DEMI GODS AND SEMI DEVILS Book 2 of 5 (Shrouding Screen In Suzhou) by Jin Yong

Intensely Drinking A Thousand Cups At A Men's Gathering Part 4

Elder Chen loudly shouted, "Hold!" Ah Bi was stunned. "What is it?" Elder Chen said, "Females cannot draw the poison out!" Ah Bi's face reddened slightly. "What's wrong with females?" Elder Chen replied, "This poison has a cold Yin nature. Females are Yin by nature. To add even more Yin would be to increase the toxicity of this venom."

Ah Bi, Ah Zhu, and Wang Yuyan all half-believed, half-doubted him. Although they felt his words were very strange, they weren't totally unreasonable. If he was telling the truth, then them drawing out the venom would be actually making things worse. On their side, the only man left was Bao Butong, but he was currently embroiled in a huge battle with the short elder. The shadow of the elder's staff flashed about, and Bao Butong's palms fluttered about here and there. It would be difficult for the battle to come to an end soon. Ah Zhu called out, "Third brother, stop fighting for now! First come and help rescue fourth brother!"

There was only a hairs breadth of difference between Bao Butong's strength and that of the short elder. Even if he wanted to retreat and disengage, it wasn't something he could do very quickly. When experts competed in martial arts, they risked their lives with every stroke. If someone could advance and retreat freely, they would be able to take their opponent's life easily. How could it be so easy for him to charge or disengage? Hearing Ah Zhu's call, Bao Butong knew that there was a change in Feng Bo'e's condition. Growing anxious, he launched several powerful attacks in a row, hoping to be able to shake the short elder off.

By now, the short elder had already fought with Bao Butong for over a hundred strokes. Although they were evenly matched, he himself was wielding a large, long, and powerful weapon, whereas Bao Butong was empty handed. Thus, superiority and inferiority had already been determined. Brandishing his steel staff, the short elder had launched many attacks in succession against Bao Butong, but Bao Butong had been able to dissolve all of them. He knew that most likely, if this battle were to continue, he would lose, not win. Seeing how ferocious Bao Butong's attacks became, he thought that Bao Butong was trying to vanquish him and immediately used all of his energy to counterattack. These four elders of the Beggar's Clan each had their own unique accomplishments in martial arts. Zhu Baokun and Sima Lin of the Qingcheng sect, along with Yao Bodang of the Qin family stronghold, were all dispatched by Bao Butong in a laughably easy manner, but this short elder really was difficult to deal with. Although Bao Butong had the advantage, for him to actually defeat his opponent by one stance or half a stroke would depend on his opponent's strength, and clearly the short elder possessed strong stamina.

Qiao Feng saw that Wang Yuyan and the other two girls looked very frightened. He knew that it was true that females cannot draw out this poison, and also knew how lethal the multicolored scorpion's venom was. He knew that if he ordered his subordinates to launch an attack, even if the situation was a hundred times more dangerous than it was today, not a single person would dare to complain. But no matter what, he could not give out the order for one of his subordinates to risk his own life to save an enemy. He immediately said, "I will come and draw out his poison myself." As he spoke, he walked towards Feng Bo'e.

As soon as he saw the anxious look on Wang Yuyan's face, Duan Yu had the intention of helping Feng Bo'e draw out the poison. Only, Qiao Feng was now his sworn brother, and it would be totally improper for him to go and help his sworn brother's enemy thusly. Although Qiao Feng had ordered elder Chen to provide the antidote, Duan Yu didn't know if he was sincere in doing so or not. Seeing as how Qiao Feng was personally walking towards Feng Bo'e and intended to draw out the poison himself, Duan Yu hurriedly said, "Elder brother, let me do it instead." Rushing forward, he immediately executed the 'Graceful Steps Upon the Waves'. With a swaying flicker, he rushed in front of Qiao Feng. Grabbing Feng Bo'e's upper arm, he pressed his mouth against the wound and began drawing the poison out.

At this point in time, Feng Bo'e's arm had already turned totally black. His eyes were wide open; the flesh on his face had become so rigid that he couldn't even close them. After drawing out a mouthful of poisoned blood, Duan Yu spat it out on the ground. The poisoned blood was as black as ink. Everyone who saw it was astonished. Just as Duan Yu was about to draw out more poison, more black blood began to flow from the wound. Startled, Duan Yu thought to himself, "It'd be best if I let this poisoned blood flow out first." He did not know that this was because he had once ingested the 'King of Ten Thousand Poisons', the Cinnabar Toad, which could conquer all venoms. The venom of the multicolored scorpion was far inferior to it. As soon as they touched, the venom began to flow out. Feng Bo'e's body suddenly came to life, and he said, "Many thanks!"

