I'm going to die.
Chen Feng watched the palm strike bearing down on him and knew he had no chance of blocking it.
"Don't you dare harm our sect leader!" Just then, two figures rushed out together and stood in front of Chen Feng. They were none other than Xue Muhua and Fan Bailing, who had just arrived.
Seeing Divine Doctor Xue standing in front of him, the blood-maddened Qiao Feng came to his senses somewhat. After all, A Zhu was the last tenderness left in his heart.
If he killed Divine Doctor Xue, then no one in the world would be able to cure A Zhu.
At the thought, Qiao Feng abruptly pulled back his strength. The Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms seemed to be the most fierce palm technique in the world, but in truth, they combined hardness with softness, being neither utterly hard nor utterly soft.
Furthermore, the essence of the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms lay in "holding something in reserve." With every palm strike, one had to retain some strength.
So although Qiao Feng had struck out with his palm, he used the strength he had held back to forcibly withdraw it. But the forced withdrawal threw his inner breath into disarray, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Seeing Qiao Feng withdraw his palm and get injured, the surrounding experts knew he wouldn't be able to gather his Internal energy for a while. They exchanged glances, then rushed forward to attack him.
Chen Feng had recovered by now. Of course, he couldn't let the others kill Qiao Feng. He used Lingbo Weibu and instantly arrived at Qiao Feng's side.
After all, Chen Feng possessed more than seventy years of Northern Darkness True Qi. Although he couldn't beat the protagonist, Qiao Feng, he was more than capable of blocking attacks from the other supporting characters.
Chen Feng's palms blurred into a mass of shadows, intercepting every attack aimed at Qiao Feng. It was the group attack technique from the Tianshan Six Yang Palm—Stars Appearing in Broad Daylight.
"Which side are you on?" Elder Xu of the Beggar Clan shouted angrily when he saw Chen Feng blocking his attack.
"Second Brother?!" Qiao Feng was just as bewildered.
"Chief Qiao, I'm not Duan Yu, the son of the Prince of Zhennan of Dali. I'm Xiaoyao." Chen Feng turned around and saluted Qiao Feng with cupped fists.
"So it was Brother Xiaoyao. I didn't know you were also a martial arts expert. Thank you for speaking up for me in Apricot Forest that day. But I'm no longer a member of the Beggar Clan, so please don't call me Chief." Seeing that it wasn't Duan Yu, Qiao Feng felt somewhat relieved.
"Xue Muhua and Fan Bailing pay their respects to Martial Uncle, the sect leader." Xue Muhua and Fan Bailing immediately came over and bowed to Chen Feng.
"Sect leader?" Seeing Divine Doctor Xue and the Chess Demon bow to Chen Feng at the same time, everyone around them was astonished.
They knew that Xue Muhua and Fan Bailing had been old friends for many years, but they hadn't expected them to be fellow disciples. In that case, the Hangu Eight Friends must all have come from the same sect.
Now the people around them weren't sure what to think. Xue Muhua had convened the heroes' gathering to deal with Qiao Feng. His sect leader had started out fighting Qiao Feng, but then had saved him. No one could tell whether he was an enemy or an ally.
"We'll discuss your affairs once all eight of your senior brothers have arrived. Tell me, why have you gathered here to fight Qiao Feng?" Chen Feng knew the story, of course, but he still asked Xue Muhua.
"Qiao Feng is a great villain guilty of every evil under the sun. The two Chief You brothers and I sent out invitations to heroes far and wide to discuss how to deal with him. Who could have guessed that Qiao Feng would come to us of his own accord?" Seeing Chen Feng's question, Xue Muhua didn't dare conceal the truth.
"Really? Have you found evidence that Qiao Feng killed the Beggar Clan's Deputy Leader Ma?"
"Amitabha. This has nothing to do with the Beggar Clan's Deputy Leader Ma. This scoundrel Qiao Feng killed his parents and murdered his teacher. His crimes are unforgivable. Divine Doctor Xue couldn't stomach such a villain, so he convened this heroes' gathering to discuss how to deal with Qiao Feng." At that moment, a tall monk walked over and spoke slowly.
