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 5

Qiao Feng replied, "We came to Jiangnan for the purpose of avenging the death of vice-chief Ma. But over the past few days, I have done some investigating and now believe that he was not necessarily slain by young master Murong."

The middle-aged beggar was named Quan Guanqing. He was nicknamed the 'Fully Learned Scholar'. He was wise and full of stratagems, and possessed a high level of martial arts as well. Within the clan, he was an eight-bagged hall-master whose position was inferior only to the six elder's themselves. He was in charge of the 'Hall of Great Wisdom'. He asked, "Chief, what makes you say that?"

Wang Yuyan, Ah Zhu, and Ah Bi were just about to leave, but upon hearing someone in the Beggar's Clan bring up Murong Fu, they immediately went to one side and quietly listened, out of their love and solicitude for him.

Qiao Feng replied, "It is based purely on my own conjecture. I cannot provide any proof." Quan Guanqing said, "What conjectures do you have, chief? Your subordinate would like to hear them." Qiao Feng replied, "When I was in Luoyang and heard that second brother Ma died to the 'Throat Locking Technique', I suddenly thought of Gusu's Murong family, famous for 'using an opponent's skills, exercising them upon the opponent.' I believed that second brother Ma had unequaled proficiency in the 'Throat Locking Technique', and that aside from Gusu's Murong family, no one is capable of using second brother Ma's own ultimate technique against him." Quan Guanqing said, "Correct." Qiao Feng said, "But over the past few days, more and more I have begun to think that our initial judgment might not be correct. It's possible that there are other complications to this matter." Quan Guanqing said, "All of the brothers here are willing to listen to your thoughts and help you clarify them."

Qiao Feng felt that his words seemed to spring from an evil intention, and also noticed that all of the members present had a strange look on their faces. Some tremendous unforeseen event must have occurred within the clan, and he asked, "Where is the skill-instructing elder and the law-enforcing elder?" Quan Guanqing replied, "Your subordinate has not seen either of the two elders today." Qiao Feng then asked, "And where are the hall-masters of the 'Great Benevolence, 'Great Trustworthiness', 'Great Valor', and 'Great Courtesy' halls?" Quan Guanging turned and looked at a seven-bagged disciple who stood towards the northwest and asked, "Zhang Quanxiang, where is your hall-master?" The seven-bagged disciple replied, "Um...um...I don't know."

Qiao Feng always knew that Quan Guanqing, the hall-master of the 'Hall of Great Wisdom', was a person who utilized careful planning. He was a very capable and experienced person, and was originally one of his own exceptionally competent personal subordinates. But now that he was conspiring to cause upheaval, he became an exceptionally dangerous enemy. Seeing a look of shame on that seven-bagged disciple, Zhang Quanxiang, how he was unwilling to meet his own gaze, and hearing how he hemmed and hawed, Qiao Feng shouted out, "Zhang Quanxiang! You murdered the master of your hall. Right?!" Zhang Quanxiang was shocked. He hurriedly said, "I didn't, I didn't! Hall-master Fang is safe and sound in that place. He isn't dead, he isn't dead! This...this has nothing to do with me. I didn't do it!" Qiao Feng said in a severe voice, "Then who did it?" This sentence was not said particularly loudly, but it was filled with dignity and majesty. Zhang Quanxiang couldn't help but begin to tremble from head to foot, and his gaze turned towards Quan Guanqing.

Qiao Feng realized that the revolt had already come to pass. Even if the skill-instructing elder and the law-enforcing elder had not been slain, they were definitely in critical, life-and-death danger. He had to act quickly, before the opportunity faded away. Letting out a long sigh, he turned and asked the four elders, "Four elders, what exactly has happened?"

The four elders looked at each other, each of them hoping that another person would be the first to speak. Upon seeing this, Qiao Feng knew that the four elders were also complicit in whatever had happened. Smiling slightly, he said, "Within our clan, from myself on down, everyone highly values the code of brotherhood..." As he said this, he suddenly took two steps backwards. Each step he took was over three meters long; other people couldn't move so quickly even if while walking forwards, and their steps would not be as large. After taking those two backward steps, he was within one meter of Quan Guanqing. Without turning around, he shot both hand backwards and seized Quan Guanqing's 'Zhongting' and 'Jiuyi' acupoints, located on his chest.

