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Thread: Demi-God Semi-Devils

  1. #601
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    Thanks for the post. It's interesting that despite mastering HL28 palm, a great level palm skill in the time of the condor trilogy, in desperate situations like these Xiao Feng was never specifically mentioned using those skills. Could it be that he had better skills?

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    Chapter 20: Standing in sadness at Yanmen, no word was left on the cliff.

    Hearing this deafening bellow by Qiao Feng, Shan Zheng suddenly felt dizzy, stumbled and was unable to stand firmly on his feet. The extraordinary people could not help but take several steps backward either. Shan Xiaoshan rushed up from one side and thrust straight forward with his saber.

    The tip of the saber was less than 1 chi (33.33 cm) away from Qiao Feng’s chest but he had no intention of resisting. Seeing that, and not having the heart to look on, the people from the Beggar Society such as Elder Wu and Bai Shijing all closed their eyes.

    All of a sudden, there was a ‘hu’ sound in mid air, a person leaped down in an exceptionally rapid fashion and bumped themselves on Shan Xiaoshan’s steel saber just in time. Shan Xiaoshan was unable to withstand this great force therefore his arm dropped. Amidst the simultaneous shocked exclamations by the extraordinary people, another person jumped down in an equally rapid manner but their head went ahead of their feet. This person bumped into the head of Shan Xiaoshan just in time. With a ‘peng’ sound the tops of 2 skulls hit against each other and the heads of both people were burst open at the same time.

    Only now did everyone see clearly that the 2 people who had just successively leaped down were the people who had been guarding on the roof to prevent Qiao Feng from escaping. But they had been captured and thrown down like missiles by someone. The hall was immediately plunged into chaos with everyone exclaiming and shouting. Suddenly a long rope was flung down from a corner of the roof with fierce force and swept horizontally towards the head of everyone. When the extraordinary people raised their weapons to block the long rope, the tip of it suddenly turned back. It then wound around Qiao Feng’s waist and immediately lifted him up.

    At this moment, the 3 wounds on Qiao Feng’s body were bleeding profusely and his left hand which was carrying A'Zhu no longer had the slightest strength, hence when he was wound around by the long rope, A'Zhu immediately rolled down on the ground. Everyone saw that at the other end of the long rope was a man in black who was standing on the roof and had an imposing stature. His face was being covered with black cloth with only his eyes shown.

    That man clasped Qiao Feng to his side using his left arm, flung the long rope and made it wind around a very high flagpole outside the entrance of Juxian Manor. The extraordinary people shouted loudly. In a very short time, a great variety of missiles such as steel darts, sleeve-hidden arrows, flying knives, iron awls, flying-locust stones, and hand-swung arrows were thrown at Qiao Feng and that man. That gritty man in black pulled the long rope, leisurely got off the ground and landed on the top of the flagpole. Teng-teng, pai-pai, ca-ca sounds were heard continuously, dozens of missiles had hit the top of the flagpole. Everyone only saw that the long rope was flung from the top of flagpole and wound around a big tree which was 8 or 9 zhang (3.333 m) away. Clasping Qiao Feng, that man swung off the top of the flagpole. In an instant he already passed that big tree and landed on a place which was 10 zhang away from the flagpole on the ground. He then flung the long rope again, winding it around another distant big tree. After hoisting and landing in this way several times, he already disappeared into thin air.

    The extraordinary people gasped with astonishment and looked at each other. They only heard horse hoofbeats galloping farther and farther, it was already too late to chase after him.

    Qiao Feng had suffered serious injuries but he was still in full command of his senses. He had seen clearly every act and every move how this man had used the long rope to save himself from danger, hence he felt deeply grateful to him for saving his life and thought: ‘Flinging the rope accurately and powerfully like this, I can do as well. But using the long rope as a weapon and swinging it to attack dozens of people at the same time, I can’t use this ‘Celestial Maiden Scatters Flowers’ stance in flexible whip techniques as perfectly as he did.’

    The man in black put him on horseback. Both of them rode the same horse and went northward. That man took out jinchuang medicine (medicine for treating wounds caused by metal objects) and applied it onto Qiao Feng’s 3 wounds. Having shed too much blood Qiao Feng was very weak, hence he almost passed out several times, but every such time he took a breath and circulated his internal energy, his spirit then rose back. That man urged the horse straight northwest. After going for a while, the path became more and more rugged, afterward, there was no longer any path and the horse merely went by stumbling over disorderly piles of rocks.

    After going for more than 1 hour further, the horse could no longer walk, that man then carried Qiao Feng horizontally in his hands, got off the horse and climbed up a mountain peak. Qiao Feng’s body was very heavy but that man carried him effortlessly. Even though they were in a very precipitous place, he easily used the long rope to wind around branches to jump over ravines. After that man had passed 8 dangerous ravines in a row, he went down all the way, going deep into an abyss from which the sky could not be seen. Finally, he stopped and put Qiao Feng down.

    Qiao Feng strained to stand firmly and said: ‘This great debt of gratitude can’t be paid using words. Kind brother, could you please let Qiao Feng see your true face?’

    That man’s pair of glaring eyes roved over his face. After a long time, he said: ‘In the cave, there’re enough dry provisions to use in half a month. You stay here to care for your injuries. The enemies won’t be able to come here.’

    Qiao Feng replied: ‘Yes!’ and thought: ‘Hearing the voice of this man, it seems he’s not young anymore.’

    That man sized Qiao Feng up for a while then suddenly waved his right hand, with a ‘pai’ sound, he gave Qiao Feng a slap in the face. His action was very fast, and firstly, Qiao Feng had not expected that the man would hit him, and secondly, this palm attack was executed extremely brilliantly, therefore he was unable to dodge it.

    That man followed it up with the 2nd palm attack. The 2 palms attacks were only a flash apart, however once Qiao Feng had this marginal amount of time, how could he let the man hit him again? But because the man had saved his life, Qiao Feng did not want to fight him; moreover he had no strength to dodge, hence he extended his left forefinger and put it next to his own cheek, pointing at the center of the palm of that man.

    This forefinger pointed at the ‘Laogong acupuncture point’ in the center of that man’s palm; if this palm attack by him kept coming, then when the palm had not yet reached Qiao Feng’s cheek, it would have already bumped into the forefinger first. When the palm of that man’s was less than 1 chi away from Qiao Feng’s cheek, he immediately turned it over and used the back of the hand to attack. This change of stances was done exceptionally fast. Qiao Feng also very quickly moved the forefinger and pointed at the ‘Erjian acupuncture point’ on the back of the man’s hand.

    That man let out a stream of laughs, forcefully withdrew his right hand then chopped horizontally with his left hand. Qiao Feng extended his left forefinger and pointed at the ‘Houhuo acupuncture point’ on the edge of his palm. The arm of that man was suddenly lifted a little bit but kept coming with no decrease in momentum. Without delay, Qiao Feng moved his finger and pointed at the ‘Qiangu acupuncture point’ on the edge of that man’s palm. In an instant, the 2 palms of that man danced in the air, changing stances more than 10 times in a row. Qiao Feng only defended and did not attack; his fingers were always pointed so that if the man hit him, the acupuncture points on his palms would bump into the fingers first. That man had taken Qiao Feng by surprise with the 1st palm attack and hit him, but after that he was unable to hit Qiao Feng again. The 2 of them attacked and defended without touching each other but every stance was a top-class martial arts skill that was rarely seen at the present time.

    After that man used the 20th stance, seeing that Qiao Feng was still able to change stances very fast and locate the acupuncture points very accurately despite having suffered serious injuries, he suddenly withdrew his palms, jumped backward and said: ‘No one is more stupid than you are. I shouldn’t have saved you.’ Qiao Feng said: ‘I’m sincerely waiting for your instructions.’

    That man scolded: ‘You stinking dumbass. Having practiced and become unequaled in martial arts under heaven, why did you wanna waste your life for a skeletal chick? She isn’t your relative or friend, didn’t do you any favor or have any relationship with you, and isn’t a gorgeous woman either; she’s just a lowly slave girl, nothing more. Why on Earth there’s such an idiot like you?’

    Qiao Feng let out a sigh and said: ‘Savior, your criticisms are true. It was really senseless of Qiao Feng to do this useless thing with my useful body. But at that moment I couldn’t hold back my fury, my barbaric nature broke out so I wasn’t thinking of the consequences.’

    That man said: ‘Ha-ha, so it was because of the barbaric nature breaking out.’ He turned his head toward the sky and let out a long stream of laughs.

    Qiao Feng felt that there were a lot of desolation and indignation in his long stream of laughs. Suddenly that man jumped to his feet and leaped out for more than 1 zhang. With just a slight shake of his body, he disappeared behind a big rock. Qiao Feng called out: ‘Savior, savior!’ But he only saw that the man continuously leaped then went around past a ravine, he was already very far. As soon as Qiao Feng took a stride, he tottered. He hastily stretched out his hands and put them against the cliff to support his body.

    After composing himself, he turned around and really saw a cave behind the stone wall. Supporting himself on the cliff, he slowly walked into the cave. He only saw a lot of dry provisions such as cooked meat, roast rice, jujubes, peanuts, and dried fish put on the ground; what even better was that there was a big jar of wine. When he opened the jar, the bouquet rushed into his nose. He reached into the jar and took out a scoop of wine to drink. The wine had a sweet taste; it was a first-class wine. Qiao Feng felt grateful: ‘It’s rare to see someone as thoughtful as this savior is. He knows that I like drinking and even has wine for me in here. It’s hard to go on the mountain paths yet he carried this big jar of wine to here. Didn’t this take too much trouble?’

    The jinchuang medicine that man had applied onto him was very effective. At this moment the wounds had already stopped bleeding. Several shichen (1 shichen = 2 hours) later, the pain was gradually relieved. He was a robust man with a profound internal energy and the wounds he had suffered were merely external, therefore even though they were not minor injuries, after 7 or 8 days they were already almost half healed.

    During these 7 or 8 days, he only thought about 2 matters: ‘Who’s the enemy that harmed me? Who’s that savior?’ Both of these people had very outstanding martial arts, perhaps not below those of his own at all. In wulin, the people who possessed these skills were very rare and could be counted on the fingers of 1 hand. He bent his fingers and could count every one of them out, but after thinking carefully he found that none of them was similar to these 2 people. It was understandable that he could not guess who the enemy was, but because he had exchanged 20 stances with the savior, he should be able to guess what school his martial arts belonged to. However, all the stances used by that man had been completely normal yet at the same time had shown enormous skills in their simplicity, just like the ‘Founder’s Long Fist’ Qiao Feng himself had used at Juxian Manor, hence the stances did not give away anything about his identity.

    In 2 days, he already drank up that jar of wine. Enduring until the 20th day, he felt that the wounds had 70% or 80% healed up. By now, his addiction of wine had become so strong that he could no longer keep enduring. Thinking that he could already jump over the ravines without any difficulty, he went out of the cave and tramped over hills and dales to return to jianghu.

    He thought: ‘A'Zhu has fallen into the hands of them. If she’s dead, then she’s already dead. If she’s still alive, there’s also no need for me to take care of her again. The most important and urgent thing at the moment is finding out what kind of man I am. Dad, mom and master passed away in 1 day so the mystery of my origin has become harder to clear up. I must go to the outside of Yanmen Pass to see the writing left behind on that stone wall.’

    After calculating, he went northwest. When arriving in a town, the 1st thing he did was drinking 20 bowls of wine. In only 3 days, the remaining several taels of silver fragments were all changed into good wine, which he drank until nothing left.

    At that time, Great Song was ruling the Central Plains. It divided the country into 15 regions. The main capital was Daliang; Dongjing (the eastern capital) was Kaifeng prefecture; Xijing (the western capital) was Luoyang in Henan prefecture; Nanjing (the southern capital) was Songzhou; Daming was Beijing (the northern capital, and NOT today’s Beijing); in total, there were 4 regional capitals. For the moment, Qiao Feng was in Ruzhou in the Xijing region. That day, when he got to Liang County, his silver had been used up; hence he snuck in the county’s office and stole several hundred taels of silver from the public treasury during the night. On the way he ate and drank a lot; chickens, ducks, fish, sorghum, and good wine all were paid by government officials of Great Song. One day, he arrived in Daizhou in the Hedong region.

    Yanmen Pass was located 30 li (0.5 km) to the north of Daizhou on the rugged Yanmen path. Previously, when carrying out heroic deeds in jianghu, Qiao Feng had also been to here. But at that time, due to having important matters, he had gone past it without paying attention. When he arrived in Daizhou, it was already early 11 a.m. He had a quick meal and drank around 10 bowls of wine in the city then went out of it and headed north.

    His steps were fast therefore he traveled these 30 li in less than 1 hour. When he had climbed up the mountain, he saw that both the eastern cliff and the western cliff were high and steep; the path between them was winding and rugged. This was really a very dangerous place. He thought: ‘Wild geese travel south and return north can’t fly over the high mountains, all of them gotta go between the 2 peaks, so this place is called Yanmen (Wild Geese’s Gate). Today I came here from the south, if the writing on the stone wall states clearly that I’m really a Khitan then after I go out of Yanmen Pass this time, I’ll forever become a man in the North of the pass and no longer enter the pass again. I’ll be inferior to the wild geese that, once every year, go to the south from the north and return.’ Thinking to here, he could not help but feel grieved.

    Yanmen Pass was an important military post of Great Song’s in the north. There were more than 40 passes in Shanxi, and Yanmen was the most imposing and secure one. Beyond several tens of li (0.5 km) outside the pass was the Liao Empire. Because there was always a large number of soldiers defending below the pass, Qiao Feng thought if he went out through it, he would unavoidably be interrogated and examined by the guarding officers and soldiers. Therefore he made a detour via the high ridge in the west of the pass.

    After reaching the highest peak, he scanned widely around but saw nothing other than mountains and mountains, the towering Mt Wutai in the east, the Ningwu Mountain range in the west, Mt Zhengyang and Mt Shigu standing upright in the south, and in the north being Mt Shuozhou and Mt Mayi. With seemingly boundless long slopes and steep mountain sides combined with vast lonely cold forests, the scene was very gloomy. Qiao Feng remembered that while going past Yanmen Pass that year he had heard his comrades say that General Li Mu of the State of Zhao during the Warring States Period and General Zhi Du of the Han Dynasty both had garrisoned Yanmen to defend against Xiongnu invasions. If he himself was really Xiongnu and a Khitan descendant, then for the last thousands of years, the people who had been invading China all were his ancestors.

    He looked at the terrain in the north and thought: ‘That day when people such as Chief Wang and Zhao Qiansun ambushed the Khitan warriors outside Yanmen Pass, they must have chosen the most advantageous mountain slope within more than 10 li of here. No place has better terrain than the mountain slope in the corner to the northwest of here does. Ten to one they set up the ambush there.’

    He quickly ran down the mountain and went to that mountain slope. Suddenly he felt a burst of causeless sorrow. He only saw that there was a large piece of rock on that mountain slope. Zhiguang dashi had said the extraordinary people of the Central Plains had hid behind a large rock and shot poisonous missiles out. It seemed it was this large piece of rock.

    There was a deep ravine several steps outside the mountain path. Clouds and mists enveloped the ravine, making it impossible for anyone to see the bottom. Qiao Feng thought: ‘If Zhiguang dashi’s words are true, then after my mother was killed by them, my father jumped into the ravine to commit suicide from here. After jumping into the mouth of the ravine, he couldn’t bear to make me die with him so he tossed me up onto the body of Chief Wang’s. He… what did he write on the stone wall?’

    Qiao Feng turned around and looked at the cliff on the right-hand side, only seeing that it was naturally flat and glossy, but right in the middle of the big stone wall, there were full of cuts caused by axes and chisels. Obviously, someone had deliberately scraped away the writing that had been left behind.

    Qiao Feng stood in a trance in front of the stone wall then suddenly he could not refrain from getting furious. He only wanted to brandish a saber and raise his palms to massacre, but he suddenly remembered 1 matter: ‘When I left the Beggar Society, I broke Shan Zheng’s steel saber and vowed that it didn’t matter if I was a Han or a Khitan, I definitely wouldn’t kill any Han person. But at Juxian Manor, how many people did I kill in one go? Yet in this moment I wanted to kill again, wouldn’t this seriously violate the vow? Alas, when things already became like that, if I hadn’t offended other people, they would offend me. If I had passively waited for death and let other people cut and kill me, how could it be the action of a true man?’

    He had run thousands of li to here because he wanted to find out about his own origin but from beginning to end he had not achieved the slightest result. Getting more and more irascible, he shouted loudly: ‘I’m not a Han, I’m not a Han! I’m a Khitan barbarian, I’m a Khitan barbarian!’ He then raised his palms and repeatedly hit the stone wall. He only heard the valley resounding with his shouts, each of which echoed back: ‘…not a Han, not a Han! ...Khitan barbarian, Khitan barbarian!’

    Stone bits from the stone wall scattered all around. The grief and fury in Qiao Feng’s heart could not be expressed, he kept striking out with one palm attack after another, it seemed he wanted to vent all kinds of grievances he had suffered for the past more than 1 month on the stone wall. Afterward, his palms bled, the marks of his gory fingers were printed on the stone wall one by one, but he kept on hitting.

    While he was hitting, suddenly he heard the pleasing clear voice of a girl from behind: ‘Great master Qiao, if you kept hitting, this mountain peak would be knocked down by you.’

