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

In The Apricot Forest, Discussing One's True History Part 2

"The man in black suddenly raised his voice and shouted, 'If you don't let me by, I'm going to start cussing you out!' The villager said, 'If you want to cuss, then cuss. So you know how to cuss at people. You think I don't?' The villager actually seized the initiative and immediately began to cuss. The man in black began to cuss right back at him. Trading cusses back and forth, the two pulled out all sorts of strange, bizarre, and filthy curses to insult the other with. I couldn't even understand half of these strange local Jiangnan swear words. After cussing for over an hour, the villager became exhausted. The man in black, thanks to his strong internal energy, was perfectly fine and still energetic. I saw the villager's body began to sway. It seemed that very shortly, he would be so exhausted that he'd fall into the river."

"Suddenly, the villager stuck his hand into the bucket of feces, grabbed some of it, then tossed it towards the man in black's face. The man in black never imagined that he would be attacked like this. As he let out a cry of alarm, the crap splattered him in the face. I secretly said to myself, 'Oh no! This villager has just doomed himself, and he can't blame anyone else for what will happen.' I saw that the man in black was furious. Lifting his palm, he struck downwards towards the villager's head.'

Although Duan Yu was listening to Qiao Feng, his eyes were fixed on Wang Yuyan's slightly parted, cherry-like lips. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Ah Zhu and Ah Bi smile at each other, but paid them no mind.

Qiao Feng continued, "All of this happened too quickly. To avoid the stench, I was over a hundred meters away. I wanted to go rescue that villager, but I wouldn't be able to. Unexpectedly, just before the man in black's palm was about to strike down on the villager's skull, he suddenly froze and didn't follow through, bringing his palm to a halt mid-air. He loudly laughed, 'Old chap, in our contest of patience, who won and who lost?' That villager was really stubborn. He had clearly lost, but he refused to admit it. He said, 'I'm carrying a big bucket of crap. You gained an advantage from this. If you don't believe me, how about you take this bucket and I'll stand here with my hands free. Then, we'll see who wins and who loses!' The man in black said, 'That's fair enough!' He reached out and pulled the bucket of crap towards himself, straightening his arm and lifting the bucket up with the palm of his left hand."

"Seeing as how the man in black was carrying the bucket while holding his arm straight, the villager was stupefied. He said, 'You...you...' The man in black laughed, 'I'll help you support the bucket of crap like this without moving. Let's compete again, and this time, whoever loses has to drink this entire bucket of crap!' Seeing how incredibly strong the man in black was, the villager no longer dared to argue with him. He hurriedly retreated, but he was so flustered that he lost his footing and fell down towards the river. The man in black stretched out his right hand, grabbing him by his collar and lifting him up. Still supporting the bucket with his left hand while lifting the villager in the air with his right, the man in black laughed loudly. "Fun, fun!" In the twinkling of an eye, he lightly leapt over to the other side of the bridge, placing both the villager and his bucket on the floor. Then he utilized his qinggong and disappeared into the mulberry forest."

"The man in black had his face splattered with crap by the villager. He wouldn't have had to use any effort to kill him. Even if he wasn't willing to kill someone just like that, it would have been very natural for him to give the villager a beating. But he didn't do that at all. He had a very unique temperament, the like of which is rarely seen in the martial world. Brothers, I witnessed this with my own eyes. I was very far away from him, and I do not believe he knew I was there and was just putting on a show for me. Would you consider a person like this a good friend and a fine man?"

Elder Wu, elder Chen, and elder Bai all said in unison, "Right! He's a fine man!" Elder Chen said, "It's unfortunate that you didn't manage to get his name, chief. If you had, you could introduce him to us, so as to let us know that within the personages of Jiangnan, there's actually a hero such as him."

Qiao Feng slowly said, "This friend actually just exchanged a few stances with elder Chen, and his arm was wounded by your poison scorpion." Elder Chen was shocked. "He is 'A Gust of Wind', Feng Bo'e!" Qiao Feng nodded. "Correct!"

Only now did Duan Yu understand that Qiao Feng had carefully and meticulously described this anecdote in order to recount to everyone Feng Bo'e's character and temperament. Duan Yu now realized that although Feng Bo'e was very ugly and loved to cause trouble and fight, he was by nature a very good person. This truly was an example of how one should not judge a person by their appearance. Earlier, when the girls were raptly listening to the story and Ah Zhu and Ah Bi exchanged smiles, it was because they well knew Feng Bo'e's temperament. They knew that this gentleman must be Feng Bo'e, and also knew that this gentleman definitely wouldn't wantonly kill others.

