gown. The doctor used his strength to pull free. Unexpectedly, the mother was grabbing too tight, therefore, with a ‘chi’ sound, a long seam was torn in the gown. The doctor was very angry so he pushed the mother down on the floor then threw a heavy kick at her. He also pulled her and demanded that she paid for the damage to the gown, saying that this gown was newly made and that it was worth 2 silver taels.’

Hearing him say to here, A’Zhu softly said: ‘This doctor really was too despicable.’

Qiao Feng raised his head, looking at the twilight, which was gradually getting dark, through the window, and slowly said: ‘That child was at the mother’s side. Seeing the mother being bullied, he rushed forwards then both hit and bit the doctor. But he was just a little child, what strength did he have? So, he was lifted up by the doctor and thrown out through the main door. The mother hastily went outside to take care of the child. The doctor was afraid that the woman would pester him again so he shut the door. The child’s forehead hit a stone and bled a lot. The mother was afraid of having problems so she didn’t dare to stay in front of the doctor’s house. She only wept and pulled the child’s hand to go home.’

‘When that child went by an ironware shop, he saw several sharp knives which were used for killing pigs and cattle being put on the stall. The blacksmith was very busy inviting customers to buy plows, rakes and hoes so the child stole a knife and hid it in his body. Even the mother didn’t see that.’

‘After they got home, the mother didn’t tell the father about what had happened as she was afraid that the father would get angry and his illness would become more serious. She wanted to take out the 4 silver qian to hand over to the father, but to her surprise, when she reached into her bosom, she didn’t find any silver.’

‘The mother both panicked and found this strange. When she went outside to ask the child, she saw that he was holding a shining new knife and sharpening it by rubbing it against a stone. The mother asked him: ‘Where did you get the knife from?’ The child didn’t dare to say that he’d stolen it so he lied: ‘Other people gave me.’ The mother of course didn’t believe it. At the market, a new sharp knife like this had to be sold for 1.5 qian or 2 qian of silver, how could someone casually give it to a child? She asked who gave it to him, but that child couldn’t answer. The mother sighed and said: ‘Son, dad and mom are poor so normally we can’t buy you any toy. We’ve really wronged you. You’ve bought the knife to play, to boys, there’s nothing wrong with this. But you give mom the remaining money. Dad is sick, so we’ll buy a Jin (~ 600 g) of meat and simmer a soup for him to eat.’ As soon as the child heard that, he goggled and asked: ‘What remaining money?’ The mother said: ‘Our 4 Qian (~ 4 g) of silver, you took them and bought the knife, didn’t you?’ The child was anxious and cried out: ‘I didn’t take the money, I didn’t take the money.’ The father and the mother had never smacked or scolded him. Even though he was just a several year old child, they’d treated him like a guest and always been polite to him…’

Telling to here, Qiao Feng suddenly shivered with fear: ‘Why was it like this? Parents in the world never treat their children like this. Even if they spoil or take a pity on their children, they definitely can’t respect them and be polite like this.’ He talked to himself: ‘Why was it so strange like this?’

A’Zhu asked: ‘What was strange?’ When she said the last 2 words, her breath was already feeble like a silk thread. Qiao Feng knew the internal energy in her body had exhausted. He immediately pressed his palm on her back and sent internal energy into her body.

A’Zhu gradually regained her energy. She sighed and said: ‘Great master Qiao, every time you transfer energy to me, your internal energy decreases. To martial arts users, internal energy is the most important thing. You treat me like this, how can A’Zhu… repay you?’ Qiao Feng laughed and said: ‘So, I only need to breathe in meditation for several shichen (1 shichen = 2 hours) then not only will my internal energy be restored but I’ll also be able to talk about repaying? I and your master Mr Murong have a deep telepathic friendship despite being thousands of li (0.5 km) apart. Even though we’ve never met, I always regard him as a friend. You’re a member of his family, why do you need to regard me as an outsider?’ A’Zhu said sadly: ‘My energy will gradually disappear in every 2 hours. You can’t… you can’t forever…’ Qiao Feng said: ‘Don’t worry. We can always find a doctor with brilliant medical knowledge to treat your injury.’

