All Heavens: A Role-Playing System Starting from Tianlong

Chapter 95 Beggars Force the Emperor to Reign

After Qiao Feng shouted this, rustling footsteps echoed from all directions.

Figures moved among the trees, and fifty or sixty people filed out of the woods, surrounding Zhang Cheng and his group.

These people were all beggars from the Beggars' Sect, dressed in tattered clothes and with disheveled hair.

They looked serious and didn't even bow to Qiao Feng; instead, they seemed to harbor a subtle hostility.

Qiao Feng recognized these people; they were all skilled fighters from various branches of the Beggars' Sect, the lowest among them being six-bag disciples. The leaders were the sect's four elders and several branch leaders.

He focused his internal energy on his ears and could hear footsteps coming from deep within the woods, indicating that there were still ambushes outside.

Qiao Feng tapped his lower abdomen several times to stop the bleeding, then slowly swept his gaze over the crowd.

"Since I, Qiao Feng, took charge of the Beggars' Sect, I have never done anything to betray the brothers of the sect." His voice was not loud, but it could be clearly heard by everyone.

"What is the purpose of all of you brothers gathering here today, plotting an ambush against me?"

The forest was deathly silent; no one answered.

Qiao Feng frowned slightly and continued, "Where are the two elders, the Transmission of Skills and the Enforcement of Law? And where are the leaders of the five branches—Great Benevolence, Great Faith, Great Courage, Great Propriety, and Great Righteousness?"

Seeing that no one answered, Qiao Feng turned his gaze to the four leaders.

"What exactly happened to the four elders?"

The four elders looked at each other, and finally a red-faced old man holding a large ghost-headed dagger stepped forward.

"If none of you are willing to speak, then I, surnamed Wu, will speak."

He stared at Qiao Feng with a complicated expression. "Chief Qiao, we've all discussed it and decided to remove you from your position as chief. All four of us old folks were involved in this important matter."

We feared the two elders in charge of transmitting skills and enforcing the law, along with the five branch leaders, would object, so we devised a plan to imprison them.

As the two were talking, figures kept rushing out of the woods, and more and more Beggar Clan disciples gathered nearby. Originally fifty or sixty people, they had now increased to more than a hundred, completely surrounding the apricot grove.

Looking at these familiar faces, Qiao Feng said in a deep voice, "If you all think that I, Qiao Feng, am morally deficient and unworthy to be the leader of this gang, you are welcome to say so to my face."

If what you say is true, I, Qiao Feng, will naturally step down and yield the position to a more worthy successor, without hesitation. But why did you set up an ambush and commit such an act of harming your own disciples?

A moment of silence fell over the crowd. A middle-aged beggar with refined features stepped forward slowly, his face stern, and said, "Our leader's martial arts are unparalleled. If we had told you beforehand, you would have only needed to use a little skill, and today in this Apricot Grove, I'm afraid there wouldn't have been a single dissenting voice."

Qiao Feng frowned. This middle-aged beggar was named Quan Guanqing, nicknamed "Ten Directions Scholar". He was one of the Eight Bag Branch Masters in the gang, whose status was second only to the six elders, and he was in charge of the "Great Wisdom Branch".

This man was known for his cunning and efficiency, and was originally one of his most capable subordinates. But now, with his plot to cause chaos, he has become a formidable opponent.

"What you just said, Master Quan, had an unspoken meaning." Qiao Feng looked directly at him. "If you know anything I have done that has wronged the brothers, feel free to testify to my face. Don't hold back."

Just as Quan Guanqing was about to speak, he was suddenly pushed from behind. The person who pushed him was none other than the red-faced elder who had spoken first.

The elder stepped forward and said to Qiao Feng, "Chief, this matter has far-reaching implications. If word gets out, the Beggars' Clan's century-old reputation will be completely ruined. Everyone in the martial world will gossip about us behind our backs, saying that our Beggars' Clan—"

He stopped mid-sentence, unwilling to continue.

The elder gritted his teeth, as if making a firm decision: "Therefore, we have no choice but to kill you, leader, once and for all. There's no point in saying anything more."

He gripped his broadsword tightly and slashed fiercely at Qiao Feng. "Chief, forgive me!"

Qiao Feng had not yet figured out why the beggars had turned against him, so he was unwilling to make a move and simply dodged to the side.