"May I ask this master's dharma name?" Chen Feng saluted the tall monk and asked.
"This humble monk's dharma name is Xuan Nan."
"Qiao Feng, did you really kill your adoptive parents and your teacher?" Chen Feng asked, feigning shock.
"My adoptive parents treated me like their own son and cherished me. My teacher saved my life and taught me martial arts. I haven't repaid their kindness. I'd sooner lose my own life than ever lay a finger on them!" Qiao Feng declared earnestly.
"You broke into Shaolin Temple that night and killed my senior brother Xuanku. Qingsong saw it with his own eyes—you struck Senior Brother Xuanku in the chest!" Xuan Ji spoke up from nearby.
"A Shaolin master saw Qiao Feng kill Master Xuanku? That's strange." Chen Feng muttered to himself when he heard Xuan Ji's words.
"Everyone knows what Qiao Feng was like before this, especially the members of the Beggar Clan. I absolutely don't believe he killed his parents or murdered his teacher. But the Shaolin masters have no reason to frame him, either..."
"Master Xuan Nan, could you please tell Xiaoyao exactly what happened that night?"
Although Xuan Nan didn't want to say more, Qiao Feng's strength had already exceeded their expectations. If they also had to contend with Chen Feng, they might fail to kill Qiao Feng and end up in danger themselves.
What's more, Chen Feng was Divine Doctor Xue's sect leader. If they ended up on opposite sides, wouldn't this heroes' gathering become a joke?
So Xuan Nan recounted exactly what had happened that night.
Everyone had only heard that Qiao Feng had killed his parents and murdered his teacher, then broken into Shaolin Temple at night. They hadn't expected so much else to have happened, and their expressions grew complicated.
Seeing their expressions, Chen Feng knew most of them weren't fools. Some things didn't add up. He asked, "Master Xuan Nan, if you were Qiao Feng, after injuring Master Xuanku, would you have gone back, shouted in the courtyard that Master Xuanku had passed away, and summoned the Shaolin masters?"
"This..." Even the Shaolin monks had been puzzled by that.
"I believe the Shaolin masters wouldn't lie. So Qingsong must have seen someone who looked exactly like Qiao Feng. That means there can only be one truth..."
"Could it have been an art of disguise?" Xue Muhua cut in before Chen Feng could finish.
Chen Feng shot Xue Muhua an annoyed glance. He hadn't finished showing off yet. He replied crossly, "Disguise is one possibility, but I'm more inclined to think that the person looked very much like Qiao Feng."
"Could it be like you and that Heir Apparent of the Prince of Zhennan? How could two people in this world look so much alike? They'd have to be twin brothers." Zhao Qiansun chimed in from nearby after hearing Chen Feng's words.
"Senior Zhao Qiansun, good timing. In Apricot Forest that day, when you identified Qiao Feng as one of the Khitan people, what did you say? Do you remember?" Chen Feng looked at Zhao Qiansun and asked slowly.
"What did I say that day? I said so many things. How would I remember what I said? Hmph, that day I said..." Zhao Qiansun hadn't finished speaking when he seemed to remember something. A look of terror suddenly came over him, and he stumbled backward several steps, shouting in panic.
"Impossible! How could it be? How could he still be alive? No, it can't be!!!"
"Senior Brother, what's wrong? What do you mean, impossible? Are you all right?" Seeing Zhao Qiansun shouting like a madman, Tan Po hurriedly grabbed him and asked anxiously.
"That day, he stated with absolute certainty that Qiao Feng was one of the Khitan people, and said this: 'But the appearance and build of that Khitan warrior outside Yanmen Pass that day were exactly like yours. That fight left me, Zhao Qiansun, scared out of my wits, my heart and soul shattered. Even a hundred years from now, I wouldn't forget the face of my enemy. Isn't that right, Senior Zhao Qiansun?!'" Chen Feng stared at Zhao Qiansun and shouted the question.
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