Chapter 656 The Truth
"But... no matter what, the two elders have raised me, and I can't harm them..."

Before he knew it, Qiao Feng's face was covered with tears.

If he had said this before, Xiao Yuanshan would have been even more furious, but after seeing how sincerely Qiao Sanhuai and his wife treated Qiao Feng, he just sighed and didn't say much.

"Well, tell me, can you let go of the culprits who killed your mother and separated us for thirty years?"

After Xiao Yuanshan was silent for a moment, rage gathered in his eyes again, and the hatred in his heart almost burst out.

Qiao Feng nodded without hesitation: "Killing someone means paying for their life, and debts mean paying for them. This is only natural! Dad... can you tell me who are the people who harmed our family?"

He called out "Dad" without much hesitation.

Apart from anything else, Xiao Yuanshan's face, which was almost exactly like his, was enough to explain everything.

Coupled with numerous clues, a smart man like Qiao Feng naturally realized the truth about his life experience.

At this moment, when he thought of what Xiao Yuanshan had just said, that the family was happily going to his grandmother's house to celebrate his first birthday, but such a tragedy happened halfway... he became furious and filled with hatred!
"Good! After all, it's still my child, Xiao Yuanshan's! I'm useless now, having been crippled by your sworn brother... The responsibility of revenge will fall on your shoulders."

Xiao Yuanshan's tone suddenly calmed down. In fact, after hearing Qiao Feng call him "Dad", his original hatred was inexplicably dissipated by three points.

He himself was very surprised by this, but at the same time he felt unprecedentedly relaxed, and even seemed to not care much about the fact that he had lost all his skills.

"Dad, my eldest brother doesn't know the truth of this matter either..." Qiao Feng hurriedly helped Chai Xin explain.

Xiao Yuanshan recovered some of his strength under the effect of the medicine. Hearing this, he waved his hand and said, "This is my fate. I really can't blame anyone else. He traveled day and night for you, running over a thousand miles from Wuxi. This is enough to prove that you have a good vision..."

He actually didn't hate Chai Xin. The fight was started by him, and in the end he was not as skilled as his opponent and ended up in this situation. It can be said that he got what he wanted, so why should he hate him?

Moreover, he saw Chai Xin speaking for Qiao Feng in the apricot forest clearly in secret; this time he came all the way to visit him, which shows how loyal and righteous he is.

When Xiao Yuanshan was young, he was also a good man who was clear about gratitude and resentment and had a heroic spirit.

In fact, we can’t blame him entirely for doing those extreme things in the original book.

Who can guarantee that they will not go crazy if they encounter such an inexplicable thing that almost kills their entire family?
Over the years, he has been tormented by hatred and even neglected his own son; in order to plot revenge, he even used his own son as a pawn!
He always thought that there was nothing more important in this life except revenge.

But until today, after witnessing the love between Qiao Feng and Qiao Sanhuai, and Qiao Feng's heartfelt "Dad", and the sudden loss of his martial arts...

It suddenly dawned on him that he could live so easily after letting go of those extreme obsessions; it turned out that his son was so important to him.

"I lived for the people of the Liao Dynasty in the first half of my life, and for revenge in the second half. I am exhausted. Losing all my power today is a relief. If it were ordinary hatred, I might advise you to let it go... But for you, this is the revenge for your mother's murder!"

Speaking of this, Xiao Yuanshan's tone still contained a strong obsession.

"In fact, if it weren't for my martial arts skills, I'm afraid none of the three of us would have survived that day! So, you must avenge this! Do you understand?"

He stared straight into Qiao Feng's eyes and spoke very seriously.

Qiao Feng also looked at him seriously, bowed deeply, and said: "The hatred for killing my mother is irreconcilable. If I don't avenge this, how can I live in this world? No matter who it is, as long as they participated in what happened back then, I will not let any of them go!"

As he spoke, he took two steps forward, supported Xiao Yuanshan, and asked, "Dad, who were the murderers in the battle at Yanmen Pass that day? Who was the leader?"

"I have been investigating for these years and have already made some progress. However, with your current martial arts skills, I am afraid that the leader may not be able to deal with him... It's not that his martial arts skills are better than yours, but he is in a high position and has many disciples. If you rashly seek revenge, you will not succeed and will lose your life."

Xiao Yuanshan hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not directly say the name of his enemy.

Qiao Feng couldn't help but get anxious when he heard this: "Father, even though I'm not very strong, I still need to know who the enemy is first, otherwise I wouldn't be unworthy of being a son."

