Qiao Fangzheng said, "Unless something terrible had happened to him, he would never have abandoned that Green Bamboo Staff. To us in the Beggar Gang, that staff matters more than our lives."
Hu Xiaotian nodded. Of course he understood. The Green Bamboo Staff was not merely valuable in itself; it was the supreme token of authority in the Beggar Gang. Whoever possessed it was the natural choice for gang leader. Shangguan Tianhuo's succession probably had something to do with his having found the staff.
Qiao Fangzheng said, "Although Shangguan Tianhuo found the Green Bamboo Staff, he wasn't our first choice for gang leader. There are plenty of people in the gang who surpass him in martial arts and strategy. To become leader, he first had to win the approval of the gang's elders. I don't know what methods he used to persuade most of them."
Hu Xiaotian asked, "Isn't Shangguan Yunchong your disciple?"
The mention of Shangguan Yunchong made Qiao Fangzheng's teeth itch with hatred. Through clenched teeth, he said, "Don't mention that wolf cub. I taught him with painstaking care and treated him like my own son, but one matter is one matter, and another is another. I opposed Shangguan Tianhuo becoming gang leader. Shangguan Yunchong always behaved well, and he had been with me since childhood. Ten years ago, he protected three other Elders of Transmission, and they passed their internal power on to him. Because of those elders' wishes, and because his aptitude was extraordinary, we regarded him as the future hope of the Beggar Gang. I taught him every last thing I knew, hoping to make him a pillar of the gang someday. He never mentioned his father in front of me, but he exploited my trust and poisoned my food and wine. When I woke