Xiao Feng and You TanZhi

Xiao Feng and You TanZhi are enemies joined by a blood debt that each understands differently: You TanZhi sees Xiao Feng as the killer of his family, while Xiao Feng accepts responsibility for the circumstances that ended in their deaths but refuses to treat the young man as another target. Their first encounter in Liao territory turns You TanZhi’s pursuit of revenge into a test of Xiao Feng’s restraint, and leaves the feud unresolved.

Origins of the Feud

At the battle of Juxian Manor, You TanZhi hid behind a screen wall and watched Xiao Feng fight the assembled martial artists. He saw Xiao Feng clearly and heard that he was Khitan. You TanZhi’s father and uncle, the You brothers, died after the confrontation; You TanZhi later identifies them as his father and uncle and holds Xiao Feng responsible for both deaths. His father’s wife also died, leaving him without his immediate family.

The circumstances matter to the divide between the two men. Xiao Feng recalls that he had been surrounded by heroes at the manor and forced to fight. He says that the You brothers died by their own decision, after losing their shield, rather than because he deliberately killed them. Yet he does not use that distinction to dismiss You TanZhi’s grief: he concedes that his actions contributed to the deaths and calls the resulting obligation a blood debt he must bear.

A Pursuit Shaped by Grief

You TanZhi is eighteen when the feud brings him face to face with Xiao Feng. Though born into a prominent family, he has learned neither letters nor martial arts well. His father had tried to teach him boxing, but his stubbornness and repeated quarrels with teachers left him poorly prepared for the vengeance he imagines. After his father and uncle died, he wandered with little direction, intent on finding Xiao Feng.

At Juxian Manor, You TanZhi had learned Xiao Feng’s appearance; on the journey north he also heard that Xiao Feng was Khitan. He copied a thief’s use of quicklime as a way to attack an opponent and made a small packet of the powder. A Liao raid then led to his capture. When Xiao Feng came upon him outside Nanjing, the meeting gave You TanZhi the opportunity he had been pursuing, but not the advantage he expected.

The Attack and Xiao Feng’s Response

You TanZhi first throws the quicklime packet at Xiao Feng’s face. Xiao Feng knocks it down with his whip before the powder can reach him. He asks the young man’s name and why he wants to harm him, and offers to spare his life if he will explain. You TanZhi answers by naming his family’s deaths and declaring his hatred, identifying himself as a member of the You family of Juxian Manor.

Once Xiao Feng understands who he is, he identifies You TanZhi as the nephew of the You brothers. He explains that he was forced to fight at the manor and that the brothers chose death; then he asks the young man’s name. You TanZhi gives it and immediately reaches for a short knife, attempting to take his own life rather than be killed by his enemy. Xiao Feng uses his whip to seize the knife. Even after You TanZhi insults him as a Liao dog, Xiao Feng does not retaliate.

Mercy Without Reconciliation

Xiao Feng recognizes the force of You TanZhi’s grievance. He decides that arguing will not erase it and tells him that he will not kill him; if You TanZhi still wants revenge, he may try again. This is not reconciliation: Xiao Feng leaves the accusation unanswered as an emotional claim, even while explaining what happened at the manor, and the two part without settling their opposing accounts.

A'Zi urges Xiao Feng not to release the young man. She warns that he may use underhanded methods rather than fight openly and argues that letting him go risks future trouble. Xiao Feng refuses. He says that dangers are part of life in the martial world, that he can survive them, and that because he bears a debt to the You brothers, he will not harm their nephew as well. His decision turns remorse into restraint rather than a demand that You TanZhi forgive him.

Separation and Continuing Enmity

After Xiao Feng and his party travel north, You TanZhi waits until they are gone before believing that he will live. He interprets Xiao Feng’s mercy not as remorse but as contempt, imagining that Xiao Feng considers him too insignificant to kill. He also recognizes that Xiao Feng’s new position as a lord in Liao will make revenge harder, even as he takes comfort in having discovered his whereabouts.

The parting preserves both sides of the conflict. Xiao Feng leaves You TanZhi alive because he will not compound the family’s loss; You TanZhi leaves still committed to revenge, with his belief in Xiao Feng’s guilt unsoftened by the explanation he has heard. Their relationship is therefore not a settled feud but an open one, sustained by a real loss and by the gap between responsibility for a tragedy and intention to cause it.