprised. Someone asked: ‘Steal? What was stolen? Did anyone get injured?’

    Madam Ma said: ‘No one was harmed. The thief used three sedative-imbued incense sticks to make me and two maids faint and fall to the floor. He then rummaged through everything in my house and stole around ten taels of silver. The next day I received the sad news that my late husband had unluckily been murdered, how could I have the mind to care about the matter of a thief stealing silver? Fortunately, my husband kept these letters in a very secret place so it wasn’t stolen and destroyed by that thief.’

    These several sentences were even clearer, obviously indicating that Qiao Feng either himself went to or sent a person to Ma Dayuan’s house to steal these letters. Since he had wanted to steal the letters, he must have already known about their contents, thus it could be said that the matter of murdering the witness had been made clear. As for how he knew about the contents of the letters, that Leading Hero, Chief Wang, or Vice-Chief Ma accidentally giving some information away was also not something impossible to have happened.

    A’Zhu wholeheartedly wanted to vindicate Murong Fu but also did not want Qiao Feng to be embroiled in this, she said: ‘A thief stealing several tens of silver taels isn’t unusual. It’s just that the timing of it was coincidental. That’s all.’

    Madam Ma said: ‘What you just said is very true, at first I thought so as well, but later at the window where the thief entered and left the house I picked up an object at the foot of the wall. It was dropped by the thief in his hurry. When I just saw it I got panic and knew that this was no small matter.’

    Elder Song said: ‘What was the object? Why is this no small matter?’ Madam Ma slowly took an object, which was eight or nine cun long, out of the cloth bag on her back, passed it to Elder Xu and said: ‘Uncles, please be the judge.’ After Elder Xu received that object, she dropped onto the ground and burst into tears.

    Everyone turned to Elder Xu, only seeing him spreading out that object which turned out to be a folding fan. Elder Xu lowered his voice and read aloud a poem written on one side of the fan:

    ‘The snow of the North is floating at Yanmen Pass,
    On the sandy plain, grass roots are being blown chaotically in the air;
    I’ll feel ashamed if my feats are judged by the number of enemies I’ve captured,
    I only wish I can personally destroy the enemy country to repay the motherland.’

    (朔雪飘飘开雁门,平沙历乱卷蓬根;功名耻计擒生数,直斩楼兰报国恩.)

    When Qiao Feng heard that poem he was really shocked. As he focused his eyes on the fan, he saw a picture named The Hero Comes out of the Frontier Fortress to Fight the Enemy drawn on the other side of it. This fan really belonged to him. That poem had been written on it by enshi Wang Jiantong and that picture had been drawn on it by Elder Xu. Even though the penmanship was not very refined, it had an air of heroism and righteousness, and when combined with the north wind and heavy snow depicted in the picture, it looked even more heroic and intense. This fan had been given to him on his twenty-fifth birthday as a present by enshi. He had always treasured it and kept it carefully, how come it had been lost at Ma Dayuan’s house? Moreover, as he had a liberal character he never brought such things as folding fan with him.

    Elder Xu turned the fan over, looked carefully at the picture which had been drawn with his own hands, let out a deep sigh, and mumbled: ‘Not belonging to our ethnic group, his heart must be different. Chief Wang, ah, Chief Wang, you made a big big mistake about this matter.’

    When Qiao Feng suddenly learned about his origin unexpectedly being a Khitan descendant, all sorts of feelings welled up in his hearts. For the past ten years he had tried his best everyday to devise plans to defeat Liao and kill more Khitan aggressors, therefore when all of a sudden he was confronted with this shocking matter, even though he had weathered many great storms, he could not help feeling at a loss. But after Madam Ma had again and again accused him of plotting the murder of Ma Dayuan and his folding fan had also appeared, he calmed down. In an instant several thoughts ran through his mind: ‘Someone stole my folding fan to shift the blame onto me. This kind of trick can’t cause Qiao Feng difficulties.’ He turned to Elder Xu and said: ‘Elder Xu, this folding fan is mine.’

    When the people who had relatively high ranks or important positions in the Beggar Society heard Elder Xu reading aloud those verses they immediately knew that it was Qiao Feng’s, but the rest of the Society did not know about that. When they heard the confirmation from Qiao Feng himself, they were all stunned.

    Elder Xu also became very emotional, he mumbled: ‘On the whole, Chief Wang considered me a trusted subordinate, yet this important matter of leaving behind an order, he didn’t let me know about it.’

    Madam Ma stood up and said: ‘Elder Xu, it was good for you that Chief Wang didn’t tell you.’ Elder Xu did not understand, he asked: ‘What?’ Madam Ma mournfully said: ‘In the Beggar Society, only Dayuan knew about this matter, he then suffered a grievous death, you... you... had you known about the matter before, you may not have escaped this disaster.’

    Qiao Feng said loudly and clearly: ‘Does anyone have something else to say?’ His eyes looked at Madam Ma then turned to Elder Xu, to Bai Shijing, to the Elder of Merit Propagation, then to everyone. No one said anything.