    Startled, Qiao Feng turned his head around and saw a young girl standing under a flower tree beside the mountain slope, leaning against it. The girl was wearing a reddish gown and was smiling. She was no one other than A'Zhu.

    That day he had saved her merely because he had been stimulated by the indignation of that moment but in fact he had not cared about this little maid. Afterward, busy enough with his own affairs, he had ignored and forgotten the matter concerning her life and death. Unexpectedly, she suddely appeared here, hence Qiao Feng was astonished, but after that he also felt happy. He went upwards to greet her, laughed and said: ‘A'Zhu, have you gotten well?’ However, because his mood suddenly changed from being furious to being happy, his smiling expression was rather forced.

    A'Zhu said: ‘Great master Qiao, how are you?’ She gazed at Qiao Feng for a short while then suddenly threw herself into his bosom and sobbed: ‘Great master Qiao, I… I’ve been waiting for you here for 5 days and 5 nights. I only feared that you wouldn’t come. You… You’ve really come. Thank Heavens, in the end you’re safe and sound.’

    She said these few sentences in an intermittent manner, but her words were filled with gladness and solace. As soon as Qiao Feng heard them, he knew that she cared about himself very much. He felt moved and asked: ‘Why have you been waiting for me here for 5 days and 5 nights? I… How did you know that I’d come here?’

    A'Zhu slowly raised her head. Suddenly remembering that she was leaning against the bosom of a man, she blushed and took 2 steps backward. When she recalled that just a moment ago she had been unable to control her feelings, her face reddened even more. She suddenly turned around and went quickly to the back of the tree.

    Qiao Feng called out: ‘Hey, A'Zhu, A'Zhu, what are you doing?’ A'Zhu did not reply. She only felt that her heart was beating chaotically. After a good while, she walked out from behind the tree, her face still looked rather embarrassed. For the moment, she stammered and was unable to say clearly. Finding her expression strange, Qiao Feng said: ‘A'Zhu, if you have something that is hard to say, feel free to tell me. The 2 of us are friends in adversity who went through life-and-death situations together, what do you still worry about?’ A'Zhu’s face reddened again. She said: ‘Nothing.’

    Qiao Feng gently pulled her shoulder and turned her face towards the sunlight. He saw that even though her countenance was still very haggard, a reddish color could vaguely be seen under her pale cheeks; they no longer had the gray color of when she had been seriously injured that day. Qiao Feng then put out his finger to feel her pulse. A'Zhu’s whole body shook when her wrist touched his finger. Qiao Feng asked: ‘What’s wrong? You’re still unwell?’ A'Zhu blushed again and hurriedly said: ‘No, no… nothing.’ Qiao Feng checked her pulse but found that it was beating steadily and comfortably. He praised: ‘Divine doctor Xue could bring the dying back to life. He really lives up to his reputation.’

    A'Zhu said: ‘Luckily, only because your good friend Elder Bai Shijing promised to teach Divine doctor Xue 7 stances of the ‘Silk Thread Winding Grasping Hand Technique’ did he treat my injury. More importantly, they wanted to interrogate me about the whereabouts of that master in black. If I had died at that moment, they wouldn’t have been able to ask anything. When the condition of my injury got better a bit, every day 7 or 8 people came and asked me: ‘What’s the relationship between the evil traitor Qiao Feng and you?’ 'Where has he escaped to?' ‘Who’s the man in black that saved him?’ At first I didn’t know anything about these matters, but when I honestly said that I didn’t know, they insisted that I was lying. They also threatened me a lot, saying they’d starve and torture me. So, I secretly made up some stories and told them. The story about the master in black was the most absurd. One day I said he was from Mt Kunlun, the next day I again said he had once learned martial arts in the East Sea. It was very interesting talking nonsense to them.’ Saying to here, recalling that during those days she had talked nonsense to and made a fool of many current well-known heroes and extraordinary people, she still had some lingering enjoyment, and a smiling expression appeared on her face, making it look like a spring flower which had just opened.

    Qiao Feng smiled and said: ‘Did they believe you?’ A'Zhu said: ‘Some did and some didn’t. The majority of them half believed half doubted. I guessed they didn’t know the identity of the master in black either and no one would be able to argue that my words were incorrect, so my stories became more and more curious, making them very suspicious and filled with anxiety.’ Qiao Feng sighed and said: ‘In the end, what’s the identity of this master in black? I don’t know it either. Perhaps if I heard you talking through your hat, I’d also half believe half doubt.’

    Surprised, A'Zhu said: ‘You don’t know him either? Then why was he willing to risk saving you from an extremely dangerous place? Ah, of course, every great hero who saves people in danger is just like that.’

    Qiao Feng sighed and said: ‘I don’t know who I should take revenge on, and don’t know who I should pay my debt of gratitude either. I don’t know if I’m Han or Hu and don’t know if in the end my conduct and deeds are right or wrong. Qiao Feng ah Qiao Feng, you’re really a man for nothing.’

    Seeing his miserable expression, A'Zhu could not help putting out her hands and holding his hands. She soothed him: ‘Great master Qiao, why do you have to make yourself suffer? There’ll be one day when everything will come to light. As long as you have a clear conscience, and act and behave according to the law of Heaven and Earth, that’s good enough.’

    Qiao Feng said: ‘But I myself have a guilty conscience. Because of it I feel very sorry. That day in the apricot forest I flicked the saber and took a vow that I’d never kill a Han, but… but…’

    A'Zhu said: ‘At Juxian Manor, those people disregarded rights and wrongs to jointly attack you, if you hadn’t struck back, could it be that you’d have confusedly let them cut you into 17 or 28 pieces? There’s no such thing under heaven!’

    Qiao Feng said: ‘You’re right.’ He was a broad-minded brave man therefore he only felt grieved and lonely for a limited time; after a while, he cast these feelings aside and said: ‘Zhiguang dashi and Zhao Qiansun both said there were words written on this stone wall, but someone has scraped them off.’

    A'Zhu said: ‘Yes, I guessed you’d definitely go out of Yanmen Pass to see the words left behind on this stone wall, that’s why after I escaped from danger I went to here immediately to wait for you.’

    Qiao Feng asked: ‘How could you escape? It’s also Elder Bai who saved you?’ A'Zhu smiled: ‘No, it isn’t. You remember that I once disguised as a Shaolin monk, right? Even his shixiongdi (apprentice younger and older bros) couldn’t discover it.’ Qiao Feng said: ‘Yes, this mischievous skill of yours is really good.’ A'Zhu said: ‘That day, when the condition of my injury was already very good, Divine doctor Xue said there was no need to treat the injury anymore and after resting for 7 or 8 days I’d fully recover. The stories I made up gradually had more and more flaws. Also, I already got somewhat bored with making them up and was worried about you, so in the evening of that day, I disguised as a person.’ Qiao Feng asked: ‘Disguised again? Who did you disguise as?’

    A'Zhu said: ‘I disguised as Divine doctor Xue.’

    Slightly startled, Qiao Feng said: ‘How could you disguise as Divine doctor Xue?’ A'Zhu said: ‘He met me every day and talked to me the most so I was familiar with his appearance and manner the most. Besides, he often stayed with me alone. In the evening of that day, I pretended to fall in a faint. He came to feel my pulse. I then turned my hand over and grabbed the inner surface of his wrist. He could no longer move, and had no choice but to let me arrange.’

    Qiao Feng could not help but burst out laughing and thought: ‘This Divine doctor Xue only focused on treating illness. He didn’t expect to be fooled by this imp at all.’

    - To be continued -

  3. #603
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    Thank you for continuing the translation

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    The fight between Qiao Feng and his saviour reminds me of Linghu Chong's fight with the two Wudang experts, but he just had to stare at his opponents accupoints.

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    Thanks for the update FP.

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    Quote Originally Posted by CFT View Post
    The fight between Qiao Feng and his saviour reminds me of Linghu Chong's fight with the two Wudang experts, but he just had to stare at his opponents accupoints.
    It reminds me more of Yang Guo's fight with Zhao Zhijing where he stuck his thumb in the way for Zhao Zhijing's acupoints to hammer themselves against him, or Guo Fu's fight with Guo Xiang where each altered the other's moves by counterattacking rather than defending.

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    thanks for update fp

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    Thanks, fp. I'm so glad you decided to take up the challenge.

    I actually really like the way he just decided to use Founder's Long Fist instead of HL18Z. For a lot of JY's characters, it seems as if they're beating their opponents with a superior set of learned arts. Here, QF is just completely overtaking everyone by sheer talent. Some of his opponents have probably double or triple the number of years of training in very advanced skills, but still can't gain an advantage.

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    Chapter 20: cont.

    A'Zhu said: ‘I blocked his acupuncture points, removed his clothes and footwear. As my acupuncture point blocking skill isn’t first-class, I feared he would unblock the acupuncture points, so I torn the bed sheet, tied up his limbs then put him on the bed and used the quilt to cover him. If someone looked in from outside the window, they’d only think that I was sleeping deeply with my head covered by the quilt. No one would suspect. After I put on his clothes, shoes and hat and piled wrinkles onto my face, I already looked 70% similar to him, but I lacked a beard.’

    Qiao Feng said: ‘Oh, Divine doctor Xue’s beard is half black half white, it’s not easy to fake it.’ A'Zhu said: ‘It was impossible to make a copy, so in the end I used the real one.’ Qiao Feng asked in surprise: ‘The real one?’ A'Zhu said: ‘Yes, the real one. I took out a small knife from his medicine chest and shaved off his beard, then stuck every single thread on my face. There wasn’t the slightest difference in color and appearance. Divine doctor Xue must’ve been extremely angry, but what could he do? Treating my injury wasn’t his true goal so me shaving off his beard doesn’t count as requiting kindness with enmity, let alone the fact that after having his beard shaved off, it seemed he became younger by more than 10 years, looking very handsome.’

    As she spoke to here, the 2 of them looked at each other and burst out laughing.

    A'Zhu continued after she finished laughing: ‘After disguising as Divine doctor Xue, I swaggered out of Juxian Manor. Of course no one dared to ask me anything. I asked people to prepare horse and take silver for me then went off. When I was 30 li (0.5 km) away from the manor, I pulled off the beard and changed into a young guy. Those people must have discovered it no sooner than the early morning of the next day. But on the way I already changed my appearance, they certainly wouldn’t be able to find me.’

    Qiao Feng applauded and said: ‘Brilliant! Brilliant!’ Suddenly he recalled that at Shaolin Monastery when seeing his own back in the copper mirror in the Bodhi Institute he had been dumbfounded and vaguely felt uneasy about something. At this moment, when he heard her talking about how she had disguised and escaped from danger, not only did this uneasy feeling suddenly emerge again, but it was also more intense than it had been that day at Shaolin Monastery. He considered and said: ‘You turn around for me.’ A'Zhu did not understand what his intention was but she still turned around.

    Qiao Feng considered for a long while then took off his coat and wrapped it around her body.

    Blushed, A'Zhu turned her head around, looked at him affectionately and said: ‘I’m not cold.’

    When Qiao Feng saw her being wrapped in his coat, his mind suddenly became clear. He turned his hand over, grabbed her wrist and said sternly: ‘It turns out to be you! Who incited you? Quickly tell me.’ A'Zhu was frightened and said in a trembling voice: ‘Great master Qiao, what’s the matter?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘You once disguised as me and pretended to be me, right?’

    It turned out in this moment he suddenly recalled that day in Wuxi when he had been rushing to rescue his Beggar Society brothers, he had seen the back of a person on the road. At that moment, he had not taken notice of it, but when seeing his own back in the copper mirror in the Bodhi Institute, he had started to vaguely remember that the back of that man and his own back had looked exactly alike. As a result, that uneasy feeling had emerged. But he had been confused and totally had not known the cause of it.

    That day when he had rushed to rescue the Beggar Society’s extraordinary people, by the time of his arrival, everyone had already escaped from danger and all of them had said they had met him not long ago. Even though he had denied that, no one had believed him. At that time, he had been baffled and thought there had been no reason for it other than someone imitating him; but if someone had wanted to imitate him to the extent that the people who had met him on a day-to-day basis such as Bai Shijing and Elder Wu had not been able to discover it, would it not be easier said than done? This moment, as soon as he saw the back of A'Zhu who was being wrapped in his coat, everything from beginning to end was confirmed further and he immediately understood. Even though A'Zhu was not having cotton padding on her body, and her small delicate back was very different than his majestic appearance, but if there were to be someone to imitate him and fool the Beggar Society people, aside from her, who else under heaven could?

    A'Zhu did not panic at all. She giggled and said: ‘Okay, I have no choice but to confess.’ Then she told him how she disguised as him and saved the Beggar Society people using the antidote.

    Qiao Feng let go of her wrist and said sternly: ‘You disguised as me and saved people, what was your intention?’

    A'Zhu was very surprised and said: ‘I just wanted to play a joke. You saved me and A’Bi from the hands of the Western Xia people so both of us are very grateful to you. Seeing those beggars treat you badly like that, I thought if I disguised as you and cured them of the poison, making them feel ashamed, it would be a good thing.’ She let out a sigh and continued: ‘But who could have known at Juxian Manor they were still so cruel to you and didn’t remember anything about the kindness and friendship of the past?’

    Qiao Feng’s expression became grimmer and grimmer. He gnashed his teeth and asked: ‘Then why did you disguise as me and kill my parents? Why did you sneak in Shaolin Monastery and kill my master?’

    A'Zhu jumped out of her skin and called out: ‘There’s no such thing. Who said I killed your parents, and killed your master?’

    Qiao Feng said: ‘My master was injured by someone. As he saw me, he immediately said that it was me who had harmed him. Don’t tell me that it still wasn’t you?’ As he said to here, he slightly raised his right palm and his face was covered with a murderous look. If her answer was just a little bit clumsy, this palm would strike down, and then, even 10 A'Zhu’s would die violently in an instant.

    Seeing that his face was covered with a murderous look and his eyes were filled with rage, A'Zhu was extremely scared and could not help taking 2 steps backward. If she took another 2 steps backward, she would fall into the bottomless abyss.

    Qiao Feng said sternly: ‘Stand there, don’t move!’

    A'Zhu was so frightened that tears rolled down her cheeks drop by drop. She quavered: ‘I didn’t… I didn’t kill your parents, and didn’t… didn’t kill your master. Your master had such great… great skills, how could I kill him?’

    Her last sentence was very powerful. As soon as Qiao Feng heard it, he slightly shivered and knew that he had wrongly blamed her. He put out his left hand with lightning speed, grabbed her shoulder and pulled her close to the cliff so that she would not slip and fall into the ravine. He said: ‘That’s right. My master wasn’t killed by you.’ His master Xuan Ku dashi was a brother of high-level monks such as Xuan Ci, Xuan Ji and Xuan Nan; his martial arts attainments were first-class nowadays. He passed away not because of being poisoned or being injured by weapons or missiles, but because his inner organs had been crushed by extremely fierce palm force. A'Zhu was very young, how could she have such profound internal energy? Had her internal energy been sufficient to strike dead Xuan Ku dashi, then that Great Diamond Palm attack by Xuan Ci would not have been able to strike her near dead.

    A'Zhu smiled through tears, tapped herself on the chest and said: ‘You almost scared me to death. Your words were very unreasonable. If I had the ability to kill your master, then why didn’t I help you massacre those bad eggs at Juxian Manor?’

    Seeing that she was slightly angry, Qiao Feng felt regretful and said: ‘Recently, I’ve been in a doubtful mood so I just talked nonsense, please don’t blame me.’

    A'Zhu smiled and said: ‘Who blames you? If I blamed you then I wouldn’t talk to you.’ Then she immediately stopped smiling and said softly: ‘Great master Qiao, no matter how you treat me, in this life, I’ll never be angry with you.’

    Qiao Feng shook his head and said indifferently: ‘Even though I saved you, you don’t need to keep it in mind.’ He frowned, entranced, then suddenly asked: ‘A'Zhu, who taught you these disguising and making-up skills? Does your master have any other disciple?’ A'Zhu shook her head and said: ‘Nobody taught me. Since childhood I’ve liked to disguise as other people to play. The more I imitated, the better I could disguise. And I don’t have any master. Could it be that I must have a master in order to play a game?’

    Qiao Feng let out a sigh and said: ‘Then this really strange. Who could expect that in the world there’s 1 man who looks exactly like me, to such an extent that my master mistook him for me?’ A'Zhu said: ‘Because there is this clue, it’d be easy. We just need to find this man, then torture and force him to answer.’ Qiao Feng said: ‘Correct. But it’s extremely difficult to find 1 man in the boundless sea of people in the world. He probably also has good disguising and making-up skills like you do.’

    He came near the cliff and gazed at the marks caused by axes and chisels on the stone wall, wanting to find out what words had been carved on it originally. But after looking at them carefully, he still could not recognize a single word. He said: ‘I must find Zhiguang dashi and ask him what words were written on this stone wall. If I can’t bring this matter to light, I won’t be able to eat and sleep calmly.’

    A'Zhu said: ‘I’m afraid he won’t be willing to say.’ Qiao Feng said: ‘He’ll probably be unwilling to say, but I’ll force and beg him. Only after he says will I stop.’ A'Zhu muttered: ‘Zhiguang dashi seems to be very resolute and unafraid of death. Perhaps forcing and begging him wouldn’t work. It’d be better…’ Qiao Feng nodded and said: ‘Correct. It’d be better to ask Zhao Qiansun. Oh, probably this Zhao Qiansun guy would rather die than submit as well. But I already have a way to deal with him.’