Qiao Feng exerted his internal energy through his hands, sending it through Quan Guanqing's captured acupoints and into his meridians, where it surged to the 'Zhongwei' and 'Yangtai' acupoints near his kneejoints. Feeling his legs go soft, Quan Guanqing couldn't help but fall to his knees.

Quan Guanqing possessed outstanding martial arts ability, and was not at all inferior to the four elders. How could it be that he was subdued in but a single stroke, without even having the chance to retaliate? Everyone present turned pale. They were all astonished and fearful, uncertain as to how to proceed.

Qiao Feng had surmised that Quan Guanqing must be the principal troublemaker in this revolt. Qiao Feng knew that if he did not subdue him immediately, there would be no end of problems. Even if he was able to suppress the traitors, it would be difficult to avoid a bloody, fratricidal civil war within the clan itself. While about to face tough opponents, how could the Beggar's Clan inflict wounds on itself? He saw that of the people present, everyone aside from the hall-master of the 'Great Righteousness' seemed to have been deluded and mislead by Quan Guanqing. If they began to fight each other, things would become very difficult to handle. Thus, he intentionally turned around to ask a question of the four elders and, while Quan Guanqing was not on his guard, suddenly retreated and sealed his acupoints. Outwardly, this may have appeared as a simple, uninterrupted action, like a hare rearing its head and a hawk descending to slay it, but in actuality Qiao Feng had to draw upon everyone he had ever learned to carry it out. If Qiao Feng's backwards strikes were off-target even slightly, even though he would have been able to subdue Quan Guanqing, he wouldn't have had the chance to send his internal energy to Quan Guanqing's kneejoints, and Quan Guanqing's co-conspirators might have rushed forward to aid him, forcing a battle. But with Quan Guanqing falling to his knees, everyone present thought that he was actually surrendering to Qiao Feng, and thus no one dared to make any rash moves.

Qiao Feng turned around. He lightly clapped Quan Guanqing on the shoulder and said, "Since you admit your mistake, there's no need for you to kneel down. However, I cannot fail to mete out punishment to you for going against your superiors. We'll slowly discuss how to handle this." With a light tap of his elbow, he sealed Quan Quanqing's 'Mute' acupoint, preventing him from speaking.

Qiao Feng knew that Quan Guanqing was a superb orator. If he was given a chance to speak and incite the people present, it would cause many problems. This was a moment of great crisis, and thus he had to use drastic measures to deal with it. He had subdued Quan Guanqing and forced him to his knees. Now, he turned to Zhang Quanxiang and loudly said, "Lead hall-master Jiang of the 'Hall of Great Righteousness' to invite the skill-instructing elder and the law-enforcing elder here. If you obediently listen to my commands, your own offenses will be lessened. Everyone else must immediately sit down. Without my permission, none of you are allowed to rise!"

Zhang Quanxiang was both shocked and overjoyed. He repeatedly agreed, "Yes! Yes!"

Hall-master Jiang of the 'Hall of Great Righteousness' was not part of this revolt. When he saw how Quan Guanqing and the others dared to stage an armed rebellion against their superiors, he was filled with so much rage that his face was swollen red. He breathed heavily and furiously. Only now, upon hearing Qiao Feng order him to go rescue the two elders, did he calm down slightly. He said to the twenty or so members of his hall, "Our clan has unfortunately fallen victim to turmoil. Now is the time when all of us must exert all our efforts to repay our chief's benevolence. Everyone must protect the chief and obey all his commands!" He was afraid that the four elders would, once he left, launch an attack against Qiao Feng. Although the people of the 'Hall of Great Righteousness' were far outnumbered by the traitors, the chief couldn't be allowed to face the traitors all alone.

But Qiao Feng said, "No! Brother Jiang, take all of the brothers within your hall with you. Nothing can go wrong on this critical mission of saving the two elders." Not daring to disobey him, hall-master Jiang replied, "Yes sir!" Then he said, "Chief, please be careful. I will come back as soon as possible." Smiling, Qiao Feng said, "Everyone here is a brother with whom I have gone through life-and-death experiences with. It's just that they have some temporary complaints. It is no big deal. Set your mind at rest and go." Then he added, "Send someone to inform the Western Xia's 'League of Elites' that our meeting at Mt. Hui must be pushed back by seven days." Hall-master Jiang respectfully bowed, then left with all of his subordinates.