The one who assassinated the General Yelu Bulu of Laos
was none other than our Elder Chen!
Your words shame me.
I thank the Chief for his magnanimity.
Elder Wu!
Elder Wu, back then,
you defended Ying Chou Valley by yourself,
going up against the experts of Yi Ping Hall.
Your Medallion of Memory alone is enough to acquit you!
Bring it out and show it to us!
Well...
I...
Come on, we're like brothers! Why are you hesitating?
To tell you the truth, Chief,
my Medallion is missing.
What do you mean by that?
I had a sudden craving for wine the other day,
but no money to pay for it,
so I exchanged the Medallion for liquor.
Good going! Wonderful! I applaud you!
Chief,
you are a merciful man!
This life of mine
is yours from now on!
From now on, I won't believe what other people say, Chief!
Overseer Quan,
have you anything else to say?
Please speak.
I opposed you
in the interest of the great land of Song,
and for the good of the Beggar Sect.
Alas, the one who revealed your true identity to me
is cowardly,
and thus, dares not show himself.
You may execute me however you wish.
What "true identity"?
Speak up!
I speak without proof now,
so no one will believe me.
Just execute me.
A righteous man
would speak decisively.
Why are you holding back?
Not bad,
Qiao!
Finish me off with a quick, clean fatal wound.
Don't let me remain here
to see the Beggar Sect fall to the barbarians,
or to witness the fall of the great Song by your hands!
Why would the Beggar Sect fall to the barbarians?
And why would I cause the fall of Song?
Explain yourself!
Quan Guanqing,
you claim to know my true identity,
and you say it would harm the security of the Beggar Sect
and ruin the land.
Yet you refuse time and again
to tell the truth of the matter.
You've stirred up dissent, and thus, must be severely punished.
However,
I will preserve your life for now.
After I discover the truth,
I will personally execute you.
Once I, Qiao Feng, decide to kill someone,
he can never escape from me.
Get lost!
Starting from this day, you no longer belong to the Beggar Sect!
BLUEMAX
Qiao Feng,
you show such arrogance!
Do you truly not know?
What don't I know?
You put up a good show,
Qiao Feng,
Otherwise,
how else could you have become the Chief of the Beggar Sect?
Chief!
Chief...
emergency...
Men!
Treat him immediately!
See to it that he lives!
Qiao Feng,
stop at once!
Qiao Feng,
this piece of news is not for your eyes!
Elder Xu,
what has caused you to be so agitated?
Qiao Feng pays his respects to Elder Xu!
Qiao Feng,
this piece of news is not for your eyes!
Give it to me!
I am sorry!
Elder Bai,
I must follow the rules of the Sect.
Brothers!
Today, I have invited Kang Men, the widow of Deputy Ma Dayuan,
to this place.
She has something to say to everyone.
I've also
invited some friends to bear witness.
If the matter is this serious,
we can all wait.
Of course it is serious!
Well now,
the Heroes of Taishan are here.
What could have caused all six lords of the Shan family to come?
Chief Qiao,
I'm sorry for crashing this gathering.
Qiao Feng didn't know that Senior Shan was coming,
or I would have welcomed you myself.
Please pardon me.
Madam, please.
I am Kang Men, the widow of the deceased Ma. My respects to the Chief.
Lady, no need to stand on ceremony.
My husband died a terrible death.
My thanks to the Chief and all the Elders who are here for his funeral.
I must once again thank everyone.
Chief Qiao.
Qiao Feng welcomes you.
Chief Qiao, why are those knives stuck in your body?
Chief Qiao,
who dares to hurt you with knives?
I stabbed myself.
Why would you do that?
Don't tell me you won't feel good if you don't get stabbed?
It happened accidentally when I was practicing my skills.
Thank you for your wonderful medicine.
The Shan family from Taishan
the Tan family from Taihang Shan,
and Mr. Zhao Qiansun,
we are honored that you
are visiting us today.
Madam Ma,
you can start from the beginning.