    As he spoke to here, he turned toward one side, looked at the abyss and said: ‘I wanna go down to have a look.’ A'Zhu jumped in fright. She looked at the mouth of that valley which was covered in clouds and mists and took several steps away from it for fear of carelessly falling down into it. She then said: ‘No, no! You must not go down. What’s good to see down there?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘In the end I’m Han or Hu? This matter has always been whirling around my head. I wanna go down to investigate and clear it up, and to take a look at the corpse of that Khitan man.’ A'Zhu said: ‘It’s been 30 years since that man fell down. There’re only several pieces of white bones left. What else will you be able to see?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘I just wanna have a look at that man’s remains. I think if he’s really my real father then I should collect his bones, bring them up and bury them properly.’

    A'Zhu screamed: ‘Impossible, impossible! You’re benevolent, heroic and righteous. How can you be a descendant of the inhuman vicious Khitans?’

    Qiao Feng said: ‘You wait for me here for 1 day and 1 night. If by this time tomorrow I haven’t gone up then you won’t need to wait anymore.’

    Very worried, A'Zhu burst into tears and called out: ‘Great master Qiao, please don’t go down!’

    Qiao Feng’s intention was very firm. In spite of A’Zhu, he did not change his mind a little bit. He said: ‘At Juxian Manor, so many heroes and brave men couldn’t kill me. Don’t tell me that this trifling valley could take my life?’

    Unable to think of any word to dissuade him, A'Zhu had no choice but to say: ‘Maybe there’re very many poisonous snakes, poisonous insects or ferocious monsters down there.’

    ‘Ha-ha,’ Qiao Feng laughed out loud, patted her shoulder and said: ‘If there were monsters then it couldn’t be better. I’d capture them for you to play.’ He looked all around the mouth of the valley to find a cliff where he could manage to put his feet on to gradually climb down.

    At this moment, suddenly he vaguely heard the sounds of horse hooves which were galloping southward in the northeast corner. Judging by the sounds, there were more than 20 horses. Without delay, Qiao Feng quickly walked back to the mountain slope and looked in the direction of the horse hoofbeats. From a height, he saw that these more than 20 cavalrymen wearing yellow clothes and armor. All of them were Great Song’s servicemen. They were arranged in a line and coming quickly along the mountain path on the high slope below.

    After seeing clearly those people, he paid no attention to them. But the place where he and A'Zhu were staying at was on the important path to enter the pass from the north of the Great Wall; that year, extraordinary people of the Central Plains had selected this place to ambush the Khitan warriors for this reason. He thought because this place was a strategic point for frontier defense, if Great Song servicemen saw unfamiliar people here, they would likely interrogate and examine; hence it would be better to stay away from them to avoid troubles. He then returned to the original place, pulled A'Zhu to the back of the big rock to hide and said: ‘These are Great Song servicemen!’

    Not long after that, those more than 20 cavalrymen went up the ridge. Hiding behind the rock, Qiao Feng already saw that the leading person was an officer. He could not refrain from feeling rather moved: ‘That year, people such as Chief Wang, Zhiguang dashi and Zhao Qiansun prolly also ambushed behind this big rock, and in this way they saw the Khitan warriors going up the ridge. Today, the peak and the rock are still the same, but most of the warriors of both sides Song and Liao that year have turned into white bones.’

    While his mind was wandering, suddenly he heard several crying sounds of children. Qiao Feng was astonished and felt as if he was in dreamland: ‘Why are there also children?’ After that he heard the screams of several women.

    He stuck his head out and saw clearly that most of those Great Song servicemen were having a kidnapped woman on each of their horses. All of the women and children were wearing Khitan pastoral attire. Quite a few Great Song servicemen stretched out their hands and groped the Khitan women, looking extremely licentious and repulsive. Some women who resisted were immediately shouted abuse at and hit by those servicemen. Qiao Feng found this strange and did not understand the reason for this. He saw that after passing by the big rock, these people galloping straight towards Yanmen Pass.

    A'Zhu asked: ‘Great master Qiao, what are they doing?’ Qiao Feng shook his head and thought: ‘Why are defending troops at this frontier pass so obscene?’ A'Zhu continued: ‘This kind of serviceman looks just like bandits.’

    After that, more than 30 other servicemen went up the ridge, driving along several hundreds head of cattle and sheep and more than 10 Khitan women. He heard 1 officer say: ‘Gathering crops this time, our harvest isn’t very good, I wonder if commander-in-chief will get angry?’ Another officer said: ‘We couldn’t snatch a lot of cattle and sheep from Liao dogs, but 2 or 3 women among the ones we snatched look not bad. Let commander-in-chief enjoy them, he’ll be in a good mood.’ The 1st officer said: ’30 something women aren’t enough for everyone. Tomorrow we should work hard and snatch some more.’ A soldier laughed and said: ‘Hearing the rumors, all the Liao dogs must’ve already run away. If we wanna gather crops again, we need to wait for 2 or 3 months.’

    Hearing to here, Qiao Feng could not refrain from getting extremely furious. He thought that the misdeeds of these servicemen were even worse than those of the most despicable robbers.

    Suddenly, a baby who was being carried in the bosom of a Khitan woman started to cry loudly. That Khitan woman held out her hand and pushed away the hand of a Great Song officer then turned her head back to coax the crying baby. That officer was very angry. He grabbed that baby and threw him on the ground. After that he urged the horse forwards; the horse trampled on the body of the baby, immediately breaking his belly and making his intestines stick out. That Khitan woman was so frightened that she was stunned and unable to let out any sound of crying. The servicemen laughed loudly and passed by in large numbers.

    In his life, Qiao Feng had seen not just a few ruthless cruel things, but this was the 1st time he had seen someone openly kill a baby for fun like this. He was extremely furious but did not unleash his feelings right away as he wanted to see the whole story.

    After this group of servicemen passed by, more than 10 other servicemen came while shouting. All of these Great Song servicemen were riding horses and holding high spears in their hands. The head of almost every spear was piercing through 1 gory severed head. There was a long rope fastened to the tail of one of the horses, tying up 5 Khitan men. Qiao Feng saw that those people were wearing clothes of ordinary herdsmen. 2 of them were very old with their heads full of white hairs. The other 3 were 15 or 16 year old youngsters. He immediately understood that these Great Song servicemen had gone out to pillage, all the strong Khitan herdsmen had escaped but they had captured the women, the children, the old and the weak.

    He heard 1 officer laugh and say: ‘Cutting off 14 heads and capturing 5 Liao dogs, this contribution is not big and not small, but I’ll certainly be promoted by 1 rank and rewarded with 100 taels of silver.’ Another man said: ‘Hey Gao, there’s a Khitan small town 50 li to the west of here. Do you dare to go there to gather crops?’ The one called Gao said: ‘Why the heck do I not dare? Are you looking down on me for being a rookie? As a rookie, your father needs to make more contributions at the frontier.’ While they were talking, the line of men, who were running fast, already came near the big rock.

    When seeing the corpse of the child on the ground, 1 old Khitan man suddenly screamed out, rushed over to hug the corpse, repeatedly kissed it and cried out sorrowfully. Even though Qiao Feng did not understand this old man’s language, seeing his expression, he knew that the baby who had been trampled to death by horses was his relative. The private who was dragging the old man continuously pulled the rope, urging him to go fast. Getting furious like crazy, that old Khitan man fiercely rushed at him. Frightened, that private brandished his saber and quickly slashed at the old man. The old Khitan man exerted his strength and gave him a pull, dragging him down from horseback, then opened his mouth and bit the private’s neck. At this moment, another Great Song officer on horseback ruthlessly chopped at the back of the old man with his saber 1 time then he stooped down, grabbed his neck and pulled him away. Only now was the private who had fallen on the ground able to stand up. He was very angry therefore he brandished his saber and chopped several more times at the old Khitan man. That old man shook a few times but he did not tumble down. The servicemen, either raising spears or lifting long sabers, then surrounded him.

    That old man turned towards the north, unfastened the clothes on the upper part of his body, stood upright and suddenly started to cry out loudly in a grieved voice, sounding like the howl of a wolf. Temporarily, the servicemen all had a frightened expression on their faces.

    Qiao Feng was scared. He suddenly felt that there seemed to be a spiritual connection between him and this old Khitan man. He himself had also let out these several howls which sounded like those of a dying wolf’s. That had been at Juxian Manor, after successively being hit by saber and spear, seeing Shan Zheng thrusting at him with his saber, he himself had known that he had been about to die, hence he had been unable to hold back his grief and indignation and cried out violently like a wild beast.

    At this moment, when he heard those cries, a sense of closeness involuntarily arose in his heart. Not thinking anymore, he leaped out from the behind the big rock, grabbed those Great Song servicemen and threw them off the cliff one by one. The more Qiao Feng fought, the more ardent he became. He even shoved all the horses that they rode down the ravine by giving each horse 1 palm attack. The cries by men and the neighs by horses were heard for a while then soon fell silent.

    A'Zhu and those 4 Khitan men were dumbfounded when they saw that he was such miraculously mighty.

    After killing all of those more than 10 servicemen, Qiao Feng let out a long howl which shook the valley. Seeing that the old Khitan man was still standing upright after receiving several saber slashes, he respected him for being a brave man. He then went up to the old man and saw that he was facing north with his bare chest being exposed, but he no longer breathed and was already dead. As soon as Qiao Feng looked at the old man’s chest, ‘Ah,’ he uttered an exclamation and took 1 step backwards, his body tottered as if he was about to fall over.

    A'Zhu was very scared. She called out: ‘Great master Qiao, you… you… are you alright?’ Only chi-chi-chi sounds were heard, Qiao Feng had ripped open the clothes that covered his own front, showing a hairy chest.

    A'Zhu immediately saw that there was a decorative design tattooed on his chest, which was a blue wolf head with its mouth wide opened showing its teeth, looking ferocious. When she looked at the old Khitan man again, she saw that his chest also had a wolf head tattoo whose appearance was exactly the same as that of the wolf head on Qiao Feng’s chest.

    Suddenly, those 4 Khitan men started to shout at the same time.

    When Qiao Feng had begun to understand things at the age of 2 or 3, he had already seen this blue wolf head tattoo on his chest. Because he had known it since childhood, he had not in the least thought that it had been unusual. Later, when he had grown up, he had asked his parents about it. Qiao Sanhuai and his wife both had said that the picture had been beautiful and praised it for a while, but they had said nothing about its origin. During the Northern Song Dynasty, it was very common to have a tattoo on the body; some people even had their whole bodies covered with tattoos from the neck to the feet. Great Song received the country from the Chai clan of the Later Zhou Dynasty. The founder of the Later Zhou Dynasty Guo Wei had a sparrow tattoo on his neck, and for this reason he was called ‘Guo Sparrow.’ At that time, having tattoos had become a prevailing fashion and 8 or 9/10th of the Beggar Society brothers had tattoos on their bodies, hence Qiao Feng had never had the least bit of suspicion. But at this moment, when he saw that the blue wolf tattoo on the chest of the dead old Khitan man and his own tattoo were unexpectedly exactly alike, he was extremely shocked.

    The 4 Khitan people surrounded him and talked in a language he did not understand. They continuously pointed at the wolf head on his chest. Because Qiao Feng did not understand what they were saying, he had no idea how to reply. Suddenly 1 old man unfastened his clothes and showed his chest, which unexpectedly also had this wolf head tattoo. The other 3 youngsters also unfastened their clothes, and their chests all had the wolf head tattoo as well.

    In an instant, Qiao Feng finally knew absolutely that he himself was a Khitan. The wolf head on the chest had to be the symbol of their tribe, perhaps each of them had been tattooed with it since childhood. He had always detested Khitan people, thinking that they were brutal, despicable, faithless and unrighteous, and thinking that they were accustomed to killing Han people and did not stop at any crime. But at this moment he had no choice but to admit that he himself was a Khitan man who was just like an animal, hence he felt extremely distressed.

    He stood in a trance for a long time then suddenly he let out a shout and ran like crazy towards the forest.

    A'Zhu called out: ‘Great master Qiao, great master Qiao!’ and went after him.

    Only after chasing him for more than 10 li (0.5 km) did A'Zhu see him sitting under a big tree and hugging his head. His face was very pale, a thick blue vein stuck out on his forehead. A'Zhu went to his side and sat down next to him.

    Qiao Feng shrank his body and said: ‘I’m a Khitan barbarian who is lower than pigs and dogs. From now on, you don’t need to see me again.’

    Like all other Han people, A'Zhu of course also detested Khitan people to the marrow, but in her heart, Qiao Feng was like a heavenly god. Needless to say, he was just a Khitan. Even if he was a demon or a ferocious beast, she would not be willing to leave him. She thought: ‘He’s unhappy now. I must nicely advise and console him.’ She then softly said: ‘There’re good ones and bad ones among Han people, so naturally there’re also good ones and bad ones among Khitan people. Great master Qiao, please don’t pay attention to this kind of thing. A'Zhu’s life was saved by you. If you’re Han, that’s fine by me. If you’re Khitan, that’s also fine. Han or Khitan, it makes no difference to me.’

    Qiao Feng coldly said: ‘I don’t need you to take pity on me. In your mind, you look down on me. You don’t need to hypocritically say any nice word. I saved your life not because of my true feelings. It’s just that I temporarily wanted to show off my skills and defeat other people. This matter has been written off in 1 stroke. Please go away quickly.’

    A'Zhu was anxious and flustered and thought: ‘He already knows that he himself is a Khitan barbarian. Perhaps he’ll return to the northern deserts and from now on never put his foot on the Central Plains again.’ For the moment, not being able to control her feelings, she stood up and said: ‘Great master Qiao, if you cast me aside and leave, I’ll jump into this valley. A'Zhu will definitely do what she has promised. You’re a Khitan hero so you look down on this lowly slave girl. I’d better finish myself.’

    Hearing she say very sincerely, Qiao Feng felt touched. He had only thought that if he was a barbarian, all the Han people under heaven would avoid him like avoiding snakes and scorpions. Never could he have expected that A'Zhu still treated him the same as before, hence he could not help holding out his hand to pull her hand and said gently: ‘A'Zhu, you’re Mr Murong’s maid, and not my maid. I… How can I look down on you?’

    A'Zhu said: ‘I don’t need you to take pity on me. In your mind, you look down on me. You don’t need to hypocritically say any nice word.’ She imitated these few sentences of Qiao Feng and there was no dissimilarity between her voice and tone to those of his, but her eyes were filled with a mischievous look.

    Qiao Feng ha-ha laughed out loud. He was on the edge of despair and disappointment, therefore when he was joked with and consoled by this smart young girl he could not help feeling that his worries had largely disappeared.

    A'Zhu suddenly adopted a stern expression and said: ‘Great master Qiao, I serve Mr Murong but I do not sell myself to him. It was only because I have been without parents since childhood and was wandering about outside, one day I was bullied and humiliated by other people, seeing that, Old Master Murong saved me and took me to his home. I was alone and homeless so I became a maid in his home. Actually Mr Murong doesn’t regard me as his maid at all. He even bought a few maids to serve me. A’Bi meizi (younger sister) is also like me. It’s just that her father sent her to Old Master Murong’s home in Yanzi hamlet (Yanzi = Swallow - bird) to take refuge. In those days, Old Master Murong and Madam Murong once said that the day I and A’Bi wanted to leave Yanzi hamlet, his Murong family would happily see us off…’ Saying to here, she slightly blushed. It turned out during that time Madam Murong had said: ‘The days that the 2 little girls A'Zhu and A’Bi have homes to return to, the whole Murong family will see them off with dowries, decorated sedan chairs and musical performances. There’ll be no difference to when our daughter gets married.’ She paused for a short while then continued talking to Qiao Feng: ‘From now on, I’m gonna serve you and become your maid. Mr Murong definitely won’t take offense.’

    Shaking his hands continuously, Qiao Feng said: ‘No, no! I’m a barbaric Hu man, how can I have any maid? You’re used to living in a rich and honorable family in Jiangnan, what’s so good about following me to wander about and suffer hardships? You see, I’m such an insolent sort of fellow, do I deserve to be served by you?’

    A'Zhu gave a charming smile and said: ‘If so, let’s consider that I’m a servant who has been captured by you, when you’re happy you’ll smile at me, when you’re sad you’ll beat me and scold me, is that okay?’ Qiao Feng smiled and said: ‘If I gave you a punch, I’m afraid you’d die instantly.’ A'Zhu said: ‘Of course you only beat me gently and must not hit too hard.’ Qiao Feng laughed ha-ha and said: ‘If beating gently then it’d be better not to beat. I don’t wanna have any servant either.’ A'Zhu said: ‘You’re a great Khitan hero, what’s wrong with you capturing some Han women and making them your servants? You see, didn’t those Great Song servicemen also kidnap many Khitan people?’

    Qiao Feng was speechless. Seeing that he was knitting his brows tightly and the look in his eyes was very gloomy, A'Zhu was afraid that she had said something wrong making him unhappy.