Qiao Feng continued, "Elder Chen, the Beggar's Clan considers itself to be the foremost large clan of the world. You yourself are a very important figure within our clan. Your rank and prestige cannot be compared in the same breath with the local Jiangnan martial artist named Feng Bo'e. Feng Bo'e, when feeling insulted and humiliated, could control himself and not harm an innocent. How can the experts of the Beggar's Clan prove ourselves to be lesser than him?" Elder Chen's entire face blushed, with even his ears reddening. "Chief, thank you for the lesson. You ordered me to give him the antidote because of your concern for my reputation and prestige. I, Chen Guyan, didn't understand your noble intentions and harbored a grudge against you. I'm as stupid as a wooden ox or a braying donkey." Qiao Feng replied, "Preserving your reputation and the reputation of our clan was only a secondary concern to me. The most important rule for us martial artists is to not harm innocents. Elder Chen, even if you weren't a very important figure within our clan and weren't such an illustrious figure within the martial arts world, you still cannot take the lives of others so easily, without a clear certainty regarding the facts!" Elder Chen bowed his head. "I, Chen Guyan, admit to my wrongdoing."

Seeing that he had managed to convince Chen Guyan, the most haughty of the four elders, with his words, Qiao Feng felt extremely happy. He slowly said, "Gongye Qian was a heroic man, and Feng Bo'e was a man who knew right from wrong. Bao Butong acts unrestrained and naturally, and these three maidens are gentle, refined, and proper. All of these people are young master Murong's subordinates, his friends, or his relatives. As the saying goes, 'things of one kind come together, birds of a feather flock together'. Brothers, calm yourselves and think: If young master Murong has friends and associates such as they, can he himself be a wicked, vile, despicable, shameless villain?"

The people of the Beggar's Clan highly valued the code of brotherhood and loved friends. They all thought that these words were reasonable, and many people chimed in agreement.

But Quan Guanqing said, "Chief, are you saying that in your opinion, it definitely was not Murong Fu who killed vice-chief Ma?"

Qiao Feng replied, "I dare not say that Murong Fu is definitely the person who assassinated vice-chief Ma, but I also dare not say that he definitely was not the person either. There's no need to rush to complete our vengeance. We need to clearly investigate the situation. If we can prove that it was Murong Fu who did the deed, naturally we will seize him and avenge vice-chief Ma's death. But if we cannot prove it was him, we must continue to seek the real perpetrator. If we kill a good man solely based on wild conjecture while allowing the real killer to remain free and secretly laugh at how stupid and incompetent the Beggar's Clan is, not only will we have wronged the person we falsely accused and killed and wronged vice-chief Ma, we'll also have ruined the Beggar's Clan's illustrious name. Brothers, do you think you will enjoy the taste of being ridiculed and insulted as you travel about the martial world?"

Hearing his words, every person present was moved. This entire time, the skill-instructing elder had remained silent. Now, he stroked his thin, fine beard and said, "Your words are reasonable. In the past, I once killed an innocent man by mistake. To this very day, it troubles me. To this very day, it troubles me!"

Wu Changfeng loudly said, "Chief, we rebelled against you because we made the mistake of listening to the words of others. We knew that you didn't get along with vice-chief Ma, and secretly suspected you of conspiring with Gusu's Murong family to kill him. All sorts of things added up and we couldn't help but be suspicious. In hindsight, we were all so stupid! Elder Bai, please bring out the knives of law! We'll take our own lives in accordance with clan regulations!"

Bai Shijing's face was as cold as winter. In a heavy voice, he said, "Law-enforcing disciples, please bring out the knives of law."

Nine of his disciples immediately said, "Yes sir!" Each of them withdrew a yellow cloth bundle from a sack on their backs. They opened the bundles, each retrieving a short knife from within. The nine gleaming, brilliant knifes were placed side by side. They were equal in size and shape. Underneath the blazing light of the torches, a blue light could be seen gleaming from the edges of the knives. A law-enforcing disciple brought over a tree trunk, and all nine of the other law-enforcing disciples stuck the knives into the trunk. The knives slipped into the trunk with ease; clearly, these blades were extraordinary. The nine of them called out in unison, "The knives of law have been assembled!"