Ah Zhu and the rest were all overjoyed. Ah Bi said, "Fourth brother, you can speak again!" The flow of black blood slowly lessened, beginning to turn purple. After the purple blood flowed for a bit longer, the blood turned a scarlet red. Ah Bi hurriedly applied the antidote to his arm, and Bao Butong unsealed his acupoints. In a short period of time, Feng Bo'e's arm, previously swollen grotesquely, looked normal again, and he had no problems speaking or moving.

Feng Bo'e bowed deeply towards Duan Yu. "Thank you for saving my life." Duan Yu hurriedly returned the courtesy, saying, "There's no need to be so courteous about such a trifling matter." Feng Bo'e grinned. "My life might be a trifling matter to you, but it's a rather important matter to me." Taking the small antidote bottle from Ah Zhu, he tossed it towards elder Chen, saying, "I'm giving your antidote back to you!" Turning towards Qiao Feng, Feng Bo'e cupped his fists. "Chief Qiao, you are exceptionally benevolent and righteous. You are worthy of being the leader of the largest clan in the world. I, Feng Bo'e, admire you very much!" Qiao Feng cupped his fists in return. "You are too kind."

Feng Bo'e picked up his broadsword, then pointed with his left arm towards elder Chen. "Today, I was defeated by you. I, Feng Bo'e, freely admit my inferiority! Next time we meet, let's fight again! But this today, we're not fighting anymore." Elder Chen smiled. "I will naturally keep you company next time." Slanting his body, Feng Bo'e called out towards the elder wielding a mace, "I'd like to go a few rounds with you, sir!" Ah Zhu and Ah Bi were astonished. They called out, "Fourth brother, no! Your body isn't fully recovered yet!" Feng Bo'e replied, "Not getting into a fight when one's available? That's not in keeping with my character!" Brandishing his knife, he charged at the mace-wielding elder.

The mace-wielding elder had white eyebrows and a white beard. He had become famous decades ago. What type of person hadn't he met? But he couldn't help but be struck dumb with amazement as he saw Feng Bo'e vigorously charging towards him, just moments after being brought back from the brink of death. Originally, there were many transformations and changes in his mace techniques. Aside from beating, striking, sweeping, and piercing techniques, he also had bizarre techniques to lock up an enemy's weapons. But now, feeling a bit nervous, his skill decreased by a significant degree and all he could do was to ward off Feng Bo'e's attacks, without being able to counterattack at all.

Qiao Feng frowned slightly. "This Feng fellow really doesn't know what's good for him. Brother Duan just saved his life. How could he so indiscriminately and rashly charge off into battle?"

Bao Butong and Feng Bo'e both slowly gained the upper hand in their battles. However, it would still take some time for victory or defeat to be determined. When experts were competing against each other, the situation could change in the blink of an eye. It only took one particularly brilliant stroke or the slightest negligence for a losing position to be turned into an equal one. None of the four dared to be the least bit negligent, and all of the onlookers watched raptly.

Duan Yu suddenly heard the sound of many people rushing this way from the east, followed by people coming from the north. Duan Yu said to Qiao Feng in a low voice, "Elder brother, people are coming." Qiao Feng also had heard the sounds long ago, and nodded. He thought to himself, "Most likely, other forces under young master Murong's command have come. So this Bao fellow and Feng fellow arrived first to keep us entangled here while they prepared a large group of men to attack us." He prepared to give a secret command, ordering the ordinary members of the clan to head west and individually disappear off to the south while the four elders, hall-master Jiang, and himself would secure the rear. But suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from the west and the south as well. They had been totally surrounded by enemies.

Qiao Feng said in a low voice, "Hall-master Jiang, the enemy force is weakest to the south. Later, when I give the hand signal, immediately order all of our brothers to retreat to the south." Hall-master Jiang replied, "Yes sir!"

Just at this moment, fifty or sixty people burst in from the east. All of them wore ragged clothes, had uncombed hair, and either wielded weapons or broken bowls and bamboo staffs. All of them were members of the Beggar's Clan. Next, eighty or so disciples of the Beggar's Clan appeared from the north. All of them had very serious expressions on their face, and when they saw Qiao Feng, they didn't pay him any courtesies at all. Instead, they seemed to be faintly hostile towards him.

Bao Butong and Feng Bo'e, seeing so many disciples of the Beggar's Clan suddenly appear, were both alarmed. They thought to themselves, "How can we rescue miss Wang, Ah Zu, and Ah Bi from this situation?"