Chapter - 19 Isll Go, Despite a Myriad of Foes. (1/2)

Qiao Feng channeled his internal energy for a long time. Suddenly, he heard two soft 'ge-ge' sounds high above in the northwest corner. He knew that there was a person in wulin walking on the roof. After that, there were also 2 sounds up in the southeast corner. When hearing the sounds in the northwest, Qiao Feng had still not paid any attention to them, but when there were 2 people gathering together like this, he knew it was likely they had come because of him. He lowered his voice and said to A'Zhu: 'I go out for a while and will come back immediately, don't be afraid.' A'Zhu nodded. Qiao Feng did not blow out the candle. As the door of the room was half closed, he turned his body sideways and went out. He then went around to the window at the backyard and stood next to the wall.

He only heard someone say in a room in the east of the inn: 'Is that 8th master Xiang? Please come down.' The man on the northwest corner laughed and said: 'Qi the Sixth of Guanxi has also arrived.' The man in the room said: 'Very good, very good! Please come in together.' 2 people jumped down from the roof in succession and walked into the room.

Qiao Feng thought: 'Qi the Sixth of Guanxi is called 'Fast Saber Qi Liu' (Liu = Six). He's a famous brave man in Guanxi. That 8th master Xiang is most prolly Xiang Wanghai of Xiangdong. I've heard that these people are generous in aiding the needy and their martial arts are remarkable. These 2 people aren't the treacherous vicious type and have no dispute with me either. Definitely they've come here not because of me. It turns out I've had a silly suspicion. The voice of the man in the room sounds somewhat familiar, but who is he?'

He heard Xiang Wanghai say: ''Yama's Foe' Divine doctor Xue suddenly sends out hero invitation cards to invite every fellow in jianghu, the situation is also very urgent because it says 'To the hero who sees this card, your esteemed presence is requested.' Big brother Bao, do you know what this is for?'

When Qiao Feng heard the words 'Yama's Foe Divine doctor Xue', he immediately had a mixed feeling of happiness and fright: 'Divine doctor Xue is around here? I only knew that he was far away in Ganzhou. If he is around here, the little maid A'Zhu can be saved.'

He had heard that Divine doctor Xue was the number one wizard in medical circles nowadays. Because the 2 words 'Divine doctor' were too famous, everyone did not even know what his original real name was. The tales of him in jianghu were even more exaggerating, saying that he could even bring the dead back to life, as for the people who were alive, no matter how serious the injuries or illnesses they suffered were, he always had methods to cure them, and for this reason Yama of Hell also had a serious headache as every time he sent Wuchang little demons to capture people, Divine doctor Xue would often stay at the side and thwart them or block the way and snatch the people. Not only did Divine doctor Xue have godlike medical knowledge, his martial arts were also outstanding. He liked making friends with fellows in jianghu. When he cured a person of an illness, he often consulted them about 1 martial arts stance or two. The person involved felt grateful to him for saving their life therefore naturally they would not hold back anything when passing on their knowledge and only teach him their proudest skills.

He heard Fast Saber Qi Liu ask: 'Shopkeeper Bao, recently have you bought or sold something good?' Qiao Feng thought: 'No wonder the voice of the man in the room sounds familiar. It turns out he's 'No Capital' Bao Qianling. This man robs the rich to aid the poor. He has quite a heroic reputation. That year, when I assumed the Beggar Society's Chief post, he also participated in the ceremony.'

Already knowing that there were 3 people Xiang Wanghai, Qi Liu and Bao Qianling in the room, he did not want to hear other people's private matters and thought: 'Tomorrow morning I'll visit Bao Qianling's room and ask him about where Divine doctor Xue is staying.' When he was about to return to A'Zhu's room, suddenly he heard Bao Qianling sighed and said: 'Oh, for the past several days I've been in a very bad mood and uninterested in buying or selling. Today, hearing that he killed his father, mother and master, I was even more furious.' As he finished saying he stretched out his hand and gave the table a heavy slap.

When Qiao Feng heard the words 'killed his father, mother, and master', he was scared: 'They're talking about me.'

Xiang Wanghai said: 'This Qiao Feng guy has always had a big reputation and been hypocritical. Not just a few people have been fooled by him. Who would have expected he could commit monstrous crimes like this?' Bao Qianling said: 'That year, when he assumed the Beggar Society's Chief post, I and he also had a chance to meet each other. I've always totally admired the conduct of this man in the past. Hearing Zhao the Third say he belonged to the Khitan barbaric ethnic group, I still tried my best to argue that he didn't, for this reason I and Zhao the Third quarreled to the point that we turned purple with rage and almost had a fight with each other. Oh, barbaric people really are the same as animals. He could hide it for a period of time, but later on, the ferocious character eventually broke open.' Qi Liu said: 'Who could have expected that he has roots in Shaolin Monastery? Xuan Ku dashi was his master.' Bao Qianling said: 'This matter at first was very secret. Even in Shaolin School, very few people knew about it. But Qiao Feng already killed his master so Shaolin School can no longer conceal the truth. This Qiao surnamed vicious traitor only thought that after killing his father, mother and master he'd be able to hide his origin and he'd rather die than admit it to anyone. But he couldn't have expected that he would overreach himself and his sins would become more and more serious.'

Standing outside the door, hearing Bao Qianling assessing his mind like this, Qiao Feng thought: ''No Capital' Bao Qianling and I can be regarded as having some friendship. This man is definitely not the type to make irresponsible remarks. If even he is saying like this, of course other people's words are even more unbearable. Oh, I, Qiao Feng, have suffered this unjustifiable injustice, why should I bother clearing myself of it? From now on I'll just conceal my identity, more than 10 years later, friends in jianghu would all forget that there's a person like me, that's all.' In an instant, he could not help but feeling utterly disheartened.

He heard Xiang Wanghai continue: 'My guess is that Divine doctor Xue sends out hero invitation cards to confer with other people about how to deal with Qiao Feng. This 'Yama's Foe' hates evil like an enemy, I've also heard that he and the 2 dashi Xuan Nan and Xuan Ji of Shaolin Monastery have a really deep friendship.' Bao Qianling said: 'Correct! I think recently in jianghu, besides Qiao Feng doing evil, there's no other major affair. Brother Xiang, brother Qi, come on, come on, come on, let's drink up several Jin (600 g) of white spirit, tonight we're gonna have a long talk.'

Qiao Feng thought even if they talked till dawn, they would merely make an extra effort to angrily scold him hence he did not want to hear anymore and returned to A'Zhu's room immediately.

