Chapter 54 Two Wrongs Make a Right

Can martial arts be acquired in a dream?

If everyone who dreamed became a martial arts master, what would even be the point of the Seventy-Two Arts of Shaolin?

Elder Bai Shijing let out a cold laugh. "Qiao Feng, when you fabricate a lie, at least try to make it plausible! Acquiring martial arts in a dream? Do you take us all for fools?"

Yet Qiao Feng replied with utmost sincerity, "Not only the *Finger of the Sun*, but I also acquired a set of fist techniques in my dream, named the *Sleeping Arhat Fist*! If Qiao has uttered a single falsehood, may I be struck dead by the five heavenly thunders!"

Elder Song shook his head and said, "Everyone knows that the *Finger of the Sun* is the secret, unshared art of the Duan family of Dali! Under the heavens, apart from those bearing the surname Duan, no one knows the *Finger of the Sun*."

"Would someone bearing the surname Duan travel thousands of miles to the Beggars' Sect just to murder the deputy chief?"

He demanded in a loud voice, causing the Beggars' Sect disciples present, as well as the surrounding onlookers, to shake their heads one after another.

Duan Yu included.

The Dali Duan family and the Beggars' Sect had neither grievances in the past nor enmity in the present, having had virtually no dealings with one another whatsoever. There was simply no motive for them to murder the deputy chief of the Beggars' Sect.

Elder Song let out a sigh and said, "Yet there is one person who could. And that is the master within the Yipin Hall of Western Xia, Duan Yanqing, the Most Wicked!"

Duan Yanqing, the Most Wicked, was the chief of the Four Evils, highly proficient in the *Finger of the Sun*, and rumored to be a disciple of the Dali Duan lineage.

"Not long ago, the Four Evils secretly sneaked into Jiangnan with seemingly hidden motives, and Deputy Chief Ma tracked their movements," Elder Song continued. "As a result... Deputy Chief Ma met his death."

Qiao Feng asked in bewilderment, "Then suspicion should fall upon Duan Yanqing, the Most Wicked!"

"No one can acquire martial arts in dreams, so your *Finger of the Sun* must have been taught to you by someone!" Elder Song analyzed. "Eliminate the impossible, and whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

"The truth is that your *Finger of the Sun* was imparted to you by Duan Yanqing, and you have been lurking secretly within the Beggars' Sect, waiting for the day to collude with Western Xia and throw the borders into turmoil."

"You never expected Deputy Chief Ma to discover this, which is why you secretly murdered him!"

Qiao Feng still looked blank as he said, "I am already the chief of the Beggars' Sect, what could I possibly stand to gain!"

He had no motive whatsoever for all of this.

Why would he abandon his fine position as the chief of the Song Beggars' Sect to go to Western Xia and eat the northwestern wind?

"Because you are a Khitan! You intend to return to the Liao realm!" Elder Song's words were as startling as thunder!

"Gasps!"

Song and Liao were irreconcilable enemies. Upon hearing that Qiao Feng was a Khitan of the Liao state, an uproar broke out at the scene.

Let alone the Beggars' Sect disciples, even Wang Yuyan, who had been casually watching the spectacle, was stunned.

"The chief of the Beggars' Sect is actually a Khitan?" Wang Yuyan paused mid-bite into her watermelon, struck dumb.

Murong Xing also bit into his melon and said, "No way, right?"

Duan Yu said nothing, merely eating his melon while gazing at Wang Yuyan, who looked exceptionally lovely even while eating melon.

One moment he was thinking how breathtaking the fairy-like maiden looked eating a melon, and the next he was imagining her handing a piece of melon to him—could it be...

In this brief span of time, he had already thought of what to name their children.

Whether Qiao Feng was a Khitan or not what did that have to do with him?

Shi Fei said nothing, merely grabbing another handful of melon seeds and cracking them open.

Mmm... melon seeds you grew yourself just tasted better.

He watched as Qiao Feng let out a great laugh and said, "How could I, Qiao, possibly be a Khitan?"

Elder Song sighed and said, "Once Zhaoqiansun and Grandmaster Zhiguang of Tiantai Mountain arrive, you will know."

Before long, Zhaoqiansun, Zhiguang, and other reputable figures in the jianghu arrived.

The monk Zhiguang of Tiantai Mountain was deeply revered and explained Qiao Feng's origins to the crowd.

