Battle at JuXian Manor

The Battle at JuXian Manor became a defining episode in the public condemnation of Xiao Feng. Recalled a year later by travelers sheltering in a roadside temple, it anchors a catalogue of deaths attributed to him, even as one speaker insists that Clan Leader Qiao had always been benevolent and righteous. The battle’s legacy is therefore not only remembered violence but a fracture between Xiao Feng’s former standing and the accusations that made him an outcast.

Causes and Context

The evidence here does not recount the battle itself. Instead, it shows how people later used it to explain Xiao Feng’s disappearance and the deaths associated with his name. A year after the battle, three men discussing martial-world gossip wonder where he has gone. One suggests that guilt has driven him into hiding; another rejects that explanation and imagines he may be waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Their conversation treats the battle as a point after which Xiao Feng’s reputation became bound to a series of killings. The speakers name Elder Xu, the Tan couple, Zhao Qiansun, the Taishan Iron-Face Judge and his family, Zhiguang, Madam Ma, and Bai Shijing. The list conveys the scale of the accusation, but it is a character’s claim in a casual conversation, not an impartial accounting of what happened at the manor.

Recollection and Disputed Reputation

The listener is You TanZhi, hiding behind a shrine in the dilapidated temple. Hearing Xiao Feng’s name immediately chills him; the mention of the Battle at JuXian Manor then pains him enough that he loses interest in the conversation. His reaction marks the battle as a personal as well as public wound, though this scene does not explain the full history behind his response.

A hoarse-voiced man, addressed by another as Old Wang, breaks from the condemnation. He laments that he had not expected Clan Leader Qiao to be implicated, and calls him benevolent and righteous. His phrasing preserves an earlier allegiance in the very moment it acknowledges the scandal. The contrast between that loyalty and the others’ confident accusations makes Xiao Feng’s reputation contested rather than settled.

Aftermath for the Beggar Clan

The travelers’ discussion turns from Xiao Feng to the Beggar Clan’s vacant leadership. For more than a month, the clan has been considering candidates for a new leader without finding anyone who commands general respect. One man suggests that Old Wang secretly hopes Xiao Feng will return; Old Wang angrily denies having said so, while the charge is inferred from his continuing to call him Clan Leader Qiao.

A third speaker dismisses the possibility of Xiao Feng’s return, arguing that the clan would fight him as a Khitan if they saw him and that he would not accept the position even if invited. Old Wang concedes the point. The exchange shows the institutional consequence of the scandal: Xiao Feng’s former title persists in private speech, but ethnic hostility and the clan’s changed circumstances obstruct any restoration.

Continuing Efforts to Clear Xiao Feng

The battle’s shadow also reaches a separate effort to defend Xiao Feng against one specific accusation. After leaving Madam Ma’s residence in Xinyang, Duan Zhengchun recuperates under Ruan Xingzhu’s care and decides that Xiao Feng has been wronged by the Beggar Clan over Ma Dayuan’s murder. He writes a letter and orders Fu Sigui, Gu Ducheng, and Zhu Danchen to deliver it to the clan.

The messengers seek out the Beggar Clan’s Hall of Great Wisdom after finding no leading figures at its main hall. Their mission gives the aftermath a concrete form beyond rumor: Xiao Feng’s standing is challenged in public recollection, while Duan Zhengchun attempts to correct the clan’s judgment through a written appeal. The evidence establishes that the defense was undertaken, but not the letter’s eventual reception or effect.