"Wang Jiantong is dead. Zhao, Qian and Sun are just rats. Kill them like slaughtering dogs. There are also Wang Weiyi, the Wansheng Knife, and Taoist Heyun of Huangshan Dijue Sword. They have both died of old age. It's really a bargain for them! As for the leader..."

When Xiao Yuanshan reached here, there was a sound of footsteps suddenly heard from outside the forest.

Then, Chai Xin's voice was heard: "The leader is the current abbot of Shaolin Temple, Xuanci!"

When Qiao Feng heard the name, his whole body trembled violently, his eyes widened, and he asked in surprise, "It's him?"

He looked at Xiao Yuanshan, and saw a hint of surprise in the other's eyes. He was obviously surprised that Chai Xin actually knew this secret, but he immediately nodded.

"Yes, yes, I should have thought of it earlier... Only this person has the ability to lead the martial arts heroes of the Song Dynasty, and there is no one else... Xuanci is the abbot of Shaolin Temple, and he is also the senior brother of my master, Master Xuanku. The culprit turned out to be him..."

A look of realization appeared on Qiao Feng's face, and then a deep hatred was revealed.

"No matter who he is, since he killed my mother, he must pay with blood!"

At this time, Chai Xin had come closer and shook his head, saying, "Xuan Ci was indeed the leader back then, but he was not the culprit that caused your family's mess."

When Qiao Feng and Xiao Yuanshan heard this, they were both startled, and then asked in unison: "Who is that?"

After Xiao Yuanshan finished asking, he quickly remembered something and nodded, "That's right. Someone fabricated the news that our Mongolian warriors wanted to go to Shaolin Temple to seize various martial arts secrets to teach the soldiers in the army, and then swallow up the Song court... The person who spread the false news is the real culprit!"

At this point, he looked up at Chai Xin and said anxiously: "In the past thirty years, I have found almost all the enemies who participated in the battle that year, but I have no clue about this thief who spread false information... Do you know?"

"Brother, who is that person?" Qiao Feng also asked hurriedly.

"Murong Bo."

Chai Xin didn't keep the question in suspense, but slowly uttered a name.

"Is it him?!" Xiao Yuanshan said in surprise.

He had been lurking in Shaolin Temple for thirty years, so naturally he had heard of Murong Bo's name a long time ago.

But he also knew that Murong Bo seemed to have died thirty years ago. "But Murong Fu's father? As far as I know, he has been dead for thirty years..." As soon as he said this, Qiao Feng suddenly felt something was wrong, and a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, "No! Thirty years! Thirty years ago, my family was in trouble at Yanmen Pass, and he died that year... It's too much of a coincidence!"

Xiao Yuanshan was startled again when he heard this, then nodded and said, "Yes, he just provoked a bloody battle between the Song and Liao martial arts circles, and then he died inexplicably. There must be something fishy going on!"

Chai Xin also nodded and said, "You guessed correctly. Murong Bo actually faked his death and escaped. He is still alive today."

"Still alive? Good! Good! Good!" Xiao Yuanshan burst into laughter upon hearing this, his smile full of coldness and murderous intent, "God is giving us, father and son, a chance to kill the real culprit!"

Qiao Feng also sneered and said, "No matter where he hides, I will kill him with my own hands!"

Then, he looked at Chai Xin and asked, "Brother, since you know that Murong Bo faked his death and escaped, do you know where he is hiding now? Is it Suzhou Yanziwu?"

The old nest of the Gusu Murong clan is known to all martial artists in the world.

Chai Xin shook his head and said, "It's a coincidence that where he has been for the past thirty years coincides with that of Senior Xiao."

Qiao Feng immediately turned his gaze to Xiao Yuanshan.

Xiao Yuanshan was startled, as if he remembered something, and soon exclaimed: "It turned out to be him!"

"Who? Who is it? Dad, where have you been hiding for the past thirty years?" Qiao Feng asked more and more urgently as he listened.

"Shaolin Temple!" Xiao Yuanshan gnashed his teeth and said, "I have been hiding in the Shaolin Temple's Sutra Library for the past thirty years!"

"what?"

Qiao Feng was shocked again.

He really didn't expect that his biological father had always been so close to him for the past thirty years!
Come to think of it, most of the time since I was a child, the other party might have been hiding in the dark and watching?
But how could he bear not to come forward and acknowledge her once?