    After a while, Qiao Feng slowly said: ‘I’ve always thought that Khitan people are ferocious and ruthless, and savagely harm Han people. But today I’ve seen with my own eyes how Great Song servicemen killed Khitan people regardless of age and sex. I… I… A'Zhu, I’m a Khitan. From now on, I’m no longer ashamed to be a Khitan, and I don’t feel honored to be a Great Song man either.’

    Hearing him say so, A'Zhu knew that he had untied this knot of depression in his mind. She was very happy and said: ‘I already said there’re good ones and bad ones among Hu people, and there’re also the good and the bad among Han people. Hu people don’t have the craftiness of Han people’s so maybe they even have a bit fewer baddies.’

    When Qiao Feng looked at the ravine on the left-hand side, he remembered what had happened that year and said: ‘A'Zhu, my father and mother were murdered without any reason by these Han people. I’m not allowed not to settle this score.’

    A'Zhu nodded and secretly felt scared. She knew that the words ‘I’m not allowed not to settle this score’ that he had just mentioned lightly were bound to involve countless fierce battles, blood and lives.

    Qiao Feng pointed at the ravine and said: ‘That year, after my mother was killed by them, my father was so sad that he didn’t wanna live, so he jumped into the ravine from beside the rock over there. While he was in mid air, unwilling to make me die with him, he tossed me up. Only thanks to that can Qiao Feng be here today. A'Zhu, my father loved me very much, didn’t he?’ With her eyes moistened with tears, A'Zhu said: ‘Yes.’

    Qiao Feng said: ‘My parents’ intense and deep-seated score, how can I not settle it? In the past I didn’t know about it so I went as far as considering the enemies my friends. It was very unfilial of me to do so. Today, if I don’t find and kill the main murderer that harmed my parents, how could I, Qiao, still have the face to live in the world? In the end, who is the ‘leading big brother’ that they mentioned? The letter that he wrote to Chief Wang had his signature, but monk Zhiguang torn off the signature and swallowed it. Obviously this ‘leading big brother’ buster is still alive, otherwise they wouldn’t have to cover up for him.’

    He asked himself and answered himself. After thinking deeply, he knew that A'Zhu was unable to help him find the archenemy but having 1 person at his side to hear him talk would automatically relieve many of his worries. He continued: ‘This leading big brother buster could command the extraordinary people of the Central Plains so he must be a person with very good martial arts and high reputation. Judging by his tone in the letter, the friendship between him and Chief Wang is very unusual. He called Chief Wang elder brother, so he must be a bit younger than Chief Wang, but of course he’s much older than me. It shouldn’t be hard to find a person like this at all. Alas, only monk Zhiguang, Elder Xu and Madam Ma of the Beggar Society, and Impartial Judge Shan Zheng have read that letter. That Zhao Qiansun guy certainly also knows who he is. Zhao Qiansun already told his shimei (younger apprentice sister) Granny Tan about that. Perhaps Granny Tan doesn’t hide that from her husband. Both monk Zhiguang and Zhao Qiansun are accomplices in the murders of my parents so I’ll certainly kill them. As for this ‘leading big brother’ mofo, humph, I… I will kill his whole family from the old to the young, and won’t spare even fowls and dogs!’

    A'Zhu felt a shiver of fear. She wanted to say: ‘Killing that leading villain would already be enough. You spare his whole family, ok?’ But when she was about to say these sentences, she did not dare to open her lips. She only felt that Qiao Feng had intense might therefore she did not in the least dare to refuse to follow him.

    Qiao Feng continued: ‘Monk Zhiguang wanders about the whole country. Zhao Qiansun also roams around. It won’t be easy to find these 2 people. That Impartial Judge Shan Zheng guy didn’t take part in the battle that killed my parents. I already killed 2 of his sons, his youngest son also died because of me, so there’s no need to find him anymore. A'Zhu, let’s go find Elder Xu of the Beggar Society.’

    Hearing him say the word ‘let’s’ A'Zhu could not help feeling elated because it meant that he agreed to let her go with him. She smiled charmingly and thought: ‘Even if it’s going to the ends of the world, I’ll still go with you.’

    END OF CHAPTER 20
    _________

    Here is the last part of Chapter 20. This chapter is quite short, but chapter 21 is a long arse one.

    Thanks for dropping by, guys.

  10. #610
    Senior Member littleli's Avatar
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    Thanks fp.. Pleasure is ours

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    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thanks for the update FP.

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    Chapter 21: Thousands of li were hazy like a dream.


    The 2 of them immediately went southward, bypassed Yanmen Pass via the mountain ridge and came to a small town. They went to an inn. Without waiting for Qiao Feng to say anything, A'Zhu told the waiter of the inn to bring them 20 Jin (0.6 kg) of wine. Seeing that the 2 of them did not look like a married couple or siblings, the waiter already felt surprised, hearing her tell him to take out 20 Jin of wine, he was even more astonished, hence he only looked at them in a trance without going to fetch wine and also without replying. Qiao Feng gave him a stare; he was not angry yet his look was commanding. That waiter was frightened. Only now did he turn around while mumbling: ’20 Jin of wine? Use wine to bathe?’

    A'Zhu laughed and said: ‘Great master Qiao, we’re going to find Elder Xu but it looks like in 2 days we’ll be detected by other people. There’d be lots of fun if we fought and killed all the way but I’m afraid Elder Xu would flee at the mere sight of us coming towards him. Then, we wouldn’t be able to find him.’

    ‘Ha-ha,’ Qiao Feng laughed and said: ‘You don’t need to flatter me, if we fought all the way, there’d be more and more enemies coming, and eventually the 2 of us wouldn’t be able to avoid getting killed…’ A'Zhu said: ‘There’re unlikely to be dangers. It’s just that if every one of them flees at the sight of us, it may be hard to handle.’ Qiao Feng said: ‘Then according to you, is there any way for us? How about resting in the inns during daytime and going quickly at nighttime?’

    A'Zhu smiled and said: ‘If you wanna make it impossible for them to recognize us, it couldn’t be easier. But I don’t know if Great hero Qiao who is famous all over the land under heaven is willing to disguise?’ Speaking to the last, it was the word ‘disguise’ yet again.

    Qiao Feng laughed and said: ‘I’m not a Han so basically I don’t wanna wear these Han clothes already. But if putting on Khitan clothes, it’ll be very hard to travel in the Central Plains. A'Zhu, who you think should I disguise as?’

    A'Zhu said: ‘You’re imposing in stature, as soon as we stop or go out you’ll make everyone take notice. It’d be best if you disguise as an ordinary-looking man in jianghu who doesn’t have any unusual characteristic. It’s possible to run across several hundreds of men of this type on roads every day, so no one would keep their eye on you.’

    Qiao Feng slapped his leg and said: ‘Brilliant! Brilliant! After drinking wine we’re gonna disguise.’

    When he drank up 20 Jin of wine, A'Zhu immediately started to disguise. A great variety of things such as flour, paste and ink glue were combined and the extraordinary features of Qiao Feng’s face disappeared one by one. Next, A'Zhu gave him a sparse mustache on the upper lip. When looking in a mirror, even Qiao Feng could not recognize himself. After that, A'Zhu disguised herself as a middle-aged man.

    A'Zhu laughed and said: ‘Your appearance has been changed completely, but as soon as you talk or drink wine, other people would know who you are.’ Qiao Feng nodded and said: ‘Um, then I must talk less and drink less wine.’

    Going south this time, he really talked very little, he also drank only 2 or 3 Jin of wine each meal as a formality.

    That day, arriving in Sanjia town in Jinnan, while the 2 of them were eating noodles in a small noodle shop, they suddenly heard 2 beggars talking to each other on the outside. 1 beggar said: ‘Elder Xu died a really miserable death. All the bones in his chest and his back were broken. That evil traitor Qiao Feng must’ve committed murder again.’ Qiao Feng was slightly shocked and thought: ‘Elder Xu has died?’ He and A'Zhu looked at each other.

    He heard another beggar say: ‘The day after tomorrow the session for receiving condolence will start in Weihui, Henan. All the Elders and brothers of the Society will go to the memorial ceremony. We must discuss a way to capture Qiao Feng.’ The 1st beggar then said a few slangy sentences of the Society. Qiao Feng certainly understood what he meant. The beggar said that Qiao Feng had a formidable influence hence they were not allowed to talk as they pleased and to be overheard by his subordinates.

    After eating noodles, Qiao Feng and A'Zhu left Sanjia town and went to the outskirts. Qiao Feng said: ‘We should go to Weihui to have a look. Maybe we’ll see a clue.’ A'Zhu said: ‘Yes, we must go to Weihui. Great master Qiao, most of the people who’ll go the memorial ceremony are your former subordinates, so don’t give yourself away in your words and behaviors.’ Qiao Feng nodded: ‘I know.’ They immediately turned to the east and went towards Weihui.

    On the 3rd day, they arrived in Weihui and entered the city. They only saw that there were full of the Beggar Society’s disciples on the streets and alleys. Some occupied tables in restaurants and ate with no manners, some slaughtered dogs and pigs in alleys and some even importuned and expropriated on streets. Qiao Feng felt unhappy when he saw that the Beggar Society which was known as the number 1 large society in jianghu was slack in rules and no longer had the strict and thriving atmosphere of the days when he had been in charge of it; if this situation continued, soon it would be regarded with contempt by the common people. Even though he and the Beggar Society were no longer friends and had become the enemies of each other, seeing that his painstaking efforts in many years had been nullified in a very short time, he still felt sorry for it.

    Hearing several disciples of the Beggar Society say some slangy sentences, he knew that the memorial tablet of Elder Xu was placed in an abandoned garden in the west of the city. Qiao Feng and A'Zhu bought some incense sticks, candles, joss money, a pig head, a bull head and a goat head then went to the abandoned garden along with other people and kowtowed to Elder Xu’s memorial tablet.

    He saw that Elder Xu’s memorial tablet was imbued with fresh blood. That was a custom of the Beggar Society which meant that the deceased had been killed by someone and the members of the society had to avenge him. All the people in the mourning hall inveighed against Qiao Feng, but they did not know that he was beside them. Seeing that all around him were the leading people of the society, Qiao Feng feared that his flaws would be noticed by someone. Not wanting to stay here for long, he immediately took leave and walked out alongside A'Zhu. He thought: ‘Elder Xu’s already dead. The number of people who know that leading big brother in the world has been reduced by 1.’

    Suddenly he caught a glimpse of a person at the end of the alley, who was a woman with a tall and big stature. With his sharp eyes, Qiao Feng recognized her as Granny Tan. He thought: ‘Very good, she must’ve come here to attend Elder Xu’s memorial ceremony. I’ve wanted to find her.’ After that, he saw another person flash by the alley. This person also had a very good lightness skill, but he was Zhao Qiansun.

    Qiao Feng was surprised: ‘These 2 people are sneaky. Is there anything strange?’ He knew that these 2 people had originally been shixiongmei (apprentice brother and apprentice younger sister) of each other and the emotional entanglement between them had not been broken off until now. He thought: ‘Both of them are 60 or 70 years old already. Could it be that they’re still secretly dating and having an affair?’ At first he did not like to meddle in other people’s business, but he thought that Zhao Qiansun knew who the ‘leading big brother’ was and that Grandpa Tan and Granny Tan were also likely to know him, if he could find some chinks in their armors, he would be able to seize the opportunity and force them to reveal the truth. Hence he immediately put his mouth close to A'Zhu’s ear and said: ‘You wait for me in the inn.’ A'Zhu nodded. Without delay, Qiao Feng chased in the direction that Zhao Qiansun had gone.

    Zhao Qiansun only chose secluded places to go along, sometimes hiding in the corners of walls on the eastern side and sometimes shrinking under the edges of roofs on the western side. With a stealthy behavior, he went out of the Eastern gate of the city. Qiao Feng followed Zhao Qiansun from a distance and all along did not let him detect himself. He saw that Zhao Qiansun went to the side of a canal, bent his body and got into a big wooden boat. Qiao Feng raised his internal energy and ran very quickly. After leaping several times, he already reached the side of the boat. He gently jumped onto the roof of the boat and put his ear against it to listen.

    In the cabin, Granny Tan let out a deep sigh and said: ‘Shige (elder apprentice bro), you and I are already this old. It’s too late to regret the things of our young years. What’s the point in mentioning past events again?’ Zhao Qiansun said: ‘This life of mine has been ruined. It’s already too late to regret. Xiao Juan, I’ve arranged to meet up with you here for no other reason than to beg you to sing those several songs of the past once again.’ Granny Tan said: ‘Alas, you’re always silly to the point of being laughable. When my hubby came to Weihui and saw you again, he was already very displeased. He’s a suspicious man so you’d better trouble me less.’ Zhao Qiansun said: ‘What are you afraid of? Us shixiongmei are on the up and up. What’s wrong with talking about past events?’ Granny Tan sighed and softly said: ‘Those songs of the past, those songs of the past…’

    Seeing that her mind had been stirred, Zhao Qiansun pleaded more: ‘Xiao Juan, today the 2 of us have met but I don’t know when we’ll meet again. I’m afraid my life is not long, when you want to sing to me again I won’t have the blessing of coming to hear you.’ Granny Tan said: ‘Shige, don’t say that. If you definitely want to hear me, then I’m gonna gently sing a song.’ Zhao Qiansun said happily: ‘Good, many thanks, Xiao Juan, thank you very much.’

    Granny Tan leisurely sang: ‘At that time, when you went over on the bridge, I was washing clothes next to it…’

    When she had just sung 2 sentences, with ‘ka-la’ sounds, the door of the cabin was pushed open and a man rushed in. After Qiao Feng had been disguised, both Zhao Qiansun and Granny Tan were not able to recognize him. The 2 of them jumped out of their skin at first, but when they saw that he was not Grandpa Tan, they immediately calmed down and shouted: ‘Who?’

    Qiao Feng coldly looked at the 2 of them and said: ‘One is frivolous and immoral, seducing a married woman; the other is slvtty and shameless, secretly meeting the boyfriend without the husband’s knowledge…’

    When he had not yet finished saying, Granny Tan and Zhao Qiansun split up and attacked simultaneously from the left and right sides. Qiao Feng slightly leaned to one side, turned his hand over and grabbed Granny Tan’s wrist. After that, he struck out with his elbow, aiming at Zhao Qiansun’s left side. His attack was delivered later but came earlier than Zhao Qiansun’s. As experts in wulin, both Zhao Qiansun and Granny Tan only thought that in 1 stance they would be able to subdue the enemy and never could they have expected that this mediocre-looking man had such extraordinary martial arts that he could go on the offensive from a defensive position in just 1 stance. The space in the cabin was narrow hence their limbs could not be used to the fullest, but Qiao Feng was good at both long-range and close-quarters combats, in the cabin which was less than 1 zhang square, he still executed grasping hand techniques and short-range skills very cleverly. Fighting to the 7th bout, Zhao Qiansun was hit by a finger attack in the waist. Scared, Granny Tan fought a bit more slowly. She was instantly hit by a palm attack in the back and collapsed on the floor.

    Qiao Feng coldly said: ‘The 2 of you please have a rest here. In the abandoned garden in Weihui city, not just a few heroes and brave men are paying respects to Elder Xu’s memorial tablet, I’ll invite them to here to comment on this matter.’

    Zhao Qiansun and Granny Tan were frightened and tried to channel their internal energies, but their acupuncture points were already blocked, and they was unable to move even the tips of their little fingers. The 2 of them were already old, they no longer had any sexual desire, they arranged to meet each other here only to talk about the past, and there was nothing unethical between them. But that time was in the Northern Song Dynasty, everyone was very serious about protecting the rules of etiquette, and if any hero or brave man in jianghu violated a taboo about sex, they would be despised by the many. When there were 1 man and 1 woman quietly meeting up in this boat, who was willing to believe that it was only to sing a song and to talk some silly sentences? If everyone came here to see, afterward how would the 2 of them be able to live? Even Grandpa Tan would no longer have any honor and glory.

    Granny Tan hastily said: ‘Hero, we haven’t done anything that offended you, if you could show some mercy, I… I’ll definitely repay your kindness.’ Qiao Feng said: ‘There’s no need to repay me. I only ask you 1 sentence, please answer in 3 words. If you say the truth, I’ll immediately unblock your acupuncture points and leave, and I’ll never mention the incident of today to anyone else.’ Granny Tan said: ‘As long as I know, I’ll certainly inform you.’

    Qiao Feng said: ‘Someone wrote a letter to Chief Wang of the Beggar Society, talking about the Qiao Feng matter. Many people call the writer of the letter ‘leading big brother’, who’s this man?’

    Granny Tan hesitated. When she had not yet replied, Zhao Qiansun shouted loudly: ‘Xiao Juan, you mustn’t say. No matter what, you mustn’t say.’ Glaring at him, Qiao Feng asked: ‘You’d rather lose all your reputation than say it?’ Zhao Qiansun said: ‘Then Laozi (your father here – arrogantly calling oneself) would die, that’s all. I’m indebted to this leading big brother so Laozi definitely won’t say his name.’ Qiao Feng said: ‘Then if Xiao Juan loses all her reputation, you won’t care either?’ Zhao Qiansun said: ‘If Grandpa Tan knows about today’s incident, I’ll immediately kill myself in front of him and use death to express my regret, that’s all.’