Roughly thirty years ago, he, along with the Leading Brother, former Beggars' Sect Chief Wang, and eighteen others totaling twenty-one people, went to ambush the Khitans who had come to the Shaolin Temple to seize martial arts manuals, mistakenly killing an innocent couple in the process.

That couple was none other than Qiao Feng's birth parents.

He described the events vividly and graphically. Apart from the sound of someone cracking melon seeds, absolute silence gripped the scene.

In the end, he stated, "This old monk once participated in the ambush against your esteemed parents. I am willing to bear all the sins entirely; whether you wish to kill or carve me up, you need only make your move."

"As for that Leading Brother, he is none other than the former Shaolin monk Xuanci, today's newly appointed Abbot Fanci of Shaolin!"

Zhaoqiansun also spoke up, "That is correct, I was also involved. Add my share to this reckoning; whenever it pleases you, feel free to strike."

A single person could fabricate a falsehood, but with two people testifying in unison, Qiao Feng felt disoriented, as though the events unfolding today were completely unreal!

He felt only absurdity—he, a chief of the Beggars' Sect, was actually a Khitan?

Yet what he did not know was that absurdity was the normal state of human life.

Qiao Feng's heart was in utter chaos, not knowing how to respond. Then he saw Elder Song produce a letter and hand it to him.

He took it, and it was indeed in the handwriting of the former Beggars' Sect Chief, Wang.

The first part of the letter detailed the very events Zhiguang had just described, concluding with a passage:

"A written directive to Deputy Chief Ma, the Elder of Transmission, the Elder of Enforcement, and all elders of the Beggars' Sect: Should Qiao Feng ever show inclinations of favoring Liao over Han, assisting the Khitanians while spurning the Great Song, the entire sect shall join forces to strike him down without fail. Administering poison or carrying out assassination are both entirely permissible; those who strike the blow shall be credited with merit rather than guilt. Written in the personal hand of Wang Jiantong."

Upon reading these words, Qiao Feng staggered, barely able to remain standing. In his heart, Wang Jiantong had been like a loving father—his teachings stern, yet his affection profound.

Never could he have imagined that when Wang Jiantong passed the position of Beggars' Sect Chief to him, he had left behind such a suicide testament.

By this point, he harbored no further doubts regarding his own identity.

Elder Song said, "You know you are a Khitan and wish to return to the Liao state, which requires certain means to serve as your pledge of allegiance! To ally with Western Xia and plunge Western Xia and Great Song into chaos, so that the Liao state might reap the spoils without lifting a finger!"

"Am I right, or am I wrong?"

Qiao Feng remained silent for a moment before saying, "Deputy Chief Ma was not murdered by me."

"No! He was murdered by you! I am here to testify!" A bizarre voice drifted in from outside the apricot grove.

Along with the voice echoing from without came several figures.

The leading man possessed a hideous and terrifying countenance, his legs crippled, using a staff in place of feet, which demonstrated exceptionally profound martial arts.

"It is Duan Yanqing, the Most Wicked!" someone in the crowd recognized the figure.

"And Yue Lao'er, the God of Murder and Fiendish Demon, alongside Yun Zhonghe, the Extremity of Wickedness!"

Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives.

The Four Evils had just been mentioned, and now the Four Evils had arrived.

Duan Yanqing gazed at the blood-stained Qiao Feng and said, "Years ago, I imparted the *Finger of the Sun* to you; I never imagined you would train it to such a degree! According to the plan, let us kill them all here and now! Then return to Western Xia together to claim our rewards!"

"Starting today, you shall be the Fourth Evil! From now on, we shall rename ourselves the Four Evils!"

Qiao Feng bellowed in fury, "What nonsense are you spouting!"

After emitting a series of bizarre laughs, Duan Yanqing said, "Why keep up the pretense when things have reached this stage! Let me first help you break free!"

With that, he braced his twin staves and glided forward like a ghost, unleashing a finger strike from his staff directly at the several Beggars' Sect elders surrounding Qiao Feng!

It was precisely the *Finger of the Sun*.

With his legs crippled, he had integrated the *Finger of the Sun* into his staff techniques, a truly ingenious innovation.

Hearing Duan Yanqing's words, Elder Song and the others declared, "Qiao Feng, what else do you have to say for yourself!"

Three of them met Duan Yanqing in combat, while two others lunged toward Qiao Feng.

A chaotic melee thus commenced!