Seeing that his face was pale and was having a very ugly expression, A'Zhu asked: 'Great master Qiao, did you meet enemies?' She was worried that he had suffered internal injuries. Qiao Feng shook his head. A'Zhu was still uneasy, she asked: 'You're not injured, right?'

Ever since Qiao Feng had started to step into jianghu, he had only been respected by friends and feared by enemies. He had never been despised and looked down upon like he had for the past several days. Hearing A'Zhu ask him so, he could not help but sense his pride rising. He said loudly: 'No, I'm not. It's not difficult for those ignorant narrow-minded lowlifes to defame and spread false rumors about me, but if they want to fight and injure me, it may not necessarily be easy.' Suddenly, heroic and mettlesome feelings surged up in his heart. He said: 'A'Zhu, tomorrow I'm gonna find the best doctor under heaven to treat the injury for you. Just relax and sleep.'

Seeing his proud expression, A'Zhu had a lot of respect and admiration for him but she was also scared. She felt that the man in front of her was totally different than Mr Murong but they also had very many similarities as both of them did not fear Heaven and Hell, and were both prideful and majestic. But Qiao Feng was straightforward and heroic like a mighty lion, while Mr Murong was refined and unaffected like a phoenix.

After making up his mind, Qiao Feng was no longer worried. He then fell asleep soon after sitting down on the chair.

A'Zhu saw the dim lamplight beaming on his face. After a while, she could hear him snoring. Suddenly, his facial muscles twitched slightly and he ground his teeth. The muscles on both sides of his square face stuck out. A'Zhu felt that the brawny man in front of her was very pitiable and really was much unhappier than she herself was.

Early in the morning of the next day, Qiao Feng transferred his internal energy to A'Zhu, paid the rent and asked the inn attendant to go hire a mule wagon. He helped A'Zhu take a sit in the wagon then went to the outside of Bao Qianling's room and said loudly: 'Brother Bao, this little brother Qiao Feng pays a visit.'

After cursing Qiao Feng for half a night, the 3 people Bao Qianling, Xiang Wanghai and Qi Liu had been very tired and fallen asleep. At this moment they had not yet waken up. Suddenly hearing the shout by Qiao Feng, they were all frightened and immediately jumped out of the earthen bed simultaneously, taking out the saber, drawing the sword, and touching the whip. As soon as the 3 people held weapons in their hands, they were dumbfounded because they saw that there was a small piece of white paper on which 4 small words 'Qiao Feng paying respects' were written sticking to the weapon of each of them. The 3 people looked at each other, gasping with astonishment. They knew that the previous night Qiao Feng had played a trick on them, had he wanted to take their lives, it would have been as easy as turning his hand over. Among them, Bao Qianling was even more embarrassed as his nickname was 'No Capital'; he had gone to thousands of houses in the daytime and had broken through hundreds of doors at nighttime; leaping onto roofs, vaulting over walls and stealing other people's money were his best skills, yet during the night he had been played a prank on by Qiao Feng without knowing anything about it until now.

Bao Qianling wound the flexible whip back around his waist, knowing that if Qiao Feng had wanted to harm them he would have done it the night before. He immediately ran to the door and said: 'The head on Bao Qianling's neck, brother Qiao can take it whenever you want to. I, Bao, specialize in doing business without capital, even if my entire home is lost at the hands of brother Qiao, it's still nothing. You killed even your father, mother and master, and only have a nodding acquaintance with me, why should you show mercy to me?' As soon as he had seen the piece of paper on his flexible whip, he had already made a decision. He knew the situation today was very dangerous, if he himself argued insolently with Qiao Feng to the end, there would really be no way to flee for his life; therefore it would be better to hand over himself to him.

Qiao Feng cupped his fist in his hand and said: 'Several years have flown by since the day we bid farewell to each other in Qingzhou prefecture in Shandong. Brother Bao's demeanor is still the same as before. This is really pleasing and commendable.' Bao Qianling ha-ha laughed and said: 'I've just been dragging out an ignoble life. Until now, on the whole, I haven't died yet.' Qiao Feng said: 'Hearing that 'Yama's Foe' Divine doctor Xue has sent out hero invitation cards, I rather like to go to increase my knowledge. May I go with the 3 of you?'

Bao Qianling was astonished and thought: 'Divine doctor Xue has sent out hero invitation cards only to deal with you. Having the nerve to go alone, you must be impatient not to live. In the end, what's your intention? I've long heard that Chief Qiao of the Beggar Society is bold but cautious, and both brave and resourceful. If it's not because he's secure in the knowledge that he has strong backing, he definitely won't hurl himself into the net. I mustn't fall into his trap.'

Seeing that he was hesitant about replying, Qiao Feng said: 'I have a matter to beg Divine doctor Xue. Hopefully, brother Bao will lead the way.'

Bao Qianling thought: 'I'm worried about not being able to escape from his murderous hands. If I lead him to the hero banquet, extraordinary people will jointly attack him, even if he had 3 heads and 6 arms, he would be hopelessly outnumbered. But going with him is really like facing an almost certain death.' Even though he was worried, he still thought that it would be good to lead Qiao Feng to the meeting of heroes, hence he said: 'This great banquet for heroes will be held at Juxian Manor which is 70 li (0.5 km) away to the northeast of here. Brother Qiao wants to go there. This can't be better. But I'm gonna make it clear that, in the first place, this meeting isn't a nice meeting and this banquet isn't a nice banquet. If brother Qiao goes there, it'll bode ill rather than well for you. Please don't blame Bao Qianling me for not telling you in advance.'

Qiao Feng smiled half-heartedly and said: 'I appreciate brother Bao's good intentions. The hero banquet will be held at Juxian Manor so the organizers are the You Clan's 2 Heroes, aren't they? It's also easy to ask about the location of Juxian Manor so the 3 of you please go ahead. It won't be late if this little brother slowly goes 2 hours later. This will also allow time for everyone to prepare.'

Bao Qianling turned around and looked at Qi Liu and Xiang Wanghai. The 2 of them slowly nodded. Bao Qianling said: 'If so, the 3 of us will respectfully wait for brother Qiao's arrival at Juxian Manor.'

The 3 people Bao, Qi and Xiang hurriedly paid the rent then got on their horses and whipped them towards Juxian Manor. They urged the horses on all the way and sometimes they turned their heads around to take a peep, fearing that Qiao Feng would suddenly ride a fast horse and catch up with them from the back. Fortunately, all along they did not see him. Bao Qianling was certainly a very clever person and Qi Liu and Xiang Wanghai were also extraordinary people in jianghu who had a lot of experience and extensive knowledge. But after the 3 of them discussed and made guesses on the way, they still could not understand what Qiao Feng's intentions were when he had said he would go to the hero banquet alone.

