Huang Rong’s snatching the stick was real, while attacking the eyes was fake; but since her movement was so swift, her fingers unexpectedly poked Yang Kang’s eyeballs. Yang Kang was in a lot of pain and he momentarily went blind. Yang Kang tried to guard his eyes and did not have any choice but let the stick go and then leap down the platform.
With both of her hands Huang Rong held the bamboo stick high over her head, with a clear and loud voice she called out, “Brothers of the Beggar Clan, please stop! Hong Bangzhu has not returned to heaven yet. Everything was made up by this traitor disciple.”
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As soon as the crowd of beggars heard her, they were completely taken aback; it was such an abrupt turn of eventa that it was hard to believe, but they were happy to hear the good news and mad to hear the bad news, a natural response to this kind of news. Everybody turned their heads and looked at the tall platform.
Huang Rong called out further, “Brothers, come over here, I want to tell you news about Hong Bangzhu.”
Yang Kang’s eyes were sore, but his ears could hear everything clearly; he also called out from below the platform, “I am the Bangzhu! Brothers, listen to my command: Quickly push the male thief over the cliff, and then come back here to capture the nonsense-talking female thief.”
The Beggar Clan members always regarded their Clan Leader as a deity; even if there was a very important matter, they would not dare to disobey his command. Hearing Yang Kang’s command, they shouted and charged forward.
Huang Rong called out, “Everybody look clearly! Bangzhu’s Dog Beating Stick is in my hand; I am the Beggar Clan’s Bangzhu!”
The crowd of beggars was startled; they had never heard of the Bangzhu’s Dog Beating Stick being taken away by someone else. They hesitated and stopped their steps.
Huang Rong called out, “Our worldwide Beggar Clan is being bullied today, Li Sheng and Yu Zhaoxing two brothers are killed by others, Lu Zhanglao is seriously injured; all of that for what reason?”
The crowd of beggars was angered; more than half of them turned their heads to listen to her.
Huang Rong continued, “It was because of this traitor surnamed Yang is conspiring with the Iron Palm Clan. They fabricated a rumor saying that Hong Lao Bangzhu is dead. Do you know who this man surnamed Yang really is?”
The crowd of beggars called out one after another, “Who is he? Tell us, quick! Tell us!” But some actually said, “Don’t listen to this female thief; she is creating a confusion.” Everybody talked at once, nobody knew which one was right, which one was wrong.
Huang Rong called out, “This man’s surname is not Yang, it is Wanyan. He is the son of Zhao Wangye of the Great Jin. He deliberately comes to destroy our Great Song.”
The crowd of beggars was startled, nobody believed what they heard. Huang Rong considered, “It is difficult to convince everybody at once; I’ll have to use poison to fight poison. I’ll place the blame on him.” She put her hand into her pocket and groped around the contents one by one; finally she took out the iron palm Zhu Cong took from Qiu Qianren the other day. She lifted it up high above her head and called out, “I have just taken this thing from this surnamed Wanyan traitor’s hand.
Everybody please take a good look, what is this?”
The crowd of beggars was some distant away from the Xuanyuan Platform; they could not see clearly under the moonlight. Their curiosity was aroused and they approached the platform.
Someone called out, “That is the Iron Palm Clan’s Iron Palm token of authority; how could it be in his hand?”
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Huang Rong loudly said, “That’s right, he is the spy sent by the Iron Palm Clan, so naturally he carried this token. The Beggar Clan has upheld chivalry and justice in the north for several hundred years; how can this fellow surnamed Yang easily comply to move to Jiangnan?”
Underneath the platform Yang Kang listened with an ash grey complexion; his right hand raised, he shot two steel awls straight toward Huang Rong’s chest. The distance was near and his hand was quick, so the two silver lights violently flew to their target. Huang Rong did not pay the slightest attention. Among the crowd of beggars there were about a dozen people shouted loudly, “Watch out the secret projectile! Be careful!” “Aiyo! Not good!” But the two steel awls struck the soft hedgehog armor and ‘clank, clank’ they fell to the platform.
Huang Rong called out, “Wanyan Kang, if you don’t have any guilty conscience, why did you use secret projectiles to harm me?”
The crowd of beggars unexpectedly did not harm her, they were astonished to the extreme; they talked to one another, “Who is right and who is wrong?” “So Hong Bangzhu has not died yet?”