Yes, after all, he had to bear such a tragic blood feud, and he would probably just endure it in order to find the murderer. Even if he was tormented in his heart, it would be inconvenient for him to recognize me.

"Didn't the Song people slander me for wanting to steal Shaolin Temple's martial arts? Then I'll steal it for them to see! Over the past thirty years, I have learned all seventy-two unique skills in Shaolin Temple!"

Xiao Yuanshan's old face was filled with indignation, and then he sighed.

"However, forcing myself to practice the 72 Shaolin Kung Fu skills did leave me with a lot of hidden injuries. Now that I think about it, I should have realized it earlier, but I was immersed in hatred for many years and never thought deeply about it. Speaking of which, I really want to thank you, my sworn brother...

"If he hadn't destroyed all my strength, I'm afraid my hidden injuries would have erupted in three or two years at most. By then, not only would my strength be wasted, but even my life would be in danger."

"There is actually such a hidden story..." Qiao Feng was stunned and felt that there was no coincidence in the world.

Who would have thought that the "bad thing" his sworn brother did to his biological father would actually save the other's life!

"As the saying goes, misfortune often follows blessing, and blessing often follows misfortune. This is probably the case."

Xiao Yuanshan nodded thoughtfully after hearing this, and returned to the topic: "Over the years, I have often encountered a masked man in gray in the Shaolin Temple's Sutra Library... At that time, I thought he was a fellow traveler, but I didn't expect that he was the great enemy I had been looking for all my life!"

"That's right. Murong Bo used the excuse that the Liao people wanted to seize the Shaolin Temple's martial arts to stir up the conflict between the two countries in order to weaken the strength of the martial arts of all countries in the world. In fact, the one who really wanted to steal the Shaolin Temple's martial arts was himself."

Chai Xin sighed.

"Why does he want to reduce the martial arts strength of various countries?" Qiao Feng caught the blind spot.

Chai Xin said calmly, "Because the Gusu Murong clan is the descendant of the Northern Yan royal family, they have always taken restoring the country as their family motto and have never forgotten it. Murong Bo is following the will of his ancestors and is determined to restore the country. Naturally, the more chaotic the world is, the better, and the weaker the countries are, the better."

"This man really deserves to die! For his own selfish desires, he did not hesitate to stir up disputes between the two countries. Didn't he know how many innocent people would be killed? He even killed my mother!"

Qiao Feng was so furious when he heard this that he wished he could grab Murong Bo's head and smash it into pieces.

"I never thought that the disaster back then would be caused by this..."

After listening to what Chai Xin said, Xiao Yuanshan couldn't help but be lost in thought for a long time, and finally let out a long sigh.

But soon, he came back to his senses and looked at Chai Xin and said, "You are so young, how do you know what happened back then?"

Upon hearing this, Qiao Feng couldn't help but turn around and look over, with a look of curiosity on his face.

Chai Xin had already thought of the answer, and immediately said: "What a coincidence, just before rushing to Shaoshi Mountain, I met Murong Bo outside Wuxi City... and destroyed his martial arts."

After hearing this, Xiao Yuanshan and his son were stunned at first. They really didn't expect this answer, and then they were speechless.

So, is it your habit to use crippling martial arts?
How can you destroy the martial arts of anyone you catch?
Then, Chai Xin made up some content and roughly recounted the process of meeting Duan Yu and Murong Fu, and finally capturing Murong Fu, which forced Murong Bo to show up.

"It's interesting to say that you two old fathers are both bent on trapping your sons to death. You are desperate to throw dirty water on your sons, and you both like to follow your sons..."

When Chai Xin said this, he also told how many good fighters in the martial arts world had died recently because of their own unique skills, and how Murong Fu had suffered as a result.

Qiao Feng naturally knew about this matter. After all, he went to Jiangnan in the first place to investigate whether Murong Fu was related to Ma Dayuan's death.

Of course, he is now very clear in his mind that Ma Dayuan's death was most likely as Chai Xin said, that it was the joint work of Bai Shijing and Kang Min. Not only Murong Fu, but even Murong Bo, had nothing to do with this matter.

"Brother, did you destroy Murong Bo's martial arts? Didn't you kill him?"

Qiao Feng asked.

Chai Xin shook his head: "I am a kind person and I will not kill easily. Moreover, I saw him practicing the 72 Shaolin Kung Fu that day. He had already gone crazy and was seriously ill. I specially abolished his martial arts so that he could live for at least ten years."

After hearing this, Xiao Yuanshan and Qiao Feng were stunned again.

(End of this chapter)