    Qiao Feng turned towards Granny Tan and said: ‘You may not necessarily be indebted to that man. If you say, everyone will be safe and sound, you’ll save Grandpa Tan’s and your reputations, and you’ll save your shige’s life as well.’

    Hearing him threaten to take Zhao Qiansun’s life Granny Tan could not help but shiver and said: ‘Ok, I’m gonna tell you. That man is…’

    Zhao Qiansun hurriedly called out: ‘Xiao Juan, you mustn’t say. I beg you, beg you. This man is prolly Qiao Feng’s subordinate, if you say, that leading big brother’s life is gonna be in danger.’

    Qiao Feng said: ‘I’m Qiao Feng. If you two don’t say, there’ll be endless future problems.’

    Frightened, Zhao Qiansun said: ‘No wonder your martial arts are so good. Xiao Juan, in my life I’ve never begged anything from you. This is the only thing I beg from you, you must agree, no matter what.’

    Granny Tan thought that for the past several decades he had been cherishing her, had very deep feelings for her, she herself had let him down many times, and he had never said what he had wanted to beg from her, but this time, in order to cover up for the person who he was indebted to, he was willing to die, hence she herself simply could not ruin his righteous act. She then said: ‘Chief Qiao, today’s matter, doing good deeds or doing evil with it is totally up to you. I and my shixiong have a clear conscience which can be expressed to Heaven and the Sun. Please forgive me for not being able to tell you what you want to know.’ Even though she said these sentences politely, her words showed her determination not to reveal the truth at any cost.

    Zhao Qiansun happily said: ‘Xiao Juan, thank you very much. Thank you very much.’

    Qiao Feng knew that it was useless to force them again. He uttered a ‘humph’ sound, pulled out a jade hairpin from Granny Tan’s head then jumped out of the cabin, returned straight to Weihui city and asked about the place where Grandpa Tan was staying at. Because he was in disguise, no one was able to recognize him. Grandpa Tan and Granny Tan were staying at Rugui inn in Weihui city. This was not a secret matter therefore he knew about it immediately after asking.

    When he entered the inn, he saw Grandpa Tan putting his hands together at his back and walking back and forth in his room, looking very fretful. Qiao Feng stretched out his hand and right at the middle of his palm was that jade hairpin of Granny Tan’s.

    After seeing that Zhao Qiansun had followed them very closely to Weihui, Grandpa Tan had always felt depressed and worried, and now, because he had not seen his wife for half a day, he was worried about her and was wondering where she had gone to. Suddenly seeing his wife’s jade hairpin, he was both surprised and happy, and asked: ‘Who are you? Did my wife ask you to come here? What do you want to instruct me?’ As he finished saying he held out his hand and took that jade hairpin. Qiao Feng let him take the hairpin then said: ‘Your honorable wife has been captured by other people. She is about to be put in danger.’ Grandpa Tan was frightened and said: ‘My wife’s martial arts are very good. How could she be captured easily by other people?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘It’s Qiao Feng.’

    As Grandpa Tan heard the 3 words ‘It’s Qiao Feng’, he was no longer doubtful about this, but he was even more anxious and worried and hastily asked: ‘Qiao Feng, alas! If it’s him then this’s really troublesome. My… my wife, where’s she?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘If you want to see your honorable wife alive, it’s very easy, if you want to see her dead, it’s also easy.’ Grandpa Tan was a stable man, even though he was worried, he still maintained his composure and asked: ‘Please instruct me.’

    Qiao Feng said: ‘Qiao Feng has 1 matter to ask Grandpa Tan, if you say the truth, he will immediately let your honorable wife go and won’t dare to harm a single hair of hers. But if you don’t say, he’ll have no choice but to put her to death and bury her corpse and Zhao Qiansun’s corpse in the same grave.’

    Hearing the last sentence, Grandpa Tan could no longer restrain himself. He then let out a furious shout and sent a palm attack towards Qiao Feng’s face. Qiao Feng slanted his body and slightly moved backward, that palm attack hit the air. Grandpa Tan was frightened, thinking that this palm attack of his had been fast like lightning and had not been something trivial but unexpectedly this man had dodged it so easily as if nothing had happened. Immediately he stretched his right palm out obliquely and struck out horizontally with his left palm. Qiao Feng saw that the inside of the room was narrow which made it impossible for him to dodge therefore he immediately held up his right arm to receive the attack. With a ‘pai’ sound, the palm attack hit his arm. Qiao Feng’s body did not shake. He turned his right arm over and pressed down onto Grandpa Tan’s shoulder.

    In an instant, Grandpa Tan felt as if there was a rock which weighed several thousand Jin put on his shoulder. He immediately channeled his internal energy in order to stand upright but the weight on his shoulder was like that of a mountain or a mound, pressing him down to the point that his backbone produced ka-ka-ka sounds nonstop and were almost broken, hence he had no choice but to bend his knees and kneel down. Not willing to yield, he exerted himself and made another effort to stand up, but he was unable to take another breath, his knees became weak and he knelt down. He really could not help kneeling down like this, but his knees and joints had already become weak, thus when pressed down by such heavy force, it was impossible for him not to bend his knees.

    Qiao Feng intended to defeat Grandpa Tan’s pride hence after he had knelt down the pressure still did not decrease, making Grandpa Tan’s back bend like a bow and his forehead almost touch the floor. The whole face of Grandpa Tan had become very red and he could barely sustain the pressure. He used all his strength to resist and hold his body up. Suddenly Qiao Feng’s arm let go of him. The pressure on the shoulder of Grandpa Tan suddenly disappeared which was unanticipated by him hence it was too late for him to take back his strength. As a result, he immediately jumped up for over 1 zhang. With a ‘peng’ sound, the top of his head hit a beam heavily and all but broke it.

    When Grandpa Tan was falling down from mid air, Qiao Feng did not wait until his feet touch the floor to stretch out his own right hand and grab his chest. Qiao Feng’s arm was very long while Grandpa Tan was short and small in stature hence no matter how he punched or kicked, he was unable to touch Qiao Feng’s body. Moreover, when his feet were in mid air, even if his martial arts were much better, he would not be able to use them. As soon as Grandpa Tan was in that urgent situation, he understood and shouted: ‘So you’re Qiao Feng!’

    Qiao Feng said: ‘Of course it’s me!’

    Grandpa Tan said furiously: ‘You… You… Fvck you! Why do you wanna get that brat Zhao Qiansun involved in this?’ What Grandpa Tan was angry about the most was Qiao Feng’s words that after killing Granny Tan he would bury her corpse and Zhao Qiansun’s in the same grave.

    Qiao Feng said: ‘Your wife wants to drag him in. Why does it have anything to do with me? Do you wanna know where Granny Tan is now? Do you wanna know who she is saying loving words and singing love songs to?’ Hearing that, Grandpa Tan immediately guessed that his wife and Zhao Qiansun were staying together and could not help but want to go see the whole story. He then said: ‘Where’s she? Please take me there.’ Qiao Feng laughed coldly and said: ‘What have you done for me? Why do I gotta take you there?’

    Recalling what Qiao Feng had said previously, Grandpa Tan asked: ‘You said you wanna ask me something. What do you wanna ask?’

    Qiao Feng said: ‘That day in the apricot forest outside Wuxi city, Elder Xu brought along a letter which was written to the former Chief of the Beggar Society Wang Jiantong. Who wrote this letter?’

    Grandpa Tan’s limbs slightly trembled. At this moment, he was still being lifted up by Qiao Feng and his body was in the air. If Qiao Feng sent internal energy out from the palm, he would take his life instantly. But unexpectedly he did not fear and said sternly: ‘This man killed your father so you bear a huge grudge against him. I definitely can’t reveal his name. Otherwise you’d find and take your revenge on him, and then wouldn’t it mean I’ve caused him to get killed?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘If you don’t say, you’ll get killed first.’ Grandpa Tan laughed ha-ha and said: ‘What kind of man do you think I am? How could I be mortally afraid of death and sell off my friends?’ Seeing him take care to preserve personal loyalty, Qiao Feng rather admired him. Had this been a different matter, he would have already stopped questioning him. But how could the grudge involving the deaths of his parents be something ordinary? Therefore he said: ‘You don’t care about your own life, but do you not cherish even your wife’s life? Grandpa Tan and Granny Tan’s reputation going through the floor, leaving behind a world-scale disgrace, don’t tell me that you ain’t afraid of it either?’

    People in wulin cherished reputation the most and it was usual for brave men in jianghu to attach more importance to their names than to their lives. After hearing these 2 sentences, Grandpa Tan said: ‘I, Tan, sit firmly and stand upright, all my life I’ve never done anything wrong to my friends, how could you say the words ‘reputation going through the floor, leaving behind a world-scale disgrace’ to me?’

    Qiao Feng sternly said: ‘Granny Tan may not sit firmly and stand upright and Zhao Qiansun may do wrong to his friends.’

    In an instant, Grandpa Tan’s face completely reddened then turned livid. He frowned and glared fiercely at Qiao Feng with glaring eyes.

    Qiao Feng unloosed his hand and put Grandpa Tan down on the floor then turned around and went out. Silent as the grave, Grandpa Tan followed him. The 2 of them, 1 ahead and 1 behind, went out of Weihui city. On the way, not just a few brave men in jianghu recognized Grandpa Tan and respectfully made way and saluted him. Grandpa Tan only let out a ‘humph’ sound and walked past them. Not long afterward, the 2 of them arrived at the side of that big wooden boat.

    In a flash, Qiao Feng jumped onto the head of the boat. He pointed into the cabin and said: ‘You come and see by yourself!’

    After that, Grandpa Tan got on the boat. When he looked into the cabin, he saw his wife and Zhao Qiansun were leaning on each other affectionately and cuddling up in a corner of the cabin. Boiling with anger, Grandpa Tan sent a fierce palm attack towards Zhao Qiansun’s head. A ‘peng’ sound was heard, Zhao Qiansun did not make a move, nor did he strike back, and he did not dodge the attack either. When Grandpa Tan’s palm touched the top of Zhao Qiansun’s head, he felt something wrong. He hastily stretched out his hand to touch his wife’s cheek and felt that it was ice-cold. It turned out Granny Tan had already been dead for a long time. The whole body of Grandpa Tan trembled but he was unwilling to give up, he held out his hand again to check her breathing, but she no longer breathed. Dumbfounded, he touched Zhao Qiansun’s forehead and also felt that it was ice-cold. Grandpa Tan was extremely grieved and indignant, he turned around and glared fiercely at Qiao Feng, his eyes looked as if spouting fire.

    Seeing that Granny Tan and Zhao Qiansun suddenly had died together unnaturally, Qiao Feng was also very astonished. When leaving the boat, he had only blocked some acupuncture points of the 2 of them, how could the 2 experts suddenly die like this? He lifted the corpse of Zhao Qiansun up and took a quick look at it. He saw that there was not any wound caused by weapons on the corpse, nor was there any bloodstain. He then pulled the clothes on Zhao Qiansun’s chest, with a ‘chi’ sound, they were torn off. He saw a big black bruise on the chest of the corpse. Obviously Zhao Qiansun had been hit by a heavy palm attack. What stranger was that unexpectedly it looked like this serious injury had been caused by his own palm attack.

    Grandpa Tan carried Granny Tan, turned around and unfastened her clothes to see the bruise on her chest. Her injury and the injury that Zhao Qiansun had suffered were exactly alike. Grandpa Tan wanted to cry but no tear came out. He said in a low voice to Qiao Feng: ‘You’re a beast in human face, such savagery!’

    Amazed, Qiao Feng was speechless for a period of time, he only thought: ‘Who used heavy palm attacks to kill Granny Tand and Zhao Qiansun? The killer’s internal energy is profound and very extraordinary. Could it be that it’s also my adversary who came here? But how could he know that the 2 of them were in this boat?’

    Feeling grieved at the violent death of his beloved wife, Grandpa Tan channeled internal energy into his 2 arms and struck towards Qiao Feng with all his strength. Qiao Feng dodged to one side, only loud ka-la-la sounds were heard, the palm force of Grandpa Tan had struck down one side of the boat’s hood. Qiao Feng put out his right hand, grabbed Grandpa Tan’s shoulder and said: ‘Grandpa Tan, I definitely didn’t killed your wife, do you believe me?’ Grandpa Tan said: ‘If it wasn’t you then who?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘Now your life is in my hands. If I wanna kill you, it’d be as easy as turning my hand over. What’s the good of deceiving you?’ Grandpa Tan said: ‘You only wanna find out who killed your father. My martial arts aren’t as good as yours but how can I be fooled by you?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘Okay, you tell me the name of the enemy that killed my father, I’ll bear the responsibility to avenge your wife’s death on behalf of you.’

    Grandpa Tan laughed wildly in a sorrowful voice. He tried to use his strength continuously 3 times to break loose from the enemy’s grasp, however the power of the palm that Qiao Feng was lightly putting on his shoulder varied according to his power. Grandpa Tan struggled with powerful force but the force of the enemy’s palm became stronger accordingly, therefore from beginning to end he was unable to escape from it. Grandpa Tan flew into a rage. He put his tongue between his 2 sets of teeth and gave it a powerful bite, severing it. With his mouth being filled with fresh blood, he spouted it towards Qiao Feng. Qiao Feng hastily dodged to one side. Grandpa Tan quickly ran over, sent the corpse of Zhao Qiansun away in a fierce kick and carried the corpse of Granny Tan tightly in his arms. His neck then loosened up and he died.

    (To be continued)

  13. #613
    Senior Member littleli's Avatar
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    The unknown enemy is really ruthless.. thanks for the translation fp

  14. #614
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thanks for the update FP.

  15. #615
    Senior Member ChronoReverse's Avatar
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    If I were QF, I'd lay a trap for the person obviously shadowing me and causing all these problems.

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    Seeing this kind of devastation, Qiao Feng also felt sorrowful and rather sorry for them. Even though he had not killed the Tans and Zhao Qiansun with his own hands, they had died because of him. If he wanted to obliterate the corpses and destroy the evidence, he only needed to stamp his foot to create a hole in the bilge of the boat, and the boat would sink to the bottom of the river. But he thought: ‘If I hid these 3 corpses, wouldn’t it look like I have a guilty conscience?’ Hence he immediately got out of the cabin and disembarked, wanting to look for a footprint or clue on the river bank, but no trace was found.

    He hurriedly returned to the inn. All along, A'Zhu had been waiting for him at the gate. Seeing him return unharmed, she was very happy, but seeing that he had a doubtful expression, she knew that his stalking of Zhao Qiansun and Granny Tan had been in vain. She said in a low voice: ‘How was it?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘All died!’ A'Zhu was slightly shocked. She asked: ‘Granny Tan and Zhao Qiansun?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘Grandpa Tan as well. The 3 of them died altogether.’

    A'Zhu only thought that he had killed them, even though she felt uneasy, it was inconvenient for her to be critical of him. She said: ‘Zhao Qiansun is an accomplice in the murders of your parents, there’s… there’s nothing wrong with killing him.’

    Qiao Feng shook his head and said: ‘I didn’t kill them’ A'Zhu let out a sigh and said: ‘If you didn’t kill them then that’s very good. I’ve always thought that Grandpa Tan and Granny Tan didn’t do anything that offended you so they could be spared. But who killed them?’

    Qiao Feng shook his head and said: ‘I don’t know!’ He then counted on the fingers and said: ‘There’re only 3 people who know that prime criminal left in the world. We should act immediately and mustn’t let the enemy go ahead of us all the time. We’ve always been in a disadvantageous position already.’

    A'Zhu said: ‘Correct. That Madam Ma hates you to the marrow, she’ll be unwilling to tell you in any case, let alone the fact that forcing and questioning a widow aren’t the deeds of a real man. Monk Zhiguang’s temple is in Jiangnan, which is far from here. So, let’s go to Tai’an in Shandong to find the Shan family!’

    A trace of pity showed up in Qiao Feng’s eyes. He said: ‘A'Zhu, it’s been hard on you for the past few days.’ A'Zhu called out loudly: ‘Innkeeper, innkeeper, quickly bring us the bill.’ Surprised, Qiao Feng said: ‘It won’t be late to pay the bill tomorrow morning.’ A'Zhu said: ‘No, we must go quickly tonight. Don’t let the enemy be ahead of us at every step.’ Qiao Feng felt grateful to her and nodded.

    In the dim twilight, they went out of Weihui city. On the way they already heard other people noisily spreading the news that the Khitan demon Qiao Feng somehow had suddenly laid his murderous hands on Grandpa Tan, Granny Tan and Zhao Qiansun. When saying, these people looked around for fear that Qiao Feng would show up beside them at any time. They really did not know that Qiao Feng was right beside them, if he wanted to harm other people, these people truly would not be able to escape.

    On the way they changed horses and went east quickly without stopping. Going to the 2nd day, even though A'Zhu had not said any ‘tired’ word, she sat on horseback with a drowsy look, and several times she almost fell down from the horse. Seeing that she was really unable to keep enduring, Qiao Feng abandoned the horses and switched to carriage. The 2 of them slept in the big carriage for 6 or 8 hours. After sleeping enough, they abandoned the carriage and used horses again, running at full speed. They kept going nonstop like this, A'Zhu happily said: ‘In any case, this time we’re gonna arrive ahead of that prime villain.’ Both she and Qiao Feng did not know who the enemy was, hence when they mentioned that man they always called him the ‘prime villain’.