Qi Liu suddenly said: 'Big brother Bao, did you see that big wagon beside Qiao Feng? I'm afraid there's something strange in it.' Xiang Wanghai said: 'Could it be that there's someone formidable hiding in the wagon?' Bao Qianling said: 'Even if the inside of the wagon was to be packed with people to the point that the air couldn't pass through, it'd only be possible to shove 7 or 8 people into it. Adding Qiao Feng, there'd still be less than 10 people. If they went to the hero banquet, it'd be like a small boat going into the ocean. What would it be able to achieve?'

While they were talking, they gradually met more wulin fellows on the way, all of whom were rushing to Juxian Manor to attend the hero banquet. This time, the invitation to the hero banquet had been issued shortly before the opening and the invitation cards did not have the names of the guests, but whoever saw one of them would be welcomed as long as they were a person in wulin. The people who had received the invitation cards had used fast horses to forward them to their fellows in the same night, one person forwarding to another, therefore within 1 day and 1 night the invitation cards had been spread very far. Because the time was too limited, most of the people who went to Juxian Manor were from within several hundreds of li of Shaolin Monastery. But Henan was a central region, hence besides local martial arts people, the well-known experts in wulin of the North and the South who had received the message all went to the meeting. The number of people was really not small.

This time, the invitation to the hero banquet was jointly issued by the You Clan's 2 Heroes of Juxian Manor and 'Yama's Foe' Divine doctor Xue. The You Clan's 2 Heroes You Ji and You Ju were rich and powerful and had a wide circle of acquaintances, remarkable martial arts and resounding names, but they were not a formidable force in wulin; they could not be regarded as being people of noble character and high prestige to invite so many heroes and extraordinary people. But Divine doctor Xue was the person that everybody wanted to make friends with. Even though in general martial arts users were vainglorious, very few people were confident that they could fight without equal under heaven; even if they really flattered themselves that they were the #1 in martial arts nowadays, it was still difficult not to get sick or suffer injuries. If they could make friends with this Divine doctor Xue, they themselves would have an extra life because as long as they did not get killed on the spot and Divine doctor Xue was willing to treat them, they would narrowly escape death. Therefore, if the You Clan's 2 Heroes invited guests, the people who received the invitation cards would only feel that they themselves were honored, but these were also the invitation cards by Divine doctor Xue, hence they were like a life saving talisman. They all thought, if today they got in touch and made friends with him, in the future, if they met unforeseen disasters or accidents he would not be able to ignore them; moreover, as people whose lives were put on the tip of the saber, who could be sure that they would not meet unforeseen disasters? The signatures on the invitation cards were 3 names 'Xue Muhua, You Ji, You Ju', followed by a line of small words: 'You Ji and You Ju's additional explanation: Mr Xue Muhua is addressed as 'Divine doctor Xue'.' If there had not been this line of small words, probably the receivers of the invitation cards would not have known what kind of highly able person Xue Muhua was, and hence the number of people going to Juxian Manor would perhaps have been even less than 3/10th of what it was at the moment.

When the 3 people Bao Qianling, Qi Liu and Xiang Wanghai arrived at the manor, the 2nd brother You Ju personally came out to welcome. After entering the hall, they saw that there were already full of people sitting in the hall. Bao Qianling was not acquainted with all of them but as soon as he entered the hall, there were human voices all around, mostly saying: 'Shopkeeper Bao, are you enjoying prosperity?' 'Old chap Bao, how has your business been doing?' Bao Qianling continuously folded his hands in salute and greeted all the heroes. He really did not dare to be careless as even though many of these heroes in jianghu were generous and open-minded, there were also not just a few narrow-minded people. If he forgot to give someone a nod or a smile in return, he would possibly unconsciously displease them, thus causing endless future troubles; even if it led to a fatal disaster, this also would not be something strange.

You Ju led him to the top position in the east. Divine doctor Xue stood up and said: 'Brother Bao, brother Qi, brother Xiang, the esteemed presence of the 3 of you here really makes me feel as if my face is covered in gold. I extremely appreciate it.' Bao Qianling promptly returned the salute and said: 'Once Master Xue has beckoned, even if Bao Qianling was so sick that I couldn't move, I would still ask other people to carry me here.' The big brother You Ji laughed and said: 'If you were really bedridden, you'd wanna ask other people to take you here to meet Master Xue even more!' The people around all laughed heartily. You Ju said: 'The 3 of you have had a tiring journey, please go to the rear hall to have a snack.'

Bao Qianling said: 'It won't be late to have a snack later. May I ask a question? Is Qiao Feng among the guests that Master Xue and the 2 Masters You invite this time?'

When Divine doctor Xue and the You Clan's 2 Heroes heard the 2 words 'Qiao Feng', their faces slightly changed colors. You Ji said: 'This time we've sent out invitation cards without guest names. Whoever sees them is invited. Brother Bao has mentioned Qiao Feng, what's your intention? Brother Bao and that Qiao Feng guy have quite a friendship, right?'

Bao Qianling said: 'That Qiao Feng guy said he was going to Juxian Manor to attend the great banquet for heroes.'

As soon as he said so, the crowd was startled. At first everyone in the big hall had been talking noisily and in a high-flown way, but all of a sudden, everyone became quiet. The people who were standing far from Bao Qianling could not hear what he had just said, but suddenly finding that no one was saying anymore they themselves also stopped saying what they had not yet finished. The big hall fell silent instantly, but the distant sounds of people drinking wine in the rear hall and of people talking and laughing in the corridor could be heard.

Divine doctor Xue asked: 'Brother Bao, how do you know that Qiao Feng guy is gonna come here?'

Bao Qianling said: 'I, brother Qi and brother Xiang personally heard that. It's a shame to say, but last night the 3 of us took a serious tumble.' Xiang Wanghai continuously gave him signals with his eyes, wanting to tell him not to relate the shameful incident of the night before. But Bao Qianling knew Divine doctor Xue and the You Clan's 2 Heroes were undoubtedly highly capable, there were also many intelligent people in the hero meeting, if he himself hid a bit, it would definitely cause other people to be suspicious. This matter was very important; he himself had become entangled in the maelstrom, if he dealt with it just a bit improperly, his status and reputation would instantly go out the window. He slowly took the flexible whip out from his waist. The piece of paper which had the 4 words 'Qiao Feng paying respects' was still sticking to it. He passed the flexible whip to Divine doctor Xue using both hands and said: 'Qiao Feng ordered the 3 of us to pass on a message that today he was going to Juxian Manor.' After that, he recounted things such as how they had met Qiao Feng and what he had said, not holding back even a single word. Xiang Wanghai continuously stamped, his whole face reddened with shame.