A’Zhu smiled and said: ‘I’m afraid that doctor would hate me for being poor and fear that he would be affected by miasma and poverty so that he wouldn’t treat me. Great master Qiao, you haven’t finished telling your story yet. What was so strange?’

Qiao Feng said: ‘Oh, it was just a slip of the tongue. Seeing that the child didn’t admit, the mother didn’t say either. She went back into the house. After a while, when the child finished sharpening the knife, he came into the house. He heard the mother talking in a low voice to the father that he himself had stolen money and bought a knife but was unwilling to admit. His father said: ‘Ever since staying with us, this child hasn’t got any toy. If he wants something then let him be. We’ve rather wronged him all along.’ When the 2 of them talked to here they saw the child enter the house and stopped talking. With a kind and pleasant expression, the father patted his head and said: ‘Poppet, later on watch your step, how could you fall and have your head so badly injured?’ As for the missing 4 qian of silver and the matter of him buying a new knife, the father didn’t mention a single sentence. He didn’t even have the least bit of an unhappy expression.’

‘Even though the child was only 7, he was already very sensible. He thought: ‘Dad and mom suspect me of stealing money to buy the knife, if they gave me a good beating or a good scolding, I wouldn’t mind at all. But unluckily they still treat me this well.’ He felt uneasy so he said to his father: ‘Dad, I didn’t steal money. I didn’t buy this knife either.’ The father said: ‘Your mom is meddlesome. What’s so urgent about the missing money? Why questioned and made a fuss? Women are just small-minded. Good child, does your head hurt?’ The child had no choice but to answer: ‘I’m still fine!’ He wanted to offer an explanation but had no way to argue. He was sulky and skipped the dinner to go to bed.’

‘He tossed and turned in bed and couldn’t fall asleep. He heard the mother softly crying. He thought it was because she was worried that the father’s illness was serious and also felt angry about being insulted and beaten by the doctor during the day. The child quietly got up then climbed out through the window. During the night, he rushed to the town and went to the outside of the doctor’s house. The front door and back door of that house were tightly shut so there was no way to go inside. But the child’s body was small, so he crept into the house through the dog hole. He saw lamplight passing through the paper of a room’s window. The doctor hadn’t gone to bed yet and was decocting medicine. The child pushed the door of the room open…’

Feeling worried about that child, A’Zhu said: ‘This child entered other people’s house at night. Perhaps he was gonna be in big trouble.’

Qiao Feng shook his head and said: ‘No. Hearing the sound of the door opening, the doctor raised his head and asked: ‘Who?’ The child didn’t say anything. He came near him, drew the sharp knife and gave a thrust. His body was short so this thrust pierced the doctor’s belly. That doctor could only groan with several ‘hum’ sounds then fell down.’

A’Zhu uttered an ‘Ah’ sound and said in a shocked voice: ‘This child stabbed dead the doctor?’

Qiao Feng nodded and said: ‘Correct. The child then crawled out through the dog hole again and returned home. In the night he made a round trip of several tens of li (0.5 km) so he was terribly tired. Only in the early morning of the next day did the family of the doctor find out that he was dead with his belly broken and his gut sticking out, looking very nasty. But all the front and back doors were still being locked tightly and were bolted from the inside, how could an outside murderer enter the house? Everyone suspected that people in the doctor’s family had done this. The district chief (zhixian – Song dynasty’s district-level top-ranking official) then tortured and investigated the doctor’s brothers, wife and children, causing a disturbance for a few years, so the doctor’s family was broken up. Since then, this incident has become a doubtful case in Xu Jia Ji.’

A’Zhu asked: ‘You said Xu Jia Ji? Did that doctor… live in this town?’

Qiao Feng said: ‘Yes. This doctor was surnamed Deng. At first he was the most famous doctor in this town. Even the several districts around knew about his reputation. His house was located to the west of the town. Originally it was surrounded by tall and big white walls, but now everything has been ruined. Just a moment ago, when I was going to invite the doctor to see your illness, I also went to the front of that house to have a look.’

A’Zhu asked: ‘How about the sick father? Did he recover from the illness?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘Afterward, a monk from Shaolin Monastery brought medicine to their house and cured his illness.’ A’Zhu said: ‘It turns out there’re still good monks in Shaolin Monastery.’ Qiao Feng said: ‘Of course there are. Shaolin Monastery has several high monks that are benevolent and knightly. They really make other people revere them.’ As he finished saying, he felt sad because he thought of his first enshi (kind master) Xuan Ku dashi.