My husband, Ma Dayuan, was murdered.
While I was cleaning up his things,
I discovered a letter
sealed by wax.
On the envelope, it was written that if my husband had been murdered,
then the letter must be given to the elders of the Beggar Sect.
But at that time,
Chief Qiao and the elders
were not at Luoyang.
I was afraid
I would delay something important,
so I went to seek Elder Xu's help
and to ask him to make the decision
regarding what to do with the letter.
What happened afterwards,
I will ask Elder Xu to speak for me.
This is a truly difficult matter
for me to talk about.
Everyone, look.
This is the will of Ma Dayuan.
The handwriting on the envelope is indeed his.
The seal was unbroken when I received the letter.
I did not want to delay anything,
so I opened it.
Brother Shan was there at the time;
he can bear witness.
Yes,
I saw him open the letter with my own eyes.
But,
the letter inside was not written by Ma Dayuan.
In fact, someone else
wrote this to our Sect's Chief Wang.
When Brother Shan Zheng and I read the letter
and saw who had signed it,
I was especially surprised.
Brother Shan,
you are at fault here.
This is a confidential letter of the Beggar Sect.
How could you have read it?
I only read the name at the end,
not the contents of the letter itself.
A thief is a thief, whether he steals one thousand teals
or one teal.
Glancing at the entire thing is a crime,
as is just reading one word!
Reading someone else's letter makes you a petty man!
A petty man should be killed!
You...!
Well?
What are you doing?
My senior has never been wrong.
General,
there are a few hundred
Beggar Sect disciples in clearing.
I saw several old men
wearing marks of office;
they may be the Sect elders.
Those people didn't fall for it
and left so many experts behind.
Looks like the festival at Huishan
is going to come to naught as well.
Bring him over here!
Yes!
Tell me frankly,
how many disciples of your Sect
are there in this forest clearing?
I only know the Chief
had us wait in the forest.
I don't know anything else.
Then how many elders are there in the Sect?
Six in all.
Are they all here?
I really do not know.
Only the seventh-class disciples and above
would know about the affairs of the elders.
Hmph, I don't care how many of you there are.
In a while,
you will realize my power.
As for the identity of the one who wrote the letter,
I cannot tell you at the moment.
But this matter affects
the peace and prosperity of our Sect,
as well as the reputation and life of a hero,
so I dare not act by myself...
I later found out
that the author of the letter
has a good relationship with the Tan family of Taihang Shan,
so I went to discuss this with them.
Dame Tan told me everything.
But I really do not wish to
reveal this.
Dame Tan later told me
that she has a senior
who experienced this matter firsthand.
That would be Brother Zhao Qiansun!
You...
you betrayed your promise!
Brother Zhao Qiansun,
please tell us,
is what's written on this letter
the truth or lies?
Dame Tan, you'd better persuade him to tell us.
Senior,
tell everyone about the bloody battle
at Yanmen Guan that year.
Why would I know anything
about what happened at Yanmen Guan?
This matter...
D-Don't ask me!
I don't know!
I really don't know anything...
I don't... don't know...
Xiaojuan was right to marry to Tan Zhongpai!
Who said that?
Who said that? Stand out!
I said it.
Why else
would you run away after seeing him?
Who the hell ran away?
Other than the fact that he can take blows without fighting back,
how is he better than me?
You... you...
Say something!
Amithaba!
Not fighting back when attacked
is the most difficult skill of all to learn.
Master Zhiguang from Tiantai Shan is here!
It's been thirty years since we last saw each other,
and you are still as youthful as ever.
To be weaker than your opponents
and submit to their beatings
is already very difficult.
However, if you are stronger
and can still endure the beatings,
then that is even more challenging.
That is very true!
It must have been a long and arduous
journey for you!
I'm sorry to have asked you
to come down
personally this time.
With the reputes of Elder Xu and Judge Shan,
how could I not come?
And since this is a matter of great importance,
I must be here.
Which one is Chief Qiao?