After Bao Qianling calmly recounted everything, he said: 'This Qiao Feng guy is from the Khitan dog ethnicity, we should still eliminate him even if he was noble and righteous, let alone the fact that his evil has become obvious and he's an increasingly intense danger. If he runs off to distant parts, it'll be hard to hunt him down. But Heaven really has its will, who could have expected that he would willingly hurl himself into the net?'

You Ju muttered: 'I've usually heard that Qiao Feng is both brave and resourceful. His abilities are sufficient for him to successfully do evil. He's not a reckless lout. Could it be that he really dares to go to this great banquet for heroes?'

Bao Qianling said: 'I'm afraid he has other wicked plans. We mustn't be without caution. The more people the more ideas. Let's plan together, everyone.'

While he was saying, many more heroes and extraordinary people arrived at the outside, including 'Impartial Judge' Shan Zheng and his 5 sons, Grandpa Tan, Granny Tan and Zhao Qiansun. Before long, the 2 high-level monks of Shaolin School Xuan Nan and Xuan Ji also arrived. Divine doctor Xue and the You Clan's brothers welcomed and sincerely received them one by one. When mentioning the evil of Qiao Feng, they all raged.

Suddenly, the housekeeper who received guests came in and reported: 'Elder Xu of the Beggar Society has led the Elder of Merit Propagation, the Elder of Rule Enforcement and the 4 Elders Song, Xi, Chen and Wu to our Manor for a visit.'

Everyone shivered with fear. The Beggar Society was the number 1 large society in jianghu and could not be held in contempt. Xiang Wanghai said: 'As expected, the Beggar Society has come here in great force to express support for Qiao Feng.' Shan Zheng said: 'Qiao Feng has already been expelled from the society. He's no longer the Beggar Society's Chief. I saw with my own eyes that they turned their backs on and became the enemies of one another.' Xiang Wanghai said: 'But at this point they haven't necessarily forgotten all the old feelings.' You Ji said: 'All of the Beggar Society's elders are proud brave men. How could they disregard rights and wrongs to protect their enemy? If they still helped Qiao Feng, wouldn't they become Han traitors to the country?' Everyone nodded in approval and said: 'Definitely not even a good-for-nothing would wanna be a Han traitor to the country.'

Divine doctor Xue and the You Clan's 2 Heroes went out of the manor to welcome. Seeing that there were only 12 or 13 people of the Beggar Society coming, they felt relaxed and thought: 'Needless to say, these beggars are unlikely to protect Qiao Feng. Even if they were up to no good this time, with these 12 or 13 people, what would they be able to achieve?' They greeted the people such as Elder Xu perfunctorily then invited them to enter the big hall. They could see a worried expression on the faces of all of the Beggar Society's people. Obivously these people were bearing a very heavy load on their minds.

After splitting into hosts and guests, everyone sat down. Elder Xu started the conversation: 'Brother Xue and the 2 laodi (younger male friend) of the You Family, today you invite all the heroes to gather here, is it because of the newly emerging cause of trouble in wulin Qiao Feng?'

After the heroes heard him call Qiao Feng 'the newly emerging cause of trouble in wulin', they looked at each other, and without prior consultation they all let out a sigh of relief. You Ji said: 'It's exactly for this reason. Elder Xu and every elder of your noble society come here together. This is really a great luck to wulin. If we want to kill this foreign dog, we must get the nod from the elders of your noble society. Otherwise, it would provoke misunderstanding and damage the harmony, making everyone unavoidably regret.'

Elder Xu let out a deep sigh and said: 'This man is extremely ruthless and vicious, and acts strangely. Originally, he achieved quite a few great feats for our society. Recently, when we made mistakes and were plotted against by crooks, it was also him who saved us. But when a dazhangfu (an ambitious or successful man) conducts himself he should attach most importance to the general situation, so we have no choice but to banish those few small kindnesses from our minds. He's a mortal enemy of our Great Song. The Elders of our Society have been treated well by him, but we can't abandon public righteousness because of personal gratitude. They say righteousness must be placed above family loyalty, let alone the fact that now he isn't a relative of our Society's people's.'

As soon as he said that, everyone in the crowd applauded and cheered.

You Ji then mentioned that Qiao Feng also wanted to attend the great banquet for heroes. When the elders heard that, all of them were astonished. Having followed Qiao Feng for a long time, they knew that he always acted with both valor and strategy, if he really single-handedly came to Juxian Manor, it would be extremely unusual.

Xiang Wanghai suddenly said: 'I think that Qiao Feng guy has deliberately created a diversionary front to make everyone kick their heels in here, but he has slipped away to somewhere no one knows. This is called the tactic of escaping by using crafty schemes.' Elder Wu stretched out his hand, gave the table a heavy slap and scolded: 'Escaping your mother by using crafty schemes! What kind of man is Qiao Feng? Once he says something, how could he not keep his words?' Scolded by him, Xiang Wanghai's face reddened. He said angrily: 'You wanna appear in public to support Qiao Feng, right? I, Xiang, am the first to disapprove of it. Come here; come here; come here. Let's have a fight.'

After hearing all kinds of news that Qiao Feng had killed his parents and master then caused a big disturbance at Shaolin Monastery, Elder Wu had been very depressed, his heart had been filled with resentment and rage and he did not know who he should vent his feelings on. Hence this Xiang Wanghai guy unreasonably challenging Elder Wu was really most welcomed by him. In a flash, he jumped into the courtyard in front of the big hall and said loudly: 'Qiao Feng is from the Khitan dog ethnicity or is completely a Han man? At this moment it's still unclear. If he's really a Khitan barbarian I'll be the 1st to fight him to the death. Wanna kill Qiao Feng? Even if counting to the person numbered 1000, it still wouldn't be your turn, you stinking turtle egg (~ s.o.b). Who the heck are you to gab in here? Escaping your grandmother by using stinking crafty schemes! Come here, your father's gonna teach you a lesson.'

Xiang Wanghai's face had already turned livid. A 'shua' sound was heard, he had drawn the saber out of its sheath. As soon as he looked at the blade, he remembered the piece of paper which read 'Qiao Feng paying respects' and could not help feeling at a loss.

You Ji said: 'The two of you are my honorable guests. Please have some consideration for my face. We cannot lose harmony.' Elder Xu also said: 'Brother Wu, you shouldn't be rash in your actions. You must take into account the reputation of the whole Society's.'

Suddenly someone in the crowd said in a soft voice: 'Having produced such a person as Qiao Feng, the Beggar Society really has a very good reputation. You must take it into account and preserve it carefully!'