Everyone’s face showed a frightened and confused look. They turned their eyes toward the Four Elders, expecting them to make a decision. The row after row of strong wall formations had been dispersed early on. From among the crowd Guo Jing walked towards the platform and nobody tried to stop him.
End of Chapter 27.
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Chapter 28 – Peak of the Iron Palm Mountain
Translated by Hugh (aka IcyFox)
Elder Jian rapidly retreated to avoid being hit, but Huang Rong did not lose momentum and kept targeting his accupoints intensely. He started running, but the faster he ran, the faster the stick followed him. He had to continue jumping about until sweat was dripping down his white beard.
At this time Lu You Jiao was having a debate with the other 3 elders. He said, "We have yet to learn the truth, so we should question them in more detail to determine the fate of our Clan Leader." The Clean-Faction 3rd Elder said, "We have already established our new Clan Leader, how can we change that at our whim? The rules established at the founding of our Clan states that we must never disobey the orders of our Clan Leader." The 4 Elders were having a heated argument. Lu You Jiao's fingers were broken and he bit his teeth to bear the pain but showed no sign of backing down.
The Clean-Faction 3rd Elder made a hand sign and walked over to Yang Kang. Elder Peng said loudly, "We only trust Leader Yang. This evil girl helped cause the death of Leader Hong and cunningly escaped death, yet she's still here talking rubbish. Don't pay attention to her. Brothers, let's torture her till she confesses." Guo Jing jumped up and shouted, "Who dares touch her?" No one dared make a move on seeing his imposing figure. Qiu Qian Ren and his followers stood a distance away as they stood on the fence, taking delight in the Beggars' Clan's internal conflict.
Huang Rong said clearly, "Leader Hong is now in the palace in Lin'an enjoying the Imperial Chef's food and is unable to reveal his identity. Hence he tasked me with the responsibility of this Clan's Leadership. When he's done savouring the food, he will naturally return." All the members of the Beggars' Clan knew about Hong Qi Gong's gluttony and felt there was much truth in her words, but still could hardly believe that such a young lass could be their new Leader.
Huang Rong continued, "This thief of the Jin Kingdom conspired with the Iron Palm Sect to harm me and steal the Clan Leader's Dog-Beating Stick, yet you people don't attempt to shed light on the truth? Our 4 Elders are very experienced and knowledgeable, yet how was it possible for them to fail to see through such a simple ploy?" When they heard her, the clan members looked at their 4
Elders with doubt.
At this point Yang Kang could only stubbornly maintain his stand, saying, "You claim that Leader Hong is still alive, so why did he want you to be the Clan Leader? How do you prove your claim?"
Huang Rong waved the bamboo stick, saying, "This is the Clan Leader's Dog-Beating Stick, isn't this proof enough?" Yang Kang laughed loudly, "Ha ha, this was originally mine and you snatched it away in front of everyone just moments ago. What 'proof' is this?" Huang Rong smiled, "If Leader Hong handed the Dog-Beating Stick to you, why didn't he teach you the Dog-Beating Skill too? If he did, how could I have snatched the Dog-Beating Stick from you?" When Yang Kang heard her mention the 'Dog-Beating Stick' 4 times, he felt that she made a blunder and he bellowed, "This is the token of authority of this Clan, what 'Dog-Beating Stick'? How dare you insult the treasure of this Clan?" He thought that his words could please the Beggars' Clan members but he was unaware that this stick was actually called the 'Dog-Beating Stick'. The 2 beggars with him deeply respected the Dog-Beating Stick and did not dare mention the name to him during their journey. Yang Kang had clearly showed his ignorance on the bamboo stick's name, and the Clan members all glared at him with displeasure. Yang Kang realized that he had said something wrong but could never have guessed that his mistake lay in the fact that the immensely important bamboo stick did actually have such an uncouth name. Huang Rong smiled, "Treasure? Take it if you like." She held the stick out for him.
Yang Kang was delighted and wanted to take it but was afraid of Guo Jing. Elder Peng said,
"Leader, we'll protect you. Take it first." Yang Kang jumped up with Elder Jian and Elder Liang. Lu You Jiao saw that Huang Rong was alone and jumped up too. He thought, "Though my fingers are broken, I still have my legs. My name Lu You Jiao (Lu Has Legs) is not for nothing."