Xiao Feng and Xuanku

Xiao Feng and Xuanku are connected as master and disciple: Xuanku taught Xiao Feng martial arts when he was young. Though the supplied account gives few details of their time together, Xiao Feng’s later insistence on avenging his master’s death shows how deeply the relationship shapes his sense of obligation and loss.

A Bond Formed Through Instruction

Xiao Feng studied martial arts under Xuanku while still young. A'Zhu later points out that he may not have learned all the profound internal techniques of the Shaolin School, suggesting that his training under Xuanku had limits; nevertheless, Xuanku remained a central figure in his personal history, not merely a source of martial instruction.

The Master Among the Dead Xiao Feng Seeks to Avenge

When Xiao Feng considers how to pursue the person he believes responsible for his misfortunes, A'Zhu reminds him that his reckoning includes the deaths of his foster parents, Qiao Sanhuai and his wife, and his master, Xuanku. Xiao Feng responds that there is more than one score to settle. Xuanku’s death thus belongs to a broader chain of losses that includes both the family who raised Xiao Feng and the teacher who guided him.

Loyalty and the Cost of Vengeance

Xiao Feng’s grief over Xuanku is part of a larger conflict between filial and personal loyalty, his quest for revenge, and the injustices he associates with the revelation of his Khitan origins. He regards the deaths of his master and foster parents as separate grounds for vengeance, even as A'Zhu urges him to plan rather than act recklessly. Their bond makes Xuanku’s death more than a martial-world grievance: it is an intimate bereavement that intensifies Xiao Feng’s resolve.