As soon as the Beggar Society's extraordinary men heard that, they shouted furiously: 'Who's saying that?' 'Come out if you have skills. What kind of brave man would hide in the crowd to be a dwarf?' 'Which goddamn turtle egg is that?'

But after saying those sentences that person kept silent, hence no one knew who had just said those words. Being ridiculed with those 2 sentences, the extraordinary people from the Beggar Society were totally annoyed but because they could not find anyone who admitted saying so, they could not do anything either. Even though the Beggar Society was the number 1 large society in jianghu, the extraordinary men of the Society were all beggars. After all, they were not upper-class people who paid particular attention to formalities, hence some of them shouted and some even cursed other people's 18 generations of ancestors.

Divine doctor Xue frowned and said: 'All of you please calm down and hear this senile old man say a few words.' The beggars gradually became quiet.

Suddenly, in the crowd, that cold voice said again: 'Very good, very good, Qiao Feng has sent this many formidable guys to here to carry out undercover tasks. After a while, there'll definitely be a good play to watch.'

As soon as the people such as Elder Wu heard that, they got even angrier. Shua-shua sounds were heard continuously; dazzling lights of sabers were seen; many people had taken out their weapons. The rest of the guests only thought that the Beggar Society's people wanted to fight therefore many of them also took out their weapons. With a lot of shouting and cursing, the hall was plunged into disorder. Divine doctor Xue and the You Clan's brothers advised everyone to calm down, but the shouts by the 3 of them only added to the uproar in the hall.

In this chaos, a servant hurriedly ran into the hall. He ran up to You Ji's side and whispered something to him. You Yi's face darkened as he asked the servant something. The servant, his face full of fear and surprise, pointed to the outside. You Ji turned and whispered something to Divine Doctor Xue, causing his face to drop as well. You Ju walked up to his older brother's side and You Ji told him as well. You Ju's face dropped immediately.

One man told 2, 2 men told 4, and just like that the word spread among the crowd. In an instant, the noisy and chaotic hall was in complete silence.

Because everyone had heard the words by now: ”Qiao Feng is here!”

Divine Doctor Xue nodded towards the You brothers and shot a look towards Xuan Nan and Xuan Ju, the 2 ShaoLin representatives before declaring: ”Let him in!”

The servant turned and walked out.

Everyone's heart was beating a mile a minute, despite of the fact that all of them knew that with their numeric advantage, they could overwhelm Qiao Feng and chop him into a million pieces in an instant. But this man was just too famous, and coming here all by himself like this, obviously he wasn't afraid, don't know what kind of devious plot he is pulling.

In the silence, the only sounds one can hear is the steady beat of horse hooves and the low rumble of wheels on stone-slabs as a donkey carriage approached the front door. But it didn't stop there and just walked in through the door. The You brothers were both frowning heavily, feeling that they have been slighted by this show of manners, or lack thereof. ”Ge-Dong”. ”Ge-Dong”. The wheels of the carriage hopped over the door sill. A huge man, with a whip in his hand, was sitting on the driver's seat. The curtains of the carriage were down, hiding something in the carriage. But everyone was staring at the driver.

Square-faced and tall with a wide chest and huge shoulders, his eyes weren't angry but demanded attention and instilled fear. Who else could it be but former leader of the Beggar Clan Qiao Feng?

Qiao Feng put the whip down besides him and hopped off the carriage. Cupping his fist, he said: ”I heard that Divine Doctor Xue and the You Brothers were hosting a Gathering of Heroes here at JuXian Mansion. I can't consider myself a 'hero' and don't dare attend such a gathering. It's just that there's an emergency I have to ask of Divine Doctor Xue. I hope you will forgive me for such an intrusion.”

He bowed deeply, looking very sincere.

The more polite Qiao Feng acted, the more convinced the rest of them were that he's got something up his sleeves. You Ju gave his left hand a slight flick and 4 of his disciples immediately snuck out from the sides to inspect the surrounding areas.

”What does Brother Qiao want of me?” Divine Doctor Xue cupped his fist back and asked.

Qiao Feng took 2 steps back, moved the carriage curtains aside and helped Ah-Zhu out.

”Because of my rash actions, this girl was hit by another's palm and was severely injured. In this world, nobody but Divine Doctor Xue could help her. That's why I was so rude to come here, to ask Divine Doctor Xue to save her life.”

When everyone saw the carriage, they all got suspicious about what was inside. Some guessed that it was probably some poison or bomb, others thought it was some poisonous snakes or ferocious beasts, and still others guessed it was Divine Doctor Xue's parents or relatives that Qiao Feng was going to use to blackmail him. Nobody could have guessed that it would be a 16 or 17 year old girl that would be stepping out of the carriage asking Divine Doctor Xue for help. Everyone was surprised.

The girl was wearing a light yellow colored shirt and had a very pronounced forehead, making her look very unattractive. Turned out that Ah-Zhu decided that the MuRong family of GuSu had too many enemies out in the martial world and there was a chance if Divine Doctor Xue found out who she was that he would refuse to help her. So she went out and bought a new set of clothes and put on a disguise in the carriage. However, since she was going to see the doctor, she couldn't disguise herself as a man or an old woman.

This turn of events caught Divine Doctor Xue off guard as well. In his life, he had seen plenty of people coming to him from faraway to seek his medical help, it happens almost every day. But presently, with everyone trying to figure out how to catch and kill Qiao Feng, this despicable and incorrigible villain would just walk up in here and trap himself. It was quite a hard pill to swallow.

Looking Ah-Zhu over, he decided that Qiao Feng could not possibly be doing this out of lust because of her unattractiveness and young age. Suddenly, an idea hit him: ”Maybe this little gal is his younger sister? Um, not possible. This man killed his parents and his master as well, there's no way he would take such a risk over his younger sister. Maybe it's his daughter? I don't remember hearing that Qiao Feng got married.” {Qiao Feng didn't do it, he was framed}

Being the great doctor he was, he could always tell the health of people with one glance as well as their bodily characteristics. Seeing Qiao Feng and Ah-Zhu standing side by side, with one big and strong, the other small and weak, the two of them had nothing in common. Therefore he decided that they were not related at all.

”What is this young miss's surname?” He said after humming a little while his thought worked itself out. ”And what relation is she with you, sir?”

Qiao Feng was taken a back a bit. He had called Ah-Zhu nothing but ”Ah-Zhu” ever since they met, but was her surname really ”Zhu”? He didn't know. So he turned to Ah-Zhu and asked.

”Is your surname Zhu?”

”My surname is Wan,” Ah-Zhu replied with a smile.

Qiao Feng nodded. ”Divine Doctor Xue, her surname is actually Wan. I just found that out myself.”