I am Qiao Feng.
Master Zhiguang was involved
in the battle at Yanmen Guan as well.
Please speak.
It has been a long time.
I truly do not wish
to speak of my past sins.
Master Zhiguang,
this is a matter of life and death
for the Beggar Sect.
Only you can
resolve this matter clearly for us.
Very well,
then I shall start from the beginning...
Thirty years ago,
Chief Wang of the Beggar Sect
suddenly summoned us
to discuss something important.
At that time,
someone famous in the martial arts world was there as well.
He told us that
the Khitans were planning to send an expert
to infiltrate Shaolin.
His goal was to steal
all the martial arts scrolls within the Shaolin Temple and return with them to Laos,
so that Khitan soldiers could learn the skills.
At that time, Song and Laos had been fighting for many years;
both forces were at equal strengths
and thus, were at a stalemate.
But if Shaolin's skills reached Laos
and their soldiers mastered the skills,
then after a few years,
there would be no one left who could fight them.
If that happened,
our great country of Song would fall.
So we decided to set off immediately
to kill that person at Yanmen Guan,
not allowing him to step onto the Central Plains.
Chief Qiao,
if it had been you,
what would you have done?
Master Zhiguang,
if any Khitan dog
dares to invade again today,
I would lead my men and pursue him
to the ends of the earth myself.
That means,
you believe our deed at that time
was righteous?
If I had been born thirty years earlier,
I would have gone to Yanmen Guan with all of you.
At that time, we followed the
leader to Yanmen Guan.
The leader was great in martial arts
and had a good reputation in the world,
so we put him in charge
and asked him to command us.
We first met a troop of Laos soldiers
and vanquished them easily.
But after that, a bloody battle ensued,
and of the fifteen of us,
most died at the hands of the Khitan expert.
Only myself and a few others returned alive...
We really could not bear to hurt that child
so we kept him,
and after copying the words on the cliff wall, we left...
We originally thought there had been twelve who had fallen,
but there were only eleven corpses.
One of the men was still alive
and walked away by himself,
still a walking corpse today.
That would be me, Zhao Qiansun!
Later,
we found an animal trader
and asked him to translate
the words on that cliff.
That's my translation.
Brother,
it looks like we maligned them.
It is a sin,
a sin.
What did those words say?
How did we wrong them?
Why did the Khitan couple die without cause?
It's not that I do not wish to say it,
but... if those words on the cliff wall were true,
then what we did
was utterly wrong.
I am but a small character
in the martial arts world,
so it is of no consequence if I did something wrong.
But the leader and Chief Wang
had high reputes in the martial arts world.
Besides, Chief Wang had already passed away...
I could not speak up, in fear of
tarnishing their good names.
Please forgive
my silence...
What happened to that child?
We gave that child
to a pair of farmers living at the foot of Shaoshi Shan
to foster,
and asked them to never reveal
the truth to the child.
You should have guessed already,
so I will not hold it back from you.
The farmer's surname is Qiao, named Qiao Sanhuai.
No...
No, you're lying!
Why would you create such a ludicrous lie
to smear my name?!
I am Han, not Laosian!
Sanhuai is my real father!
If you dare speak any more nonsense...!
Stop!
Chief Qiao, calm down and we can speak about this!
You have no enmity with the Shan family,
so please let my son go!
Chief Qiao,
Master Zhiguang is respected in the martial arts world.
You must not harm him!
That's right,
I have no enmity with your family,
and I respect Master Zhiguang.
If you want my position as chief,
I will give it up!
But why would you
make up such defamatory lies?
What wrong have I, Qiao Feng, done
that you would wish me dead?
This is so amusing!
Hans are not more superior than others,
and Khitans are neither dogs nor pigs.
You are Khitan,
and yet you try to pretend to be Han,
even turning your back on your ancestors.
What kind of a man are you?
You still dare say that I am Khitan?
I only know
that Khitan warrior
looked exactly like you!
That resemblance scared me so much,
that I'm still shaky and weak-kneed.