But the elder's move was like the sounding of war drums. The other elders and leaders present surrounded him, and the Beggars' Sect disciples also shouted and charged.

As a Beggar Clan disciple swept past Zhang Cheng, he casually reached out, grabbed the man's shoulder, and with his other hand on his waist, he used his strength to lift the man up horizontally.

"Go!" He tossed the man aside, and the man crashed into the crowd like a log, knocking over a row of people.

"You surnamed Wu!" Zhang Cheng said loudly, "If word gets out about what happened today, outsiders will only say that your Beggars' Clan killed its own leader to seize power. Won't they criticize you behind your back?"

Qiao Feng was injured and unwilling to fight back. He was currently dodging and weaving amidst the attacks of many elders and leaders, and was already struggling to defend himself.

Seeing that Zhang Cheng seemed about to join the battle, he hurriedly said, "Sect Leader Zhang, there might be a misunderstanding here. Please don't hurt anyone!"

After saying this, he dodged the iron mace that came straight at him from a white-bearded elder, grabbed the steel staff that a short elder was wielding, and used it to strike the red-faced elder's ghost-head saber, temporarily forcing everyone back.

"Gentlemen, those are friends I met in Wuxi City just now. They have nothing to do with our gang's affairs. Please make way for them and let them leave."

Zhang Cheng shook his head. "Don't worry, Chief Qiao, I won't take anyone's life. It's just that in the current situation, if we don't take drastic measures to set things right, the chaos will only cause more innocent disciples to suffer."

His gaze swept over the leading elders: "Let me take down these leaders for you, and also let me experience the methods of the Beggar Clan elders."

Before the words were finished, one of the leaders, who had somehow broken free from the battle surrounding Qiao Feng, swung his club down at Zhang Cheng's head, shouting, "Nonsense!"

Zhang Cheng reached out and his five fingers gripped the stick. He lifted it up, taking both himself and the stick with him.

Before the leader could react, he was sent flying sideways, crashing into several disciples who were rushing up behind him, knocking them all down with a loud "boom".

Because A'Zhu and A'Bi were nearby, Zhang Cheng couldn't activate [Military Might] to avoid accidentally injuring them. Furthermore, passive suppression based solely on hostility wasn't enough to subdue the elite Beggars' Sect troops who had been mobilized to ambush Qiao Feng.

Looking around, the woods were a dense, dark mass, numbering at least two hundred people. If they were to hold back and fight one by one, who knew how long it would take?

He decided to stop bothering with the lowly soldiers and strode straight toward Qiao Feng.

As Beggar Clan disciples rushed at him along the way, he would grab them casually and throw them away like sandbags.

Those disciples were as light as a feather in his hands, flying out and smashing down one after another, and no one could get within three feet of him.

The four elders of the Beggars' Sect exchanged glances, their eyes meeting.

The white-bearded, white-haired elder, wielding a toothed iron mace, decisively withdrew from the battle circle surrounding Qiao Feng and turned to face Zhang Cheng.

He held his iron mace horizontally, blocking Zhang Cheng's path. His beard and hair stood on end, exuding an imposing aura.

"My name is Zhang Cheng." Zhang Cheng continued walking. "Please state your name, sir."

The white-bearded elder didn't answer. He channeled all his inner strength into his iron mace and struck! The mace whistled down with the sound of wind, its force heavy enough to split a monument and shatter stone.

Zhang Cheng silently gathered his strength and threw a punch to meet the attack.

"Bang—!" The fist slammed into the iron mace.

With the combined effects of [Precision Strike] and [Qi-Breaking Force], which ignore defense, this steel mace shattered into pieces as if it were made of clay. The flying fragments cut several bloody gashes on the white-bearded old man's body.

Elder Bai was terrified and tried to retreat, but it was too late.

Zhang Cheng controlled his strength with ease. Just as his fist was about to reach the elder, he changed it into a grab, seized the elder's neck, and lifted him up.

Before the white-bearded elder could struggle, Zhang Cheng pointed his other hand into the air. With a single strike of his finger, Zhang Cheng struck the elder's pressure point from a distance, causing him to stiffen and become unable to move.

Zhang Cheng casually tossed him to the ground. "The first one."

>