”So... this young miss and you aren't well acquainted?” Divine Doctor Xue found that this was getting stranger and stranger.

”She's a maid of a friend of mine.” {Ah-Zhu is MuRong Fu's maid}

”Who is that friend of yours sir? Must be very important to you sir, or else how could you care so much for your friend's maid?”

”That friend is only my friend in spirit,” Qiao Feng shook his head, ”I have never met him before.”

An audible gasp escaped from nearly everyone present when they heard this. Most of them didn't believe him, thinking that he must be carrying out some plan and was just using this as an excuse to get in. But still, a good number of them knew that Qiao Feng had always been a very straightforward man, no matter what kind of terrible things he might have done, he probably wouldn't lie in front of everyone because of the pride he had in who he was.

Divine Doctor Xue reached out and felt Ah-Zhu's pulse. Noticing that her pulse was indeed very weak but the life force {for lack of a better word} inside her was very strong, totally opposite of what one would expect. He switched and felt Ah-Zhu pulse through her left wrist. By then he had already figured out everything.

”Had this girl not been fed the incredible Elixir of Master Tan of Mount TaiHeng and not received your constant infusion of inner force, she would have died a long time ago from the Abbot Xuan Ci's Buddha's Great Warrior Attendant Palm.” He said to Qiao Feng. {That's what Da Jin Gang Zhang translates to}

This caused quite a stir from the crowd. Master Tan and Grandma Tan looked at each other, wondering: ”How did she get fed our Elixir?” {Ah-Zhu stole it from them, I think, don't quite remember}

XuanNan and XuanJu was even more astonished: ”When did our Abbot hit a girl with Buddha's Great Warrior Attendant Palm? And if she really did get hit by it, how in the world could she have survived?”

”Doctor Xue,” XuanNan had to speak up, ”our Abbot had not left the premise of our humble temple for years now. And women aren't allowed into ShaoLin Temple. So this Buddha's Great Warrior Attendant Palm could not have come from my elder martial brother.”

Divine Doctor Xue frowned: ”Is there anyone else in the world who knows this Buddha's Great Warrior Attendant Palm?”

That question quieted both XuanNan and XuanJu. They have been at ShaoLin for several decades now and were taught by the same master as XuanCi, they worked as hard as possible and tried as hard as they might. But this Buddha's Great Warrior Attendant Palm still required some natural born talent and neither was able to master it. But neither one was bitter nor regret trying, for they knew that only once several centuries in the history of ShaoLin does someone with enough martial arts genius come along to master this palm skill. There were times when nobody among the hundreds of monks in the temple knew it, but it was never lost because of the great pains that the monks of the past generations took to to record down the details of training for such a skill.

”Did she really get hit by Buddha's Great Warrior Attendant Palm?” XuanJu wanted to ask. But he stopped himself before he did. For asking such a question would be questioning the skills of Divine Doctor Xue, which would have been incredibly rude and unseemly. So instead he turned to Qiao Feng.

”Last night you snuck into ShaoLin and killed my martial brother XuanKu. At that time you had been hit once by Abbot's Buddha's Great Warrior Attendant Palm. Had that palm hit this girl, how could she have survived?” He inquired accusingly.

”Father XuanKu is my master and I am indebted to him forever.” Qiao Feng shook his head in response. ”Until I repay him for everything he has done for me, I would rather die than harm him one bit.”

”Still won't own up to it?” XuanJu angrily replied. ”Then what about that ShaoLin disciple that you kidnapped? Did you not do that either?”

”The 'ShaoLin disciple' I took with me is right in front of you at this moment.” Qiao Feng thought to himself. Instead he replied: ”If Father insist on accusing me of kidnapping a ShaoLin disciple, then could you please tell me what is the name of the ShaoLin disciple that I have kidnapped.”

XuanJu and XuanNan looked at each other, again, in stunned silence as neither one of them could say a thing. Last night, along with XuanCi, they had quite clearly saw Qiao Feng take a ShaoLin disciple with him as he was escaping. Yet when they checked afterwards, nobody was missing. This was one riddle that they could not figure out for the life of them.

”Brother Qiao, all by himself, snuck into and out of ShaoLin last night without a single injury and still was able to kidnap a ShaoLin disciple with him. That's rather hard to believe.” Divine Doctor Xue cut in. ”There must be something going on here that you are not telling us about.”

”I didn't kill Father XuanKu, and I certainly did not kidnap a ShaoLin disciple last night either. There's a lot of things that you guys don't understand, and there's a lot of things that I don't understand either.” Qiao Feng replied.

”No matter what,” XuanNan declared, ”this young miss could not have been injured by my martial brother, the Abbot. The Abbot is a respected and enlightened leader of a sect. How could he possibly bring himself to hit a young miss such as her? No matter what this young miss is guilty of, my martial brother would not stoop to her level and hit her.” {This is sort of a put down, but not really. Etiquette and protocol calls for the leader of a sect to ignore the misgivings of youths and people in a lower position}

Qiao Feng figured: ”It's probably better that they insist that Ah-Zhu wasn't injured by Abbot XuanCi. Otherwise Divine Doctor Xue might, because of ShaoLin, refuse to heal her.” So he decided to just push the boat down the river and go along with it.

”Of course, Abbot XuanCi is forever benevolent and would never hurt a girl like her so. Most likely it's somebody disguising as a ShaoLin master causing trouble, hurting people, and spreading rumors.” Qiao Feng said.

XuanJu and XuanNan looked at each other, again, and slowly nodded: ”This bastard Qiao Feng may be villainous, but these couple of words are very reasonable.”

Ah-Zhu was giggling inside: ”What Master Qiao said is completely true, there really was somebody disguised as a ShaoLin monk, causing trouble and spreading rumors. Only the person who the pretender was trying to be wasn't Abbot XuanCi but Monk ZhiQing.”

But how could XuanJu, XuanNan, Divine Doctor Xue, and the rest of them figure out the real meaning behind Qiao Feng's words?

Seeing XuanJu and XuanNan's reaction, Divine Doctor Xue decided that it was ok to move on.

”So, it seems that there's actually another person in the world that knows Buddha's Great Warrior Attendant Palm,” He continued his diagnoses. ”When this person made his move, something was in the way and much of the power of his strike was dissipated. That's how Miss Wan was able to survive the strike. That person's strike power is probably on par with that of Abbot XuanCi's”

Qiao Feng had to admire the doctor: ”Much Abbot XuanCi's strike's power was indeed blocked with my bronze shield. Divine Doctor Xue is truly amazing to be able to describe all of this just by simply measuring Ah-Zhu's pulse. Looks like there's hope that he would heal Ah-Zhu.”