Even if it were a hundred years from now, I would still remember!
Master Zhiguang taking that child away
was also something I personally witnessed!
I am a walking, living corpse.
The only thing I am only concerned about in this world
is Xiaojuan and nothing else.
Whether or not you are the chief of the Beggar Sect is not my concern.
Why would I bother to defame you?
Chief Qiao, my skills are not as good as yours.
You really think I'd ask for my own death?
Son!
What happened after that?
You are aware of what happened afterwards.
When you were seven,
while you were chopping firewood in Shaoshi Shan,
you met with wolves.
A Shaolin monk called Xuanruo
saved you.
He killed the wolf
and treated your wounds.
After that,
he taught you martial arts everyday.
In reality, this monk
was asked by the leader
to teach you and
guide your future along.
The leader and Chief Wang said that
they wronged your parents,
so they wanted to help you become a hero.
Just how... did you wrong that Khitan couple?
Song and Laos have been killing each other
for centuries,
so why the sudden guilt?
The words on the cliff at Yuanmen Guan
are still there.
You can go take a look for yourself.
Chief Wang started out on his guard against you,
but after seeing that
you were talented,
healthy,
kind and generous,
he began to like you.
After that, your skills grew and
your name became great,
and the Beggar Sect respected you willingly.
Even those outside the Sect
recognized that you would become the next chief.
As far as I know,
there has never been another person
who has been in a harder position
than you.
I always thought my savior had a purpose in mind
when training me.
I understand now.
Thank you, Master Zhiguang,
for clearing up the past for us.
Qiao Feng,
this letter was written
by the leader of that group to Chief Wang.
He advised in the letter
that the position of chief should not be given to Qiao Feng.
Take a look for yourself.
First let me see
if it is the original.
Yes,
it is the handwriting of the leader.
What are you doing?!
Qiao Feng is not of our people;
beware of him.
His parents were killed by our hands.
When he finds out his background,
not only will he destroy the Beggar Sect,
the martial arts world will also be in an uproar.
Those who can match up to Qiao Feng in skill
are few.
You must ponder over
the matter carefully.
Chief Qiao,
now that you know of your background,
you will surely avenge your parents.
Chief Wang is already dead,
and I will not let you know
who the leader was.
Let me
shoulder all the sin.
If you must kill me, go right ahead.
I have yet to discover
if this is truth or lies.
If I must kill you, I still have time.
That's right,
that includes me. I must pay for my crime too.
Whenever you feel like it,
you may come to take my head.
This is the will of Chief Wang.
You should recognise his handwriting.
To Ma Dayuan, Deputy Chief of the Beggar Sect:
if Qiao Feng shows any hint of betraying the Han to Laos,
kill him immediately.
There will be no guilt,
but reward if you do.
By the pen of Wang Jiantong.
You went against me
because you knew my background, right?
Yes.
The four elders
wished to kill me
because of your words, right?
A pity they were just dragging me down
with their indecisiveness!
When the time came, nobody had the courage to act!
In a while,
everyone lay in ambush
in the forest vicinity.
When you hear my signal,
throw the Sorrow Breeze inside the clearing.
Remember,
you must watch the direction of the wind...
Understood!
General,
I heard those people discussing things.
I think Qiao Feng is inside too.
What?!
Why is he here?
That means,
he didn't go to the festival to honor his appointment with Duan Yuanqing.
Damn,
this is troublesome.
General,
what's so difficult about one Qiao Feng?
Yeah,
we'll go up against him all at once,
and those guys will have nowhere to run to!
We have the Sorrow Breeze with us;
not even ten Qiao Fengs can do anything to us!
What would you know?
That Qiao Feng
is powerful
beyond compare.
Were it not because of him,
I would have taken over the Beggar Sect already.
General,
what now?
You go and
spy carefully for me.
Once you get news,
come back and report to me.
Yes, sir!
All of you, stay still!
Just hide well and
don't make a sound.
