Mo Yung F'uk's four henchmen: good men, or not?

[Ken Cheng]

During the Beggar's Union conference in DGSD, Kiu Fung expressed his doubts that Mo Yung F'uk was the killer of Deputy Union Chief Ma by saying that he had previously encountered several of Mo Yung F'uk's subordinates (i.e. Pau But Tung and Fung Bao Ngok, etc.) and found them each to be honorable, just, and compassionate men. Kiu Fung expressed a belief that such honorable, good men could not be followers of an evil man.

As it turns out, the Mo Yung family actually was quite evil, but what about those henchmen? Were they good men who happened to follow an evil boss, or were they just as bad as the men they served? If they truly were evil, however, how could Kiu Fung have missed it? Kiu Fung wasn't omniscient, but I think he was a good judge of character.

[PJ]

They were basically decent people. They demonstrated more compassion than Murong Fu on several occasions. Here are 2 examples off the top of my head:

1) When Boss Wu announced that he was going to slaughter the Child Mistress of Heavenly Mountain, Duan Yu protested. Murong Fu refused to help Duan Yu protect the innocent; of ourse his 4 assistants obeyed their young master, but they felt rather shameful to not do the right thing.

2) At Shaolin, When Xiao Feng was facing the families of the warriors he had slaughtered, 3 of the 4 assistants intended to help Xiao Feng. But of course, Murong Fu stopped them and went to challenge Xiao Feng instead.

[Ken Cheng]

They seemed to be pretty good guys, even though Pau But Tung talked a bit too much (but he was no worse than Deun Yu here).

I suppose these fellows considered themselves not only loyal servants of the Mo Yung Family, but also friends of Kiu Fung. That must have put them in a dilemma a few times.

What I did like about Pau But Tung and Fung Bao Ngok is that although both were very proud of their fighting skills, they took their complete ownage by Kiu Fung like men and didn't complain about it. They just acknowledged that Kiu Fung was a much better fighter than they would ever be and moved on.

[PJ]

Although Bao Butong may be the most (in)famous of the 4 assistants, he is my least favorite. Deng Baichuan has his LDA moment; Gongye Gan can withstand 3 palms from Xiao Feng; while Feng Bo'e has a cool nickname ("A Gush of Wind"). These minor characters have been contributing a lot of joy to my reading experience lately.

[Loke-Gao-Zhu]

4 of them are great, and loyal men who served Muroung Family for decades. And they also respect heroes like Xiao Feng

While MRF betrayed his family to join Dali.......

Sigh...i felt bad for them

but i'm glad Bao Butong died, that whiny old man