A’Zhu let out an ‘En’ sound and muttered to herself: ‘That doctor looked down on the poor and thought nothing of their lives. He was of course despicable, but his fault didn’t deserve death. This child was also too barbaric. I really can’t believe this, how could a 7 year old child dare to kill a person? Ah, great master Qiao, you said this was a tale and not true, right?’ Qiao Feng said: ‘It’s a real incident.’ A’Zhu let out a sigh and said softly: ‘This kind of cruel child seems like a Khitan villain!’

Qiao Feng suddenly trembled all over. He jumped to his feet and said: ‘You…. What did you say?’

Seeing that his face had changed color, A’Zhu was scared and suddenly understood everything. She said: ‘Great master Qiao, great master Qiao, I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean to hurt you with words. I really didn’t say it on purpose…’ Qiao Feng stood in a state of shock for a short while then sat down dispiritedly and said: ‘You already guessed it?’ A’Zhu nodded. Qiao Feng said: ‘Words that are said unconsciously are often sincere words. I acted without mercy like this, was it really because of the Khitan origin?’ A’Zhu gently said: ‘Great master Qiao, A’Zhu talked nonsense. You don’t need to think about it. That doctor kicked your mother and you’ve been heroic and righteous since childhood so there’s nothing odd about you killing him.’

Qiao Feng hugged his head with his hands and said: ‘It wasn’t merely because of him kicking my mother. It was also because he made me face a false accusation. My mother’s 4 silver qian must’ve fallen on the floor during the struggle in the doctor’s house. I… In my life, what I can’t stand the most is being wrongly accused by other people.’

However, within this day he had suffered 3 great injustices. It was unable to know if he himself was a Khitan, but Qiao Sanhuai and wife and Xuan Ku dashi obviously were not murdered by him, yet the 3 heinous crimes which were patricide, matricide and killing his master all had been put on his head. In the end, who was the murderer? Who shifted the blame onto him like this?

At this moment, Qiao Feng thought about another matter: ‘Why did dad and mom both say that I was treated unfairly by staying with them? If the parents are poor, the child naturally will be poor, why is there anything fair or unfair about that? Perhaps I’m not their real son, but someone entrusted me to them. Most prolly the person who put me into their fosterage has a very high status, that’s why dad and mom were very polite to me. Not only being polite, they also respected me deeply. Who was the person that entrusted me to them? Prolly he was Chief Wong.’ His parents had treated him completely differently than how normal parents treated their children. As he was astute, he should have been aware of this long ago, but because it had been like that since childhood, he was accustomed to it. Even a more astute person would not have been able to figure them out as they would only think that his parents had been particularly benign. At this moment, when considering, he felt that everything confirmed that he himself was a Khitan barbarian.

A’Zhu consoled him: ‘Great master Qiao, they say you’re Khitan but in my opinion they’re definitely slandering and starting a rumor. Needless to say, you’re kind-hearted, righteous and well-known in the whole world. To just a negligible little maid like me, you’ve also watched over with all your heart. Khitan people are cruel like tigers and wolves. You’re like the sky and they’re like the earth, how can they compare with you?’

Qiao Feng said: ‘A’Zhu, if I’m really a Khitan, will you still let me watch over you?’

At that time Han people in the Central Plains detested Khitan people and regarded them as poisonous serpents and ferocious beasts, hence A’Zhu was startled. She then said: ‘Don’t let your imagination run away with you. That’s definitely impossible. If the Khitan ethnic group can produce such a good person like you then we won’t detest Khitan people.’

Qiao Feng did not say anything and thought: ‘If I’m really a Khitan then even such a little maid like A’Zhu won’t pay attention to me.’ In an instant, he felt that even though the world was big, he himself had nowhere to take shelter. His thoughts surged up like tidewater and his chest burned with righteous indignation. He knew that because he had transferred energy to A’Zhu repeatedly, his internal energy had been spent quite a lot. Without delay, he sat cross-legged on a chair beside the bed then slowly breathed and channeled his internal energy.

A’Zhu also closed her eyes.