    But Qiao Feng was secretly worried because he felt that the ‘prime villain’ had always arrived earlier than himself at every single step, this man was not below himself in martial arts, his wits and schemes were far superior to those of his own, much less the fact that thus far he had only seen a dense fog before his own eyes, while the enemy could see clearly everything he did. All his life he had never met such a formidable enemy. However, the stronger the enemy was, the higher Qiao Feng’s mettle was, and he was not the least afraid.

    Impartial Judge Shan Zheng resided outside the Eastern gate of Tai’an city in Shandong. He was widely known within Tai’an. When Qiao Feng and A'Zhu arrived in Tai’an, it was already at twilight. After asking clearly where the Shan family was, they immediately went there through the city. After they came out of the Eastern gate and went for 1 li (0.5 km), they saw thick smoke rising in the sky; there was a fire somewhere. After that, they heard ‘dang-dang’ sounds of gongs and the sounds of people shouting from afar: ‘Fire! Fire! Quickly fight fire.’

    Qiao Feng did not pay attention to that and urged the horse on, getting closer and closer to the fire. He heard someone shouted: ‘Quickly fight fire, quickly fight fire! It’s the impartial Shan family!’

    Qiao Feng and A'Zhu were frightened, they reined in and looked at each other. Both of them thought: ‘Could it be that the prime villain has arrived earlier than us again?’ A'Zhu consoled him: ‘Shan Zheng has very good martial arts, even if his house was burned, he definitely wouldn’t be burned to death inside.’

    Qiao Feng shook his head. After he had killed the Shan Clan’s 2 Tigers, the Shan family had had a deep hatred towards him. Arriving in Tai’an this time, even though he had no intention of killing other people, he thought Shan Zheng and his descendants would definitely not forgive himself, therefore originally he had prepared to get into a big battle. Unexpectedly, when he had not yet arrived at the manor, the opponent had already met with a disaster. Therefore he could not help feeling sad and sympathetic to him.

    The horses gradually came near the Shan manor. Qiao Feng and A'Zhu only felt the broiling heat and saw red flames dancing boisterously. This was really a big fire.

    At this time, villagers all around had flocked to here to fight fire, some carrying water and some scattering sand. Fortunately, there were deep trenches around the Shan manor and no one lived in the vicinity of the manor therefore the fire did not spread.

    Qiao Feng and A'Zhu galloped to the side of the scene and got off the horses. They heard 1 man sigh: ‘Old Master Shan was such a good person. He always helped the poor and disaster-stricken people in this region, for the past several decades he had so many meritorious and virtuous acts, why is it that not only was his house burned down but no one in his whole family of 30 something people could escape either?’ Another man said: ‘His enemies must’ve set fire to the manor then blocked the doors to prevent them from escaping. Otherwise, as even a 5 year old child in the Shan family knew martial arts, how come they couldn’t escape?’ The 1st man said: ‘I’ve heard that Great master Shan, 2nd master Shan and 5th master Shan were killed in Henan by a villain called Qiao Feng or something. This time someone came here to commit arson, could it be that it is this prime villain as well?’

    When mentioning that enemy in their conversations A'Zhu and Qiao Feng had called him the ‘prime villain’, at this moment, hearing those 2 villagers also say ‘prime villain’, they could not refrain from looking at each other.

    The man who was rather younger said: ‘Of course it’s Qiao Feng.’ When he said to here, he lowered his voice and continued: ‘He must’ve led a large number of subordinates and broken into the manor then ruthlessly slaughtered the Shan family. Oh, Heaven really doesn’t have eyes.’ The older man said: ‘This Qiao Feng guy has done many evils. In the future he’ll certainly die 100 times more miserably than the Shan family’s masters did.’

    Hearing them cursing Qiao Feng, A'Zhu was annoyed. She stretched out her hand and slapped the horse on the side of its neck. Startled, the horse shot out its left hoof, which kicked that man right in his bottom. That man shouted ‘Ah’ and fell flat on his face. A'Zhu said: ‘What nonsense did you say?’ After receiving a kick by the horse, that man remembered that the ‘prime villain’ Qiao Feng had very many subordinates, hence he was so frightened that he did not dare to utter a word and hurriedly went away.

    Qiao Feng smiled but his smiling expression carried 30% sadness. He and A'Zhu went to another side of the fire. They could hear everyone discussing in quick succession. All of them said the same that no one among the 30 something people of the Shan family was able to escape, irrespective of being male, female, old or young. When Qiao Feng smelled the foul-smelling air of burned corpses which was coming out gust after gust from the fire, he knew that what they said were not false; all the men, women, old people and young people in Shan Zheng’s whole family had really been buried in the fire.

    A'Zhu said in a low voice: ‘This prime villain is really ruthless. He killed Shan Zheng and his sons; it couldn’t be helped. But why did he gotta kill his whole family? Why did he need to burn down even the house?’ Qiao Feng uttered a ‘humph’ sound and said: ‘This is called cutting the weeds and digging up the roots. If it had been me, I would’ve burned the house as well.’ A'Zhu was startled and asked: ‘What?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘That evening in the apricot forest Shan Zheng said some sentences, most prolly you heard them as well. He said: ‘There’re several letters by that leading big brother hidden in my house, I already compared this letter with the handwriting of them. This is really a genuine letter.’’ A'Zhu sighed and said: ‘That’s right. Even though he already killed Shan Zheng, he was afraid that you’d go into the Shan family’s manor and successfully find those letters, and then you’d still be able to know his name. But if he burned the manor to the ground with a handful of kindling, there wouldn’t be any letter left.’

    At this moment, there were more and more people gathering to fight fire, but the fire was being intense, when pailfuls of water were splashed on the fire, they instantly changed into white air, but they was not able to hold back the fire. Flames and heat were spurted out gust after gust, making everyone repeatedly go backwards. The crowd on the one hand lamented, and on the other hand they severely cursed Qiao Feng. The offensive language of the peasants was certainly extremely unpleasant to hear.

    A'Zhu feared that after hearing these irrational words of abuse Qiao Feng would get furious and start another massacre, and then these peasants would really be wretched. She stole a look at him and saw a strange expression on his face; he seemed to be sad and also seemed to be regretful, but above all, he looked sympathetic; it seemed he was thinking that these peasants were very silly and not worth killing. She heard him let out a deep sigh and say dejectedly: ‘Let’s go to Mt Tiantai!’

    He really had no alternative but to mention Mt Tiantai. Even though Zhiguang dashi (great monk) had taken part in the battle that killed his parents that year; afterward, he had developed a strong ambition to go to remote or alien places to gather tree bark to cure people in the region consisting of Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi of malaria and illnesses caused by miasma; countless people had been saved, but for that reason he himself had had a serious illness and after recovering he had lost all of his martial arts. There was no one in jianghu who did not respect Zhiguang dashi for this deed of saving the common people; when mentioning him, everyone called him the ‘Living Buddha of 10,000 Families’. Were it not because Qiao Feng had no other choice, he definitely would be unwilling to make things difficult for Zhiguang dashi.

    The 2 of them left Tai’an and chose ways to go south. But this time Qiao Feng did not go quickly as if his life was at risk. He thought that if he himself handled pressing matters leisurely, maybe he would be able to protect Zhiguang dashi’s life; and that if he went at double speed as before, when he arrived at Mt Tiantai, probably he would also see the corpse of Zhiguang dashi, and maybe even the temple where the monk lived would already be burned to the ground; furthermore, Zhiguang usually roamed everywhere, hence he might not be staying at the temple on Mt Tiantai.

    Mt Tiantai was in Zhedong. This time, on the way going south from Tai’an, Qiao Feng and A'Zhu went slowly as if they went sightseeing and talked about strange things and anecdotes in jianghu. If their minds were not full of worries, this would have been a joyful sightseeing trip.

    That day, after arriving in Zhenjiang, the 2 of them went to Jinshan temple to get a view of the river (this is Yangzi River). While watching the water of the river rapidly rolling east unceasingly, Qiao Feng suddenly remembered a matter and said: ‘Maybe the ‘leading big brother’ and the ‘prime villain’ are the same person.’ A'Zhu clapped her hands and said: ‘That’s right. Why have we never thought of this before?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘Of course they may be 2 different people as well, but these 2 people must have a close relationship, otherwise that prime villain wouldn’t go as far as using every possible means to hide that leading big brother’s identity. But when even people such as Chief Wang were willing to follow that ‘leading big brother’, he must be an extraordinary person. That ‘prime villain’ must be extraordinary like this too. How come there’re such 2 extraordinary people in the world without me knowing even 1 of them? So my guess is that these 2 people are most likely the same man. If I kill that ‘prime villain’, I’d get revenge for the murders of my parents.’

    A'Zhu nodded in approval and said: ‘Great master Qiao, in the apricot forest that evening, those people related what had happened that year, I’m afraid… I’m afraid…’ Saying to here, her voice could not help getting somewhat shaky.

    Qiao Feng continued: ‘You’re afraid that the prime villain was present in the apricot forest?’ A'Zhu said in a trembling voice: ‘Yes. In the apricot forest, that Impartial Judge Shan Zheng guy said that there were letters written by the leading big brother hidden in his house. His whole family was then burned to the ground… Oh, when thinking about this matter, I’m very scared.’ She slightly shivered and leaned on one side of Qiao Feng.

    Qiao Feng said: ‘This man is extremely cruel and merciless. People like him are rare in the world. Zhao Qiansun’d rather lose all reputation than reveal his identity, and Shan Zheng was also on friendly terms with him. Who could’ve expected that he would murder these 2 people? There wasn’t any such formidable person in the apricot forest that evening, was there?’ After pondering for a long time, he continued: ‘There’s another matter that I find strange.’ A'Zhu asked: ‘What is it?’

    Qiao Feng looked at a sailboat on the river and said: ‘This prime villain’s intelligence and planning skill are better than mine in all respects. In terms of martial arts, it seems he’s not below me either. If he wants to take my life, I’m afraid he wouldn’t have any difficulties. Why does he need to be afraid that I’ll find out who my enemy is like this?’

    A'Zhu said: ‘Great master Qiao, you’re just too modest. Even though that prime villain is formidable, he’s in fact extremely afraid of you. I guess in these days he’s been shaking with the fear that you’ll find out who he is. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have to murder the 2 old masters Qiao, Xuan Ku dashi, Zhao Qiansun, Granny Tan and the whole family of Impartial Judge.’

    Qiao Feng nodded and said: ‘That may be true as well.’ He then smiled at her and said: ‘As he doesn't dare to come to attack me, he certainly wouldn’t dare to approach you. You don’t need to be afraid.’ After a long while, he sighed and said: ‘This person is really good at scheming. It’s a shame that I, Qiao Feng, am called a hero when I’ve been a toy in other people’s hands without any power to strike back.’

    After crossing Changjiang River (aka Yangzi River), one day they crossed Qiantang River and arrived in Tiantai county seat. Qiao Feng and A'Zhu rested at an inn for 1 night. In the morning of the next day, just as they wanted to ask people in the inn about the way to go to Mt Tiantai, the innkeeper hurriedly came in, saying: ‘Great master Qiao, a master from Zhiguan Temple on Mt Tiantai comes to pay you a visit.’

    Qiao Feng was frightened because when checking in he had conveniently said that his surname had been Guan. So he asked: ‘Why do you call me Great master Qiao?’ The innkeeper replied: ‘The master from Zhiguan Temple told me about Great master Qiao’s appearance. There’s not the least bit of inaccuracy.’ Qiao Feng and A'Zhu looked at each other and both of them were amazed. They had already disguised themselves; moreover, they looked rather different as compared to when they had been in Tai’an, Shandong; yet unexpectedly, as soon as they arrived in Tiantai, they were recognized by other people. Qiao Feng said: ‘Okay, invite him to come here.’

    The innkeeper turned around and went out. Before long, he conducted back a short and stout monk who was around 30 years of age. The monk put his palms together to Qiao Feng in salute, saying: ‘My master Zhiguang has ordered my little self Pozhe to invite Great master Qiao and Miss Ruan to visit our humble temple.’ Seeing that the monk even knew A'Zhu’s surname was Ruan, Qiao Feng was more astonished, so he asked: ‘How could you know my surname, master?’

    Monk Pozhe said: ‘My master told me that there are a hero surnamed Qiao and a lady surnamed Ruan staying at Qinggai inn in Tiantai county seat and ordered my little self to welcome and conduct you up the mountain. This is Great master Qiao. Where is Miss Ruan then?’ A'Zhu had disguised herself as a middle-aged man therefore monk Pozhe was unable to recognize her and thought that Miss Ruan was not here.

    Qiao Feng asked again: ‘We arrived at here yesterday evening. How could your honorable master know about it? Could it be that he really has divination skill?’

    When Pozhe had not yet replied, the innkeeper interposed: ‘The old divine monk at Zhiguan Temple has great magical powers, just by performing a quick calculation on his fingers, he already knew that Great master Qiao was gonna come. Needless to say, he can see clearly what are going to happen in 1 day or 2. The old master can predict even the matters of 500 years later with the accuracy as high as 60% or 70% as well.’

    Qiao Feng knew that Zhiguang dashi had a resounding reputation and the ordinary and ignorant people worshiped him, hence he did not talk much, saying: ‘Miss Ruan will come later. Please take the 2 of us to your honorable master so that we can pay our respects to him.’ Monk Pozhe said: ‘Yes.’ When Qiao Feng wanted to pay the bill for the room and the food, the innkeeper hastily said: ‘Great master, you’re a guest of Zhiguan Temple, it’s a great honor for us to have you in this small inn. No matter what, we don’t dare to accept these several Qian (~ 0.4 g) of silver for the rent and food.’

    Qiao Feng said: ‘We thank you for your hospitality then.’ Inwardly, he thought: ‘Monk Zhiguang is kind to the people so I’ve written off the grudge concerning his murders of my parents. I only hope he’ll agree to reveal the identities of the ‘leading big brother’ and the prime villain. Then I’ll be perfectly satisfied.’ Without losing any time, he followed Pozhe to come out of the county seat and go towards Mt Tiantai.

    Mt Tiantai had a beautiful and tranquil landscape but the mountain paths were rather steep, rugged and hard to go along. According to legend, during the Han Dynasty, Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao went into Mt Tiantai by accident and met celestial maidens. Thus it was clear that the landscape here had to be extremely beautiful; but the mountain paths were winding and tortuous, and very hard to recognize. Going behind monk Pozhe, Qiao Feng saw that his footwork was very good, but he obviously did not know martial arts. However, in spite of that, Qiao Feng did not loosen up his caution at all, thinking: ‘The opponents already know it’s me, how can they not be on strict guard? Even though monk Zhiguang is a person of high virtue, other people may not think the same as him.’

    Unexpectedly, he had a pleasant and uneventful journey to Zhiguan Temple. Among the cloisters on Mt Tiantai, Guoqing Temple was very famous in the world; in the Sui Dynasty, Zhizhe dashi, an eminent monk, used to stay at this temple and made the Tiantai school of Buddhism greatly flourish; hence it had been an important place of Buddhism for the past several hundred years. However, in wulin, Zhiguan Temple had a more resounding name. At first sight, Qiao Feng noticed that it was merely a common small temple, and most of the plaster and the paint on the outside of the temple had already peeled off. Had it not been for monk Pozhe’s leading, had Qiao Feng and A'Zhu come here by themselves, they would not have believed that this ordinary temple was the famous Zhiguan Temple.

    Monk Pozhe pushed the door of the temple open and said loudly: ‘Master, great master Qiao has arrived.’

    There was the voice of Zhiguang, saying: ‘Honored guests from afar, this old monk is sorry for being late in welcoming you.’ As he finished, he walked to the door and put his palms together in salute.

    Before seeing Zhiguang, Qiao Feng had always been worried that the prime villain would go ahead of himself and kill the monk. Now seeing Zhiguang with his own eyes, Qiao Feng was at ease. Without delay, he and A'Zhu removed their disguises and met the monk with their real faces. Qiao Feng made a deep bow and said: ‘Dashi, I’m deeply sorry for disturbing your serene ascetic life.’

    Zhiguang said: ‘That’s fine, that’s fine! Qiao shizhu (almsgiver), originally you’re surnamed Xiao, do you know about it?’

    Qiao Feng’s body trembled. Even though he knew that he himself was a Khitan, he had never known the surname of his father. In this moment, hearing Zhiguang say that his surname was ‘Xiao’, he could not help having a cold sweat because he knew that his origin was becoming clear step by step. He immediately bowed, saying: ‘My humble self is unfilial, so I come here to entreat dashi (great monk) to advise me.’

    Zhiguang nodded and said: ‘Pray be seated.’

    After the 3 of them had sat firmly on the chairs, Pozhe brought tea out. Seeing that the appearances of the 2 had changed and that A'Zhu had turned into a girl, he was exceedingly surprised. However, he did not dare to ask anything due to his master’s presence.

    Zhiguang continued: ‘On the stone wall outside of Yanmen Pass, your father left behind a piece of writing, calling himself Xiao Yuanshan. In the writing he called you ‘Feng’er.’ We retained your name, but because we entrusted you to Qiao Sanhuai for nurture, you had to go with his surname.’

    Tears streamed down Qiao Feng’s face. He stood up, saying: ‘I’ve never known my father’s surname until today. It’s all thanks to dashi’s favor that I know it. Please accept a bow of mine.’ As he finished saying, he bowed down. A'Zhu also stood up.