Smiling, he said: ”If this young girl would die from Buddha's Great Attendant Palm, then it would cause ShaoLin to lose some face. So I beg Divine Doctor Xue to cure her.” He bowed as he finished.

”Who hit you? Where were you when you got hurt? Where is that person now?” XuanJu asked Ah-Zhu before Divine Doctor Xue could reply. He was worried over the reputation of ShaoLin and decided that he must get to the bottom of this.

Ah-Zhu, unlike the serious and measured Qiao Feng, was a fun loving girl who tells harmless lies and makes stuff up all the time. So at this point, she figured: ”These monks are all afraid of master, so why don't I just bring him into this and scare them a little?” {Ah-Zhu is really just Huang Rong without any knowledge of kungfu}

”That person is a young gentleman, very handsome and suave looking, around 28 or 29 years old. This Master Qiao and I was just talking about how amazing Divine Doctor Xue is. He's not just the best in the world, he's just about the best there ever was and ever will be. There's nobody like him before and almost surely nobody as good will come in the future. Even the gods and goddesses in the heavens aren't as great.”

There isn't a single person in this world who doesn't like hearing his own praise. Divine Doctor Xue had heard so many praise like this in his life time that he had lost count a long time ago. But this is the first time that he had ever heard praise from an articulate young girl. Plus the fact that she was exaggerating shamelessly. He could not help but stroke his beard and smile at the praise.

Qiao Feng, however, was frowning: ”What is she talking about? This gal is making stuff up like crazy.”

”That's when I said: 'With Divine Doctor Xue in the world, we don't have to bother learning kungfu anymore.'” Ah-Zhu continued. ”Master Qiao asked: 'Why not?' I said: 'Divine Doctor Xue could even resurrect a dead person, then what's the point of learning kungfu? You kill one, he cures one; you kill 2, he heals a pair. Aren't we just wasting our efforts for nothing?'”

She was articulate and her voice was easy on the ear. And even though she's injured, and was imitating the QingCheng Sect disciples in their SiChuan dialect, this spiel sounded like marbles rolling around in a jade bowl and was a pleasure to listen to.

Everyone smiled at her talk, some even laughed out loud.

But Ah-Zhu didn't smile at all as she continued: ”There was this young gentleman sitting by us listening to us talk. He suddenly snickered and said: 'The strike powers of people in this world are mostly weak and completely devoid of inner force. That doctor named Xue is not worthy of such a lofty of status. Let's see if he can't heal this palm strike of mine.' As he said that, he struck out towards me through air. I thought he was joking with me because he was so far way. But Master Qiao was shock....”

”And he stuck his arm out to block it?” XuanJu interrupted.

”No!” Ah-Zhu shook her head and continued. ”Had Master Qiao stuck his arm out to block, then I wouldn't have been hurt. But Master Qiao was too far away from me to do that, so instead he picked up a chair and threw it over. His timing was just right and with a huge crack, the chair was smashed into pieces by the force of that young gentleman's palm strength. That young gentleman spoke is such a soft SuZhou dialect, but there was nothing soft about his kungfu. I immediately felt as if I was weightless, as if I had flown into the clouds, without a single ounce of strength left in my body. Then I heard that he say: 'Go and tell that Divine Doctor Xue of yours to go flip a couple more medical books and get a little practice. That way when he has to do the same thing for Abbot XuanCi in the future he would know what to do.'”

”What did he mean by that?” XuanNan frowned.

”He seemed to say that he would use this Buddha's Great Warrior Attendant Palm on Abbot XuanCi in the future.” Ah-Zhu replied.

”Ooooh!” Almost everyone in the crowd uttered in unison. Several more people simultaneously added: ”Using your own method, back onto yourself!”

”So it is GuSu MuRong!” A couple of other people chimed in, making sure to add the ”so it is” part in so as to tell everyone else that they suspected as much a long time ago.

Nobody knew that Ah-Zhu was doing because of ShaoLin's wrongful accusation of her Master MuRong. Figuring that sooner of later he and ShaoLin's misunderstanding was going to come to a head, she figured that she might as well make something up to boast her Master MuRong a bit and scare ShaoLin at the same time.

Suddenly, You Ju cut in: ”Brother Qiao just said a while ago that it was somebody disguised as a ShaoLin master in order to cause trouble who injured this young miss. But this young miss said it was a young gentleman who injured her instead. Who's telling the truth here?”

”There's also some people disguised as ShaoLin monks as well.” Ah-Zhu immediately replied. ”I saw 2 monks who claimed they were from ShaoLin, but they stole black dog from a family, killed it, and ate it.”

She knew she had made a mistake in her lies, so she immediately went off on a tangent and changed the subject.

Knowing that she wasn't really telling the truth, Divine Doctor Xue couldn't make up her mind whether or not to try and treat her. He looked over at XuanJu and XuanNan before turning towards You Ji and You Ju, and then finally turned his eyes towards Qiao Feng and Ah-Zhu.

”Divine Doctor Xue,” Qiao Feng spoke up, ”if you save this girl today. I, Qiao Feng, would be forever indebted to you.”

”Forever indebted to me?” Divine Doctor Xue sneered. ”Do you actually plan on walking out of JuXian Mansion alive today?”

”Dead or alive, it doesn't really matter. But this young girl's injuries had to be treated by you, doctor.”

”Why should I save her?” Divine Doctor Xue casually asked.

”Save one life, 7 steps closer to Paradise. Divine Doctor Xue is a respected member of the martial world and surely could not bare to let an innocent girl like her die needlessly.”

”If anyone else asked me, I would treat this girl. Hmph. But if you asked me, then I wouldn't.”

Qiao Feng's face immediately stiffened as he sincerely declared: ”The heroes are gathered today at JuXian Mansion to discuss how to get me, I know that.”

”Ai-yo!” Ah-Zhu cut in. ”Master Qiao, if that's the case, then you shouldn't have taken such a risk for me.”

”I thought that since everyone here is a real man and know the difference between right and wrong.” Qiao Feng continued. ”The person you want to kill is me and me alone. This young girl has nothing to do with this. Divine Doctor Xue would actually move his hatred of me onto this young Miss Wan. How could that be right?”

Divine Doctor Xue had no comeback for what he said. Only after a long pause did he finally say: ”Whether or not to treat a person is my decision and mine alone, others can't force me to do it. Qiao Feng, with your terrible crimes, we were just talking about how to catch you, chop you into a million pieces so as to avenge your parents and master. But instead you came walking in instead. That's better than anything we could hope for. Why don't you just end it yourself right here?”