My seniors,
all of you know what kind of a person
Dayuan was.
He had no enemies
in the world,
and yet he was still murdered.
I think there must be something behind this.
I think maybe
he got ahold of some information
about someone.
That person may have been afraid he would reveal his secrets,
so that person killed him to seal his mouth.
Are you suspecting me?
I wouldn't dare.
I am but a woman
who should not be here at all.
My seniors,
please investigate the matter clearly.
Brother Qiao,
please seek vengeance for me!
Madam Ma,
please get up.
Madam Ma,
there's something I don't understand
and wish to ask you.
What is it?
I heard Madam say
the envelope with Deputy Ma's will
was still sealed before Elder Xu opened it.
So that means, you've never
seen it before either?
That's correct.
Since no one
knew about Deputy Ma's will,
then of course no one need to kill him to seal his mouth.
And whom might you be?
Why are you interfering in the affairs of our Sect?
How would I dare to?
I just feel that Madam's words
are illogical.
Elder Bai,
this lady speaks with reason.
Initially, I thought this was
unreasonable as well.
But then, I remembered something else.
The night before Dayuan was killed,
someone came to our house to steal something.
What did he steal?
Did he hurt anyone?
Luckily, no one was hurt.
That person used a toxin to make my servants and I lose consciousness,
then rummaged throughout my entire house
before stealing a few silver bars.
But the second day, when I got the news
that my husband was dead,
I had no presence of mind to think about it.
Now that I think about it,
it was a good thing my husband kept this letter well hidden
so that no one could take it.
What a stroke of good fortune.
lt's normal for small thieves to steal a few silver bars.
You are
right again.
I only knew things were not
so simple when I picked up something
on the ground beneath my window.
What was it?
Elder Xu, please help me obtain justice.
Look!
The snow sweeps Yuanmen open,
the sand pulls roots out by confusion;
a plan to return the humiliation,
a way to repay the feelings owed.
"Beware of he
who is not our kind."
Chief Wang, you really called it.
Elder Xu,
this is my fan.
Chief Wang treated me as his right-hand man when he was alive,
and yet I had no knowledge of this will.
Elder Xu, he did not tell you for your own good.
Why?
Elder Xu,
only Dayuan knew about this
in the Beggar Sect,
and he died terribly.
If...
If you had
known as well,
then...
All right,
does anyone have anything else to say?
BLUEMAX
For thirty years,
I was kept in the dark as to my true identity.
Although there are so many seniors
bearing witness against me today,
I still must find the truth out for myself.
If I find out that
someone is purposefully framing me,
I will seek redress from you,
no matter where you go!
Before I find out the truth,
I can no longer be the Chief.
Qiao Feng shall abdicate the position from henceforth!
I am useless,
so I'll hand over the Chief's Staff today.
If there is anyone willing
to take over the position,
please step up and receive the Staff!
Elder Xu,
Elders Chuangong and Zhifa,
it looks like this Dog-Beating Staff
must be entrusted to the three of you.
The decision of who should be the Chief
will be up to you three.
Looks like
we have no other choice.
Wait!
Brother Song!
What have you to say?
I do not think Chief Qiao is Khitan.
Khitans are brutal and fierce,
but Chief Qiao is generous and kind.
Even just now, when we wanted to kill him,
he was willing to bleed for us to atone for our crimes.
Khitans...
could a Khitan person do something like that?
He has been taught by
Shaolin and Chief Wang since he was young.
There is no trace of barbaric traits in him anymore.
Since his character has changed,
why can't he be our Chief?
I think there is no one in the Sect
comparable to the Chief.
If anyone else is to be the Chief,
I will not admit it!
Someone wishes to frame Chief Qiao.
We cannot believe this rumor!
That's right!
These events occurred so long ago,
how can we just blindly believe your words
to be the truth?
The position of Chief cannot be changed so easily!
Those who are willing to follow Chief Qiao,
stand on this side!
My brothers!
Chief Qiao is indeed charismatic
and heroic...