    Zhiguang put his palms together to return the salute and said: ‘How can it be called a favor?’

    The national surname of the Liao Empire was Yelu, and the surname of the empresses of successive Liao dynasties had always been Xiao. Because the Xiao clan had been the clan of empresses from generation to generation, it had had a lot of generals and officials in the imperial courts, and in the Liao Empire it enjoyed great ascendancy. At times, when a Liao emperor was too young, a Xiao empress dowager would assume power and make the clan even more powerful and influential. When Qiao Feng suddenly knew that he himself was from a great Khitan clan, for a period of time all sorts of feelings welled up in his heart, and he was in a trance for a long time. Then he turned to A'Zhu, sighed and said: ‘From now on, I’m Xiao Feng, and not Qiao Feng.’ A'Zhu said: ‘Yes, Great master Xiao.’

    Zhiguang said: ‘Hero Xiao, you’ve most probably seen the words left behind on the stone wall outside of Yanmen Pass, haven’t you?’ Xiao Feng shook his head, saying: ‘No, I haven’t. When I arrived at the outside of Yanmen Pass, the words on the stone wall had already been scraped off completely by someone. There was no trace left.’

    Zhiguang gently let out a sigh and said: ‘The matter was well in the past, the words on the cliff could be scraped off, but how could these several tens of people be brought back to life?’ He took out from his sleeve a very large piece of cloth, saying: ‘Xiao shizhu, this is a rubbing of the writing left behind on the cliff.’

    Xiao Feng trembled with fear, received the large cloth and opened it. He saw that it was made of many rags of clothes stitched together. All the words on the cloth were white hollow ones, the strokes were strange, they looked very similar to Han characters but he did not know a single word. Qiao Feng knew that it was the Khitan language. However, the strokes were powerful and sturdy, looking like saber chops and axe hacks. That day, Zhiguang had said that this piece of writing had been engraved on the rock by his father just before his death. Qiao Feng’s vision could not help getting blurred, and his tears streamed down and fell onto the cloth drop by drop. He said: ‘Dashi, could you interpret it please?’

    Zhiguang dashi said: ‘At that time, after we had made a rubbing, we asked people who knew the Khitan language inside of Yanmen Pass to explain it. Several people all said the same, so most probably they were correct. Xiao shizhu, this line of words says: ‘Feng’er is exactly 1 year old. I and my wife were going to my mother-in-law’s house to attend a banquet. On the way suddenly we encountered the Southern Dynasty’s bandits…’’ Hearing to here, Xiao Feng felt an ache in his heart. He heard Zhiguang continue: ‘‘Things happened quickly, my wife was killed by the bandits, making me lose the desire to live on in the world. My master in martial arts is a Han in the Southern Dynasty, I once took a vow in front of him that I would never kill Han people, but today unexpectedly I’ve killed more than 10 of them. I’m both ashamed and sorrowful; after my death, I won’t have the face to meet my enshi (kind master). - Xiao Yuanshan’s last words.’’

    After Zhiguang finished, Xiao Feng respectfully received the large cloth which had the rubbing, saying: ‘These are the last words left behind by my predecessor. Dashi, please bestow it on me.’ Zhiguang said: ‘I should respectfully give it to you.’

    Qiao Feng’s mind was in chaos. Thinking of his father’s sorrow at that time, he understood that his father had jumped off the cliff to commit suicide not only because of being grieved at the miserable death of his mother, but also because he had broken a vow by killing many Han people and felt ashamed of it before his school.

    Zhiguang slowly uttered a sigh and said: ‘At first we only thought that your father was leading Khitan warriors to Shaolin Monastery to rob sutras. Only after we studied the writing on the stone wall did we know that it was a misunderstanding, a huge mistake. Your father was already determined to commit suicide so there was no reason for him to leave false words to deceive other people before his death. If he had been going to Shaolin Monastery to rob sutras, why was he taking along a lady who didn’t know the least bit of martial arts and was embracing a baby of just over 1 year of age? After the incident, we investigated the source of this news about a Shaolin sutra robbery, it turned out that it came from the mouth of an ignorant absurd person. This person deliberately played a trick on the leading big brother and wanted him to rush thousands of li (1 li = 0.5 km) about to make fun of him.’

    Xiao Feng said: ‘Oh, so it was only to play a joke. What happened to this absurd person?’

    Zhiguang said: ‘After finding out about the truth, the leading big brother was very angry, but that absurd person had already run away. No one knew his whereabouts. From then on, he has disappeared into thin air. It’s been 30 years since that incident, perhaps he is no more in the world.’

    Qiao Feng said: ‘Dashi, thank you very much for letting me know about the cause and the aftermath of this incident, making Xiao Feng become a new man. I only want to ask you about another matter.’ Zhiguang asked: ‘Xiao shizhu (almsgiver), what do you want to ask?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘Who is this leading big brother after all?’

    Zhiguang said: ‘I’ve heard that Xiao shizhu has killed 4 people, Elder Xu of the Beggar Society, Grandpa Tan, Granny Tan and Zhao Qiansun, to investigate this matter, and you’ve killed the whole family of Impartial Judge Shan Zheng then burned the Shan family’s manor to the ground as well. I expected that sooner or later you would come to this place. Please wait for a little while; this old monk is going to show you 1 object.’ As he finished saying he stood up.

    When Qiao Feng was about to explain that he had not killed Elder Xu and the other people, Zhiguang had already turned around then walked into the rear hall.

    After a while, monk Pozhe walked into the parlor and said: ‘My master invites the 2 of you to the meditation room to talk.’ Following him, Qiao Feng and A'Zhu passed through an alley which ran in the shade of dense bamboos to arrive at the front of a small house. Monk Pozhe pushed the door open, saying: ‘Please!’ Qiao Feng and A'Zhu walked in.

    They saw Zhiguang sitting cross-legged on a bulrush mat. He smiled at Xiao Feng, extended his finger and wrote on the floor. The floor of this small house had not been swept for a long time hence there was a thick layer of dust on it. They saw him write on the dust:

    ‘All things are the same; all creatures are equal.
    Sages and animals are treated evenly.
    Han or Khitan is reality and also fantasy.
    Kindness, enmity, honor and disgrace all are mere dust.’

    As he finished writing, he slightly smiled and closed his eyes.

    Looking at the 8 sentences on the floor, Qiao Feng was entranced, thinking: ‘From a Buddhist’s viewpoint, not only are humanitarians and villains the same, but there is also no difference between animals, hungry ghosts, emperors and generals, so whether I’m a Han or a Khitan is really not worth mentioning. But I’m not a Buddhist, how can I be detached like this?’ So he said: ‘Dashi, in the end who is that leading big brother? Please tell me.’ He asked several times but Zhiguang only smiled without replying.

    When Qiao Feng fixed his eyes on Zhiguang, he could not help but jump out of his skin because he saw that despite having a smiling expression, the monk seemed to be stiff and motionless.

    Qiao Feng called out ‘Zhiguang dashi’ a few times but still the monk did not make any movement, hence he stretched out his hand to check his breathing. It turned out the monk’s breathing had already stopped. He had already passed away. Qiao Feng was so sad that he was speechless. He knelt down and bowed several times. Then he waved to A'Zhu, saying: ‘Let’s go!’

    The 2 of them quietly went out of Zhiguan Temple. Crestfallen, they returned to Tiantai county seat.

    When they had gone for more than 10 li, Xiao Feng said: ‘A'Zhu, I had no intention of harming Zhiguang dashi, he… he… why did he gotta make himself suffer like this?’ A'Zhu said: ‘This eminent monk understood the world thoroughly and was greatly enlightened so life and death were the same to him.’ Xiao Feng asked: ‘Can you guess why he knew that we were going to Zhiguan Temple?’ A'Zhu replied: ‘I think… I think that it’s a deed of that prime villain again.’ Xiao Feng said: ‘I think so too. This prime villain told Zhiguang dashi in advance that we were going to find him to take revenge. Zhiguang dashi thought that he wouldn’t be able to escape from my murderous hands so after that conversation with us he immediately took poison to commit suicide.’

    The 2 of them looked at each other and did not say anything for a long while.

    A'Zhu suddenly said: ‘Great master Xiao, there’re some undue words that I would like to say, please don’t take offense at them.’ Xiao Feng said: ‘Why do you need to stand on this kind of ceremony? Of course I don’t mind them.’ A'Zhu said: ‘I think those words that Zhiguang dashi wrote on the floor are very reasonable. ‘Han or Khitan is reality and also fantasy. Kindness, enmity, honor and disgrace all are mere dust.’ In fact, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Han or a Khitan. Is there any difference between them? Perhaps you’re already tired of living by the tip of the saber in jianghu. It’d be better to go to the outside of Yanmen Pass to go hunting and do pasture, and from now on pay no attention to the kindness, enmity, honor and disgrace in wulin in the Central Plains.’

    Xiao Feng let out a sigh and said: ‘I’m tired of this business which involves struggling for survival on the tips of the sabers already. It’d really be a lot happier to go to the prairies in the North of the Great Wall to gallop on horseback, set free eagles, release dogs, chase rabbits, and from now on have no worry. A'Zhu, will you come to see me after I’ve returned to the North of the Great Wall?’

    A'Zhu blushed and said in a low voice: ‘I said ‘do pasture’, didn’t I? You’ll gallop on horseback and go hunting, and I’ll put cows and sheep out to pasture.’ As she said to here, she lowered her head.

    Even though Xiao Feng was a straightforward man, he understood clearly the implication of these several sentences of hers; she meant that she wanted to live together with him in the North of the Great Wall for life and would not return to the Central Plains again. Orginally Xiao Feng saved her merely because of the mettle of the moment; only after she went to the outside of Yanmen Pass in pursuit of him then went together with him to Weihui, Tai’an and Tiantai, rushing about thousands of li, did he feel that she was very tender and amiable. At this moment, hearing her express her feelings, he could not help but be moved, so he put out his bulky palm and held her small hand, saying: ‘A'Zhu, you treat me so well. Don’t you detest and reject me because of my lowly Khitan origin?’

    A'Zhu replied: ‘The Han are human, the Khitan are also human. How can one be high and the other be low? I… I like to be a Khitan, this is my heartfelt desire, there’s not the least bit of constraint imposed on me.’ As she said towards the end, her voice became as low as the buzzing noise of a mosquito and almost inaudible.

    Very happy, Xiao Feng suddenly grabbed her waist and threw her up in the air. While she was falling down, he gently caught her and put her on the ground. Then he looked at her with a smiling expression and said loudly: ‘A'Zhu, from now on you’ll follow me to ride on horseback and go hunting, and pasture cattle and sheep. You will never regret this?’

    A'Zhu adopted a stern countenance, saying: ‘Even if it was following you to commit murder, arson and robbery, I would never regret it. Even if following you meant to experience various sufferings and all kinds of torments, I would still be glad about it.’

    Xiao Feng said loudly: ‘Once I, Xiao Feng, have today; needless to say, I don’t like to be reinstated as the Beggar Society’s Chief; even if they were to ask me to be the emperor, I wouldn’t care either. A'Zhu, let’s go to Xinyang to find Madam Ma. It won’t matter if she is willing to tell us or not. This is the last person that we’re gonna find. After a question, we’re gonna left for the North of the Great Wall to go hunting and pasture cattle and sheep!’

    A'Zhu said: ‘Great master Xiao…’ Xiao Feng said: ‘From today on, don’t call me great master, 2nd master or something. You call me big brother!’ Totally blushed, A'Zhu said in a low voice: ‘How can I deserve it?’ Xiao Feng said: ‘Are you willing to call me so?’ A'Zhu smiled and said: ‘Extremely willing, but I don’t deserve it.’ Xiao Feng laughed and said: ‘Now you try calling me so 1 time then.’ A'Zhu softly said: ‘Big… big brother!’

    ‘Ha-ha,’ Xiao Feng laughed loudly and said: ‘That’s right! From now on, I, Xiao Feng, am no longer alone and despised as a lowly barbarian because at least in the world there’s a person… there’s a person…’ For the moment, he did not know what he should say.

    A'Zhu continued: ‘There’s a person who deeply respects you, admires you, appreciates you, is willing to stay by your side forever and through all eternity to endure misfortunes, humiliations, dangers and tribulations together with you.’ She said very sincerely.

    Xiao Feng let out a long volley of laughs, which echoed throughout the valley. Thinking that A'Zhu had said she would ‘endure misfortunes, humiliations, dangers and tribulations together with him’, he felt grateful to her because even though she knew clearly that there would likely be a lot of trials in the future, she was still willing to put up with them with no regret, and so 2 streams of tears rolled down on his cheeks even though he was having a smiling expression.

    The house of the former Vice Chief of the Beggar Society Ma Dayuan was located in Xinyang village, Henan. From Mt Tiantai in Jiangnan to Xinyang, Xiao Feng and A'Zhu would have to travel thousands of li, and this was not a journey that they could finish in 1 day.

    Ever since the 2 of them had opened their hearts to each other on Mt Tiantai, they had found themselves very attached to each other. On the way they rode the horses slowly and saw that the natural scenic views were large, wide and totally charming. A'Zhu was not good at drinking wine but in order to make Xiao Feng happier, she always forced herself to drink several cups of wine with him, which made her loveable face become rosy, making her looked even sweeter. At first, Xiao Feng was full of indignation but thanks to A'Zhu laughing and talking to him, and wittily joking with him nonstop, most of his grief and indignation disappeared. In this northward journey from Jiangnan to the Middle Land (Zhongzhou – ancient name of Henan) his state of mind was very different than it had been when they had been hastening to Shandong from Yanmen Pass. Sometimes Xiao Feng recalled and felt that this thousands-of-li journey was hazy just like a great series of dreams; at first, there had been continuous nightmares, but towards the end, they had become nice dreams; were it not for the delightful loveable little girl A'Zhu at his side, he really would wonder if he was still in a dream.

    (to be continued)

  17. #617
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thanks for the update FP.

    I wonder if HR were with XF, would she be able to trap the killer to reveal himself.

  18. #618
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    When hero is struggling, he couldn't get the info.. but now he wants to settle down, definitely some twists will arise..

    Thanks for an wonderful update FP..

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    Cool Thank you

    Well, this is an interesting twist. My guess is that this prime villian won't let Xiao Feng rest in peace...

    Thanks for translating and posting the update!

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    Chapter 21: cont.

    One day, they arrived in Guangzhou; it would take them no more than 2 days to reach Xinyang from here. A'Zhu said: ‘Big brother, how should we inquire Madam Ma, you think?’

    In the apricot forest and at Juxian Manor those days, Madam Ma’s words and expression had been full of hostility towards Xiao Feng; even though Xiao Feng had been very unhappy at those times, after those incidents he thought that because she had lost her husband and firmly believed that he himself had killed him, it was normal for her to abominate himself, and if she did not hate himself, it would be unreasonable. He also thought that because she was a widow who did not know martial arts, if he threatened her, his hero status would be lost, let alone asking her by force. Hearing A’Zhu ask so, he could not help hesitating and did not know how to reply. After being at a loss for a while, he said: ‘I think we’ll have no choice but to ask her amicably and hope that she’ll be reasonable and no longer wrongly accuse me of killing her husband. A’Zhu, it’d be better if you go talk to her. Is that ok? You’re clever in your words and both of you are female. I’m afraid if she sees my face she’ll be full of hatred and everything will immediately come to a standstill.’

    A’Zhu smiled, saying: ‘I have a plan, but I’m afraid you’ll think that it’s not good.’ Xiao Feng hastily said: ‘What is the plan?’ A’Zhu said: ‘You’re a great hero, a real man, so you can’t extort the truth from her. But how about letting me trick her?’

    Xiao Feng happily said: ‘It’d be the best if you can trick her into revealing the truth. A’Zhu, you know, days and nights I’ve been hoping that I’ll be able to personally cut the prime murderer of my father to death. I’m a Khitan so his exposure of my true origin was a thing that should be done as it allowed me to know who my ancestors are. I should’ve been very grateful to him. But why did he kill my foster parents? Kill my enshi (kind master)? Force me to harm my friends, bear infamy and become the the enemy of the heroes in the world? If I can’t chop him into pieces, how would I be able to put myself at ease and ride on horseback, go hunting, and pasture cattle and sheep with you for life?’ Towards the end, his voice became louder and louder. For the past few days, his expression was no longer gloomy as before, despite that, however, his hatred towards the prime villain had not yet diminished in the least.

    A’Zhu said: ‘This prime villain has maliciously done you so much harm. I only hope that I’ll be able to slash at him several times to help you vent your anger. After capturing him, we’ll also arrange a great banquet for heroes and extraordinary people in the world then explain the injustices you’ve suffered in front of everyone to restore your clear reputation.’

    Xiao Feng sighed and said: ‘That’s not necessary. By killing so many people at Juxian Manor, I’ve caused a deep hatred of me in the world’s heroes. And I’m not asking for forgiveness from other people either. I, Xiao Feng, only hope to put a stop to this matter to give myself peace of mind, then I and you will gallop to the North of the Great Wall and become friends with tigers, wolves, cattle and sheep for life and never see these heroes and brave men of the Central Plains again.’

    A'Zhu happily said: ‘Thank heavens for that. That’s what I’ve been eager for.’ She smiled, saying: ‘Big brother, I wanna disguise as a person and trick Madam Ma into revealing the name of the prime villain.’