    Qiao Feng waited for a moment, seeing that no one said anything, he said: ‘My origin, I’m really ashamed that I myself can’t confirm it. But because so many seniors have affirmed it, I must do my best to find out the truth about it. This Chief of the Beggar Society position, I’m leaving it to a worthy person.’ Saying to here, he reached into a long bag on his right foot and took out a glossy dark-green bamboo stick, which was the Dog Beating Stick, the symbol of the Chief of the Beggar Society, and said: ‘This stick was given to me by Chief Wang. When I was in charge of the Beggar Society, even though I didn’t have any contribution, luckily I didn’t commit any serious offense either. Today I give up my position, if any heroic worthy person wants to take on this post, please come to receive this stick.’

    According to the rules of the Beggar Society that had been passed down from generation to generation, when a new Chief assumed their post, the post had to be handed over by the former Chief using the Dog Beating Stick, and before the stick was handed over, the Dog Beating Stick technique had to be passed on. Hence, even if the former Chief suddenly passed away, the successor had already been confirmed and the Dog Beating Stick technique had also already been passed on. Therefore there had never been any dispute over the Chief position. Qiao Feng was in the prime of his life, he had estimated that, in every case, twenty years later he would select a heroic worthy person in the Society to pass on the Dog Beating Stick technique. At this moment, seeing him holding the bamboo stick in his hand and standing fearlessly in front of everybody, who in the beggar crowd dared to come out and receive the stick?

    Qiao Feng successively asked three times, but no one in the Beggar Society said anything. He said: ‘Qiao Feng’s origin is unclear, so, no matter what, I dare not be in charge of this Chief position anymore. Elder Xu and the two Elders of Merit Propagation and Rule Enforcement, this Society-stabilizing treasure, the Dog Beating Stick, you three please take care of it together. Later, once you’ve decided on another Chief, it won’t be late for the three of you to hand it over.’

    Elder Xu said: ‘It’s sensible to say so. As for the Dog Beating Stick technique, we’re gonna discuss it in the future.’ He went forwards to receive the bamboo stick.

    Suddenly Elder Song loudly said: ‘Wait!’ Elder Xu stopped in surprise and asked: ‘Brother Song, what do you wanna say?’ Elder Song said: ‘As far as I can tell Chief Qiao isn’t a Khitan.’ Elder Xu said: ‘How do you do that?’ Elder Song said: ‘I find him different than a Khitan.’ Elder Xu said: ‘How different?’ Elder Song said: ‘Khitan people are very vicious, ruthless, and cruel. But Chief Qiao is a righteous noble hero. Only a moment ago we opposed him, but he still willingly suffered stabs and shed blood for us, and pardoned us for the serious offense of revolt. How can a Khitan be like this?’

    Elder Xu said: ‘From his childhood he was taught by eminent Shaolin monks and Chief Wang, so his ferocious Khitan character has already changed.’

    Elder Song said: ‘As his character has changed, he’s longer an evil man, what’s improper with him being our Chief? I see that in our Society there’s no one else as heroic as him. If anybody else wants to be the Chief, I’m afraid I myself won’t be content.’

    Many people in the Beggar Society had the same thought as Elder Song’s. Qiao Feng’s kindness had always been in the mind of everyone, merely based on verbal statements and written evidences of some people to remove him from the Chief position certainly made many people who were loyal to him feel discontent. After Elder Song had taken the lead in speaking his mind, several tens of people in the beggar crowd also shouted out: ‘Someone’s plotting to frame Chief Qiao. We can’t recklessly believe their words.’ ‘Things that happened tens of years ago, just based on the bull of some of you, who can find out if they’re true or fake?’ ‘The Chief position can’t be changed so rashly like this!’ ‘I wholeheartedly follow Chief Qiao! If they forcefully change the Chief post, even if my head is cut off I’ll still be discontent.’

    Elder Xi loudly said: ‘Those who are willing to follow Chief Qiao go with me to this side.’ He pulled Elder Song with his left hand, pulled Elder Wu with his right hand, and walked to the east. After that the three heads of the Great Kindness branch, the Great Faith branch and the Great Righteousness branch also walked to the east. After the heads of these three branches had gone to the east, their subordinates one by one went after them. Quan Guanqing, Elder Chen, the Elder of Merit Propagation, and the heads of the Great Wisdom branch and the Great Courage branch however stood still. Therefore, in a moment, the Beggar Society’s members were divided into two groups, the one in the east consisted of five tenths and the one who stood still consisted of three tenths. The rest of the Society’s members were hesitant, not knowing which group they should follow. The Elder of Rule Enforcement Bai Shijing had always been resolute and decisive in his actions and stood by his word, but at this moment he felt very awkward and hesitant too.

    Quan Guanqing said: ‘Brothers, Chief Qiao is outstandingly capable and heroic, who doesn’t admire him? But being the common people of Great Song, how can we listen to and obey the orders of a Khitan? The greater Qiao Feng’s abilities are, the more dangerous he is to everyone.’

    Elder Xi shouted: ‘Bullsh!t! Bullsh!t! Fvck you! As far as I can see, you look almost like a Khitan.’

    (to be continued)
    Last edited by forgot password; 11-19-10 at 03:22 AM. Reason: grammatical errors

  20. #520
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thanks for the update forgot password.

    I really hate Madam Ma!!!

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