Qiu Qianren loosened up his hand and waved it away; Yang Kang had already fainted, he tumbled down to the ground. Lu Youjiao hastily rushed forward to pick him up. Jian Zhanglao angrily said, “Qiu Lao Bangzhu, you … you … What’s the purpose of this? Isn’t this outrageous?”
“Humph,” Qiu Qianren sneered; his left palm slapped Jian Zhanglao’s face. Jian Zhanglao lifted up his steel staff to fend off. Very quickly Qiu Qianren changed his slap into slicing down to grab the head of the staff. As the edge of his palm touched the head of the staff, he pulled the staff inward before even grabbing it.
Jian Zhanglao’s battle experience was vast; he was startled, but did not release the staff in his hand. Qiu Qianren indeed did not snatch his staff; quick like a wind his right palm swept away to the left. ‘Clang!’ it hit the middle of Jian Zhanglao’s staff. Jian Zhanglao’s palm was chaffed, blood flowed out and he could not hold his staff anymore; it was snatched by Qiu Qianren. Qiu Qianren swept the staff horizontally to parry Peng and Liang two Elders’ saber and sword while his right elbow struck toward Lu Youjiao’s face. Hence in a short period of time he compelled all four Elders of the Beggar Clan to step back.
The crowd of beggars watched with amazement. They unsheathed their weapons; they would fight the Iron Palm Clan as soon as their Clan Leader issued his command.
Qiu Qianren’s left hand gripped the steel staff’s head, his right hand held its tail; he let out a loud and long laugh and secretly sent his strength to both hands. With a shout he wanted to break the steel staff into two. He did not know that Jian Zhanglao’s steel staff was made of a specially treated metal, it was very ductile; the staff did not break. It stubbornly resisted his arms’ supernatural power. Qiu Qianren exerted more strength and the steel staff slowly curved into an arc.
The crowd of beggars was astonished and angry. Suddenly they saw Qiu Qianren swung his left arm back and immediately wield forward, hurling the arched steel staff flying to the sky, toward the mountain rock at the opposite side. With a loud ‘Clang!’ the staff’s head struck the rock; the noise reverberated for a long time.
As Qiu Qianren demonstrated his hands’ power, the crowd of beggars was amazed and frightened. Huang Rong was even more astonished, she thought, “This old man is obviously a useless swindler; how can he become so fierce all of a sudden? Could it be that he colluded with Yang Kang and Jian Zhanglao to perform this trick? Perhaps there is some secret on that steel staff.”
The moon had reached the middle of the sky, all around the torches adding up its brightness. Huang Rong looked clearly, it was really the Qiu Qianren she saw at the Cloud Village and the Ox Village. She turned her head toward Guo Jing. He was still looking up to the sky, mumbling intelligibly. Could it be that he was so scared and angry he turned insane? She was deeply concerned about Guo Jing, so she no longer watched Qiu Qianren’s acrobatic play; her pair of beautiful eyes watched Guo Jing’s expression closely.
Qiu Qianren said with a cold voice, “The Iron Palm Clan with your precious Beggar Clan is usually like the water of the river, does not mix with the water from the well. Upon hearing that your precious Clan is having a general assembly at Mount Jun I come to pay a visit with a good intention. Why did as soon as we met your precious clan’s Bangzhu demonstrated his power?”
Jian Zhanglao was intimidated by Qiu Qianren’s power and reputation, he was already scared; hearing the hostility in Qiu Qianren’s voice he busily said, “Qiu Lao Bangzhu misunderstood. Lao Bangzhu’s prestige has shaken the four corners of the world; we always admire you. Today we are very honored to have Lao Bangzhu shines your glorious light upon us.”
Qiu Qianren looked up to the sky without saying anything; his demeanor was very arrogant and threatening. After a long while he said, “I heard Hong Lao Bangzhu passed away. We have one less great hero of this world. Pity! It is a pity! Your precious clan also elected this kind of new Bangzhu. Ay! Pity! It’s a pity!”
By this time Yang Kang had regained his consciousness; he heard he was being ridiculed at his face, he was angry but did not dare to say anything. He felt his right hand was still burning hot; his five fingers were so swollen they looked like five Chinese yams. The Four Elders of the Beggar Clan did not know how to respond.
Qiu Qianren said, “My visit today is to ask an important favor from your precious Clan; in return, I am going to offer something to you.”
“We don’t dare,” Jian Zhanglao replied, “But please Qiu Lao Bangzhu tell us.”
Qiu Qianren said, “Recently some brothers from my clan received the Old Man’s order to take care of some business. I don’t know how they had provoked two friends from your precious Clan that they were beaten and suffered heavy injuries. My brothers’ skills were unrefined, so there is nothing I can say; but if this matter is spread out within the Jianghu, the Iron Palm Clan will certainly lose our face. Old Man does not know the good from evil; I want to ask for some lessons from the two friends from your precious Clan.”
From the start Yang Kang did not have the slightest bit of care toward the Beggar Clan; how could he dare to offend Qiu Qianren for the sake of two Beggar Clan disciples? Immediately he said, “Who has dared to cause trouble and fight with friends from the Iron Palm Clan without authorization? Quickly come out and apologize to Qiu Lao Bangzhu.”
Ever since Hong Qigong became the Clan Leader of the Beggar Clan, they had never lost power and prestige within the Jianghu. Now as soon as Hong Qigong was dead, the new Clan Leader was this weak; as the crowd of beggars heard this order, they were filled with contempt and resentment. Li Sheng and Yu Zhaoxing came out several steps from among the crowd. With a clear voice Li Sheng said, “Reporting to Bangzhu: our Clan’s fourth commandment clearly states that every one of us must uphold justice and chivalry; helping others in suffering. The day before yesterday while we were on our way the two of us saw some friends from the Iron Palm Clan bullying common people, taking some women captive. We could not hold our patience; we stepped forward to stop them. We fought and in the end have injured the friends from the Iron Palm Clan.”
Yang Kang said, “No matter what you have to apologize to Qiu Lao Bangzhu.”
Li Sheng and Yu Zhaoxing looked at each other; they were furious. If they did not apologize, they were disobeying their Clan Leader’s order; if they apologized, this humiliation was difficult to bear. Li Zheng loudly called out, “Brothers, if Lao Bangzhu was still alive he would not allow us to throw this face away. Today Xiao Di [little brother, referring to himself] prefers to die rather than be disgraced!” With a smooth motion he pulled a short dagger from his leg and stabbed it into his own heart; he died immediately. Yu Zhaoxing pounced forward to snatch the short dagger, then he stabbed his own chest; he died on top of Li Zheng’s body.