    Xiao Feng slapped his thigh and cried: ‘Yes! Yes! Why haven’t I thought of this? Nothing can be better than your masterful disguising skill in dealing with this matter. Who do you wanna disguise as?’

    A'Zhu said: ‘I would need to ask you about that. When Vice-Chief Ma was still alive, who in the Beggar Society was he friendliest with? I’m gonna disguise as this person. Thinking that this is her husband’s close friend, I think Madam Ma won’t hide the truth.’

    Xiao Feng said: ‘Oh, the people closest to Brother Ma in the Beggar Society are Captain Wang, Quan Guanqing and Elder Chen; besides, he had a deep friendship with the Elder of Rule Enforcement Bai Shijing too.’ A'Zhu made a ‘hum’ sound and tilted her head to recall the appearances of these people. Xiao Feng continued: ‘Unlike me who am fond of drinking and roughhousing, Brother Ma was a calm and prudent man so he rarely drank or talked with me. Quan Guanqing and Bai Shijing have similar personalities to his so they often studied martial arts together.’

    A'Zhu said: ‘I don’t know who Captain Wang is. The jute bag of Elder Chen’s is full of poisonous snakes and scorpions. I got goosebumps as soon as I saw it. My disguising skill can’t make me look like him. Quan Guanqing has a very tall frame so it’ll take quite a while to disguise as him. I’m afraid if I stay in Madam Ma’s house for a long time to slowly and tactfully sound her out I’ll give myself away. It’d be better if I disguise as Elder Bai. He talked to me several times at Juxian Manor so imitating him is the easiest.’

    Xiao Feng smiled, saying: ‘Elder Bai treated you very well and tried his best to ask Divine Doctor Xue to cure your injury. Wouldn’t it be wrong to disguise as him to deceive other people?’

    A'Zhu laughed and said: ‘I’ll disguise as Elder Bai only to do good, and not to do evil or harm his reputation.’

    They immediately disguised in a small inn. A'Zhu changed Xiao Feng into a 5-bag disciple of the Beggar Society who would be considered to be Elder Bai’s attendant. She told him to speak as little as possible for fear that Madam Ma was meticulous and would recognize the flaws. Xiao Feng saw that after disguising herself as Elder Bai, A'Zhu had a frosty face which looked solemn even without being angry. This was really the Elder of Rule Enforcement that was awed by tens of thousand of Beggar Society disciples from the north to the south. Not only did she bear a close resemblance to Bai Shijing, her behavior and words were also exactly the same as those of his. Xiao Feng and Bai Shijing had been friends for almost 10 years, yet he was unable to see any difference between his appearance and A'Zhu’s disguise.

    The 2 of them went to Xinyang. On the way, when Xiao Feng saw Beggar Society disciples, he would use the Society’s argot to talk with them and ask about movements of the leading people of the Society; he also made public that Elder Bai had arrived in Xinyang to let Madam Ma know about their visit in advance. As long as she already had first impressions of it in her mind, even if there were flaws in A'Zhu’s disguise, she would not be able to recognize them.

    Ma Dayuan’s house was in the western suburb of Xinyang and was 30 li (0.5 km) or so away from the city. After asking local Beggar Society disciples about the way to get there, Xiao Feng and A'Zhu went to the Ma family. They deliberately went slowly and stalled; only at dusk did they arrive. During the day, everything could be seen clearly so their disguises might have been recognized easily, but in the evening, everything looked indistinct so it would be easy for them to trick Madam Ma.

    When they arrived at the outside of Ma Dayuan’s house, they saw a brooklet go around 3 small tiled houses. Beside the houses were 2 weeping willow trees, and in front of them was a piece of flat ground which looked like a drying ground of a farmhouse but there was a pit at each of its 4 corners. Very familiar with Ma Dayuan’s martial arts, Xiao Feng knew that Ma Dayuan had normally used these 4 pits to practice his skills. He could not help feeling sad because now they had been separated by life and death. When he was about to knock the door, suddenly there was a grinding noise, the door was opened, and a woman walked out in a full-length white mourning dress. She was Madam Ma.

    Madam Ma cast a glance at Xiao Feng then bowed to A'Zhu in salute, saying: ‘Elder Bai’s exalted presence at this humble house is really beyond my expectations. Please come in for some tea.’

    A'Zhu said: ‘Dimei (younger sis-in-law), there’s an important matter that I must consult with you so I’ve come here without being invited. Please forgive me.’

    With her whole body being covered in a white mourning dress, Madam Ma’s expression resembled a smile yet she was not smiling and the corners of her mouth had a trace of hidden bitterness. In this moment, the sun which was setting towards the back of the mountains was illuminating her face with a dull yellow light. Meeting her this time, Xiao Feng was not stirred up as two times before. He saw that even though there were vague wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and she was around 35 or 36 and not wearing make-up, her complexion did not seem to be less white and delicate than that of A'Zhu’s.

    The 2 of them immediately followed Madam Ma into the house. They saw that the hall was rather small, there was a table in the center, and on both sides of the table were put 4 chairs so there was very little space left. An aged maid servant brought tea out. Then Madam Ma asked Xiao Feng’s name. A'Zhu conveniently made up a name for him.

    Madam Ma asked: ‘Elder Bai, I’m wondering what you want to instruct me in this exalted visit?’ A'Zhu replied: ‘Elder Xu passed away in Weihui. Dimei must have heard about it.’ Madam Ma suddenly raised her head. With a strange expression in her eyes, she said: ‘Of course I know about it.’ A'Zhu said: ‘We all suspect that Qiao Feng killed him. After that, the 3 seniors Grandpa Tan, Granny Tan and Zhao Qiansun were also killed outside the city of Weihui. Then the Shan family of Impartial Judge in Tai’an, Shandong was burned to the ground. Not long ago, while going to Jiangnan to investigate a matter involving a 7-bag disciple that violated the Society’s rules, I received a message on the way that old monk Zhiguang of Zhiguan Temple on Mt Tiantai had suddenly passed away too.’ Madam Ma trembled all over and her face changed color, saying: ‘This… This was also done by Qiao Feng?’

    A'Zhu said: ‘I personally came to Zhiguan Temple to investigate. Though I couldn’t get any result, it’s 9 out of 10 that it was a deed of this fellow Qiao Feng. I’ve expected that his next step will most likely be troubling you so I’ve hastily come here to advise dimei to take refuge somewhere else for about a year to avoid Qiao Feng’s assault.’

    With tears welling up in her eyes, Madam Ma said: ‘Ever since Master Ma was unluckily murdered, it’s become pointless for me to live on in this world. If that fellow surnamed Qiao wants to harm me, he’ll be most welcome. Why the need to seek refuge somewhere else?’

    A'Zhu said: ‘Dimei (younger sis-in-law), why do you say that? Brother Ma hasn’t been avenged and the murderer hasn’t been captured. There’s a heavy burden on you. Where’s Brother Ma’s memorial tablet? I should give a bow to him.’

    Madam Ma said: ‘I dare not accept the honor.’ But still, she conducted the 2 of them to the rear hall. A'Zhu took a bow first then Xiao Feng respectfully kowtowed to the memorial tablet. Inwardly, he prayed: ‘Big brother Ma, if you have supernatural powers after death, today you should induce your wife to say the name of the real murderer so that I can avenge you and get rid of the injustice you suffered.’

    Madam Ma knelt down beside the memorial tablet to return the salute, tears rolling down on her cheeks. After kowtowing, Xiao Feng stood up. He saw that there were several elegiac couplets hung in the mourning hall, among which were the ones presented by Elder Xu and Elder Bai, but the couplet he himself gave her was not hung here. The pieces of white cloth in the mourning hall had accumulated dust, adding to the gloomy atmosphere. Xiao Feng thought: ‘Madam Ma has no child, there’s only an aged maid servant beside her every day. It’s really hard for her to pass the time during these lonely days.’

    He heard A'Zhu console her with patronizing but tactful words such as ‘Dimei, you should take care of yourself. Brother Ma’s score is everyone’s score. If you have any difficulty, just tell me, I’ll certainly help you.’ He secretly praised: ‘This little girl’s imitation is perfect. The Beggar Society’s Chief was expelled, the Vice-Chief is dead, Elder Xu was murdered and the Elder of Merit Propagation was killed by me so Elder Bai now has the most revered position. The tone of a Chief that she uses in conversation really matches her status.’ Madam Ma thanked A'Zhu but her tone sounded very cold. Xiao Feng felt worried. He saw that she was very bored and her expression was desolate, perhaps because her husband had passed away, she no longer had any joy in life. He was afraid that she might commit suicide to follow her husband. This woman had an unyielding temperament so she was capable of anything.

    Madam Ma invited the 2 of them back to the guest hall. Before long, the aged maid servant set the table for dinner. There were 4 dishes, green cabbage, turnip, tofu and cucumber. All were vegetarian dishes. Also, there were 3 bowls of steaming hot cooked rice, but there was no wine. A'Zhu cast a look at Xiao Feng, thinking: ‘No wine for you tonight.’ Staying calm and collected, Xiao Feng lifted up a rice bowl and ate. Madam Ma said: ‘After my late husband passed away, this widow has become a vegetarian. This isolated residence doesn’t have meat, fish or wine, I’m sorry for treating the 2 of you in this cold manner.’ A'Zhu sighed and said: ‘Brother Ma has died and cannot come back to life. Dimei, you don’t need to make yourself suffer.’ Seeing that Madam Ma was so loyal to her deceased husband, Xiao Feng exceedingly respected her.

    After the dinner, Madam Ma said: ‘Elder Bai, you came here from afar so I should ask you to stay. But it’s inconvenient for a widow like me. I’m wondering if you still have something to instruct me.’ Her tone hinted that she wanted the guests to leave. A'Zhu said: ‘I come to Xinyang this time to advise dimei to leave your house to avoid danger. Do you have any plan?’ Madam Ma let out a sigh and said: ‘That fellow Qiao Feng murdered Master Ma. If he comes to kill me, it’ll only be as good as ordering me to follow Master Ma to the Underworld. Even though I’m a weak woman, to tell you the truth, when I’m not afraid of even death, I’m not afraid of anything.’ A'Zhu asked: ‘Does that mean dimei is unwilling to take refuge somewhere else?’ Madam Ma replied: ‘Elder Bai, thank you very much for your kindness. This little woman is really unwilling to leave Master Ma’s house.’

    A'Zhu said: ‘At first I wanted to stay around here for a few days to protect dimei; though I’m definitely no match for that fellow Qiao Feng, in case of emergency, I’d be able to lend a helping hand. But on the way I heard a very important secret message.’

    Madam Ma said: ‘Oh, it must be extremely important.’ It goes without saying that women are always very curious, hence when hearing about an important secret, they will certaintly be pleased to know about it even though it may have nothing to do with them; even if they say that they are not interested, their expression will always show that they really want to know. Who could have expected that Madam Ma’s was still indifferent? It looked like it did not matter to her if A'Zhu said it or not because her husband was already dead, thus nothing in the world could stir up her mind. Xiao Feng thought: ‘They always compare the heart of a widow to a withered plant or cold ash. That expression is best used with Madam Ma.’

    A'Zhu waved to Xiao Feng, saying: ‘You wait for me outside. I have some secrets to tell Madam Ma.’

    Xiao Feng nodded and walked out of the house. He secretly praised A'Zhu’s smartness because he knew that if one wanted other people to reveal their secrets, he must reveal his own secrets first to make them trust him. He understood that A'Zhu dismissed him because she wanted to earn Madam Ma’s trust and to express that this matter was so secret that not even a trusted subordinate was allowed to hear.

    He walked out of the main door. It was dark and quiet outside and he could only hear the vague tinkle coming from the kitchen. The aged maid servant was washing dishes. He immediately went around the corner of the house then squatted down beside the window of the guest hall and held his breath to listen. Even if Madam Ma did not say the name of that man, as long as she revealed some clues, he would still have something to investigate, which would be better than the present when he was totally at a loss. Moreover, this time Elder Bai had shown his kindness first by going thousands of li to give her an alarm, and when he was about to leave, he talked about an important secret matter, he was also the head of the Society so it was unlikely that Madam Ma would hide something from him.

    Only after a long time did he hear Madam Ma sigh softly and ask in a quiet voice: ‘You… Why do you come here again?’ Afraid of spoiling the overall situation, Xiao Feng did not dare to rashly stick his head out to look into the guest hall through the window, but he felt surprised: ‘What does she mean by this sentence?’

    He heard A'Zhu reply: ‘I really heard the message that Qiao Feng wanted to harm you so I come to tell you.’ Madam Ma said: ‘Oh, thank you very much for your kindness, Elder Bai.’ A'Zhu lowered her voice and said: ‘Dimei, ever since Brother Ma unfortunately passed away, some Elders of our Society have remembered his contributions and wanted to invite you to come out of your seclusion to hold an Elder post.’

    Hearing she say in a very cordial manner, Xiao Feng could not help secretly laughing, but he praised that this was a very good idea because if Madam Ma accepted it, ‘Elder Bai’ would immediately become her superior, and then when he asked something, she would not be able to refuse to answer. Even if she did not accept to be an Elder, knowing that the Beggar Society had high regard for her, at the very least she would be happy for a while.

    He heard Madam Ma say: ‘What kind of virtue and ability do I have to be an Elder of our Society? I’m not even a disciple of the Society. The post of an Elder is too high for and too far away from me.’ A'Zhu said: ‘I and the people such as Elder Wu have done our utmost to recommend you. Everyone said that if Madam Ma also gave some ideas, it’d be much easier to capture Qiao Feng. I also got a very important message that is closely related to the murder of Brother Ma.’ Madam Ma asked: ‘Really?’ Her voice still sounded rather indifferent.

    A'Zhu replied: ‘That day, at the memorial ceremony for Elder Xu in Weihui city, I met Zhao Qiansun. He mentioned a matter to me, saying that he knew who the real murderer of Brother Ma was.’

    Suddenly there was a bang. A teacup had been broken into pieces. Madam Ma uttered an exclamation then continued saying: ‘You… What are you joking about?’ Her voice was extremely angry but it also sounded somewhat panicky.

    A'Zhu said: ‘This is a serious important matter, how can I be joking? That Zhao Qiansun really told me in person that he knew who actually killed brother Ma Dayuan. He said that it was definitely not Qiao Feng, nor the Murong Clan of Gusu, but he knew absolutely that it was that another person.’

    Madam Ma said in a quavering voice: ‘How could he know? How could he know? You’re talking nonsense. Isn’t it unreasonable?’

    A'Zhu said: ‘It’s true. Don’t worry, I’m gonna slowly tell you. Zhao Qiansun said: ‘Last year, in the 8th month…’’ When she had not yet finished, Madam Ma let out an ‘Ah’ sound of exclamation and passed out. A'Zhu hastily cried: ‘Dimei, dimei!’ and used force to press on the philtrum between her nose and her upper lip. Madam Ma slowly regained consciousness. She complained: ‘You… Why did you need to scare me?’

    A'Zhu said: ‘I didn’t scare you. That Zhao Qiansun really said so. It’s a pity he’s already dead. Otherwise, I’d be able to call him here to testify. He said that on the mid-autumn day in the 8th month last year, Grandpa Tan, Granny Tan and that murderer of Brother Ma celebrated the festival together in the house of that ‘leading big brother’.’

    Madam Ma uttered a sigh and asked: ‘Did he really say so?’

    A'Zhu said: ‘Yes. I asked who the real murderer was but he said that it was inconvenient for him to say this person’s name. I went ask Grandpa Tan. He angrily stared at me and didn’t say anything. Granny Tan said that it was totally correct and it was her who told Zhao Qiansun about it. I don’t blame Grandpa Tan for getting angry. He must’ve gotten mad because his wife told Zhao Qiansun everything. And Zhao Qiansun was unwilling to say the name of the murderer because he was afraid that he would get his old lover Granny Tan involved in this.’ Madam Ma asked: ‘Oh, so what?’

    A'Zhu said: ‘Zhao Qiansun said, everyone suspected that Qiao Feng and Murong Fu killed Brother Ma but let the real murderer go unpunished and walk around at will, if Brother Ma knew about this in the Underworld, he would suffer a wrong and feel bitter about it.’ Madam Ma said: ‘Yes, it’s a pity that Zhao Qiansun is already dead. Grandpa Tan and Granny Tan didn’t tell you the truth, did they?’ A'Zhu replied: ‘They didn’t. When things have become like this, I have no choice but to go ask the leading big brother.’ Madam Ma said: ‘Good. You should go ask him.’ A'Zhu said: ‘It’s really laughable to say, but I don’t know who this leading big brother is and where his house is.’

    Madam Ma said: ‘Oh, so you’ve beaten around the bush to tactfully ask me about the name of this leading big brother.’

    A'Zhu said: ‘If it’s unsuitable, there’s no need for dimei to tell me. I may think of a way to find out about him by myself. Then we’ll find the real murderer and make him pay for his crimes.’ Xiao Feng knew that A'Zhu was pretending that she did not care in order not to make Madam Ma suspect, but still, he could not help feeling exceedingly anxious.

    - to be continued -
    _________

    Sorry for the long delay, guys. I've been busy with family stuff and it was not until yesterday morning could I resume translating. One more installment and chapter 21 will be done.

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