He flicked his right hand a little. Everyone in the crowd gave a shout and unsheathed their weapons. The hall shimmered in the almost blinding reflected light of the weapons. There were countless amounts of sabres and daggers, axes and whips. This was followed by another loud cheer from up above as the ceiling was suddenly filled with people as well, guarding every piece of the room.

Qiao Feng had been in plenty of huge battles and fights in his life. But he was usually leading the Beggar Clan into to battle and hence usually had the numerical superiority over his foes. Never had he ever been trapped in such a predicament all by himself, not to mention there's a severely injured girl at his side. How exact does he get out of this? He had no idea and his heart began to pound.

Ah-Zhu was even more frightened as she began to cry. ”Master Qiao, just get out of here. Don't worry about me. They have no issues with me and wouldn't hurt me.”

”That's right, these people are all good people. They would never harm her for no reason. It's probably best for me to get out of here as soon as possible.” Qiao Feng thought. ”A real man should treat other's life like his own. Divine Doctor Xue hasn't promised to treat her yet. Her life is not saved yet, how could I be so afraid to die and leave her like this?”

Looking around, he could see that there was several famous martial arts masters present, quite a number of them he knew personally, all of them possessing great skills. But with this, the blood in his veins began to warm up: ”So what if I died here? Real men should live joylessly and die fearlessly.”

He let out a hearty laugh: ”You all say that I am Khitan and want to get rid of this stone from your shoes. Hehe, am I Han or am I Khitan? Even I don't know.”

”That's right, you are a mutt, a bastard! Only that even you yourself don't know what kind of bastard you are!” A thin and squeaky voice suddenly said from amidst the crowd. This was the same person who had made fun of the Beggar Clan earlier. But since he just says a couple of words at a time, nobody knew who it was. Everyone looked to where the voice came from, but saw no lips moving. If you say that it came from a short person, there was no short person present either.

Hearing those words, Qiao Feng quietly observed for a long time before nodding a bit and moving on. Turning around to Divine Doctor Xue: ”If I was Han, how could I forgive you for your insult today? If I really am a Khitan, the sworn enemy of everything that is of the Great Song, the first person I would kill would be you, so to avoid me killing one hero of the Great Song and you saving one patriot of Great Song. Right?”

”That's right.” Divine Doctor Xue replied. ”No matter what happens, you are going to kill me.”

”I ask you to save this girl today and exchange one life for another. If you save her, I would never even touch your hair.”

”In all my life, I have only listened to other beg, not threats.” Divine Doctor Xue coldly sneered.

”A life for another. It is as fair of an exchange as you can get, it's not threat.”

”Aren't you the least bit ashamed?” That squeaky voice suddenly said. ”You are going to become meat sauce under everyone's lives and you are still talking about showing mercy and letting others live? You....”

”Get the hell out of here!” Qiao Feng suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs, causing the roof tiles to shake and the dust to come falling off of the ceiling bars. Everyone's ears were buzzing from the scream and their hearts pounding.

A man stumbled out from the crowd as if he was drunk. He was wearing a green robe and his face was deathly gray. Nobody recognized him.

”Ah!” Master Tan suddenly shouted. ”That's Tan Qing, the Soul Chasing Cane! That's right, he's ”Overflowing Evil” Duan YanQing's disciple.”

The Beggar Clan members, upon hearing that he's Wan YanQing's disciple, began cursing at him furiously. Turned out that soon after the West Xia martial arts master were captured using their own ”Gentle Breeze of Sadness,” Duan YanQing arrived. Nobody within the Beggar Clan was able to stand up to him as he cured those West Xia kungfu masters using an extremely bad smelling antidote and turned them towards the Beggar Clan, causing the Beggar Clan to take on huge losses. Everyone in the clan hates and fear Duan YanQing, knowing that without Qiao Feng, there's nobody in the clan that could stand up to this ”World's Evilest Man” in the future. {If you read that part of the book, you don't feel sorry for the Beggar Clan after all, they deserved to be defeated and taught a lesson the way they treated Qiao Feng.}

Tan Qing's face was contorted almost beyond recognition, as if he was in great pain. His hands kept on grasping his chest as a voice came emanating from within his body: ”I... I don't owe you anything and you not me, why... why did you have to do that?”

His voice was squeaky and sharp, but was staggered as if he couldn't catch his breath. But his lips did not move at all, to the amazement to most everyone present. A few of the people present knew that he was using a skill to talk out of his stomach which, when used in conjunction with a high level of inner strength, could be used as a depressant which would confuse and even kill whoever that hears him. But when up against a person with stronger inner force, this skill would not only not work, but would backfire and hurt the practitioner.

”You are Duan YanQing's disciple?” Divine Doctor Xue angrily shouted at him. ”This is a gathering of heroes, only the heroes of the world are allowed. How did such a low-life scum like you get in?”

”Gathering of heroes my *** !” A voice suddenly said. ”Looks more like a gathering of zeroes to me!”

When he said the first word, he was still far away, on top of the tall walls outside. But by the time he said the word ”me,” he had arrived with his voice. Jumping off of the tall wall, one could see that he unusually tall and incredibly fast. The people stationed on the roof tried to stop him by throwing their swords or hitting him through the air with their palm strikes, but all for naught as they were too slow and he was able to dodge out of the way. Quite a number of people in the hall recognized that he was ”Evil Extreme” Yun ZhongHe. With a flick of his body, Yun ZhongHe had arrived inside of the hall. Grabbing a hold to Tan Qing, he shot directly towards Divine Doctor Xue. Fearing that he would kill Divine Doctor Xue, everyone in the hall immediately rushed up to protect him. But Yun ZhongHe had expected this and played a trick with them, feigning attack so as to retreat. Seeing everyone rush up to protect Divine Doctor Xue, he immediately jumped back and hopped onto the wall again.

There's plenty of martial arts masters in the room, and those whose kungfu are better than Yun ZhongHe number in the 40s if not the 50s. But because he had grabbed the initiative and caught everyone off guard, plus his superiors lightness kungfu, nobody was able to catch up to him once he had hopped onto the wall. Several people reached into their shirts for projectiles and those people on the roof tried to stop him again, but all looked too late.

”Stay here!” Qiao Feng shouted and struck out a palm strike through air. The force of the strike was like a formless blade, flying through air and hit Yun ZhongHe squarely in his back.

Yun ZhongHe let out a suppressed moan as he fell flatly onto the ground, blood spilling out of his mouth like a fountain. Tan Qing was still standing though, just that he would stumble left a bit and then jump to the right, all the while humming a little tune. Quite a comic scene, only that nobody was laughing. Everyone was shocked by the horror that was playing out in front of their eyes.